She climbed her first stair today. It's our shortest stair in the house. I was hanging out on the bottom stair in the dinnig room as Q was crawling between the DR and living room so, it was the center place to plop to keep her from getting any breakables off the shelves. Well, she crawled up next to me and climbed the stair! She attempted getting to the landing, but couldn't get her legs high enough (thank God!). For those of you who haven't been at our house (most of you), we have two stairs from our DR that lead upstairs, then a landing and a right turn to about 11 more stairs to get to the bedrooms. Sooooo--There aren't any photos as I was spotting her (even if it is only a 6 inch fall...it's hardwood) and the baby gate will get added to the lower landing on the stair case as well as the upper landing.
Speaking of baby gates, does anyone else have 4" baseboards and having the problem of finding baby gates that will go flush to the ground? It's a rental house, so we can't install gates and I'm trying to find suitable pressure gates. It's not working. Well, it is working, but the gate is 4 inches off the ground. The cats like it because they can squeeze under it instead of jumping over it. And Q has no interest to go near it (yet) and it's really sturdy (I can put all my weight on it and it doesn't budge). Suggestions??
I have some cute photos and a video of her standing using her toy box/our foot stool and pulling all her toys out this morning. It helped me and Daddy decide she needs to have some toys put away for awhile as our house is tornado alley. Not to mention her love of playing with each toy for about 2 seconds and moving on to the next.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Thinking About Job Hunting
Some of you know the job market these days and how difficult it can be to find employment that you are pretty sure you will enjoy regardless of pay and hours. Yes, those things are important when job searching, but sometimes you just want to work.
Well, my thoughts and prayers have been with my brother who has had some difficulties finding employment closely related to his expertise: woodworking & cabinets. It turns out he has a great knack for painting "within the lines" per se...he helped with edging in my parent's house when they painted a few rooms and he apparently has a very steady hand, as it looks wonderful! I will hire him for sure to do any painting I may need done in the future.
He has been applying for jobs anywhere (Costco, Target, ShopKo, Taco Bell, etc) but turns out when you have experience in painting, counters, and cabinets you are overqualified to run a cash register or make burgers. So, he was out and about the other day and saw a sign on a counter installation shop that stated they were looking for employees. As he has 2 years of experience in this, he stopped by to see what was available. Turns out the "boss" loved his background experience and was excited to have someone help out with installations as they are short-handed. After today's physical, he could be employed!
He may also have a second job working at Papa Murphy's in, what sounds like, a more part time management-type role as he is older and more capable than the others in town to work independently. So, the money could be flying his way soon!
His job hunt has opened my eyes to any future employment I may search for, at some point ever. It makes me wonder that if his background couldn't get him a "starter" job, how high will I have to set my employment search? I find it hard to believe anything is more challenging than being a Mom day in and day out!! Some days get long and I wish there was a way to get me contributing to the family financially, and logically. Right now, my place is at home, but maybe that will change in future days as Q ages and would benefit from more daily socialization prior to school!
We're so excited for you Uncle Joel and we hope to have news of employment this week!!! And as always, if you need someone to call for support through those early mornings or anything ... I'm here for you (as 6am is 7am here and I'm usually woken up by the little one by then!). :-)
Well, my thoughts and prayers have been with my brother who has had some difficulties finding employment closely related to his expertise: woodworking & cabinets. It turns out he has a great knack for painting "within the lines" per se...he helped with edging in my parent's house when they painted a few rooms and he apparently has a very steady hand, as it looks wonderful! I will hire him for sure to do any painting I may need done in the future.
He has been applying for jobs anywhere (Costco, Target, ShopKo, Taco Bell, etc) but turns out when you have experience in painting, counters, and cabinets you are overqualified to run a cash register or make burgers. So, he was out and about the other day and saw a sign on a counter installation shop that stated they were looking for employees. As he has 2 years of experience in this, he stopped by to see what was available. Turns out the "boss" loved his background experience and was excited to have someone help out with installations as they are short-handed. After today's physical, he could be employed!
He may also have a second job working at Papa Murphy's in, what sounds like, a more part time management-type role as he is older and more capable than the others in town to work independently. So, the money could be flying his way soon!
His job hunt has opened my eyes to any future employment I may search for, at some point ever. It makes me wonder that if his background couldn't get him a "starter" job, how high will I have to set my employment search? I find it hard to believe anything is more challenging than being a Mom day in and day out!! Some days get long and I wish there was a way to get me contributing to the family financially, and logically. Right now, my place is at home, but maybe that will change in future days as Q ages and would benefit from more daily socialization prior to
We're so excited for you Uncle Joel and we hope to have news of employment this week!!! And as always, if you need someone to call for support through those early mornings or anything ... I'm here for you (as 6am is 7am here and I'm usually woken up by the little one by then!). :-)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Heat is Back
Not that I REALLY thought we'd be lucky enough to keep our 70-80 degree weather through September...but one can wish, right? Well, with the beginning of September, the heat has come back...about 85+ with humidity again. So, Q's a/c is on full blast (at least we got a week off) and to help me curb the desire to turn on every other a/c in the house, we played in the pool this afternoon. Grandma Mary bought a swimsuit/robe combo for her baptism...and well, she's just fitting into it as it is a 12 month suit. It's ADORABLE and it's nice to have 2 suits around. I'm thinking of finding an indoor pool in the area so we can enjoy some days out of the house this fall/winter, and hopefully both suits will continue to fit her!
Today's pool experience was much more different than previous afternoons. She has only been in her little pool one other time since she's started crawling (as last week was too cold for water). The toys used to be fine for entertainment. Not so much anymore. She found the leaves, dirt, and garbage cans more exciting and was leaping out of the pool (as seen at the end of the video clip) at every opportunity. SO, we changed afternoon in the pool, to hose down the boiling cement so our butts don't burn. She wasn't terribly fond of being squirted with the hose, but, as I said in the video, the water in the hose got warm quick after I filled up the pool, and it was so warm anyway, that the 65 degree water was like a cool breeze (that we rarely get around these parts).
Back to our game. She would spot a leaf, piece of dirt, or piece of trash on the ground, and I would hose it away down the drain. One would think the hard tiled cement bricks would slow a child down. Well, not when she has her sights on something that crinkles! She managed to pick up a few leaves and almost get them to her mouth and she grew very unhappy with me as I took them away one by one. Normally, I wouldn't really mind. HOWEVER, all our trees still have their leaves and the leaves that fell last fall seem to never really go away in our neighborhood. So, really, chewing on a leave that's been around for a year.....not so exciting to me. SOOO, we're going to try the beach tomorrow to see how she likes the water and sand. I'm sure I'll be fighting sand in the mouth...but, really, we live sooo close to the ocean and I have yet to spend an afternoon on the beach! Time for Mommy to have some fun....well, we'll see!
Back to our game. She would spot a leaf, piece of dirt, or piece of trash on the ground, and I would hose it away down the drain. One would think the hard tiled cement bricks would slow a child down. Well, not when she has her sights on something that crinkles! She managed to pick up a few leaves and almost get them to her mouth and she grew very unhappy with me as I took them away one by one. Normally, I wouldn't really mind. HOWEVER, all our trees still have their leaves and the leaves that fell last fall seem to never really go away in our neighborhood. So, really, chewing on a leave that's been around for a year.....not so exciting to me. SOOO, we're going to try the beach tomorrow to see how she likes the water and sand. I'm sure I'll be fighting sand in the mouth...but, really, we live sooo close to the ocean and I have yet to spend an afternoon on the beach! Time for Mommy to have some fun....well, we'll see!
Meet Seth
It's nice to know Q's not the only 9 month old livin' large.
So, Q had her first "in home, non-family" play date at D & N's. Meet Seth, who is 2 weeks older than Quinn.
All things considered, they played pretty well together. And D talks about him all the time, so it was nice to get to meet him. Q is JUST heavier than he was at 9 months and they're pretty much exactly the same height.
He was very steady on his feet, was quicker than a speeding bullet, walked around the table, and of course, was after anything that someone else was playing with or using to eat. He ate faster than Q has ever even tried to eat, but has a few less teeth than Q so was not quite eating full "solid" solids as often yet. They seemed to find each other more in the way than a friend to interact with, but the day will come when Q will be excited to have playmates (other than cats) that are her age!
So, Q had her first "in home, non-family" play date at D & N's. Meet Seth, who is 2 weeks older than Quinn.
All things considered, they played pretty well together. And D talks about him all the time, so it was nice to get to meet him. Q is JUST heavier than he was at 9 months and they're pretty much exactly the same height.
He was very steady on his feet, was quicker than a speeding bullet, walked around the table, and of course, was after anything that someone else was playing with or using to eat. He ate faster than Q has ever even tried to eat, but has a few less teeth than Q so was not quite eating full "solid" solids as often yet. They seemed to find each other more in the way than a friend to interact with, but the day will come when Q will be excited to have playmates (other than cats) that are her age!
Guitar Hero
I've heard a lot about this game, and it's one I've never tried. After some fun with Mario Kart and bowling on D & N's Wii, I decided towards the end of the day that I wanted to Rock it out on Guitar Hero.
I wasn't such a rocker (Dannie took actual video footage so that should be interesting). I did get a few shots of some real rockers! I figure some sort of actual instrument background would be helpful, but probably not.
Sorry, D, I did not get any shots of N playing!!
Dannie and I continued the search for a Wii Fit. It's ridiculous how stores aren't really carrying many A MONTH at all...most are lucky (apparently) to get 3-5 a month...some are lucky enough to get a few each week. Well, the search continues as once "real" Christmas shopping starts, it'll be even more difficult to find!
The game did encourage us (more) to buy Rock Band for our Xbox 360. We rocked out for awhile last night and found out my rhythm and love of drums is solely "most energetic" as Mike's guitar skills had to try and bail us out of a few songs! We've yet to attempt the singing as apparently pitch, rhythm and words matter!!
I wasn't such a rocker (Dannie took actual video footage so that should be interesting). I did get a few shots of some real rockers! I figure some sort of actual instrument background would be helpful, but probably not.
Sorry, D, I did not get any shots of N playing!!
Dannie and I continued the search for a Wii Fit. It's ridiculous how stores aren't really carrying many A MONTH at all...most are lucky (apparently) to get 3-5 a month...some are lucky enough to get a few each week. Well, the search continues as once "real" Christmas shopping starts, it'll be even more difficult to find!
The game did encourage us (more) to buy Rock Band for our Xbox 360. We rocked out for awhile last night and found out my rhythm and love of drums is solely "most energetic" as Mike's guitar skills had to try and bail us out of a few songs! We've yet to attempt the singing as apparently pitch, rhythm and words matter!!
Home again, home again...
So, we were in Maryland visiting D & N and it was a great weekend. Not too many photos and Q decided she'd use the time to catch up on some zzzzz's (their kitties weren't so excited to play) as she slept pretty much the whole weekend.
We ate good food, had good times, and are excited we took the trip to see them. It's all-in-all not a bad drive at all. Only hit a little bit of traffic through toll areas and Q was pretty good the whole way too (considering the way home she was fighting to keep the sun off of her).
Will post photos when I find where I packed the camera......
We ate good food, had good times, and are excited we took the trip to see them. It's all-in-all not a bad drive at all. Only hit a little bit of traffic through toll areas and Q was pretty good the whole way too (considering the way home she was fighting to keep the sun off of her).
Will post photos when I find where I packed the camera......
Friday, August 29, 2008
Crying Ringing in My Ears
She's been a little crabby the last 24 hours. She finally fell asleep about an hour ago after bawling for almost 2 hours straight. Nothing worked to calm her down...I think she finally just got too tired, she crashed out. Poor thing. But my ears and nerves just can't take much more crying! I don't know how moms of fussy babies survive. If she would've been like this the first few months, you can bet I'd be working somewhere and not be a SAHM. I'm glad she's been a good girl most of her life, but man, the crying is just too much lately.
SO, hopefully she'll calm down before the day's end as Mike, Q & I are heading to Maryland to visit D & N! YAY! Hopefully traffic will cooperate (getting outta town and back into town on a holiday weekend isn't the greatest idea, but we'll see!!). More importantly, hopefully Q will cooperate! She seems to travel better when someone's next to her, so we may have to travel "taxi style" with a driver and one in the back with Q. We'll see!
We're also planning our October trip back to the midwest (Mn/Wi) for Tricia & Travis' wedding, and Paul and Emily's wedding too! Those should be fun times for us...especially if Q is closer to walking and loving dancing and music then as much as she does now!! I will be travelling for Paul and Em's wedding w/Q and Mike is meeting up with us in Makato later that next week. We plan to visit with Nate, Nikki & Claire, people in Farmington, we're staying with Auntie Krissy when we're in Wi, and of course, we'll be seeing Jill and Tim as they've graciously stated they'd love to have us stay with them for a few days (not to mention transport to and from GB/MSP)!! We're excited to spend some time with the family, too, as we plan to get to Eagle Lake on Tuesday night or Wednesday sometime. You guys there can fight about who gets to come pick us up from Eden Prairie!! Oh, and D & N will be in Mankato that weekend too, so we may even get to see them!
Busy times, but they should be fun times!!
Well, off to enjoy my morning coffee (yep, morning coffee at noon!!)...
SO, hopefully she'll calm down before the day's end as Mike, Q & I are heading to Maryland to visit D & N! YAY! Hopefully traffic will cooperate (getting outta town and back into town on a holiday weekend isn't the greatest idea, but we'll see!!). More importantly, hopefully Q will cooperate! She seems to travel better when someone's next to her, so we may have to travel "taxi style" with a driver and one in the back with Q. We'll see!
We're also planning our October trip back to the midwest (Mn/Wi) for Tricia & Travis' wedding, and Paul and Emily's wedding too! Those should be fun times for us...especially if Q is closer to walking and loving dancing and music then as much as she does now!! I will be travelling for Paul and Em's wedding w/Q and Mike is meeting up with us in Makato later that next week. We plan to visit with Nate, Nikki & Claire, people in Farmington, we're staying with Auntie Krissy when we're in Wi, and of course, we'll be seeing Jill and Tim as they've graciously stated they'd love to have us stay with them for a few days (not to mention transport to and from GB/MSP)!! We're excited to spend some time with the family, too, as we plan to get to Eagle Lake on Tuesday night or Wednesday sometime. You guys there can fight about who gets to come pick us up from Eden Prairie!! Oh, and D & N will be in Mankato that weekend too, so we may even get to see them!
Busy times, but they should be fun times!!
Well, off to enjoy my morning coffee (yep, morning coffee at noon!!)...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Meet 'Stripes' and 'Buster'
I think I failed to mention we bought plants at the botanical gardens when we were there. Since Eggo ate my spider plant within seconds of having it at Mike's house when I moved in there in 2005, I've wanted house plants. However, I've never found anything I've liked that I thought Eggo would stay away from. We were at the botanical gardens on Saturday and Mike picked one he liked, I picked one I like.
For some reason I decided today that I will call them...
I feel good about our purchases. Not only have the cats (pretty much) stayed away. They add a "homey" feel to a still relatively new house. Also, they were reasonably priced and so where the pots! I looked at our stores around here and they wanted almost $10 more each per pot and about $10 more per (similar) plant. So, that covered our entrance cost to the park and then some!! So we still came out ahead. I just feel better when I look at my new friends in my living room.
And the living room is still without a tv (despite Mike's recent attempts at adding one so we can use some of our gaming systems in our "gaming system graveyard") and I feel really good about that too.
For some reason I decided today that I will call them...
Stripes (my favorite)
Buster (Mike's favorite)
I feel good about our purchases. Not only have the cats (pretty much) stayed away. They add a "homey" feel to a still relatively new house. Also, they were reasonably priced and so where the pots! I looked at our stores around here and they wanted almost $10 more each per pot and about $10 more per (similar) plant. So, that covered our entrance cost to the park and then some!! So we still came out ahead. I just feel better when I look at my new friends in my living room.
And the living room is still without a tv (despite Mike's recent attempts at adding one so we can use some of our gaming systems in our "gaming system graveyard") and I feel really good about that too.
The Next Morning
Well, things seem to be okay yet today, despite our boo-boo.
The bottle instead of breast at night is not going as anticipated. She's still up wailing at 3:45am. She'll only drinks 3-4 ounces from the bottle...then is ready for bed. She's started doing this thing where when she's all done (mostly when I'm nursing her though the day) she'll sit up, start clapping and look for the baby in the mirror behind the chair in her room. It's cute. And at least she's not biting me when she's done! I must admit to nursing her for awhile after her bottle last night, but we were all out of routine yesterday as she missed her afternoon nap due to the 3 hours we spent travelling to & from he doctor...and the time in the office. And, well, I guess it helped a little because she was up at 4am wailing. :-)
I found a way to slow her down today...temporarily at least....
Yes, that's right. Shoes. She's kept them on for almost an hour now. Granted, 20 minutes of that was lunch (yep, see the crackers on the chair...)...but still. She only tried to chew them for a few minutes too, so that's good. These are size 3 hand-me-downs from cousin Abbie....who I believe got them from cousin Caryn. They are a little big, but they're all I have. I'm not about to spend $10 on shoes she may wear for a week or two until her feet grow again. I am bummed she did not get to enjoy the cowboy boots we bought for her in Dallas for Adam and Julie's wedding. She was having nothing to do with anything on her feet while those fit her...
Her crawl is slowed down with the shoes on and it's forcing her to crawl "normal" (if there is a normal) and not turn her toes way in to 'push' forward. This new way of crawling is keeping her in a pretty limited area where her toys are! So, she's having a blast playing with the toys we have for her instead of with everything else she shouldn't be playing with (rugs, newspaper, cords, bottles, clothes to list a few). :-)
I emptied out another tote of clothes I had in storage...to fill it up again! We have a ton of fall 18 month clothes and I'm super excited to take photos of her in some of them. I'm surprised the size range "18 month" really spans. Some of the the "18 month" hand-me-downs from her cousins are longer and larger than the new 24 month stuff we got new! I still don't understand why sizing is so different between brands. Never have, never will I guess!! And we still have 2 "9 month" onesies that fit...but she's also in some 18 month ones that are small. I don't get it!
Her new favorite past time is "look out the front door". It's also a standing favorite for Eggo and Killer (Eggo especially as he roams the house all day long looking for the sunny spots). She will sit there and watch as 'dada' leaves in the morning. At various times through the day, she'll sit in front of the door, look out and go "da da", and continue on her way. At least, it's what I've witnessed and wonder if she's really making that connection already.
You can even see me in there taking the photo of the three of them wanting to join me outside.
And it's another WONDERFUL day here in NYC. I'm so glad the weather has cooled down!! I hope it stays in the mid to high 70s through September. The down side is no rain for almost 2 weeks! I can see it dumping on us suddenly and not stopping for days and that'll suck. I feel for those down south, too though, and pray that no one else gets sucked away in the tide! I don't think I'd even try to venture further in the ocean than ankle deep when there are tropical storms and hurricanes in the area, but sometimes it's too hard to resist!
Her other new favorite game is crawl in circles around our couch in the living room. She'll disappear from my sight for a few minutes...and suddenly she appears on the other side of the couch. It's cute.
So, she has lots of fun games she plays that has nothing to do with toys! I've tried suggestions from you all from last week's post. The tupperware worked wonders while I made dinner the other night. But the next day, not as much fun...she was more interested in her foam alphabet letters from her pool time that she found hanging in a bag on our back door.
I think I've mentioned her foot obsession, too. By far, her favorite toy for the last month has been a yellow foot we stole from the Brefkas when we were in town. Auntie Claire (and Caryn I believe with help from Uncle Tom) brought over a bag of "chew toys" (I'll call them) for Q to play with. She instantly bonded with a seahorse and yellow foot. So, we brought them back to NYC with us. They're too big for Benji yet, and I really don't think the Brefka's will miss toys in their house! Let me know if you want them back someday.
The bottle instead of breast at night is not going as anticipated. She's still up wailing at 3:45am. She'll only drinks 3-4 ounces from the bottle...then is ready for bed. She's started doing this thing where when she's all done (mostly when I'm nursing her though the day) she'll sit up, start clapping and look for the baby in the mirror behind the chair in her room. It's cute. And at least she's not biting me when she's done! I must admit to nursing her for awhile after her bottle last night, but we were all out of routine yesterday as she missed her afternoon nap due to the 3 hours we spent travelling to & from he doctor...and the time in the office. And, well, I guess it helped a little because she was up at 4am wailing. :-)
I found a way to slow her down today...temporarily at least....
Yes, that's right. Shoes. She's kept them on for almost an hour now. Granted, 20 minutes of that was lunch (yep, see the crackers on the chair...)...but still. She only tried to chew them for a few minutes too, so that's good. These are size 3 hand-me-downs from cousin Abbie....who I believe got them from cousin Caryn. They are a little big, but they're all I have. I'm not about to spend $10 on shoes she may wear for a week or two until her feet grow again. I am bummed she did not get to enjoy the cowboy boots we bought for her in Dallas for Adam and Julie's wedding. She was having nothing to do with anything on her feet while those fit her...
Her crawl is slowed down with the shoes on and it's forcing her to crawl "normal" (if there is a normal) and not turn her toes way in to 'push' forward. This new way of crawling is keeping her in a pretty limited area where her toys are! So, she's having a blast playing with the toys we have for her instead of with everything else she shouldn't be playing with (rugs, newspaper, cords, bottles, clothes to list a few). :-)
I emptied out another tote of clothes I had in storage...to fill it up again! We have a ton of fall 18 month clothes and I'm super excited to take photos of her in some of them. I'm surprised the size range "18 month" really spans. Some of the the "18 month" hand-me-downs from her cousins are longer and larger than the new 24 month stuff we got new! I still don't understand why sizing is so different between brands. Never have, never will I guess!! And we still have 2 "9 month" onesies that fit...but she's also in some 18 month ones that are small. I don't get it!
Her new favorite past time is "look out the front door". It's also a standing favorite for Eggo and Killer (Eggo especially as he roams the house all day long looking for the sunny spots). She will sit there and watch as 'dada' leaves in the morning. At various times through the day, she'll sit in front of the door, look out and go "da da", and continue on her way. At least, it's what I've witnessed and wonder if she's really making that connection already.
You can even see me in there taking the photo of the three of them wanting to join me outside.
And it's another WONDERFUL day here in NYC. I'm so glad the weather has cooled down!! I hope it stays in the mid to high 70s through September. The down side is no rain for almost 2 weeks! I can see it dumping on us suddenly and not stopping for days and that'll suck. I feel for those down south, too though, and pray that no one else gets sucked away in the tide! I don't think I'd even try to venture further in the ocean than ankle deep when there are tropical storms and hurricanes in the area, but sometimes it's too hard to resist!
Her other new favorite game is crawl in circles around our couch in the living room. She'll disappear from my sight for a few minutes...and suddenly she appears on the other side of the couch. It's cute.
So, she has lots of fun games she plays that has nothing to do with toys! I've tried suggestions from you all from last week's post. The tupperware worked wonders while I made dinner the other night. But the next day, not as much fun...she was more interested in her foam alphabet letters from her pool time that she found hanging in a bag on our back door.
I think I've mentioned her foot obsession, too. By far, her favorite toy for the last month has been a yellow foot we stole from the Brefkas when we were in town. Auntie Claire (and Caryn I believe with help from Uncle Tom) brought over a bag of "chew toys" (I'll call them) for Q to play with. She instantly bonded with a seahorse and yellow foot. So, we brought them back to NYC with us. They're too big for Benji yet, and I really don't think the Brefka's will miss toys in their house! Let me know if you want them back someday.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Our First Boo-boo
She could really have cared less after the initial 2 minutes of screaming and sobbing...and it looks worse "in person"...but here it is, our first bleeding & bruised instantly boo-boo. I don't have "Care Bear" band-aides like, Claire K., in fact, I didn't use any band-aide...what kind of Mom am I?!
SO, we had our 9-month well-child visit today instead of tomorrow.
The measurements---
21 pounds 8.5 ounces = 90-95th percentile
29.75 inches (with an uncooperative girl so she could actually be a little longer) = 99th+ percentile
44cm head circumference = 45-50th percentile
So, she's a healthy baby girl!
Doc was happy to see her in good spirits despite the cut and bruise, and we gave her 3 vaccinations as she'll be in pain from her head bump anyway (we only usually do 2 at a time to keep her happier!). He was impressed she has 4 distinctive phrases (see post from yesterday) and was glad to hear she likes her food (as her weight indicates).
She also started this thing today where when she gets to her destination (pre-set in her mind only), she'll turn around and smile and start clapping...as if saying, "I got to where I was headed and you didn't stop me! Yay me!" It's adorable.
Photo below was from our time bouncing...so it was pre-injury. I call this her "huh, stop calling name, I'm busy" face.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Mama and Dada
First off, she's pulling herself up more frequently now. The most recent accomplishment is using her changing table in her room...time to find a new place for the wipes, powder, lotion and CDs! She still has problems with rocking chairs. Frequently climbs up my legs when I'm in the kitchen. You can tell she's almost to the point of standing and letting go for awhile! Oh, the days go by so fast.
Now to the posting. She has 4 distinguishable sounds now, "nah nah" (nurse me please) "ni ni" (put me to bed already, and is usually accompanied with tears) "dadada" (dad) and "mmm-mma" (mom).
"mmm-mma" and "dadada" have been more frequent lately and usually appear when she wants something (mmm-mma) or when Mike leaves the room (dadadadada --with a cry).
Well, today at the grocery store and laundromat, every female that acknowledged her was "mmmmm-mmma" and every male that smiled at her was "dada". Some of them were flattered, as they were on the older side, and some of them were like, "no no, not me" as they were younger. Too cute, really, right?
Now she's busy trying to chew through her container of cheerios she pulled from her diaper bag.
And some archived photos from the last 2 weeks that haven't made it to the blog yet...
(can't get this one to turn, but I think it's cute she's typing away!!)
Ciou! (I'm going to adapt the Italian goodbye into my life because I think it sounds sophisticated.)
Now to the posting. She has 4 distinguishable sounds now, "nah nah" (nurse me please) "ni ni" (put me to bed already, and is usually accompanied with tears) "dadada" (dad) and "mmm-mma" (mom).
"mmm-mma" and "dadada" have been more frequent lately and usually appear when she wants something (mmm-mma) or when Mike leaves the room (dadadadada --with a cry).
Well, today at the grocery store and laundromat, every female that acknowledged her was "mmmmm-mmma" and every male that smiled at her was "dada". Some of them were flattered, as they were on the older side, and some of them were like, "no no, not me" as they were younger. Too cute, really, right?
Now she's busy trying to chew through her container of cheerios she pulled from her diaper bag.
And some archived photos from the last 2 weeks that haven't made it to the blog yet...
She likes the news....won't watch 'kids' shows, but turn on the world news..she's all over that!
Showing her Harley pride--shorts and other top are to tiny, but the tank still fits...the way her other 9-12 month clothes fit!!
(can't get this one to turn, but I think it's cute she's typing away!!)
Ciou! (I'm going to adapt the Italian goodbye into my life because I think it sounds sophisticated.)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Nine Months and Counting
Diggin for goodies (her toy box for the living room that doubles as a footstool!!)
Relaxing on our walk around the gardens on Saturday...
Oh, and this bonsai tree is 50 years old!!
Well, as you can see (if you follow the ticker), I "missed" Q's 9 month birthday! We celebrated...no, not really. She goes for all her official measurements on Thursday, so look for an extended blog entry then!
Some more small details until then...let's talk about food.
About a month ago I started experimenting with giving Q whole foods instead of "#2 Gerber" and 'homemade' purees. She is now a little girl who wants to "do it herself" when it comes to feeding. So, why I just bought more baby mixed grain cereal and some Gerber purees for our trips out and about...I don't know.
She loves to feed herself---
--cheerios
--turkey
--green beans
--crackers
--noodles
--her bottle (!!!) (but not her cup...as she can't tip it quite right yet and she always goes to suck at the middle of the cup as the bottle nipple is in the middle...)
--mashed potatoes (that's a fun one to watch)
--well, really anything that she can put in her fingers then put in her mouth.
We gave her "big people" oatmeal this weekend and she loved it! So, now I'm really starting to wonder why I just bought the new box of baby mixed grain...we'll just have to give it to her from time to time!! She goes "aaahhh" or "ummmmmm" when she's all out of things to pick up on her tray. She will still eat purees, but I have to mix in something for her to feed herself while feeding her so she can be a "part of the process".
She's still nursing. About 4-6 times a day now, so down significantly. She does get water at meals (although most of it drips on her shirt). Anyone's thoughts on juice and if/when I should be giving her any. Obviously it would be 100% juice (as that's mostly what I buy anyway). We'll ask Dr. Raptis on Thursday.
Overall, she still has the drinking capacity of a bird, though. She only nurses for about 10 minutes at night and is only sleeping a long stretch at night about 1 night a week if I'm lucky. I think I'm going to trial 6 oz from a bottle before bed this week to see if that changes her sleeping habits. I really, really, really, would love a full week of 8 hours of sleep in a row! Of course, it was me that woke up at 3:30am this morning and said, huh, she's not awake to eat yet...and then 5 minutes later she was screaming bloody murder in her room. I've tried the "cry it out" thing ... no go with the little one. She's hungry in the middle of the night and usually nurses about 10-15 minutes and goes right back to sleep.
Relaxing on our walk around the gardens on Saturday...
Oh, and this bonsai tree is 50 years old!!
Well, as you can see (if you follow the ticker), I "missed" Q's 9 month birthday! We celebrated...no, not really. She goes for all her official measurements on Thursday, so look for an extended blog entry then!
Some more small details until then...let's talk about food.
About a month ago I started experimenting with giving Q whole foods instead of "#2 Gerber" and 'homemade' purees. She is now a little girl who wants to "do it herself" when it comes to feeding. So, why I just bought more baby mixed grain cereal and some Gerber purees for our trips out and about...I don't know.
She loves to feed herself---
--cheerios
--turkey
--green beans
--crackers
--noodles
--her bottle (!!!) (but not her cup...as she can't tip it quite right yet and she always goes to suck at the middle of the cup as the bottle nipple is in the middle...)
--mashed potatoes (that's a fun one to watch)
--well, really anything that she can put in her fingers then put in her mouth.
We gave her "big people" oatmeal this weekend and she loved it! So, now I'm really starting to wonder why I just bought the new box of baby mixed grain...we'll just have to give it to her from time to time!! She goes "aaahhh" or "ummmmmm" when she's all out of things to pick up on her tray. She will still eat purees, but I have to mix in something for her to feed herself while feeding her so she can be a "part of the process".
She's still nursing. About 4-6 times a day now, so down significantly. She does get water at meals (although most of it drips on her shirt). Anyone's thoughts on juice and if/when I should be giving her any. Obviously it would be 100% juice (as that's mostly what I buy anyway). We'll ask Dr. Raptis on Thursday.
Overall, she still has the drinking capacity of a bird, though. She only nurses for about 10 minutes at night and is only sleeping a long stretch at night about 1 night a week if I'm lucky. I think I'm going to trial 6 oz from a bottle before bed this week to see if that changes her sleeping habits. I really, really, really, would love a full week of 8 hours of sleep in a row! Of course, it was me that woke up at 3:30am this morning and said, huh, she's not awake to eat yet...and then 5 minutes later she was screaming bloody murder in her room. I've tried the "cry it out" thing ... no go with the little one. She's hungry in the middle of the night and usually nurses about 10-15 minutes and goes right back to sleep.
One of our favorite "Music Together" songs is "Play the drum" and she finds things around the house that sound like the drums in class and drums right along....And man, is it hard to tell that smile "no!" sometimes! So, we just let her go until the situation is dangerous.
I really can't believe how she's grown and changed since her baptism about a month ago. Time flies and I try to figure out where the time goes every day!
Mike has been home since Thursday (he worked from home on Friday) and Q actually cried when he dressed up in his work clothes and left this morning! She was going 'dadadadadadada'. Wanted nothing to do with "mmmmmmmmmmammmmmmmm". Well, we did get good news last week, Mike passed his exam! So, the third and final will be next June. Congrats to Daddy! As much as he seems to hate studying and taking exams, he's so darn good at it! We're very proud of him and can't wait for them to be over!
Now, we put on music and I asked her what she wanted to listen to...she said "aaahhh baaa" so we put on Abba. She thinks my dancing is amusing. So, whatever works to entertain the little one!! (Well, that's not cords or cat toys...)
On a growing note...there's not a size between 12 months and 18 months is there?? Most of her 12 month stuff is too small...18 too big. So, to answer Carol's question...the 18 month dresses should be good for the T squared wedding in 5 weeks...we'll see! If she's walking they'll be perfect. If she's not, she'll be REALLY dirty and it shall prove difficult to get her to cooperate for photos and all...that'll be an 11 month old for ya, right??!!
I really can't believe how she's grown and changed since her baptism about a month ago. Time flies and I try to figure out where the time goes every day!
Mike has been home since Thursday (he worked from home on Friday) and Q actually cried when he dressed up in his work clothes and left this morning! She was going 'dadadadadadada'. Wanted nothing to do with "mmmmmmmmmmammmmmmmm". Well, we did get good news last week, Mike passed his exam! So, the third and final will be next June. Congrats to Daddy! As much as he seems to hate studying and taking exams, he's so darn good at it! We're very proud of him and can't wait for them to be over!
Now, we put on music and I asked her what she wanted to listen to...she said "aaahhh baaa" so we put on Abba. She thinks my dancing is amusing. So, whatever works to entertain the little one!! (Well, that's not cords or cat toys...)
On a growing note...there's not a size between 12 months and 18 months is there?? Most of her 12 month stuff is too small...18 too big. So, to answer Carol's question...the 18 month dresses should be good for the T squared wedding in 5 weeks...we'll see! If she's walking they'll be perfect. If she's not, she'll be REALLY dirty and it shall prove difficult to get her to cooperate for photos and all...that'll be an 11 month old for ya, right??!!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
We started our day at Prospect Park on the swings....
Another "thing" crossed off our list of things to do and or see in NYC, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I can't say I was in a particular mood to look at and admire flowers and trees today, but in retrospect (we've been home about 20 minutes now...) it was pretty amazing.
The gardens cover a crazy span of acreage near Prospect Park. And my feet hurt a little, so I think we did some walking!
Just a few shots from the day....Christine, I think you'd have a blast doing photo shoots here!!
Another "thing" crossed off our list of things to do and or see in NYC, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I can't say I was in a particular mood to look at and admire flowers and trees today, but in retrospect (we've been home about 20 minutes now...) it was pretty amazing.
The gardens cover a crazy span of acreage near Prospect Park. And my feet hurt a little, so I think we did some walking!
Just a few shots from the day....Christine, I think you'd have a blast doing photo shoots here!!
Yep, this is how Mike "walks" with Q...push the stroller, walk to the stroller. It's an especially fun game going downhill!!
So Darn Cute
I just find Q so darn cute!
She was crawling around with her burp cloth between her teeth...stopped to bounce her chair for awhile....silly girl
And here we were eating cucumbers! Yummy! I was too lazy to clean her tray after breakfast, so she sat at the table like Mommy!!
Friday, August 22, 2008
New Games
Q's list of favorite games--hard to put in order of most favorite...but...here they are
1--how many cheerios can i fit in my mouth?
2--how wet can i get mom by splashing my feet in the tub?
3--closing doors
4--opening drawers (doesn't like to open doors so much...)
5--chase the cats (until distracted by a fuzz, paper, the carpet, or sometimes even a song she likes!!!)
6--stick my hands in the cat water bowl and 'splash splash....SPILL!'
7--bite the spoon so mom can't keep feeding me, i want to feed myself
8--anything that is related to paper or water, really
9--SINGING!
10--anything to do with older kids--she LOVED watching them at our make-up music class today! (we're graduated to the "mixed age" (8 months-4 yrs) class for the fall semester)! she loved having all her cousins around when we were in Wi (but she loves her quiet time just as much!
And you can't actually see Q in the video, so that was kinda a bad phrase to put up...
As far as the new background people are commenting about ... www.cutestblogontheblock.com (stole it from Nikki's website!).
1--how many cheerios can i fit in my mouth?
2--how wet can i get mom by splashing my feet in the tub?
3--closing doors
4--opening drawers (doesn't like to open doors so much...)
5--chase the cats (until distracted by a fuzz, paper, the carpet, or sometimes even a song she likes!!!)
6--stick my hands in the cat water bowl and 'splash splash....SPILL!'
7--bite the spoon so mom can't keep feeding me, i want to feed myself
8--anything that is related to paper or water, really
9--SINGING!
10--anything to do with older kids--she LOVED watching them at our make-up music class today! (we're graduated to the "mixed age" (8 months-4 yrs) class for the fall semester)! she loved having all her cousins around when we were in Wi (but she loves her quiet time just as much!
And you can't actually see Q in the video, so that was kinda a bad phrase to put up...
As far as the new background people are commenting about ... www.cutestblogontheblock.com (stole it from Nikki's website!).
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Boredom
No, not me. I can't seem to get much "alone" time anymore. Our little Q seems bored with everything I throw at her (not literally...well, with the exception of balls...). She has a short attention span, and only seems to want to play with whatever I am using at the time. Now that she's crawling, and pulling herself up more, it's impossible to get her to stay in one area for longer than a few minutes. And the days of 3 hours of naps during the day are long gone. It used to be just weekends when she'd skip them...now it's pretty much every day.
Ideas? Suggestions? Ideas that don't involve me involving her in a million activities that make my week so busy I want to pull my hair out....
Off to chase her down the hallway...(time to purchase and install baby gates!)
Ideas? Suggestions? Ideas that don't involve me involving her in a million activities that make my week so busy I want to pull my hair out....
Off to chase her down the hallway...(time to purchase and install baby gates!)
Monday, August 18, 2008
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