Bargain Hunter

I think we established that I love finding a deal, especially with baby stuff that gets used so little before Butterbean outgrows it. While I was pregnant, Pottery Barn Kids gave me a coupon that was worth checking out. However, when I saw the prices I realized that even with the offer I had, it was still too expensive. The toy she's pictured with was nontoxic, but at $12 I couldn't do it. However, later at the thrift store I stumbled upon a bin that had a quart size ziploc bag that could be filled for $2. Sitting in the bin amongst a lot of other junk was this toy in like-new condition. Knowing the value of the toy and looking at its great condition, I snapped it up as fast as I could and smiled to myself when it was rung up for a fraction of the price I almost bought it for at PBK. It's become one of her favorites for chewing on and every time I see her play with it I feel pride at the deal I was able to score.

Napping in the Crib

Chickadee has been sleeping either in her co-sleeper next to our bed or with us since we brought her home from the hospital. I've loved that time with her and wouldn't change it for anything. However, as she's been getting bigger hubs and I have been thinking that it might be time to transition her to her crib and use the nursery for more than just clothes storage. We decided that a gradual transition would be best for us and we'd start with nap times. It's easy to get her down- I just nurse her- but when I transfer her into the crib, she fusses a bit before settling back to sleep. And now she only sleeps 30-40 mins before I hear her talk to signal the end of her nap. If I want her to go back to sleep for longer I have to take her out and nurse her back to sleep in our bed, which defies the purpose of putting her in the crib to begin with. If I'm tired and want a nap myself, doing a nurse nap with her in the bed is still yielding only 30-40 mins before she wakes up. Ugh. This backfired big time. Friends recommended reading the No-Cry Sleep Solution so I have it checked out from the library and will be looking for ways that I can get longer naps from her. I'm leaving her nighttime sleeping alone for now. She usually only wakes up once at night and I don't want to put her in the crib and mess with that until we have the naps figured out.

Boot, Scoot, Boogie

It's starting to get colder, especially in the mornings, and it's time to actually put some footwear on Sugar Pop. She was given some adorable eyelet shoes that she was too big for when she came out of the womb. This is the other pair of shoes that we were given. Miraculously, they fit. Boot: check. Scoot: not yet. Boogie: only if being held by Mom or Dad. One out of three's not bad.

Feeding Frenzy

Little Miss Hungry is now eating solids.  And by eating, I mean 'eating.' And by solids, I mean the mushiest, messiest foods possible.  However, the weeks of eyeing and reaching for Daddy's and my plates have paid off.  We're skipping the rice cereal and the purees and going straight for the good stuff.  This is a method of feeding called Baby Led Weaning (BLW) that has them eat whatever is being eaten at the table (within reason).  The first food we started her on was banana.  While we thought to take a video, we completely forgot about still photos.  (Oops.)  We'll just say that there was a lot of smushing involved and she could take it or leave it.  We then moved on to avocado.  She wasn't too sure about it the first time and was still getting used to the whole 'eating' process.  Daddy tried to help her out a bit so she could get the hang of it.

 

Last night we added steamed broccoli into the mix.  I'm sure if she could talk, she'd be screaming, "Broccoli-i-i is for me-e-e," from the rooftops.  She was really into it.  We also gave her more avocado.  She was able to feed herself without any help at all tonight as she's starting to get the hang of it.

 

As you can see, it's a very messy process.  She hasn't developed her pincher grip yet, so she picks it up with her fist, smashes it, and then brings it to her mouth, if she doesn't just spill it over the side of the table, that is.  The good news is that Huckleberry also likes bananas, avocado and broccoli.  This helps greatly with cleanup.  We're telling Huck that this is the time that he's been waiting for, when baby finally becomes worth having around the house.  He learned to stay away while we were eating because we never gave him any food.  Now he comes to the table and stares at our budding eater with such attention you can actually feel him willing her to drop every handful.  Here's where their relationship will really begin to take off.

The Pumpkin Patch

At last, here's the long awaited post about our trip to the pumpkin patch.  We went a few weeks ago when the weather was still gorgeous.  It's amazing how many things the pumpkin patch had to look at and explore, especially for its size.  At first, we plopped our little pumpkin amongst the others.  That was strike number one.

 

We postulated that she just didn't like the hay, so we moved on to look at a big, hairy spider.  Actually, she didn't seem to mind that one so much.

 

Then we moved on to sticking her head in different cutouts.  She just seemed curious about those.

 

Then back to the pumpkins.  Strike two.

 

We took a break and got the obligatory family photo at the patch.

 

Back to the pumpkins where we got some interest and, finally, a little smile.

 

I'm not sure why we thought this was a good idea, given our track record with pumpkins, but we thought she might enjoy sitting amongst the pumpkins while dressed as one.  Wrong.

 

Perhaps I should reconsider her Halloween costume based on her aversion to all things pumpkin.  Either way, from our family to yours, we wish you a....

Octoberfest

 

 

 

After the 5k was complete, Little Miss finished her nap and I got showered, we left to enjoy the festival.  There are actually 2 festivals happening simultaneously, so here's a picture at the dividing line:)

 

We walked around and bought a few things.  We had to make sure that Anna was dressed the part for her first Octoberfest.

 

She got lots of smiles and looks from people passing by.  Mamaw thought it was cute and also wanted to get in on the action. Here's a three generation shot.

Perhaps the best part of the day is getting to relax on the front porch while watching all the people pass by.  I can't tell you how great the people watching is, especially as the afternoon wears on and the beer really begins to kick in.  Here's a front porch daddy-daughter pic.

 

 

 

Finally, we took some family pics on the couch.  It was another great festival and a fun day.  Here's to next year.

My Triumphant (Ha!) Return to Racing

One of the best things about living in our neighborhood is the street festival that happens every October.  They close down the streets, lots of vendors come in to sell crafts and food, and there are beer tents galore.  We're really happy to be in the middle of it, but we're also happy that it's only one day.  Associated with the festival is a 5K; it kicks off the festivities in the morning.  Because I'm trying to ease my way back into training for a half marathon, and because the proceeds benefit the neighborhood, I registered.  So...we loaded everyone up and walked towards the start line a block away.

Here I am looking optimistic at the beginning.

And just taking off at the start.

I finished in a time just under 31 mins and had to walk a few times.  It really wore me out- I was sore for days.  Looks like I wasn't the only one worn out by the race.

 

Amber is the Color of your Energy

In an attempt to curb the drooling and ensuing acne it causes, we bought an amber necklace. You'll often find these on the babies of hippies. Amber is supposed to alleviate drooling, reduce teething pain and do a host of other fantastic things. It's supposed to be on at all times unless she's sleeping. So far we're only seeing marginal results, but we're keeping with it. We're debating adding another necklace to the arsenal, but will only do so once they go on sale.

Uh-oh

Little Miss Babbles is a huge drooler. It requires that she wear a bib almost around the clock. Someone learned how to take off her bib and I occasionally find this when I turn around. She doesn't protest when I put it back on, but I know that one of these days she will. Dang that hand-eye coordination.

Hmmm....Which one to Choose?

Whenever I go to the thrift store, I can't help but stopping by the children's book section.  We've got quite a few books for Little Miss Clever and she really enjoys listening to, playing with, and eating them.  Since we have such a collection, I've started rotating them in this basket.  This allows me to have some downstairs and give her some variety.  She's fascinated with the basket and loves grabbing it, but she's also starting leaning in and choosing her own books.  It's really fun to watch the selections she makes and what she chooses to do with the books.  

Lesson Learned

Before Sugar Pop was born I taught myself how to sew.  Thanks to Pinterest I was able to find lots of tutorials and adorable projects for my daughter-to-be.  As a result I was able to make cute little onesie dresses such as this:

 

(Didn't she used to be so little?)  They were cute, relatively simple, and quick to make.  So with Halloween around the corner, I decided to make her a little candy corn onesie dress.  No problem, I thought.  I've done this plenty of times before, I thought.  I don't need to review the directions, i thought.  (See where this is going?)  The good news is that I did remember all the steps.  The bad news is that I didn't really bother to measure.  So, while it looked fine in theory, when I went to put it over her head, it looked like this:

 

Oops.  It wasn't even close to being able to fit over her head.  Measure twice, cut once?  Turns out it's really good advice.  I think in the future I'll be sure to follow it.  

This Rocks!

Can you believe my baby girl is big enough to sit in her own chair? Daddy's hand is there to help stabilize her, but it wasn't really needed; she was able to sit in the chair by herself. What a great way to pass the time while hanging out with some of your favorite guys.

Hi Papaw!

One of the many benefits of having Mamaw visit is that we also get to see Papaw. He usually drops her off to visit and then picks her up when the trip is over. This time we decided to meet part way to help cut down his driving time. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel on a lovely day and had a good time waiting outside before our table was ready. Here the two are cuddling up to each other. Can you believe Mamaw made that top for her? It's too cute and fit her so well. She's one lucky girl because projects like that are beyond the scope of my ability.

Who's Big Enough for a High Chair?

This girl, that's who. Now that she's sitting up on her own we have the opportunity to put her in a high chair and regain the use of both our hands for eating. This is a moment nearly 6 months in the making and it's sheer bliss. She's very interested in whatever we happen to be looking at...menus, water glasses, iphones... Here she is looking at/eating the menu at a recent trip out. It was really exciting to put her in there and have her at the table 'interacting' with us rather than laying back in her car seat or sitting in one of our laps.

ReSeated

Little Miss is growing up fast- too fast if you ask me.  She still fit in the infant car seat, but it was so darn heavy to lug in and out of the house it was getting to be a real pain.  We started just leaving it in the car, which was in issue when I wanted to go walking and we needed it as part of the stroller.  When we got the new stroller it meant that we could leave the car seat in the car.  Great, right?  I would say yes, except the latch mechanism on the car seat was very difficult to attach and Little Miss was working her way towards the weight and height limits of the seat.  We decided to bite the bullet and get the larger seat.  We knew it was coming up anyway and it was an opportunity to get a latch that was a bit easier on us.  Here's her first time getting buckled in.

 

 

And what's that she's looking at?

 

Mamaw was here visiting!  They got to hang out in the back seat together and look at each other adoringly for the week.  Little Miss seems to be much happier in her seat and it has much more space for her.  It's very cushy so I'm hoping she'll be pretty comfortable in it during long car rides.  We have one coming up next month...

TGIF- The 'Gangsta' Edition

 

This outfit was a hand me down from her cousin, but it's too cute.  I think it makes her look like a little boy, and a tough one at that, but it was cold and she's the right size to be rocking all the pieces.  We actually got quite a few Halloween sleepers that she's nearly too big for, but bring a smile to my face when I see her in (Dad does the bedtime routine so I often don't see what she's wearing until morning).  If you have any plans for Halloween celebrations this weekend, Enjoy!

Water, Please!

A few weeks ago, (last month?) I went out to brunch with my friend Tracy. We're continuing to make the rounds around town which is fun. I brought Little Miss with me and she was very interested in my water glass. Rather than let her get into things, I let her lick the condensation on the outside. She enjoyed it. As it turns out, a few days later we were at another lunch and she showed interest in the water glass again. This time I held the cup to help her drink it. She lapped it like a kitten. It was cute, she really enjoyed it, and she was soaking wet by the end. Starting drinking sure is messy.

Meet the Culprit

I've taken quite the hiatus from the blog. However, I have an excuse! After 4 years of consistent use, the trackpad on my computer went bad. It took me ages to move the cursor where I wanted it to go, and once it was finally there, I would have my hands off the trackpad entirely and the cursor would continue to move around and randomly click onto random things. It was quite frustrating. And also quite expensive to have fixed at the store. Enter, hubs. He's a handy fellow and felt that replacing my trackpad was entirely within his abilities. This was true, but it took a while to get it fully functional. Now we're back in business and ready to blog. Here's hoping I remember what we've been up to the past few weeks:/

TGIF- The Oops Edition

Look Who's Sitting Up!

 

It'd been a long time since we went to visit my old work, so on a whim I decided to take her visiting today.  There's nothing like going to a preschool to humble you.  I thought I had this thing pretty much down when one of my old bosses asked me if she was sitting up.  When I replied she wasn't, she said that I might try it.  So....when we got home I put the boppy behind her to buffer any falls and plopped her down.  And there she stayed.  Sometimes I feel so silly.  She never really fell back, but she did come forward a few times and wound up on her belly.  Once she faceplanted and cried a bit, but I think she was more surprised than anything.  Anyway, it's nice to have a new skill to work on for a while.  

 

Now that she's getting to be more and more his size, Huck came over to check her out.  They're now eye level, you can see he's worried about what this may mean for him.  Little does he realize the real trouble starts when she begins to crawl.  

 

Yay!  Another milestone reached (almost).