I found this onesie on Etsy when I was pregnant and couldn't resist it. It was entirely too much money and hubs gave me a rough time about it, but I don't care. My time in New Zealand was very special to me and seeing a reminder on my daughter makes my heart happy. I'm sad that I only ordered it in one size! Looks like it makes her happy, too.
We bought Little Miss a little play house and gave it to her for Christmas. She's never been incredibly into it. However, this week was the week of play dates at our house. Tuesday morning a little friend came over who was three months older, and he went nuts playing with the house and discovering all the cool things it could do. This was a good model for Little Miss, as she learned what to do and is now discovering it for herself. It may have also helped that I finally put some working batteries in:)
Won't you please come in?
DJ Anna Banana in the house!
Flip. Flop. Why do you keep taking pictures of me?
I can open and shut the door. It swings both ways.
At least she's equal opportunity:
(Don't worry, she always gives this face, even if she really likes what you've just fed her)
We've let Little Miss feed herself since we began giving her solids at 6 months. It's not always the cleanest, but we're both really glad that we do it and our Pumpkin has gotten so much better at getting everything to her mouth now that she has her pincer grip. Tonight I decided to bite the bullet and serve her something i've been dreading since she started eating- spaghetti. First things first, strip her to her diaper and cut the spaghetti into manageable lengths.
BEFORE:
I get such a smile every time I see that little tongue stick out. She absolutely loved it and ate her plate clean. And she got plenty messy. Luckily, Daddy was there to help clean her up.
AFTER:
I don't think that this will be a regular (maybe more penne), but I'm glad that she liked it and the cleanup wasn't as bad as I thought.
This weekend we went out to a new restaurant in town. Even though we thought we were getting there early, there was a wait. This restaurant had a cool feature- a huge fish tank. We had an opportunity to stand by the tank while we waited. Little Miss enjoyed it and had fun looking at all the different types of fish. It looked blue and was nicely lit, but the camera cut right through that to the bar area behind. Ignore that, we did.
Last week was gorgeous. We had several days that we could venture out without our coats on and we took full advantage. Tuesday we had a play date in town and I had a Dr. appointment in the afternoon. I didn't want to drive back to the suburbs only to have to drive back in later. I'm so grateful that it was a nice day, because I couldn't think of anything else to do to pass time time. This park was in my old neighborhood and I used to do laps with Little Miss for exercise with another mom and her baby. We really enjoyed it and it was a nice start to our day. I decided to relive the happy memories and did some laps with Little Miss. There were lots of people who also had the same idea which made it nice to also be able to people watch. This park was built to commemorate the state's bicentennial. It has a great view of the state capitol and I was able to get a picture of Little MIss in front. It looks much better when everything is green and lush. Perhaps I'll take her back in a few months and retake this picture for comparison.
One of the disadvantages of living in the suburbs is that it takes me so much longer to get to things. Drives that used to take 10 mins now take 30. This is significant when it comes to Little Miss and her naps. It's very common to drive to a play date or leave a play date and arrive at my destination with Little MIss happily snoozing away in the back seat. I've been stuck more than once with only my phone for entertainment. I'm not a huge web surfer so that can quickly get boring. I've now started bringing books with me in the diaper bag so I'm sure to always have something to occupy myself while I'm waiting for a girl that can snooze up to 2 hours. I just have to be sure to keep myself stocked with books. Anyone have any suggestions of good ones I can request from the library?
Little Miss and I have a morning routine. When I hear her stirring, I go to her room and nurse her. This allows me to wake up a little and Pumpkin seems to also enjoy the quiet time together. Then we come downstairs, let out the dog and get her diaper changed. I then put her down in the family room to play and I make my breakfast, then bring it into the family room to eat. Now that Tater Tot is aware of what I'm doing, she comes over to join me lickety split. She crawls over and then pulls up and stands at my knee. I then get this look:
Depending on the morning, she also gives me big smiles, but the intent is still the same. I now pour more cereal than I normally eat so that there will be enough for the both of us. She happily waits and allows me to spoon it into her mouth.
We continue in this manner until the bowl is empty. At that point I have to show her the empty bowl and then she's satisfied and allows me to bring it into the kitchen while she goes back to playing. I can then prepare her bottle and feed her, thus concluding our morning routine. The first few months are so crazy that you don't think you'll ever get a routine again and before you know it, they've creeped up and you're doing it without realizing. I love our mornings together and the easy way we spend the time until the first nap. Someday our lives will be more hectic and I'm sure that I'll really miss this.
This weekend we had temperatures approaching the 50s, so we did what any family who's been cooped up all winter would do and got outside. We thought that since it's been raining we would skip some of the other trails and walk a 2 mile paved loop. As we left the parking lot and were approaching the trail, we saw this:
And then this:
We made sure to turn so that Little Miss Curious could see what was so interesting to us:
We're not sure she cared. That's the first time we've seen wild life at this park and the closest we've ever gotten to deer. They ran into the woods as soon as we walked by, but I'm glad that we were rewarded for getting out early with seeing something new.
Little Miss is completely obsessed with my keys. When I put them away, she goes to their spot, grabs them and plays away. I'm not sure why all babies love keys, but she's definitely in that phase. Luckily, she loses interest in them near their home so I haven't had to go looking through the house for my keys yet. Little Miss is currently developing object permanence. This means that she knows that an object exists even if she can't see it. She looks for toys that she drops, but these keys are different. She knows where they belong and goes looking for them. Usually she finds them where they belong and plays away. Today I was out for a bit. Hubs said that she looked for the keys and was surprised when they weren't where they belonged. Almost as soon as I got home and put my keys away, she was reaching for them and kept entertained until dinner was ready. I said I wasn't going to be one of those parents who gave their things over to their kids to play with and now here I am. I'm sure this won't be the first time I eat my words.
Now that Little Miss is starting to cruise the furniture, we thought that buying a walker for her might be in order. We found one at our discount store that starts out as a walker and then doubles as a riding toy once she's a little bigger. We were happy that it's versatile and will have a longer life span, so in the cart it went. Once home, Daddy got out the parts and started to assemble the pieces. This is an indicator of Little Miss's maturity, because she crawled over quickly and tried to get involved. She started grabbing little pieces which Daddy quickly traded for some bigger ones. Then, she saw the instruction booklet and grabbed hold. That was an easy thing to let her have, so she became in charge of the instructions.
It looks like she's really involved in the process. Here she is looking at the progress.
If you look at their mouths, they seem to have the same expression. The toy is now assembled and she's used it a bit, but I wouldn't say that it's a smash just yet. I think she still has some confidence to develop with walking and she'll be all over.
I mentioned earlier that we have Olympic fever over here. If you missed it, the Netherlands were the dominant force in speed skating, winning something ridiculous like 10 out of 15 possible medals. One of the best things about the speed skaters are their costumes.
Here's one of the skaters from the Netherlands. Again, Mamaw must've known that this would interest Tiny Tot, because she sent her an outfit that she can use for speed skating dress up.
Little One is used to wearing hats in this brutal winter, but she's new to hoods.
Always something new to explore. Who knows? Maybe she'll be in the 2034 Olympics.
I've been reminding hubs in a slightly obnoxious way about Valentine's Day. We exchanged our cards at dinner and he gave me a spa day and girl scout cookies as a gift. Hubs surprised me when he announced that he had a card and some gifts for Little Miss as well. It reminded me of all the Valentines past when my dad gave me cards and gifts. There's no doubt that hubs will be our daughter's first Valentine and the one that sets the bar for all future men in her life. I never mentioned getting a card or gift for her; I'm so glad that he took the impetus and did it himself. He wrote such a sweet card that I was in tears by the end. I can't wait for her to look back someday, read it and realize how much he adores his little girl. He also gave her a stuffed bear and a cute piggy bank. Here they are looking at her gifts. She was most intrigued by the piggy bank. Well done, hubs- a very successful Valentine's Day 2014:).
Mamaw sent a care package for Valentine's Day. This adorable sleeper was inside. Surely, baby can rock the sleeper all day, no?
We hope your Valentine's Day is filled with lots of love.
The photographer who did our wedding is very talented. She also has a pet photography line and now is adding children. Mini sessions are becoming quite the rage here- photographers offer really great prices for 20 minute sessions. You don't get as many pictures and you have to go where the photographer dictates, but it's a good way to get professional pictures done for a good price. She offered a mini session I couldn't refuse; I packed up Huck and baby and drove to her home studio. It was interesting to see the inner workings of a photo shoot and was surprised to see how much is accomplished through photoshop. I'm not going to complain about how the magic happens, I'm just glad that it did. I'm happy that we were able to get some great shots of baby and puppy together. It was really difficult to get baby to smile for this- she was a bit too confused about her new surroundings and all that was happening around her. Luckily, we got a few shots and the tongue also came out to play. I love the different expressions she makes with her tongue and am glad that we were able to capture some on film.
Little Miss recently discovered a new part of the house- the stairs. Her bedroom is upstairs so she travels these stairs at least three times a day for sleeping, but she's never seemed particularly interested. Until there was something interesting going on in the middle of the day. She heard a loud noise and went to investigate.
It wound up being none other than Daddy with the vacuum cleaner!
Pardon the dirty walls in the picture. We're trying to figure out what paint color to use and it's taking a while. Back to the stairs. This will be the next part of the house that we baby proof. Hubs warned me that she'd try to climb the stairs and I didn't believe him. It was her first time over there, after all. Turns out he was correct. We were both in the kitchen a few minutes later when we heard a big thud and a scream. She didn't get hurt badly, but it's enough that we're now in the market for some baby gates. It amazes me that in a year or two she'll be doing the stairs with ease, but right now having gates up is essential. A season for everything, I suppose. She hasn't ventured over there since, so hopefully we have a little time to get organized.
I'm not sure about your house, but we have Olympic fever over here. Every night the tv goes on and we catch the Olympics until bedtime. Little Miss watches a little, but she gets bored easily and moseys along the floor playing with her toys while hubs and I watch. Sometimes she just likes to cuddle up or play with Daddy. Here's a cute family cuddle on the couch.
Little Miss has been throwing us for a loop lately. She's back to waking up several times a night. That in itself isn't bad, but she wakes up upon transferring her to the crib so that you have to start all over again. That's leading to flared tempers and can take as long as an hour and a half to get her to 'stick' once she goes into her crib. Hubs and I are TIRED. One morning hubs already woke up for work when she woke up. It was a particularly restless night so I brought her into bed with me. Miraculously, it worked. She went back to sleep for another few hours. I think it's cute that she even sleeps in one of hubs' favored sleeping positions:
Another night when she started her antics I sent hubs downstairs so that at least one of us could get a decent night's sleep. Not one to want to miss out on a warm bed and a cuddle, Huck also joined the family bed.
I never lack for cuddle buddies, that's for sure.
A few months ago I showed you how Little Miss was attracted to the knobs on her dresser. Now she's interested in the big faucet for the bathtub. Huck's food is now located in the bathroom and when I feed him in the morning she often joins me in there. Since I block her from reaching the food bowl, she's contented herself with the faucet. She hasn't managed to turn on the water yet, but I'm sure it's coming.
When I'm really focused on something I squint. People will often ask me what's wrong, so the face must look angry or upset, but really I'm just concentrating. Fortunately, Little Miss just sticks out her tongue when she's concentrating. It's a much cuter look.
This month was a busy one! We got settled into our new house just in time for winter to really settle in and make us bunker down. Luckily, Tio Daniel's wedding rolled around and we got to escape the cold for the warmth of Florida. The plane ride went well and the wedding was beautiful, but the vacation wasn't as relaxing as ones in the past. We think we're going to limit air travel for a while until it becomes less stressful. At the 9 month mark we went to a well-check at the Dr's office. Without further ado, here's the month, by the numbers:
January
Weight- 22 lbs, 11 oz (96th percentile)
Height- 29.75 in (96th percentile)
Head Circumference- 18 in (93rd percentile)
Clothes Size- 12 mos, moving towards 18 mos in some brands
#oz drunk/day- 4 6 oz bottles a day and 1 4 oz bottle/night (We were able to drop one bottle a day because she eats so much solid food)
Road Trips- 0, but we flew to Florida
Foods Tried- Pinto Bean Hominy Soup, Vegetable Stew, quesadillas,
Favorite Things- being dragged across the carpet on her tummy
New Discovery- Looking at me in the mirror, then turning around to see me, then looking at me in the mirror.... swimming
# teeth- still 2
Biggest Challenge- Getting her to sleep all the way through the night. It always comes back to sleep.
Biggest Success- getting her to eat food off a fork and spoon
Sweetest Thing- coming home after dates with hubs to find her curled up with Grandma or Uncle Mike
Once babies start crawling, it seems that you see their backside more than their front. May as well make it cute.
Hubs and I are lucky that we've been able to go on several dates since Little Miss came along. We have great babysitters in my old co-workers or willing family members. Aunty Judy and Uncle Mike were also in FL and volunteered to watch our little angel while hubs and I had a date. We felt a little guilty since we just had a night off for the wedding, but we've learned to accept help whenever people offer. Hubs and I went out for dinner and our first movie post-baby (The Wolf of Wall Street) while Aunty Judy and Uncle Mike stayed at the condo with Little Miss. They pulled out old toys, ate a meal and hung out watching tv. When we came back our Cocoa Pop was cuddled up with Uncle Mike. It was a lovely way to spend our last night in Florida.
I have to admit that I was pretty nervous about suiting up Little Miss. If you recall, this was her reaction to her first time in the kiddie pool this summer:
It literally took months before she stopped screaming in the bath. With that sort of history, it's no wonder that I've been secretly grateful that we headed into colder weather and worries of water play dates vanished. However, the condo has a pool and it was time to face the music, or water, and try again. We took it slow. First, I bought her the cutest swimsuit I could find. May as well look the part. Then, we let her play with the keys pool side.
She really seemed to enjoy that, but we couldn't avoid the pool forever. So...I did what any nervous mama would do- I made Daddy take her in while I watched from afar.
She didn't seem to object to that, so we let her in a bit more. As her confidence grew, so did mine and I got closer.
Since she seemed to be enjoying it, i took her and put her in a sling. This helped ensure that I had my hands and she could keep her head above water.
Once we were both happy there, we took her out and played games in the water like splashing, pat-a-cake with her feet, and other fun water games.
It was a fun family adventure. She had a good time in there for over 30 mins before we decided to go in. I'm actually looking forward to going to our community pool this summer now.
*Special thanks to Aunty Judy for the impromptu photo session.
It's hard to believe that Tio Daniel has been married almost 2 weeks now. He had a cool app that we posted most of our pictures to, and most of our pictures were taken with hubs' phone anyway. I did take this selfie after my hair was finished and I was all dressed up:
Hubs and I had a great time at the wedding and we were so lucky that baby was at the hotel hanging out with Grandma. In fact, when we got home, this is how we found them:
Grandma agrees that there's nothing better than a sweet baby to curl up with. Because we had to get home to baby, we didn't have a terribly late night. In the morning, we were able to catch breakfast with the bride and groom. As we left, Tio Daniel got a last picture with our Sweet Little Miss:
I wonder why they always wear clashing colors. He always does such a good job of getting her to smile. It was a fun weekend, the wedding was beautiful and everyone was happy. But, we had some fun to get to back north in Pompano Beach.
