Sweet Pea,
Today you turn 2! I can hardly believe it. This year has flown by - I feel like you just turned one yesterday.
It has been a busy year for our family. Here are some highlights from the year:
* Papa's commercial was on national television!
* We had a MAJOR snowstorm in Seattle that kept us stuck in our house for 10 days and prevented Santa from buying everyone Christmas gifts. I've heard Santa is going to be preparing much earlier this year!
* You met your Great Grandma Rose and Great Grandpa John over Christmas. You loved them and Mommy was in awe watching you play with them.
* Papa sold his company! Yay! We are so proud of him, Ethan and Patrick.
* We spent a month in Hawaii on an Urbanspoon "work-cation" with the Urbanspoon families. We rented a house on the beach in Lanikai with Ethan, Nicole and Paia. And Patrick, Carolyn, Emily and Casey rented a house close by. What fun! And a much needed change of pace from the grey Seattle weather. I hope we do more trips like this!
* We got pregnant with a little boy that will be joining our family in a few months. Yay! You are going to be such a good big sister. You're already toughening this little guy up by ramming various body parts into mommy's belly as you attempt to cuddle with my ever increasing midsection.
* We bought a new house! Our growing family means we need some more space so we're moving to a beautiful house in Magnolia, a neighborhood very close to where we currently live. We're having some work done on the house to make it feel more like a home and hope to move in right before Christmas. You LOVE going to the new house and running around all the empty rooms and hiding in the closets.
Phew! It's been a busy year.
You, also have been very busy lately:
* You can pretty much carry on conversations now. From 18 months to 2 years you went from saying (a lot of) single words to putting words together to speaking in simple sentences to speaking in more complex sentences. It's been amazing to watch. When I pick you up from preschool, for example, I will ask what you did that day and you can actually tell me ("you played with toys, you sang the dinasaur song, you ate pretzels"). Everyone who interacts with you comments on how verbal you are and is surprised to learn how old you are. You still aren't clear on your pronouns (you say "you want mommy to hold you" or you want to drive in papa's car.") but you are getting better, actually using "I" and "me" sometimes. I feel super fortunate that you can talk so well - it really makes interacting with you more fun and interesting. And funny. You say things all day, every day that make me laugh. For example, lately when we're driving you will hold up whatever animal you have with you to the window and say "what do you see bunny?" Or "Do you see the trees bunny?"
* You have clear preferences and you make them known. You can tell us what you want to eat, what you want to do, where you want to go, who you want to play with etc. Last night I went into your room to cuddle you while you were sleeping. When I put you back in your crib and covered you with a blanket you (while being half asleep, with eyes closed) rubbed your hand on the blanket and then said "you want the soft one." When I put the other blanket on you, which apparently is the soft one, you rubbed your hand on it the same way and then, satisfied, rolled over and went back to sleep. You also want your apple "with skin" and a "warm bottle", not just a bottle. You want me to close any cabinets that are left open, close the microwave door if I leave it open etc. It cracks me up. And it also kind of explains why you were such a cranky baby - I'm sure you had all these opinions then of what you wanted or what you liked and just had no way of letting us know. I'm SO GLAD you can let us know now.
*You like to walk everywhere now and view having to go in the stroller as a punishment. You're actually pretty good at going where we need to go and listening to me when I need you to stand in one place or move to a new place. Although every once in awhile you will do the complete opposite with a huge smile on your face.
*You're developing a sense of humor. If I do something silly, like forget to put your bib on while you are eating you will say "silly mommy, you forgot the bib!" and you say it with the right intonation, like whatever I did is just the most hilarious thing in the whole world.
This year we were really able to see more and more of your personality come out. It has been so exciting for Papa and me to learn more about who you are and guess what you will be like in the future. I think the most surprising thing about parenting so far is realizing - through you - just how much of a personality people are born with. I have been thinking about yours for two years now and trying to come up with a list of words to describe you. It is impossible - you are obviously so much more than a collection of words - but if push comes to shove here are my top choices (with some help from Papa):
-goofy
-eager
-social
-dynamic
-independent
-quick
-intense
-curious
Oh, and you have an AMAZING memory.
Sweet Pea, there are not words to describe how much I love you. As I used to say to you when you were a baby: I love you to the moon, the stars and around the world five bazillion times! Happy Birthday baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Preschool
Sweet Pea,
Last week was a big week. You started TWO preschools! One is a "drop off" preschool that meets Tues/Thurs mornings for two hours. The other is a "Co-op" preschool that meets once a week and I go with you to that one.
It was kind of bitter sweet to drop you off the first day of drop-off preschool - I know you are ready for it, will enjoy it and will benefit greatly from doing some activities without me, but you're still my baby and it is weird to think about you going off into the world to have your own adventures. Of course, you loved it. You walked right in like you owned the place and didn't look back. Papa and I called you over to say good-bye and, even though you humored us, you were eager to run off and play some more. When I arrived to pick you up two hours later I rushed out of the car and into the door because other moms were already heading in and I didn't want you to think your mommy wasn't coming for you. But when I got into the room you just looked at me like "Oh, you're here" and went right back to playing! I expected this - you have always been an independent spirit - but I was both glad and sad to see it. You really are growing up so fast!
The co-op preschool is less traumatic for me because I go with you so it's really just like a big play date. You had so much fun there! Your favorite activity was using cookie cutters to make shapes in the play-dough, but you also loved pushing the grocery cart around with a baby doll in the seat and playing with the fake food. What surprised me the most was how excited you were to have me there. You would run off to play with something and then look back at me and say "you want mommy to come play with you" (which translates to "I want you to come play with me"). You were so excited that I was there to play with all the amazing, cool new toys with you. This was surprising given how fine you were with the drop off preschool. But I loved it of course!
I think the combo of the two different experiences will be great for both of us. Our weeks will be a bit more hectic and scheduled now, but we are both ready for it. I will miss you though. We have pretty much spent all day, every day together since you were born so this will be an adjustment. For me anyway!
Love you Nut!
Mommy
Last week was a big week. You started TWO preschools! One is a "drop off" preschool that meets Tues/Thurs mornings for two hours. The other is a "Co-op" preschool that meets once a week and I go with you to that one.
It was kind of bitter sweet to drop you off the first day of drop-off preschool - I know you are ready for it, will enjoy it and will benefit greatly from doing some activities without me, but you're still my baby and it is weird to think about you going off into the world to have your own adventures. Of course, you loved it. You walked right in like you owned the place and didn't look back. Papa and I called you over to say good-bye and, even though you humored us, you were eager to run off and play some more. When I arrived to pick you up two hours later I rushed out of the car and into the door because other moms were already heading in and I didn't want you to think your mommy wasn't coming for you. But when I got into the room you just looked at me like "Oh, you're here" and went right back to playing! I expected this - you have always been an independent spirit - but I was both glad and sad to see it. You really are growing up so fast!
The co-op preschool is less traumatic for me because I go with you so it's really just like a big play date. You had so much fun there! Your favorite activity was using cookie cutters to make shapes in the play-dough, but you also loved pushing the grocery cart around with a baby doll in the seat and playing with the fake food. What surprised me the most was how excited you were to have me there. You would run off to play with something and then look back at me and say "you want mommy to come play with you" (which translates to "I want you to come play with me"). You were so excited that I was there to play with all the amazing, cool new toys with you. This was surprising given how fine you were with the drop off preschool. But I loved it of course!
I think the combo of the two different experiences will be great for both of us. Our weeks will be a bit more hectic and scheduled now, but we are both ready for it. I will miss you though. We have pretty much spent all day, every day together since you were born so this will be an adjustment. For me anyway!
Love you Nut!
Mommy
Friday, May 8, 2009
18 Months
Sweet Pea,
Today you are 18 months old! It's hard to believe that it has only been 18 months since you've joined our family. Papa and I can barely even remember our lives without you - all that sleeping and eating out and traveling and being lazy on a Sunday morning and getting to do whatever we want whenever we want feels like a lifetime ago! And as much as we sometimes yearn for some of those things, we wouldn't go back to that lifetime for anything. Our lives are so much better with you in them - you have made us a family! So, I wanted to give you a little glimpse into your life at 18-months:
At 18 months you remain a very good sleeper. We have been lucky on this front - so thank you sweet pea! Although you do still kind of owe us one from when you were a newborn and refused to sleep at all for the first several weeks (or was it months?) of your life. But, pretty much since six months old you have been sleeping through the night and taking two very consistent and lengthy (1-2 hours, sometimes 3) naps a day, which I appreciate very much. While we were in Hawaii you made the dreaded switch to one nap a day and this has been somewhat of an adjustment for all of us. There are days when it is pretty clear that you need two naps but you refuse to take a second so we just tough it out. We're working out a schedule to maximize all of our happiness throughout the day. It's looking like we'll spend the morning out having fun and then have you take a nap in the afternoon. On this schedule you have sometimes even taken a 4+ hour nap in the afternoon!
I think all of the sleep you get has been doing good things for your brain development. At 18 months you are extremely verbal. I am very appreciative of this because you are often able to communicate your needs somewhat coherently. At you 18-month appointment we were given a little handout about an 18 month old's development that said you should have between 5-10 words. We felt like you had more than this so one day Papa and I decided to try to count all of your words. Each time you said something we wrote it down on a little scrap of paper. We only included words whose meaning you knew (since you repeat almost everything we say but don't necessarily know what it means). After we wrote them all down Papa typed it up and alphabetized it so we wouldn't count any words twice. Guess how many words were on the list?!? We stopped counting around 150 words! I actually think you have many more than this but we decided it would be too tedious to try to capture them all! Wow, you are one verbal baby. I have a feeling we are in for many conversations over the years and I couldn't be more excited about this!
The hard part for me about you only taking one nap is coming up with activities that keep you entertained for the now longer parts of the day when you are not asleep. You are extremely active and always eager to move onto the next activity. It's hard to separate what is developmental (toddlers have notoriously short attention spans) and what is your personality (you do, after all, have two parents who get bored very easily), but either way you keep us moving. And you let us know when we aren't doing a good job by getting very fussy. As much as you demand new activities frequently, you will play quite happily by yourself too. I love watching you talk to you toys or read a book by yourself. I need to get this on video for you to see someday!
Your favorite activities right now are "stickers" (taking stickers off of one piece of paper and putting them onto another), "markers" (thank goodness for washable markers!), sharing you food/bottles with Apple and Elmo, going to the park, playing in the sandbox, playing with the water table and walking (meaning going for a walk down the street where you walk on your own rather than in the stroller). We are working on getting you to hold our hand when we walk on the sidewalk. You do not like this very much at all.
You have always been fairly independent (by this I mean you have always preferred to sleep in your own bed to sleeping with us, you have been a quick and efficient nurser rather than a lingering/cuddly nurser, you gladly and easily walk into the center of a room where you know no one without looking back to see if Papa or I was with you etc) but lately you are going through a clingy mommy phase. On the one hand it is flattering. It means all of the effort I have put in to nurturing you and taking care of you has worked - you are bonded to me. On the other hand it does make leaving the house without you kind of difficult and somewhat traumatic for both of us. I've heard that this can come and go over the years so right now we're just in a wait and see pattern.
You are a pretty good eater at 18 months; not too adventurous but fairly healthy. You have loved avocados pretty much since you started eating solids and you also like green beans, bananas, carrots, cucumbers, raspberries, strawberries, pasta, cheese, yogurt, pizza from the Ballard Farmer's Market (where we go almost every Sunday), crepes with spinach and swiss, bagels and challah bread. You refuse to eat meat, blueberries and cantaloupe. We've started giving you chicken nuggets out of desperation to get you to eat some meat and you are starting to like them more. I feel like we need to get a bit more adventurous (ie, eating what we eat instead of making you a separate meal with your favorite foods) with what we give you so perhaps that is a project for the next few months...
So Sweet Pea, that is a little bit of you at 18 months. You are such a sweet, smart, driven, opinionated, goofy, great kid. We are so lucky to have you. Every night before Papa and I go to bed we usually end up talking about the silly things you did during the day and how great you are. We couldn't love you any more than we do!
Love,
Mommy
Today you are 18 months old! It's hard to believe that it has only been 18 months since you've joined our family. Papa and I can barely even remember our lives without you - all that sleeping and eating out and traveling and being lazy on a Sunday morning and getting to do whatever we want whenever we want feels like a lifetime ago! And as much as we sometimes yearn for some of those things, we wouldn't go back to that lifetime for anything. Our lives are so much better with you in them - you have made us a family! So, I wanted to give you a little glimpse into your life at 18-months:
At 18 months you remain a very good sleeper. We have been lucky on this front - so thank you sweet pea! Although you do still kind of owe us one from when you were a newborn and refused to sleep at all for the first several weeks (or was it months?) of your life. But, pretty much since six months old you have been sleeping through the night and taking two very consistent and lengthy (1-2 hours, sometimes 3) naps a day, which I appreciate very much. While we were in Hawaii you made the dreaded switch to one nap a day and this has been somewhat of an adjustment for all of us. There are days when it is pretty clear that you need two naps but you refuse to take a second so we just tough it out. We're working out a schedule to maximize all of our happiness throughout the day. It's looking like we'll spend the morning out having fun and then have you take a nap in the afternoon. On this schedule you have sometimes even taken a 4+ hour nap in the afternoon!
I think all of the sleep you get has been doing good things for your brain development. At 18 months you are extremely verbal. I am very appreciative of this because you are often able to communicate your needs somewhat coherently. At you 18-month appointment we were given a little handout about an 18 month old's development that said you should have between 5-10 words. We felt like you had more than this so one day Papa and I decided to try to count all of your words. Each time you said something we wrote it down on a little scrap of paper. We only included words whose meaning you knew (since you repeat almost everything we say but don't necessarily know what it means). After we wrote them all down Papa typed it up and alphabetized it so we wouldn't count any words twice. Guess how many words were on the list?!? We stopped counting around 150 words! I actually think you have many more than this but we decided it would be too tedious to try to capture them all! Wow, you are one verbal baby. I have a feeling we are in for many conversations over the years and I couldn't be more excited about this!
The hard part for me about you only taking one nap is coming up with activities that keep you entertained for the now longer parts of the day when you are not asleep. You are extremely active and always eager to move onto the next activity. It's hard to separate what is developmental (toddlers have notoriously short attention spans) and what is your personality (you do, after all, have two parents who get bored very easily), but either way you keep us moving. And you let us know when we aren't doing a good job by getting very fussy. As much as you demand new activities frequently, you will play quite happily by yourself too. I love watching you talk to you toys or read a book by yourself. I need to get this on video for you to see someday!
Your favorite activities right now are "stickers" (taking stickers off of one piece of paper and putting them onto another), "markers" (thank goodness for washable markers!), sharing you food/bottles with Apple and Elmo, going to the park, playing in the sandbox, playing with the water table and walking (meaning going for a walk down the street where you walk on your own rather than in the stroller). We are working on getting you to hold our hand when we walk on the sidewalk. You do not like this very much at all.
You have always been fairly independent (by this I mean you have always preferred to sleep in your own bed to sleeping with us, you have been a quick and efficient nurser rather than a lingering/cuddly nurser, you gladly and easily walk into the center of a room where you know no one without looking back to see if Papa or I was with you etc) but lately you are going through a clingy mommy phase. On the one hand it is flattering. It means all of the effort I have put in to nurturing you and taking care of you has worked - you are bonded to me. On the other hand it does make leaving the house without you kind of difficult and somewhat traumatic for both of us. I've heard that this can come and go over the years so right now we're just in a wait and see pattern.
You are a pretty good eater at 18 months; not too adventurous but fairly healthy. You have loved avocados pretty much since you started eating solids and you also like green beans, bananas, carrots, cucumbers, raspberries, strawberries, pasta, cheese, yogurt, pizza from the Ballard Farmer's Market (where we go almost every Sunday), crepes with spinach and swiss, bagels and challah bread. You refuse to eat meat, blueberries and cantaloupe. We've started giving you chicken nuggets out of desperation to get you to eat some meat and you are starting to like them more. I feel like we need to get a bit more adventurous (ie, eating what we eat instead of making you a separate meal with your favorite foods) with what we give you so perhaps that is a project for the next few months...
So Sweet Pea, that is a little bit of you at 18 months. You are such a sweet, smart, driven, opinionated, goofy, great kid. We are so lucky to have you. Every night before Papa and I go to bed we usually end up talking about the silly things you did during the day and how great you are. We couldn't love you any more than we do!
Love,
Mommy
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
ABCs
Sweet Pea,
When Grandpa was here right after we got home from Hawaii, he started to teach you the ABCs using a set of stacking blocks that have the letters of the alphabet on them. You really enjoyed thi and since then whenever you want to play with those blocks you start saying "ABCs, ABCs!" Now you know "A, B, C, D" and sometimes you even keep going to E and F. And if Papa or I keep singing to you, you can say the letter that comes next in the series. So if we say "a, b, c, d, e, f..." you say "g!" You can do this for g, p, v and z. It is so cute and every time you do it Papa and I swear you are a genius! Our little alphabet genius!
Mommy
When Grandpa was here right after we got home from Hawaii, he started to teach you the ABCs using a set of stacking blocks that have the letters of the alphabet on them. You really enjoyed thi and since then whenever you want to play with those blocks you start saying "ABCs, ABCs!" Now you know "A, B, C, D" and sometimes you even keep going to E and F. And if Papa or I keep singing to you, you can say the letter that comes next in the series. So if we say "a, b, c, d, e, f..." you say "g!" You can do this for g, p, v and z. It is so cute and every time you do it Papa and I swear you are a genius! Our little alphabet genius!
Mommy
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Combining Words
Sweet Pea,
This week you have started combining words, which apparently is something that about 25% of toddlers your age are able to do. Your favorite words to combine? Apple peepee! Which you say every morning when Papa takes Apple out to go to the bathroom. We are so proud.
Mommy
This week you have started combining words, which apparently is something that about 25% of toddlers your age are able to do. Your favorite words to combine? Apple peepee! Which you say every morning when Papa takes Apple out to go to the bathroom. We are so proud.
Mommy
Friday, March 27, 2009
New Words (while in Hawaii)
Sweet Pea,
Mommy is really getting behind in this blog! I am going to try to be better about posting more updates going forward - so much is happening and you are learning and changing every day! Right now we are in Hawaii for a month (yes!) and I will write more about that, complete with pictures, later. But for now I wanted to post about some of the great things you are doing and saying!
You pretty much say anything we ask you to and many things we don't ask you to. Some of my favorites (which obviously reflect our location at the moment): Hawaii, Honolulu, Waikiki, Aloha, Mahalo, big house ("be how" which is what we're calling the house we rented while in Hawaii) and tunnel (b/c we drive thru a tunnel or two to get from one side of the island to the other). I love that you learned the word tunnel, which you will likely use on a somewhat regular basis for the rest of your life, while in Hawaii! In addition you know how to say the names of our friends with us in Hawaii: Ethan, Nicole, Paia, Carolyn, Casey, Emily and Patrick.
You also have been learning the names for objects that I haven't "taught" you to say. With Honolulu for example, I would say "Sweet Pea, can you say Honolulu?" And then you repeat Honolulu (which is pretty adorable). But some words you have learned without me asking you to repeat them. These include: shower, soap, coffee, pants, diaper, telephone, tv, and boobie, among many, many others. This is the part of your talking that amazes me the most as you have just picked them up in passing. Amazing!
Also, we can't forget my all time favorite: mommy! You finally say "mommy" to mean me. For a while now you have said all kinds of m and n sounds put together to mean me (or more likely to mean "milk" which is pretty much what you thought of me), but on this trip you finally started saying mommy when you want me. I love the way you say it too! So cute. And the other day when you woke up in the morning, instead of crying or fussing or babbling, you said "mommy, mommy" to get me to come get you. As Papa said, he's never seen me jump out of the bed so fast! Currently "mommy" is your favorite word. All day long you say "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy"! I like it.
I love you baby girl!
Mommy
Mommy is really getting behind in this blog! I am going to try to be better about posting more updates going forward - so much is happening and you are learning and changing every day! Right now we are in Hawaii for a month (yes!) and I will write more about that, complete with pictures, later. But for now I wanted to post about some of the great things you are doing and saying!
You pretty much say anything we ask you to and many things we don't ask you to. Some of my favorites (which obviously reflect our location at the moment): Hawaii, Honolulu, Waikiki, Aloha, Mahalo, big house ("be how" which is what we're calling the house we rented while in Hawaii) and tunnel (b/c we drive thru a tunnel or two to get from one side of the island to the other). I love that you learned the word tunnel, which you will likely use on a somewhat regular basis for the rest of your life, while in Hawaii! In addition you know how to say the names of our friends with us in Hawaii: Ethan, Nicole, Paia, Carolyn, Casey, Emily and Patrick.
You also have been learning the names for objects that I haven't "taught" you to say. With Honolulu for example, I would say "Sweet Pea, can you say Honolulu?" And then you repeat Honolulu (which is pretty adorable). But some words you have learned without me asking you to repeat them. These include: shower, soap, coffee, pants, diaper, telephone, tv, and boobie, among many, many others. This is the part of your talking that amazes me the most as you have just picked them up in passing. Amazing!
Also, we can't forget my all time favorite: mommy! You finally say "mommy" to mean me. For a while now you have said all kinds of m and n sounds put together to mean me (or more likely to mean "milk" which is pretty much what you thought of me), but on this trip you finally started saying mommy when you want me. I love the way you say it too! So cute. And the other day when you woke up in the morning, instead of crying or fussing or babbling, you said "mommy, mommy" to get me to come get you. As Papa said, he's never seen me jump out of the bed so fast! Currently "mommy" is your favorite word. All day long you say "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy"! I like it.
I love you baby girl!
Mommy
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sweet Pea,
For a few months now you have been pointing at things that are "no nos" (diaper champ, Apple's food bowl, the toilet) and going "no no no no no no," which of course I think is hilarious. And I always say "that's right, that is a no no." But I wasn't sure if you really knew what "no" meant or if you thought those things were called "no no no no" like a ball is called a ball. But then the other day I asked you if you wanted some banana and you said "no." Simple as that. Then I asked if you wanted some water. No. What about some cheese? More more more more, you said. So then I knew. You knew what "no" meant and you were already very good at using it! I am sure this will quickly become frustrating, but for now I think it is the cutest thing ever and will ask you if you want a bunch of different things just to hear you say your cute little "no."
For a few months now you have been pointing at things that are "no nos" (diaper champ, Apple's food bowl, the toilet) and going "no no no no no no," which of course I think is hilarious. And I always say "that's right, that is a no no." But I wasn't sure if you really knew what "no" meant or if you thought those things were called "no no no no" like a ball is called a ball. But then the other day I asked you if you wanted some banana and you said "no." Simple as that. Then I asked if you wanted some water. No. What about some cheese? More more more more, you said. So then I knew. You knew what "no" meant and you were already very good at using it! I am sure this will quickly become frustrating, but for now I think it is the cutest thing ever and will ask you if you want a bunch of different things just to hear you say your cute little "no."
Monday, November 3, 2008
My Perfect Baby
Sweet Pea,
Every night I nurse you around 10:30 or 11pm. You've already been asleep since 7:30 and really don't need to eat then in order to sleep through the night, but you DO nurse really well and you are so cute and snuggly after that I just can't quite bring myself to give up this feeding yet. As you fall asleep in my arms I whisper to you that you are my perfect, perfect baby. And then, every night, I wonder whether I'll regret this someday when you are doing something that isn't perfect. I hear your "terrible twos" voice already: "But Mo-OM you said I was perfect. So why do I have to say please, clean up my toys, eat my veggies, brush my teeth etc" But then I decide that even though your behavior or choices might not always be perfect, you will still always be my perfect, perfect baby...and I will always love you no matter what.
Mommy
Every night I nurse you around 10:30 or 11pm. You've already been asleep since 7:30 and really don't need to eat then in order to sleep through the night, but you DO nurse really well and you are so cute and snuggly after that I just can't quite bring myself to give up this feeding yet. As you fall asleep in my arms I whisper to you that you are my perfect, perfect baby. And then, every night, I wonder whether I'll regret this someday when you are doing something that isn't perfect. I hear your "terrible twos" voice already: "But Mo-OM you said I was perfect. So why do I have to say please, clean up my toys, eat my veggies, brush my teeth etc" But then I decide that even though your behavior or choices might not always be perfect, you will still always be my perfect, perfect baby...and I will always love you no matter what.
Mommy
Monday, October 20, 2008
September
Sweet Pea,
Here it is almost the end of October and I still haven't posted about our exciting September - so here it goes!
First and foremost, last month you met your cousin Joaquin! Auntie Rachel, Joaquin and Juan came out from NYC so you and Joaquin could hang out for the first of hopefully many, many times. Joaquin was 7 months at the time and was scooting around on his belly like you used to do - so cute! I was afraid that you might get cocky because you were older and beat up on him (read: crawl all over him, poke him in the face etc) but you were pretty well behaved. We had many fun outings with the fam - walking to the bakery, going to the zoo, and playing at the park. The adults especially liked it when we put you and Joaquin in the baby swing back to back so you guys could swing together. Not sure how you two felt about it! Anyway, we are very lucky that they came out to visit us and hope to see them again soon!
Also in September we rented a little cabin on Orcas Island for a long weekend - and we took Apple with us! This was by far our best trip as a family so far. Mostly because you went to sleep easily and stayed asleep for the duration every night. Thus we were able to enjoy our daytime activities instead of walking around like zombies. I'm hoping that your better sleeping was because you are old enough now to draw security from the fact that Papa and I are there even though it's a new environment. Maybe it was because Apple was with us...Anyway, we had perfect weather and a very relaxing, fun trip. Here are some pictures from the weekend:
Your first ferry ride:
Your hair is finally long enough to blow in the wind:
Enjoying the sun:
Here it is almost the end of October and I still haven't posted about our exciting September - so here it goes!
First and foremost, last month you met your cousin Joaquin! Auntie Rachel, Joaquin and Juan came out from NYC so you and Joaquin could hang out for the first of hopefully many, many times. Joaquin was 7 months at the time and was scooting around on his belly like you used to do - so cute! I was afraid that you might get cocky because you were older and beat up on him (read: crawl all over him, poke him in the face etc) but you were pretty well behaved. We had many fun outings with the fam - walking to the bakery, going to the zoo, and playing at the park. The adults especially liked it when we put you and Joaquin in the baby swing back to back so you guys could swing together. Not sure how you two felt about it! Anyway, we are very lucky that they came out to visit us and hope to see them again soon!
Also in September we rented a little cabin on Orcas Island for a long weekend - and we took Apple with us! This was by far our best trip as a family so far. Mostly because you went to sleep easily and stayed asleep for the duration every night. Thus we were able to enjoy our daytime activities instead of walking around like zombies. I'm hoping that your better sleeping was because you are old enough now to draw security from the fact that Papa and I are there even though it's a new environment. Maybe it was because Apple was with us...Anyway, we had perfect weather and a very relaxing, fun trip. Here are some pictures from the weekend:
Your first ferry ride:
Your hair is finally long enough to blow in the wind:
Enjoying the sun:
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Good Job, Stinky!
Sweet Pea,
You have developed two adorable new skills lately: clapping and saying "stinky". Last week you learned to clap. Now, every time I say "yay" or "good job" you stop what you are doing, look at me with a big smile and start clapping your hands. And when we are doing something you like (singing, dancing etc) you start spontaneously clapping your hands. You look so proud of yourself every time you do it. You're still trying to figure out how to clap while standing though. You had just been plopping yourself down and then clapping if the need to clap struck you while standing, but now you're trying your hardest to do the stand and clap - to varying degrees of success. So cute.
Also, I'm not sure how or why this started, but Papa and I have been saying "stinky" in a loud, drawn out way lately. As in, "Ewww, your diaper is STINKYYYYYYYYYY." We make a stinky face (wrinkled up nose) for dramatic effect. This almost always guarantees smiles and laughter from you. Then one day you started saying it back and cracking yourself up. Except you say "KINKYYYYY...." Which cracks us up.
How did you get to be so cute?
You have developed two adorable new skills lately: clapping and saying "stinky". Last week you learned to clap. Now, every time I say "yay" or "good job" you stop what you are doing, look at me with a big smile and start clapping your hands. And when we are doing something you like (singing, dancing etc) you start spontaneously clapping your hands. You look so proud of yourself every time you do it. You're still trying to figure out how to clap while standing though. You had just been plopping yourself down and then clapping if the need to clap struck you while standing, but now you're trying your hardest to do the stand and clap - to varying degrees of success. So cute.
Also, I'm not sure how or why this started, but Papa and I have been saying "stinky" in a loud, drawn out way lately. As in, "Ewww, your diaper is STINKYYYYYYYYYY." We make a stinky face (wrinkled up nose) for dramatic effect. This almost always guarantees smiles and laughter from you. Then one day you started saying it back and cracking yourself up. Except you say "KINKYYYYY...." Which cracks us up.
How did you get to be so cute?
Where's Mommy?
Sweet Pea,
Pretty much since you were born Ive played this little game with you where I point to me and say "Mommy" and then point to you and say "Elizabeth." You always smile when I do this for some reason. But lately I've decided to change it up and I've been asking you "Where's Mommy?" And over this past week you've started pointing to me when I ask this! The first time you did it, Papa and I nearly fell off the couch with shock. We, of course, think that your ability to do this means you are absolutely beyond brilliant.
Then yesterday while we were looking at the pictures on the wall in the hallway (which you like to do every time we leave your room) I decided to throw you a curveball: I asked where Mommy was, curious if you would understand that I was in some of the pictures. Sure enough, you pointed to me in each of the pictures! This must mean you're a genius, right?
Either way, it just melts my heart that after all this time, you finally know that I'm Mommy...
Pretty much since you were born Ive played this little game with you where I point to me and say "Mommy" and then point to you and say "Elizabeth." You always smile when I do this for some reason. But lately I've decided to change it up and I've been asking you "Where's Mommy?" And over this past week you've started pointing to me when I ask this! The first time you did it, Papa and I nearly fell off the couch with shock. We, of course, think that your ability to do this means you are absolutely beyond brilliant.
Then yesterday while we were looking at the pictures on the wall in the hallway (which you like to do every time we leave your room) I decided to throw you a curveball: I asked where Mommy was, curious if you would understand that I was in some of the pictures. Sure enough, you pointed to me in each of the pictures! This must mean you're a genius, right?
Either way, it just melts my heart that after all this time, you finally know that I'm Mommy...
Friday, September 5, 2008
Growing Up
Sweet Pea,
You are growing up so fast, I just can't believe it. Earlier this week was the first day of school in Seattle and it seems like all of the mom blogs I read had a post about their "babies" starting kindergarten. They all talked about how fast the time had flown and I teared up thinking about you going off to kindergarten some day.
Anyway, in that vain, I want to write down some of the super cute things you've been doing lately so I don't forget them:
*Yesterday (Sept 4) you began clearly signing for milk (or milky as we call it).
*Every night I go into nurse you at 10:30ish. I don't really think you need to eat at this time (in fact, I'm pretty sure you don't), but I just love how cuddly and snuggly you are. You hardly nurse during the rest of the day - you're kind of like "suck, suck, suck, okay now let me down right this moment because I have some very serious playing to take care of." But at night, you nurse well, kind of in a half sleep, and then I pop in your paci and hold you in my arms while you sleep curled up on me. It is one of my favorite moments of every day.
*You always cross your feet when you are in your booster seat where you eat. This is so cute to me, so ladylike.
*We've started singing you a few songs before putting you to bed and you seem to really like this. We sing "Goodnight Elizabeth," "You are my Sunshine," or sometimes even the ABCs. You put your head down on my shoulder or papa's should and cuddle up. We love it!
*You LOVE the cats - even though they spend all day outside because we can't trust them near you. Whenever we walk out to the car and you see them you squeal with delight. You also squeal when you hear them meow downstairs when papa feeds them in the morning.
*You like to "dance" to the ABCs. We recently gave you this little table-type thing that makes noise when you press buttons, slide levers etc. And whenever you make it sing the ABCs you look to me or papa and excitedly waiting for us to sing and dance. Then you put one arm in the air (b/c you are still using the other one to hold on to the table) and waive it around. So cute.
*You love bath time. Most often papa gives you a bath - while I scurry around trying to do laundry, put clothes away and generally clean up - and he reads you this book called "Little Quacks." He also drips water or bubbles from his hands and you love it! I think bath time is one of your favorite times of the day. Of course when we take you out you get really pissed b/c you know it is almost time to go to bed and you HATE bed time - you have so much more playing to do!
*While you nurse you put one hand on your head and open and close your hand over and over, feeling your short little hair. You also do this when you are about to fall asleep. I guess it is comforting to you and I always wonder if you will keep doing this as you get older.
I'm sure I'll add to this list over time, or do similar posts - because time is flying, and you are just the cutest ever!
You are growing up so fast, I just can't believe it. Earlier this week was the first day of school in Seattle and it seems like all of the mom blogs I read had a post about their "babies" starting kindergarten. They all talked about how fast the time had flown and I teared up thinking about you going off to kindergarten some day.
Anyway, in that vain, I want to write down some of the super cute things you've been doing lately so I don't forget them:
*Yesterday (Sept 4) you began clearly signing for milk (or milky as we call it).
*Every night I go into nurse you at 10:30ish. I don't really think you need to eat at this time (in fact, I'm pretty sure you don't), but I just love how cuddly and snuggly you are. You hardly nurse during the rest of the day - you're kind of like "suck, suck, suck, okay now let me down right this moment because I have some very serious playing to take care of." But at night, you nurse well, kind of in a half sleep, and then I pop in your paci and hold you in my arms while you sleep curled up on me. It is one of my favorite moments of every day.
*You always cross your feet when you are in your booster seat where you eat. This is so cute to me, so ladylike.
*We've started singing you a few songs before putting you to bed and you seem to really like this. We sing "Goodnight Elizabeth," "You are my Sunshine," or sometimes even the ABCs. You put your head down on my shoulder or papa's should and cuddle up. We love it!
*You LOVE the cats - even though they spend all day outside because we can't trust them near you. Whenever we walk out to the car and you see them you squeal with delight. You also squeal when you hear them meow downstairs when papa feeds them in the morning.
*You like to "dance" to the ABCs. We recently gave you this little table-type thing that makes noise when you press buttons, slide levers etc. And whenever you make it sing the ABCs you look to me or papa and excitedly waiting for us to sing and dance. Then you put one arm in the air (b/c you are still using the other one to hold on to the table) and waive it around. So cute.
*You love bath time. Most often papa gives you a bath - while I scurry around trying to do laundry, put clothes away and generally clean up - and he reads you this book called "Little Quacks." He also drips water or bubbles from his hands and you love it! I think bath time is one of your favorite times of the day. Of course when we take you out you get really pissed b/c you know it is almost time to go to bed and you HATE bed time - you have so much more playing to do!
*While you nurse you put one hand on your head and open and close your hand over and over, feeling your short little hair. You also do this when you are about to fall asleep. I guess it is comforting to you and I always wonder if you will keep doing this as you get older.
I'm sure I'll add to this list over time, or do similar posts - because time is flying, and you are just the cutest ever!
A Quiet August
Sweet Pea,
August was a fairly quiet month, which was a relief after our busy July. We spent our time going on walks, playing at the park and hiking with friends. It was so nice to have time together as a family to just enjoy life (and the nice weather)! Here are some photos from the month:
Hiking Denny Creek with Ben, Tammy, Hannah, Ethan, Nicole and Paia:
Hanging out outside in the play yard:
Reading with Hannah:
Your first busted lip:
You seem to like Obama as much Mommy does:
Papa's got skills:
August was a fairly quiet month, which was a relief after our busy July. We spent our time going on walks, playing at the park and hiking with friends. It was so nice to have time together as a family to just enjoy life (and the nice weather)! Here are some photos from the month:
Hiking Denny Creek with Ben, Tammy, Hannah, Ethan, Nicole and Paia:
Hanging out outside in the play yard:
Reading with Hannah:
Your first busted lip:
You seem to like Obama as much Mommy does:
Papa's got skills:
Saturday, August 9, 2008
First Teeth/First Virus
Sweet Pea,
You got your first tooth! Well, actually, you got your first THREE teeth - all in one week. And what a week it was, especially because you got your first virus the same week! It was a rough one for all of us and left me feeling a bit frazzled about my mommy skills. I have a feeling I'll be getting better at this because everyone says kids get sick a lot the first few years, but I really don't like it when you're not feeling well and I can't figure out how to make you feel better. Anyway, the week was traumatic enough for me that I needed to write it all down so here's a rundown of the fun:
I noticed your cute little tooth - your top left one - poking through on Sunday morning (July 27th) and I was so excited that you were finally getting some teeth! That evening you were pretty fussy so we took you to the park to swing thinking this would make you happy. But you really had no interest and just wanted me to hold you - which should have been my first clue that something was off. I thought you might feel a bit warm, but couldn't really tell (your cheeks were okay, but your trunk felt hot). I figured you might have a bit of a fever and be feeling fussy from teething so we put you to bed a little earlier than normal. When we put you in your crib you didn't make a sound and then you didn't even roll over to watch us leave your room like you usually do. Papa said "she seems relieved to be going to bed." Again, I chalked it up to teething.
But then when I went in for your 10:30p feeding you were burning up. Your little hands were on fire. And you seemed listless. It was so sad. We gave you some Tylenol and then I brought you to bed with us so I could keep an eye on you. You couldn't figure out what you were doing in our bed. You would kind of lift your head up, look at me quizzically and then plop your head back down. Then you'd lift it again, look at Papa, plop it down again. I really wanted you to sleep with us but it didn't seem like it was going to happen, so Papa got up and put together the Pak-n-play in our room. I thought this might work, but then I think the Tylenol kicked in and you started to feel better and then you were VERY awake. Basically from that point until 4am you and I moved back and forth between your room and my room trying everything to get you to sleep. Papa slept on the floor of the office in his sleeping bag with earplugs because he had to go to work in the morning. I was happy to sit in the rocking chair all night and let you sleep on me if you wanted, but you just wouldn't go to sleep even though you were clearly very tired and wanted to sleep. Eventually I put you in your crib and went back to my room alone. You cried and it broke my heart. But I knew you needed to sleep and unfortunately (well, most of the time it is a "fortunately" but in some circumstances it is an "unfortunately") we've trained you to fall asleep on your own in your crib and you don't seem to be able to fall asleep in any other circumstance. If you know I'm around you think it is awake/play time no matter how tired you are.
Anyway, you eventually fell asleep, but then had a fever on and off for the next three or four days and continued to be very fussy. You would be especially fussy with me which was hard, because as your mom I wanted to be able comfort you. I didn't understand why you'd be mostly okay with Grandma or Papa or Amy and then get so upset whenever you saw me. Grandma told me it was because you felt comfortable with me so you could really let your guard down. I wasn't sure what was going on: if it was teething or if maybe you were starting to go through some kind of separation anxiety (which apparently is common at your age) or if you were overwhelmed by the constant stream of company we'd had for two weeks or if maybe you had picked up some bug. I talked to the nurse at Dr. M's office on Tuesday who assured me that babies can get fever when teething so I decided to just ride it out for a few days rather than drag you into the docs office. Then on Thursday night you developed a rash. I called the after hours on-call nurse who said it could be a food reaction (I had given you formula for the first time that evening thinking that maybe you were fussing because you were starving and my milk supply was low) or that since you'd had a fever during the week the rash could be viral. Friday I couldn't stand not knowing what was going on any longer so we took you to Dr. M who took one look at your rash and said "Oh yea, that is from a virus." Apparently there is some fever/rash virus going around that causes a really bad headache and sore throat.
I felt so bad for not figuring out sooner that you really were sick - what kind of mother doesn't know when her kid is sick? Seriously. Grandma tried to make me feel better by pointing out that you were probably feeling bad from everything all together - illness, teething, company, separation anxiety - and that I wouldn't have done anything differently anyway. But still, I'd like to think that I'd be able to differentiate between teething and illness. Next time, Sweet Pea, I promise to be more on it.
Anyway, you were doing much better by the next Sunday thankfully and now things are back to normal. Your next two teeth (bottom right and top right) started poking through soon after and you really didn't seem bothered by them at all. I'm just so happy that you're feeling better and back to your normal, happy, content self. I hate getting sick more than almost anyone I know, but hands down I would rather get sick myself any day of the week than have you get sick. I guess I'll have to get used to it over time, but I'm not going to like it!
You got your first tooth! Well, actually, you got your first THREE teeth - all in one week. And what a week it was, especially because you got your first virus the same week! It was a rough one for all of us and left me feeling a bit frazzled about my mommy skills. I have a feeling I'll be getting better at this because everyone says kids get sick a lot the first few years, but I really don't like it when you're not feeling well and I can't figure out how to make you feel better. Anyway, the week was traumatic enough for me that I needed to write it all down so here's a rundown of the fun:
I noticed your cute little tooth - your top left one - poking through on Sunday morning (July 27th) and I was so excited that you were finally getting some teeth! That evening you were pretty fussy so we took you to the park to swing thinking this would make you happy. But you really had no interest and just wanted me to hold you - which should have been my first clue that something was off. I thought you might feel a bit warm, but couldn't really tell (your cheeks were okay, but your trunk felt hot). I figured you might have a bit of a fever and be feeling fussy from teething so we put you to bed a little earlier than normal. When we put you in your crib you didn't make a sound and then you didn't even roll over to watch us leave your room like you usually do. Papa said "she seems relieved to be going to bed." Again, I chalked it up to teething.
But then when I went in for your 10:30p feeding you were burning up. Your little hands were on fire. And you seemed listless. It was so sad. We gave you some Tylenol and then I brought you to bed with us so I could keep an eye on you. You couldn't figure out what you were doing in our bed. You would kind of lift your head up, look at me quizzically and then plop your head back down. Then you'd lift it again, look at Papa, plop it down again. I really wanted you to sleep with us but it didn't seem like it was going to happen, so Papa got up and put together the Pak-n-play in our room. I thought this might work, but then I think the Tylenol kicked in and you started to feel better and then you were VERY awake. Basically from that point until 4am you and I moved back and forth between your room and my room trying everything to get you to sleep. Papa slept on the floor of the office in his sleeping bag with earplugs because he had to go to work in the morning. I was happy to sit in the rocking chair all night and let you sleep on me if you wanted, but you just wouldn't go to sleep even though you were clearly very tired and wanted to sleep. Eventually I put you in your crib and went back to my room alone. You cried and it broke my heart. But I knew you needed to sleep and unfortunately (well, most of the time it is a "fortunately" but in some circumstances it is an "unfortunately") we've trained you to fall asleep on your own in your crib and you don't seem to be able to fall asleep in any other circumstance. If you know I'm around you think it is awake/play time no matter how tired you are.
Anyway, you eventually fell asleep, but then had a fever on and off for the next three or four days and continued to be very fussy. You would be especially fussy with me which was hard, because as your mom I wanted to be able comfort you. I didn't understand why you'd be mostly okay with Grandma or Papa or Amy and then get so upset whenever you saw me. Grandma told me it was because you felt comfortable with me so you could really let your guard down. I wasn't sure what was going on: if it was teething or if maybe you were starting to go through some kind of separation anxiety (which apparently is common at your age) or if you were overwhelmed by the constant stream of company we'd had for two weeks or if maybe you had picked up some bug. I talked to the nurse at Dr. M's office on Tuesday who assured me that babies can get fever when teething so I decided to just ride it out for a few days rather than drag you into the docs office. Then on Thursday night you developed a rash. I called the after hours on-call nurse who said it could be a food reaction (I had given you formula for the first time that evening thinking that maybe you were fussing because you were starving and my milk supply was low) or that since you'd had a fever during the week the rash could be viral. Friday I couldn't stand not knowing what was going on any longer so we took you to Dr. M who took one look at your rash and said "Oh yea, that is from a virus." Apparently there is some fever/rash virus going around that causes a really bad headache and sore throat.
I felt so bad for not figuring out sooner that you really were sick - what kind of mother doesn't know when her kid is sick? Seriously. Grandma tried to make me feel better by pointing out that you were probably feeling bad from everything all together - illness, teething, company, separation anxiety - and that I wouldn't have done anything differently anyway. But still, I'd like to think that I'd be able to differentiate between teething and illness. Next time, Sweet Pea, I promise to be more on it.
Anyway, you were doing much better by the next Sunday thankfully and now things are back to normal. Your next two teeth (bottom right and top right) started poking through soon after and you really didn't seem bothered by them at all. I'm just so happy that you're feeling better and back to your normal, happy, content self. I hate getting sick more than almost anyone I know, but hands down I would rather get sick myself any day of the week than have you get sick. I guess I'll have to get used to it over time, but I'm not going to like it!
Lots of Visitors
Sweet Pea,
The second half of July was filled with visitors: Papa's friend Jonathan, Gigi and Zadie and then Grandma and Grandpa. We had a lot of fun with all of them and appreciate them coming from all over to visit with you. Here are some pics of the fun:
Jonathan brought you some great board books and you loved having him read to you. I especially like Sheep in a Jeep. He also helped feed you dinner. He has two kids of his own so he is a pro:
Next, Gigi and Zadie came to visit. You LOVED seeing them! Your face lit up as soon as you saw them walk through the door. We enjoyed lots of good food, good conversations and a really nice long walk all over Queen Anne. We are so lucky they made the journey out to the west coast to see us:
Finally, Grandma and Grandpa came back to town. We had a lot of fun with them, but unfortunately you got your first illness - and your first three teeth - while they were here (see next post). We still managed to have fun and luckily Grandma and Grandpa were able to distract you a bit from being sick and help make you feel better:
The second half of July was filled with visitors: Papa's friend Jonathan, Gigi and Zadie and then Grandma and Grandpa. We had a lot of fun with all of them and appreciate them coming from all over to visit with you. Here are some pics of the fun:
Jonathan brought you some great board books and you loved having him read to you. I especially like Sheep in a Jeep. He also helped feed you dinner. He has two kids of his own so he is a pro:
Next, Gigi and Zadie came to visit. You LOVED seeing them! Your face lit up as soon as you saw them walk through the door. We enjoyed lots of good food, good conversations and a really nice long walk all over Queen Anne. We are so lucky they made the journey out to the west coast to see us:
Finally, Grandma and Grandpa came back to town. We had a lot of fun with them, but unfortunately you got your first illness - and your first three teeth - while they were here (see next post). We still managed to have fun and luckily Grandma and Grandpa were able to distract you a bit from being sick and help make you feel better:
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
8 Months/Vancouver/Rainier
Sweet Pea,
So far July has been another busy month. On July 8th you turned 8 months old. When you were first born I would look at other moms/babies and the babies that were as big as you are now seemed HUGE and so advanced (and the mothers seemed to have everything all figured out). And now here we are - you are one of those big babies and I've definitely gotten at least a few more mommy things figured out. Go us!
Right before you turned 8 months, you went international! For the July 4th weekend we went with Ben, Tammy and Hannah to Vancouver, BC so you spent your first Independence Day in Canada. We'll have to make sure you get to see some good ole' American fireworks next year! Overall the trip went well and was a ton of fun, with just a few hiccups the first day. For most of the drive you slept peacefully, but once we left Bellingham you pretty much screamed the rest of the way. I don't blame you because it's hard to sit still for that long, but boy was it hard for me to just sit there and listen and not be able to do anything about it. You were also not too happy sleeping the first night, I think because it was a new environment, a new crib etc. I felt so bad for you. Unfortunately we weren't able to comfort you by having you sleep with us because you're not used to it so if we put you in the bed with us you think it is time to wake up and play. But after a bit of a rough start the rest of the weekend went really well. It was so fun to show you one of our favorite cities, and very fun to experience it with Ben, Tammy and Hannah. I look forward to many trips there with you over the years. Here are some pics from the weekend:
On the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge:
Hanging out on the waterfront:
At one of my favorite Vancouver restaurants, Gyoza King:
Having fun swinging:
Going for a ride:
We stopped at Elizabeth Park in Bellingham so you could stretch your legs before the long ride back to Seattle:
A few days after we got home from Vancouver we packed up again and headed to Mt. Rainier for another long weekend. We stayed in an awesome, but very un-babyproofed cabin right outside the entrance to the national park. Again, the first night was rough for you, and thus, us. We talked seriously about trying to have you sleep in the bed with us one night a week so that when we go on vacation we can have you sleep with us the first night and hopefully not freak out as much. But, after the first day you were happy again. We did lots of hiking and exploring. You LOVED being outside. You were mesmerized by the trees and the rivers. It was so fun for us to watch you watching nature. Here are some pics from this trip:
Hiking from Paradise, the trail still covered in snow:
Exploring nature:
Trying out a shower instead of your usual bath:
Crossing the Nisqually River:
Hiking in the Grove of the Patriarchs:
Crossing the Ohanapecosh:
Learning from a park ranger:
Dipping your feet in the Ohanapecosh:
So far July has been another busy month. On July 8th you turned 8 months old. When you were first born I would look at other moms/babies and the babies that were as big as you are now seemed HUGE and so advanced (and the mothers seemed to have everything all figured out). And now here we are - you are one of those big babies and I've definitely gotten at least a few more mommy things figured out. Go us!
Right before you turned 8 months, you went international! For the July 4th weekend we went with Ben, Tammy and Hannah to Vancouver, BC so you spent your first Independence Day in Canada. We'll have to make sure you get to see some good ole' American fireworks next year! Overall the trip went well and was a ton of fun, with just a few hiccups the first day. For most of the drive you slept peacefully, but once we left Bellingham you pretty much screamed the rest of the way. I don't blame you because it's hard to sit still for that long, but boy was it hard for me to just sit there and listen and not be able to do anything about it. You were also not too happy sleeping the first night, I think because it was a new environment, a new crib etc. I felt so bad for you. Unfortunately we weren't able to comfort you by having you sleep with us because you're not used to it so if we put you in the bed with us you think it is time to wake up and play. But after a bit of a rough start the rest of the weekend went really well. It was so fun to show you one of our favorite cities, and very fun to experience it with Ben, Tammy and Hannah. I look forward to many trips there with you over the years. Here are some pics from the weekend:
On the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge:
Hanging out on the waterfront:
At one of my favorite Vancouver restaurants, Gyoza King:
Having fun swinging:
Going for a ride:
We stopped at Elizabeth Park in Bellingham so you could stretch your legs before the long ride back to Seattle:
A few days after we got home from Vancouver we packed up again and headed to Mt. Rainier for another long weekend. We stayed in an awesome, but very un-babyproofed cabin right outside the entrance to the national park. Again, the first night was rough for you, and thus, us. We talked seriously about trying to have you sleep in the bed with us one night a week so that when we go on vacation we can have you sleep with us the first night and hopefully not freak out as much. But, after the first day you were happy again. We did lots of hiking and exploring. You LOVED being outside. You were mesmerized by the trees and the rivers. It was so fun for us to watch you watching nature. Here are some pics from this trip:
Hiking from Paradise, the trail still covered in snow:
Exploring nature:
Trying out a shower instead of your usual bath:
Crossing the Nisqually River:
Hiking in the Grove of the Patriarchs:
Crossing the Ohanapecosh:
Learning from a park ranger:
Dipping your feet in the Ohanapecosh:
Sunday, June 22, 2008
A Busy Month
Sweet Pea,
June has been a very busy month! You started officially crawling, you turned 7 months on June 8th, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, we celebrated your first Father's Day and then to top it all off, you started pulling yourself into a standing position. Wow! You are growing up so fast.
About a week before you turned 7 months, you started crawling. You had been heading toward this since before our trip to Chicago, scooting and rolling around to get where you wanted to go, and then one day (I think June 2) you just took off: (POST VIDEO HERE)
On your 7th month birthday we went hiking in Discovery Park with Ben, Tammy and Hannah. It was really fun. And then I sprained my ankle. For like the 6th time in two years. Awesome. Here we are before the big injury:
To get ready for Father's Day we went with some of our PEPS friends (Amy and Sophia and Emily and Ashley) to a pottery painting place and made Papa a mug with your handprint on it. You loved wiggling your fingers in the blue paint and I had to work hard to keep you from eating the paint. Here are some pictures of our adventures:
And here's Papa proudly showing off your gift:
Also, this month Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. You had a great time with them and they really spoiled you. In fact, they gave you so much attention that you never wanted to take naps or go to bed at night. This was a little frustrating for me and papa because you have been a really good sleeper/napper for a few months now and everything in the house definitely functions better when Papa and I get sleep! Maybe next time Grandma and Grandpa come visit I'll put your pak-n-play in the guest room so they can get up and play with you in the middle of the night when you don't want to go back to sleep! Here they are loving on you:
For Father's Day we went to Golden Gardens to spend some time together as a family enjoying the sun - which had finally decided to make an appearance for the summer. Papa and I decided to dip your toes in the water - your first feel of the ocean (I guess it's really Puget Sound, but the ocean flows into the Sound so it's kind of the ocean...). You did not like the water AT ALL. You started screaming immediately and clinging to my neck. It was freezing so I don't blame you. Next we put your feet in the sand and you did not like that either. I think you were just tired (from your lack of sleep during Grandma and Grandpa's visit) but I was hoping we didn't make you permanently afraid of the beach:
After that we had a Father's Day barbeque on the back deck with Auntie Amy, Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, Tammy, Hannah and Heather:
The day Grandma and Grandpa left (June 19th ) you pulled yourself up to a standing position on the side of the couch for the first time all by yourself! You were so proud:
Also this month we finally got a chance to have you play with Emma and Samara. Auntie Amy has been their nanny for about 4 1/2 years now. I've gotten to see these two grow up and most of what I know about babies and taking care of babies has come from watching Amy take care of them. I've loved getting to know them and play with them over the years and hope to continue to know them. Here they are loving on you:
Also in June we planted a veggie garden. I've been talking about having a vegetable garden for years and this year I decided it was time to just do it. So we went to Swanson's and bought a bunch of veggie starts (tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchini and peppers), pots and A LOT of potting soil. I wanted to start with a container garden this year and if it is successful perhaps next year I'll try to figure out how to make an actual vegetable garden in our back yard. Here's what the plants looked like on day one:
Phew, that's a lot to do in one month! I can't wait to see what July has in store for us.
June has been a very busy month! You started officially crawling, you turned 7 months on June 8th, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, we celebrated your first Father's Day and then to top it all off, you started pulling yourself into a standing position. Wow! You are growing up so fast.
About a week before you turned 7 months, you started crawling. You had been heading toward this since before our trip to Chicago, scooting and rolling around to get where you wanted to go, and then one day (I think June 2) you just took off: (POST VIDEO HERE)
On your 7th month birthday we went hiking in Discovery Park with Ben, Tammy and Hannah. It was really fun. And then I sprained my ankle. For like the 6th time in two years. Awesome. Here we are before the big injury:
To get ready for Father's Day we went with some of our PEPS friends (Amy and Sophia and Emily and Ashley) to a pottery painting place and made Papa a mug with your handprint on it. You loved wiggling your fingers in the blue paint and I had to work hard to keep you from eating the paint. Here are some pictures of our adventures:
And here's Papa proudly showing off your gift:
Also, this month Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. You had a great time with them and they really spoiled you. In fact, they gave you so much attention that you never wanted to take naps or go to bed at night. This was a little frustrating for me and papa because you have been a really good sleeper/napper for a few months now and everything in the house definitely functions better when Papa and I get sleep! Maybe next time Grandma and Grandpa come visit I'll put your pak-n-play in the guest room so they can get up and play with you in the middle of the night when you don't want to go back to sleep! Here they are loving on you:
For Father's Day we went to Golden Gardens to spend some time together as a family enjoying the sun - which had finally decided to make an appearance for the summer. Papa and I decided to dip your toes in the water - your first feel of the ocean (I guess it's really Puget Sound, but the ocean flows into the Sound so it's kind of the ocean...). You did not like the water AT ALL. You started screaming immediately and clinging to my neck. It was freezing so I don't blame you. Next we put your feet in the sand and you did not like that either. I think you were just tired (from your lack of sleep during Grandma and Grandpa's visit) but I was hoping we didn't make you permanently afraid of the beach:
After that we had a Father's Day barbeque on the back deck with Auntie Amy, Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, Tammy, Hannah and Heather:
The day Grandma and Grandpa left (June 19th ) you pulled yourself up to a standing position on the side of the couch for the first time all by yourself! You were so proud:
Also this month we finally got a chance to have you play with Emma and Samara. Auntie Amy has been their nanny for about 4 1/2 years now. I've gotten to see these two grow up and most of what I know about babies and taking care of babies has come from watching Amy take care of them. I've loved getting to know them and play with them over the years and hope to continue to know them. Here they are loving on you:
Also in June we planted a veggie garden. I've been talking about having a vegetable garden for years and this year I decided it was time to just do it. So we went to Swanson's and bought a bunch of veggie starts (tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchini and peppers), pots and A LOT of potting soil. I wanted to start with a container garden this year and if it is successful perhaps next year I'll try to figure out how to make an actual vegetable garden in our back yard. Here's what the plants looked like on day one:
Phew, that's a lot to do in one month! I can't wait to see what July has in store for us.
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