Morgan is at Mary's at the moment. She went this morning before my dentist appt and I just figured she could stay through her afternoon nap b/c I had a billion errands to run and things to do in prep for this and next weekend. I'm sort of regretting that now b/c although all my errands and things to do at home went SUPER well (ok, minus the cleaning that didn't really happen...yet) and fast since I didn't have a little monkey in tow, now I want her here to hold and play with and she's SLEEPing. I have the urge to call and make sure she's still sleeping and Mary didn't forget to call me...but I'm going to wait another 15 minutes yet. ;-)
No top teeth yet. My dentist said that usually it happens about a month after the first bottom teeth and if that holds true, then we have about 2 weeks to go. Morgan hasn't been up at night anymore since Wed. night, so we shall see.
I have a baby shower tomorrow for a friend in Muscatine, Melanie, who is expecting Baby Martin #1. I'm making a few things for it and picking up balloons on the way tomorrow morning and am getting rather excited. Adam is staying home to watch her and golfing Sunday instead of Sat. morning. He sounds excited to take her to Great River Days (not on the river since it's all flooded and such) while I'm gone and he's just been a trooper this week as I feel like I've been gone a lot.
Last night I went for a run for about 40 minutes (around 3 miles - slow poke!) and I. felt. awesome. I really like running now and don't feel like I'm going to die every time I attempt it. I took Jessie along and she had fun too. She's moving a touch slower today (only obvious b/c I know her - anyone else would think she's crazy as ever) which makes me smile. Maddie was SUPER sad that she didn't get to go last night so Adam's taking her tonight while I stay home. I can't WAIT to get this jogger...I just have to connect with my SS instructor on a non-SS day so I can get it. :) Then we can all go together as a family and not only while the baby is sleeping.
Speaking of baby, not much is new since my last post. Which of course means I'll think of a million things, right? She's still super into books and made Adam read about 15 last night while I was at a friend's Mary Kay party. Other than that, she's her normal adorable, crazy smart, *fast* little self. She LOVES being walked places but has no trouble crawling there too (with the occasional protest along the way).
Happy Friday! We have another busy weekend and then it's WI next weekend for my brother Ross' wedding to his fiance, Kristen. I'm eager to see how Morgan reacts...she's the littlest flower girl. xoxo
The Schmidt Family Grows: Adam, Liss, Morgan, Hadley, Maddie, & Jessie
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Give it to Momma...
Woo hoo! I'm officially done working for July. Feels good. Back to work again August 10th, sigh. Enjoy the updates below as we fight what I believe might be Morgan's first upper tooth. Not as much fun as the (easy, didn't know they were coming) bottom two.
It happened once yesterday but I didn't want to count it in case it was a fluke...but tonight she did it 3x. Morgan will now respond appropriately to "Give it to Momma." She takes whatever she has in her hand and puts it in mine when I ask her to. Cool! We'll see how that goes when it's something she isn't willing to give up...
Yesterday we were just playing and I had her standing while I kept a few fingers on her hips to steady her. She let go so I did too and pretty soon I realized I should start counting...she stood for FOUR seconds on her own! I thought it was pretty great.
I think the universe realized I was working today so last night Morgan was up for just under 2 hours last night all sorts of upset. The more she cried, the more boogers, the more crying...viscous cycle. We'd get her tired and she'd lie in her crib asleep for about 9 minutes and then wake up crying. Fun stuff. I gave her oragel but don't want to be that mom that just pumps her kid full of Tylenol to make her sleep...but finally after an hour and a half, she just couldn't seem to get comfy so Tylenol it was and that was the ticket. Mary said to do Tylenol sooner next time. I'll agree. :) Mary also said that Morgan was just a little off this afternoon but is sure she's not sick so perhaps that top tooth is closer than we think. I have NO other evidence other than crankiness, less willingness to bite our fingers when checking for teeth, a slightly elevated temp (high 99s/low 100s), and more specific biting on her top gums. Poor baby. I hope it doesn't hurt her too much.
We now know that Morgan is not allowed on the bed in our room anymore. She has no depth perception. End of story.
In the last 2-3 days or so, Morgan wades through her sea of toys that seems to have taken over the living room and finds her favorite books (ie. Little Quack loves colors, Doggies, Bedtime, and any other touchy-feely book) and starts turning the pages. This evening, she finally paired her little voice with them (well, not little, it was quite loud, actually) and began telling the stories to whoever was listening. 9 months and telling stories from books...swoon!
Morgan continues to practice using her fork to feed herself after we put the food on for her. She's brushing her teeth 1-2x/day and enjoying it. The more she can do on her own, the better. :)
I feel like I'm missing a few things but so be it. Off to go make some cookie dough and get rid of this craving. ;-) Sigh. I should probably follow that with a run, but I vote "core class" ss tomorrow morning...my abs hurt already. Perfect. :-D
It happened once yesterday but I didn't want to count it in case it was a fluke...but tonight she did it 3x. Morgan will now respond appropriately to "Give it to Momma." She takes whatever she has in her hand and puts it in mine when I ask her to. Cool! We'll see how that goes when it's something she isn't willing to give up...
Yesterday we were just playing and I had her standing while I kept a few fingers on her hips to steady her. She let go so I did too and pretty soon I realized I should start counting...she stood for FOUR seconds on her own! I thought it was pretty great.
I think the universe realized I was working today so last night Morgan was up for just under 2 hours last night all sorts of upset. The more she cried, the more boogers, the more crying...viscous cycle. We'd get her tired and she'd lie in her crib asleep for about 9 minutes and then wake up crying. Fun stuff. I gave her oragel but don't want to be that mom that just pumps her kid full of Tylenol to make her sleep...but finally after an hour and a half, she just couldn't seem to get comfy so Tylenol it was and that was the ticket. Mary said to do Tylenol sooner next time. I'll agree. :) Mary also said that Morgan was just a little off this afternoon but is sure she's not sick so perhaps that top tooth is closer than we think. I have NO other evidence other than crankiness, less willingness to bite our fingers when checking for teeth, a slightly elevated temp (high 99s/low 100s), and more specific biting on her top gums. Poor baby. I hope it doesn't hurt her too much.
We now know that Morgan is not allowed on the bed in our room anymore. She has no depth perception. End of story.
In the last 2-3 days or so, Morgan wades through her sea of toys that seems to have taken over the living room and finds her favorite books (ie. Little Quack loves colors, Doggies, Bedtime, and any other touchy-feely book) and starts turning the pages. This evening, she finally paired her little voice with them (well, not little, it was quite loud, actually) and began telling the stories to whoever was listening. 9 months and telling stories from books...swoon!
Morgan continues to practice using her fork to feed herself after we put the food on for her. She's brushing her teeth 1-2x/day and enjoying it. The more she can do on her own, the better. :)
I feel like I'm missing a few things but so be it. Off to go make some cookie dough and get rid of this craving. ;-) Sigh. I should probably follow that with a run, but I vote "core class" ss tomorrow morning...my abs hurt already. Perfect. :-D
Monday, July 26, 2010
Her first birthday present...
...was purchased yesterday. I just forgot to mention it. We were walking through BRU/TRU and I saw the only pink plastic golf set and refused to leave the store without it. It was also on sale. I had yet to find a pink one so it was double-y exciting. Once we got home, I realized it was a present for her 1st birthday...ugh. Of course I'm excited to see her grow and learn but really? Does she have to? I'm guessing that's why people have more than one. :) Which is obviously OUR master plan. Long story short - Morgan does NOT need a golf set for her birthday. I'm guessing this might have been a popular choice due to Adam's and my hobby.
Morgan and I had a good day. She was a little fussy late afternoon but I wouldn't be shocked if there was another tooth involved even though I have no evidence besides a routinely, short-lived, fussy baby sometime during the day. We did SS this morning, ran one errand (of 3, fussy baby strikes again) and then came back home for lunch. She ate a rather huge lunch and then played for a while before talking to herself for TWENTY minutes before finally going down for a nap. I cleaned, showered, and played with her some more when she woke up. Adam came home from work a bit early before golf and then Morgan and I were on our own again. I think she gets bored with me. She didn't eat much for supper but a walk at the riverfront cured the fussies.
Morgan was way into books today which of course, thrilled me. :) Other than that, not a terribly eventful day. Work tomorrow and Wednesday, and then some time off. Not much of that left...ugh.
Morgan and I had a good day. She was a little fussy late afternoon but I wouldn't be shocked if there was another tooth involved even though I have no evidence besides a routinely, short-lived, fussy baby sometime during the day. We did SS this morning, ran one errand (of 3, fussy baby strikes again) and then came back home for lunch. She ate a rather huge lunch and then played for a while before talking to herself for TWENTY minutes before finally going down for a nap. I cleaned, showered, and played with her some more when she woke up. Adam came home from work a bit early before golf and then Morgan and I were on our own again. I think she gets bored with me. She didn't eat much for supper but a walk at the riverfront cured the fussies.
Morgan was way into books today which of course, thrilled me. :) Other than that, not a terribly eventful day. Work tomorrow and Wednesday, and then some time off. Not much of that left...ugh.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The word of the day is....DADA!
My goodness. The child woke up today saying Dada over and over and over...and kept it up throughout the day. "Dada!" in the car. "Dada!!" in church. "Dada!!!" while we were shopping in the Quad Cities after a nice family lunch at Red Lobster (it is, after all, crab fest - YUM). :) I thought it was cute. It was also a nice break from all the "Mama!!"s I tend to hear when she wants something, is sad, is happy, is fussy, is playing...etc. You get the picture. So Dada it is for today.
I work 2 days this week but I really don't mind b/c it's with two of my favorite coworkers in the whole wide world. It's part of my early evaluation team which is in charge of evaluating preschool age (3-5) kiddos. I've not evaluated kids for EE team in the summer before but I've heard they don't always show up. We're booked solid both days, but I've got some 0-3 things to take care of and also some catching up to do. :) I'm kind of looking forward to it.
We are super close to getting our jogger stroller and rather excited about it. My SS instructor has one that I'm going to look at this week. It's used and a really nice one so I've got the go from the $$ boss that if I like it, I should get it. If it's not going to work out, we picked on out at BRU today that was much less expensive but was light weight and easy to push. Once we need one with multiple seats, we'll likely look at new ones that cost significantly more. Since that's not happening for this or next summer, I think we're set to have a decently priced jogger to "hold us over" til the next one. :)
I like days like today. We went to church, lunch, shopping, laundry, household duties, cooking...just a good day. That's what I love about Sundays...
I work 2 days this week but I really don't mind b/c it's with two of my favorite coworkers in the whole wide world. It's part of my early evaluation team which is in charge of evaluating preschool age (3-5) kiddos. I've not evaluated kids for EE team in the summer before but I've heard they don't always show up. We're booked solid both days, but I've got some 0-3 things to take care of and also some catching up to do. :) I'm kind of looking forward to it.
We are super close to getting our jogger stroller and rather excited about it. My SS instructor has one that I'm going to look at this week. It's used and a really nice one so I've got the go from the $$ boss that if I like it, I should get it. If it's not going to work out, we picked on out at BRU today that was much less expensive but was light weight and easy to push. Once we need one with multiple seats, we'll likely look at new ones that cost significantly more. Since that's not happening for this or next summer, I think we're set to have a decently priced jogger to "hold us over" til the next one. :)
I like days like today. We went to church, lunch, shopping, laundry, household duties, cooking...just a good day. That's what I love about Sundays...
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Bix 7 2010
Awesome. That's all I can say, really, it was AWESOME. More on that later, let me preface with a few other quick notes.
Last night Morgan went to Mary's while we went to a wedding for one of my coworkers. It was a very unique wedding as there were several twists on lots of traditions that definitely made this wedding their own. One of them was that they had a "sweetheart table" at the reception and ate dinner alone, just the two of them. Their bridal party sat among friends and family and it was kind of neat. I don't know if I would have liked that for my first wedding, but when we renew vows someday (so I can have another beautiful wedding to my love), that might be an option! :) It was REALLY nice to have Mary watch Morgan so I/we weren't worried that Morgan was screaming the whole time as she's got some serious stranger danger right now. :-( We made it home around 9:30pm and got to watch a spectacular lightning show on the way home.
We went home relatively early so that we could both get sleep for today as we both had events to go to. Adam had a city golf scramble/best ball tournament and I had the Bix. For those of you who don't know, the Bix is a 7 mile race near here in the Quad Cities (specifically Davenport) and it's quite difficult. See this website and take a look at the course - a few of the hills are killer. Website: http://www.bix7.com/2010/. To find the course, just click on FAQs on the right and scroll down. It has a 3Dish course to look at.
My complete intentions in this "race" were to walk quite a bit and run on the downhills. I anticipated walking more than half way and maybe running about 3 miles of it. I signed up in the walking group b/c I thought my friend, Kelly, had done the same and I had anticipated walk/running it with her the whole time. She had signed up for the group ahead of me, so we were not together and it was going to be hard to find her among 18,000+ other participants. I was a bit bummed but got in line (in the POURING rain, mind you) and waited for a half hour until the race started. PS. Turns out the pouring rain kept the temps down and me cool during the race, so I was actually kind of glad it rained. Not so much for the puddles, I mean shoes, I ended up running in at the end, but meh, minor in comparison to the heat/humidity that they had initially predicted.
So the race starts by running up this giant hill (Brady St. Hill) and then a nice, downhill for a few miles. I was really excited and actually was thinking I'd be running more than I thought as I stood in the rain waiting to start. I'm not going to lie - I might have completed more than 7 miles of race b/c of all the darting that's involved around people who are slower than you. So I ran about 1/2 way up Brady and walked the rest of the way. Then I started running and made it to mile marker 2 before I took a little power walking break. From then on out, I just ran at a rather slow, decent pace b/c I had no idea what it was like to do 7 miles of anything (save for maybe a bike ride) and walked when I needed or another killer uphill came along. I made it to mile 3 and was thinking awesome! Pretty soon this will be the longest race I've ever done (outside of the 5k I did in March with Denise)!
So I'm running and FINALLY get to the turn-around and knew the worst was yet to come - most of the way to the turn-around is downhill or flat. You know what the opposite direction will mean, then. Shortly after the turn-around, I saw my friend Abbie and her daughter and that gave me an extra boost to keep going. Throughout the whole thing I never really felt out of breath or like my lungs hurt which was completely foreign to me since that's usually what ends up happening when I run. After a while after mile marker 3, I noticed my hip flexors (the worse of the two) and hamstrings were starting to get sore but I kept going. I was starting to think that mile 3 was taking forever when all of a sudden mile marker FIVE came up! Yeah! I was a mile further than I thought! I decided to power walk a majority of mile 6 b/c I still had to run back DOWN Brady St. Hill and didn't want to be one of the embarrassed ones who biffed it b/c their legs had nothing left...so I'm going and going and all of a sudden Brady St. comes into sight. I was shocked by how fast the rest of it went. I was careful to save some for the hill and made my way down it fine. Turned the corner, made it to 1/4 mile away, 1/8 mile away, and then sprinted the rest of the way. I'd done it! The clock at the finish said 1:27 for time and I was thrilled. Kelly had been shooting for finishing in under 1:30 (hour and a half) and I'd done it! She was behind me, as I'd seen, talked to, and then passed her around what I assumed was mile 4.
I felt SO good at the end. My hip flexors are going to bug me for a few days as they hurt pretty bad right now. My right piggy toe also hurts b/c I think I got a blister that rubbed off around mile 6. Otherwise, I feel great. I'm SO glad I did it. It was actually really fun and later I got home and checked my actual time, and I ran it in 1:21 (and some seconds)!!! 81 minutes!! I'm so proud of myself I could burst. I think that a lot of my ability to do it was due to Stroller Strides and sticking to my guns these past few weeks about working out to try to shed these last baby pounds. Part of me wonders if I need to get used to them. I'm still going to try and keep working out, but today is just about enjoying a new accomplishment. Which allowed me to guiltlessly enjoy a turtle sundae at Culvers after dinner. :)
That said, I'm totally, completely, 100% doing this again next year. And the next. Adam's joining me. Morgan will join in 2 summers and run the kid's Bix. My goal next year will be to go under 1:20 depending on training and things. I can't wait to make it a family event!!
Last night Morgan went to Mary's while we went to a wedding for one of my coworkers. It was a very unique wedding as there were several twists on lots of traditions that definitely made this wedding their own. One of them was that they had a "sweetheart table" at the reception and ate dinner alone, just the two of them. Their bridal party sat among friends and family and it was kind of neat. I don't know if I would have liked that for my first wedding, but when we renew vows someday (so I can have another beautiful wedding to my love), that might be an option! :) It was REALLY nice to have Mary watch Morgan so I/we weren't worried that Morgan was screaming the whole time as she's got some serious stranger danger right now. :-( We made it home around 9:30pm and got to watch a spectacular lightning show on the way home.
We went home relatively early so that we could both get sleep for today as we both had events to go to. Adam had a city golf scramble/best ball tournament and I had the Bix. For those of you who don't know, the Bix is a 7 mile race near here in the Quad Cities (specifically Davenport) and it's quite difficult. See this website and take a look at the course - a few of the hills are killer. Website: http://www.bix7.com/2010/. To find the course, just click on FAQs on the right and scroll down. It has a 3Dish course to look at.
My complete intentions in this "race" were to walk quite a bit and run on the downhills. I anticipated walking more than half way and maybe running about 3 miles of it. I signed up in the walking group b/c I thought my friend, Kelly, had done the same and I had anticipated walk/running it with her the whole time. She had signed up for the group ahead of me, so we were not together and it was going to be hard to find her among 18,000+ other participants. I was a bit bummed but got in line (in the POURING rain, mind you) and waited for a half hour until the race started. PS. Turns out the pouring rain kept the temps down and me cool during the race, so I was actually kind of glad it rained. Not so much for the puddles, I mean shoes, I ended up running in at the end, but meh, minor in comparison to the heat/humidity that they had initially predicted.
So the race starts by running up this giant hill (Brady St. Hill) and then a nice, downhill for a few miles. I was really excited and actually was thinking I'd be running more than I thought as I stood in the rain waiting to start. I'm not going to lie - I might have completed more than 7 miles of race b/c of all the darting that's involved around people who are slower than you. So I ran about 1/2 way up Brady and walked the rest of the way. Then I started running and made it to mile marker 2 before I took a little power walking break. From then on out, I just ran at a rather slow, decent pace b/c I had no idea what it was like to do 7 miles of anything (save for maybe a bike ride) and walked when I needed or another killer uphill came along. I made it to mile 3 and was thinking awesome! Pretty soon this will be the longest race I've ever done (outside of the 5k I did in March with Denise)!
So I'm running and FINALLY get to the turn-around and knew the worst was yet to come - most of the way to the turn-around is downhill or flat. You know what the opposite direction will mean, then. Shortly after the turn-around, I saw my friend Abbie and her daughter and that gave me an extra boost to keep going. Throughout the whole thing I never really felt out of breath or like my lungs hurt which was completely foreign to me since that's usually what ends up happening when I run. After a while after mile marker 3, I noticed my hip flexors (the worse of the two) and hamstrings were starting to get sore but I kept going. I was starting to think that mile 3 was taking forever when all of a sudden mile marker FIVE came up! Yeah! I was a mile further than I thought! I decided to power walk a majority of mile 6 b/c I still had to run back DOWN Brady St. Hill and didn't want to be one of the embarrassed ones who biffed it b/c their legs had nothing left...so I'm going and going and all of a sudden Brady St. comes into sight. I was shocked by how fast the rest of it went. I was careful to save some for the hill and made my way down it fine. Turned the corner, made it to 1/4 mile away, 1/8 mile away, and then sprinted the rest of the way. I'd done it! The clock at the finish said 1:27 for time and I was thrilled. Kelly had been shooting for finishing in under 1:30 (hour and a half) and I'd done it! She was behind me, as I'd seen, talked to, and then passed her around what I assumed was mile 4.
I felt SO good at the end. My hip flexors are going to bug me for a few days as they hurt pretty bad right now. My right piggy toe also hurts b/c I think I got a blister that rubbed off around mile 6. Otherwise, I feel great. I'm SO glad I did it. It was actually really fun and later I got home and checked my actual time, and I ran it in 1:21 (and some seconds)!!! 81 minutes!! I'm so proud of myself I could burst. I think that a lot of my ability to do it was due to Stroller Strides and sticking to my guns these past few weeks about working out to try to shed these last baby pounds. Part of me wonders if I need to get used to them. I'm still going to try and keep working out, but today is just about enjoying a new accomplishment. Which allowed me to guiltlessly enjoy a turtle sundae at Culvers after dinner. :)
That said, I'm totally, completely, 100% doing this again next year. And the next. Adam's joining me. Morgan will join in 2 summers and run the kid's Bix. My goal next year will be to go under 1:20 depending on training and things. I can't wait to make it a family event!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
9 Month Checkup
Morgan and I had another great day today. Adam was home this morning when we woke up (yay! Morgan was thrilled), we had a fun SS workout (that was actually killer - I sweat my @$$ off and it was perfect), and then found an amazing amount of summer clothes for next year on clearance for cheap. Glorious. We shared lunch from Bruegger's at home and then played. She took another good long nap today and all was well.
I really like being home with her. As in work is going to suck. Not the work, per se, but the fact that Morgan's not there will be tough. Some of my colleagues are saying things like "I start back in 2 weeks!" which I can't even process right now b/c it's still very much summer for me. Funny...I have to work next Tues/Wed (ugh!!) but I still have time off after that (I'm not going into details how much b/c then I will see how little time is left and I might cry) so I'm good. Monday, Aug. 16th might be tough...might...oh boy here come some preliminary tears as I write this. And by preliminary I meant a whole bunch. :'-( Sigh. She's just so amazing and I don't want to miss a minute...ok, moving on...wiping eyes...trying to see. If someone told me I could go PT and we could maintain our lifestyle AND pay off all our debts at the same rate and maybe maybe a little that I wouldn't be putting the AEA in a rather tough position by going PT (it matters to me, yes), I might consider it effective immediately.
On to the original reason for this post! (I can see now.) :) At Morgan's last well baby check (which was around 7ish months), she weighed 19lbs 14oz and was 28" long. Today, at 9 months, 2 days old, Morgan's stats were:
Height: 28", 66th percentile (what?!? I could have sworn she was almost 30!!)
Weight: 20lbs, 14oz, 84th percentile
Head circumference: 45.4cm, 78th percentile
So she's a big enough kid, but I was shocked that she wasn't LONGER. Her onsies are getting shorter and I don't think it's b/c she's getting much wider or anything b/c she's still long and lean looking. The overall appointment went well (long, a resident was there and we have NO problem with others learning - I had to sometime) and Morgan thankfully didn't need any ear wax removed like I thought she might. She particularly HATES having the inside of her ears looked at and screams and needs to be held down. Not so much fun. But we passed that so woo hoo!
Morgan is right on track with her development and the resident was impressed that Morgan could finger feed herself cheerios already (I thought this was normal?). The doctor said that Morgan's patty-cake antics are a 12-month skill. I was telling my friend earlier this week that I'm no longer so rigid about Morgan's development and am confident she's on track and even a little ahead in some cases. Tonight she attempted to stoop down while standing to pick up another toy - and almost took a digger and gave up. But she tried!!
One more thing - when given the choice of two books, Morgan, all on her own, will choose Doggies by Sandra Boynton. If another book is started for her, she usually gets about 2 pages in before she realizes it's not Doggies and does everything in her power to get away from you and go play. Morgan's friend Cammie did something very similar...I think it's b/c there are few words and the dogs sounds are written perfectly to make the reader sound like a dog (with a little flair from the reader, of course). She always points to the little black dog when he finally shows up on each page. No idea why. Must be her favorite. She gets confused when they get to 9 b/c all the dogs are black (it's dark outside and they're howling at the moon so they're blacked out - right Abbie?). :) We try to broaden horizons and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
One more thing #2 - I had Morgan try on her flower girl dress for Ross' wedding in a few weeks today so I could get an idea of what to tell the seamstress. It's an 18 month dress. It FITS. The only thing that could be done is the shoulders taken in a little so there's no gap in the top of it...but I was quite shocked that it was that close. Thank goodness my SIL could only find an 18 month dress!
Long post. I'm done. Adam wants to look at the week's pictures. I want to spend time with him. We talked and I really missed him. Sometimes I still feel like "old Melissa" is lost somewhere and this new person is so foreign. Anyway, off to enjoy the rest of the evening. :)
I really like being home with her. As in work is going to suck. Not the work, per se, but the fact that Morgan's not there will be tough. Some of my colleagues are saying things like "I start back in 2 weeks!" which I can't even process right now b/c it's still very much summer for me. Funny...I have to work next Tues/Wed (ugh!!) but I still have time off after that (I'm not going into details how much b/c then I will see how little time is left and I might cry) so I'm good. Monday, Aug. 16th might be tough...might...oh boy here come some preliminary tears as I write this. And by preliminary I meant a whole bunch. :'-( Sigh. She's just so amazing and I don't want to miss a minute...ok, moving on...wiping eyes...trying to see. If someone told me I could go PT and we could maintain our lifestyle AND pay off all our debts at the same rate and maybe maybe a little that I wouldn't be putting the AEA in a rather tough position by going PT (it matters to me, yes), I might consider it effective immediately.
On to the original reason for this post! (I can see now.) :) At Morgan's last well baby check (which was around 7ish months), she weighed 19lbs 14oz and was 28" long. Today, at 9 months, 2 days old, Morgan's stats were:
Height: 28", 66th percentile (what?!? I could have sworn she was almost 30!!)
Weight: 20lbs, 14oz, 84th percentile
Head circumference: 45.4cm, 78th percentile
So she's a big enough kid, but I was shocked that she wasn't LONGER. Her onsies are getting shorter and I don't think it's b/c she's getting much wider or anything b/c she's still long and lean looking. The overall appointment went well (long, a resident was there and we have NO problem with others learning - I had to sometime) and Morgan thankfully didn't need any ear wax removed like I thought she might. She particularly HATES having the inside of her ears looked at and screams and needs to be held down. Not so much fun. But we passed that so woo hoo!
Morgan is right on track with her development and the resident was impressed that Morgan could finger feed herself cheerios already (I thought this was normal?). The doctor said that Morgan's patty-cake antics are a 12-month skill. I was telling my friend earlier this week that I'm no longer so rigid about Morgan's development and am confident she's on track and even a little ahead in some cases. Tonight she attempted to stoop down while standing to pick up another toy - and almost took a digger and gave up. But she tried!!
One more thing - when given the choice of two books, Morgan, all on her own, will choose Doggies by Sandra Boynton. If another book is started for her, she usually gets about 2 pages in before she realizes it's not Doggies and does everything in her power to get away from you and go play. Morgan's friend Cammie did something very similar...I think it's b/c there are few words and the dogs sounds are written perfectly to make the reader sound like a dog (with a little flair from the reader, of course). She always points to the little black dog when he finally shows up on each page. No idea why. Must be her favorite. She gets confused when they get to 9 b/c all the dogs are black (it's dark outside and they're howling at the moon so they're blacked out - right Abbie?). :) We try to broaden horizons and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
One more thing #2 - I had Morgan try on her flower girl dress for Ross' wedding in a few weeks today so I could get an idea of what to tell the seamstress. It's an 18 month dress. It FITS. The only thing that could be done is the shoulders taken in a little so there's no gap in the top of it...but I was quite shocked that it was that close. Thank goodness my SIL could only find an 18 month dress!
Long post. I'm done. Adam wants to look at the week's pictures. I want to spend time with him. We talked and I really missed him. Sometimes I still feel like "old Melissa" is lost somewhere and this new person is so foreign. Anyway, off to enjoy the rest of the evening. :)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Carwashes scare Morgans
Poor baby. We were scheduled for a play date at the Muscatine Aquatic Center this morning but it was rainy and icky and canceled. Boo. So instead we ran some errands and I got lots done. Home for lunch, and now she's at Mary's enjoying her friends and hopefully a good nap. She was tired when I dropped her off. One of the older girls (maybe 6? 7?) immediately sat on the big chair when I handed Morgan off to Mary and wanted to hold her. There was a chorus of "Baby Morgan's here!!" when we walked through the door. Sigh. We're so fortunate that she has such a wonderful place to go when she's not at home.
So back to this morning...poor Morgan. I had to get gas and when they asked if I wanted a car wash, I took one look at the Highlander and went yup. You bet. So we drive in and Morgan is a little concerned...and pretty soon she was yelling at the bubbles as the car was soaking...and then the water really started coming and by the 2nd time it came around, she had big tears rolling down her cheeks and was pretty upset about the whole thing. Dang. I was hoping that wouldn't happen. Oh well. Not a big deal and we'll try again some other time. Sad little duck.
Ok, I shouldn't be doing this right now as my schedule says to be cleaning like a crazy person while I have the time to and Morgan's at Mary's. Maybe more later. Who knows. :) Adam comes home tonight and I'm rather excited. I am eager to talk to him about things since he's been gone and move on.
One more thing - while Morgan and I were out shopping today, I checked around for a dress for Ross & Kristen (my brother and fiance)'s wedding coming up Aug. 7th. I tried on one that I thought didn't look that great on the hanger but hoped it looked better on, and it did. I'm keeping the receipt just in case, but I think we might have a winner. Here's the amazing kicker - it's in my pre-pregnancy size and makes me feel like I look like I was never stretched out and carrying a ton of extra weight around. I may keep it just for those reasons. :) And it's relatively cute. Either way, it made me feel really good even though I gained a pound back since yesterday.
Now I'm done!! Off to clean so I can go for a run quick before Morgan needs to be picked up. Bye!
So back to this morning...poor Morgan. I had to get gas and when they asked if I wanted a car wash, I took one look at the Highlander and went yup. You bet. So we drive in and Morgan is a little concerned...and pretty soon she was yelling at the bubbles as the car was soaking...and then the water really started coming and by the 2nd time it came around, she had big tears rolling down her cheeks and was pretty upset about the whole thing. Dang. I was hoping that wouldn't happen. Oh well. Not a big deal and we'll try again some other time. Sad little duck.
Ok, I shouldn't be doing this right now as my schedule says to be cleaning like a crazy person while I have the time to and Morgan's at Mary's. Maybe more later. Who knows. :) Adam comes home tonight and I'm rather excited. I am eager to talk to him about things since he's been gone and move on.
One more thing - while Morgan and I were out shopping today, I checked around for a dress for Ross & Kristen (my brother and fiance)'s wedding coming up Aug. 7th. I tried on one that I thought didn't look that great on the hanger but hoped it looked better on, and it did. I'm keeping the receipt just in case, but I think we might have a winner. Here's the amazing kicker - it's in my pre-pregnancy size and makes me feel like I look like I was never stretched out and carrying a ton of extra weight around. I may keep it just for those reasons. :) And it's relatively cute. Either way, it made me feel really good even though I gained a pound back since yesterday.
Now I'm done!! Off to clean so I can go for a run quick before Morgan needs to be picked up. Bye!
Monday, July 19, 2010
TWO!! There are 2!! And she's 9 months old today.
9 months old!Morgan and I were just playing and I caught a glimpse of her tooth...except that there were TWO teeth in there!! I saw them with my very own eyes! They FEEL like 1 but there are definitely 2 in there. I tried taking a picture but she's impossible and her lip/tongue definitely get in the way. I'll keep trying!! So excited!! TWO TOOFERS!! :-D
Addendum (I suppose this is what I do lately) to this post - it includes pictures, so WOO!! I forgot what pictures I all said I was going to post so I'll just post all the cute ones I can find...jk. That would be WAY too long. :) Still no pictures of these teeth but not for lack of trying. I still get excited every time I get a glimpse of them. Can't wait for Adam to see them Wednesday (he won't be home until after she goes to bed tomorrow night)!
Real quick - we had a good day. The SS workout this morning was awesome (a mix of killer, total sweat, and not quite dying exercises. We tried to find a jogger since I signed up to walk (with a little running) the Bix this year (a 7-mile course that I could never run but could def run/walk!) but had no luck. A friend asked me if I wanted to run/walk it and I thought sure! I'll just get a stroller....and then come to find they no longer allow "wheeled vehicles." That would include strollers. It's for the safety of the runners. 1) Don't run into my stroller/jogger. 2) Runners go ahead of strollers/walkers. Instantly safe for runners. 3) I can strap her to me but they asked that I make sure I'm hydrated...Hmm. Interesting. Needless to say, a friend of ours here in Muscatine volunteered to take her so that's great! Adam's got a golf tourney (shocker) so I needed someone stat. Thanks, Nancy! They have twin boys who are 2 1/2 so Morgan should have a good time. She did last Friday when they came over for pizza and a fire. :)
Ok, on to the pictures. I have several little projects I want done tonight and they are all on this dang thing (computer). Enjoy!
You have to click on this picture to make it bigger...This is how she "pets" Jessie...and Jessie's so good and just takes it.
Crawling down the hall but stopping to play Patty-cake.
Morgan standing in her bed like a big girl...sigh.
Dang Jessie...this is what Morgan's hair looks like after Jessie takes a lick.
This child LOVES this bus driver. L.O.V.E.S.
Such a big girl!!Sunday, July 18, 2010
Alert the media!! A TOOTH!!
This is a quick one but today Morgan and I were sitting in church and I was trying to keep her semi-still when I realized I hadn't checked for teeth in the past day or two. I stuck my finger in her mouth and sure enough, a tiny little TOOTH was sticking up from her bottom gums! It was for surely broken through but she wouldn't let me take a good look at it. I think I saw it though. I definitely felt it about 100x and it took ALL I had in me not to jump up and down and squeal with glee. 8 months, 3 weeks, 6 days (or whatever it would be for the day before she turns 9 months). Yeah! If I get a chance to take a picture of it all by myself, I will and will post. She's napping at the moment which puts a monkey wrench in my picture-taking scheme.
PS. If all teeth could come in this easily (I didn't notice any odd symptoms), that will be splendid.
PPS. I also realize this is highly unlikely to happen. :-/
Addendum since this morning:
As we've gone through the day, I've realized that there are a few other things that little Miss M can do and I haven't put it on here yet. If I have already, oops. I'm not worried. :)
Morgan now (and sort of did back when I posted about things she understands) knows kisses, up, clap, bounce (in her exersaucer), come here, kick/splash while swimming, and we're still working on 'no'. She also has no trouble getting tiny food to her mouth unless it's bread b/c she has to pull it apart until there's nothing left of it prior to, well, not eating it since there's nothing left of it. :-/ Stinker. She is still working on figuring out how to "get down" from standing and will just stand and yell to the point of crying if no one comes and "rescues" her.
This is awesome - today in church, toward the middle/end of songs, Morgan began vocalizing and kind of trying to sing with the songs! As soon as the verse/song was over, she'd stop. How great is that?!?
Just a little while ago, we went to HyVee b/c they are having some crazy sales (which everyone knew about b/c half my list was out of stock) and we said bye to the dogs. I waved and just said, "bye. bye dogs." and Morgan started waving and saying, "Bah. Bah." Could she be saying bye too!??! In church I wanted her to be quiet so we wouldn't have to get up and leave and I whispered shhhh in her ear and within 2-3 of those, she started using her sh/ch sound and was quieter. I'm continually impressed with her skills. Clearly. :)
Ok, nap with the baby or go scour the shower? Maybe dust (it's bad)? Adam didn't call when he went to bed last night (he's in Chicago, remember?) so when I woke up at 5:30am with the thunderstorm, I sort of freaked out a bit b/c he's in downtown Chicago, out having a good time, and who knows (I'm small-town, it's ok to laugh a little). So finally around 6 he gets back to me that he's alive (and not feeling so well, ahem, don't feel bad, ahem, you did this to yourself) and then I was just up the rest of the morning. NOT something I cared for too much. Off to do the shower anyway. I have a list and the items on it are not going to cross themselves off. :-/
PS. If all teeth could come in this easily (I didn't notice any odd symptoms), that will be splendid.
PPS. I also realize this is highly unlikely to happen. :-/
Addendum since this morning:
As we've gone through the day, I've realized that there are a few other things that little Miss M can do and I haven't put it on here yet. If I have already, oops. I'm not worried. :)
Morgan now (and sort of did back when I posted about things she understands) knows kisses, up, clap, bounce (in her exersaucer), come here, kick/splash while swimming, and we're still working on 'no'. She also has no trouble getting tiny food to her mouth unless it's bread b/c she has to pull it apart until there's nothing left of it prior to, well, not eating it since there's nothing left of it. :-/ Stinker. She is still working on figuring out how to "get down" from standing and will just stand and yell to the point of crying if no one comes and "rescues" her.
This is awesome - today in church, toward the middle/end of songs, Morgan began vocalizing and kind of trying to sing with the songs! As soon as the verse/song was over, she'd stop. How great is that?!?
Just a little while ago, we went to HyVee b/c they are having some crazy sales (which everyone knew about b/c half my list was out of stock) and we said bye to the dogs. I waved and just said, "bye. bye dogs." and Morgan started waving and saying, "Bah. Bah." Could she be saying bye too!??! In church I wanted her to be quiet so we wouldn't have to get up and leave and I whispered shhhh in her ear and within 2-3 of those, she started using her sh/ch sound and was quieter. I'm continually impressed with her skills. Clearly. :)
Ok, nap with the baby or go scour the shower? Maybe dust (it's bad)? Adam didn't call when he went to bed last night (he's in Chicago, remember?) so when I woke up at 5:30am with the thunderstorm, I sort of freaked out a bit b/c he's in downtown Chicago, out having a good time, and who knows (I'm small-town, it's ok to laugh a little). So finally around 6 he gets back to me that he's alive (and not feeling so well, ahem, don't feel bad, ahem, you did this to yourself) and then I was just up the rest of the morning. NOT something I cared for too much. Off to do the shower anyway. I have a list and the items on it are not going to cross themselves off. :-/
Saturday, July 17, 2010
SS, shopping, swimming oh my!
Oh, we had another great day today, just Morgan and I. Adam decided to go golfing again this morning so Morgan and I headed to SS as is usual for our summer Saturday mornings this year. We then went shopping for a few things at Sam's (eek. $86 = 3 huge tubs of formula. That's a lot.), Target (another sippy, big girl forks, etc), and BRU (new mattress pad & fridge alphabet letters!) and then home. Morgan finally napped on the way home for only 25 minutes...and then only an hour later this afternoon. Low on sleep...but she did fairly well today so meh, if she sleeps a little less and isn't terribly fussy, I'm not too concerned.
We also went last minute swimming with Jason and Julie at Geneva and it was perfect. It was SO hot today (84 deg. by 8:45am) so the dip in the pool felt awesome. PS. Water fun poos, even in little swimmers diapers, may be the worst. Or right up there. We also had dinner with the Gregory's and then home for bath and bedtime. I even mowed after she went to bed since it wouldn't be done until Wednesday (by Adam) at the very earliest and I think there might be rain in the forecast. Since Morgan was OUT cold by the time I put her to bed, I wasn't too worried. It's easier to see the little red lights in the dark, since it was practically dark by the time I was done.
I'm also grappling with a few other things...but there IS one big bright spot...all this watching of food portions, running, and stroller striding have suddenly (FINALLY) kicked my metabolism into gear and the weight is suddenly coming off. At first I definitely attributed it to water weight as I was starting to think I was going to have to live with these last 8-9 pounds for the rest of my life. Now that it's only 6 pounds left, I am praying things continue so I can go shopping for my Joe's jeans. What a great way to start the school year...with a pair of Joe's. :)
Ok, briefly touching on the boo part of the post. Don't worry - I'll find something good to end it with. I'm a sandwich kind of girl (good, bad, good). I've been having a hard time dealing with Adam being gone again. I understand he works and his work requires traveling. I get that. I don't necessarily always like it, but I get it. I also get that he goes golfing Sat. morning and Morgan and I go to SS. It's actually been a great way to use our Saturday mornings during the summer so that we all get to do something we like. However, it still all compounds and suddenly rears its ugly head once in a while when I wish he would just stay home and have fun with Morgan (and maybe me too!) if the option arises. These feelings are especially strong when he travels. I would stay home from SS in a heartbeat if he wanted to spend time with Morgan. Or she could stay with him and I could go...either combo works. Sigh. I won't go into it more. We chose this life - his working at GPC and us living here in Iowa. WE. That's all I'm going to say about that. Oh, and sometimes these feelings make me miss WI like a crazy person.
Ok! On to bigger and better things that make us all smile and feel fuzzier inside. I'm sure I mentioned on here that we are doing a slightly modified version of Dave Ramsey's budget thing to pay off our debts and be debt free a million times faster than if we had stayed on the path that we were on...well, we are looking to pay off his truck in the next month or two and lose another loan after September! SOOO exciting! Next up, the Highlander. Maybe this doesn't make you feel fuzzy inside, but it makes us smile with glee.
Ok, here's a fuzzy one and then I'm done. Picture this - a cute little girl in her swimsuit with a tiny hiney (her little swimmers diapers are SO much smaller than her BGDs...so cute!) and hanging out in her floater device in the water. Add sunglasses, bright pink hat, and a yellow fish to chew on. Top it all off with her lounging back, feet sticking out, and gnawing away on the fish in the sun, having a grand ol' time. That's summer, folks. That's summer.
We also went last minute swimming with Jason and Julie at Geneva and it was perfect. It was SO hot today (84 deg. by 8:45am) so the dip in the pool felt awesome. PS. Water fun poos, even in little swimmers diapers, may be the worst. Or right up there. We also had dinner with the Gregory's and then home for bath and bedtime. I even mowed after she went to bed since it wouldn't be done until Wednesday (by Adam) at the very earliest and I think there might be rain in the forecast. Since Morgan was OUT cold by the time I put her to bed, I wasn't too worried. It's easier to see the little red lights in the dark, since it was practically dark by the time I was done.
I'm also grappling with a few other things...but there IS one big bright spot...all this watching of food portions, running, and stroller striding have suddenly (FINALLY) kicked my metabolism into gear and the weight is suddenly coming off. At first I definitely attributed it to water weight as I was starting to think I was going to have to live with these last 8-9 pounds for the rest of my life. Now that it's only 6 pounds left, I am praying things continue so I can go shopping for my Joe's jeans. What a great way to start the school year...with a pair of Joe's. :)
Ok, briefly touching on the boo part of the post. Don't worry - I'll find something good to end it with. I'm a sandwich kind of girl (good, bad, good). I've been having a hard time dealing with Adam being gone again. I understand he works and his work requires traveling. I get that. I don't necessarily always like it, but I get it. I also get that he goes golfing Sat. morning and Morgan and I go to SS. It's actually been a great way to use our Saturday mornings during the summer so that we all get to do something we like. However, it still all compounds and suddenly rears its ugly head once in a while when I wish he would just stay home and have fun with Morgan (and maybe me too!) if the option arises. These feelings are especially strong when he travels. I would stay home from SS in a heartbeat if he wanted to spend time with Morgan. Or she could stay with him and I could go...either combo works. Sigh. I won't go into it more. We chose this life - his working at GPC and us living here in Iowa. WE. That's all I'm going to say about that. Oh, and sometimes these feelings make me miss WI like a crazy person.
Ok! On to bigger and better things that make us all smile and feel fuzzier inside. I'm sure I mentioned on here that we are doing a slightly modified version of Dave Ramsey's budget thing to pay off our debts and be debt free a million times faster than if we had stayed on the path that we were on...well, we are looking to pay off his truck in the next month or two and lose another loan after September! SOOO exciting! Next up, the Highlander. Maybe this doesn't make you feel fuzzy inside, but it makes us smile with glee.
Ok, here's a fuzzy one and then I'm done. Picture this - a cute little girl in her swimsuit with a tiny hiney (her little swimmers diapers are SO much smaller than her BGDs...so cute!) and hanging out in her floater device in the water. Add sunglasses, bright pink hat, and a yellow fish to chew on. Top it all off with her lounging back, feet sticking out, and gnawing away on the fish in the sun, having a grand ol' time. That's summer, folks. That's summer.
Friday, July 16, 2010
I like Fridays. Here's why.
- No more work this week (or next hee hee).
- It's baby time.
- We had pizza for supper.
- We had cookies (that someone else made) for dessert.
- We had a pit fire afterwards. Yay! Mosquitoes were bad, so that ended early. Boo.
- Friends came over and Morgan got to hang out with her little friends Jack & Will.
- SS tomorrow morning along with some shopping and maybe lunch with a friend. :)
Not much is new here. Morgan's crawling around all over and routinely leaves her toys to come find me in the kitchen. She rarely crawls in the traditional sense anymore. She'd rather use one knee and one foot to move around. It looks odd but it's efficient. I don't care. I only have to carry her from A to B 95% of the time now instead of all the time. :)
Oh, here's a fun one - Morgan loves to clap. She could be sitting there, nothing happens, and she'll clap. So anyway, to shape that into fun behavior, I started sitting with her and doing Pat-a-cake (pronounced Pat- eee - cake in our house). Now, when I start saying it, she will clap all by herself but still needs a little help with roll it, pat it. When it comes time to throw it in the oven, she grabs for my fingers no matter where they are so we can "throw it" together as I shake her around a bit. It's pretty dang cute. She also stops what she's doing a majority of the time to listen to other nursery rhymes or songs. She especially likes the Wheels on the Bus and Little Green Frog.
Tomorrow Adam has golf in the morning and then leaves for a food show of some sort in Chicago for the weekend through Tuesday. Boo. But Morgan and I have a fairly busy schedule (save for Sunday...maybe we should go to the pool?) while he's gone so that helps. She's going to be 9 months on Monday. Sigh. Happy weekend. Stay cool. It's been HOT and HUMID here the past week or so and I'm ready for it to be all done. All you preggos are troopers. I was lucky last summer as we didn't even come close to this kind of heat if I remember correctly. Ick. Better than snow! :)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Eating big-girl style
Morgan's getting older and older and we love every minute of it. Almost every other day now we say something about how we love this age even more and how much fun Morgan is. That said, I'm just going to highlight all of her greatness and I just have to say how thankful I am and thank God every day that I was good at (most days) and chose a profession that in the end allowed me to stay home (most of the time) over the summers with my baby (children in the future). Morgan's grown and developed so many new skills this summer and I'm so blessed to have been able to be here so much of the time to witness it. Amen.
Big girl food. That's right. We are officially on track to eat up all of Morgan's pureed food in the freezer and then that's it. She's officially eating big girl meals which typically include a plate (woo hoo! not a bowl of mush!!) of whatever we're eating. She LOVES meat and really seems to take pride in eating or at least trying whatever we're eating. The other night she ate kielbasa, noodles, and broccoli florets. And loved it. Yesterday she had veggie/meat pasta. And loved it again, along with her own garlic bread w/ cheese. Can you say big girl? And tonight, she fed herSELF a cheerio!! She does well with big crackers but tonight she finally got something tiny in there! (cheers and then worries about what she'll find/eat off the floor with two dogs in the house...) So anyway, that was a biggie for me. I was sick of making baby purees. Trust. Real quick, wanna know what the little piggy ate today? (yikes) 3-6oz bottles, 2-4oz bottles, peaches/plum mix & cereal (breakfast), leftover pasta from last night (a ton) at daycare, a whole banana, taco hamburger helper, yogurt, zucchini for supper, and a taste of my brownie. Oh, and 6 cheerios. Her belly was b.i.g. I hear a growth spurt I think...
Morgan is now moving from A to B fast. Today she really started exploring the house and we've made it a new habit to close the door to the basement. Around bath time, Morgan ventured down the hallway (new for her) and I told her to go take a bath. She investigated the dogs' bedroom/office instead before coming back to play with Adam. Such a big girl!
Morgan now enjoys reading books. She turns the pages. She feels the different textures in her touchy/feely books. One night while in the Dells, she crawled to her book, turned it over and over and when I finally finished what I was doing and went to her, she was REALLY excited for me to read it to her. I can't tell you how this makes my heart swoon. My baby finally likes books.
Morgan's receptive language (understanding) is improving tons! She now knows come here, (give) kisses, no/no mouth (working on this one), shake-a, bang bang, where's Daddy/Mommy?, let's go see Bunny (bed), and will look to where we are looking/pointing to when we say Look, Morgan! I'm sure there are a few I'm missing but this skill has really taken off lately and it's fun. :)
Expressively, Morgan is now saying mama, dada, and nah nah nah (likely no no no since she now hears that a bit more often) and will yell nah nah nah to anything she's mad at which at times includes the dogs running around like crazy outside when she's looking out the window. Hilarious. Perhaps we need to stop yelling at the dogs in front of her...she also signs 'more' inconsistently independently and with some verbal prompts when appropriate. We don't push the issue too much, but model it for her when we can. She also uses "all done" quick well on her own when she is done with something. We got lots of "all done" signs when she was sick of jumping in the pool from the side while on vacation. :)
Speaking of signing "all done," the 3 of us were at the pool the last full day of vacation and we were just about to leave and I had Morgan on the side jumping in. She had been resisting a last go of it and had signed all done so I didn't push it. I was in front of her anyway but talking to Adam and looking at him and all of a sudden, SPLOOSH, Morgan decided that she was NOT in fact all done and wanted one more go of it. I scooped her up and she didn't choke or get scared even though she went face first into the water. Woops. No mother-of-the-year award here I guess. :)
Last one - Morgan has been pulling up to a kneel for the longest time now and even a few half-kneels (one knee down, one foot down). Today, Mary informed me that she pulled up to a stand to play with her friend Chase who was in the exersaucer! Several times! I guess she just needed a little more fun motivation. Hilarious and true story - I picked up the monkey today from Mary's and Chase was in the exersaucer, I had Morgan in the middle of the room, and Mary was holding her other little friend, Jackson. All of a sudden, Chase started laughing...then Morgan immediately did her little cackle laugh, and then Jackson piped right in and it was a chorus of little 6-10 month old laughs/cackles. Funniest thing I've heard in a while. They're all good friends. :)
I think I'm missing a few other things I wanted to highlight but it's late and I have to work tomorrow. I'm working 4 days this week and it feels kind of good to be back into the swing of things. Ask me again about this on Friday when it's day 4. ;-)
Big girl food. That's right. We are officially on track to eat up all of Morgan's pureed food in the freezer and then that's it. She's officially eating big girl meals which typically include a plate (woo hoo! not a bowl of mush!!) of whatever we're eating. She LOVES meat and really seems to take pride in eating or at least trying whatever we're eating. The other night she ate kielbasa, noodles, and broccoli florets. And loved it. Yesterday she had veggie/meat pasta. And loved it again, along with her own garlic bread w/ cheese. Can you say big girl? And tonight, she fed herSELF a cheerio!! She does well with big crackers but tonight she finally got something tiny in there! (cheers and then worries about what she'll find/eat off the floor with two dogs in the house...) So anyway, that was a biggie for me. I was sick of making baby purees. Trust. Real quick, wanna know what the little piggy ate today? (yikes) 3-6oz bottles, 2-4oz bottles, peaches/plum mix & cereal (breakfast), leftover pasta from last night (a ton) at daycare, a whole banana, taco hamburger helper, yogurt, zucchini for supper, and a taste of my brownie. Oh, and 6 cheerios. Her belly was b.i.g. I hear a growth spurt I think...
Morgan is now moving from A to B fast. Today she really started exploring the house and we've made it a new habit to close the door to the basement. Around bath time, Morgan ventured down the hallway (new for her) and I told her to go take a bath. She investigated the dogs' bedroom/office instead before coming back to play with Adam. Such a big girl!
Morgan now enjoys reading books. She turns the pages. She feels the different textures in her touchy/feely books. One night while in the Dells, she crawled to her book, turned it over and over and when I finally finished what I was doing and went to her, she was REALLY excited for me to read it to her. I can't tell you how this makes my heart swoon. My baby finally likes books.
Morgan's receptive language (understanding) is improving tons! She now knows come here, (give) kisses, no/no mouth (working on this one), shake-a, bang bang, where's Daddy/Mommy?, let's go see Bunny (bed), and will look to where we are looking/pointing to when we say Look, Morgan! I'm sure there are a few I'm missing but this skill has really taken off lately and it's fun. :)
Expressively, Morgan is now saying mama, dada, and nah nah nah (likely no no no since she now hears that a bit more often) and will yell nah nah nah to anything she's mad at which at times includes the dogs running around like crazy outside when she's looking out the window. Hilarious. Perhaps we need to stop yelling at the dogs in front of her...she also signs 'more' inconsistently independently and with some verbal prompts when appropriate. We don't push the issue too much, but model it for her when we can. She also uses "all done" quick well on her own when she is done with something. We got lots of "all done" signs when she was sick of jumping in the pool from the side while on vacation. :)
Speaking of signing "all done," the 3 of us were at the pool the last full day of vacation and we were just about to leave and I had Morgan on the side jumping in. She had been resisting a last go of it and had signed all done so I didn't push it. I was in front of her anyway but talking to Adam and looking at him and all of a sudden, SPLOOSH, Morgan decided that she was NOT in fact all done and wanted one more go of it. I scooped her up and she didn't choke or get scared even though she went face first into the water. Woops. No mother-of-the-year award here I guess. :)
Last one - Morgan has been pulling up to a kneel for the longest time now and even a few half-kneels (one knee down, one foot down). Today, Mary informed me that she pulled up to a stand to play with her friend Chase who was in the exersaucer! Several times! I guess she just needed a little more fun motivation. Hilarious and true story - I picked up the monkey today from Mary's and Chase was in the exersaucer, I had Morgan in the middle of the room, and Mary was holding her other little friend, Jackson. All of a sudden, Chase started laughing...then Morgan immediately did her little cackle laugh, and then Jackson piped right in and it was a chorus of little 6-10 month old laughs/cackles. Funniest thing I've heard in a while. They're all good friends. :)
I think I'm missing a few other things I wanted to highlight but it's late and I have to work tomorrow. I'm working 4 days this week and it feels kind of good to be back into the swing of things. Ask me again about this on Friday when it's day 4. ;-)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
WI Dells 2010
Oh we had such a great time in the Dells last week! The only thing I would have changed was the weather and the meteorologists' abilities to predict the weather. Otherwise, everything went off pretty well and I'm so glad.
Adam's parents joined us for the first few days which was nice b/c we like to visit with them, but also b/c it gave us a chance for a date night one of those nights and we haven't had a chance to reconnect like that in some time. It was lovely.
Some of the things we got to do:
PS. I wrote this the Saturday after we got back, but never had the time to put pictures with it. I'll post some of those soon...
Adam's parents joined us for the first few days which was nice b/c we like to visit with them, but also b/c it gave us a chance for a date night one of those nights and we haven't had a chance to reconnect like that in some time. It was lovely.
Some of the things we got to do:
- Date night - mini golf at Pirate's Cove followed by sundaes at Culver's. Mmm.
- Shopping at the outlet mall.
- Naps.
- Reading.
- Swimming. Lots of swimming. But hardly any tan. :-/
- Tommy Bartlette water show. Morgan was a trooper and lasted 2.5 hours. It was a longie.
- Mt. Olympus water park - SOOO great! However, it was slightly less so when you have an 8-month old tagging along and no one to watch her while you go on the cool water slides. We did hit up the lazy river family-style and it was fun. Will be super fun next year when she's old enough to do some of those things by herself. :)
- Adam went golfing with his dad.
- Petting baby animals at the resort on baby animal day.
PS. I wrote this the Saturday after we got back, but never had the time to put pictures with it. I'll post some of those soon...
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Packing for WI Dells 2010
I LOVE how this trip's packing is going. Here's why :
Also, I had a HORRIBLE dream this morning after Adam left for golf. I dreamt that Morgan was not necessarily my daughter but I was in some fairy tale place with my interpreter (from work) and some other person I can't remember. We spent a ton of time with Morgan and I think it was her dad(?) or male caretaker and I really grew to love her (obviously). It was time for us to leave and we weren't able to ever come back and I was devastated. I woke up crying and couldn't stop for a few minutes...awful dream. My baby. The end. If I don't post anything tonight, we're off to the Dells in the morning and I'm so excited!! Not sure if we'll have internet access there and I'm not bringing my laptop b/c most of the time it makes the trip and never gets taken out. Happy (early) 4th of July!!
- I did all my errands YESTERDAY so today I don't have to go anywhere to complete any packing (ok, I went to Target after SS for Morgan's floaty pool thing).
- Adam's home today and has basically all of his chores done so I am relatively free to pack as needed.
- Morgan's napping a bit more than usual today so that only helps with the packing process...except for packing her clothes, that is!
- We're in no rush tomorrow but are shooting to leave b/w 9:00-9:30 so we can have a nice, relaxing lunch on the way to the Dells. I'm eager for Adam to have that kind of lunch with us where we have all the fun...I'm just hoping it's not strictly a mommy/daughter thing - I'd love to share it with him!
Also, I had a HORRIBLE dream this morning after Adam left for golf. I dreamt that Morgan was not necessarily my daughter but I was in some fairy tale place with my interpreter (from work) and some other person I can't remember. We spent a ton of time with Morgan and I think it was her dad(?) or male caretaker and I really grew to love her (obviously). It was time for us to leave and we weren't able to ever come back and I was devastated. I woke up crying and couldn't stop for a few minutes...awful dream. My baby. The end. If I don't post anything tonight, we're off to the Dells in the morning and I'm so excited!! Not sure if we'll have internet access there and I'm not bringing my laptop b/c most of the time it makes the trip and never gets taken out. Happy (early) 4th of July!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Don't drink 1/2 the pool.
Because if you do, you'll find yourself in a huge-mongous pile of vomit around 11:30pm after swimming lessons. This is how I found Morgan about an hour after we went to sleep. She started crying so I took a little extra time to see if she'd go back down but since it was a different cry, I headed upstairs. Adam hadn't turned on the nightlight so I put my hands right in it. Ick. She was covered and it was all in her hair. So I yelled for Adam to come up and while still trying to fully wake myself and process the necessary steps to fix this mess and soothe the apparently sick child, asked Adam if he wanted the sheets or the baby (bath). He chose sheets. I was thrilled. He didn't do so well and almost joined the ranks of vomiter in the house - but he held his own! So new sheets, clean baby, and Adam went back to bed. BUT, apparently there was a little pool water left in there b/c she vomited again all over me and down my front. It was pretty gross. So I yelled for Adam again and by the time all was said and done, Morgan was a happy camper, playing with her bunny, and rather happy in general about this extra play time she seemed to have acquired in the middle of the night. No fever. I was convinced it was likely the pool water or possibly some plums I fed her yesterday...but I'm betting it was the pool water. Either way, lesson learned: don't let the baby drink half the pool at swimming lessons unless you let her sleep in the bathtub that night. ;-)
Today was glorious. I dropped Morgan off at daycare so I could run errands and get last minute items purchased and taken care of for our week in WI Dells. We leave Sunday! I LOVE running around town with Morgan but I was on a mission so it was actually nice to do these errands alone for a change. I then picked her up and we met Adam at the riverfront for a lovely lunch. Then we came home and she took another hard, long nap while I did oodles of laundry and other such packing things. Play play play, Adam came home, and we went out for dinner with friends. Fun times! It was just one of those good kinda days that makes you smile looking back at it.
Today was glorious. I dropped Morgan off at daycare so I could run errands and get last minute items purchased and taken care of for our week in WI Dells. We leave Sunday! I LOVE running around town with Morgan but I was on a mission so it was actually nice to do these errands alone for a change. I then picked her up and we met Adam at the riverfront for a lovely lunch. Then we came home and she took another hard, long nap while I did oodles of laundry and other such packing things. Play play play, Adam came home, and we went out for dinner with friends. Fun times! It was just one of those good kinda days that makes you smile looking back at it.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
We have a CRAWLER, folks!
You read that right...she's...CRAWLING (8 months, 1 week, 5 days old for my records)!!! We had the BEST day! Let me recap. (two posts in one day - gasp!)
Morgan and I started the day off like usual, up, bottle, play, breakfast, play, (insert at least two poo diapers in here somewhere), nap...life as usual. After her morning nap, we packed up and headed to Iowa City so I could give the planter gift I had made to a work friend who's bridal shower I missed (like an idiot) a few weeks ago. So we stopped in and then headed to the mall for lunch and a quick trip to Target for a few trip essentials. On the way to the mall, however, I got sidetracked by Old Chicago and decided we were to have lunch there. Unfortunately, they didn't have the lunch special I'm used to in the QCs so I had it anyway and paid 3x as much for it. :( I didn't mind too much b/c I had the BEST company.
We got to OC and sat down. She was all sorts of starving and ate her food rather well, save for all the distractions. Then my salad came and she was all done with her little girl food and wanted my food. There was nil on my salad that worked for her so we carried on and she ended up eating all her food. She does well with her sippy and I was even able to give it to her in the car the other day after a million cheerios. Then my pizza came and she was the happiest camper ever. Then she proceeded to do a million SO BIGs, one of which we sent to a waiting Adam in the airport (he was 4 hours delayed getting home, boo). I absolutely LOVE going out to lunch, just her and I, on days/times when we have nowhere pressing to be. We have the BEST time and she's usually a riot. I'm really looking forward to our trip on Sunday when Adam is along for a fun lunch like that. LOVE that.
Quick note - I bought her a second swimsuit today for the trip (in case one's wet - I hate wet suits to put back on) and guess what...it was an 18-month suit. :-/ And she wore it to swim lessons tonight and it fit perfectly. Oh my little girl is getting so big. She's wearing something meant for a child 10 months older than she is at the moment. Ok, the brand runs small. Still. She's growing so fast which brings me to my next hugemongous note for the day...
She's. Crawling. It's official!! And guess what was finally the major motivation to move forward from the bouncing all 4s stance? My phone. The child LOVES my phone. Before she started crawling this afternoon, I'd be sitting on the floor several feet away from her and text/call someone. Child instantly appears and is trying to type too. Same with my computer. So I decide to put my phone just out of her reach...and all of a sudden we get some forward movement! Flopping involved, face plants involved, and after some practice, all of a sudden we have alternating movements and serious forward crawling! We were so excited to show Adam when he got home and he was SO proud. SO SO proud.
Speaking of Adam, I heard his truck coming since all the windows are open and told Morgan that we should go see Daddy b/c he was home. I stood up, his truck came into view, and she started to get excited. By the time we got out the door and he was pulling in, she was kicking, waving her arms, and giggling like crazy. Aw! She missed her Daddy!! She was really excited to see him which isn't what I'd consider new, but it was relatively new to have her react to that extent. Adam's eyes sparkled. So did Morgan's. It made my heart get bigger.
So that's that. Two huge posts in one day. It was a fabulous day. Even Adam being 4 hours delayed didn't bring us down. I hear all the time that we'll regret that she's moving now but to be perfectly honest, I really don't care. I'm just so excited that she's growing and developing and yes, I'm sure it'll be a pain now that we have to watch her even more closely, but I'm ever so proud of her. My little crawler. ;-)
Morgan and I started the day off like usual, up, bottle, play, breakfast, play, (insert at least two poo diapers in here somewhere), nap...life as usual. After her morning nap, we packed up and headed to Iowa City so I could give the planter gift I had made to a work friend who's bridal shower I missed (like an idiot) a few weeks ago. So we stopped in and then headed to the mall for lunch and a quick trip to Target for a few trip essentials. On the way to the mall, however, I got sidetracked by Old Chicago and decided we were to have lunch there. Unfortunately, they didn't have the lunch special I'm used to in the QCs so I had it anyway and paid 3x as much for it. :( I didn't mind too much b/c I had the BEST company.
We got to OC and sat down. She was all sorts of starving and ate her food rather well, save for all the distractions. Then my salad came and she was all done with her little girl food and wanted my food. There was nil on my salad that worked for her so we carried on and she ended up eating all her food. She does well with her sippy and I was even able to give it to her in the car the other day after a million cheerios. Then my pizza came and she was the happiest camper ever. Then she proceeded to do a million SO BIGs, one of which we sent to a waiting Adam in the airport (he was 4 hours delayed getting home, boo). I absolutely LOVE going out to lunch, just her and I, on days/times when we have nowhere pressing to be. We have the BEST time and she's usually a riot. I'm really looking forward to our trip on Sunday when Adam is along for a fun lunch like that. LOVE that.
Quick note - I bought her a second swimsuit today for the trip (in case one's wet - I hate wet suits to put back on) and guess what...it was an 18-month suit. :-/ And she wore it to swim lessons tonight and it fit perfectly. Oh my little girl is getting so big. She's wearing something meant for a child 10 months older than she is at the moment. Ok, the brand runs small. Still. She's growing so fast which brings me to my next hugemongous note for the day...
She's. Crawling. It's official!! And guess what was finally the major motivation to move forward from the bouncing all 4s stance? My phone. The child LOVES my phone. Before she started crawling this afternoon, I'd be sitting on the floor several feet away from her and text/call someone. Child instantly appears and is trying to type too. Same with my computer. So I decide to put my phone just out of her reach...and all of a sudden we get some forward movement! Flopping involved, face plants involved, and after some practice, all of a sudden we have alternating movements and serious forward crawling! We were so excited to show Adam when he got home and he was SO proud. SO SO proud.
Speaking of Adam, I heard his truck coming since all the windows are open and told Morgan that we should go see Daddy b/c he was home. I stood up, his truck came into view, and she started to get excited. By the time we got out the door and he was pulling in, she was kicking, waving her arms, and giggling like crazy. Aw! She missed her Daddy!! She was really excited to see him which isn't what I'd consider new, but it was relatively new to have her react to that extent. Adam's eyes sparkled. So did Morgan's. It made my heart get bigger.
So that's that. Two huge posts in one day. It was a fabulous day. Even Adam being 4 hours delayed didn't bring us down. I hear all the time that we'll regret that she's moving now but to be perfectly honest, I really don't care. I'm just so excited that she's growing and developing and yes, I'm sure it'll be a pain now that we have to watch her even more closely, but I'm ever so proud of her. My little crawler. ;-)
He comes home today!
And starting this post during nap time is precisely why Miss M is going to wake up from her nap right. now. We shall see. If Jessie "The amazing barking dog" can keep her yap shut, we might be lucky...on with the post in case it's a fluke and she's not up.
I think you had to be there for this to be as funny as it was to Jason, Julie, and I, but I'll try to make this short. To preface - Morgan was standing on the couch facing the back of it so she could stand alone. There were two fleece blankets, one plaid, one zebra pattern, on the back of it and as soon as I put her there, she pulled her one hand off the plaid blanket and froze: she would NOT touch the strange blankets to save her life. I tried showing her they were ok by touching them myself and whatnot, but nope, moms don't know anything about crazy blankets so she wasn't having it. This in itself was pretty funny. Wait - it gets better.
So I finally sit her down on the couch and pull the zebra one onto her lap. She put both hands up in the air like she was under arrest (as anyone would do with a zebra blanket on their lap) and only started to giggle a little when I would tickle her with it real fast. So I would tickle fast, pull it back, and she'd giggle. Repeat over and over again...we laugh...and then I started timing it at different intervals so she couldn't predict when it was coming, and all of a sudden for one rather long wait for a tickle, she SCREAMED like a tiny little girl to (I'm giggling visibly while writing this) which Julie proceeded to also scream b/c it was so funny. OMGosh it was hilarious. She then looked at all of us and had NO CLUE what to do b/c she thought maybe she should actually be scared of the crazy live zebra blanket b/c everyone was screaming/laughing/and in my case crying? I was bawling it was so funny. It also helped that she just about jumped off the couch when she screamed too. It was a real, live scream. Maybe that makes me mean for thinking that was so funny. I tried really hard to make it seem like it was a nice blanket and not an evil one but once I get rolling like that...it's hard to stop the laughing train. Anyway, hilarious. I might laugh about that for the next 2 weeks.
Yesterday I dropped Morgan off at Mary's while I went home, mowed, and then got my mani/pedi spa package "taken care of." It was lovely. I got to talk to other adults about adult things (and kids, too, of course). Someone brought ME a pop after offering it. I hate the color I chose for my nails and they already chipped on one so I'm not sure those will even make it to vacation, but they look nice for now I suppose. I almost wish I would have done a different color on my toes too (they are a metallic, shimmery purple at the moment) but I wanted something different from the amazing color I had on at the time (which was from my last SLP pedi...terrible. That was weeks and weeks ago). :)
I'm jumping like a bean here...so Adam comes home today!! The original plan was for him to fly into Moline (nearest airport to home) around 12:30, come home and hang out with us for a little bit, and then go into work for a few hours before heading home again. Sure enough, blue skies, no weather, and his plane is delayed 1.5 hours. Which means his connector in Detroit wasn't going to happen. So he's going to be 4 hours behind but guess what - don't care. Still home on a THURSDAY instead of a FRIDAY. :) Apparently today is Canada Day (?) which is like our 4th of July in Canada. I asked Adam what the heck they declared independence from, and he said nothing. They wanted a 4th of July-like holiday like we have. Damn Canadians. JK, I have nothing against Canadians (that I'm aware of). Adam on the other hand...jk.
Well, it was a half a fluke. She let me get this far and is NOW awake. Not too bad. I have to buy her one of those shoulder/neck pillows for in the car b/c with her seat being rear-facing still the angle of her seat does not allow her to sleep with her head back. She looks broken when she sleeps and I hate it. I'm sure it will be fine when we turn her, but we have 3.5 months until that happens...unless we do it sooner. I have to check the weight regs on that one. :)
Off to get her before she figures out how to pull up on the crib and fall out. So far bunny's been doing a good job of keeping her entertained when I'm a little late getting up there (thank God) but seriously, Adam has to get that thing lowered asap. :) Maybe more later. We'll see.
I think you had to be there for this to be as funny as it was to Jason, Julie, and I, but I'll try to make this short. To preface - Morgan was standing on the couch facing the back of it so she could stand alone. There were two fleece blankets, one plaid, one zebra pattern, on the back of it and as soon as I put her there, she pulled her one hand off the plaid blanket and froze: she would NOT touch the strange blankets to save her life. I tried showing her they were ok by touching them myself and whatnot, but nope, moms don't know anything about crazy blankets so she wasn't having it. This in itself was pretty funny. Wait - it gets better.
So I finally sit her down on the couch and pull the zebra one onto her lap. She put both hands up in the air like she was under arrest (as anyone would do with a zebra blanket on their lap) and only started to giggle a little when I would tickle her with it real fast. So I would tickle fast, pull it back, and she'd giggle. Repeat over and over again...we laugh...and then I started timing it at different intervals so she couldn't predict when it was coming, and all of a sudden for one rather long wait for a tickle, she SCREAMED like a tiny little girl to (I'm giggling visibly while writing this) which Julie proceeded to also scream b/c it was so funny. OMGosh it was hilarious. She then looked at all of us and had NO CLUE what to do b/c she thought maybe she should actually be scared of the crazy live zebra blanket b/c everyone was screaming/laughing/and in my case crying? I was bawling it was so funny. It also helped that she just about jumped off the couch when she screamed too. It was a real, live scream. Maybe that makes me mean for thinking that was so funny. I tried really hard to make it seem like it was a nice blanket and not an evil one but once I get rolling like that...it's hard to stop the laughing train. Anyway, hilarious. I might laugh about that for the next 2 weeks.
Yesterday I dropped Morgan off at Mary's while I went home, mowed, and then got my mani/pedi spa package "taken care of." It was lovely. I got to talk to other adults about adult things (and kids, too, of course). Someone brought ME a pop after offering it. I hate the color I chose for my nails and they already chipped on one so I'm not sure those will even make it to vacation, but they look nice for now I suppose. I almost wish I would have done a different color on my toes too (they are a metallic, shimmery purple at the moment) but I wanted something different from the amazing color I had on at the time (which was from my last SLP pedi...terrible. That was weeks and weeks ago). :)
I'm jumping like a bean here...so Adam comes home today!! The original plan was for him to fly into Moline (nearest airport to home) around 12:30, come home and hang out with us for a little bit, and then go into work for a few hours before heading home again. Sure enough, blue skies, no weather, and his plane is delayed 1.5 hours. Which means his connector in Detroit wasn't going to happen. So he's going to be 4 hours behind but guess what - don't care. Still home on a THURSDAY instead of a FRIDAY. :) Apparently today is Canada Day (?) which is like our 4th of July in Canada. I asked Adam what the heck they declared independence from, and he said nothing. They wanted a 4th of July-like holiday like we have. Damn Canadians. JK, I have nothing against Canadians (that I'm aware of). Adam on the other hand...jk.
Well, it was a half a fluke. She let me get this far and is NOW awake. Not too bad. I have to buy her one of those shoulder/neck pillows for in the car b/c with her seat being rear-facing still the angle of her seat does not allow her to sleep with her head back. She looks broken when she sleeps and I hate it. I'm sure it will be fine when we turn her, but we have 3.5 months until that happens...unless we do it sooner. I have to check the weight regs on that one. :)
Off to get her before she figures out how to pull up on the crib and fall out. So far bunny's been doing a good job of keeping her entertained when I'm a little late getting up there (thank God) but seriously, Adam has to get that thing lowered asap. :) Maybe more later. We'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)