After Dinner

Now, I know what you're thinking....how much did she actually get in her mouth?

For the Record: Let's Go!

We spent our first weekend at home in 3 weeks.  Unfortunately, BA was sick for most of it.  But we managed to hit the park for some family walking and Peanut swinging.  

Leah added a few things to her "bag of tricks" this weekend, and we got rid of the crib bumpers (which means we have pacifiers flying everywhere at night!).  She's walking pretty well with just one hand now, and can stand for a second or two if you let go.  She'll squat down, but won't attempt to stand up on her own yet.  But she's mastered the heel-to-toe technique, as long as someone is holding her hand.  It's pretty adorable. 

She is blowing kisses (even making the "kissing" sound a little).  She also copied us by saying "Let's Go" and sometimes just "Go."  She also said "big girl" again. 

She bounces balls straight at you, and she discovered that her pacifier bounces on the kitchen floor!  She enjoyed that.

And she likes to sit in her booster seat on the floor in her room.  At first we strapped her in, but then she threw her pacifier across the floor.  So we unbuckled her without her realizing it, and she still thought she couldn't move.  It was pretty funny to watch her reach so hard for her pacifier.  Now we don't strap her in, and she just sits there like a little lady.  After a while, she gets out to look around, then crawls back up to it, but she can't figure out how to get back in.  So she ends up just standing beside it until we put her back in.

While Skyping with BA's parents, BA had to leave the room to grab the laptop power cord.  After waving bye to Dad, the Peanut stayed right in front of the screen staring at Nana until BA returned.  He was so proud that she didn't wander off to climb the stairs or otherwise injure herself.  Then she commenced to show off her walking and straw cup sipping (which she has finally mastered after about 3 months of trying). 

But one of our favorite "tricks" that she's picked up the past few days has been her cuddling.  She's been awfully snuggly recently around us...hugging us and resting her head on us.  And she'll let us rock her to sleep for a few minutes.  We're not sure if this is because she hates daycare so much or is just going through a phase of wanting to be around us constantly.  Either way, we're trying to soak it up (while correcting the daycare issue, of course). 

Here's the scooter at her daycare class.  How cute are these kids in their little chairs all having breakfast together?  Notice the one kid that has to be held by the teacher?  Yep, you guessed it.  That's Princess Peanut, who was too upset to eat her Cheerios next to the other kids.  (Maybe it didn't help that Dad was taking a picture of the calamity).

Spaghetti = Immediate Sink Bath

Seen Recently

Just some recent pictures for your enjoyment.

From daycare (Leah is on the left)...

Dinner and a Show

For a couple of weeks now, this is the show we get after we feed Leah dinner every night, while she waits for us to finish eating....

For the Record: Words?

We think Leah has been trying to say some words the past couple of months.  I don't think we can count any as "first words" yet, but it's fun to watch her imitate us.  So far, here's what we think we've heard:

• Wetbar (I swear I heard it once)
• Touchdown (after we practiced with her for months)
• Thank you
• Sfoot (what a genius...making up her own words)
• Dumb (which she said emphatically about 2 inches from BA's face while staring at him and waiting for her bottle to heat up...thanks Leah)
• Big girl
• Uh-oh (well, more "uh" than "oh" but still)
• Where's Nana?
• Peek-a-Boo (ok, it's more of a grunt when she's peeking at us from around the kitchen door frame, but it's cute, so we'll take it)
• And she's been trying to sing with AA, which is pretty funny.  She's been practicing the Queen's aria from The Magic Flute.  Good luck with that, Peanut.
• We think she also tried to say "blog."

So if you've got a spare 3 minutes on a Friday and you want to see a smiley, flirty, happy, curious, clapping, tissue-pulling, diaper-wearing, just-another-day-hanging-out-at-home, grunting-when-I-concentrate Peanut, then enjoy this clip.  And listen for "blog" about halfway through.

BA's Corner: Daycare, Changes, and Family

Leah is getting ready to transition to the next daycare class.  I hope the "Tiny Tots" are ready for a big Peanut.  While she's still an "Infant 1," I thought I'd share some daycare pics we got last month (most are from "beach day").  If nothing else, this proves that she doesn't cry all day long, just when we drop her off and pick her up.  Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daycare has been a bit of a struggle - one we didn't expect.  New rules, new teachers, and new routines take some getting used to, and we're still adjusting.  For some reason, it seems like Leah has never been fully comfortable in her new daycare, and neither have we.  It's a nice facility and they do many great things with the kids.  But for some reason, we just haven't clicked.  There seem to be a lot of rules and things constantly change, so maybe that's part of it.  They are trying to push the kids from 2 naps/day to 1, and it's not going very well.  Aside from that:

• Leah has started to eat everything on the menu since she's turned 1 (which is great, and fun too)
• We continue to try the straw cup with her (unsuccessfully...although she did it once a few weeks ago)
• We are still transitioning from formula to milk (she drank full milk for a few days, but I don't think her stomach was ready for it, which resulted in some extra loads of laundry.  So we are still mixing it with formula and gradually working up to full milk again). 
• Plus she now has tennis shoes, since the "T-Tots" require them. 

 

Suffice it to say, there are many changes going on over here.  But Leah is sleeping very well at night and we are managing through the changes at a pace she can handle.  Plus, it is so wonderful to have AA back.  We feel like a family again - and a family that has control over our lives!  Monday afternoon, when we returned from our mini-vacation (thank you again Nana and Papa!), we took Leah on a wagon ride up to the pool after her nap.  We enjoyed swimming and relaxing as a family again.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is huge.  Leah had a ball splashing and kicking with both of us there, and she especially enjoyed when I would toss her up in the air.  Water splashed all in her face, and she just grinned and giggled.  

 

In our return to normalcy, we have vowed to:

1. Take some time as a family every weekend...no pictures, no blogging, just enjoying the moment
2. Salvage as much of the rest of the summer as possible, so that we don't look back at 2012 as "that awful, wasted summer when the bar controlled our lives."

 

Bar be gone.  We're a family again.