Anti-War Button

http://girlsgonechild.blogspot.com/2007/01/wear-button-moms-and-dads-against-war.html

I try not to link too much, but this is something that seems so worth while.

It breaks my heart to hear on the radio of people losing their children, both young and old, to war. I hate hearing about kids losing their parents.

I hate to think about what it would be like if the war was here. What if my child couldn't go outside and play? What if I worried about a stray bullet hitting her while she slept? What if we couldn't make it to the hospital because of all the checkpoints?

A Winter's Weekend

Our blast of nice air concluded on Friday bringing more rain and cold weather. I know it could be worse, but it could be better too.

Friday I had a sign a "incident report" at school as someone, who will remain nameless, bit another child. Yes, my sweet baby girl is the biter in the class. I didn't get the details on how or when it happened, but I am sure no harm was meant by it. I guess the teacher will need to keep a closer eye on her because it isn't like she is going to sneak around grabbing kids by the hand and biting them. I could be making excuses, but I am willing to bet it happened during Friday afternoon TV time. I always knew the TV was no good.

Saturday we went to a birthday party at Gymboree. It is a little baby gym with lots of indoor play equipment. At one point they brought a giant parachute out to let all the kids jump on and then get under. It was fun. Peanut laughed and ran around the whole time. She loves to climb on stuff so she was in total paradise. They had these very low to the ground trampolines that she would go to time and time again. She did so good. Some of the other 2 to 3 year olds got fussy, but Peanut was a real champ, even joining in on the games.

After Gymboree, we had lunch. Before going home we rolled through Tuesday Morning to see if they had any cool baking things that I needed. They didn't, but they did have some musical instruments that I have been wanting for Peanut. We gave them to Peanut in the car. She loved them. She played and played until we were just about to Woodrow street. Then, the backseat was suddenly silent. We turned around to see our little girl fast asleep with a tambourine in one hand and a whistle in the other. She had played herself to sleep. Rock on sister. Rock on. She slept for 2.5 hours. She usually only takes an 1.5 hour nap.

I think every parent has their favorite toy that they can't wait for their child to play with. Mine is Legos. I have so many good memories of playing Legos for hours with my brother. At Tuesday Morning they had an introductory set of Legos. Peanut loves them. Of course, not for stacking, but for chewing on and carrying around to hand to others to chew on. I am so excited.

Speaking of excited. I FINALLY received my KitchenAid mixer. I made 6 loaves of bread this weekend. I tried Ciabotta, but it didn't turn out like I hoped. It was good anyway. I took some pictures, but I realized I took them in the middle of a cooking frenzy where everything is a disaster.

Somewhat Sunny Day

The last two days have been somewhat sunny, so we have gotten to spend a little time outside. We have a small infant slide and swing set in our backyard that is good for blowing off a little steam, but today we went to the elementary school up the street to play on their stuff. Peanut has become a big fan of the slide. She also enjoys the stairs leading up to the slide which wide and shallow so she can crawl up on her own. It is good fun for her. She laughs the whole time we are out there.

The walking is getting really good. She is a pro at walking inside. Walking outside has it challenges because of the uneven terrain. I guess it never really occurred to me, but it takes a lot to negotiate hills and bumps because you have to adjust your weight accordingly. Today Peanut took a face plant while trying to negotiate the suspension bridge at the park. She took quite a tumble, but it didn't seem to phase her. Mom, on the other hand, was thankful she didn't propel her little body off the bridge. It would have made for a good action shot but a crumby evening.

Our attitude has improved after last week. It seems the persistent snotty nose and cough turned into a sinus infection. She is on antibiotics now, and they seem to be doing the trick. Speaking of tricks our latest one is turning off the lights with dad. Sometimes, when dad is feeling very generous, she even gets to shut doors too.

Peanut has been really into her dad lately. She will even go to him when I am holding her. It is nice because that lets me have my hands free to do other things. The flip side to that is that she has been clinging to my legs a lot lately. It can be pretty tiresome if no one else is around to divide her attention. I think she might be going through the stage where she is starting to realize she is a different person from me. I imagine the change from being a baby to being a kid can pretty difficult. It is hard to remember that when all you want to do is open the refrigerator without having a complete brake down on your hands.

The car seat has become a huge issue lately. Any motion toward the car starts the whining. Opening the door starts the crying. Putting her into the car seat... well... she starts arching her back and screaming. SCREAMING. I mean really. It used to work to ask her if she wanted to go see Daisy. Waiting a minute or two used to work. Now giving her a book kind of works, but is working less and less. I am at a loss. It is a total fight each time she gets into the car. Hopefully, it won't last too long and she will finally give up. But until then...

TP is for me

I have to admit, I have been feeling lazy about writing, but video says so much that I can't even possibly begin to explain.

For example, we like for our child to play in the most disgusting part of the house. Not only do we keep a toilet in said room, but we also keep dirty diapers and trash. In reality, I am tired of going to work, and I really just want to care for a sick child.

That or...

Can anyone really resist the urge to spin the....

wait, I am giving it away.




You might be wondering what I did with the TP afterwards, well, peanut said we should TP her daddy's side of the room.

So we did.

A Case of the Mondays

The weather sucks. It has been cold (freezing) and wet. Too cold to go outside with my precious bundle of joy, who hasn't been joyful AT ALL.

All week peanut has been whiny. I do love my girl, but she is cutting teeth and has a slight cold. She doesn't know what she wants, but does know that she wants to whine about it. It really is driving me batty. On top of that, everyone else's kid has a cold so there has been no social interaction after work. (and really none at work because I have been so busy) I am not allowed to cook or do anything because someone gets upset. IKES

but today. Today was sunny (still cold) and my baby was my old baby again. Hurray. Hopefully she got over/is getting over whatever it was that was getting her down. If not this weekend is going to be painful because it is suppose to be rainy and cold again.

Peanut is trying to say a lot of words. 3 new words this week are Alison (almost), milk, and no. I don't expect them to be part of her vocabulary just yet. The last two she repeated after me. The first one she said when she was saying "dada". Then she said "awison" using the same intonation that we use with her name.

Mr. T. and I have been throwing down some cash lately. We bought a kitchenaid mixer and a bed. Two things we hope to get a lot of use out of. We want to start making our own bread because the good stuff is about 5 dollars a loaf and the rest is filled with corn syrup.

Peanut on the Move

This is a video for the family that doesn't get to see her often.

Let them eat cake - First Birthday

The little girl, Fasu, who walks up to Peanut in the video was born 2 days after her. At Fasu's party this weekend, Peanut walked up to Fasu, but not so much to get some cake, I think it was more to climb on her high chair.

Week 53 - Learn Learn Learn

This week Peanut did two remarkable things. She tried to put the rings back on the holder on the little ring stacker thing that everyone has. This was the first time she has taken any interest in putting the ring back on the holder. Usually she just dumps them off and either bangs them together or puts them in her mouth. The second thing she did was work with the shape sorter. She actually did put the shapes where they were suppose to go. I guess she is just reaching a point where she is actually trying to put things together because I also found a hippo in her gum ball machine. She isn't great at either toy, but she is showing some interest which is a dramatic change from eating them. Now I need to show her how to put them together and put them back up on the shelf.

Peanut has had a cold for the last week or so. We had to forgo the shots because I didn't want to do them when she was feeling poorly. She has been getting an ear infection every time she gets a cold, but this time she seemed to scrape by without an additional trip to the doctor.

This are slowing down after the holiday season. I am starting back to school next week. I don't know how hard the class will be, but the lessons are definitely shorter than the one I did last semester.

It has been raining buckets here. The whole family went to the gym today to get our workout. Peanut went to daycare, and Mr. T. and I went to the pool. When I came to pick her up, peanut was sitting on the TABLE. I kind of pointed and tried to get my words out. The lady nodded like I was a little crazy before turning around to see what I was pointing at. Peanut was sitting on her knees bouncing up and down while trying to take a toy from another girl. The girl was getting aggravated, and it looked like peanut was about to take a dive off the back of the table. The daycare worker apologized saying she had just pulled her down off the table and had walked over to the desk. I guess peanut immediately got back on the table again.

I am going to be mounting her bookcase to the wall tomorrow. I am convinced she is a climber.

Crisis Averted!

I have been totally worried about peanut being short. I took her height measurements at 11 months and came up with 29 inches. That is the in 65 percentile. The equivalent of 5'5" (yes, I looked that up). SHORT. I know it is stupid, and we shouldn't be worried about numbers and percentiles, but.... I am a nerd. Numbers are what I get paid to worry about. And... I am TALL. It would be weird to have a short daughter. What if I don't relate to her or what if I couldn't ever hear her talk because she is so short...

anyway, we went to the doctor, and she isn't short. She is 30.75 inches tall, which is the 90%. She is also 22 lbs which is the 70%. A big relief on my part.

Peanut is getting really good at walking. She is starting to try to stand up on her own in the middle of the room but still hasn't gotten it yet.

She has also been destroying my stuff lately. She has torn the space bar off my computer breaking it permanently. She has also torn the little joy stick off my phone making it virtually impossible to call people using the address book.

oh well. what is a few hundred dollars when you get such a beautiful smile each day!

Slide Show Vs. 2.0

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Okay. So this one is better because it has all the months.

Love Letter to a 1 year old

Dear Peanut,

Today you turned 1 year old. When you were born, the nurses were amazed by you in the nursery. All of the other babies were crying, but you were just looking around. You were content.

That is how I would sum up this last year, content. You are a very happy child who constantly amazes me how well you adjust to various circumstances. People often ask me "Does that child ever not smile!". It makes my heart swell up with pride when people remark on how well you behave or how big your smile is. You have flown on 3 different trips and been on 1 incredibly long car ride but through them all, you were very content to smile at me and suck on your pacifier.

You are my little girl. You cling to me like glue. I know I should complain about it and try to force on you some sort of independence, but I can't and won't. I love that you want to cuddle up with me and that you want me to stay and hang out with you in the morning. I don't even mind waking up and nursing you at night because I know that these times are short lived. I take every chance I can to breath in you hair and chew on your fingers (which are constantly being pushed into my mouth).

Not only have you been content but so have I. I feel like I owe it to you to relax when I am around you. When I am feeling rushed, I can feel your little body tense up. For the few short hours from when I pick you up at daycare to when you go to bed, I need to be focused on you. Not so much for you, but for myself.

It is amazing to me to see you toddling around. Part of me wants to gush with pride but the other part wants to hid in a closet because I am so scared. I have to watch you like a hawk because you are quick and curious. One of my biggest fears is that something will happen to you on my watch and I will have to live with the fact that my carelessness took away the thing that I hold dearest to my heart.

Just like your smile, I love your curiosity. You find join in the simplest of things. You point to everything and ask "zzat?" You are into everything trying to figure out how it works and how to put things back together. Along with that curiosity you are messy. I never knew anyone who took getting into everything so literal. Be it a box or a puddle you are right there on it.

So my birthday wish to you, my dear peanut, is that you never lose that curiosity or your sense of peace. I hope you always have a big smile on your face and dirt on your knees. I love you with every ounce of my being.

many kisses full of blueberries and clementines,
your mum

12 months of baby

Birth

A little worse for the wear. Learning to walk can be pretty hard.

Walking

Peanut is finally walking consistently. She still isn't very good at it, as she tosses her shoulders forward to move her legs. But she is doing it, and she is doing it often. She is so cute because you can tell she is focusing with all she has to make her legs move forward. At times, it looks like she wants to move forward, but momentarily has forgotten how. She looks around, then starts tossing her arms to give her little body the momentum it needs to propel itself forward. She is getting pretty good at stopping and turning or turning while walking. She looks like a drunk trying to negotiate a hallway, but by golly, that girl has heart.

We got our new KING sized bed today. Peanut took a head dive off of it not 3 hours after it was delivered. I have been working with her on the proper way to get down from the couch and bed, but I don't think it is setting in yet.

I did a lot of cooking today in preparation for the big birthday tomorrow. We are having about 20 people to eat chili and watch peanut tear down some cake. I made a cake for the general crowd, and my friend Rose is making a cake in the shape of a number one for Peanut. I am really looking forward to it.

Lately peanut has been really into fruit. Mr. T. got some clementines from the Sam's Club. She will eat a whole one and point at ours and whine because she wanted ours too. What a maniac! I think clementines may have taken over the spot of blueberry.

It is hard to believe that I was in labor this time last year. In fact, I had been in labor for over 16 hours by now. But that is all the complaining I will do now.

Kazoo Cool

I knew children were musical, but I really had no idea.

Ain't Skeered

This is why I am not scared of peanut walking.

Hopefully she will try to master walking rather than climbing.

Baby in a box anyone?

All of these were taken within 2 minutes of each other while we were getting ready for our first day at the new daycare. There were tears, but they were only mine.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

This New Year's Eve was probably one of the nicest that I have had in a long time. We gave up on going out for New Years a couple of years ago. Since then we usually end up at someone's house for a party. This year we went to my friend Jennifer's house. It was just the two couples, but we had a really great time. Peanut had a pretty late nap, so she was able to party on with us until 8:30 (her normal bed time is 7:00). I was able to lay her down to sleep without even a whimper. We actually stayed up to see the ball drop. I don't remember the last time I saw a new day in, so it was quite an accomplishment for me.

Peanut seems to be walking more and more. Today she was walking a lot, still not too far, but she is trying.

Her big thing lately has been feeding the two of us her food. Today Mr. T was the partner in a cracker caked with yogurt and baby slobber. I got to partake in a slobbery apple. Feeding your mom and dad is fun, but it is more fun getting to eat something, say an apple, at the same time. If we are both biting into it, well, that is cause for loud belly laughs.

We are getting ready for the big party at our house. I think I invited maybe 4 or 5 families over to eat either tacos or chili. We are not doing presents because we have enough toys already for her, and there is only so much room in the attic. We are going to have a rubber ducky themed party.

I did set up her 529 account and Upromise account. I don't think it will be enough to pay for all of her college, but it will certainly help.

Mr. T. is putting a bunch of my climbing equipment on eBay next week. If anyone is looking for some used climbing equipment, then we have some at a great deal. It is sad to see it go, and some of it I won't let him sell. We are getting rid of my trad gear and my crash pad. It is sad to see it go because I have so many good memories from climbing, but I am not that girl anymore. I haven't been that girl for a number of years now. Spending every weekend looking for a good crag is not a priority anymore. I don't even think I have any friends that climb still.

Tomorrow we start the new daycare. I am a little nervous that I will forget something or that peanut will be traumatized that I am dropping her off with complete strangers. I don't have to work tomorrow (RIP), so I can check in on her throughout the day.