Happy Halloween!

Well, Laura made it through her first Halloween on approximately 20 minutes of a nap in the car. That's it. In an attempt to see many people on one day, we did a lot of driving! Here's how our Halloween went (for the most part, just ducky):

3:30 am: Wake up!

4:30 am: Back to sleep

6:30 am: Wake up!

?: Back to sleep
7:45: Wake up for real

9:20 am: Down for morning nap

10:00 am: Got Laura out of crib; talked for 40 min., no nap

12:00pm: Visited Uncle M and Auntie K in Minneapolis. Laura was intrigued at being in some new surroundings.

1:30 pm: Laura falls asleep in the car on the way home. Mom and Dad stop for some Jimmy John's.

1:50 pm: Laura wakes up when we get home.

2:00pm: Mom tries to get her to continue the nap.

2:30pm: Mom gives up.

3:00 pm: We get in the car and head to NP. Hang out with Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins.

5:30 pm: Get in the car again, head back to the 'burbs to see the other Grandma and Grandpa.

6:15 pm: Arrive. Laura agrees to have the duck costume put on for the third time today.

6:30 pm: Meltdown.

All things considered, she did do a great job today with as little sleep as she had. We're hoping that she crashed hard tonight and will sleep through the whole daylight savings time shift.

Check out the slideshow of Laura's fall and Halloween:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Laura is Seven Months Old!

Happy Halloween! Our favorite little pumpkin is seven months old. She's becoming quite the big girl, with all the sitting, eating, and nonsense chatter. Still no sign of a tooth yet, so we still see that cute gummy smile every day.

Height:

Weight:

Likes: sitting & reaching, tags on toys, yogurt, making gargling sounds, waking up before 6 a.m., not taking any naps on the weekend (this would be a dislike for the parents), fruit, paper, mobile, and trying to sit up from a lying position.

Dislikes: being constipated, veggies, having her face wiped off after eating messy food

Dad and I think that Laura would do great at that old elementary school fitness testing measure, the "sit and reach." She does this all day long! Yogurt was a new treat this week, and she LOVES it. I already think she figured out that yogurt comes after the cereal and fruit/veggie; after just a few bites of the main dish, she starts to close her mouth and fuss. When the yogurt comes next, she scarfs it down like there's no tomorrow. Mmmm...

Wardrobe Malfunction

"...best thing to do is call a press conference. Alert the media, and then you control the story. Wait for the them to find out, and the story controls you." - Michael Scott (The Office)

Mom secretly took some pictures of something I did embarrassingly wrong. I can only suspect that she was up to nooo good and would use them against me at some point. Sneaky. Instead, I followed the wisdom of one, Michael Scott, and will now notify everyone of my blunder before she does. No, this has nothing to do with David Letterman's confession.

Monday morning was a typical morning, I woke up, played with Laura, put on her clothes and off to daycare. Only this time, I made a boo-boo... I put her shirt on backwards! Back to the basics of Parenting 101. Sadly, I nearly walked out the door the last time I put this shirt on. I can only imagine the laughter that occurred at daycare.

Take a look at these pictures. Do you see anything noticeably wrong? If you are male, the buttons should be on the back. How can you blame Dad? I don't have any shirts that have buttons on the back!

Just wait till we get into hairstyles, such as ponytails, braids, pigtails, etc.! Be forewarned, I don't have any idea on how to do this either. Oh, Dad!

Mobiles and Poops

The week in review: constipation and the discovery of the mobile.

Lately, I have a hard time watching Laura try to poop. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. She will be sitting on the floor playing with plastic blocks having a grand 'ol time. Then, you hear a long sounding grunt along with tear-filled eyes and a red face followed by painful screams. She puts so much into these poops and exerts so much energy, all that comes out is a few toots. I can't help myself from laughing. Really, I become concerned for her comfort.

Laura has been constipated for two to three weeks. Mom and I have been sending prune juice to daycare, trying to loosen up that backlog. Today, Laura had another difficult episode, she cried and tried hard with nothing to show for it. This evening, Mom resorted to giving Laura a rectal laxative. We hope good things will happen by tomorrow morning.

In other news, Laura finally appreciates her animal mobile above her bed. I believe this was a shower gift from Great Auntie Sue. Maybe once a week for the last six and a half months, I would wind it up and let it play. Laura never responded to it, never enjoy it, and didn't care for the thing. I was at the point of dismantling it. But for whatever the reason, this week something clicked and she absolutely loves it! Mom and I play it in the morning, night and during diaper changing times. Laura lays in her crib, looking up at it and smiles and laughs while it plays. Very cute!

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

This past Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa B came up to hunt for pumpkins with us. The weather was absolutely fantastic, compared to the other crummy, cold, wet October days.


Our pumpkin hunting led us to Pahl's Market in Apple Valley. Word had it that pumpkins were both big, small yet very plentiful. In addition to pumpkins, Pahl's had a ton of fun attractions for kids. Too bad Laura wasn't old and/or tall enough to participate. Nevertheless, Laura kept herself entertained by looking around at all the wonderful, colorful things.

After walking around looking at oversized pumpkins, Laura scouted us toward a bin of much smaller ones. She pointed out two small pumpkins for Mom and Dad to carve silly and scary faces for Halloween. We were so impressed with Laura's selections, we forgot that she was a pumpkin hunting rookie. {wink, wink!} Well done, peanut!

We took advantage of the fall scenery at Pahl's and had a family photo of us sitting on a bench. Like I said before, there was so much color and new objects to look at, Laura couldn't help herself and ignored the camera. Oh Laura!

Fall Pictures

Professional 6 month pictures
Mom took Laura for her 6 month pictures yesterday to one of the Target stores in Apple Valley. Mom received some recommendations for an independent professional photographer but her prices jumped $75 dollars from just a few months ago. So, Mom and I decided to check out the quality of Target's pictures and then look at going to the independent photographers for Laura's 1 year pictures.

Auntie Lynn Visit
This week Mom was on MEA break. She took Laura down to see (and sort of play with) Auntie Lynn and Andrew and Lillian. With the unseasonably cool October weather we have been having, they spent the morning and afternoon inside Auntie Lynn's house. The kids mostly slept but when awake, Mom was able to snap a few pictures. (I really enjoy looking at a baby's "deer in the headlights stare." Thanks Andrew.)

Scarecrow Picture
After the visit with the cousins, Mom and Laura stopped by Grandma and Grandpa B's house. Unfortunately, nobody was home. But that didn't stop Mom from taking a few cute pictures of Laura in front of their Halloween/Fall arrangement of hay bales, scarecrow, corn stalks, and gourds. Doesn't Laura look cute in her Halloween outfit!?!

Tricks and Treats

The month of October has always been a big one in Baby B's Mom's family - building anticipation to the big event...Halloween. Babies can't really get excited about this yet, and Father B and Baby B's Mom are way busy. However, our little pumpkin is keeping us on our toes and giving us all sorts of tricks and treats.

The Tricks

1. Laura's latest trick - don't ask me how she does it: I stay up late to work on school stuff, cleaning, the internet, whatever. I crawl under the covers more than an hour past my usual bedtime, completely tired out. Laura promptly wakes up as soon as my head hits the pillow, fussing for a pacifier or a diaper change. Inevitably it takes about an hour to get her back to sleep. Last night she even upped the ante by reaching her arms out to me to be picked up and snuggled at 1 AM. I fell for it...sucker. This trick is never performed on nights when I go to bed early and/or on time, of course.

(Looks innocent but is contemplating evil sleep-stealing plans)

2. Another new trick is her arsenal of noises. She likes making fake coughs, and also takes loud huge gasping breaths that make it seem like she is choking. Both scare mom of course. Laura also likes it when someone puts a finger by her mouth and helps her make funny noises (see video in last entry). She's starting to jabber more at us, but nothing that sounds like actual words - just lots of "aaahh" sounds.

The Treats

1. She is so darn cute all the time. Tonight we figured out that she is ticklish under her armpits, and we can get raucous, squealing laughter by tickling her or nuzzling our noses in there.

2. Laura is finally showing signs of nice soft baby skin and scalp. She has been a crusty babe ever since birth what with the eczema and cradle cap and all. At her 6 month appointment, we finally got some prescription ointment that has made a huge difference. I can hardly stand all the softness and constantly am snuggling my face with hers.

Nummies

I know, I know, our post frequency has gone down quite a bit as of late. Sorry for that. We have been stuck in a routine of picking Laura up from daycare at 4pm, playing with her til 6:30, then putting her to bed by 7pm. After that, Mom works on school stuff and Dad does "whatever." I just haven't been motivated to blog.

In the coming weeks, I foresee one, Laura Lynn saying her first words, eating solid foods (more solid than soppy cereal), popping in her first tooth, and maybe a crawl. With that said, our postings will become a little more frequent... So Stay Tuned!!!

Here is a couple of videos we took last month and blended together Laura eating cereal for the first time, then the second time, and finally a scene of her making some funny noises. Laura's first attempt at cereal wasn't so good as she pushed away the spoon. The second attempt was much better. The final clip is Laura enjoying Mom flap her lips with her finger as Laura hums. Very cute! Enjoy!!!