Laura,
Just thought I would show you what our house looked like one month after moving into it.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Laura is 1 Year + 4 Months!
Height: 30.5"
Weight: 18 lbs.
Likes: watching daddy mow the lawn, repetitive viewing of favorite tv clips (opening sequence of "Thomas the Tank Engine," Sheryl Crow singing "'I' is Going to Soak Up the Sun" on Sesame Street, Elmo's World segments), pretending to sleep and covering up with a blanket on the big girl bed, yogurt and "num num" treats (cookies, ice cream), goofing around with dad in the basement playroom, throwing her sippy cups, brushing teeth and washing hands in the sink, asparagus and peas, puppies
Dislikes: being still for diaper changes, having mama leave her, long car rides
Any new tricks? At night we often repeat this sequence where she throws all of her plugs (pacifiers) out and cries. I go in and ask her "Where are your plugs?" and she points behind her crib where she threw them. When I say, "Where do the plugs go at bedtime?," she points on the mattress. Then I say, "What is it time for?" and she says "Nigh-nigh." Stinker, she knows exactly what she should be doing!She also can identify and name the letter "i" (only lowercase) courtesy of said Sheryl Crow clip above, and knows the following body parts: ears, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, tummy, bellybutton, toes. Laura is working more and more to try and repeat the things she hears us say, and works harder on words that she is interested in - for example, "glasses" and "mow."
Thursday, July 29, 2010
In search of...Daycare
New town, New home, New neighbors...New daycare.
I am starting to wonder, "Is too much NEW, a bad thing?" The word "new" should equate to fun, exciting, adventurous. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy we decided TO move and were ABLE to move! I really like our house and the neighborhood. I think the splash of change is too much to take in at one time. With that said, Laura doesn't mind, she is taking it all in with smiles.
This week, we're interviewing new daycare providers. We had such a great thing going at Kimms that we're using her as a measuring stick to the new people.
So far, we have visited two in-home providers and have one more this evening. The decision will be difficult as each person has their pluses and minuses. We're having a hard time deciding what are the things we need/expect/hope from our new provider and how do we weigh those pluses and minuses (location/cost/# kids/friendliness/discipline and teaching philosophies, and so on) to make the best decision.
This process seems to be more complicated than "what can we live with and what are deal breakers." Stay tuned...
I am starting to wonder, "Is too much NEW, a bad thing?" The word "new" should equate to fun, exciting, adventurous. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy we decided TO move and were ABLE to move! I really like our house and the neighborhood. I think the splash of change is too much to take in at one time. With that said, Laura doesn't mind, she is taking it all in with smiles.
This week, we're interviewing new daycare providers. We had such a great thing going at Kimms that we're using her as a measuring stick to the new people.
So far, we have visited two in-home providers and have one more this evening. The decision will be difficult as each person has their pluses and minuses. We're having a hard time deciding what are the things we need/expect/hope from our new provider and how do we weigh those pluses and minuses (location/cost/# kids/friendliness/discipline and teaching philosophies, and so on) to make the best decision.
This process seems to be more complicated than "what can we live with and what are deal breakers." Stay tuned...
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Sad, Tiny Little Peanut
Yesterday we took Laura in for her 15 month visit. Mom had HIGH hopes that she was going to be at the 20 lb. mark FINALLY. I generally believe our home scale to be about 5 lbs. inaccurate (allowing me to pretend that I am 5 lbs. less than I really am), and Laura was at about 18 lbs. the other day at home.
February 1: 17 lb. 6 oz.
At this point, she's off the chart (in the negative way) for weight percentile. I feed her stuff all the time, and she's definitely keeping Nabisco and Keebler in business, but the fact is she eats like a bird. The doctor wasn't concerned because she is continuing to grow height-wise and says it's normal for kids not to eat a lot at this age. Although, she did say she might always be kind of a small gal. (Lexi, you can counsel her in the event Laura feels distress over this someday) Any tricks for baby weight gain?! I think we will be trying a little Ovaltine or Carnation Instant Breakfast.
Argggh, but no. Laura gets on the scale and the nurse says, "Eighteen pounds." (On the plus side, home scale = accurate) Let's review her last few visits:
February 1: 17 lb. 6 oz.
April 5: 17 lb. 8 oz.
April 20: 18 lb.
July 14: 18 lb.
At this point, she's off the chart (in the negative way) for weight percentile. I feed her stuff all the time, and she's definitely keeping Nabisco and Keebler in business, but the fact is she eats like a bird. The doctor wasn't concerned because she is continuing to grow height-wise and says it's normal for kids not to eat a lot at this age. Although, she did say she might always be kind of a small gal. (Lexi, you can counsel her in the event Laura feels distress over this someday) Any tricks for baby weight gain?! I think we will be trying a little Ovaltine or Carnation Instant Breakfast.
Plus she was the saddest girl ever with the shots this time. Usually she's fine by the time we get out to the parking lot, but this time I had to listen to the hiccupy breathing kids do when they're trying to calm down from sobbing - the entire way home. And then when we got home we had the sad, sad, crying all over again for dad. Oh, I felt so bad for her. We had to do a 4am snuggle and Tylenol hit as well...this morning at 6:50 I wake up to hear her over the monitor, "Num num num." I go in to get her up and she's pointing at the Tylenol (loves it).
Enjoy this picture of the peanut at a happier point in the summer:
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Laura is 1 Year + 3 Months!
Laura spent most of her 15th month at Grandma Barb's and Grandpa Glenn's, and had a fine time there soaking up attention from them and Uncle Matt, as well as sneaking into neighbor's yards to enjoy their fun toys! Now we are in our new house and settling in; I think Laura is starting to get used to our new place.
Likes: Airplanes (see her uncle's post below), walking around in bigger houses, pulling flowers off mom's plants, Elmo (calls him Mel-mo), birds, lawnmowers, playing outside/swinging, spitting out milk and juice/throwing food for fun, crackers, sharing morning cereal with someone, wind chimes on Grandma's porch, bubbles, playing with water, her newly rediscovered baby swing and bumbo seat, her baby, pacifiers, ice cream, hiding behind furniture or around corners
Dislikes: Laying still for diaper changes, people telling her "no" or taking things away from her, most foods that are not in the cracker/cereal/bread group (argh, mom is distressed about this), eating substantial meals, mom or dad leaving her, riding in the car
Any new tricks? Laura has said the following new words/sounds but chooses to use them very selectively ("eh eh" whiny sound and pointing is still the preferred method)...Papa (for Papa George), bubbles, Elmo (Mel-mo), cracker (says tah-tah), ball, no (but comes out like the German, nein), Bucky (yes, sorry Gophers...that is for Bucky Badger, she loves him!), puppy, woof, meow, moo, neigh, oo oo ahh (monkey). She's starting to play on her own a little bit with toys, and at grandma and grandpa's house she would "relax" and lie down on a pillow with her arms behind her head. Laura is starting to try and run; she will rock and pat her baby, and she does gymnastic "tricks."
She is endlessly entertaining to us and we love her! Mom also loves being home for the summer and taking care of Laura, although we are sad that she is done at Kimm's for daycare. That is a tough transition and now we have to find new daycare at our new place - how will we ever get as lucky a second time picking someone new? Also Laura and I have been attending a summer ECFE class; I think that will need its own post. I've been learning some really interesting things about her in this class!!
Likes: Airplanes (see her uncle's post below), walking around in bigger houses, pulling flowers off mom's plants, Elmo (calls him Mel-mo), birds, lawnmowers, playing outside/swinging, spitting out milk and juice/throwing food for fun, crackers, sharing morning cereal with someone, wind chimes on Grandma's porch, bubbles, playing with water, her newly rediscovered baby swing and bumbo seat, her baby, pacifiers, ice cream, hiding behind furniture or around corners
Dislikes: Laying still for diaper changes, people telling her "no" or taking things away from her, most foods that are not in the cracker/cereal/bread group (argh, mom is distressed about this), eating substantial meals, mom or dad leaving her, riding in the car
Any new tricks? Laura has said the following new words/sounds but chooses to use them very selectively ("eh eh" whiny sound and pointing is still the preferred method)...Papa (for Papa George), bubbles, Elmo (Mel-mo), cracker (says tah-tah), ball, no (but comes out like the German, nein), Bucky (yes, sorry Gophers...that is for Bucky Badger, she loves him!), puppy, woof, meow, moo, neigh, oo oo ahh (monkey). She's starting to play on her own a little bit with toys, and at grandma and grandpa's house she would "relax" and lie down on a pillow with her arms behind her head. Laura is starting to try and run; she will rock and pat her baby, and she does gymnastic "tricks."
She is endlessly entertaining to us and we love her! Mom also loves being home for the summer and taking care of Laura, although we are sad that she is done at Kimm's for daycare. That is a tough transition and now we have to find new daycare at our new place - how will we ever get as lucky a second time picking someone new? Also Laura and I have been attending a summer ECFE class; I think that will need its own post. I've been learning some really interesting things about her in this class!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
We can't complain, baby hear plane.
Babies.
They can't do much for themselves can they? They can't feed themselves, dress themselves, drive a car, pay the bills or even use the toilet. Sometimes when adults are especially incapable people will say they are "helpless as a baby."
As such it comes as no surprise that there are many day to day things that you and I can do much better than Baby Laura.
But one thing that Laura can do better than any other living adult I know, is detect airplanes.
On Father's Day, myself and my beloved domestic partner Kaitlin went down to Eagan to hang out with the family...and of course with Baby Laura. During the course our visit, I daresay Laura detected at least 17 airplanes. When she heard one, she would raise her eyebrows, declare "Oooh," leave her mouth in the shape of "Oooh," and make "touchdown" with her arms. She would then scan the sky to try and find the plane and finally look to everyone else to make sure that we too were aware of the plane.
This became even more impressive when I realized that she was indicating "airplane" before any of the adults had even realized there was a plane overhead. It's true that when you live in Eagan you get desensitized to the sound, but Kaitlin and I don't and she still caught them before we did. This to me indicates two things:
1. Adults will tune out outside sounds when they are focused on something else and as a result can be caught unaware of what's really going on around them.
2. Laura can probably hear better than we can. Possibly many of her senses and reactions are sharper than ours because they are all brand new.
Isn't that cool? I think so. I'd really like to experience my current existence with the senses of a 1 year old.
Oooh.
They can't do much for themselves can they? They can't feed themselves, dress themselves, drive a car, pay the bills or even use the toilet. Sometimes when adults are especially incapable people will say they are "helpless as a baby."
As such it comes as no surprise that there are many day to day things that you and I can do much better than Baby Laura.
But one thing that Laura can do better than any other living adult I know, is detect airplanes.
On Father's Day, myself and my beloved domestic partner Kaitlin went down to Eagan to hang out with the family...and of course with Baby Laura. During the course our visit, I daresay Laura detected at least 17 airplanes. When she heard one, she would raise her eyebrows, declare "Oooh," leave her mouth in the shape of "Oooh," and make "touchdown" with her arms. She would then scan the sky to try and find the plane and finally look to everyone else to make sure that we too were aware of the plane.
This became even more impressive when I realized that she was indicating "airplane" before any of the adults had even realized there was a plane overhead. It's true that when you live in Eagan you get desensitized to the sound, but Kaitlin and I don't and she still caught them before we did. This to me indicates two things:
1. Adults will tune out outside sounds when they are focused on something else and as a result can be caught unaware of what's really going on around them.
2. Laura can probably hear better than we can. Possibly many of her senses and reactions are sharper than ours because they are all brand new.
Isn't that cool? I think so. I'd really like to experience my current existence with the senses of a 1 year old.
Oooh.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Why No Posts?
Why haven't we posted in awhile?
The best way to describe our life right now is to say that we are in transition. At least for me, that makes things chaotic.
In April, we put our townhouse up for sale and it actual sold in 20 days! Sure, we took a beating in the sales price but an upgrade was needed.
Soon after "the sale," Mom and I looked for two weeks for a new single-family home in the Prior Lake/Savage school district. Why Prior Lake? This was a tough decision. We couldn't look past the elimination of Mom's commute and Laura growing up through the same school system as Mom.
Mixed during the new home-looking, I went on a work trip for a week and ran the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. Meanwhile, Mom took care of Laura, made sure the house was clean for each showing, and focused on wrapping up the school year.
A few weeks ago, we found our new home and will move in on June 21st. Where are we now? We are living at Grandma Barb and Grandpa Glenn's house. They have been great hosts and in turn have had plenty of "Laura-time."
As soon as we are all moved in, we can get back to this blog!
The best way to describe our life right now is to say that we are in transition. At least for me, that makes things chaotic.
In April, we put our townhouse up for sale and it actual sold in 20 days! Sure, we took a beating in the sales price but an upgrade was needed.
Soon after "the sale," Mom and I looked for two weeks for a new single-family home in the Prior Lake/Savage school district. Why Prior Lake? This was a tough decision. We couldn't look past the elimination of Mom's commute and Laura growing up through the same school system as Mom.
Mixed during the new home-looking, I went on a work trip for a week and ran the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. Meanwhile, Mom took care of Laura, made sure the house was clean for each showing, and focused on wrapping up the school year.
A few weeks ago, we found our new home and will move in on June 21st. Where are we now? We are living at Grandma Barb and Grandpa Glenn's house. They have been great hosts and in turn have had plenty of "Laura-time."
As soon as we are all moved in, we can get back to this blog!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
1 yr. + 2 mos.
Height:
Weight:
Likes: Crackers, pacifiers, everyone paying attention to her at grandma and grandpa's house, her new backyard swing and blow-up pool, screaming, walking everywhere (or just in circles around the house), books/magnets/photos of people or animals with sunglasses on, corn on the cob (but off the cob)
Dislikes: Unfamiliar guys, grass, meat, being denied snacks
Any new tricks? Um, yeah. Month 14 was like a new trick every day. She wants to walk all over the place now and is getting proficient at making U-turns and walking with objects in her hands. She knows the following body parts: ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tummy. Laura can say mama, daddy, bapa (grandpa/apple), "dis" and "dat" which she says when she points at things. She is finally starting to use the sign language we've been doing since she was about 8 months old - eat, all done, more - and has her own signs for glasses/sunglasses (tap top of head where mom wears hers) and outside. When we ask her what a chicken says, she quietly whispers "ba ba ba" to herself for "bock bock bock."
Weight:
Likes: Crackers, pacifiers, everyone paying attention to her at grandma and grandpa's house, her new backyard swing and blow-up pool, screaming, walking everywhere (or just in circles around the house), books/magnets/photos of people or animals with sunglasses on, corn on the cob (but off the cob)
Dislikes: Unfamiliar guys, grass, meat, being denied snacks
Any new tricks? Um, yeah. Month 14 was like a new trick every day. She wants to walk all over the place now and is getting proficient at making U-turns and walking with objects in her hands. She knows the following body parts: ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tummy. Laura can say mama, daddy, bapa (grandpa/apple), "dis" and "dat" which she says when she points at things. She is finally starting to use the sign language we've been doing since she was about 8 months old - eat, all done, more - and has her own signs for glasses/sunglasses (tap top of head where mom wears hers) and outside. When we ask her what a chicken says, she quietly whispers "ba ba ba" to herself for "bock bock bock."
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Walk'n
If we don't watch or beg Laura to walk, she will. A couple days ago, our daycare provider said that Laura walked across the room. Funny, she never did that at home. The next day, she did it again at daycare. We were told that if you don't make a big deal out of walking, she will try to do it.
Last night, we put that theory to the test. Mom and I were talking in the living room while Laura played by the couch. We kept our conversation going but slowly moved our eyes toward her. Just enough were she didn't think we were watching. Sure enough, the little bugger stood up and took a few steps!
Sneaky girl!
Last night, we put that theory to the test. Mom and I were talking in the living room while Laura played by the couch. We kept our conversation going but slowly moved our eyes toward her. Just enough were she didn't think we were watching. Sure enough, the little bugger stood up and took a few steps!
Sneaky girl!
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