Laura is One Year + 7 Months!

Height: 31 inches

Weight: Flirting with 20 lbs.

Likes: Treats "nummies" of all sorts, stickers, coloring with markers, reading books, watching "The Fresh Beat Band" on Nick Jr., being a backseat driver (yells "GO!" every time we stop at red lights)

Dislikes: Not being with mom, strangers coming to the door (Halloween could be a long night), eating most anything (makes a ppbbbtt noise with her mouth when she doesn't want to eat something), visits to the doctor's office

Any New Tricks? Laura can do a somersault by herself, she can identify lowercase i,o, and e, she dances along to the "Elmo Slide" video on youTube, she can finally say "yeah" instead of just "no"

Laura Having Fun in the Fall

Now that Laura is a little older this fall, we have been able to take her to some fun "big kid" fall activities (although I do find that most kid activities are not really kid-friendly yet for 1.5 year olds).

The first thing we tried was a little fall celebration here in PL at Lakefront Park. Right away we saw balloon animals (nope) and jumpers (nope), but settled on checking out the pony rides if Laura was cool with it. She saw the horses and was excited to ride up until I put her on "Rocket." She quickly got over her fear and seemed to enjoy her little ride. After that we hit the playground until Daddy got fed up with the behavior of certain unsupervised kiddos there, and we had to leave.

We also made a trip out to Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine for some B family time with Mike's parents as well as Laura's cousins, aunt and uncle. Laura loved cruising around out there in Lilly & Andrew's wagon. She also rode the little train with her Daddy [insert Laura's "Thomas the Tank Engine" whistle sound here] and suspiciously eyed the goats at the petting zoo. There was a little track with some covered bridges where (bigger) kids could ride some John Deere trikes around. Laura acted as sort of the "billy goat gruff" of the bridge, planting herself in the middle yelling "NO!" at the big kids while they barreled toward her on the trikes. Mom had to intervene, pulling her off the bridge in time. We went on a hayride, too. A good time was had by all!

Last weekend, just the girls went out to a pumpkin patch to meet up with another teacher and her daughter. Laura proved to be sort of hostile/unfriendly, therefore decreasing our potential for future playdates...no smiling, chatting, etc. although the younger baby was clearly enamored with Laura. Also, she insisted on wanting the largest pumpkins that Mom couldn't even pick up. Of course immediately after we left, she resumed smiles and friendly chatting (we were headed to Target, after all).

In general, she's been super fun right now and trying out all sorts of new words. Thankfully, one of them is "Yeah." It is good to have a positive alternative to "No," which she was using even when she meant yes. Also, she is further proving she shares my genes by her love of all writing utensils, but in particular washable Crayola markers. She can scribble with the best of 'em!

Laura is One Year + Six Months!

The bagooz is a year and a half today! Yikes, awfully close to 2...I think that months 12-18 have been my favorite so far. It's been so interesting to watch her development and language change, and see what she learns as she goes about her life.

Height: ? Can't say we've measured lately.

Weight: 20 lbs.!!!!!!! When we were at the doctor last week (emergency visit for ear infection), Laura weighed in at just over 20 pounds. She did have her shoes and coat on, but I'll take it. We've been waiting forever for her to gain weight.

Likes: pacifiers, throwing things, multi-grain Cheerios, yogurt, treats aka "num nums" with mom (bars, cookies, ice cream), pictures of people she knows, spinning in circles, directing mom & dad to do things, playing outside, puppies, scribbling with mom's correcting pens, sitting on the kitchen counter "helping" cook, stacking things, finding people's bellybuttons, babbling in Laura talk, saying "no" - it is her only response word, she says it even when she means yes!

Dislikes: eating most things that are good for her, ear infections, being denied pacifier access, dad getting in her face when we get home and she just wants "mama love" time

Any new tricks?: the spinning is pretty funny, and when she practices walking backwards. She's also working on position words like up, down, on, off but doesn't always apply them correctly. Last weekend, twice she completed some little task she was trying to accomplish, and then proudly announced "Yay!" and clapped for herself. Laura delights in manipulating switches and buttons such as the garage door opener, doorbell, and bathroom light and fan switches.

Dozinky Days (Year 2)

Laura,
The weather couldn't have been more different from year 1 to 2. Last year it was hot and sunny. We wore shorts and t-shirts. This year was cold, cloudy, and rainy (with a few drops of sleet). You wore a jacket, stocking hat, and that might not have been enough to keep you warm.

Laura very interested in Andrew. We need to teach you about invading someone's personal space.

Lilly doing a great job of keeping your ears warm. Not a big fan of keeping your hat on.

Laura picking up a piece of candy. In fact, she had a sucker for the first time. The weirdest thing about the parade was 3 groups threw out Mr. Freeze. Probably the worst giveaway this year.

Chatty Girl

If you have been around Laura lately, you would have noticed that she has been a chatty girl. It is quite clear that she is trying really hard to say new words but all that comes out are random sounds. Sure, she can say "mama, daddy, baba, papa, eye, bye, and nigh, nigh" to name a few, but she is trying new words that I have no idea what they are. When I tell her that I have no idea what she is saying, she gives me an evil stare.

We have been practicing saying people's names and she has done a pretty good job repeating them back. When I say "good job" I actually mean "good attempt." Oh yes, today, Laura strung together multiple words. Unfortunately those words were, "Daddy, no, no, no, no." That's what I get when I trapped her underneath a table.

Laura is working on spinning and walking backwards. When a song is playing, she gets that excited face where her eyes get really big and she makes an "ooooohhhhh" sound. Every once in a while she will spin and of course, she will want you to spin with her. As for the walking backward trick, I don't see this often, unless I catch her when she thinks I am not looking. Sneaky!

Yard Transformation

Laura,
We haven't lived in our new home for more than 3 months and our yard is changing by the day. My goal is to give you ample room to play in the backyard, a garden to eat nummy veggies, and nice grass to run on (if you forget to wear your shoes).

You probably won't remember this, so I will have to take a picture. When we moved in, our back yard had 11 trees, weedy and thorny grass, and a large plot of sand.














With the advice from Mom's cousin, Pat, we have taken down 2 trees, a pine tree, and 2 shrub-looking things. We have three more trees to go. [On a side note, Laura tries to says his name, "Puh, Puh." Super cute!]

We are also filling in the plot of sand with 1/2 grass and 1/2 garden. By this time next year, you will be eating fresh veggies out of the garden. Can't wait!

Sick, Sad, Little Girl

It is that time of year again. Fall. Cool temps. Daycare. Germs. Sick.

Yes, Laura is sick. This is by far the worst one in her short 17 months. She hasn't slept a full night or has had a good nap since Friday. Laura's temperature today is 102.6 (taken under the armpit). She hasn't eaten a good meal for a couple of days. She has sobbed and cried while saying "ma ma" for long periods of time. In fact, she allowed me to lay with her in our bed. Unheard of!

We've given her Tylenol and that has perked her up a bit but after awhile the medicine wears off and crying begins.

We finally went to Urgent Care tonight. The doc said that she has a right inner ear infection, a temp of 103, and a virus. She was prescribed a bottle of Amoxicillin, and we hope that works ASAP!

Get well, Peanut!

Laura is 1 Year + 5 Months! (and went to the State Fair)

Height: ? Haven't measured

Weight: 19 lbs., I think?!

Likes: Life cereal, ice cream, cookies, throwing things down stairs, Sesame Street (in particular, "Melmo"), Bucky Badger, playing with her stacking cups, puppies, games - anything that involves scaring her a little or running her around fast, pushing buttons, moving things into piles - rocks, mulch, pens/markers, playing outside with the neighbor girls, watching daddy do outside jobs like mowing or turning on the sprinkler

Dislikes: Separation from her "summer buddy" mom, kids invading her turf (shouts "No!" when other kids come to the playground), retrieving balls when she throws them ("Mama? Mama?")

Any new tricks?: Mostly the new tricks are naughty ones - standing on chairs, trying to climb the stairs walking using the railing instead of climbing up on all fours. She did a somersault the other day inadvertently! I feel like she is constantly doing things where we have to tell her "No." She knows more body parts now like arms, legs, cheeks, feet, and toes.

MN State Fair: We took Laura last Saturday...in hindsight, maybe this could have waited a year or two? She did well but I don't think there was enough there that appealed to her yet. We did a lot of walking around in the stroller. We did see a "puppy" that could jump and catch frisbees, and Laura ran around throwing mulch as we listened to singers on the kid stage in Baldwin Park. She ate a ham & cheese stromboli with mom, and checked out the animal barns. For the record - horses were scary, loved the cows, wasn't sure what to make of the pigs. Laura's and her dad's favorite thing were probably the same: ice cream from the dairy building. She showed good judgment by preferring mom's chocolate ice cream cone to dad's vanilla malt. (She has excellent taste in dessert...hmmm, I wonder why?)

Como Zoo!

We are in the middle of a concentrated effort to jam in as much fun as possible in mom's last few days of summer (sigh). Today, Laura and I headed to the Como Zoo with uncles Mike, Matt, and Matt's girlfriend Steph. (It was also on their summer "to-zoo list"...ahahaha thanks Michael).

I'm not sure that Laura's old enough to fully appreciate the zoo; sometimes it seems like it's hard for her to see the animals, and although we read animal books and stuff, I don't think she always realizes what they are. She did have her moments of excitement though. We were close up to a baby orangutan and its mama as they wrestled and played around.

We were excited to see the new polar bear exhibit, but all we saw was the back side of one sleepy polar bear. Laura was more interested in the fake baby seal in its cave...just the right size for her!

We approached the sea lions (seals? are they the same thing?) right as the Sparky show was going to start, but decided the show looked a little full. Hence we ventured into the "aquatic building" to see some fish but instead stumbled on Sparky + buddy in a tank waiting to go onstage! They were all pumped up for the show and kept diving in and out of the water; they even came right up to the glass to see Laura! When the trainers came to get them for the show, Laura got to see them feed the seals some fish. Later on we saw Sparky's other buddies sunning themselves and barking, which Laura did enjoy and even tried to imitate.

After all this trekking around the zoo, we were hungry so Uncle Mike brought us to Porky's for lunch. Laura must have been hungry too because she ate some of mom's cheeseburger (unprecedented!), some fries, and most of our chocolate milkshake (a fave Laura treat).

Needless to say, she cashed out within five minutes of dropping off the rest of our group, slept the whole ride home plus another hour in her crib. Thanks Mike, Matt, and Steph! You were great zoo buddies, Laura holders, and stroller pusher/carriers. Laura loves you!

What a Puke!

Isn't it funny that on the very same day Brett "Purple #4" Favre's retirement/unretirement saga finally comes to an end (for the 8th year in a row), Laura pukes on the carpet.

Oh sure, the two really have no correlation with each other, but I thought it was kind of symbolic.

Here is what happened. Grandma Janelle came over to babysit while Mom cleaned up her stuff in Grandma/Grandpa M's basement. Grandma Janelle brought Dad a jar of pickled cucumbers (really, they are just pickles) that Grandpa George made from scratch. Let me tell you, those things are pretty good and I thought maybe Laura would like them as well...

I gave Laura a sample and she reacted with that bitter-look. I assumed she didn't like it so I continued to eat them. Thirty-seconds later, Laura came back and wanted another. I gave her a tiny piece and she put it in her mouth and walked away. Thirty seconds later, I hear a gag and see her puke yellow fish crackers all over herself and the carpet. Foy!

Oh, Laura.