Sassy

A little bit of sass on a random Thursday.

It's almost like she was going to let me take her picture.  You can see her start her run at me because she hates the camera.  She usually screams at it and comes running at me.

Stickers

I bought Miss M stickers for our last trip. I was looking for anything that might possibly entertain her on a 2.5 hour plane ride.  She liked the stickers a lot.  She likes to stick them all over her arms and my legs and anywhere else she can get them to stick.

Possibly a Cubs fan????

Is it possible that this sweet little girl who is being raised in a strict St. Louis Cardinals home might be a Chicago Cubs fan one day????

Anything is possible!!!!

Pride Parade 2012

We went to the pride parade again this year. We took Miss M last year and luckily we got home from Florida this year in time to go again.

Miss M definitely enjoyed herself.  She liked the balloons, the music, dancers, colorful outfits.  We would have stayed longer if it wouldn't have been so hot and we were standing in the sun.

We don't have any pictures of Miss M's excitement at the parade because every time we would try to get a picture she would turn around to watch the parade some more.

Miss M at Pride Parade 2011

 On our way to the parade.

Miss M watching the parade.

It was a fun family afternoon after getting home.  Hopefully we will have pictures at Pride Parade 2013!

Miss M is 15 months old

We went to the doctor yesterday for Miss M's 15 month check-up and shots.

It wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone.  Miss M screamed from the time the doctor walked in and touched her stethoscope until the time the nurse left after stabbing her in the leg twice.  It was miserable.  Doctor appointments usually aren't fun but this seemed worse than usual.

We got home from Florida on Saturday and Miss M has just been completely out of sorts. She's more whiny, clingy, tired, and miserable.  I don't know if there is something actually wrong with her or if she's still struggling with getting back into a routine and missing all the people who were around for a week.  I need my kid back.  Quick.

Miss M's 15 month stats:

Weight: 21 lbs & 12 ozs. - 50%
Height: 31.34 inches - 90%
Head circumference: 48.5 - 95%

She's consistently staying in the same percentiles.  We didn't see our regular doctor due to a re-schedule of appointments.  The doctor noted the largeness of Miss M's head.  She did mention that my head didn't look particularly large therefore Miss M's dad must have a large head.  I don't think Andrew's head is larger than normal.  I can think of a few family members with noggins that might be considered larger than normal.

At the end of each routine visit to the doctor's office we receive a developmental screening checklist.  This checklist asks questions regarding Miss M's ability to do things from her current age through 16 months.  This checklist can be aggravating because I feel like Miss M can do a lot but not necessarily all the things on the list.  I realize I have six more weeks before the checklist has to be turned in but I like to get the survey done and be done with it.  Here's how she stands.

Miss M's gross motor skills (walking, climbing) are fine.

Miss M's fine motor skills (throwing a ball, turning book pages, drawing) are fine in my opinion.  I can't say she can stack three small blocks on top of each other but that's because we don't play with blocks.

Her problem solving skills appear to pass the test.

Her personal-social skills are fine although when she looks at herself in the mirror she does not offer a toy to her own image. I would guess that the fact that she doesn't offer a toy to her image makes her smart since she knows that person is her and not someone who will take a toy but I don't design the test.

The interesting part is the communication area.  She has a lot to learn before the survey gets sent in.  I don't know that she knows 8 or more words outside of "mama" and "dada".  I can think of the following (which aren't always very clear rather I just know what she's talking about) hot, dog, and ball.  The survey also asks if she imitates two word sentences...maybe...if I understood her.  There are times when I feel like she says "i do it". I guess I should pay more attention.  Then the last question says "can you understand most of what your child says?".  Is that a joke? I hope they don't mean verbally. I can usually figure out what she wants.

She's working on learning new body parts i.e. chin and cheeks.  She knows her main body parts.  We are working on animal noises/actions.  She's just learned the action/noise of a monkey and we're working on a sheep.  She doesn't really repeat or try to mimic noises/sounds that we make to her.

I think we're on the right track. Or well enough that we don't fail the test yet.

Until the next one...

Florida part 3

The house we stayed in had a pool.  The pool had the perfect area for kiddos.  The water was probably about 6-8 inches deep. Miss M enjoyed sitting in this area and splashing around. I don't think we have any pictures of Miss M splashing around but we have a picture of Uncle Nick practicing his favorite move.

We spent a lot of time around the pool.  It was kind of a stressful week because you couldn't really take your eyes off Miss M.  The house had tile floors and a sunken game room with a small step that Miss M eventually got the hang of.  The area around the pool was not exactly kid-friendly but we made it work without any major catastrophes.

The girls enjoyed hanging out together.  Ella and Ashleigh were practically inseparable all week.  Audrey and Miss M are working on their ability to play together. They did take a bath together each night and had splashing around and playing with bath toys.

Drew worked a bit while we were gone.  He worked less than when we normally travel so that was nice.  I think working by the pool made it a little easier to work.

The boys went fishing one day and caught a lot of fish.  Unfortunately, there aren't very many people in the group who eat fish (although Nick gets props for trying it) and unfortunately they went on Thursday and we only had Thursday night & Friday to eat it.

Florida Part 2

We went to Busch Gardens one day.  There isn't much to do for Miss M at Busch Gardens but Grandma found a Sesame Street show for the little ones.  I was sure Miss M was not going to be thrilled with large fuzzy characters dancing around and singing.

She is familiar with the Sesame Street characters from various books and things we have around the house.

The girl loved it.  She danced along with them as they danced on stage. She clapped for them. She was so happy.  It was sweet especially given my initial hesitation.

There was a meet and greet time after the show.  Miss M wasn't scared of the characters.  She sat on Grover's lap and even let Grover put his hands around her to hold her.  Miss M doesn't let just anyone hold her.  I was shocked.

Miss M and Daddy rode the Merry-Go-Round and looked at animals.  We also rode a train around the park but we don't have pictures of that particular adventure as I was holding on to Miss M ensuring she wouldn't jump off the train.  I think she would have jumped.

Florida part 1

We got home from the annual Borders Family Vacation (BFV) on Saturday.  We spent a week outside of Tampa, FL in a house that we rented with the family.  This year we took a special trip to Florida to celebrate a milestone birthday for Grandma!

We spent some time going to various beaches. Miss M really enjoyed the water and sand at the beaches.  She liked the waves crashing into her (as long as it didn't knock her over).  

 She also enjoyed the saltiness of the water as she would licked the salt water off her hands.

 She did enjoy playing in the sand and knocking down sand towers that we built for her.  She looks annoyed but I think that's because I was in her face once again.

 

Just another day in the park

Miss M and I go to the park most every day.

We got this dress in the mail from a special auntie.

Miss M loves getting mail.  (wink. wink.)

Pool time

The weather is heating up. It's summer and I love it.

It's Friday and so what better way to celebrate the heat and Friday than with an afternoon at the pool.

My friend had bought a blow-up pool at the store today and we all went over and hung out and ate popsicles.  Miss M has attempted to eat a popsicle before but basically she licked it and then ran off. Today, she did really well at eating a popsicle without making a huge mess (it would have been okay to make a mess since she was going in the pool afterward).

She was the only munchkin who got in and played in the pool.  The other munchkins splashed from the  side.  The water was cold so I was surprised she stayed in the pool.

On another note, we did start swim class this week (obviously there are no pictures because taking pictures while Miss M is in the water would be interesting).  She appeared to like it. She didn't really cry (or get upset).  She didn't like to be on her back (with her head propped on my chest - she wasn't ever under water). She has never liked to be held in an un-upright position so I was not surprised.  She liked it when she would sit on the ledge then "fall" into the water.

Finger painting in the park

We meet every Tuesday with our "New Mom Group".  We (Miss M and I) met these women (and their children) in May of 2011.  There were originally 9 women and 10 babies! We still meet every Tuesday except the number has shrunk to 6 women and 7 babies.

I would be lost without these women. They crack me up and make me feel better about the bad days and make me feel good about our good days. You can count on someone having a bad day and we're all there for each other via text/phone call/email/visit.  This morning one woman was starting her day at 5 a.m. and was less than impressed and then another woman replied that it took her two hour to get her twins to bed last night.

I am thankful for the stories and their truthfulness regarding life as a mom. They don't sugar coat things which makes me adore their friendship.

Tuesday, we collectively decided we would attempt a finger painting adventure in the park. The park has a water source close by so we could just dunk them under the water after they make a disaster of themselves.  It was not a complete disaster but we won't be finger painting again any time soon.  Most of the children didn't want to touch the paint and the boys found themselves too distracted with everything else to sit down to paint.

Here is Miss M painting. She did really well but she wasn't super impressed with the paint.

This is what the rest of the situation looked like - one kid in the car, one kid wondering around, another kid trying to make a get-away and who knows where the rest of them were during this picture.

Homemade Splash Pad

The park near our apartment has a splash pad area. It's not ideal for Miss M yet because it's cold and the water comes out some what violently for a one year old.  There is a park a few blocks away that has a more one year old friendly splash pad area.  We haven't tried it yet but this was the first weekend where it was hot (not warm - hot).

Daddy thought Miss M needed a cool down (we refrained from turning on our air conditioner this weekend because we aren't sure it is working properly and we need to call and have it checked out).  

Daddy put Miss M on the counter to let her splash her hands and feet around in the cold water in the sink. He keeps thinking she is going to overheat. She isn't going to overheat.  She enjoyed splashing around and playing with the sprayer.  

The second time around she was a naked baby with her Reader's Digest.  I think she likes the RD because it's small and easy to hold and turn pages.  She reads the RD on a regular basis. I have put her in her car seat to drive somewhere with the RD and it entertained her for the ride. There are usually ads with animals or babies which is what gets her excited.

Sunday paper

Miss M takes reading the Sunday paper seriously. It is essential to pay attention to the ads since we are in the middle of budget crisis 2012. Actually, there is no budget crisis rather that is what I call my attempt to spend less money (which is posing to be difficult).

New house

Miss M received a cardboard house for her birthday. It has doors and windows and cut outs and mail slots and it's meant for kids to color on. We have just been coloring on the box it was received in because the box was huge.

We decided to open the box and bring out the house. Miss M really likes it. She likes going in and out of the house more than coloring on it. She is a pretty good color-er and by that I mean it is an activity that occupies her for a reasonable period of time rather than meaning she is good at the act of coloring.

As many of you know, we live in an apartment. There is not an abundance of open/empty space (especially now that Miss M lives here too). This house is probably four feet tall and at least three feet side and long. It's not a small house.

This is a picture of Miss M in comparison to the size of the house.

Miss M playing in the house.

 Miss M and daddy coloring the house. 

Preparing for vacation

Miss M received a life jacket as a gift last year. We are going on vacation soon and there will be a pool and an ocean.  I thought it would be a good idea to warm Miss M up to the idea of wearing her life jacket.

She was okay with it for about 5.7 seconds.

Here is a picture of her and her life jacket at second 5.8.

Peek

Miss M has decided she can (will) play Peek-a-Boo. She puts her hands over her eyes and then removes them and acts surprised. I assume most kids learn to do this around 9 months but whatever. Miss M is definitely an independent girl who does things when she feels ready.

It's sweet. And it was sweet watching her do Peek-a-Boo after the tooth incident.

A lot of times her hands end up over her nose or mouth so she can still see.  She thinks she's sneaky. I am sure she'll think she's sneaky for the next 20 years but little does she know I am much smarter than she is. Well maybe not much smarter - but I am smarter - I hope.

Being a mom means there's no quitting

When your title is Mom there is no quitting.

There's no:

Oh there's too much blood so I think I will go in the other room until it's over.
Oh there's poop EVERYWHERE I hope it cleans itself up.
Well she fell off the playground equipment again maybe if I turn my head and act like she's not my kid she will stop crying.

Today we found another situation in which you can't quit...a cracked tooth.  Looking back it is a much less dramatic story than I originally thought.  I picked her up from the daycare at the gym. She was smiling and playing with chalk and talking to the other little kids. It was sweet and I remember smiling watching her so happy.  I noticed a tear on her cheek but didn't think much of it. She falls and cries a lot.

We got in the car and she was a bit fussy. I thought it was because she wanted a snack. I usually give her a box of cereal on the way home. I didn't have any cereal in my bag but I did have toddler gummies. I gave them to her to eat and when the package was empty and she was still fussing I looked at her and realized something looked off.

My initial thought was that surely the weird looking tooth that I was seeing was just food in her mouth. They are gummies after all. Maybe they were so gummy they stuck.  We got to the store parking lot. I realized her tooth was chipped and my panic skyrocketed.

The hardest part about being a parent is just the feeling of inadequacy at times like this. What do I do? I don't know. Do I take her to the dentist? I don't have a pediatric dentist. Do I just ignore it and let the freaking out calm down? I don't think the freaking out will calm down.  We have been very fortunate that Miss M hasn't been sick. It appears that it's a good thing she hasn't been sick because I just lost it over a chipped tooth.

I wanted to just quit. I wanted to just turn off the car and make the situation go away. I didn't want to deal with it. When I was working and would run into situations where things got hard I just quit. I fired up Google and searched the internet until I felt the need to go back and pick up where I left off. This wasn't an option today. Sad. I love Google.

We came home. We found the toothbrush that Miss M was given when we were Trick-Or-Treating for Halloween in a local neighborhood. I called them and explained the situation. They told me they had a cancelation and that I could come in immediately. They were so nice. They quickly eased all my fears (at least the fears I had thought about - I hadn't thought about delayed speech - which they said isn't going to be a problem because she still has the tooth).  The tooth wasn't loose and the Dr. didn't predict any long term damage. She said it might discolor and then go back to its natural color (like a bruise).

The doctor sanded the tooth down to make the chip less pronounced and to ensure no sharp edges.

They said no hot or cold foods so that shot down our (my) plan of going to get a milkshake to make us both feel better (and the DQ was so close - sad)

Here's an unclose of Miss M at lunch (hence the food on her face). It's her top left tooth.

She seems happy enough.  I just panicked.  The tooth doesn't look that bad and it does look considerably better since the doctor sanded the tooth down.

Here's Miss M in the dentist chair.

 And after all the screaming and tears we went out to pay and she was fine.

Update on the high chair issue

I called Fisher Price on Monday and told them what happened and asked if I could get a replacement tray.

The woman on the phone asked me if I wanted the main tray.  I asked her what other kind of tray there was to get. She told me I could also get the serving tray (just sits on top of the main tray - so I don't have to do dishes as often). I asked how much each tray was and she sounded like she was sorry to tell me that the main tray would be $12 and the serving tray would be $6.  Uhhh. Yes please.  Send them both ASAP.

So now they are on our way.

In the meantime, Miss M sits at the island with her feet propped up on the counter while she eats. Usually she puts both feet up on the counter and eats her food.  What a nut.

And I just think this is funny. She will wear her sunglasses inside but she refuses to wear them outside when it's sunny and they would actually benefit her.

Lake

Last weekend we went to MI to spend some time with friends at their lake home. It was rather uneventful except we learned that Miss M is deathly afraid of lawn mowers.

Miss M played in the sand. She would walk up to the edge of the water and squat down and splash her hands in the water.  She didn't enjoy going in the lake but it was cold.

We went for a boat ride. I thought (based on the lawn mower scare) she would get all upset after the boat engine turned on but she didn't so we got to go for a ride. We stopped for a little bit and she walked up and down the boat and got in and out of chairs (which is one of her favorite hobbies).

It's amazing what a difference a year makes.  Last year when we took Miss M to the lake she laid on the beach with her beach towel and we were toting the "magic swing" all over creation for her to sleep and I took my camera and snapped a lot of photos.

This year I didn't take my camera. I snapped a few photos on my phone when I could get them because she's so fast that by the time I think about taking a picture it's too late. This year she played in the sand and slept in a crib (all night long!)