Monday, April 30, 2012

Dad's Day Off

I decided to extend my first post-tax season/b-day party weekend through Monday, so I had all day to hang out with Miss Priss. It turned out to be a really good call because our little girl picked this afternoon to start walking! She'd been taking steps for a few weeks, but she went nuts today!

Lish took her to wish her Mia a happy birthday(congrats on 70 Deb! =) ). She didn't feel like sleeping so skipped her afternoon nap, and we played upstairs while mommy took a nap. We were goofing off on the floor, and all of a sudden she stood up and started staring across the room. She saw her pacifier on my recliner, and it was like a light bulb went off. She stood up and took about ten shaky steps to go and get it. She was so proud of herself that she turned around and waddled back! I called Lish up, and we spent an hour or so watching her walk all over her playroom. Like her dad, I think she responds to "positive reinforcement" so we bribed her with animal crackers, and this was the result:




When she finally had enough, Lish was going to make her a bedtime bottle but I forgot to tell her I had used all the milk. I received a well deserved lecture on adding things to the grocery list, which would have been fine if I hadn't opened my mouth...

Lish does an unbelievable job of taking care of us, and during my lecture she reminded me that she is " the COO of the house" and "makes sure we have enough of everything from groceries to toilet paper."

At that point I decided to chime in that she sounds more like a "lunch lady/janitor combo than a COO." Bad idea. Luckily, I was across the room and she couldn't find anything heavy enough to throw at me that would have done any serious damage.

I married a good woman though, so I only got swipe from her book (paperback too!) before she was laughing it off. I'm very thankful that we laugh as much as we do, and usually don't take ourselves too seriously. I think over the past year we've learned that parenthood is something you can't really be completely prepared for, and you kind of have to learn as you go. We are certainly learning on the fly, but looking forward to year two.

Friday, April 27, 2012

12 Months...1 year...AAH!!

Wow. I cannot believe this is finally here. I have cried a smidge about my baby not being a baby so much anymore, but more than anything I am thrilled to meet this giant milestone! I love this next picture with all my heart. The story behind the picture: her Grammy was helping me capture a smile AND keep her from diving head-first out of her chair, so naturrally, we shot her with a nerf gun! Ha! Grammy was aiming above her head, but they all seemed to land in her lap...she was thrilled!

 Here are her stats: a little over 20 pounds (she lost 3 pounds when she wouldn't eat or drink while sick), in the 50th% for weight and 90-95th% for height. She is all over the place crawling and took her first step a week ago and has worked her way up to 4-5 steps currently. Her pediatrician told us that it will probably be about another month before she is full-on walking alone! Jon told me last night that we really need to soak up her wanting to hold our hands while she walks, because it is quickly going to be a thing of the past. She is still saying her basic words- dada, mama and pup-pup, but she is more focused on figuring out the walking game than talking. She loves to make a mess, then clean it all up. She is still fascinated by doors and cabinets, all books, chasing the puppy around and trying to kiss him, playing in her water table outside, Curious George, playing with Daddy and riding in her little car all around the neighborhood. We call her our "little hoarder" because she likes to gather everything in her right hand and will carry it around all day. When we walk outside, she likes to pick up pieces of nature and hold them as she walks. The other day she was obsessed with a leaf and would pick it up, drop it, pick it up, drop it, etc. I got so bored that I sat down on the sidewalk and waited! She has recently learned how to scream at the top of her lungs and turn on the waterworks within seconds if she is not pleased, so that is a fun new addition to our life. Let's blame that on those horrible top teeth- she has cut three on top, but is still working on her top right big one and it's a doozie!! We have tried to give her what she needs these past few months because she doesn't seem to be able to catch a break- RSV, then a UTI (detected from a lovely catheter), virus, tonsilitus, then a second UTI, and now we are going to be running some tests with a pediatric urologist to make sure everything is alright- we are sure it is, but running tests just to make sure. So, our little girl has had a rough couple of months, but she is still silly and has TONS of personality, despite feeling yucky! Here are some pictures from her actual birthday where she got to eat her first Sprinkles cupcake!!
 Cute hat? Yes, it is. Her Mia made it for her and it is stinkin' adorable!!

She lost interest...then went back for a couple of bites later! :)


The wierdest part of this blog is that I cannot believe that a year ago we were becoming parents. I think back to the night before she was born and we went to eat at Cracklebarrel and saw a movie, but left because I was having contractions and felt wierd. We knew that the next morning we were going to the hospital, and wouldn't leave without our Hensley was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. We tried to sleep, but failed miserably. Early the next morning at the hospital, they induced me and I labored for the next 12 hours. It took less than 2 hours of pushing to get our healthy, chunky little girl to join our family. :) Sweet Jon just looked im shock when he cut the cord and then it was a blur of moments where we were in shock about how perfect she was. Still is, so there are no sweet and funny stories this month, just a blubbering mommy reminiscing about the last year and how proud I am of her and her daddy.





Monday, April 9, 2012

11 months

Well...it's late again! OOPS! After Hensley had RSV, passed it to her innocent grandpa (sorry Bee!!!), then to her unsuspecting mommy, but we are now up and running again after all feeling like death! :)



Our big girl now weighs almost 23 pounds and is crazy tall! She has tons of hair and it is starting to curl along her neck- which is just plain adorable. She is crawling everywhere, cruises all furniture and loves to hold your fingers and walk (sometimes run!) all over the place. She will eat anything and everything you put in front of her, but you have to limit the amount you put on her plate because she shoves it all into her cheeks at once! She makes a clicking noise when she eats unfamiliar foods and is to the point where she only wants to feed herself. Current favorite foods: bread, cheese, turkey, ham, crackers, chicken spaghetti, bananna, grilled cheese and rasberries. She knows sign language for "more" and "finished" and uses them quite spastically during meal times.

She is teething all four top teeth at once, two of which have cut through the last two days, so she has not been particularly thrilled with that! She is best friends with her pacifier, due to the teething, and if she doesn't have it, she has been known to bite mommy's shoulder and think it is hilarious. So not funny. She loves to hug and rest her head on your head, and has also learned to share when you ask "Can I have that?" and loves it when you say thank you. So sweet! She kisses, hugs and blows kisses when you ask for them, but beware for her tongue when she kisses. Still obsessed with Bruce and still chases him around the house truly believing she will catch him. LOVES to be outside and will cry if she passes the back door and we don't go outside, so we spend a ton of time walking to our little lake or having picnics in the backyard. BIG NEWS: She is now taking a bottle!! She started to wean herself and then when I started an antibiotic for the RSV, I had to wean her completely. Enter my mom. :) Since Jon is working nonstop these days, my fabulous mom came and stayed and weaned her completely for us. So, the little toot has decided she loves bottles after 11 months of not taking them! My mom celebrated this momentous occasion by bringing delicious cupcakes for "Happy Weaning"!

Since I am writing the longest blog posting EVER, I might as well share her many quirks (she is very quirky like mom and dad). She opens and closes cabinets and doors for like 30 minutes before realizing it is a horribly boring game, she loves Curious George and needs him to entertain her while she drinks her bottles,

she is the only one who can put things in her wagon (if you put something in, she will take it out and then put it back in herself), she likes to pick up multiple things with her right hand,

she is crazy ticklish on her back, feet and sides, she likes to empty her spoons from the dishwasher and then put them back in one by one, she will be super attached to me, but just a glimpse of Grammy or Mia and I'm old news AND she knows that she gets to choose a toy when we put her in her carseat and panicks when she has to choose. Bonus pictures!!
Current favorite sleeping position
 Sweet friends from her playgroup



Our sweet neighbor gives her a glowstick every time she sees him. We eat, bathe and try to sleep with our glowstick.
 Guilty.
Before I move on to my funny and sappy memories from the month, let me say a HUGE thank you to the grandparents for getting us through this tax season! We stayed in Lousisiana with Bee and Grammy for a week and got crazy spoiled (Hensley loved all the attention and I loved all the napping), then turned around to get super sick and my mom stayed for almost a week and took the night shifts, and then opened her home to us again for a weeked getaway at her house. Jon and I are so blessed to have sweet grandparents to take care of us during these months... but only a few more days and we get Daddy back!!
Funny: My mom and I were letting Hensley air out a bit of diaper rash one night, so she was having naked time when we hear a quite audible passing of gas. We giggled and continued playing, then the gas came back but with a brown friend. On our carpet as she is standing with her wagon. I laughed for like 30 minutes as we scrambled to clean and I will forever be scarred from airing out a diaper rash. Gross. The End.
Sweet: Muliple stories with Daddy:Jon has been working so much and has been so sad to miss time with her, but one Sunday we spent the whole day together. He was so happy to see the sun and be out of the office, so we ran errands as a family. Every stop we made I would get the shopping cart covered and ready to push her in, but he never let me put her in the cart. He wanted to carry her everywhere we went!
My sweet husband would give up his precious sleep in the morning just to spend 30 minutes with her because that is all he gets for the day of his Hensley. She has been calling for "dada" and the two of them play and wrestle and her little giggle often heard when she gets Daddy time! Also, he has never been so proud of her as he was yesterday when they were watching the Masters and he looks over and she is standing, clapping for his favorite golfer. I walked up to them snuggling after that. He loves his baby girl!