Stink-ay!

Baby breath. Used to be one of my favorite scents. Sure, it was never what I would describe as pleasant, but it was her - old formula smell. BUT, now she just has bad breath, just like any adult that eats chicken, crackers, vegetables, etc. Normal food equals bad breath, it's so sad. Add in the six teeth and it should be no surprise that Miss M got her very first toothbrush yesterday.

I can't believe...

... Miss M is going to be a year old in just two months! Just wanted to give family members a heads up that we're going to have a birthday party for her here in Chicago, date will be on her birthday - Saturday, February 28th. We'll send out invites next month.

Out and out bragging...

I have the most beautiful baby in the world! The title should have warned you... I'm going to unabashedly brag about my darling daughter in this post.

So... in the airport, on the airplane, in the line for security, at the dinner table, at the gift shop, everywhere we went this past week we found fans of Miss M. Even dudes! No one can resist her charms. She smiles at everyone right now, as long as her dad or I are holding her, so it's not hard to see how she can easily win someone over. On the plane she made friends with the girl sitting next to us, the people across the aisle, the two women sitting behind us, and the young man sitting two rows behind us. With that big toothy grin and those big blue eyes, she's got people wrapped around her little finger before anyone knows what hit them.

Done bragging. :)

Back from vacation

Home. Finally. The ride back wasn't nearly as traumatizing as the ride to.... Miss M slept almost the entire time. Miss M even showed us a new trick on the plane! There was a little girl sitting across the aisle from us, four seats away, and Miss M saw her. Miss M is fascinated by kids and she couldn't keep her eyes off her. The little girl started giggling and waving to Miss M... and Miss M waved back! We've been trying to get her to wave at bye-bye to us at daycare for about a month now so this was quite a momentous occasion. :)

Other momentous occasions from this week... She can stand without holding on to anything for about five seconds at a time. She can make the "Indian" sound by herself (you know what I mean, when you open your mouth and make a noise then pat your mouth with your hand to change the noise, I do it to her all the time, now she can do it using the back of her hand). And we added all sorts of new "real" food to her diet.

Here are a few of the best pictures from this past week, the rest can be viewed by clicking HERE.

No sand in my toes.

Miss M does not appreciate the beach yet. I'm sure next year, when she's fully grasped the purpose of buckets and shovels, and she is less inclined to taste the sea shells, she'll enjoy it much more, but this year she can't be bothered. In fact, she is so adverese to it that if we try to put her down on her feet in the sand she'll hold her legs up so that she doesn't have to touch it. Kind of reminds me of trying to give a cat a bath.

Diarrhea, cha cha cha!

So, here we are in the beautiful Caribbean. Sun, sand, surf, what more could you ask for, right? Well, for starters, you could ask for a travel companion that doesn't crap her pants every 45 minutes! Miss M has diarrhea (cha cha cha). Poor baby started her diaper drama on the plane ride. I thought I had planned well, 10 diapers for 7 hours of travel - averaging more than 1 diaper per hour how could I go wrong? Well I'll tell you how.. when your baby poops green water an hour into a three hour flight, that's when you know you've seriously under estimated your diaper ratio. Six diapers on a three hour flight - two before the flight - you do the math... and we still had a layover to consider. Did you know that you can buy diapers in packs of one (with four wipes) at the airport for four dollars? One size fits all of course. Yeah, four dollars for one diaper... $12 for three "back-up" diapers. Love it!

Oh, and if you don't "get" the (cha cha cha), then rent the movie Parenthood.

I've been inspired - 10 favorite things!

Thank you Tall Tales! You have inspired me.. my 10 favorite things right now...
1. Miss M hyperventalating when she's happy to see mom and dad. Opens her mouth wide and smiles at the same time.. Hah, hah, hah.

2. She's getting "clingy". She grabs my shirt and won't let go. I secretly love it, although she often flashes "the girls" to passerby :)

3. Kisses! Love that she gives kisses!

4. Watching her try to crawl up on chairs, or her stroller, or the coffee table. She's mastered getting into the stroller on her own, but she can't quite figure out how to get onto the coffee table - thank god.

5. Watching her love sugar cookies.

6. Being her most important person.

7. The runny nose has taken a vacation along with us!

8. 82 degrees and sunny - and the ocean 20 feet from my door - thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

9. The Twilight series - I think I'm turning into a 12 year old... oh Edward, I love you!

10. Rum punch :)

A few of my favorite things...

Picture Miss M in tiny lederhosen made of drapery...

Dog bowls of water and whiskers on Peyton
Porcelain toilets and Mom’s jacket buttons
Brown paper packages empty of things,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored oatmeal and dad’s big leather belt,
Pink plastic binky’s and pink bunny of felt,
Wild nights with no sleep and my Mom when she sings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Zerberts on my tummy and anything shiny,
My Grandpa’s bald head and baby food so slimy,
Warm water bathtubs with toys I can fling,
These are a few of my favorite things,

When the vacuum runs,
When the diaper’s wet,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel, so bad

Clicking

Grandpa C - You ask and you shall receive. Here is video of Miss M and her super cute tongue clicking. It is her new favorite thing to do. She did it while we were at the doctors office the other day and the doctor thought she was choking. Nope, not choking, she just found her tongue.

** in a box

Today Miss M really enjoyed sitting in a box. I spent a couple hundo on Christmas presents when I could have just gotten her a box, an old magazine, and the remote control to our television.

Miss M's new 9-month stats

Height: 27 inches
Weight: 15 lbs 3 ounces
Head:44.5

50-75% for head circumfrance
25-50% for height
3-5% for weight

All are just fine.

We just got back from the appointment - she's becoming quite a regular around there.

Story time.

So, Florida. What can I tell you about our trip....

We were fortunate enough to have my mother-in-law with us this past weekend - she was a great help with Miss M. It's so cute to see them together, they don't get to see each other very often so when they do it always takes a couple minutes for Miss M to warm up... but when she does she is all smiles and giggles. And GG (mother-in-law) will do anything and everything to make her smile, lucky baby.

As far as funny stories go, I don't really have much. I think I'm still decompressing from the weekend, travelling with an infant is a little overwhelming. All I can think of at the moment is that she threw-up at the dinner table at the reception, just as the speeches began. That wasn't really funny though - just disgusting. I'll try again later.

Florida!

Finally, we're home! Florida was such a great trip, the weather was beautiful, we were able to visit with all of our friends, Miss M got loads of compliments and has loads of new admirers. Here are a couple of the highlights from the trip...


Miss M shops for shoes at the outlet mall.


Miss M enjoys an enchilada - her first! (Just Kidding, she had a few peas and stole my plate).


The rehearsal dinner - what a beautiful sunset!


Daddy and Miss M enjoying some time at the pool.


The wedding reception - she slept through the first hour and then puked all over the place at dinner. Yay!

I'm a hit man

Mothers should become professional hit men (or hit women). The hours are flexible, the pay is great and who would suspect dear old mom of such a heinous crime? There is logic here and now I'll get to it....

Every time I walk into a restaurant with my daughter my senses are on high alert. I notice things I never would have noticed in the days before Miss M. I feel like Jason Bourne, or Ethan Hunt - which is probably a better comparison since mealtimes can often resemble Mission Impossible. I notice where the air conditioning or heating vents are and if they are blowing on my table, and where the speakers are for the music - and is the music loud or soft (loud would drown out unruly baby, but will also make baby's head explode after too long). Is the floor dirty (will I have to be washing toys and utensils throughout my meal), is the table overloaded with candles and crap baby can reach, is there someone seated near me coughing or sneezing or dying, is there a business person or non-baby adult seated near me that might be disrupted by my child? Is the highchair clean and well maintained, or does it have splinters and crusty food permanently attached to it. Is my table in the sun, or going to be in the sun within the hour it takes us to get through our meal? This heightened level of alertness is why I think I would make a great hit man, or maybe a private investigator. I could easily discern clues and behavior patterns with my new super-mommy abilities. Before you know it I could have my target's eat/poop/nap schedule down pat, thereby determining the perfect time to hit. And if the slightest aspect of the room or situation is "off", I could compensate...say, by offering him a plastic spoon to play with, or a package of saltines. :)

Sidebar - so you wonder why mothers seem so stressed out all the time? I can't even eat a plate of pasta anymore without first streaming through the checklist above. Add to that the permanent list of "remember" items for work, home, baby, and dogs, and is it really so much of a mystery?

Morning from hell!

Our Monday Morning:

Baby wakes up an hour early at 5am.

Baby is "uncomfortable" so spends the next hour tossing and turning.

Baby finally wakes up happy (this is the good part of the morning from hell).

Baby goes to changing table to get dressed for the day. Nakey-baby pees all over the changing table.

Nakey-baby gets transferred to crib so I can clean up pee. I turn to collect her and nakey-baby is covered in poop (as is her crib-sheet). In movie-slow-motion nakey-baby raises her poop covered hand to her face, towards her mouth...NOOOOOOOO! I get to her just in time. Into the bathtub goes the poopie-baby. Chinese water tourture ensues. Mom finds poop in her ear. Babies are so gross.

Clean, dressed baby is happily crawling around the floor while Mom collects the coats. Crash! Happy baby found the dog's water dish and dumped the whole thing all over the floor. Back in the crib so mom can clean up dog water - thank god she didn't douse herself.

Fun morning - sometimes I feel like I'm living in a cartoon.

Crackers yum!

Miss M ate her first cracker this past weekend - hmm, yum. Only about half of it wound up in her hair, I think that's a pretty good ratio actually. After the cracker we gave her a shortbread cookie, which pretty much turned to glue. Now that she knows what those teeth are for she's doing all sorts of fun stuff, like trying to pull tags off of toys, biting my cheek, knawing on the coffee table. She's not malicious, yet, but I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before she realizes she has a weapon growing in her mouth.