Reading

Here is something new.  Maia will now pick up a book and read me a story.  Whether or not the "story" she is "reading" has anything to do with the book in front of her... eh, maybe, maybe not.  But I absolutely LOVE this development!

In this particular case, she's mostly reciting bits and pieces of the books that she has memorized. Apparently this "Angry" book (series) she received for Christmas was familiar, as they also have it at school.   And Goodnight Mr. Night we read often, and she also sleeps with her own Mr. Night (thanks Adrian) nearly every night.

Parker at Seven Months

SEVEN months? Can you believe it? We're on the downhill side towards 1 year old!

I haven't weighed him recently, but my arm is about ready to fall off after holding him on my hip for about 5 minutes.  So I'm guessing: Heavy.


Unfortunately, this is coinciding with the "I want to be with mommy all the time" phase, so we're back to some serious weight lifting.  


Up until this weekend, we weren't really seeing any inclination toward crawling.  He's much more tolerant of tummy time than a month ago, but once there... he is generally content to push himself up on his arms and look around.  If there is something just out of his reach, then he has several possible ways to resolve this.  If he can get there by turning himself in a circle or pushing backwards, he's good. Needs forward motion?  Well, let's see if I pull this blanket toward me... yep. The toy is coming too.  Rock On.


Should these options fail to work, then we start crying and see if mommy or Maia will help out.  That said, if you leave him on the floor (sitting or on tummy) and wander out of sight, he will often be in a different place when you return.  I keep asking him if he is a stealth crawler.


In addition to the videos you've seen here of some of his favorite games, he's starting to enjoy Peek-a-boo.  Other things that are cool (either for us, or for him):

• trying to sit up from lying down
• pushing arms through sleeves when getting dressed
• reaching toward Mama, Maia, Daddy
• fave babble: ba ba ba ba ba
• drooling
• playing with interactive toys, like the driving toy, alphabet spinner and his tool bench.

He is mostly good at getting himself to sleep when put to bed sleepy/drowsy but awake. Sometimes he fusses a bit, but can usually get himself to sleep w/in 10 minutes without cuddling/rocking. In the last month, Parker finally slept through a feeding... for the first time since I went back to work.


General schedule:

• wake between 5-6:30 am for 2nd feeding. If it's closer to 5 am, he will go back to sleep. If it's closer to 6:30, he'll be up for the day, because we're all up and getting ready.
• 7:45 drop off at daycare
• play
• bottle around 8:30-9 am
• nap
• cereal around 11
• bottle (or I will feed) around 12:30
• play, nap
• bottle around 2-3
• play, nap
• cereal around 4-4:30
• home by 5 pm
• family dinner between 5:30-6:30
• bathtime around 6:30 a couple times a week
• (7:00-7:30 bedtime for Maia).
• 30 minute nap anywhere between 6:00 and 8:00 pm
• feed and play after nap
• to bed for the night between 8:30-9:30
• wake between 12 - 1 am for feeding (this is the one we need to drop, soon!)
• Start over at the top!

 Rawr.  How can you not love this happy guy?

And check it... a little pre-crawl "swimming."

Shoveling the Yard

We've had about a week of every-day snow. Mostly lake effect with big fat flakes, but some from passing storms. Saturday morning, more of the fluffy snow came down for a few hours, leaving a few inches on the driveway that Ray thought he ought to take care of before it got too deep.  I suggested that a small person might be thrilled to assist him, and has her own shovel.

So she got on all her gear.  She blows me away with her independence sometimes. She's able to put on her snow pants and zip them all by herself, as well as her boots (correct feet optional) and hat.  She has a great trick for putting on her coat, but still needs help zipping up and fastening the velcro.  She can also put on her mittens.  I just have to say, I remember struggling with those things in first grade.  Of course, in first grade, I had this red jacket with a white "fur" edged hood (it may have been a hand-me-down), which had the worst zipper ever.  It routinely split or got stuck in a misaligned position. I remember asking my teacher (Miss Walters) to help me in and out of that stupid coat so many times...

But I digress.  So. Maia is bundled in weather-appropriate clothing and Ray sports his sweatshirt, wind pants, goggles (to keep the snow out) and work gloves. Together they head outside.  Ray situates Maia out of harm's way, in the yard, with her shovel.

She proceeds to shovel the yard...

 ... and has a great time doing it!

She made trails all over the yard.

And when she was done, she came inside to have some "Hawt Chawk-oh-lit to warm me up! Jus' like the Backyardigans, right momma?"

Funny Stuff

Since the Joy of Shoes has never fully subsided... Maia takes a walk in my winter boots.

Parker was getting some "Monkey Time" while Maia as getting ready for bed, and she desperately wanted to get in the crib with him. I figured (since she was doing such a good job using her manners, and we had a little time) we could do that for a few minutes. And she was delighted!

She's also been so excited about Parker eating food off a spoon that she thought perhaps she should feed him some pretend food using her toy spoons... as if he was a Very Large Doll.

He didn't seem particularly perturbed.

I hope that bodes well for their future together!


And now, two videos.  Perhaps I'm a horrible mother, but this reaction from Parker is so out-of-character for him, it just makes me laugh.

Um. Maia loves Pinwheels. And "Mockingbird" - which plays on the monkey toy.


And a little funny from this weekend.   FAIR WARNING - if you have issues with snot, just skip this one!


Maia has a cold, and is learning how to blow her nose. She does great with help, but isn't great at containing the mess if she does it herself.
That said, she grabbed a tissue, held it over the tip of her nose, and blew... leaving a slimy trail on her face, which she then wiped.  "Oh!" she exclaimed. "I gotta boogie moustache!"

2010 In Review

January 2010
- Halfway through pregnancy with "June Bug"
- Maia is learning to identify her colors, and recites her ABCs with a little help
February 2010
- Maia is a year-and-a-half old (18 months)
- Her vocabulary is expanding rapidly
- "June bug" is the size of a banana
March 2010
- Maia's getting more curious about the baby in my belly
- Beginning of the third trimester
April 2010
- Tara, Dave, Aaron and Rachael come out for a visit
May 2010
- Maia moves to her toddler bed
- Maia becomes more interested in dolls and playing mommy.
June 2010
- Maia gets her water table, which becomes a daily summer fave.
- Raymond and Effie come for a visit.
- and.... ummm... oh yeah!
- PARKER ARRIVES!!!
Not in the way we'd hoped, but everyone is safe and healthy, and we're more than satisfied with that. All the grandparents get to meet him when he is less than an hour old.
- We are now a Family of Four.
- Recovery from surgery was not on my wish list, but I heal well.
- Tara comes for a weekend visit.
July 2010
- Maia adjusts to sharing the spotlight and being a big sister.
- We go to Interlochen (but don't camp) for a long weekend.
- We camp at Massena for a week (but don't stay in a tent, thank goodness!)
August 2010
- Maia turns TWO!
- We visit the Township Park, the Zoo, The FM Gardens, and spend a lot of time in the back yard.
September 2010
- We visit the family and friends in Clifton Park.
- I return to work full time (boo!) and get a new boss, who starts 3 days before I return.
October 2010
- Ray and I celebrate our 10th anniversary.
- Parker is rolling over.
November 2010
- Parker gets chatty, starts supported sitting and gets his first tooth.
- Parker's First Thanksgiving
(and a previously unavailable pic that my sister took) December 2010
- Parker gets his second tooth, first solid food and turns SIX MONTHS old!
- Parker's first Christmas, and Maia's THIRD.
- We refinance our house for a better rate (yay!) and find out how upside down we are in it (boo!)
- We buy a new car!
Nooooo... not THAT one! THIS one! Ray is very excited.

All in all, a completely amazing, satisfying, wonderful year!

Shhtuff my kid ruined...

Perhaps I was getting smug... or failing to admit it's only a matter of time: It doesn't matter that your tot is so good at playing independently, and generally makes good choices. Eventually, you are going to find your child has discovered something they shouldn't have, and has decorated or deconstructed something in their environment. And you really shouldn't have laughed at the Sh*t My Kids Ruined blog, because it's really just the kiss of death...

Maia used a significant portion of a bottle of stain remover spray. On her bookcase. On the rocking chair cushions (which she has also ruined by pulling on the seat cushions so often that the ties have ripped off).

As well as on the walls, on her dresser, her play kitchen... That said, I'm probably quite fortunate it was laundry stain remover, which means it's cleanable.

She's also quite obsessed with lip balm these days, and after a few days of asking to use mine (new), she took it to the next step and dug half of the balm out of the tube with her finger.

The next day, she broke it off at the base and mushed the rest of it. Aaaaah... parenthood.

That said, she also took a nice header while playing at daycare, so perhaps we can state that she ruined her face (at least temporarily) too!

December Videos

A few videos from the month of December.

First up: Daddy helps Parker make funny noises.

Help!

Playing in the snow.

Playing with Toys

Toys. Oh, so many toys. Toys to extract from complicated packaging. Toys to read instructions on. Toys to hook up to the laptop so you can personalize them, or download audio content. Noisy toys. Toys that will probably end up on the top of the bookcase where the Toys-You-Must-Ask-Permission-To-Play-With reside.

Parker has discovered the joy of Maia's car toy. And is very happy about it.

Maia likes to get as many toys making music at one time as possible, and then sometimes she'll sign her own song over top of that. And dance.