and so it begins

Today was Thunder's first day back to work. Today was the first time I was left alone with both girls all day. It actually went surprisingly well. We even made it out of the house to get mama a latte and to get some things at the store. I was pretty amazed I could do it. We even had a little bit of a fiasco after Bailey's morning nap and I handled it quite well if I do say so myself. Lets just say her diaper fell off at an inopportune time making quite a mess and freaking her out. That was fun. Luckily Shea was asleep throughout the whole thing, so I was able to take care of it. Anywho. We survived day 1!

shea harper

Baby girl Shea Harper was born July 31st at 218pm. She was 2 whole weeks early...and as such, only weighed 6 lbs 6oz! Almost 2 whole pounds smaller than her sister! She measured 18 inches long.

We are all very happy and enjoying life as a family of 4.

projects

So it seems that we like to take on huge remodeling projects when I am really pregnant. Last year we installed floors in the kitchen and completely redid Bailey's room. And by completely redid I mean we had to pretty much gut it and start from scratch. We did all of this in May/June...she was born June 27th. This time around we have painted the dining and living rooms and are currently in the process of redoing our room and remodeling the wall that separates the kitchen and living room. I'm do in 5 weeks. I'm hoping it's done before then.

moving on

I took my tongue ring out last night...after having it for 9+ years. I was just kind of over it. Today I've noticed how much I used to play with it. I don't miss it per say...it's just strange.

bailey update 11 and 12 months

11 months - 20 lbs. 5 oz.

12 months - 21 lbs. 14 oz. 30 inches

Hi Bailey,

Well you turned 11 and then 12 months. Time sure has gone by fast. You have changed so much in the last 2 months. It's amazing. You're suddenly becoming an actual little person, with opinions and everything. Well kind of...you're mostly still our baby.

signing dog.

I recently mentioned how you had picked up a couple of signs here and there. Shortly after that post, you started signing all kinds of stuff. I think it was like 4 or 5 new signs in one day. So crazy. Daddy and I were trying to figure out how many you know now, I think it's at least 2 dozen....possibly even more. I'm amazed at how quickly you keep learning more and more signs. It's so wonderful to be able to communicate with you. Although I will admit that sometimes it gets confusing. Some signs require a little more dexterity than you have at the moment, so several signs look the same. Sometimes it takes some guesswork but we can understand each other for the most part. I love that you can tell me when you want out of your crib (you sign "all done" when you're ready after naps), or when you're tired (you sign "sleep"), or hungry, or want milk, or want to read a book....to name a few. It's so cool! (Signs you know: dog, frog, monkey, bear, horse, duck, fish, giraffe, mom, dad, baby, car, bus, boat, milk, eat, cereal, cracker, water, ball, book, bath, socks, clothes, shoes, doll, all done, wash hands...)

signing and saying dad.

You have also started to communicate with words...you say "da" while you sign dog, "ba" when you sign ball, "buh" when you sign book, "sh" when you sign fish, and "sss" when you sign cereal. You say "da" for dad and "ma" mama. It's unbearably cute. It's also amazing how much you understand...in English and Spanish. I love that I can ask you for something and you know what to hand to me or what to do. Not that you do it everytime, but I know you know what I mean.

walking.

On another note, you have become a lot more mobile. You started taking a couple of steps around 11 months. You'd walk across the living room from couch to couch or from daddy to me. You kept getting better and better as weeks went by. And I guess I can say it now, you are a walker. The other day we were at my brother's house for the 4th and you walked across the entire backyard to me...on grass! It was awesome! You even went around some people and chairs. We were all amazed! Of course now that you can walk, you want to walk everywhere. You try to squirm out of my arms and even are reluctant to ride in the grocery cart (something you used to like). Although yesterday you rode in it just fine because I was feeding you strawberries the whole time.

lunchtime with food all over your face.

Speaking of strawberries, I think they are your favorite food at the moment. You absolutely love them. You would eat those for every meal if you could. And actually on some days, that's all I can get you to eat...that, cereal and crackers. You have definitely gotten pickier these days. You inspect everything that goes in your mouth and if you don't like it once it's in your mouth, you take it out and throw it on the floor. In fact, you throw stuff on the floor all the time. We're working on that. You have tried a bunch of different foods though...the most recent being corn, blueberries, whole wheat pasta,millet, brown rice, toast, and watermelon (from what I can remember). You've started trying more of what we eat too. It sure makes it easier when we go out to lunch. The three of us went out to lunch the other day, and you were actually content sitting in the high chair munching on some bread from my sandwich. It was fun.

not feeling so hot.

You had your first real sickness the day before your birthday...it lasted through your birthday unfortunately. You spiked a really high fever and eventually we realized you had roseola. We spent a few days at home while you got better. It was hard to keep you happy the whole time...we read lots of books and played with all of your toys. At one point I even tried turning on the KPBS children's channel for you to watch...you were not interested at all. You just don't seem to like television unless it's your "Signing Time" DVD's. The other day we had people over and the TV happened to be on most of the day, I don't think I saw you look at it once...even while the other kids were watching it.


Another thing...you don't seem to like sweets either. I made you a birthday cake and you would have nothing to do it with it. I don't know if it was because you weren't feeling well, but you spit it out and started crying. The next day at your birthday party, Daddy gave you some of that birthday cake and you spit that out too. It's funny because you absolutely love fruit and sweet veggies...I guess you're just not into the processed sugar stuff.


We flipped your carseat around to face forward a couple of weeks before your birthday. The first time you rode in it, you seemed to love it. We thought that was the end of your hatred for the car. You just don't seem to like it at all and get fussy after only having been in it for a couple of minutes most times. Unfortunately it didn't work and you still get very cranky. You're usually okay for a little while if you have a book or something to munch on....but that doesn't last long and eventually you start throwing everything we hand to you. We're hoping you outgrow this. Maybe you'll be more entertained when you're little brother or sister is sitting next to you. That should be interesting...

You're still napping quite well. It's gotten to where we can lay you down with your bottle at naptime and you just pass out right after it's gone. At bedtime, we read you a story while you drink your bottle and then put you down...that seems to work too. Of course there are those days when you're fussy and it takes a little more effort on our part, but that's not very common. Sometimes I can't believe how far we've come on this whole sleeping thing. I still remember those days when I thought you'd never nap.

cute birthday girl.

We had your first birthday party a couple of days ago. You had a great time even though you weren't feeling great. There was cake, a bouncy house and even pinatas! We had a Curious George theme since you love him so much. The cake was made of cupcakes in the shape of Curious George's face (made by grandma of course) and one of the pinatas was Curious George himself! Which actually proved to be a problem when it came time to hitting it. You had no problem when people were hitting the pinata shaped like a number one. In fact when I held you up to it for your turn, you hit it a little. When I put up to the Curious George pinata, you wouldn't hit it and instead you kissed it. And when people started hitting it, you totally flipped out. You started crying and I had to take you inside, away from the chaos. Mental note, next year we can only get inanimate object pinata. All in all though, the party was great fun.

touching Curious George.

Well baby, I can't believe you're already one whole year old. You've grown up so much in such a short time. It's been a whirlwind of a year and I've loved every minute of it. I can't wait to see what next year entails. I love you so much sweetie pie.


Love,
Mama

my baby is 1!

lots to write about...but it'll have to wait after the big shindig! for now all i can say is wow...this last year has been amazing.

we love you sweetie!

bad dreams?

Bailey has become pretty easy to put down to sleep for the last couple of months. For naps we give her a bottle and she pretty much passes out once it's gone. Nightime, we read her a story while she's drinking her bottle and then put her down...she usually goes right to sleep. It's pretty rare for her to cry, so when she does we know something's wrong.

The other night, we had put her down and were having dinner, when we heard her crying. We flipped open the computer to see her on the webcam...she was just laying there, crying. We gave her a minute, because sometimes she does this and then just goes right back to sleep after a couple of seconds, but it just kept getting worse. I went in there and picked her up, and she instantly cuddled into my chest and stopped crying. I wasn't really sure what was going on...she seemed to be okay. I tried putting her down for a second to see if something was physically wrong, but she just screamed. I ended up sitting in the rocker with her on my chest (a feat in itself given my growing belly) and just rocking her. She ended up falling asleep while I rocked her. I haven't done that since she was tiny. And really, we've never really done that. She's never been into being rocked....always nursed to sleep. It was so sweet to have her just cuddle and fall asleep on me.

Anywho, she ended up staying asleep after I put her down and didn't wake up until the next day. Maybe she just had a bad dream? Which brings up something else, what do babies dream about? What would be a bad dream?

goodies

We had a bunch of credit card points that we wanted to use that we'd been accumulating for a while now....like a couple of years. We've been checking out all of their rewards and finally decided that we should upgrade our pots and pans. I wanted to get rid of all the scratched teflon ones we had. So after much research and looking around...we settled on these:

Some Le Creuset cast iron! I'm so stoked. We got them on Monday and they're awesome. I also went ahead and got rid of any plastic cutting boards we had and replaced them with wood ones. Oh and we bought more wood spoons to cook with. I guess we're doing a little bit of eco-house cleaning.

signing

We're still working on signing with Bailey. So far, she's only picked up a couple of signs...a few that she likes to do all the time. She learned "dog" pretty quickly, probably because we have one. I didn't really think about it, but everytime I signed "dog," I would also say "woof, woof." She does that now! It's too cute. Of course, she's also been signing "dog" for all animals. We were at a midwife appointment yesterday, and she signed "dog" when Thunder showed her the cat. She also signs it and says "woof" with all of her stuffed animals...monkey, giraffe...you name it.

Another sign she does often is "all done." She uses it for a bunch of different situations which is kind of funny. She'll do it when she wants out of her crib, out of the stroller, when she's just over something, and sometimes just to do it. She's still clapping for "more," which makes it confusing at times since she also claps for "yay." So we don't know if she's happy or wants more of something....but it's a start.

Then there's the signs I know she understands, but she just doesn't do often or at all, "milk" for instance. I'll do the sign and she gets all excited and practically starts hyperventilating because she wants milk, but she won't do the sign. Actually, the other day she did it after I had done it, so maybe she's getting the hang of it. "Ball" is another one she knows but doesn't really do. There are a bunch of other ones we do with her that we're not quite sure if she understands yet. I'm sure one of these days she'll have a signing "explosion." And soon she'll know even more signs than we do from watching her favorite show ever "Baby Signing Time." You just have to mention that name and she starts dancing and wants to watch it. It's cute...for now. I'm sure it won't be once she starts asking for it all the time. I've heard that happens.

bilingual

I've been trying to make sure I talk to Bailey in Spanish as much as I talk to her in English. I really want her to be fluent in both languages. So I've been talking to her only in Spanish a couple of days a week. I wasn't sure if she was really getting it, but the other day I asked her to get her monkey in Spanish and she did! I didn't know she knew what it was in Spanish. It was awesome!

mom's market value

"If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year." Very interesting article...check it out.

26 weeks

26 weeks, originally uploaded by slaloms.

Disregard the dirty mirror...Bailey gets carried away during bathtime.

baby brain

I've never really believed in the whole "baby brain" thing. I just never really noticed it happening to me....that is until a couple of days ago. I actually remembered to make coffee for us before Thunder went off to work. He went to pour himself some and noticed that it was just hot water. Apparently I forgot to put the coffee I had just ground into the coffee maker. Oops.

books

Bailey's really been getting into books lately. There are usually a few in her "toybox," and she'll grab one and hand it to me so I can read it to her. It's pretty awesome... Recently though, she's been getting really mad if you don't listen to her when she's handing you a book and starts grunting/yelling. Earlier today, I was putting something in the trash can in the kitchen and I heard her yell. I went to see what was the matter and she was sitting in the middle of her room holding a book up. Apparently I didn't get there fast enough.

bailey 10 month update

18 lbs. 13 oz.

Hi Bailey.

You turned 10 months a couple of days ago. 10 whole months.....

It seems like you've suddenly grown up. You're a pro at drinking from your sippy cup, eating foods that aren't blended anymore, and even eating cereal (Perky O's....kind of like Cheerios) all on your own. Before I know it, you'll be driving and going to prom...well maybe not that soon.

Anywho. We introduced some new foods into your diet this month...and luckily, you haven't had a problem with anything we've given you yet. You love yogurt and have that almost every morning. You've also tried jack cheese, cottage cheese and a several new fruits and vegetables. Strawberries, broccoli, garbanzo beans to name a few.


We also introduced formula to you this month.... This was a very hard decision for me to make. I struggled for quite a while trying to make nursing work for us, but after a lot of pain for me and anger from you, we decided that it might be best to try it. You took to it right away and are a much happier baby for it. I guess you were just hungry this whole time...and here we thought you were just a cranky baby.

You've never been a great day sleeper....but this month you're all of a sudden napping...and on a schedule! It's crazy. Not only that, but you're also sleeping through the night. We put you down at 6 and you don't wake up until 530 or 6 the next day. And you've been digging you're crib. Seems like we can leave you in there at least half an hour after you wake up....you just play or talk to your stuffed animals. (I know because we set up a webcam to check on you.)

You're a lot more interested in walking places now. I try to carry you and instead you grab my hands, trying to slide down me so you can walk. You're also really good at walking along furniture and even going from one piece of furniture to another...if it's close enough.


We are still taking you to swim lessons. You are doing so well and love being in the water. You're still not quite sure of your teacher and occasionally get upset when she carries you...but you're getting better.


You'd been waving hi for a while, but I don't think you really knew what it was or when to do it. Now you do it at the right time, all on your own! The other day, we were walking and you purposely let go with one hand so you could wave hi to the people in the car driving by. It was awesome!

You've become really good at playing on your own. You sit in front of your closet doors (that have mirrors) and just watch yourself throw things and pick them up. Or you just stand there and talk to yourself. It's quite entertaining for me...and you of course! You are also really into books. You love when we read to you and like to help us turn the pages. We've even started reading to you before you go to bed every night.


We're still working on signing with you. You've picked up a couple of signs...you're favorite being "all done." You're also starting to do "more," although it's more of clap right now. We've seen you sign milk, but it always seems to be at random times...I think you're way too excited when you actually want milk to sign it. And actually, sometimes you just do all the signs you know at once.

You are still quite the talker. You babble away all day. And actually it's more than babble now... You can say "dada," "mama," and a word that sounds like doggie....which you say everytime you see any dog! And actually you can sign "dog" too!

It's amazing to see you do all these things...like an actual little person. You are becoming such a big girl!


Well I should wrap this up before you wake up from your morning nap.
I love you sweetie.

Love,
Mama

edited to add: I forgot to mention that you finally got your first tooth. You've been teething since you were about 3 months and it just now broke through. You can kind of see one coming in next to it too! Oh and also....you started pointing at things and point at everything now. And you like to clap when we say "yay" or "bravo."

24 weeks

24 weeks, originally uploaded by slaloms.

so with bailey i started taking pictures at 18 weeks....i'm a little slow this time around. i was just looking at my 24 week picture with bailey....looks about the same to me.

climber video

Originally uploaded by slaloms

finally got around to recording her climbing up the stairs.

swimming

We've been taking Bailey to swim lessons this last week. Today was her third one! And she's been doing surprisingly well. We totally thought she was going to cry the whole time. But she didn't! In fact....she's only cried a couple of times when the instructor takes her out of our arms. And usually that's only the first time in the class....she gets over it pretty quickly. They started putting her underwater in the second class on Tuesday and she did so well. They did it some more today and she's doing awesome. The instructor was surprised that she can hold her breath so well for how few times she's gone! It's exciting. I'm going to try to take some video on Saturday when Thunder is with me. For now, just a few pictures from her first lesson. They're not the greatest because I had to take them from far away so she wouldn't see me (we were concerned that she'd cry and want mama if she did). Oh and the place we took her to is awesome. I highly recommend it. Let me know if you're interested and I'll pass on the info.

mmm meat...or something

I guess I'm officially not a vegetarian anymore. Although now that I think about it, I never really was in the true sense of the word since I ate fish on occasion. It all started with those insane meat cravings right around when I found out I was pregnant. I swear a hamburger never looked so good. And even though I haven't tried a hamburger....yet...I have had pizza with Canadian bacon on it, a turkey sandwich, a ham sandwich and a rolled taco. Not all at once mind you...in the course of several weeks. I haven't ventured into the world of steak or burgers yet. The thought kind of scares me for some reason. But I might at some point. Surprisingly it has been a rather smooth transition for me. I thought it would have been harder, or stranger after 7 years of vegetarianism. We'll see how this new venture pans out. I wonder if things will change after the baby is born. It should be interesting.

nine in, nine out

17 lbs. 1/2 oz.

Hi Bailey,

You're 9 months old today! I can't believe it. It's all gone by so fast. Before we know it you'll be running all over the place...seems like just yesterday I was carrying you EVERYWHERE in the sling. You sure loved that thing. I can hardly keep you in any carrier now. You love being in my arms so you can see out. I think that's why you like the stroller so much. Of course I should make it clear that you only like the regular stroller and not the jogging stroller. I'm not sure what it is, but you get very angry if you're in the jogger for too long....and by too long I mean more than 15 minutes. We hadn't tried it in a while, so today I thought we'd give it another shot...mostly because it's much easier to maneuver in our neighborhood. Sure enough, you had a fit. I guess we'll have to wait and see if you grow into it.

On another note. You have all of a sudden become quite the dancer. It started out that you would only do it when you heard the music from one of your toys. Then it was when you heard music. Now you just do it all the time...music or not. It's awesome. Unfortunately I think you've inherited your father's dancing skills...you can complain to him later.

Your interest in food this month has skyrocketed. You've always been a pretty good eater. I was actually surprised that it was so easy to introduce you to solids at 6 months. I guess you were just ready. You'd been doing really well...eating at least one meal a day. This month though, it seems like you're alway starving. I don't know how you're little tummy can handle so much food. You eat three big meals a day. And still nurse all the time. The funny thing is that you're not really gaining that much weight...you're just getting taller. The doctor had mentioned you were tall for your age...I guess I don't notice because I see you everyday.

Speaking of...you had your first doctor's appointment this month. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it went. You were totally fine as long as you were sitting on my lap. Luckily the doctor did most of the exam that way. And it turns out you're healthy in every which way. Yay! Maybe we're doing something right after all.

We bought you a sippy cup several weeks ago. You knew exactly what to do with it the minute I helped you put it in your mouth. Of course you weren't too fond of the water in it initially. You've grown to like it though and actually prefer water to any kind of juice we've tried. Apple, pear, prune. They're all gross according to you. The other day you were taking a drink out of your sippy cup and then offered me some. It was so neat that you wanted to share with me. Of course now you want me to try everything...your toys, food, whatever it is you put in your mouth.

We started signing with you this month. You still haven't signed back, but I'm sure that will come soon enough. In the meantime, daddy and I are learning all of the signs. Pretty soon we'll be having conversations! I can't wait!

Well I know I've been lagging in these posts for you....we've just been keeping ourselves so busy. This Saturday we take you to your first swim lesson! I'm so excited!

I love you so much baby,
Mama