My Blankie!

10/1/2009

It's a Storm!

10/4/2009

A dust storm that is. For 2 days we had almost constant dust. It was the most sustained storm of it's kind I've been in. Usually they're just here and gone. By the time it was gone, absolutely everything was covered in a thick layer of the local farmer's top soil.

These pics were taken in the middle of the day, and it was just that dark because of the dust cloud.

UH-OH!

10/17/2009

In an effort to keep Amelia out of the kitchen we moved her playpen, and Costco sized packages of toilet paper, and baby wipes to make a makeshift gate until we could find a real one. A curious thing happened...she pulled herself up! I was shocked and ran out to tell Travis who was mowing the lawn. He was a little annoyed I had interrupted him, but quickly forgave me, lol.

Once Daddy was there, she wouldn't do it anymore so I had to use a little coercion. She has a favorite toy. It is a small yellow rubber ducky that started out as a bathtime toy, and is now her constant companion. I stuck her duck at the back of the toilet paper, and instantly she stood up to get it.

She was none too impressed with being locked out of the kitchen though so she employed her trusty sidekick in a scheme to innocently get to the kitchen. She would toss him over the edge and then proceed to climb over the barricade. "Hey Mom, my duck just happened to go to the other side and I HAVE to go get him!" Unfortunately this always ended in a face plant on the linoleum if we weren't fast enough so she decided there was an obvious flaw in her plan. I'm sure she and the duck are brainstorming ideas to get through the newly installed gate as we speak.

The Buglette's Big Trip

When I was pregnant, I joined an online community just hoping to get some info on the baby's development, and whether my symptoms were normal. Just general information stuff. It turned out that I would meet a group of amazing women whom I am proud to call friends. Several months ago we were joking that we should all meet up. We're spread all over the country (and one person is from New Zealand) so it was more fantasy than reality. The more we talked about it, the more do-able it became so we planned on meeting up in "the middle", which turned out to be Kansas City, MO. We called it The Union. Since most of us had never met in person it couldn't very well be called a reunion.

It was a fantastic weekend! The flight there was terrific. Amelia did so well. Once we got in and settled we sought out the rest of the group. It was amazing to see everyone for the 1st time, but it was never awkward. Even Travis was impressed with how easily we seemed to blend together. Amelia loved being with all the other babies. We learned she is most definitely a leader and not a follower. She often wanted to do her own thing, and unless someone else had a particularly interesting toy she would rather seek out her own stuff. However, if you stole her toy it was absolutely unacceptable, but rather than throw a fit she crawled over and promptly took it back.

We headed to a pumpkin patch Saturday afternoon. It would have been tons of fun when Amelia is older since there were lots of activities. It was still good to just hang out with everyone though, and we got some great pictures.

The day we left, Travis set his alarm for 5:30am since we needed to be gone around 7am. I woke up at 6:47am and freaked out. I'd done this before though and it turned out the hotel clock was wrong, so I calmly turned on my phone, and then freaked out! We rushed to get everything packed up and hurried out the door. We made the flight only about 10min before boarding. On, the flight home Amelia was a little more grumpy. Two days of almost no napping and whirlwind activity will do that to a 10mo old. We finally got her take a nap and things were better.

I can't wait for the next one!

Amelia's First Halloween!

Originally we had no plans to dress Amelia up. We weren't going anywhere, and she would most likely be in bed when we had trick-or-treaters. I did however want her to have on holiday attire so I bought a black skirt, and onesie. My friend make a pair of Halloween leg warmers to go with it. She was pretty dang cute if I do say so myself, and I do.

After I got her dressed though, I realized all she was lacking was a hat, and a black cat and she could be a witch. We're not cat people so we settled for Max, and a hat. WAL-AH, a hat was found and a witch was "born".

We're Not Dead!

Ok, so I'm sure you're all aware of that fact, but if you just go by the blog posts its been a long while since we've shown any signs of life. Work got a little crazy at the end of the season and I got behind, really behind. Since it will be virtually impossible to tell you every little thing that's happened in the last, ummm, let's see how long has it been...almost 2 months. I'll try to give you the major stuff. I'll post them in reverse order so it looks like I've been fabulous at keeping up! Shhhhh, we'll just keep this as our little secret.

World Watch Out!!

Amelia is on the move! This Sunday she started crawling on all fours!! She's not too quick yet so she would still rather be army crawling because she can get places soooo much faster. It's only a short matter of time though before she gets it all figured out. Here's a short video of some of her first shaky "steps".

Watch What I Can Do...

Behind your back while no one is looking! Amelia was playing happily on the floor so I turned around the check the mail. Travis walked in from the kitchen and asked "Did you put her like that?"No! Little Miss Sneaky figured out how to sit up all by herself, and chose to show off this newly acquired skill while no one was looking. And of course she only did it one time. Guess this will make nap time and bedtime a little more interesting. It's a little harder to "accidently" fall asleep grumpin, when you're sitting up.

Oh the Places You'll Go

September 6th was a day of trips, very very short trips.
First, Travis took Amelia out to test drive the Jeep. It turns out her legs and arms are way too short to reach the clutch or shifter, so she tested out the seats. Mmmm, comfy!



Next, up was our walk. This consisted of getting Amelia in the stroller, snapping some pictures, and finally walking one block before turning around. It was a lot windier than it looked and Amelia wasn't a fan.


Finally, her trip to dreamland. After the busy day she had no problems drifting quickly off to sleep. All that was necessary was her blankie and pacisucker. Gotta love the power of fleece and plastic.

Long Time No Post

Ummm, so I don't have an excuse for the lack of updates just been busy. How bout a cute pic to make up for it...?

There, now I'm sure all is forgiven! On to the updates.

First off, an illness update. Amelia went back in on Wednesday for another blood draw and she is officially back to her happy buglette self. The antibiotics wreaked havoc on her digestive system though which made diaper changes extra fun. Luckily daycare took the brunt of that funness. To try to counteract that we started yogurt. It's the 1st food she has been all for since the beginning. Yay!!

8/21/2009 - Burn Busters!A friend of mine makes leg warmers for babies and toddlers so I got a few pairs. They are great for the cool mornings we've been having and for all her army crawling. I have to shamelessly admit that I thought of the name. Pretty clever if I do say so myself, and no I'm not looking for second opinions.

8/22/2009 - What are those fuzzy things?

The dogs have been a little jealous since Amelia's arrival, ok Max is a lot jealous. I think he's still hoping she is like one of the puppies we've "rescued" and we'll find her a new home any day now. We rearranged the living room and made room for Travis's beanbag chair which I love. Unfortunately Max and Blaze love it more so I am still stuck with the couch, if Blaze isn't hogging it.

8/23/2009 - A milestone!

Amelia has gone from a supported sitter to sitting on her own. He can't get into that position by herself, she needs help, and she doesn't like to stay that way, but she can do it. She'd much rather be exploring and spot hunting.

8/26/2009 - Toys, Shmoys

We got this Leap Frog table from my supervisor a few months ago, and I figured she was finally old enough to play with it. The legs come off so babies can play with in on the floor before they stand. Apparently we forgot to tell her which part was the toy.

I can hardly wait to see her Christmas and birthday presents tossed aside so she can enjoy the paper and boxes, lol.

8/27/2009 - Oooo, accessories!

Travis loves putting Amelia in hats, and who wouldn't. She's adorable in them. Of course she doesn't care how adorable she is, the hats are a nuisance.

8/29/2009 - The Great Escape!

Separation has kicked in full swing, oh goody. There have been many instant meltdowns due to bathroom breaks and heaven forbid you need to check on dinner or the laundry. Last weekend I actually had the audacity to feed the cat! Can you imagine? How could I just up and leave Amelia in plain sight to tend to someone else? She almost made it out the door, but the sun was a little bright. Where's a hat when you need one?

So, now that you're all caught up, are you feeling like you had to take an excessive amount of time out of your busy schedule just to find out we are all fine and Amelia is still cute? How could anyone feel like they wasted time after seeing this face?

HAPPY 28TH

BIRTHDAY TRAVIS!!!!!

Awwwww, Poor Baby

Sorry, there aren't any enduring photos with this post. Our poor Buglette got sick for the 1st time this week. Tuesday evening Amelia had a 103.1 fever so we gave her some ibuprofen and then again in the middle of the night. Wednesday, Travis made an appointment to take her to the Dr since she still had a fever (no other symptoms in case you're wondering). They told him not to give her anything so they could verify the fever. Ummm...I'm pretty sure it's not that hard to take a temperature. Anyway, by the time he got her in there it had reached 103.8! They immediately gave her some ibuprofen. After the exam she was diagnosed with, well, Travis can't remember what she has, but whatever it is it ain't good. She got a shot of antibiotics there, and had some blood drawn. She got a prescription for more antibiotics which apparently tastes as good as bananas. Luckily the tip on the syringe can just poke through her tightly clenched lips to get a little in at a time. She's still not 100%, and I stayed home with her yesterday, but we tried daycare today. I haven't got a call so hopefully that means she's doing well.

IT'S A BIRD!! IT'S A PLANE!! IT'S...

No wait it is a plane!

Travis has been taking flying lessons for the last year or so to work towards getting his private pilot's license. Sunday was a very big day in that process. He got to do his 1st solo flight. He flew a 1981 Cessna Skyhawk 172 in a few patterns around the airport and did some landings. It was a short flight, only about 1/2 hour, but everything went very smoothly. I was very excited when he called so I knew he was safe, but not nearly as excited as he was for the flight. It's all he talked about for the rest of the day, and although I have almost no idea what he was taking about, I'm glad it makes him happy.

(photo from Cessna.com)

Where has the time gone?

Last week I did a terrible job of updating you on the latest happenings at our house. In an effort to make it up to you here is a series of very quick posts. Consider it the short, short version of the last week.

8/3/2009 - Ok, I'll Eat!

Suddenly Amelia has decided to rule the last several weeks of food experiments merely practice trials for the real thing. We've re-introduced everything we've ever given her and she eats it all.

Also from 8/3 - Bath Time Again?
Amelia used to like her baths, but we had to cut way back due to her sensitive skin (Thanks Daddy!). Now she's not such a fan, although you can't tell that from this shot.

8/5/2009 - Applesauce, Take 2

Like I said, everything is ok now. Compare this pic with the 1st round of applesauce and note the great improvement.

8/7/2009 - Look What I Can Do!

Travis and I have bought Amelia a few new toys since the rattles aren't enough to distract her from spots on the floor. The spots are still extremely appealing, but the new stuff provides a small distraction. We bought this and she can't make the little animals pop up, but she loves to close them to make them go away. Sometimes she gets a little frustrated that they won't stay down, but hasn't figured out that Mommy and Daddy are the reason the little critters keep reappearing.

8/9/2009 - Oh, so that's what this is for!

Food Study: Plums and Pears

Plums were tested out last week. Sadly our technical crew was on vacation so there is no photographic evidence, but I can tell you the results...

"Are you sure these aren't bananas?!"

Needless to say we moved on.

The latest study was 1st conducted Sunday night (8/2/2009).

Test Subject: Amelia

Age: 7 months

Weight: 17lbs give or take a few oz (it's all very technical you know)

Experimental Substance: Pears

Results: Finally something edible! Test subject was apprehensive at 1st, muttering something like "Babababababa", which I roughly translated as "This better not taste like banana!" After the initial bites the patient actually opened her mouth and ate! This is a huge discovery. We look forward to finding more substances suitable for a picky pallet.

To Grandmama's House We Go

8/1/2009

Saturday we drove down to see my grandparents. It was the 1st time Amelia has been down there, although she has met them before when they came up to visit. It started out great and ended great since we were in the car and Amelia was sleeping, but the last half of the visit was more of a grump fest. Being the fabulous 1st time parents that we are we didn't think to bring anything for her to nap in like a playpen, and since Grandmama and Papa don't have kids around there wasn't anything suitable. Instead we had a very tired 7 month old baby. Luckily there were plenty of people to pass her around between, each providing a few moments of distraction. When the luster wore off everyone it was time to go home.

TA-DA!

7/26/2009

We are a family of many talents. Most of them are hidden talents and there is a reason they should probably stay that way.

There's another one!!

7/24/2009

Amelia has an unnatural fascination with spots on the floor. Every little piece of dog fuzz, scrap of paper, or piece of grass is infinitely more exciting than any of the toys she has. Her obsession has shown we need a new vacuum (seriously who knew ours was doing such a poor job!), and that a cow print can provide several minutes of cheap entertainment for both baby and parents.

Food Study: Bananas

The food experiments continued this weekend. We've tested out several veggies so I thought we'd move onto some fruit hoping for better results.

Test Subject: Amelia

Age: 6 months 3 weeks

Experimental Substance: Banana

Here it comes!

Hmmmmmm?

Results: One bite is all you need! No seriously, one bite that's it, for life. You will never need to taste another banana as long as you live.

No, I don't have any amusing discussion for your reading pleasure this time. I just have some incredibly cute baby pics. Enjoy!