Three Quarters of a Year

You are nine months old today, Socha.  We didn't do anything special for you, unless you consider cleaning the house a celebration of sorts.  Yesterday was another matter entirely - first, for the first time, we got about 100 holiday cards out (as in, they are in the mail!)!  That's the first time we've done that together.  And included with many of those holiday cards was your birth announcement (9 months late, but what can you do?).  Finally, I can scratch that off my To-Do list!  Then we took you to your first holiday extravaganza (the Jingle Mingle) held at the school's science center.  We got you all dressed up in a pretty dress with tights and a bow on your head - you were our present to the DA community!  We were hoping that the party wouldn't be too loud since you seem to dislike very loud noises, but I guess since it was progressively louder as we approached, you took it in stride.  And, of course, a bunch of people wanted to hold you.  Your cheeks were squeezed, your thighs were squeezed, you were squeezed, and you were oohed and ahed over since you were looking so snazzy in your holiday outfit.  Thanks to Madison for the hair bow and to Sheila and Lloyd for the red tights.

Most of your ninth month was spent at home.  We actually stayed put for four weeks.  I had a chance to start an exercise program in those four weeks and have worked out on 23 out of the last 26 days.  I am hoping to keep up the exercise during our travels in the next couple of weeks, so I'm going to have to be creative with the weight lifting exercises!  I guess I've got a bit of a head start on a New Year's resolution!

We're looking forward to seeing your Nana, Grampy, and Uncle Keith over Christmas, and pretty much all of your Jewett relatives over New Year's.  We have a couple of very busy weeks ahead, including a bunch of flights.  I'm sure it will be much easier to travel with you with both your Dad and I traveling (compared to when I took you out to Colorado this summer - although, you were incredibly well-behaved on that trip, pretty much slept the whole time we were ever on a plane).  I think the hardest part for you will be the time changes - now that we've got you on a pretty good routine we're going to go right ahead and mess it all up for a couple of weeks.  I think you can handle it.

I'm sure you can't wait to get your hands on your Christmas present wrapping paper!

Ma, Na, Language, Laughter, and Food

Dear Socha,

Every day I am amazed at how much and how fast you are learning.  You must be beyond exhausted at the end of each day considering all the new data that is pouring into your brain.  I love watching you figure things out - like climbing the stairs or lifting up your bottle so the formula will come out.  Your laughter and shrieks of joy absolutely make my day.  You're starting to like tickle games and your little giggle melts my heart.  And you sound like what I imagine a baby pterodactyl would sound like when you shout and grunt and raspberry - in other words, when you use your language (as much as you have a language right now).  You're responding to your name now and I can see the wheels turning in your head when we ask you if you "want more" or if you are "all done?"  We're trying to teach you some very basic American Sign Language, and Lori is convinced that you are so close to getting "more."  Just yesterday you figured out how to make the "m" sound so you keep saying "mamamamamamama" and of course, I'm ecstatic!  I realize that you are not actually saying "Mama" but I know that you will be soon.  And today, you figured out the "n" sound so you keep saying "namanamanamanama."  I think I even heard you say "ga" today.  Your rate of learning really is astonishing. 

On the food front, you seem to like apples, and apparently you love carrots.  You haven't been too excited about peas lately, though.  And we tried some of those puffs and you mostly just smoosh them with your hands and this evening when you (accidentally, I think) got one in your mouth, you gagged on it.  I guess you're not too sure about that chewing thing. 

Your Dad and I have been trying to get a holiday card out to our friends and family all week, and I think once he looks over our letter, we'll get it printed and all the envelopes stuffed so we can actually mail them before the end of the year.  Of course, part of our delay was trying to pick out the perfect picture of you!

Climbing the stairs and other thoughts

Dear Socha,

Pretty much every day your Dad and I comment about how doggone cute you are.  Even when you're crying, you're cute - especially now that you've begun to raspberry when you cry.  We don't mean to laugh, but it's so funny!  We haven't filmed you doing this - yet - but we might have to just to show everyone how adorable it is.  We're ridiculously smitten with you, Socha.  We are slightly concerned that you're going to get a big head rather quickly with the number of photographs we take of you (in fact, you recognize the camera now and almost seem to pose when we pull it out) and with the number of people commenting about how adorable you are (including us!). 

Almost since we very first started dating, your Dad and I have had an evening tradition of sharing our favorite part of our day with each other.  Recently, practically every day has been, "the three of us hanging out together," or something to that effect.  You have grown into such a fun little girl.  We love to hear your laughter and your squeals of delight and your coos and the conversations you have with your toes.  You are the highlight to our days.

Today you were in a really good mood - we kept commenting to people at dinner about how happy you were being, and most everybody said you are always happy, which is almost always true in the dining hall (there was a night recently when you were NOT happy in the dining hall - I believe that was the last post I did).  But to us, you seemed extra happy tonight.  And when we got home after dinner you just kept being happy and playful.  It was great fun to just watch you zoom around the room and stop and sit up and look back at us to make sure we were watching you.

You are starting to figure out what "No!" means.  However, you aren't reacting the way we would hope you would.  For instance, when you start grabbing for power cords and we say "No!" in a stern voice, you continue to grab the cord, but you look back at us the instant you touch it and GRIN!  I'm sure you're too young and not developed mentally enough to be that mischievous already, but man, that grin sure makes you seem like a little imp!  I guess you're testing your boundaries.  So, the two things that are absolutely off limits to you are power cables (really cables of any kind) and plastic bags.  So, of course, you always want to go after said prohibited items.  Now that you're crawling so well, we simply can't take our eyes off of you.

The other thing we should probably not let you get into is paper - but how you LOVE paper.  You keep making a bee-line to the paper recycle bin in my office because we let you have at that paper a few times.  In fact, you seem to be so delighted by tearing paper to shreds that you have been kept occupied for half an hour at a time!  Witness the destruction:

 

The other thing you like to destroy is any sort of tower your Dad and I try to build out of toy blocks.  It's a pretty fun game to try to get the tower built before you start dismantling it.  Witness the destruction:

You also love to take things out of baskets.  It's pretty fun to watch you systematically take each individual burp cloth out of its basket and drop it on the floor, one by one, until the basket is empty.  Apparently baskets are not supposed to store anything in our house.

We've added bananas and acorn squash to your diet.  You're OK with bananas - not bananas over them or anything, and you liked the squash, but we think you might somehow be allergic to it.  You've been having you first episode of diaper rash since we started feeding you the squash.  Luckily it's not too bad - in fact, you hardly notice it, we just saw the redness.  And it has diminished since we stopped feeding you the squash.  So, possibly one food off the eating list for you.  Next up, carrots.

Finally, here are a couple of videos of you in motion.  The first actually corresponds to a post I did back in November: I'm so tired.

Then one of you climbing our stairs this evening.  I swear, you're just going to skip walking and start running when you figure out how to be on your feet!  Note the half-eaten huge piece of chocolate cake I am holding as I follow behind you.  That's been eaten now.

Thus ends my brain dump for the evening.

$#!t-storm (literally and figuratively) & a snowstorm & peas

We've had several interesting evenings with you, Socha.

First the literal $#!t-storm: Two nights ago, while we were enjoying dinner in the dining hall, you started grunting and straining and getting all red in the face.  We tried to explain that it's rude to fill your pants at the dinner table, but you really weren't interested in an etiquette lesson.  So your Dad picked you up out of your high chair - he hadn't gotten a whiff of you yet - and brought you in to give you a hug.  Luckily I made a sound or he actually got a whiff before he put you over his head on his shoulders because you had an EPIC poopsplosion blowout!  Pictures would have been just too graphic, so a short description will have to suffice.  You hadn't pooped for over 36 hours, so you had a lot of stuff to get out.  And it mostly got out on your belly and up to your chest!  I don't think there is a diaper big enough to hold the amount of $#!t coming out of you.  Luckily, all the other diners at our table had already left, so they didn't get to enjoy this lovely sight and scent.  And luckily we had enough wipes AND a fresh change of clothes for you in our diaper bag.  We weren't sure how to get your onesie off without wiping poop all over your face, but somehow we managed.  After we got you cleaned up in the dining hall bathroom (I'm so sorry we left such an awful stench in there), we rushed home to give you a full-on bath and dig the poop out of your belly button with a q-tip.  Ah, the joys of parenthood...

Then the first figurative $#!t-storm: Last night you completely lost it.  You just simply did not want to sleep.  We're sure that you're teething right now, so we're giving you baby tylenol practically all the time, and then to add insult to injury, you are going through a massive growth spurt.  I'm pretty sure you've grown a centimeter in length (at least) in just the last week.  Last week you fit into a particular set of PJs, and this week you're too long for them.  And all the (probably super-expensive) snowsuits that have been handed down to us are starting to look a little short too.  So, I imagine that you are having some aches and pains due to growing along with your achy gums.  Poor thing.  And this is probably why you didn't want to sleep last night.  You were both hungry and achy and just didn't know what to do with yourself.  You practically did laps around the changing table after your bath and you were squirmy while I tried to feed you before bed.  You seemed to calm down as I read you a book several times (My Many Colored Days - Dr. Seuss).  And I guess you went to sleep fairly easily that time.  But you woke up 2 hours later wailing like mad.  I got you to calm down and sleep again for about another hour.  Then your Dad ended up sitting up with you for an hour and a half - feeding you several bottles, letting you play for a bit, and then waiting outside your door as he listened to you making noises in your crib - unsure if you were actually sleeping yet.  This was at 1:30am.  Then you woke up again a little over an hour later.  You were inconsolable.  I got up this time and nursed you and fed you another bottle (growth spurt?!) and you finally - finally - fell asleep around 2:30am.  Then you slept for 7 straight hours.  Not bad after the craziness of the first part of the night.

Then the second figurative $#!t-storm: This evening you completely lost it in the dining hall.  Usually you love being in the dining hall.  It seems like you love the noise and all the movement.  You're always very active and usually very happy and flirty with the people around us.  Not tonight!  A colleague offered to hold you while we ate and the second he sat down with you (only a few feet away, on the other side of the table from us), you burst into panicked tears.  I've never seen or heard you cry like that.  You acted as if your Dad and I completely abandoned you.  It was so pitiful.  So I took you back and ate with you on my lap.  Then another colleague (who hadn't seen this first incident) looked like he really wanted to hold you, so I let him have a shot - instant panicked tears again!  But he was able to distract you by showing you the ornaments on the Christmas tree.  Finally, a third colleague only wanted a high-five from you, but the minute he touched your hand you started shrieking those panicked tears again.  And even some ladies tried to make you smile, but you were having none of it.  I suspect you were just VERY tired and that maybe you're starting to feel a little bit of separation anxiety.  Hopefully you won't be this sensitive tomorrow in the dining hall.

Then the snowstorm: Today you witnessed your first true snowfall with accumulation.  So you and I went for a long walk down south mill road during the brisk afternoon.  Your cheeks got so rosy.  You seemed to just love looking all around you and breathing in the cold air.  You didn't complain once as we walked for 40 minutes or so.  I had you dressed up in the almost too small for you down snowsuit, along with some pretty hip leg warmers (see evidence below), so I think you were quite toasty.  When we got home I went ahead and let you crawl around in the snow a bit, though I don't think you were all that interested in the white stuff on the ground.

Look at those rosy cheeks!

Can you believe the outfits my parents make me wear?

And finally, peas:  I tried feeding you avocado a couple of times so far.  Sad to say, you really don't like avocado.  In fact, it makes you cry.  I'll take that as a rejection more than just your funny surprised face when you try something new.  Today we tried peas.  At first you were a bit suspect, but you were willing to try more.  This morning you didn't eat too much and definitely didn't ask for more.  But this evening you actually asked for more.  We're slowly adding things to your diet to make it more varied: rice cereal, yams, oatmeal, (avocado), peas.  Next I think we'll try either squash or bananas.  I have all the stuff here to make the food for you, but I decided it would be good to have some jar food on hand in case we run out of home-made stuff.  Tomorrow I plan to make some yams, squash, oatmeal, and bananas to freeze for future use.  But we'll keep on with the peas for two more days before we try something new.  I love watching you eat because you get really into it and grunt and chomp down on your spoon.  And you just keep eating and eating and eating (growth spurt?!).  Oh, the raspberrying with food in your mouth is actually hilarious, but let's not make a habit of it, OK (I say with a stern look on my face, trying desperately not to laugh)?