Saturday, November 20, 2010

Cool Weather and Decorations

The weather has finally turned cool in Phoenix. Anyone in a cool climate may be wearing shorts, but today I'm wearing a turtleneck shirt and light sweater. It's in the 60s or 70s.  What that means for Lola is a new coat! She has a favorite blanket that my friend Sherri made her when she was born. She likes that blanket so much, we had Sherri make us two little blankets in the same fabric that we can use for travel and to leave at the baby sitter's house. Anyway, we were at Costco and found these little Minky coats that were zebra on the outside and hot pink on the inside...just like her favorite blanket. So we got it for her. Even before the weather turned colder, she loved putting on this coat. Monday, it was cool enough that we put it on for warmth. The sitter said when she came in, she pranced all around the house like she was walking the runway.
I started looking at all that I have to do before our holiday party on December 4 and figured out that I had to put up my Christmas decorations this past weekend. On a non toddler year, it takes me a while. I figured this year would be crazy.  We had to figure out a way to elevate the tree so that she didn't take a header into it at some point...which, with those huge feet, happens a lot. The nice folks at Home Depot helped me figure out a way to do this pretty easily. I was pleased with the final outcome!  Anyway, for whatever reason, on Saturday, Lola went down for a pretty long power nap! I was able to get the tree up, attached to the tub we elevated it on, and get most of the lights on before she got up. When she stumbled into the living room, she did her classic, "Wooowww" and pointed at the tree.  I had one lit string not on the tree yet and she was fascinated. The bottom third of the tree is non-breakable, and the top 2/3 is all my fragile ornaments. She seems only to be drawn in by the balls.
Having the tree up  required rearranging our living room, but it's pretty Lola friendly.  I also found some musical flashing LED snowflake lights that play "Carol of the Bells" and are voice and motion activated. I hung them on the curtain rod in her room.  Dancer that she is, she thinks they are great. Both for dancing and for going to sleep.
In her swing...and big Uggs

the bear is musical, it scares Lola
Sunday is Lola's "Gotcha" day. It's pretty nice all the National Adoption Day reminders and tweets I get on Twitter, it's as if the whole country is celebrating with us. It's hard to believe a year has gone by since Lola officially became a Sherrard!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Bumble Bees and Halloween

Our Little Bumble Bee
We weren't going to do much for Halloween, we hadn't planned on doing anything, so we weren't planning on dressing her up. But we had tickets on the 30th to see BFF Katie at her performance in "42nd Street" at Arizona Broadway Theater. (Which was FANTASTIC) so thankfully, other Katie said she would watch Lola. Katie has a son just a couple of months younger than Lola, so we were happy to let Lola meet a new playmate.
See My Wings?
 They were going to a Trunk or Treat at their church, so that afternoon, we found a little bumble bee costume for Pants for $3.50! It wasn't a stellar costume, but at the last minute, it was great! She LOVED that costume, she knew it was something different, and she was pretty darn cute, biased as I may be! Gamma also bought Lola some Uggs, that she spotted and took a liking to. They are a size 6 and way too big, but she LOVES them.
The next morning, she brought me the bumble bee vest and the boots and ran around for a while in the bumble bee vest and Uggs and diaper.
Halloween night, we got dressed up and walked over to visit "Auntie" Marcia and "Uncle" Bo. That was a treat, Bo was dressed up for the trick or treaters as a very strange old lady. I wish we had gotten a picture because Lola just wasn't sure about that...nor was their dog, Daisy, who barked and barked at him!
Such a Big Girl!
We took another trip to Gamma and Honey's to see the Mayfield/Cruces football game. Since they are looking at moving to Phoenix, I thought this might be my last chance to see that game, so we went. I really miss that level of high school spirit! I read two esitmations regarding attendance...anywhere between 22k and 25k people were estimated to attend. That is amazing! And we were there. It was a good game--with the exception of the outcome!
What a Ham!
This is to say, "It wasn't me!"

Monday, October 25, 2010

California and BIG Waves

Lola on her new slide
We have been quite busy the past two months. Lola is changing and learning new things and amazing (and entertaining) us daily! October was filled with travel experiences!  Our neighbor brought us their slide/fort that their kids have outgrown. Lola is big on the slide! She loves going down the slide, her only challenge is getting to the top! I can see we will be growing with this toy! Lola got a "big girl" car seat and she absolutely loves being able to look forward rather than always laying down.
holding on to Momma for dear life
OK, maybe this isn't so bad
Her first big experience in the new car seat was a trip to California with Gamma and Honey.  We took a weekend and drove down to Escondido to see the sights. The big adventure on that trip was our trip to the beach. Back in June we took Lola to the beach and she wasn't very fond of it, so we were expecting some resistance. She wouldn't let go of me for the first few minutes, but slowly warmed up to the idea of the sand and cautiously wandered to where Daddy was standing. She was focused on something that held her attention and Rodney was making sure she didn't take off over the edge of the sand "cliff" (there was an eroded edge of the sand with about a foot drop to where the waves were splashing up.) We were all focused on her and enjoying the new experience, when out of nowhere a wave came up over the "cliff."  It happened really quickly. Rodney's back was to the wave, but Lola got it full in the face. The wave took her out. Down. Flattened her. And her bad mother saw it coming! Unfortunately, my first thought when I saw the wave coming in further than any other had come, was, "ohh, I don't want to get my feet wet, that water's cold!" And I jumped back a few steps. My SECOND thought was, "OH! Lola's right in the path of destruction!" But by the time that thought hit, Rodney was soaked from the knees down and Lola was soaked
and covered in sand from head to toe! And hysterical.                   

You will NEVER get me here again!
She HATES water in her face. And it LITERALLY scared the poop out of her! A nice family was right there and handed us a towel and offered that every kid on that beach had been similarly taken out by a wave at some point that day. We headed to the car to get a diaper and something warm and headed to the bathroom. Note: beach bathrooms aren't equipped with changing facilities. So I changed her on the wall outside the bathroom. Honey came to the rescue. Another comment on my mother hood...I don't travel with a change of clothes. So we had NOTHING to change her into. I was wearing two T-shirts, so had planned on putting one of them on her. But before I could do anything, Honey had taken his shirt off and was giving it to Lola. Which was so sweet, but here was my dad with NO shirt on at the beach. He fit right in! She got a kick out of it (once she had slept a bit and we were back in the condo!) It took 3 baths to get all the sand out of her hair!
It's not so bad in Honey's shirt

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

15 Months and New Car Seats

Lola had her 15 month check up. It's the first time that we've had to wait at all for the doctor, she's usually in and out. Because of the wait, our very busy little girl got a little antsy. So, she had quite a ball running circles around the office, as you can see by the video.
Her size is catching up to her age, which is good, so far, we've still be in 6-9 month outfits (with the exception of her feet). What shocked us was we are only 1/2 inch away from needing a new car seat! We thought we had loads of time. Wrong! What caused me the most stress when preparing for her, was shopping for the car seat. I probably spent hours online, and at least 6 trips to Babies R Us to look at them. So when we found that out, I panicked a little. I mean, what's the difference between the $99 car seat vs. the $450 car seat? And because the car seat will not go in and out of the car, we will need two. ACK!
One of the things that the pediatrician said was we need to get her using crayons. She had said this at the 12 month, however we were in a restaurant with crayons and all she wanted to do was eat them, so we didn't push it. On our way home, we stopped by Walmart and got some paper and crayons. All she wanted to do was crumple the paper and eat the crayon. Next diaper change should be fun.
What she has really enjoyed is our trips to the mall when she can play at the play place. She hasn't quite figured out that she has to crawl up the steps to get down the slide, rather than climb back up the slide. Otherwise, her favorite thing to do there is RUN in the big open area. Nada was horrified that we would take Lola  there, her nickname for the play place is "Infestation Island."

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Walkin' and Talkin'

So apparently I've used up all my storage on the Shutterfly site. The upside is I learned to post video directly to the blog! I wish I had gotten good video of her in her new squeeky shoes.  A post or two ago, I mentioned that I would give some feed back on the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook. I love it! Lola has really enjoyed the healthy foods. Some favorites...scrambled eggs with squash and sour cream, turkey meatballs infused with carrots, mac and cheese with butternut squash, french toast with butternut squash (or carrots), and chicken salad with yogurt and cauliflower (rather than mayo.)  I have to say, momma and daddy are enjoying the healthy mix as well.
She's becoming quite chatty as well. Not that we understand much of what she is saying. While Gamma and Honey were here, Gamma taught her a version of peek-a-boo. Difference is, in our weird family, rather than peek-a-boo, Gamma says "pee-pie". So whenever we cover Lola's face, she pulls whatever it is off and says, "Gee-Gie". I had to explain to the sitter what she was meaning.  She is also saying, "Gay Gig" (great big) when we ask, "How big are you?"  And when we talk about Bogey (or Bo), she says, "Woo woo". (Woof woof).  And Thomas is "Mow".  She also knows how to ask for more in sign language. That's fun!
The funniest thing is trying to get her to stop throwing her food on the floor. (Actually, that's not the funny part.) She got very defiant one day, looking me straight in the eye and throwing the food down. After saying, "No" several times with just a defiant look back, I let her do it again and then slapped her little hand. (I know, I know...) Of course the bottom lip jutted out and the tears came, and she started saying, "No" and slapped her own arm. Now anytime we say, "No", she will slap her arm. Today, when we were eating lunch, she picked up a noodle threw it on the floor, and immediately slapped her arm. I had to laugh at that. She's got the cycle down without me.
She's good at asking, "Whassat?" (in a whisper, for some reason) and pointing. However, with a limited vocabulary, I'm not sure she is understanding our answers! But we tell her anyway!
She still LOVES to dance. Almost can't contain herself when she hears a catchy tune. Favorites seem to be TV theme songs, but also a big fan of Disney Mania--the rock versions of classic Disney songs.   I totally love the joy on her face when she hears fun songs! One of these days I'll catch that on video.
All of a sudden our little baby is a little girl. Sooo fast!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Grandparents and Guest Bloggers

Nothing much has been said about “Our Little Adventure” as grandparents; aka Gamma and Honey. Well, let me begin . . .

It all began over a year ago when Miss Lola stopped in to see Gamma and Honey, Nana and Papa Jay, on her way home from Colorado. It was “love at first sight” on all counts.
And the adventure began:

Thus far, Gamma and Honey have seen Lola at least one time per month. That just hasn’t been quite enough. Back in early spring, we got a call asking if Honey and I would like to go to Phoenix in early September in order to keep Lola while they went to conference in Las Vegas. I was given the “right of first refusal.” I first had to consult with Honey as I felt this was indeed a big chore and it made me very nervous. What if she started crying for Mama at bedtime every night. What would I do? I really thought Honey would be more skeptical about the adventure than I, but when I asked him he replied, “Sure, we can do that!” Then I told him Mama and Daddy wouldn’t be there and he said, “That’s even better!”

We went two days early so we could practice and get the routine down pat. Actually, her routine was fairly simple, but getting her in and out of that car seat wasn’t. We only took her out in the car twice and then abandoned the practice. Lola and I would take walks in the stroller and leave Honey to run errands with the car. Gramma flunked the car seat test.

We quickly found that when changing her diaper, you better be quick as she gives you about 10 seconds before she’s wiggling way beyond control. Perhaps that’s the reason Gamma gave her a diaper wedgie one night before bed and the poop came out everywhere. In the middle of the night when she started crying, I picked her up and thought she was simply wet. Well, was I ever surprised when I turned on the light and found what I found. It is no easy task trying to get one piece pj’s over a wiggly baby’s head when there is poop all over them. At 4 a.m.

I believe Lola’s big bff, Katie, has correctly nicknamed Lola . . . Porker. Boy can that kid eat. It was unbelievable. She was supposed to have 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. Well, that was definitely 5 meals, in addition to whatever snacks she found. And she absolutely seems to like everything. I think she got Gamma’s appetite. For whatever reason we weighed her before they left and she weighed just over 19 lbs. When they returned home, she had gained over 1 lb. I believe her favorite snack would have been cat or dog food, as she’d get over it on the floor and just stare at it. I let her, staying close enough to stop her if she got a handfull. Well, she’d contemplate taking a bit, then she’d look at me and just shake her head “no.” She really wanted it tho’, you could tell. I suspect she and Mama had been through this before and she had had a lesson in not eating the animal food.

It was just the best week of our lives. However, I quickly found out that I am too old to be chasing a baby full time. God knew what he did when he gave the young ones children and then made grandparents to spoil and help. There was actually no spoiling Lola tho’, as she was just such a happy baby and demanded nothing except to be fed. My back is still recovering from leaning over to pick up that 20 lbs. of pure joy. There is no way to describe the way our hearts have been filled with the love of this little girl. She is such a blessing and we thank God every day for her.

And now for the rest of the story. We had such a great time that we came home and have been preparing to move to Arizona. We just don’t want to miss one minute of that baby girl. She is sooooo special.

The “FOR SALE” sign went up in our yard this morning. So this will be a brand new chapter in “Our Little Adventure, Lola.”

Saturday, July 31, 2010

New Adventure and Food

Heading into the second year is so different than where we were a year ago. A year ago, we were trying to get my craft room turned into Lola's room; we were trying to figure our our work schedule and make sure our centers were staffed appropriately; and we were learning how to work our sleeping schedules around Lola's. So our house was a mess, our sleep habits were all over the place, and we and we were trying to figure out our new life. OK, so I guess not a lot has changed! This year, our house is a mess because we have a giant play pen in the middle of our living room; we are trying to figure out our work schedules-- how often and what days to take Lola to the sitter; and, we are still sleep deprived!
I know we'll figure it out, and I'm sure once we do, things will change again. Rodney is looking at starting a new job, more in his line of experience and he's fairly excited about that. Again, we are going to have to figure out our Lola schedules.
Lola enjoys going to the sitter. It's been just her a lot of the time this summer as two of the other kids who are there, stay with their teacher-mom during the summer. I'm kind of excited for them to go back, I think Lola likes playing with the other kids.
My new adventure has been Lola's eating habits. When she turned a year, and perhaps a little before that, we had started on finger foods. She only gets two bottles a day now, and that's milk. She really likes the milk. I'm glad, 'cause I'm not a fan!  We are fortunate that she is not a picky eater. The only two foods she doesn't like are avocados and cottage cheese.  Since cooking isn't my thing, I've been trying to find fun finger food for her to eat. The pediatrician said she should be able to eat anything we eat...problem is, WE don't eat very well. So the new adventure is really changing our eating habits to meet hers. I'd really like to raise a child who eats healthy, and unfortunately, Rodney and I are not very good examples!
I was in Kohl's a couple of weeks ago and found a great cookbook. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not too good about following a recipe. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so much. Usually it's because I don't have something the recipe calls for, sometimes it's because I have no idea what it is the recipe is talking about.
But the cookbook I found has every day food with a twist. Almost everything has a veggie puree in it. And it's all pretty easy to make.  It's called "Deceptively Delicious". It's by Jessica Seinfeld who apparently has picky eaters at home. That's not our case, but I like the idea of having veggies in everything we cook. For Lola as well as for us. So stay tuned for my review on Lola's eating and my cooking!

Monday, July 5, 2010

First Year and Fireworks

Well, we didn't actually see any fireworks this year, but what a year of fireworks it has been! It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since our little adventure as parents began. Lola has certainly brought much joy to our lives. She is a delightful little girl who just makes me smile to watch her and interact with her. I know people say this all the time, but it's amazing how much she has changed in the past year. When we left the hospital, she was 5 and a half pounds. Smaller than Thomas. Now she has four teeth, tries to talk to us (but we have no idea what she is saying) and is pleased with herself when she does. If there is such a thing as a crawling sprint, she has it down. And she is FAST.  She is feeding herself, and though we have to hose her down when she is done, this is a world away from being glad she drank two ounces a feeding. She says "Mamma" and looks at Daddy when we ask her where he is. Amazing! She knows where Bogey is too when we ask her. 
Nana, Papa Jay, Gamma, Gampa, Great Aunt Chris, and cousin Taire came to Phoenix to celebrate this milestone with us. We had such a fun day! Lots of friends came to join us too, and we are so touched by the people who wanted to spend Lola's (and our Country's) birthday with us. Lola had a hotdog, almost a whole bun, some fruit and crackers (she's got quite the appitite) and we were all so excited to introduce Lola to cake. She tasted a couple of bites of the cake, but was really more interested in the gooey mess that was formed after mushing it all around her tray. Oh well, she has years to develop that sweet tooth!
I literally had to strip her down and hose her off in the tub, clothes going directly to the washing machine, along with everything she touched! I put her in her swim suit and she took a dip with the other kids and her daddy. She is going to be a little fish she loves the water so much!
I have posted all sorts of pictures from her big day. She was tuckered out by the end of the evening. We finished off the day with a book from her BFF Kate, which she loved.
A big thanks to everyone who made this day special for Lola and for us. We are thankful for your friendship and for being there with us through our adventure!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

11 Months and Meeting New Family

We had quite an adventure in "Our Little Adventure" this month as Gamma June, Gampa Vic, and I took Lola on a cross country trip to see our family in Maryland. We were very nervous, because although Lola has done well on our short little flights before, this was 5 HOURS on a plane! Going was a completely full flight so we weren't able to take on the car seat. Anyone who's been around Lola for any length of time knows she's a busy little bugger and doesn't like to be tied down for very long, nor does she like to be held for very long, so full flight was a little worrysome.
She slept for the first leg of the flight to Albuquerque, which was great, but then was up for almost the remaing four hours to Baltimore. But she did fine, we managed to keep her entertained between the three of us, and she flirted with the ladies in the seats behind us so that was good.
We were met in Baltimore but Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul. Thank goodness they have a van, but even so, it was a tight squeeze! Lola did well on that leg of the trip too, napped most of the way.
She was a definate trooper on this trip! It seemed just as she would go down for a nap, we'd get her up again just to strap her down in the carseat!
Lola seemed to remember Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul, even though she hadn't seem them since August. She loved meeting Sharon and Devin, and would have loved to get her fingers through Devin's ear holes, I'm sure!

Aunt Ester gave Lola the perfect Lola Bear, complete with a July 4th outfit and big flower on her head! We will treasure that Lola Bear for a long time  to come! Aunt Ester let us play with some of Cousin Aiden's toys, which was a life saver! Right when we got home, we found us a Leap Frog table on e-bay so Lola will have one at home to play with too.
The beach wasn't a great success. She wasn't too sure at first, but then quickly made up her mind that this was not a place she wanted to be! The waves made her cry and she tried with all her might to keep her feet off the sand. The boardwalk was a hit, and once the famous Ocean City Merry Go Round started running, she thought that was great!  Even though the day was hot, she seemed to love the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.
Though she didn't get to savor the sea food feast, she loved meeting Cousins Paul Raymond and Karin, Gamma's Cousin Fran and Dick, and other Uncle Paul. 
She is definately finding her voice and once she finds her words, she is going to have a lot to say! I understand that most babies learn to say, "No" before anything else. Lola is consistantly saying, "Uh-oh" and is usuing it appropriately.  Like when she drops her sippy cup from the high chair, she looks at mamma and says, "Uh-oh" and mamma picks it up. (Gravity is her favorite toy.) Rodney and I went for a walk earlier this week and every time she'd go ove a bump in the sidewalk, "Uh-oh". 
And we have vampire teeth. Her middle two bottom teeth came in, but on top, the vampire teeth are in. It's pretty funny looking! 
She went to her first swim party with her daddy and seemed to love it! We are ready to start enjoying our pool with her. Makes me nervous to be in there with her by myself. Years and YEARS of June telling me I can't swim by myself play in my head when ever the thought enters my mind!
We are in the process of planning her first birthday party. We are so looking forward to having our families come to celebrate with us. Amazing that it's already been a year. It was exactly a year ago today that we found out there was a pregnant girl in Colorado who liked our profile book and wanted to meet us.  What a change in our lives that phone call made. And we have loved every minute of it.

Here is the link to Lola's Birthday Party Invitation:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/QPTQGMUNORNHUQQNRVVQ/LolaTurnsOne

Friday, May 21, 2010

10 Months and Crawling

We are in trouble now. Lola is mobile...and not just the roll and pivot she had perfected at the time of my previous post! She is crawling, and in my opinion, breaking some speed records and possibly breaking the space-time continuum! As we will blink and she'll be across the room. She has even mastered the stair climb as you can see in the video I posted. 
She has been sick for the first time as well. Sick Lola is not happy Lola. I had to sleep with her a couple of nights to keep her elevated, keep the pacifier in her mouth, and keep her from crying. She is still snotty, but seems to feel better. This week, our good sleeper (the baby who would just go down when it is bedtime) has fought going down for naps and for bedtime (a couple of nights) and we can't decide if it's the illness, or if she's learned to throw a temper tantrum. The babysitter said she screamed and kicked for 45 minutes during nap time. I think the babysitter learned that Lola is gifted in the area of stamina. I'm hoping we don't have to live through the "cry it out" camp of bedtime training, 'cause I think she might just be able to cry all night long!
Both of her bottom teeth have poked through, so no more sucking on momma's finger...she thinks biting down is funny! Lola enjoys getting those teeth brushed. She thinks it's funny, but the finger brush is the same color as the "snot sucker" so it takes her a minute to believe I'm not going for her nose.  Going for the nose brings on the crocodile tears and the dramatic wailing. We might have an actress on our hands!
The finger food is fun. We've done some chicken, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash. Clean up is a treat and I usually have to hose her down when we are done.  Bogey is a little sad that we don't let him in the kitchen as he can see the doggie buffet that is on the floor after meal time.
Lola started with the sitter earlier this month. There are 3 other children who are a couple of years older than her and they LOVE her. She is only going half-day,  two days a week. When I drop her, the two little twin boys that are there squeel with delight and say, "LOLA!" when I walk in.  I picked her up yesterday and the sitter was doing flash cards with them. Lola was sitting right there with the other three, fascinated by what was going on, and glued to watching the flash cards. She was excited to see me, when she finally noticed I was watching, and scooted over to my feet and reached up to me. Makes a momma's heart sing, that does!
Auntie Cu and Baby Kate came to visit too. We aren't sure if BFF Kate actually likes Lola. Any time Kate would pick up a toy, Lola would take it from her. We are working on sharing.  And I think Lola was somewhat loud and busy for Kate, who seems to be quite a processor and thinker...and Lola was a little in her face for comfort! But it was sweet to see them together again.
I'm spending my first weekend away from Lola this weekend. I'm hoping she and Rodney survive. They are going to a swim party on Saturday, and I'm sorry I'll miss that, I bet she loves it.
So that's it for now. I'm sure there will be lots more new stuff soon! I'm amazed at the new stuff in the past few week...such an amazing thing these babys!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Big Week and Many Firsts

So Gamma and Gampa came for a visit last week, and what a great week, in terms of Lola watching, for them to be here!  It seems like the growing comes in little eventful bursts.
The beginning of our new firsts was the morning she learned how to sit up from a laying down position. She also learned to get to her belly from a sitting position by leaning forward on her knees. She got her first tooth, we are very excited about that! She says, "mamamamama..." and in response to seeing ME. Which I absolutely love. She says, "Hi",  and "Heeyyyy".  I'm not convinced that she is ever going to crawl. She zooms all over our living room via roll and pivot with great efficiency, so I just don't see her ever having the motivation to crawl, but who knows!  She has started pulling herself up, or rather grabbing on stuff higher than her head and holding on, but I see where she is headed with that...I can almost see the wheels turing in her head as she analyzes the spot she is in. I'd like to peek in that little mind and know what's happening in there!
What a treat it is to see her light up with a big smile and wave. Course she is waving to her own face, but she gets it! ONCE, when Gamma and Gampa were here, she said, "bye bye."
Lola has become a dancer. If you know me at all, you know I like to sing. I'm constantly making up little snippets for her and singing them to her. I don't sing well, but she isn't quite old enough to have figured that out yet. So, when I start to sing, or do a little,  "doodle oodle doo," she starts bobbing her head in time to the music. I'm hoping someday soon to catch this little act on video and post it.  But sometimes, Lola doesn't perform on cue.
Again, if you know me, you know that my entertainment preferences are not much more sophisticated than a teenager. My latest kick is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." (Don't judge!) There is this whole path that brought me here...starting with the TV show, "Bones", but I won't get into that now. Anyway, several weeks ago, I Netflixed the whole series and have been watching it here and there. I find the theme song quite annoying and try to hit the mute button whenever it comes on. Well the other day, Lola was playing on the floor and I was putzing around the living room, nowhere near the remote when the theme song came on. Her head shot up, she looked at the TV with the biggest grin ever, and started doing her dance for the duration of the credits. For what ever reason, that song gets her little head moving to the beat. It's a hoot!
It's just so amazing all the things she has learned to do over the past week or so. Seriously, how incredible it is that we can just see her shooting up and learning new things all the time.  She is such a happy baby and we just feel so blessed to be part of her life.

Friday, April 23, 2010

9 months and a new stuff!

Well, just  a quick check in. Although we are not crawling yet, still jetting all over the place by the "roll-and-pivot" method, I'm sure the day is coming soon! However, this momma just discovered our first tooth! We've been expecting that tooth "any day" now since the prodigious drooling started, but that tooth emerged today and we couldn't be more excited!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

8 months in Review

We just had our 9 month check up. Month 8 was full of growth, apparently, as Lola has grown a full 3 and a half inches since our 6 month visit! We can really tell it in the way her clothes fit, and she seems to have a really good appitite these days. I'm still on the "make your own baby food" kick. Mostly because I want to control what we put in her little growing body, but have also come to discover that it is SO much cheaper to make it than to buy the jar food. I've found that Costco has a really nice selection of frozen organic fruits and veggies, some of which we were already eating ourselves, but I looked a little closer at the selection and have been able to stock up. For example, a jar of organic food is a little more than $1/jar, a BAG of organic, Costco sized, veggies is $7.  So far, since the first round of green beans and peas, we haven't found anything that she doesn't like (oh, and avacados, no go on those). Even the second batch of peas and green beans she liked. But I discovered she LOVES peaches and cherries. I guage the level of "like" on how much food is on the bib when we are done eating. I can reuse the cherry and peach bibs at another feeding! I like the peaches and cherries as well, so it's a win-win!
No teeth yet, though the drooling continues. She is losing her giftedness for drooling. The wetness is subsiding, but not gone.  Who knows when those teeth will start to come in, and she wouldn't give the pediatrician the chance to look. It was a weird. She didn't have a problem with the nurse drawing blood or giving her a shot, however when the pediatrician was in there, trying to look in her mouth, her ears or eyes, she threw a fit. And she is such a stong little thing, the doc couldn't examine how good her hips were. "She is strong and determined." I'd have to agree!
Lola and I took a trip to Las Cruces all by ourselves a couple of weeks ago. She did really good, especially considering I started the trip driving 50 miles out of the way. Don't people usually have to leave their home towns before they get lost? Yes, this was PRIOR to getting out of town! It was a nice weekend, in spite of the fact the trip was for me to visit the dentist! Gamma's friend and hair dresser convinced me to let her cut Lola's hair. I'm thinking that the nerve endings are still attached to the hair at 8 months old, cause when the hair was snipped, the tears started coming, and coming. Not that she has a lot of hair to cut, but she has a lot more than she had! I was worried that she would be bald till she was 5 and people still thought she is a boy! (we can be decked out in fluff as well as a hat with a big bow, and get a, "he's so cute!") So I'm glad that hair is growing in so nicely!
Momma and Daddy have both had birthdays since last we posted. Daddy turned 41, and me, I decided to turn 34 again. :)
Other firsts this past month have been holding her own bottle, drinking from the sippy cup and devouring the Baby Mum Mums. She's also quite the little chatter box, and still growling. The doc said that's a normal part of speech development, which made me feel better!
The time is flying by. I really can't believe how much she is growing and changing and I am so thankful to have been blessed to be part of this little girl's life!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

7 Months and Travel!

I wouldn't say that month 7 has been uneventful, as my lack of news suggests. Quite the contrary, in fact. Lola has been quite the traveler this month. Right at the 7 month mark, we headed to Las Cruces to visit Gamma and Gampa because Gampa found himself in the ICU. We were hopful that Lola would be good medicine. Since he got out before we came back to Phoenix, we are assuming that she was!  We are very thankful for Auntie Sherri and her sweet girls, Kayla and Kenzie for helping out with Lola.  We discovered on this trip, to hope for a good diaper change BEFORE we get on a plane. As it is almost a given that one will happen on the plane if not before. And since I was by myself on the plane, it was quite a poopy comedy when we got off. Thank goodness for a roomy sink in the El Paso airport.  We're talking, out the diaper leg (we are switching back to Pampers when this box is empty!), out the onesie, down the leg of the tights and through the diaper cover. Fortunately, we had on lots of layers, or that would have been all over the plane! HA!  Live and learn!
We traveled to Waxahachie to Rodney's aunt's funeral. It was a very sad thing to have to do. Very nice to be able to go and be with family, though we didn't care for the circumstances. We were able to drive by the new Cowboy stadium, Texas stadium, our old house, and a short trip to Sam Moon's.  THAT was a treat! Got me a new purse and a new diaper bag. I could have spent longer in there, but it's not Rodney's thing, so we made it a short trip.
This past weekend was Wayland's homecoming. When I was in school, I LOVED homecoming! Getting all dressed up. It's sad to me that it isn't as big of a deal as it was when I was in school. So we got to see family and some old friends and see how much the campus has grown! WOW! Makes me want to go back to school!
Lola is growing and changing every day and it is such a joy to be able to be a part of her life. I was able to finally get her to laugh long enough to get some good video of it that is posted on the Shutterfly site. It's pretty funny and really makes my heart sing to hear it! She's a tough audience. Fortunately, there aren't video camera's on Rodney and I when we try to make her laugh!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Solid Food and Naps!


What a fun time the six month mark has been! We got the green light from the pediatrician to go ahead and start with the solid food, which we had been making for a few weeks already. We had a stash of green beans, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, carrots, bananas and pumpkin. So far, we have discovered that Lola does NOT like green beans. Rodney also had a bad experience with trying to feed her peas. She seems to be ok with sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas...and yesterday, I fed her some mango and she LOVED them.  It's fun when she actually likes the food! That means that we don't have as much cleaning up when it's over. I'm a little worried about this early dislike for green veggies, though.
She is really changing so much, becoming more and more animated and interactive every day. ...And chatty! She is giving Thomas a run for his money in the verbalization department. Can't wait until we understand what she is saying.

One of the great things about turning six months, the pediatrician said, is that naps will last longer, and it was like a light switch the next day. She is taking two naps a day at three hours each. This is new for her.  Prior to six months, Lola would only go down for 20-30 minutes at a time.
Lola and I have made plans to go see our family in Maryland next month with Gamma. We are super excited about that. Not only do we love to travel East, we love to travel East to see FAMILY. Gamma is flying here and then we are going to travel together, thank goodness, because I cannot imagine going all by myself with a (then 7th) month old even a straight flight. Can't wait!!
Last weekend I had two friends come to visit and to participate in the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon. Now, I'm not what you would call an athlete, but when Tiffanie and Steve came last year, I was a little humbled by the people I saw crossing the finish line, so I decided to give it a try. I was a little late in beginning the training, but I did it.  Anyone following me on Facebook knows that I did this, but for anyone NOT on FB...I walk/ran a 1/2 marathon. And I did it well within my goal time. My goal was to finish in under 4 hours and I finished in 3 hours 45 minutes. Just past mile 13, Rodney and Lola were there cheering me on.  I felt great, except for a throbbing knee which has turned out to be bursitis. Ick. We are planning on making this an annual event.  We were done in time to head across the street to watch the second half of the Cowboy game. However, Rodney's car was towed (along with the whole parking lot) and our friend Robert (who I've known since 2nd grade!) was kind enough to run him to East Mesa to get the car back. THANKS ROBERT!  But that's ok, since it took the waitress 2 and a half hours to get us the food we ordered, so Rodney and Robert didn't have a long wait at all for their food! We were so ready to be home by the time we were done eating. 

Here I am waving to Rodney and Lola with the mile marker 13 behind me!
It's hard to believe that Lola has been in our home for 6+ months...growing and changing before our eyes. It doesn't seem like we could love her any more than we do, but every day, we love her a little more!