Solidarity!

It has been quite a week for us here, the protests at the Wisconsin capitol have been in our minds.  Although we've kept E away, most of her family has been supporting our unions at one time or another.  We are struggling with the future here, but E has been our bright spot.  We hope we've been keeping the stress away from her, and keeping her life as normal as possible.  We feel so lucky to have E, she makes coming home is bright.

February 18-  E has been starting to slow down a little, she still spends most of her time moving around, but she will sit down and play from time to time, and for the last two days, she has actually played while laying on her back.  We were thinking today that we don't have any pictures of E laying down since the moment she learned to sit, so this is the first in about 5 months.

February 17- This picture combines three of E's favorite things:  playing in her diaper, the remote control, and puffs.  The puffs have been particularly fun this week.  For the first time, I let E put her arm in the puff container and take some.  She loves playing with the lid, and I love seeing her put her arm in.  To reach the bottom, she reaches in almost up to her shoulder.

February 16-  After protesting for 8 hours, A returns home to a delighted E.  He brought her a flag, which she promptly tried to chew on the flag staff.  E's wearing her red for solidarity.

February 15-  It was a girls evening as A protested at the capitol.  Tonight was notable because E spent a good 30 minutes playing with her bowl and spoon.  You can see the results here.  It was messy, but she cried when I took away her spoon.  Unfortunately, she didn't really eat anything while playing, but I'm telling myself that the more she uses her spoon, the more likely she will be to use it to eat at some point.

February 14- E's first Valentine's Day!  At daycare she made Valentine's for us, and one for grandma and grandpa.  They made red feet prints on pink hearts.  Today was also the first day that E when to visit grandma and grandpa after their big trip.  She had a great time at their house and rediscovered her favorite toys.

Staying at the Grandparents, Girl's Day, and visiting Great Gramma

February 13-  Today E got to wake up in her own crib for the first time in a few days, she actually slept better then usual, I’m sure she was glad to be home.  E had lunch at Culver’s with Great Gramma and was a great eater.  She was a perfect little girl at lunch, sitting in her high chair, and even eating from a spoon.

 

February 12- Today was girl day, dad was busy at mock trial, so E and I were on our own.  We moved back home, we’d stayed at Grandma and Grandpa for several days, and it was the last day that E found the recycling basket which is her absolute favorite thing to play with at Grandma and Grandpas.  After a nap E went along on some errands.  We bought a sling carrier, decorations for E’s 1^st birthday party, and picked up her portraits.  I was feeling sentimental today since one year ago today her dad and I went to the hospital for an external cephalic version.  So, it seemed fitting to me that she and I had a whole day together and that one of our activities was getting ready for E to turn one.

 

February 11-Still staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  E’s sleeping continues to be a problem, most likely because she’s not used to sleeping away from home.  I kept thinking how strange it was to be staying in my childhood room with my little girl.  We had dinner and a movie with our neighbors, and we discovered that E doesn’t eat well without a high chair.  We also watched E play with racquetballs, which was fun to watch, her favorite part was the tube, which she liked listening to herself speak into it.

 February 10- We didn’t go to play group today, I figured things were confusing enough without driving across town.  E went to school with her dad this afternoon, and she was a hit.  E was invited to all future meetings.  Today was also the pajama day at daycare and the daycare Valentine’s Day party.  I missed the party since I had to work, but they told me it was a great party.  

 

February 9- our first night staying at grandma and grandpa’s house so that our bathroom tile could be fixed.  E wasted no time getting down to business, playing with her favorite walker and Grandma’s measuring cups.  She enjoyed stacking and unstacking the cups, and eating cheerios out of them. 

A "normal" day and Grandpa's birthday

February 8- Today things were back to normal, we got to spend the evening at home and play.  As you can see E was very into her nook tonight, her teeth were bothering her.  She spent the evening chewing on the sides, and on the tab on the back.  Tonight she also discovered the noise-making button on her toy van.  Its the first time she's really been into that button and spent a good 10 minutes pushing it.  We are hoping for a better night sleep tonight, the last two nights have been brutal.

February 7- We celebrated Grandpa N's birthday tonight and didn't get home with enough time to do anything but take a bath.  I forgot the camera, so no birthday shot of E and Grandpa.   E gets a bath each night, and you can see her favorite tub toys here, the yellow octopus she is chewing on, the orange dinosaur floating behind her, and by her right hand her blue bowl.

Superbowl Sunday!

February 6- Superbowl Sunday!  E is back in her Packer outfit and we hope it brings our team luck like has for the last few games.  Today E's friend L came over and the two of them played.  The last time L was over he was only a few months old, so it was fun to watch the two of them play a little more together.  Each always wanted to play with the toy the other had, E's zoo was the hit of the day.

February 5- E went over to grandma and grandpa N's today so that mom and dad could get some work done around the house.  First, she had some cheerios, out of her favorite snack cup.  E had a good time with grandma and grandpa, although she didn't eat much lunch with them.

February 4- dancing with Dad, E and her dad are waltzing across the living room.  E and I were dancing the other day and it made her giggle, so on Friday she and her dad danced around the living room.

Snow days

February 3- This is E's favorite part of her meal, choosing her vegetables.  Because E doesn't like to eat off of a spoon we always make her finger food veggies.  She loves broccoli, peas, and green beans.  She doesn't like carrots or cauliflower.  We cook them in a little bit of water, we cut them small and put them on her tray.  As E gets tired of eating, she always wants to choose her veggies from the cup.  Today she chose a huge piece of broccoli and actually managed to take a bit.  After she removes a few vegetables, she starts putting them back in the cup.

  February 1- A huge blizzard today, schools were closed and I stayed home from work rather then brave the roads.  If you look behind E, you can see the snow drifts in our patio.  We spent the day playing a home, E loved pat-a-cake.  I learned that singing the pat-a-cake is guaranteed to make E smile. 

11 months old!

February 1- E turned 11 months old today! I absolutely can't believe it, she's changed so much since we first met her.  I tried and tried to take this picture in front of the window to show the snow, but as usual E wouldn't hold still.  Her nose is red in this picture, since she was running on Sunday and fell on the rug, she's got a little rug burn on the tip of her nose.  

Sick, friends visit, and technical difficulties

I don't like to get so far behind, but its been a busy couple of days, combined with two different technical difficulties.  Yesterday the computer couldn't get online, and over the weekend our car broke!

January 31- E is reading.  In this case, she is reading Pampers coupons.  For some reason, any time E finds a piece of paper, empty envelope, or coupon on the floor she needs to have it.  No matter what it takes.  We had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and E is finally starting to get her appetite back after being sick.  She ate several cheese crackers and some veggies. And, she has a new favorite, Arrowroot cookies.

January 30-  We were lucky this weekend to have Titi Willy, her daughter cousin A, and uncle S come and visit.  E learned a lot from her older cousin, her new favorite is running in circles at Grandma and Grandpas.  Both girls had a great time playing with E's pop together bugs, and I got some nice jammie snuggles.

  January 29- E and her Titi Willy.  E is wearing a shirt that Titi knit her for her first birthday.  This was our first time seeing them since November.  Both girls have changed a lot since then! Last time we saw them E was just learning how to walk, now she's got that down. 

January 28- E had her first tummy bug today.  Fortunately it only lasted one day.  It was the strangest illness, she acted just like her normal self, but would get sick every once and a while.  I left work early to pick her up from daycare, and we spent some time playing.  E learned to push her cheetah, which was one of the first times she managed that.