13 months

Saturday marked my Lovie's 13th month. Wow. It really doesn't slow down, does it?

To help celebrate she...

• devoured three chicken nuggets without me having to cut them up. She picked one up (bypassing the one that I had in pieces), took a bite and another and another until it was all gone and repeated the process with two other nuggets.
• jogged in place, thereby introducing a new dance move to her rotation. She's been bouncing her knees up and down ever since she could stand, then added a sway a couple months ago... and on Saturday (no kidding- this happened on Saturday) she added a jog in place. (And yesterday she added a jut-one-leg-out-and-shake-it-all-about move.)
• said Hi and Bye with a wave. She's said it here and there, but Saturday (for real) she did it several times and properly. She now says Dada, Pop Pop (for a Wiggles song), Hi, and Bye. What about Mama?!? No love for Mama, huh?!?
• showing more and more interest in putting shapes in the right place, as well as putting together and taking apart mega blocks.

My dear sweet baby girl,

Thank you so much for greeting me with applause and cheers early this morning when I re-entered the bedroom after being gone for 10 minutes doing my hair and face. You made both your daddy and I laugh- and I suspect this will be one of those tiny moments in time that will stay with me forever. At least I hope so.

Thank you also for being such a big girl at school yesterday when they let you check out the Toddler room, which typically doesn't start till 15 months. The teachers seemed to really dig you and your hair (even putting it up in a one big fuzz ball atop your head). You were in there most the day and even had your lunch, a nap, and snack in there with no problems. And you were super happy to see me, which is always the highlight of my day. While it was a little sad to see you being a big girl, the truth is that I'm even more so proud of you. You're really turning into quite an amazing little girl!

Thank you so much for all the communicating you've been doing lately, too. Like last night after we had been home for about 10 minutes, you "mmmm"'d and I asked if you were hungry and you walked to your high chair and let me quickly (gotta move quickly though or ELSE!) heated you up something to eat which you devoured. Then after dinner and after playing for 20 minutes or so you kept coming up to me and laying on me so I finally asked if you were tired and if you wanted to nap which is when you walked to your room and stood before your crib. Yes, you went to bed at 515 last night. I guess a day with the Toddlers will do that to you, huh? But still, it's nice that we're able to communicate so there isn't any tears.

Most of all today, I want to thank you for the little things you did this morning that really made my day... the way you placed your hand on my back and left it there as I was getting my socks and shoes on (while you watched Sesame Street and daddy snored). I wanted to sit there forever feeling your itty bitty hand's warmth, but just couldn't. And then, after I quickly got ready and laid on the bed with you watching Sesame Street, you grabbed my hand and held it until it was time to get up and go. 

These may be really small, pretty insignificant things to most people, but to me... to me it's what I've waited my whole friggin life for and wow do I feel so amazingly blessed. Wow!

So thank you darling. It's all because of you so thank you!

Always and forever,
Momma
xoxo

BFF and ever and ever

Lovie's first one was the ceiling fan, then Mr. Bear, then her Seahorse, then Grandma Bear and now... now those have all been replaced for THE BABY DOLL (and its kitty)!! Lovie and The Baby Doll are absolutely BFF's. No questions asked. She totes her around everywhere, all day, every day.

My doll. With her doll. : )

well sh*t!

thanks to Pam, i now want... need... absolutely must have.right.now

PANCAKES!!!!!!

god i hate getting my period. where the ef am i gonna find me some pancakes now?! : (

(and i'm pretending those are chocolate chips, not blueberries as i'm not a fan of blueberry pancakes because i'd have them when i was a kid and then they'd cram me into the back seat of the car to go visit the grandparents and i'd end up puking the blueberry pancakes every.single.time.)

Love Bug

A couple weeks ago I was in Target on the lookout for a cute shirt or outfit for Lovie to wear for Valentine's day... but I wanted something different, something she could wear before and/or after the day as well. I found the cutest outfit just before checking out... Perfect for my little Lovie who I also refer to oftentimes (on a blog written to her) as my little Love Bug.

She wore the outfit yesterday and I nearly fainted at the cuteness... but I'm a little pissed because I bought a size 2T shirt thinking she could wear it till next fall. Um, I know my baby girl is big for her age (13 months on Saturday and 22 pounds a month ago) but check out how she's nearly busting out of this 2T shirt!

(sorry for the crappy pictures but we leave in the dark and get home in the dark and she's hard to get pictures of these days)

I just adore the little button and hole at the neckline- such a cute little touch!

I had to get the leggings... especially when I saw the thick yellow cuff! So cute!

I also bought a bright yellow skort to wear with this (or not), too!

My love bug is getting to be such a big girl!

FML

I'm sick. Again. Unbloodyreal. Oh but that's real, too.

So I had a great weekend with my Lovie. We played and laughed all weekend long. Then about 6pm Sunday, this wave of ... sickness hit me. I just felt sick. I ate dinner and went to bed around 9.

Monday I woke and my throat was sore and head felt stuffy. I made it through the day but went to bed at 730.

Tuesday I woke up and found myself gagging on several different occasions. Not sure how else to explain it other than it felt like my throat and nose were fused together and anytime I tried to breathe or really focus on it, I would gag. I called the doctor's office and got an appointment for late morning. The diagnosis? Acute Laryngitis. OK?!???

Today, the gagging has ceased but I can barely breathe out of either nostril and the coughing. Oh the fucking coughing. It won't stop and my body aches as a result.

I'm on an antibiotic and mucinex per the doctor.

Half hour ago I went to the bathroom because I have cramps. Guess what else I have. My fucking period.

I think I'd feel a ton better if a semi would just run me over. Today warrants a FML status IMO.

Pop Pop

Yesterday morning when Lovie woke, I went and scooped her up out of her crib and put her on the dresser/changing table to change her diaper. She looked at me and said, "Pop Pop."

Pop Pop? I thought, smiling to my sweet little love bug laying there completely helpless with her curls sticking in every direction on her head and crusties painted on her chin.  I continued to look at her smiling and trying to think what she meant by Pop Pop so I repeated it out loud: "Pop Pop."

She looked at me closely and I swear her expression said, "C'mon mama, you know what I'm saying" and said, "Pop Pop."

I smiled and repeated "Pop Pop."

And then I wondered if she was talking about a Wiggles song we've been watching the video for lately so I started to sing the song and she got super excited and said "Pop Pop!" at the exact moment it would've happened in the song and the hugest smile invaded her face.



I got her dressed and continued to sing the song and told the husband about it during breakfast.

"Oh she was probably just meaning 'Up'."

Grrr.

I repeated the fact that I started singing the song and she sang along with me and smiled but he wasn't convinced.

The entire day Lovie bounced around the house dancing- like she always does. And when we watched the Wiggles, she got excited and bounced on my knee and clapped and said "Aaaaay" at the end of a couple of the songs.

The past couple of nights, Lovie's been waking at odd hours and crying in her sleep like she's in pain. We've resorted to giving some ibuprofen. Her two front teeth are coming in and I suspect there may be others working their way out too. The ibuprofen seems to help a bit but last night was a little more rough and the husband, being a night owl, did his best to get her to calm and go back to sleep.

At about 2 in the morning he came crawling into bed and said, "Something funny came through all of this."

"What's that?" I inquired still dreaming about some people who had to hold their breath under water for several minutes before the game they were playing started.

"At one point during the crying when I was holding her, I started to sing to her ..." (he starts to sing the Pop Pop Wiggles song) "... because it's the only thing I could think of and she stopped crying, lifted her head, and said, 'Pop Pop', then put her head back down and started crying again."

"Shut up!" I said fully awake.

"I'm not kidding," he said, "I thought it was pretty funny."





Lovie with attached to the hip doll and its kitty




Lovie and Momma- I guess Lovie's practicing her stink eye??



Aaaaaay!

Like Lovie would say, "Aaaaaaaay!" (instead of Yay!) it's Friday! : )  She doesn't say Friday yet- just the Aaaaay. So cute. Ack.

Don't have much today. Can talk about the weather and how it's friggin cold but it's winter and I like winter so while I may not enjoy 20 below wind chills, I do like bundling up. So I'll take it, tyvm. Can talk about the Bears vs. Packers game on Sunday. You know- American Football? But I don't really give a shit one way or the other. Besides, all you gotta do is hop on Facebook for either of these topics.

So instead, I leave you this Friday with another video of my Lovie. This was taken on Monday when I was off with her. It's long and boring, but it starts out pretty damn cute: Crazy curly bed head...Goofy dance moves to her little CD player...And if you can hold off from shutting it down till the 29 second mark, you can hear her sing along for a brief second.



Happy Weekend to ya!
Mine is guaranteed to be awesome because it will be spent with my Lovie!

a first

v-day 2010

 I've never been a big fan of celebrating Valentine's Day. In fact, the husband and I never really do anything and never have- and we've been together since the turn of the century! But now that we have our sweet baby doll, things are a little different.



Last year we didn't really do anything because she was all of a 6 weeks old (or so). Well, I took some photos of my doll but that's really about all we did to celebrate.

This year, however, will be the start of actually acknowledging Valentine's Day in our home. I've got a couple decorations I'll be putting up around the home, for example. Nothing extraordinary will happen, we just won't completely ignore it like normal.

In fact, I think I'm going to take advantage of a code I got from Shutterfly offering 10 free cards and order these for a special 10 to send out- a first for me (sending out V-day cards):

before

after and...

final!

I'll also be entering this into The Paper Mama's Valentine's Challenge:

Wordless Wednesday: Sweetheart

A different view

Hey Daddy, can I help you clean the kitchen?

 

Daddy?? Don't make me call for reinforcement.



C'mon already! Let us in!!

21 seconds into 24 hours ago

best if watched with volume

Oh My

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had pro pics done of Lovie back in December- about a month ago, actually. The photos were the first professionally taken of Lovie since her birth a year prior. I was so happy with the teasers and, well, I got the disc the other day and was blown away by several of the pictures.

Here are three of my favorites- and that first one there made me seriously gasp over how stunning a photo I thought it was. I mean of course I think my Lovie is adorable and beautiful but when I saw these pictures... wow, the girl is GORGEOUS!

Lunchtime scores

I ran over to Target during my lunch break. It's the first time I've been in several weeks. I needed some John Frieda Frizz Ease Hair Gel. Desperately. And I forgot freaking Walmart doesn't carry it for some reason. So I went to Target.

Like I said.

By the time I got to the hair gel, I was in a great spirits and then things got even sweeter: if I buy three John Frieda Frizz Ease products, I would get a $5 gift card. Sweet chicken sign me up! So I scooped up three of the hair gels at $5 and some change a piece. And now I'm the proud owner of a $5 gift card burning a hole in my wallet!

So why was I in great spirits before the hair gel?!?

Cuz I scored these

for Lovie for a whopping $3.24!  Holla, Holla!!

I also scored 4 fabric storage bins like these

at $2.50 a piece (over by the dollar stuff) which will be great for Lovie's toys and books, and an I (heart) Daddy and I (heart) Mommy picture frames for $1 a piece.

Then. After the hair gel??? I made my way into the clearance clothes (for Lovie) and found... a $1.84 sweatshirt that has a heart on it and Sweet Heart inside the heart. A sweatshirt for less than $2. Woot! (It's also the first all pink purchase I've ever made for Lovie- but, in my pink-hater defense, I also bought a pair of black women's knee highs that have white hearts on them that I'll be cutting off the feet to pair with the pink sweatshirt to hopefully offset the screaming pink of the shirt.) Then I spotted this little rocker LOVE shirt/dress thing. It's black and LOVE is in different colors and it's frilly on the bottom and comes with a pair of black leggings with colored hearts. How fucking cute does that sound? Perfect for Valentine's Day, right? Ack, I cannot wait!

Then. Oh then. I'm about to get into a checkout lane when I see this adorable gray shirt that says Love Bug on it. And my Lovie? Well she's my Love Bug. And it was $5. And it had a little yellow in it and some other colors but it was a gray shirt. Under that I saw these ADORABLE gray and white striped leggings for $5 too that looked like they would go perfectly with the shirt- and when I unfolded them, I noticed they had a yellow stripe on the bottom. How fucking cute?! And then I noticed a skort in bright yellow. For $5. Ack!!! So I got this ADORABLE gray and white and yellow outfit that can be worn together or apart or whatever for $15.

I love Target some days. And pay days.

What the ... ?!??!?!

courtesy of http://www.webooshoes.com/

What the hell is that? And why on earth is there a company that provides such scary things? And who is wearing them? WHO? Or maybe the proper question is WHY?!

I don't care how much she might beg and plead some day, Lovie will never be wearing something like that on her feet. I'm sincerely disturbed.

How we spent the evening of 1/11/11

shredding napkins of course. 

duh! 

what else would we have done?

Lovie's lovie

I'm getting a little concerned....

My sweet baby girl is infatuated with her baby doll that she got on Christmas Eve (she could care less about the one she got on her birthday a week later- sorry gift giver of second baby doll).

baby doll on the beanbag chair in the playroom- right next to Lovie

 She totes this thing around with her everywhere.

notice she's got a hold of it even though she's playing with the bus

There used to be a cat attached to the chest area so it kind of looked like the doll was holding a cat- and somehow this cat activated a Meow sound. But it's been over two weeks now and the cat became detached somewhere around day 12 or so.  It was only a matter of time... especially with the way my Lovie adores this thing. Her Lovie.

Yeah, my Lovie has a lovie. And she's SO cute with it, too.



Just last night she was eating dinner and I had to set her baby doll on the table because she insisted she feed herself (chicken and dumplings) and the food was everywhere. Well, Lovie only had one nap yesterday and was a bit cranky as a result of needing another nap, eh.  She saw her baby doll and wanted it. I explained to her she needed to eat first but she wouldn't have any part of that; she wanted her baby doll and she wanted it then. She started to cry. Real tears came from her eyes. My poor baby girl!


I placed the baby doll on my chest and told her that I'd keep it safe and she could now watch as Lovie finished eating. As soon as I placed her on my chest, Lovie started laughing maniacally through the tears. But she also kept reaching for her doll and when she realized I wasn't giving it to her, she again started crying.

: (

So I cleaned her up and let her have her doll and as soon as she had it in her arms, her little voice got super high pitched and she talked to it as they walked down the hallway and into the living room to play.

She sleeps with it, eats with it, plays with it, gets her diaper changed with it... the only thing she doesn't do with it is bathe and, fortunately, we haven't had to bring it to school yet.

But I'm afraid of what will happen should something happen to my baby girl's baby doll. Then what? I can't even fathom!! She will be devastated.


I think I'm going to have to ask my BIL where he got it from and get another one... just in case. Right?

Oh boy.

Oh no, the doll is alone. "Where's your baby doll?"

"Here we are, Momma!!"



Misc

1) I’m wearing eye makeup today. I’ve been wearing mascara (again) for months now, but today is the first time since December 2009 that I have eye liner on, too. What is this world coming to? Not sure. But I do know that I’m tired of looking like death every single day and if a little black eyeliner makes me at least feel a little better than why not. Freaking love this stuff, too!

2) She calls him Dada. Although my Lovie wasn’t even 6 months old this past Father’s Day, she graced us with her first real word: Dada. What timing, huh? Of course we knew she didn’t really mean Dada, but she said it nonetheless. Well, the past several weeks, I started to really believe that she now means it when she says Dada. She means her Dada. Case in point: The other day we were playing in her room with the door closed and I heard something in the kitchen. "Oh is that daddy? Is he home?" I said excitedly. She dropped whatever it was that she was doing, looked at me with those big brown eyes, smiled, and ran over to the door and yelped, "Dada!!" Of course I tell him this and he thinks I’m pulling his leg. Whatever dude. Be happy because she doesn’t know my name from the fucking cats, apparently. Yes, I’m jealous.

3) Tit for tat people gross me out. Sometimes I purposely fuck with people to see if they’re a Tit for Tat type of person because I find that characteristic to be a bit repulsive. Stupid, I know but that’s what happens when I’m bored, I guess. People play this on Facebook all the time and I know I’ve participated in my time… but like I said, I usually do it to prove a point (to myself). Like I love it that certain Fb friends don’t comment on pics of my adorable Lovie- unless I comment on one of theirs. It’s ridiculous- especially when it’s so obvious. Whatever. I don’t need some random Fb “friend” to say Lovie is cute when hello. This is Lovie we’re talking about! ; )

4) WTF is up with CREAMY Tomato soup? Did I have a bad can of it or something or does it always taste so… flowery. I’m not sure how else to describe it but I actually had to toss a bowl earlier and if you know anything about me, I love food and throwing food out isn’t something that comes easily for me. Must remember to pay closer attention to the labels next time and steer clear away from the Creamy tomato soup.

5) Not sure what’s going on in my head lately but I’ve been feeling icky things toward my husband. I’m not sure if it’s jealousy or resentment, or maybe a bit of both, but I don’t like it and I want the feelings to cease. See number 2 up there? Yeah Lovie calls him Dada but she calls me nothing. I’m the one she goes to all.the.time but she doesn’t ever call me Mama or Bitch or anything. That’s not what I’m jealous over… not really. I just think I may need a break of sorts or something. I mean, I love my Lovie with everything I am- she’s my Everything after all. But I’m just.. I don’t know. I get so pissed when the husband doesn’t come home before her bedtime lately. It bothers me greatly. And not because he’s missing out on time with her because that’s all on him. I’m not going to even try to fix that. He’s a big boy. It just pisses me off though that I get up at 430 every morning, I get Lovie up at 530 and dressed and fed, I get us both out the door and to school and work, I pick her up after work and get us both home by 5, I get her fed, I play with her. And 3/4 out of 5 nights during the week, I get her ready and into bed, too. WTF?! Tonight’s his late night at work so he won’t be home. Tomorrow he has to help a friend with a computer, he already told me- so he won’t be home. Wednesday I’m sure he’ll be late because we need shit from Costco. And then on the weekends, who gets up with Lovie? Not him... not unless I force him to. And even then, he falls asleep while she plays and she’s always looking for me. But he’s Dada and I’m… nothing.

different perspective

Seriously.

Sparkly

OMG was this challenge hard for me. I'm so not a sparkly type of person so I don't really take sparkly type of pics. That I know of, at least. Plus I didn't see the challenge until a day or so ago and I've been busy at work and blah blah excuse excuse. That up there is the best I can do and that's after some serious tweakage.

toys

I took some pics the other day of some of the toys that have invaded our home lately. These are not all of them, but more than not, they're the important ones in some way, shape or form. (In no particular order whatsoever)

Monchichi = Momma's favorite. Ha! :) My BFF/Cousin got this for Lovie for her birthday. My BFF/Cousin and I are 6 months and 3 days apart in age and we both loved our Monchichi babies when we were like 6. Ack, I nearly cried when I saw she got one for Lovie... I wouldn't have even thought to do that and here she is rocking the gift!



Hokey Pokey Elmo. This was given to Lovie from Grandpa Nick (my dad) for Christmas. I didn't think she'd care for it because she's never even seen Sesame Street but she really loved it. Her little face lit up when she saw it- and then when she was shown that it sings and dances?? Oh boy was she smitten- and she, of course, dances along with it. It's been over a week now that she's played with it and it's definitely no longer a favorite. Poor Elmo. He's gonna eventually end up on a shelf somewhere collecting dust, I just know it. (and I'm OK with it because it's kind of annoying and loud but shhhhh) 



Baby Doll. This is THE Baby Doll (the cat on its shoulder is no longer attached as of last night). This is THE gift of the season, apparently. See that blob of brown there at the bottom of the picture on the left? Yeah that's Lovie trying to get to the Baby Doll! God forbid it be left alone for a minute! This ugly, creepy looking thing is by far her absolute favorite thing in the world right now. She got it for Christmas from my sister and her family. Lovie's voice transforms into this soft and high pitch squeal when she sees it or "tells" me about it. And, on the rare occasion Lovie's crying, if you show her the Baby Doll, her cry automatically turns into a laugh because she sincerely gets SO happy when she sees it. Honestly, it's the most endearing thing I've seen in a long time so creepy or not, this Baby Doll will have a place in our home for as long as Lovie wants.
 


this is an electronic drum that's also a shape sorter. When you touch the drum part it does the alphabet after each tap. It also plays music therefore it's a hit to Lovie. She doesn't play with it all the time, but she likes it enough and got it from my BIL for Christmas.



This is one of her Christmas gifts from us (or Santa?). It's one of those gears toys that comes with colorful pieces that can get placed onto the colored nobs. Lovie likes taking the pieces off (which is why you don't see any pictured, duh) and putting them in her mouth, of course, and ever since I showed her how it works (press the PLAYSKOOL button and it plays music and lights up and moves), she plays with it often, trying to stop it from moving and/or dancing along to the music.

stupid ugly PINK mega block jeep thing. she hasn't even LOOKED at it and i sincerely believe it's because it's pink. WHY OH WHY do they make gender-specific toys? and WHY OH WHY do people give in to it and buy it?? i realize some of it is hard not to give in to but really? PINK FUCKING LEGOS/MEGA BLOCKS??! i will leave it out for now- because i know Lovie (usually) loves playing with cars, but if she doesn't start playing with it soon, i'm getting the pink shit away putting it away for awhile, at least. she got this for both Christmas and her birthday, along with a big fugly bag of PINK mega blocks, from my cousin who's youngest went through a liver transplant a couple months back.


h look, a NON GENDER SPECIFIC Mega Blocks table set. We actually gave this to Lovie for her birthday. She loves climbing on top of it, banging the blocks together, and stuffing them in her mouth. This toy is actually very cool... the legs (the blue pieces- this pic was taken from above) actually fold into the back of the table top, the four pieces on top there come off and you can put the other pieces under it (storage). It all then snaps down and you can carry it around. We like it and this NON GENDER SPECIFIC toy will probably be left out for some time.


h another Fisher Price Laugh & Learn toy. Seriously, I really have grown to love this line of products (I got the L&L Home off Craigslist for $30 several months ago and it's been a big, big hit). This CD Player is no exception. Lovie adores it and is always playing with it at some point every day. She got this from her G-ma (grandma on daddy's side) for her birthday along with this really creepy looking singing stuffed bear, which I should try to remember to take a pic of. The bears mouth actually moves (creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy) as it sings Happy Birthday. We have to play it every morning and every night. :)


Vtech bus. She got this from her daddy's aunt and uncle and kids on her birthday. This thing is pretty cool but it's FREAKING SO MOTHEREFFING LOUD. i finally had to find some packing tape to tape over the speaker on the bottom of this thing because it was just too loud. but it's a cool toy that will probably stick around for some time.