Busy week! Big Man has had the last three nights off so, for the last two, I didn't even do anything on the computer, just spent some quality time with my sweetiepie!
For her newest trick, Dani, when placed on a blanket on the floor will roll herself up like a burrito. We have yet to catch it on video but Big Man assures me it is super cute! He walked out of the room for a second and came back to this...she can get in, but then can't get out!
Dani is seriously going to crawl at any moment, which means I've got to start cleaning the house, and the floors, more often! Grandma and grandpa are coming to visit on the 22nd and we are so excited!!!
All was well when I posted two hours ago. Lots can go wrong with a 7 month old and two hours.
Big Man took Dani upstairs to feed her and put her to bed. He yelled "run a bath" and was laughing hysterically. When he layed her down on our bed, I guess she projectile vomited straight up, and it all landed on her face and our bed. Big Man cleaned her up, and got her in the bath, giggling as he described what I had missed. I thought we should give her some liquid before she went to bed, so we had a water/formula mix, which she promptly tossed all over Daddy. Oops. Maybe it's because she's still teething? She was happy and smiley, so I think she feels fine.
Some sucker mommy took her kid to disneyworld and spend a crapload of cash on an authentic Minnie Mouse dress--I picked it up at a garage for $1 a few weeks ago. Cuteness!!!
Dani and I were social butterflies today. We went to Congressman Tonko's birthday fundraiser, saw a ton of old friends, and Dani was super fun and happy!
And then we went to a graduation party for Rusty Decker, where Dani also had fun--she saw lots of kids, and got lots of attention because she was the only baby! I brought a blanket so she could have some fun on the lawn.
When I got home I was so sore and tired--holding a 16 pound baby for hours really does a number on an out of shape girl like me. I am so sore as I type, not my arms, or legs, but my abdomen--I feel like I just had a c-section. Ugh.
But enough whining. When I got home I was talking to Big Man and told him that every time I get Dani out of the pack-n-play, I try to have her stand for a minute or two and hold the rail, but she has yet to figure out the holding herself up part. Big Man says, "She does it for me all the time." He then picks her up, and we walk to the pack-n-play and, lo and behold, the kid stands and holds herself up! (Look at her beaming at Daddy!)
I had some white powder I spilled onto a table at a fundraiser for Congressman Tonko today. I was scraping it up with a spoon into lines, and told my table mates that if it was the 70s, they'd think I was ready to party!
In reality, clumsy B spilled formula on the table, and needed to get as much as she could into the bottle!
Exhibit A: This occurred while we were on I-84 just west of Southbury, Ct. It was about 11:30am, and traffic was heavy and whizzing by. It was hot. I called AAA and told them I was stranded with a baby, hoping like hell the baby part would make them hurry. No dice. Not a single person stopped to help the lady squatting in the grass with a baby in a stroller. The cops didn't even show up, despite AAA's assurance they'd been called. We were stranded for an hour.
Now, for the embarassing part that because I have no shame I will share with the universe...I had to pee. Bad. We were pretty close to my Aunt's house, and if we had been driving, I would have made it, but I couldn't wait. So, I was left with the dilemma of walking the baby into the woods and trying to hold her while I peed, or something else. I picked the else. I have a 4 door car, and opened both doors, so I'd have some privacy, and just peed on the road. (It was an emergency, I swear.) The bad thing is that I was so nervous that a cop or the tow truck would pull up that I peed all over my right foot, soaking my shoe, and certainly adding insult to injury. So, then I had to bust out the antibacterial wipes and wipe myself down, feet, shoes, hands, etc...and still no tow truck--I was convinced that they would pull up mid-squat to add to my humiliation, but no such luck. An hour later, we were back on the road! I ultimately needed a new tire, which my Uncle Dickie was kind enough to procure for me.
When I got to Auntie Barbara's, Gram still didn't know I was coming. Dani and I walked out to the patio and she was so surprised!!!
She turned 89 today, and is still going strong! She had a great time with Dani, who was way fussier than usual. Hot, hungry, tired, the whole shootin' match. My entire Connecticut family came over and it was great to see everyone. Here's Gram and Dani:
Gram enjoying our off key rendition of "Happy Birthday"And Auntie Barbara who had so much fun with Dani! I didn't have as much time to spend with them as I would have liked due to the car incident and some late afternoon fussiness which was a sign that getting on the road would be a good idea sooner than I'd planned, but all told, a great visit. Happy Birthday Gram.
My theory is if you ever see a book called "Balls!" you should buy it for your child.
Apparently, our little friend Elmo likes balls.
That's right, Elmo's thinking about balls. Balls of all shapes and sizes. He likes to juggle small ones. I am incapable of reading this book to Dani because it makes me laugh. Big Man thinks I'm childish. It's not my fault Elmo has a thing for balls.
I let Dani play with a carrot when I was making my salad this morning. They are one of her favorite foods, but she didn't seem to like the taste raw. Obviously she couldn't really eat it, but I thought she'd suck on it or something, but not so interested. In other morning news, we had a little bit of an accident with the prunes. I was giving Dani some prunes this morning, and she was loving them like she always does. She stuck her hand in her mouth, and without thinking, I left the room to grab the baby wipes. Yep, left the container of prunes on the shelf of her high chair. She grabbed it, poured prunes on herself, flinging the spoon onto the floor and getting prunes everywhere. But, you know what prunes look like, right? Yep, looked like someone flung poop all over my kitchen. Fun times in the B household this morning. I use about 1,000 wipes to clean the baby, and myself, and the cabinets, etc. There was even prunes on the baby wipes container from my pruny hands, which I had to clean off, because it would have been super gross if they dried on the white wipes container and it would look like we had poopy hands and got poop all over the wipes...which wouldn't be a big deal because we would know it was prunes, but when people came over and saw it, they'd probably talk about us behind our backs because they'd think it was poopy and that we were dirty birds.
Big Man said it was all my fault. I just figured she'd be distracted by her thumb and not notice the attractive nuisance right in front of her. Oops.
I did score some video cuteness this morning, pre-prune incident.
Peeps, it's been awhile since mommy let me post on the blog, but she promised I could tell you about this!
Mommy took me to a luncheon to raise money for the historical society. It was outdoors at Historic Fort Johnson, and it was really warm. She made me get all dressed up in a fancy dress, and then proceeded to use my cuteness to strike up conversations with lots of ladies in fancy dresses and hats. There was lots to look at so I didn't mind.
After a while, I started to get kind of bored. You can only grab your mommy's necklace so many times before it starts to get old. I was sitting at a table with some really neat folks, and some elected officials. I was really eyeing the watch the lady sitting next to me was wearing. I'm all about the bling. Anyway, the coolest thing happened--she let me play with it! It was yummy!After lunch, I went home to relax. Being a social butterfly can tire a kid out!
We had another couple over for dinner tonight, and they brought their 8 week old. Dani was so enthralled with the baby! I, on the other hand, feared the baby. I literally can't remember when Dani was that small. I tried to hold the little baby, and was reminded to hold the kid's head, and then promptly gave the baby back to her more capable mommy. Man, I suck!
Not much to see here, just a sweet tummy time pic:
No news here--Big Man's been off, so it's been nice to have someone around (and awake)! Dani is just SO HAPPY!!!
I am going to head to CT to surprise my grandma for her 89th birthday on Saturday. She's never met Dani, so it should be a good time. And, at the very least, it will be an interesting road trip!
(Note to those new to my blog--Big Man insists on remaining anonymous, and is not shown in photos here. To the long time readers (Dad), the photo software I have on the laptop won't let me superimpose officer friendly over Big Man's head, so had to crop him out.)
For Father's Day, Dani insisted on dressing like Daddy:
We also got Daddy a Cubs shirt, and a matching Cubs one piece for Dani!
And Dani also wanted to act like Daddy, in his spot on the couch, with the remote:
And, just a little silly tummy time:
It's been a fun day so far! Just Big Man, Dani and I, enjoying each other's company.
There is something so special about the bond between dads and daughters.
I watch Big Man interact with Dani and this gentle love is written all over his face. I'm sure I recognize the look, having seen it so often as a child, on my dad's face.
Happy Father's Day to the two most important men in my life.
A coworker very generously gave us a jogging stroller. While my queen-size booty isn't going to be jogging anytime soon, we did take our first walk in it this morning. It has huge wheels which is great for uneven sidewalks! And it's huge, so we will be able to use it for a very long time!
We are still working on the sippy cup. I swear, it's not loaded with booze! Dani says, "Woah, what's in this stuff?"
Dani is really getting into (tolerating my constant reading of) the board books. We read them morning and night. She even tries to hold them, and has a baby obsession with Elmo. I am convinced that Elmo may be the first word she utters and actually understands. The kid is seriously crushing on Elmo.
In other news, Dani has begun to babble. She did it for the first time (in my presence) last night. I learned two things: she has done it before and Big Man DIDN'T tell me. He said she's broken out with some ma ma and some ba ba prior to yesterday. I have to confess I'm kind of glad that he didn't tell me because then when she did it in front of me I didn't feel like I missed it. (Thank you Big Man. You always get to see the stuff first! But, I'm glad you let me do it too.) The second thing I learned is that Dani recognizes the camera and focuses on it when she sees it...little ham just like her mommy! Thank God she's abandoned the baby hiss!
Behold the babble:
Finally, I'm on my county's SPCA Board of Directors, and they were having a wine tasting tonight. I decided to bring Dani because I needed to show up, even if I couldn't really help much. It was going to be her first big, crowded event, and she did great! I brought the baby carrier, and had her face me, because people have a tendency to get all up in a baby's grill, and sometimes Dani isn't a fan of that, and I figured if the people or noise bothered her, she would be facing me, and calm...she spent the entire 90 minutes we were there trying to turn around to see everything! She could not get enough of the people and was so smiley and happy. Hoping she'll be a social butterfly like mommy! It was really fun, except mommy didn't taste any wine, because something felt wrong about walking up to tasting tables with a baby strapped to me!
AND, I've been working with Mason, his best friend and league manager, to begin to plan the trip.....Big Man has been informed. But hells yeah, he's going to Michigan for his fantasy football draft. I have enough miles for him to fly to Detroit, and he can rent a car and spend a few days. I'm should get extra cool points because the conversation today reflected my okay-ness with the fact that this trip will mean he's in Michigan on my birthday, and I'm okay with that. (Now if I can only get him to take the baby....hee hee.)
Anyway, on to baby shizzle.
Dani had her 6 month visit yesterday. Here's the stats: She is 15 pounds, 12 ounces. She is 26.5 inches long. (and cute as hell!)
To compare, I pulled out my baby book. My mom has been suggesting that I do this for awhile. So, here's the comparison so far:
B, Esq., v. Spawn of B, Esq.
Apparently, I had a 7 month visit and not a 6 month visit, but at that time, I was 27 inches long, and a whopping 17 pounds, 6 ounces. (Dani gets the win; svelte baby!)
I, too was a late teether, getting my first tooth at 9 months, on Father's day, 1974. (Still undecided; Dani has 8 weeks to pull ahead of mommy!)
I was saying "hi" at 7 months, and "da da" at 8 months. (Still undecided, although Dani laughs when mommy tries to get her to make sounds, preferring the vampire hiss, or her latest, snorting, a silly laughing snort!)
Cuteness factor: Dani wins by a longshot! Looking at my newborn photos, it's not even close. (Trust me.)
Turning over: Back in the olden days (1973) I think the rule of thumb was babies on their tummy, so turning over meant flipping onto their backs. Now, the rule of thumb is babies on their backs, so turning over means flipping onto their tummies. So, I was almost 3 months when I did some kind of flip in my sleep. Dani was only 7 weeks old when, during tummy time, she flipped onto her back. (Win goes to Dani.)
First crawl: According to my baby book, "6 months still kind of drag my big belly but I sure get what I'm after". Dani still is only capable tummy swimming, but can cover a bit of distance on her back making neck bridges. (Mommy wins--big baby tummy and all)
Sitting up: Dani can kind of sit up, topples over in like 2 seconds without support. My baby book reports that I first sit up at 6 months-ish but need to lean and need help. Not mastered by mommy until 7 1/2 months. (Odds on favorite is Dani)
Sleeping through the night: Apparently at 6 weeks I started sleeping from 6pm to 6am (much like Dani now) (Win without even looking it up: mommy) Perhaps I had an unfair advantage, as you will see below:
The one category that I "beat" Dani in (although beat is not the appropriate word) is eating (and sleeping). Now, my mom got pregnant about 4 seconds after I was born or something (silly old wives' tale about not being able to get pregnant while breastfeeding), so I knew that after about 3 months I would have had to be eating whatever passed for formula or baby food in the 1970s.....however, I looked at the ol' baby book and actually had to CALL MY MOM. In the "my firsts" section, it reads:
"9/20 - my first cereal - rice - undecided about it and the spoon it comes in"
"10/10 - bananas were my first fruit - just loved them"
"10/13 - liked my first orange juice too!"
And my personal fave:
"10/21 my first lollipop - sure was good - given to me by my sweet toothed Aunt Barbra - who else?"
"3 months 12/12 I'm on all baby foods - meats, etc. -whole milk"
WTF????
So, I called my mom to ask how the HECK she fed a 10 day old baby rice cereal???? Baby food meats at 3 months??? A 6 week old baby stage 1 bananas??? (I thought I was early with Dani at 3 months!) Juice??? Juice at 5 weeks? (Dani's never had juice at 6 months!) She said it was different then and you used to feed your baby really early, and the rice cereal was watery or something. Holy fucky fuck, I guess it is true, babies bounce! I mean babies are pretty durable, like berber carpet. Obviously, things have changed--and Big Man and I have gotten shit for letting Dani try a finger full of various things (frosting, maple syrup, etc.) and all the while, 30 years ago, babies were eating all kinds of shit, with the doc's blessing and turning out okay!
So, I need to just chill.
Time for Dani to eat a chicken wing or something. Because, short of dropping them on their heads, babies can turn out okay!
But I digress. My kid's 6 months old, and she loves to snuggle with her Elmo, and her loveys when she sleeps. All signs point to girly girl...
Oh, and a silly video from the weekend where she had some crazy tongue action going on!
OK all you curious ones, as you can see, the reason that I can't reveal Big Man's identity is because he is actually Green Lantern:
Apparently baby boot camp is paying off. Dani is now able to sit, having demonstrated it for me yesterday, to my amazement, and Big Man said, "she's been doing that for a while, she just topples over a lot". Since he didn't write it in her BABY BOOK, how was I to know? For a while she has wanted to stand, stand, stand. She is always kicking and jumping and wanting you to hold her upright. So, if you hold her hands, she can stand for a bit.
(Janine--recognize the outift? thanks!)
These pics don't look great--taken on the blackberry. Speaking of the blackberry, it only holds like 15 photos. So, I went to the Sprint store on Saturday to try to get a memory card for it. It is often the camera I have handy, and I refuse to delete the early-Dani photos I have from her birth. The woman at the Sprint store took a look at my phone, and it actually has a 1GB memorcy card in it.......so WTF with the no memory??? She gave it a once over and we changed the settings to save the pics to the card and not the internal memory, so I'm good to go! Thank you Sprint store manager (who I actually went to high school with, though she was a few years younger than me) for not ripping me off!
Prunes are yummy. Prunes with apples, even better. Waiting for the projectile pooping.
Today was the first day day we could pick up our farm shares, so Dani and I headed to MacIntosh farms. We got: romaine, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, strawberries and baby carrots!
I bought extra so we have 3 quarts of strawberries, so I invited David and Gail over for dinner/drinks! Mushed up some strawberries for Dani--not a big fan; kind of tart and acidy and made her spit up.
I hit a couple of garage sales today and got 25 Dr. Seuss and other books at a dime a piece, and an awesome Minnie Mouse dress for Dani! Will be a perfect halloween costume.
Big Man finished his sergeant test in 2 hours--hopefully he did well. He has the night off too--woo hoo!
She was very happy to be the center of everyone's attention!
All is well!
Still no teeth, but I am happy to report that she can now crawl backwards and sideways, just not forward.
In reality, clumsy B spilled formula on the table, and needed to get as much as she could into the bottle!
And Auntie Barbara who had so much fun with Dani!
I didn't have as much time to spend with them as I would have liked due to the car incident and some late afternoon fussiness which was a sign that getting on the road would be a good idea sooner than I'd planned, but all told, a great visit. Happy Birthday Gram.
I am incapable of reading this book to Dani because it makes me laugh. Big Man thinks I'm childish. It's not my fault Elmo has a thing for balls.
Oh, and a silly video from the weekend where she had some crazy tongue action going on!
