Bath Time in the BIG Tub

Last night was Amelia's first time at home taking a bath in the BIG tub!  She has lately been standing up in her little tub and Patrick was outside working in the yard, so instead of going back and forth with her - I thought I would try out the big tub.  Her little seat would in theory help contain this little excited bundle of joy!

As I started filling the tub - Amelia was SO excited - she nearly jumped in!   She leaned as far as she possibly could to try and touch the water that was just out of reach of her hand - she started looking for her tub toys - she bounced on those short little legs - she smiled - she squealed - oh the fun to be had in the big tub!   I decided to strip her down in the bathroom for my own ease and put her in the tub.  By this time the water was high enough for her to just barely touch - which of course made her even more excited - what can I say - the girl LOVES bath time!  

I have to admit - I typically chuckle at those parents who tell the tale of the crazy pee that goes all over them and everything around.....I was serving up myself a nice chunk of humble pie - yes - this story has a twist of pee in it.  Now keep in mind - the girl was not touching water at the time - I undo one side of her diaper and as I'm unhooking the other side I feel the forceful stream of the hot yellow stuff!  I was so surprised I let out a little yelp of 'OH NO!'.   Amelia turns and looks at me with wide innocent eyes (force of streaming pee slows a little) - and I say - 'Its ok honey' - to which she smiles turns back to the tub and the force of streaming pee increases to original rate until complete.  I did try to 'catch' it with the diaper - but her legs were too close together so it was futile.  It got on the rug, side of the tub and of course all over my hand and arm.  Now what do I do?  I didn't have to drain the water, since she wasn't in it yet, she didn't have to be cleaned off since there was none on her - so in reality - this was my problem.  I think it was at this point I said to myself - It has now happened to me :)

I plopped Amelia into the tub, cleaned it up a bit which included setting the rug aside - I would put it in the wash a little later.  While that was occurring she was having a blast in her new found freedom of a bigger tub!  She did try and stand up which was pretty comical since her stance was so wide and she tried so hard without success.  She did figure out how to turn around in her little chair. 

Look closely and you can see the wide stance :) 

The pictures aren't the best since I had to take them with my phone - the camera was not close enough to go grab 

Lots of fast movements from this little one!

After bath had completed successfully and we prepared for bed, Patrick came in and I proceeded to tell him the feat of the bigger bathtub and my humbling 'pee-on' story - which I thought was pretty funny overall.  I also thought he was totally paying attention as he chuckled.  Off to take his shower, so Patrick could feed Amelia before bed. ~10 min pass~  I hand Amelia over to Patrick and start cleaning the rest of the bath stuff.  I notice the rug is in its place?!  Hmmm - that was pee infested - hmmm - Patrick couldn't have possibly already forgotten my very funny story about Amelia peeing ON THE RUG?!  Could this truly be?  ~5 minutes pass -  Amelia is in bed - Patrick comes down to the kitchen where I now am.~  The conversation went something like this:

Me:  Hey Honey - Were you listening to my pee story?!

Patrick: Yes I was

Me:  Really?!  Did you miss the part where I said she peed all over the rug?!

Patrick:  It wasn't ALL over was it?

Me:  Well, no, but she definitely soaked a good portion of it

Patrick:  ~Pause, Pause, thinking, Pause~ I'll meet you downstairs - I'm going to go wash my feet.

Me: Okay.....have fun!

I kind of enjoy the fact that even though not physically there - Patrick decided to get in on Amelia's 'Pee-On Me' story!

Thumb......Sucker.....What?!

I always thought that if you reached that 11 monthish time frame without your child hooking onto a pacifier or their thumb as parents you were out of the woods and claimed some sort of success.  Well evidently, 11 months is not the magical age to be free of hooking onto something.  Yes, it appears Amelia now has the habit of sucking her thumb.  Its not a ton and it is usually is when she is tired, during naps and at night.  The sucking started out slow and maybe by mistake?!  (A hopeful parent says)   Amelia started out by trying to stuff as much as her blankie into her mouth as possible.  She would stuff and suck and chew the blankie, but as time when on - the thumb (either one fits the bill) that would help stuff the blankie would be the only thing left as the blankie somehow tumbled out.  And now, the stuffing of the blankie appears to be decreasing as the thumb sucking is increasing (the girl just gets right to the point!).  So I am left with the perplextion of what to do now?!  Do I let her keep sucking her thumb or try and break the habit before it becomes a hard core habit?  I assume it comforts her in some way - even though she never really had a problem going to sleep before the thumb entered the picture.  I'm also not sure if it is to help her upper gums feel better - she has been working at those for quite some and they have yet to show themselves.  So research I will have to do, but for the mothers of thumb suckers out there......I ever so humbly ask.....any suggestions?

Videos of Amelia

Here's the disclaimer:

While I, of course, think these videos are adorable (of course :) to the average viewer they may not be quite up to par with Toy Story or Cars, so be warned.

Amelia has been able to roll a ball back to us since she was really young.  I finally got a partial video of it - though she gets distracted pretty early on.  The fate of the ball isn't looking so good these days though - I must admit.  Tonight instead of rolling the ball back, she decided to take a bite out of like an apple.....poor ball - its now missing a chunk.

Here is a video of Amelia and her daddy playing!  Such a joyful sounding thing she is!

Mobility Report

Its hard to keep up with the active little bee we have in our household these days!  And its just beginning!

I thought I would give a mobility report.....

Crawling:

Amelia loves to crawl and is expanding her crawling reach every day.  She isn't afraid of the dark, so she is more than willing to crawl into dark rooms!  She also insists on huffing, puffing and vrooming herself along as she crawls - especially if she is crawling towards me.  It really is quite cute.  She also does a variation of her crawl when she is on hard floors....she will keep one knee on the ground and use her foot on the other leg. 

Standing:

Amelia stands, goes up and down often, bounces, but does not like to fall down, so she feels more comfortable holding onto something instead of standing by herself.  She is getting better at standing for long stretches by herself, but she hasn't quite mastered it yet.

Walking:

Amelia will cruise along furniture and has recently found the joy of walking while holding onto our hands.  She is still pretty wobbly, so I think she's got a bit of time yet before she walks by herself.

Stairs:

As mentioned in an earlier post, Amelia has gone up the stairs from the basement.  She doesn't know how to go downstairs yet, but evidently going into the basement is not nearly enticing!  I think she will have to learn from going down the loft stairs.....something about the main level draws her like a magnet....maybe those furry things....

She is quite the busy bee, even without walking - I can't imagine what it will be like when she walks!  We will be chasing her all over!

Girls Who Change the World

There are girls who make things better....

simply by showing up.

There are girls who make things happen,

girls who make their way.

There are girls who make a difference,

girls who make us smile.

There are girls who do not make excuses,

girls who cannot be replaced.

There are girls of wit and wisdom who -

with strength and courage -

make it through.

There are girls who change the world every day by dreaming and then acting to accomplish their goals....

girls like you.

By Ashley Rice

Up the Stairs We Go!

As of last night - Amelia went up all the stairs to the main level by herself!  Away she goes!

Amelia In Action

Here are some updated pictures of Amelia in action.....

 Amelia doesn't believe in playing with just one toy anymore.

Bath time is so much fun!  But not so much for Mr. Ducky! 

"Mommy, what are you doing?! Ugh" 

Bedtime stories!  At Amelia's conference the other day - her caregiver said Amelia likes to read and look at books!  She also loves to turn the pages! 

Amelia's new favorite place to hang out! 

Sweet smiles! 

Outside with the doggies 

Amelia thought this was hilarious!  She laughed and laughed! 

Amelia eating bananas - she has been doing so good with table food! Even with only 2 teeth. 

Such a happy girl 

Yummy food!

Salty Beacon

Salt of the Earth and a Beacon of Light

I can only figure that Saturday Amelia woke up and decided to be a Salty Beacon to those around her!

We woke up and went to Grandma's Bakery (hmmmm) and Amelia had her first plain donut!  She loved it and almost took one of my fingers off :-) 

Fast forward to the afternoon - we decided to go to church and after working around the house we needed to get showered and dressed.  Amelia was crawling all over!  (We recently had to put up a gate on the top of the stairs to contain her :)  We have also been playing hide and go seek with Amelia in different rooms.  She must have thought Daddy was playing hide and go seek - because Amelia was seeking!  And Amelia found her Daddy - in the shower!  She whipped that curtain aside and she was so proud of herself that she found her daddy!  I brought her back to our room and off to seeking she went again!  This time I just left her bouncing by the shower for a while and by the time I pulled her away she was so soaked and happy that I had to change her clothes for church.  We laughed and laughed.

Off to church we went!  During the winter we got into the habit of going in the parent/child room and we decided that night we would do the same.  Amelia got right into playing with their toys - happy as can be.  Enter parents #1.  Amelia was very curious....and so she crawled over and sat just out of reach, in front of them....and stared......and stared and kept on staring at them.  Finally, I got her attention and she huffed and buzzed her way over and as I picked her up she let out a happy little squeal!  In my lap...well not for long!  Enter parents #2 and #3.   Parents #3 had a girl about 4 years old, who was quite a happy little girl.  And Amelia was fascinated!  The parent/child room is setup with a screen for breastfeeding mothers.  The little girl was playing behind the screen - and once again - Amelia went seeking!  She sat right in the entryway of the screen and just watched the little girl.   She eventually went behind the screen and I went to get her.  She wanted down, off a seeking she went again (read previous lines about 4 times...you get the picture).  The last time I went to get her she decided to entertain parents #2, who were behind me.....if she could have climbed over my shoulder - she would have!  Of course, all of these antics were not without noise!  Eventually, Daddy decided he better take her out as she was kind of distracting.  She proceeded, to crawl all over the foyer!  And our church foyer is huge!  According to Daddy - it got to the point where she could barely lift her arms or would lay her legs out straight with only her arms holding her up...but with a huff huff huff - off she would go again unil church was over. 

Our little salty beacon ended her night - exhausted and happy.  She slept in the next morning until 8:30!

All Things Amelia

This past week Amelia turned 11 months old!  I cannot believe it - how fast time has gone by!  Before Amelia - people always said how fast time goes by when you have kids, but its hard to understand until it happens to you.   It has been so enjoyable - truly enjoyable to be Amelia's mom.  She brings such joy to our lives and every day I give a heartfelt thanks to God for bringing her into our lives.

With time going by so quickly - I realized I had better take a post to write down some of the cute things Amelia does.....

- About 1/2 way home from work Amelia will start buzzing her lips and be covered in spit & bubbles by the time we reach home or she will randomly start laughing

- When Amelia eats, when I say, 'Hmmm, that was yummy!' - Amelia will get a grin on her face and click her tongue as if to say 'Tasty'

- When I go to pick up Amelia up from daycare, she gets so excited she will squeal and flap her arms like a bird

- Amelia will play hide and seek with us - she crawls to find us in the hallway or doorway

- If my legs are in the way and Amelia could go around them - she would much rather bulldoze her way over my legs, land on her face and wiggle the rest of her body across

- Amelia is much more interested in her blankies and will try and stuff as much as she can in her mouth

- Can stand by herself - until she realizes she is standing by herself

- Snuggles with me in the morning when I wake her up, though it seems to becoming less and less these days

- LOVES the dogs so much.  Whenever she can bet them she laughs and giggles.  And I am positive she can almost say Indie

- Has decided her new favorite spot in the loft is in front of the window and spinning the window handle

- Loves to be outside

- Sleeps with her rear in the air

- Gives her mommy and daddy hugs

Off to the Races!

Last weekend, we went to see my cousin, Ryan race and his wife Melissa.  We got Amelia ear muffs, which made her little face look even chubbier than it already is!

She did a really good job keeping them on - we only had to pull her hands away a couple times

Amelia played with Mommy and Daddy's sunglasses for most of the time!  She thought they were fascinating!  She also tried to see how much of Daddy's glasses could fit into his mouth.

 

Ryan racing

Ryan made it to the finals and we actually made it to see him race.  I didn't get any pictures of us together unfortunately.  Next time!

 

Daddy and Amelia watching the races

Here Daddy and Amelia are in front of the race track during a break

Amelia had so much fun

 

We got Amelia little shoes, since we knew her feet would be dirty otherwise.  She has the smallest feet!  She is a size 4.  All of her shoes we bought for the summer are all way to big!

 

Amelia and her chubby cheeks! 

Memorial Weekend

For this year's Memorial Weekend, we decided to stay home - partially because we just got home from vacation and we just needed some time to get things together.  One advantage to staying home - was that we were able to spend Saturday with our good friends Ron, Val and their son Seth!  It had been so long since we had seen them and it was just good to spend time with them.  Amelia had some firsts as well - we went to the Farmer's Market and the Como Zoo!

Como Zoo is a free zoo - which is wonderful!  It is very well maintained and a perfect place to go on the weekend with kids. Amelia loved the little monkeys with mustaches!  She did a really good job of following them as they walked around and one even walked in front of her!

Checking out the flamingos! 

Daddy and Amelia by the seals! 

Daddy and Ron look at the lions 

The lion eating his lunch 

Amelia (love her face), Seth, Val and Ron behind the fence. 

Another picture of both kids looking at the camera! 

Mommy and Amelia in front of the lion 

Amelia also took her first carousel ride!  Wow - it went round and around - so next time Daddy is going to take her! 

Amelia on Daddy's shoulders!  Amelia thinks she is the coolest girl in the world on top of her daddy's shoulders!  She thinks its so funny to be so high and laughs constantly!  Though the funniest moment, was when Amelia decided to take a bite out of daddy's ear!  The hypothesis is it may have started out as a kiss, but quickly progressed to a Mike Tyson!  Needless to say - daddy was quite surprised.  As I expressed a stern 'No-No we don't bite daddy's ear', her face was the epitome of innocence as her mouth sat half open with daddy's ear still partially still inside!

Summer Evenings

Tonight we got home and spent time outside on a blanket with a box of toys.  As the dogs played around us, it was so relaxing.  Amelia loves the dogs!  She squeals with delight anytime she can pet them.  Amelia was not quite ready to crawl off the blanket, but she watched as mommy and daddy worked around the yard.

After feeding Amelia and Daddy got cleaned up I was in the kitchen, when I heard shrill laughter and 'peek-a-boos'!  I found Amelia in her new favorite place - in front of the window in the loft - playing peek-a-boo with daddy!  She would pull the curtain in front of her face and when daddy said, 'Where's Amelia?', she would pull the curtain away from her face and bubble over with laughter!  So precious! 

Welcome summer!

Time with Family

While in Hawaii, Amelia got to spend lots of time with family!  Gramma came and picked Amelia and the dogs up from Minneapolis and headed back to great OC (Orange City - for the non-locals :).  She also spent at weekend at Nana and Papa's house and a wonderful time bonding! 

Very excited in Gramma's arms 

Amelia found the drawer of rubber maids and had lots of fun going through it! 

Amelia's face is so cute as she is sitting in the mustang! 

Amelia had her 1st Tulip Festival experience this year! 

And got her picture in front of the tulips! 

All smiles! 

Grandpa and Amelia with one of her favorite things...her sock! 

 Amelia in a few years!  AHHHHHH!

It just so happened that while we were in Hawaii - Tom, Michelle, Noah, Emma and Elijah were in Orange City!  So while Patrick and I missed them - Amelia was able to spend time with her cousins, Auntie and Unkie

Chillin' on the deck 

Elijah has gotten SO big!  I can't believe how much he has filled out since Christmas!  What a cutie! 

Playing together with Elijah and Michelle 

Noah taking a self-photograph - he does a good job taking pictures 

Emma smiling! 

Getting some lovin's 

 Amelia and Elijah

 Elijah, Tom, Noah, Michelle and Emma

All 4 cousins together 

The girls! 

Tom and Noah playing piano......and Amelia trying to get in on the action 

Yay!  Mommy and Daddy are almost home! 

Mommy's first reaction at seeing Amelia after10 days!  (It was sooo long!  I missed our girl so much)