Thank you

Just a quick thank you on the blog to my BFF, Alphagal and her lovely family.

Miss C just got the cutest gift in the world from them and while we are going to send a thank you card, we agreed that a video of Miss C enjoying her gift might be a nice addition.

Hope ya'll like it too!



PS In case you are curious, the reason Miss C signs penguin by pointing to her nose is because we played with a toy penguin she has (keep in mind, this started months ago) by "bonking" her nose with the penguin's nose. Kids are so darn smart!

Miss C is Fourteen Months old today!

Super quick update!
Ok, no height and weight stuff, that will have to wait until next month. One thing, though, she is wearing size 4 shoes! I barely got her in size 3's when we realized they were too small. Ugh!
Here we go:
1. Miss C's walking is solid. She runs most of the time, actually. she really cemented her walking when her grandparents were here. She and her grandma walked around outside all the time, just walking here and there, uphill and downhill. All of that helped her figure out her balance etc, so she definitely good on her feet.
2. Miss C figured out how to walk down stairs. She still holds on to our hands but she kind of slides her bum and her feet on the way down. We have a lower banister that DH is going to install which will help her walk up and down but we still will have our gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.
3. Miss C is doing great in her new class. Although the teachers haven't quite figured her out (she talks and signs and they are still a little unsure of what she is saying even though she is signing correctly and I gave them a Miss C to English dictionary!). Oh well. She is also doing fine with the mid-day nap although she does prefer to take two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, over the single nap mid day. I am sure she will continue to adjust and her teachers will learn to understand her words. She is also now able to associate words with more than one context. For example, she always uses "more, please" when she wants more to eat or drink (yea, the please tickles me to death!) but now she is using it when she wants you to do something again, like pick more flowers or walk around more. Very cool!
4. Speaking of words, Miss C's vocabulary is growing exponentially! I am sure you all mentioned this would happen but wow! She even picks up on signs that aren't intentional. For example, we have a stuffed penguin from Sea World and Miss C loves it! I started to bonk her nose with the penguin's beak so now when she "says" penguin, she bonks her nose with her index finger! What a funny kid!
5. Another word issue is colors. It seems that Miss C might actually know some of her colors. We ask her for a "blue ball" or a "green duck" and she will find the appropriate one. She even said "blue" when handing us the blue ball! Too cool!
6. Miss C continues her love of song and dance. She finds music wherever she is, even on her little riding toys, and stands up and says "dance, dance, dance" (she signs it with her index finger and her thumb instead of her index finger and her middle finger but, eh, close enough for now, right?) and "dance" kind of sounds like "that" but you definitely know what she is saying (especially when she sways from side to side and cocks her head!).
7. Miss C has developed an interesting sense of humor. She likes to act like she is going to walk to me or kiss me then go to DH or kiss him instead! It cracks her up every time!

Well, that's about it for this update. I am trying to get this posted before Miss C awakens from her afternoon nap. Hope you all are doing well. If you have any insight into what to expect next, let us know! :)

Family visit

Well, we had quite an eventful time since I last posted. I warned ya'll it would be a little while so.. Anyway, DH's folks and his sister, Auntie J, came to town for a short visit. Miss C had such a great time! She adores both her Grannie and Auntie J and warmed up enough to her Grandpa that she gave him hugs goodnight the last night they were here. This was a huge shift from our Christmas visit. I am sure the length of the visit helped as did being in her house with her stuff.




It was a terrific little visit and we can't wait to see them again. We're already trying to figure out our holiday schedule. We went after the holidays last year and it was actually quite a bit easier on everyone. Heck, we even got the good karma for working around the holidays!

Miss C is getting so big! She is transitioning to her big girl class this week. The first day was a quiet one. She was very introspective and basically watched everyone to figure out what to do. Today she was more involved, a little more talkative (signing and talking but not as much as normal) but she didn't nap as long as she probably could have. We have noticed that when she gets home she is hungry and tired. I think this is becasue of the increased stress in the classroom. I think that another factor is the slight change in meal times. She eats half an hours later for each meal in her new class so I am sure that is an issue for her since Miss C isn't shy around food. I have noticed that she is a little clingy this week so far but I think that might have a but to do with the transition, being away from the teachers she has grown accustomed to. I just know that we are consistent so that makes all of this easier to handle.

Well, hope you get a change to check out the newer pictures. I tried to take a few with Miss C and her grandparents but you know how it gets! Here are a couple of the ones I thought were pretty cute!

So, how is your week going?

Miss C is 11 months old!

Holy cow! Where has the time gone?

If you have been following, you know that Miss C is my dynamo! We don't have a check up so I really couldn't tell you how much she weighs (more than the last time) or how tall she is (definitely taller than the last time!).

I will include changes from this week when she started her new day care.

What I can tell you is:

1. Miss C is getting very vocal! She purrs to the cat and horses (she calls them kitty cats too) and barks to dogs (she picked this up visiting the neighbors little Jack Russell terriers). She signs nearly everything we can think of and teaches us new ones. When she is hungry, she puts her index finger to her mouth since the sign is kind of tough. When we take a walk, she uses her right index finger and puts it at the end of her nose to sign bird while saying bird (just in case we missed it!). I am utterly amazed at how quickly she is processing everything.

2. Miss C is so close to walking unassisted its not funny. She will often come over to you and get you to give her your finger so she can take you for a walk. We went to a picnic a week or so ago and she walked me all around until we got to the balloons so she could have one!

3. Miss C eats totally table food. I tried to kind of put this one on hold because I do worry about making sure she eats enough but she absolutely refuses baby food, even stage 3. However, if you put some chicken, green beans and rice on her plate, she will gobble it up.

4. Miss C sits at a little table in a little chair at day care to eat because, get this, her legs are too long for the high chair. Apparently she can stand up in the high chair because her feet meet the bottom rung so she has to sit in the chair. She seems to really like it so who am I to complain?

5. Miss C sleeps in a little teeny cot at day care. Again, another issue with her height (where are the other tall babies?!). I guess they can't get the crib low enough so she isn't able to reach over the side and risk falling out. So, she sleeps in this little cot. Its really close to the ground and while at first it bothered me, now it reminds me of when we had her sleeping on the changing pad when she was really little. No wonder she doesn't mind, it must remind her of that too.

6. Miss C is really sweet. I knew this all along but she did something the other day at the center that showed her teachers how sympathetic she can be. One of the little boys was crying so Miss C went over to him and started patting him on the back! She knows this because when she cries or isn't feeling well, we hold her and pat her on the back. When she hugs us, she puts both arms over one shoulder and does the same so its no great surprise that she applies this to kids her age.

That pretty much catches ya'll up to date. We've been spending lots of time outside since it finally seems like spring. While i started Miss C at the new center, she will be spending time with Mrs J while I am on the funny shifts (ya know, anything other than days) but I will try to keep getting her there from time to time until my next day string to make sure that she is still comfortable. Hopefully I will be done with this silly stuff right after her birthday!

Well, hope ya'll enjoyed this. If you have any suggestions/thoughts/etc, please share!

Did I just get yelled at?

Miss C has been signing a lot more lately, at least trying to. Compound that with the transition to formula and my work schedule, boy you have some interesting conversations! This afternoon, after I had a nap following my mid-watch (basically 11pm to 7am, sound familiar Alphagal?!), I sat on the couch with Miss C. She was sitting on my lap and started pulling at my shirt collar. I smiled down at her and said as well as signed "are you hungry? Do you want some milk?" Her response was priceless, she signed milk, hard and fast with not one hand but two! So, my question is, does that constitute being yelled at? :)))