Pulling Up

Just hours after I told the doctor that Libby wasn't pulling up yet, this is how I found her . . . acting like this was no big deal. Emma and I clapped and took her picture and then she sat down and clapped her hands, too. Yes, Libs, clap clap, yay yay- it's a big deal and I am so glad I was home on this Monday with my children to see it.

Emma loves Shelby, Shelby loves Emma

Shelby only tolerates a little bit of loving(pulling and squeezing) from Emma, then she runs off. Emma cherished this moment the other day when Shelby stayed and stayed.

One Year Stats

Libby at one year old:

22lbs, 6oz (75%) translation=HEAVY, the reason mommy's back hurts
29" (50%)

4 shots, one in each limb
Big sister Emma went to the waiting room while the shots were administered . . . she said "I don't want to hear all that crying!"

I asked the doctor about sunscreen, bugspray and the carseat. Use at least 30SPF, any kind is fine. Bugspry and sunscreen all-in-ones don't work as well as they do separtely. Bug repellent in lotion form is better so you can get it on their faces. Even though she is big enough to turn the carseat around to be forward-facing, it is still safe to leave her rear-facing. Since Emma is in the third row and Libby is in the second row, I am going to leave her rear-facing so they can talk. The doctor says it is safe to leave her rear facing as long as she's in a five point harness car seat.

I also mentioned to the doctor that she is not pulling up yet. No worries, which is what I knew she would say. She is still very much in the normal range with her gross motor skills.

Turkey

Emma attempted to go hunting for the second time Saturday morning. Chucky woke her up at 5am to go turkey hunting. You must be very still and quiet for turkey hunting. I figured they would either come back with a turkey and be very proud of themselves, or it would be a disaster with Emma crying the whole time. I was right! They got into the woods and Emma fussed and cried the whole time. Chucky was so mad when they got home I couldn't believe the child was in one piece. They could hear turkeys, and they were coming in, but Emma's fussing sent them the other way. I'm so glad I stayed home. Don't mess with a man's hunting. Emma will not be invited again until next year. Chucky isn't as steaming mad as he was when they got home this morning, he even cracked a joke about it, saying at least he came home with a turkey - the same one he left home with this morning (Emma).

Roll on!

Thursday afternoon Emma's class presented their gymnastics show. Ten little three and four year olds stretched and rolled and tumbled to music. They were all so proud of themselves! I looked at the audience full of parents and grandparents, all holding cameras and video cameras and I felt right at home. This is where I am. A mom. A proud mom with a camera. I have waited so long for this! We also have video I am looking forward to watching, and I know Emma will love to see it. It was sooooo cute!

Click here to see all the gymnastics pictures!

Chillin'

Mommy: Emma, what's Libby doing?

Emma: Chillin' on my brand new shoes

Lap-no-top

Our laptop is out for repair. Six months ago the wireless card went bad. Instead of sending my computer away for four weeks (through our Best Buy warranty) I bought an $80 external wireless adapter. Two months ago the battery life dropped down to about 10 minutes. Instead of buying a new battery for $180, we just plug it in everywhere we go with it. About a month ago, we noticed it wouldn't close tightly. Then we noticed one side of the monitor was cracking open. Then I opened it over the weekend and the entire side of the monitor split open and the hinge broke. It still works great, but before our warranty runs out, I sent it out to be fixed. I hope we can survive this. We have become so dependent on the internet that we take it for granted. We check the weather, the tv schedule, what Britney is up to, our bank accounts, our email, our calendar . . . and we shop. And I do tax returns. I'm glad this didn't happen last week! I backed everything up onto an external hard drive and said a little prayer. Please come back quickly and all patched up, laptop!

For walking, playing and carrying 22 lb redheads

OK - Crocs. They are ugly. I resisted, even when they are all my daughter would wear last summer (she had three different colors). I finally bought a pair. They are lovely, they are everything everyone says they are - the most comfortable shoes I own. We went out to dinner Friday night and I was sad I couldn't wear my ugly, comfy crocs out. I have joined the club.







Here are Emma's new shoes:

I was looking for a shoe she could wear this summer without socks that would be as durable as a sneaker and as comfortable and washable as crocs, and something she could get on and off by herself. Crocs are great, but really aren't suitable for theme parks (they'll fall off on the ride!) or hiking (hey, I have high hopes for this summer) or the playground. She has worn these every day since they came in the mail from zappos. No blisters - but they got very dirty in all our new mulch around the playset. The Teva company says not to immerse them in water, just to wipe them with cold water and dish soap. I tried that, and they were so dirty I figured the washing machine couldn't mess them up but so bad, so into the washer they went. They came out looking great, I just hope they last all summer.

Chucky even ordered a new pair of kicks from zappos and some sunglasses. We (heart) zappos.

Oh, and Libby, she does not need shoes yet for she is not walking. But you can be sure that when she is, I will have her foot measured, then order my girl something from zappos.

Birthday Baby

Click here to see all my party pictures!

Note to my kids: I made your first birthday cakes. All other cakes will be bought! Mommy is not a baker! Disasters take place in my kitchen when I attempt to bake, it is a fact. Lemon bars, cakes, cupcakes . . . I try, I really do - I have just accepted defeat and moved on.

Libby will be one year old on Monday. Her birthday party was Saturday . . . and she was born on a Saturday so technically, yes, my baby is one year old. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. Chucky assembled the new furniture we just bought for the back deck. We wiped down all the strollers and were air drying them in the sunny driveway. Greg stopped by for a visit. I fed Emma lunch outside in a stroller because it was such a beautiful day and she didn't want to come inside. She headed to the sandbox and Chucky and I sat down at the new furniture for a moment. I decided to come inside to make myself a sandwhich. I bent over to get the bread from the pantry and my water broke . . . everywhere! I said "Yes!" and walked to the back deck to tell Chucky to get moving. Before I could get to my bedroom to change my clothes, the first contraction hit me. I prayed that Martha would arrive quickly to take of Emma so we could leave. It was probably about 15 minutes . . . and that was a very long 15 minutes to me . . . in pain and a little worried this baby would arrive in the minivan. I also prayed that the Coleman bridge would not be open. I packed and tried to avoid Emma. I didn't want her to see me in pain, and I didn't want to tell her goodbye - it would just be too hard. Needless to say, all ended well - we have a beautiful girl who arrived at the perfect moment - and continues to give us perfect moments all year long. It is fun to think about that day, and it is fun to think about all the days to come - a baby is like starting your life all over again because there are so many moments to look forward to just like they are your own!

Smooshy Face

Libby has developed such a great personality . . . and she knows it! I haven't captured the perfect photograph of her "smooshy face" yet, but here are my attempts:

Happy Day

If you see this man today, wish him a happy birthday. He deserves it. He is:
funny
patient
silly
kind
compassionate
smart
calm
a hard worker
a great writer
a great family man
a good cook
aging wonderfully
NOT a smoker!

in a daze watching all the children at Emma's birthday party:

Libby's World

Libby's new word: Ball! pronounced baw! Go get your ball, Libby! Good girl! Lots of clapping and bouncing. Now her vocabulary includes dada, mama, dog, cat, more, nana (banana), ball. She also has a great ability to screech, wine and cry when it is time for milk, fuss when it's time for a nap and thrash wildly when it's time for a clean diaper.

She can crawl, and when she wants to get somewhere fast, she puts her head down . . . and sometimes bumps into things because she's not watching where she going, she just knows she wants to get there fast. She can pull up onto her knees, but doesn't want any weight on her feet and is very wobbly when I stand her up. I am struggling with the decision to get her some help, or just let her develop on her own. Emma didn't walk until she was 17 months old and it looks like Libby is on the same path. She seems on target with all other developmental areas so I'm just watching and waiting for now.

Libby's new face: smooshy face. She squints her eyes, crinkles her nose and shows her teeth. She and Emma make this face at each other for several minutes, making "mmmm" sounds at the same time. She knows she is cute and uses it at every opportunity. Hilarious.

She has a new dance move where she sways her arms from left to right. Better than just bouncing! If she hears music she stops whatever she is doing (sometimes even eating) to shake her arms and bounce along.

If I say no-no she grins at me and does what she was doing with even more enthusiasm. Stinker.

If I say "yay!" she claps. She's catching on!

32 pounds, 39 inches

Yesterday I took Emma to the doctor for her 4-year-old check up. She needed four shots and I told her this in the morning to prepare her . . . the appointment was at 3pm. She cried when I told her, she cried at lunch when I reminded her we were going to the docotor, and she cried when I told her it was time to put her shoes on so we could leave. She cried when they pricked her finger to get some blood. She cried while we waited what seemed like 15 minutes but was a really long 5 minutes between when the doctor left the office and the nurse came back with the shots. The great news that there are no shots when you turn 5 did not help at all! She screamed while two nurses and I took her arms out of her shirt and held her still for the shots. She cried in the car because she wanted the bandaids off. She cried in Food Lion when she thought about what happened to her. She cried this morning because her arms are sore and it hurt to get dressed. She cried when I left her at school this morning.

BUT I am so proud of her! Because in between all this crying she was cooperative. The doctor even noted it in her chart! She answered the nurses and the doctors questions (all except being asked to write an X on a piece of paper), she stood on one foot, she took a hearing test, a vision test, and was measured for height and weight. She even peed in a cup, which she cried about last year. This time she thought it was all a silly game and was giggling most of the time. It's the first visit to the doctor where she didn't cry at the sight of the doctor coming in the room. Maybe it's because she's 4. Maybe it's because she has come along on most of Libby's doctor visits. Maybe it's a little of both . . . but my clingy crying kid is growing up some. Mommy also got some relief when the doctor said 60% of 4 year olds are potty trained at night. So Emma's in the 40% still wearing a pull up to bed and it's not a big deal or anything we need to work on. When the pull up is dry four nights in a row then we should try no pull up. Low stress. Ok. I like it.

Girls Day Out

I took the girls and met some more girls at the Virginia Living Museum today. Emma was the big girl of the group, which included Libby and Aubrey, who is 16 months. Aubrey didn't even use a stroller, and at that age Emma wasn't even walking yet! The weather forcast called for rain all day, but we didn't see a drop. We were able to see all the outdoor animals which included otters, beavers, ducks, geese, deer and turkeys. The inside was pretty neat, too and even had some things for Libby to do. When I was putting Emma to bed and I asked her what her favorite thing was at the museum and she said Aubrey. Awww! Click here to see all of our museum pictures.