Fona's fav new food...

I did it, I introduced peanut butter & jelly in my back to basics approach for getting Fiona to consume more calories. I knew it would mean she may only want PB & J until she's like four years old, but didn't we all successfully make it through kindergarten on this diet? Looks like she digs it.

Hats off to you...

Daddy is such a sucker when it comes to anything that brings a smile to Fiona.

First up do hairstyling...

So pretty.

I scream...

"Fona" loves ice cream and cheese pizza, separately. Wonder where she acquired those tastes??

Loitering around, calling on her best pitiful expressions and hopeful big blue eyes, she swiped this cookies n'cream cone from grandpa. He gave it up with little fight then watched her scramble away at first not really knowing what to do with her prize. After acclimating to cold on all those teeth we have a certified ice cream gobbler on our hands.
Babies who endure two shots and
exam at the pediatrician's get what they want afterward.

Fiona went in for her 15mo check-up yesterday and we caught up on her weight, height, and milestones. She keeps getting taller and more active but hovers around 21lbs. I think in addition to being tall she burns more energy than most kids, running on maximum with little nap breaks, snacks, and "night-night" for recharging. I consider her lucky girl who may just wear whatever she wants when she's older and still get to run off with a big ice cream cone :)
Her doctor asked if she can articulate a few words and demonstrate fine motor skills...areas where I think she's way over the curve. A few words? Our day usually starts at 730am with constant chatter..."hi...hi...hi....hi momma, hi kitty, kitty..." She madly signals "more" with her hands at breakfast, urging me to fill her milk cup and cut up some more strawberries. If she sees any form of a cat or the cat walking by she grins and bursts, "hi kitty!" Another trick she's learned is volume. In the morning when I'm short on coffee and not quite ready to banter back and forth, I often whisper back "hi" and "yep, there's the kitty" so my little sponge soaked that up and now first thing in the morning she may start on high volume, but soon she lowers her head and softly whispers, "hhiii kitttyyyy...hhhiiii momma."
Although it takes much longer than me feeding her, her little independent streak demands she often hold the spoon and at least try to get some bits to her mouth. Mostly when we're out of the house she'll manage a cup and straw but at home goes for the speed of a sippy cup. Every day we see her learn more about her puzzles and pages in books. She's gone from observer to doer, pointing to pictures she wants us to name or rotating the blocks closer and closer to their correct slot. My dad seems to have a knack for teaching her odd tricks like finding her shadow, answering the phone, or clapping for herself when she's accomplished a task. She continues to love music and has added unique arm choreography to her knee bending and bouncing routine.

With good progress comes some bad progress...we have moved into to tantrum country and I'm afraid after thinking I was in the clear, separation anxiety has hit us. Sometimes tantrums involve a piercing scream, which isn't so funny and we meet with a firm "No." Other acts like this new fist clenching, red face, yell she has going on when we take something away from her or redirect her, are so hard not to laugh at I'm afraid we're encouraging them ( I need to snap a picture of this).
I've seen a whole new concerned & afraid Fiona when I leave her now. She's always been so social with strangers I thought I was in the clear, in spite of not having many outsiders watch her. With the hot weather I had been trying to go to the gym and leave her in the enormous, well stocked, kid paradise there but have little success. In fact I pretty much know I can run about 1-2miles at top speed before the overhead music stops and the loudspeaker summons me back to a hysterical Fiona held by the equally frightened teenage sitter. That situation I'm really trying to figure out as mommy needs some time to watch Oprah and burn calories.

In a nut shell, that's aour little person at 15 mos. Only a few more weeks until she's a big cousin and can pass on her pretty dresses and all she's learned.

Twinkle

No matter what every day Fiona's is a bright little light. In the months since I've religiously blogged she continues to develop a personality unto her own. The contradiction of what a big girl she is versus how much she's still a soft, little baby amazes us. More than expanding her verbal skills, she's grasping the intricacies of communication more and more. Since she was about 7-8 months old I've repeated little sign language gestures for common things like "milk", "more," "kitty," "doggy," "all done," along with the simple yes & no nods. It must have been churning around in her little head just waiting to burst out because suddenly she's tapping two hands together to demand "more" and about 75% of the time "yes" means "yes" and "no" means "no." My favorite new phrase is "night-night" or an eager nod to the question, "night-night?" She's often happy to let me know she needs her nap or is done for the day. What tired mommy doesn't like to hear that?
Somehow she eats enough but is a little pickier now-a-days, more partial to anything she can cram in her mouth herself or stuff we're eating. Favorites are strawberries, graham crackers, yogurt, gold fish crackers, green beans, cut tortellinis, and anything with marinara sauce. Before she was a year she tossed the bottles- Fona only wants a cup or sippy cup and likes it even better if it's whatever mommy or daddy is drinking. It's best to see in person but over breakfast she's gotten into the habit of popping a single cheerio a top each heaping spoon of yogurt while simultaneously sounding "boop...boop....boop..."
She loves her books and seems to understand their basic images like the bunny in the bed is going "night-night" or the duck says "quack, quack..." Brown Bear is still top on the list as she likes to be asked to find each animal as she sorts through pages searching for the right picture. After Fiona gravitated to Karen's little girl Brooke's toy kitchen and dolls, Carolyn showed up with Fiona's first baby doll. Without prompting our baby cradles and feeds her baby a bottle... what a little mommy she is!
She tools all around house steering push cars and putters about the driveway on her tricycle...She mostly enjoys the pool but is hesitant to get her face wet. Climbing, rocking her little rocking chair, sorting and unpacking anything she finds...all perfected skills. Walking, however, is a different story. Our child does not want to give up the security and speed of crawling. She can walk, she has walked, but in a flash she'll drop to the ground for a fast get-a-way or grab hold of a cart to roll out of site. I suppose there's a whole new set of precautions for avid walkers so I should be thrilled but the suspense is driving us all crazy!
If you haven't seen her lately you'll be surprised when you catch site of this little person. Here are some of the latest pics. You may notice I had to take down some of the earlier albums to make room on Google. I'm trying to figure out the best place to post video and photos and will eventually re-post everything somewhere accessible.

Bye Bye Zoe...

For many reasons this has been an "off" week. Hitting closest to home was the sudden loss of our Zoe dog this morning due to a rapidly transpiring canine illness called gastric tortion. (It's a bloating process leading to gastric twisting & constriction in large breed, big chested dogs, requiring emergent surgery, high risk of complications, and a long, painful recovery.) After waying pros & cons with the Vet Hospital staff, Jim & I felt Zoe would be most comfortable if put to rest. She was a lovely, gentle shepherd, who tolerated a toddler's growing curiosity of doggy ears and snout, and who no matter how frustrated I was with her underfoot, insisted on looking out for me with every trip I made up and down the stairs and faithfully protected my shower door. I will be a little more paranoid of that Psycho scene without my girl standing guard. :(

Zoe and Fiona April 2008.

Easter #2

Fiona last year at this time...

Only a year later and our big girl searched for treats...eggs full of dried fruit and puffs Carolyn brought over in the afternoon. Grammy unveiled a new swing that was supposed to be a birthday gift but as it was too pretty of a day she handed it over early. We had to move our festivities to the driveway when the sprinklers suddenly sprang into action.

Aside from asking "hut's that?" at everything, sometimes I think she says "no" and she's quite fond of calling for "kitty." Her aversion to meats has passed as long as she's able to hold a stick of chicken and bite off pieces herself ( I give her those pre-cooked strips from the cold cut section) and she's drinking whole milk mostly. We try for a mornign and evening bottle with cup in between but success depends on her mood.

The big day, that happens to be just 36 hours away, we plan on celebrating by taking Fiona to one her favorite, loud and colorful, breakfast diners for pancakes and whipped cream. Daddy has a few work obligations in the afternoon and Fiona has her one year MD check-up (poor booh needs a few immuniztions). We're saving the family cake and presents until Saturday as we all need to celebreate surving this first year!

The big kid's park...

February 28th, 2008

MIA

I guess I dropped the ball for a bit.

It's a gorgeous spring like day here and our active little 11 month old was itching to distract herself from yet more teeth. Jim and I took her out to a cafe then followed a line of strollers around the Folsom Zoo. Jim had never been and was as impressed as I am with the up-close experience and their rescue philosophy. With the brisk, clear weather every beast was out of their cubby.

At home it's hard to keep up with miss busy body--she's into everything thing and all over the house for hours on end. Just when I think it's nap/bed time, she surprises us with a second, third, and forth wind. She puts her head down, quietly sucks on her fingers...then bam, she's leaning back, bouncing up & down, looking at me with a big toothy grin on her face. She loves to chatter and is pretty good at declaring uh-oh both before and after she tosses something to the ground. For awhile I thought she was muttering "ow" a lot, but then I realized she's often mimicking our ultra-talkative cat, it's just a form of "meow." So, she speaks cat too. Excellent.

The worst part of the day is getting her dressed. I should really watch old episodes of Crocodile Hunter for technique in handling her rolling and writhing. There have been bets made around that task, like "I'll take out the garbage and clean the litter for the next month if you dress her this one time..." I think she's always hated changing but it's just more difficult as she gets stronger and bigger.

A new talent is dance. Toys that play music, the car radio, music on the overhead at stores and restaurants...she almost never misses the opportunity to shrug her shoulders and bob her head up and down to the beat. I love it and hope it's a sign of more rhythm than I ever had. Along with playing, to stay busy indoors I just picked out a new crawl tunnel at Ikea. It happens to be turquoise and fits into her bedroom perfectly. She loves seeing one of us peaking in the other end as incentive for her screaming little, frantic body to race through...the best $15 dollars I've spent.

Next, we're very excited to see what she thinks of the personal cake and frosting coming up in just 25 days! My mom has been working with her to hold up one finger and learn to blow out a candle for the big day.

Here's Jim, procrastinating the difficult jammies on process.

Discriminating Diet

It was bound to happen...after all those months of food being yet another, new & exciting texture to cram in her mouth, Fiona's bored with meals. Here she is avoiding my a bite, hiding behind the high chair toy. Once she rips orange elephant out and slams him to the floor("uh oh...") she uses her best head turning and lip clenching techniques to ward off a heaping spoon of plums & apples granola puree. I was a little concerned at first since her picky appetitie corresponded with the leaf incident, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable and gobbles when the urge strikes (i.e. when Yo Baby yogurt is involved). She must being getting what she needs somehow because toting her little body around leaves my neck & back perpetually sore.

Closing in on year 1...

Maybe I'm jumping the gun but time passes so quickly. It's both like yesterday and years away that I was hobbling around work , itching for maternity leave and to meet our new addition. At first she was super fussy and a lanky little lady, always in the 90th+ percentile long and 60th for weight. She was sensitive to formula or my diet and she rarely slept. Nothing seemed to sooth her. I have to write everything down because for the sake of future offspring I've managed to forget some of the horrors. Last week our friend Courtney asked if Fiona had been awake as much as their newborn...I actually had to think about it. Jim was quick to ask if I were crazy or senile. It's been a hazier memory lately because all that fuss & muss transitioned into such a fun, chatty little girl, inquisitive about every speck, and full of playful energy. She still calls upon her best tantrum skills getting dressed in the morning or when she's "not ready" to go to sleep, but no where near her former self. I'll measure her on the 29th, at her 9-10 mo check-up, but I suspect she's slowed down as she looks so petite crawling off across the floor. Now she tries eating everything, loves baby yogurt, barley cookies, Cheerios, fruits, and some vegetables, mainly the gold ones. She's not keen on meats, greens, and some others but by camouflaging behind a little yogurt, I can usually get them in- she does study the spoon more and more each bite however. At Christmas I got a Magic Bullet Blender so when appropriate I try pureeing up our dinner items for her. She drinks a bottle, but less formula overall, and we've been introducing a sippy cup at lunch and snacks. Some nights she simply wants to hang out with us a little longer, usually just to sit on my lap and watch TV quietly, but most of the time by 700-730PM she lands in her crib, rolls over with her two fingers in mouth and sleeps until about 730-8AM the next morning. What a relief! I think the most tiring part now is her energy level--she is at every cord, cabinet, pet bowl, dirty shoe...in seconds flat! She'll take a nap or two but when her wake switch flips she's up, screaming to get out and scrambling to take off. She navigates the staircase, the furniture, mirrors, windows... I looked into those fence/pens for toddlers but after I read the sizes I realized I'd need several together to keep her content. My whole house would be a pen. For now I chase, take her places, and hope she tires at some point...

She loves clapping and is easily encouraged by our cheers, "Yeah Fiona!", and she's quick to reciprocate "motorboat" noises. Unfortunately she's also into the "Uh oh," I dropped that, "Uh oh," I dropped it again, and again... phase. I think I can record "uh oh" as her first purposeful word/phrase.. I'm trying not to make it too fun of a game-the same goes for her continued biting habit and eardrum rupturing "happy" screams. For those painful little habits we try a firm "no" and a brief sit-out in the Pack'N'Play but I'm not quite Super Nanny qualified yet. Does she visit for just one kid?

Rescue 911

You may have heard last week NorCal was slammed by rain and wind. Just when we opened our big mouths to comment on how so many fences were down, how we were surprised ours hadn't toppled-as that kind of stuff happens to us -we heard the Titanic like creaking of our ancient oak tree. Down it came, right onto our house. Clearly not something the home staging experts recommend when selling a house...We're in process with insurance to clear it out into some nice firewood and repair that side of our roof. No leaks but we have some broken rafters, a squashed vent, and mangled gutters. Poor old tree was probably 50 years old and was Joey's favorite place to see squirrels from the kitchen window.

Not the end of the drama though, oh no. With all that oak tree in the yard we ended up with oak leaves tracking into the house-those sharp, rigid ones that pierce garden gloves and stab bare feet. Just perfect for a wee crawling baby to sweep up with little fingers and slip into her mouth. On Tuesday while I was at work and Jim and my mom were at home watching Fi, she managed to sneak one of those sharp little pieces of shrapnel and in no time was coughing and gagging, spluttering up a little blood, and looking distressed. Not sure if it was lodged and in seconds she'd turn blue or something Jim called 911 while he continued to try to get it out. She quickly threw it up but that didn't stop the sirens, fleet of rescue vehicles, and crew of paramedics. In no time Fi was bashfully smiling at the guys in uniform and was given a clear bill of health. Scary! Luckily I didn't call home to check in until all of this was settled as I have enough drama with patients at work. So now I'm looking into an infant/child CPR/rescue class Jim can take, maybe with my brother.