Stairs!

This week I discovered that Olive knows how to climb stairs. I had no idea; then, I had her in the front yard with me while I was watering flowers, and I looked over and she was climbing up the stairs to the porch. It startled me, but it was pretty cool; she was very proud of herself when she was done. We practiced the stairs inside too; Marc was a little mad at me I think. But really, I'd rather just show her how to do it and help her than completely shoo her away from them. She's going to have to learn them sometime. I think it will be fun when she gets a little older and can count as she climbs. (I painted numbers on our stair risers going up)

We went blueberry picking on Sunday with her which was fun; I enjoy the "family outings" now. She was very cute. She helped me pick raspberries; They weren't always red ones, but she was picking them and putting them in the basket. It was kind of cool to see her say, "OK, I get it. I know what we're doing." She also ate a fair amount of dirt while we were picking blueberries, but I think that babies have been eating dirt since the dawn of time; there are certainly worse things she could be eating. I made 11 pints of sour cherry jam, 6 pints of blueberry, and 7 of raspberry. I also made a blueberry pie, and I still have about 3 pounds of blueberries left over. I went a little crazy.

We seem to have regressed a little bit with the sleep issues lately. She is sleeping through the night, which i s great, but we've been having a lot more trouble putting her to sleep. We used to be able to rock her for a few minutes to settle her down and then put her in bed. No more. Now, she will just thrash around and punch you in the face. We end up just putting her down and letting her cry it out. She's usually so exhausted she just passes out after 10 or 15 minutes.

I have been working in DC a lot lately which has me pretty frazzled. I hate the commute. We carpool, but it's still awful. There's just no easy way to go. We're going to Ithaca for a few days for the 4th, it is actually my 15th High School reunion. It should be interesting. It will be nice to get out of here for a few days. I am finding work so stressful as of late.

Let's see... What else? Oh, Olive has three new teeth! The top ones are in, and she has one on the upper left side. I'm not sure how that one snuck in there undetected, but there it is.
There's a piece of blueberry pie dwonstairs with my name on it....

Raisin Rage!

We have entered the clingy temper tantrum phase of our wee development it seems. Marc had to work on Satrurday, and I spent the entire day doing everything with one arm. ( I even attempted to paint a wall with one arm belive it or not) Granted, the "I love Mommy" thing is initially cute, but after awhile it can be maddening. Saturday I was not able to put her down. At all. All day. The second I put her down, she'd start screaming. It made for a very long day. She is doing much better with the crawling though... she's gotten pretty good at it and is pretty fast. She is pulling herself up on things now, (mostly my legs) but is still pretty wobbly on her feet. She's getting there though. Marc says when he drops her off in the mornigns now its an instant cryfest. He says all the other kids come over and comfort her and try to distract her while Marc sneaks out. Very cute.

Father's Day we went to Gunpowder State Park and put Bean in the water. It was pretty crowded, but nice. Bean had a great time; she was smiling and giggling at everyone. I always forget about my tattoo; then I go to someplace like that and I feel like I'm on display at the Midway or something. It comes with the territory, I am used to that. It's just weird trying to explain a tattoo to little kids. I just tell them its a drawing of my favorite things.

We also experienced what Marc and I have dubbed the Raisin Rage... for some reason, when she sees the canister of Raisins she goes totally nuts and starts screaming and crying until she can have it. She doesn't even want the raisins really; she just wants the container. And even when she gets it, she just freaks out even more. Raisin Rage. apparently, it's the new hip thing. ("Mom, you are soooo lame.")

We also have "Oooo" sounds now... and I think we're catching on to "No" pretty quickly too. Oy. Tonight Marc is out and it was just us girls. We made quesadillas and had a tickle fight; she went down like butter tonight, so she must have been tired. It was pretty fun actually. So, that's that.

one year and counting...

She has been growing so fast it's amazing; I am looking back at the pictures from earlier posts and I can't believe how different she is. She is officially 1 now; we had a small birthday party for her on the 27th; her actual birthday (the 21st) was pretty quiet, just sharing a cupcake with Mom and Dad at home. The 27th was a much bigger party, and she had a great time. I made her my favorite tropical carrot cake with pineapple, coconut, macadamia and ginger. It takes several days to make, but it's fabulous. She got lots of new clothes, some new books and toys and some crayons. She is actually drawing a bit now; I have saved her first drawings. She knows how to hold a crayon and make marks on the paper. It's really pretty cool to watch. As if on cue, she started really crawling at her birthday party; not just doing the military crawl thing. We did get the gates installed finally; she isn't super fast, but she is very determined. She has been pulling herself up to standing a lot lately too; I'm sure she'll be walking in a few weeks.

On a side note, I had a cold briefly, but now I have a nagging terrible cough that won't go away that is really starting to annoy me. I feel like it itches every time I breathe in. I think it might be allergy related, but either way, it's getting on my nerves. I don't know why I felt a need to post that, but there it is.

Her birthday was a bit emotional for me; I can't believe how much I've learned in a year. I remember being so sad and depressed, and having everyone telling me that I should enjoy all these precious little moments. When everyone is telling you that it gets better but you feel like it never will. I remember crying one night after being so frustrated by breastfeeding problems and saying to Marc that she deserved someone better than me for a mom; someone who was more patient and loving and understanding; someone who didn't get frustrated and angry and insecure. While I still have my moments, I'd like to think now that I have grown into that person a bit more; that I have in some way become the parent she deserves. I try to be every day. It really has gone quickly; I find that she is so much more fun to be around now; we really play and laugh together and I really enjoy our time together, rather than me focusing all the time on immediate needs like hunger and sleep. But it's always changing; just when you think you've figured it out, something new comes up. Its an ongoing process. I am truly thankful for the GBMC mom's group; It has made a huge difference for me; I have met so many great people and gotten so much support and advice; I don't know what I would have done without it. I tell every pregnant woman I see to go and find a Mom's group and talk to people. We have an online group so everyone can stay in touch and post events and questions, it keeps me connected even when I'm working. It's great; I am very thankful to have it.

This weekend is John and Mary tyler's wedding reception at Sue and George's, so Olive will get to see the whole Raley family again. She loves a crowd. She's just a charmer like that. Its supposed to be nearly 100 degrees. Yikes.

So, that's what's been going on here! More later....