Cranky

Tonight was rather un-fun. Bean was exhausted after daycare. She must not have napped very well. REALLY cranky & fussy. Nothing seemed to make her happy, and she was driving us nuts, so she went to bed early and screamed for 45 minutes. She finally wore herself out and fell asleep. I gave her some Tylenol, which seemed to help her a bit. Maybe she's getting more teeth. Speaking of going to bed early, I have been up since 5:30 and sleep is starting to sound like a really good idea.

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....

I am such a slacker!!! I haven't updated this in so long it's pathetic. However, in my self defense, things have been very busy here lately. By the time I get home, get dinner ready, get her fed bathed and happy, get her to bed, make something for us to eat, do some laundry, clean litter boxes, etc etc, it is 10:30 pm and updating the blog seems pretty far down on the priority list. However, it has been bugging me and I wanted to get back into it. After all, she will be ONE YEAR OLD next Wednesday. I can't believe it. So, for those of you who haven't seen her in awhile, which is most of you, here's the rundown of what she's been up to.
No! She is not walking yet. She is still in the army crawling phase, not really up on her knees just yet. However, this doesn't slow her down one iota. We have been reassessing everything in the house and need to start baby proofing NOW. What she lacks in bipedal mobility she is making up for in language skills. She has a whole vocabulary of sounds and noises she makes now; she is begining to figure out who Da Da and Ma Ma are, but they are still used somewhat interchangeably. She does have one word, which is "KEE-EEEE" for "Kitty" and she says it whenever she sees a cat. Which is quite often.

She still only has two teeth... No new ones yet. They'll be in eventually. That doesn't stop her from eating just about anything though. She is a freak for popcorn ("What?! Popcorn? She'll choke!") which we break into small pieces for her. I put up a series of photos on Photobucket that Marc took... we have been encouraging her to crawl by leaving Hansel and Gretel trails of popcorn around the house... Its hysterical to watch her crawl to one, eat it, look around for the next one, crawl to it, eat it, repeat. Her other new favorite food, of all things, is chickpeas. Loves 'em. Give her gas, but at least she's eating them. She's been somewhat resistant to being fed lately, so finger foods seem to be the new deal. You can feed her peas or carrots or whatever, but she has decided that its really fun to make razzberries as soon as she gets them in her mouth and spray you with food. Nice. I am trying not to encourage this behavior. It doesn't seem to be working because she thinks its hilarious.

With all this crawling around, it also becomes apparent that my house is filthy and disgusting, but she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, there's nothing she loves more than finding a stale cheerio covered in lint under the stove for a delicious snack. We keep the vacuum in the kitchen, and she crawls up to it and looks into the canister of cathair filth like it a gumball machine. ("If only I could figure out a way to get IN there!!!") Good times.

Well, that's not everything, but at least its a start. I'm putting up a photo of her at the park a few weeks ago when my parents and aunt and uncle came down to visit. She was delightfully charming. She loves an audience.

I will update more soon, I PROMISE!!!

Wow! So much has happened in just the past few days. Olive hasn't shown any interest in crawling thusfar, which hasn't concerned me. Most babies her age are crawling by now, but everyone's different. Her doctor said she would start rolling places first; and sure enough, friday she started rolling across the living room floor to check something out. It was pretty cool. Since friday, it's been getting faster and faster now that she's getting the hang of things. Our house has no carpeting because of a certain four legged member of our family; we just have hardwood floors and I'm scared she's going to take some nasty falls. I guess that's all part of the learning process, but we definitely need to start exploring our childproofing options. I think childproofing can be excessive... I remember working in a hosue in Virginia one time and I had to pee and I had to get the nanny to show me how to undo the childproof lock on the toilet seat because I couldn't figure out how to open it. It was pretty embarrassing.

Olive had her first swimming lesson on Saturday! I forgot my camera, of course, but I'll bring it next week. It was fun because we both got to go in the pool with her. I was laughing because at one point each kid had to pick a floating toy out of a basket. Olive did her grandfather proud and picked the rubber crab! Such a Maryland girl. Very cute.

Today in Sunday and our hot water heater is out. We tried relighting the pilot light and it didn't do anything. I think it's the sensor. Anyway, I called the plumber and hopefully he can come out tomorrow because I REALLY want a shower. It's so cold out too, so the water coming out of the tap is absolutely icy.

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Al are somewhere in Germany tonight... They left yesterday out of Rochester to go skiing with a big tour group. Thibadeau, our cat (at my parent's house in NY) will be 15 next week and she's not doing well. The day before my parents left, she had stopped eating and drinking and was balled up in the corner. She's at the kennel this week; I know she's old, but I can't bear the thought of her dying alone in a cage at the vets' office. I hope she can hang on a little longer so she can at least be at home. She was from a totally feral litter of kittens and for weeks they wouldn't come near anyone. But one day I was out in the yard and she just came over to me out of the bushes and let me pet her and she's been with us ever since. So, I've been thinking about her a lot this weekend.

Anyway, sorry to be a downer. On a happier note, this morning when I went to get Olive up and get her dressed, she was smiling at me and I noticed that she has a tooth just starting to poke out on her lower jaw! Yea! first tooth. I can't believe how fast things are going all of a sudden. She is just learning and growing at this amazing exponential rate. She is shaking her head; not to say "No" but just because she thinks it's fun I think. She seems to do it when she's eating something she likes. And she now says "Kee" when you pick her up. Marc is passed out. I'm exhausted too. Daylight savings time is rough. Anyway, more updates this week!

Wow! March already. It's nearly SPRING!!!! I was very excited to find my chinese butterbur blooming this morning in the backyard. It looks like a lime green sunflower growing flat in the dead leaves. There's no stem, and the flower appears weeks or months before the leaves ever come out. OK ,Ok ,I know. This isn't "Mariah's Geeky Garden" blog.

Well, Olive has yet another daycare inspired cold, which she has passed on to Marc. Fourtunately I haven't gotten it... yet. Needless to say we have had several long and fussy nights this week. I think the worst of it is probably over. Saturday morning is her first official swimming lesson! Yep, 10am on Saturday, she's goin' in the pool at the Y. I think she'll love it. I will bring the camera to document the big event.

Grandpa Sue and Grandpa Al are off to Germany this weekend to go skiing and touring around, they are understandibly very excited. This will be their second trip, and I know they will have fun. Grandpa George will be going to New Orleans to compete in a marathon next week, (I think). Aunt Mary Tyler sent some very cute clothes to Olive this week, thank you very much!

Not too much else going on here... coupon mania. Can I just say that I will never pay for toothpaste, deodorant or soap ever again! It's so easy to get it free! www.moneysavingmom.com. Yes, we're turning into those people, but let me tell you, it's really really fun to walk out of CVS or Walgreen's with all this stuff and have paid $2.

Anyway, I will post swimming lesson pictures soon!