Baby Bully

MVJ LOVES babies.  She loves them a little bit TOO much at times.  And she is turning into an overexcited baby bully.  Yikes!  When she gets together with her friends, she is the one screaming in their faces, tugging on their ears and even knocking them over in a rush to see them, give them lovies, and just generally learn about other beings.  She just gets so excited and can't help herself!  It seems like all of her friends are docile and easy going.  Poor things.  I hope she settles down and hope they can defend themselves soon!

Her favorite books are the ones where real babies are pictured.  All I have to do is turn the page and say, "Where's the baby?" to get a big smile and squeal!  She loves the mirror.  Again, a simple "Where's the baby?" or "Who's that cute girl?" elicits a very happy response.

Dental Issues

I am such a bad Mommy.  I haven't been very faithful about brushing my daughter's teeth until recently.  But seriously, WHO would stick her finger protected only by the thin film of her finger tooth brush into a baby's mouth --- especially a mischievous baby with SIX teeth??!  But lately MVJ has taken a huge interest in me brushing my teeth.  Oh, that and her breath started to stink!  I blame eating more "table food".  My baby's getting so big!  Another milestone to check off the list: bad breath.  Oh dear!  Anyways, I've started brushing her teeth at least twice a day.  She LOVES it.  And she's usually really good.  Thank goodness!

As I'm beginning to notice, her attention span is like 2.7 seconds, so breaking up the monotony of herding her away from electronics is a good thing.  I DO think we can try a big girl toothbrush soon too, which is exciting.  Just now as I've been writing this I tried to find the technical name for the "finger tooth brush" so I went to Target's website, only to find out that IS the technical name.  But, after entering "baby toothbrush" this is what came up.  That baby looks way too happy - must be a good thing!  And three months and up?  Where have I been??

Another dental issue?  Men, you can go ahead and be done reading now.  While MVJ hasn't bit me for a very long time, her teeth are just so big that she has been injuring me (a lot) during breastfeeding.  OUCH!  I cried one time.  Seriously.  There has been blood after her eating.  I contacted... well... my SIL LJ's friend, but now I consider her my friend too!... anyways my friend TN for advice.  She gave me some really valuable suggestions, among them a thing called a nipple shield.  I thought like that sounded like an easy fix and tried it out.  Little miss sassy herself was not, I repeat NOT ok with Mommy changing up her feeding situation and ripped it off of me.  OUCH x10.  SO, I have not used one again, and have instead used lots of lansinoh cream to help sooth my skin while it heals.  It has gotten a much thicker skin and that has definitely seemed to help.  Darn vampy (vampire) baby with all these teeth!

Blegh... tests... blegh

Today is the official last day of state testing for my kids taking the actual state test anyways (Alternate Assessments start soon!).  PHEW!  I have four groups of students and read each and every test question to them (some multiple times --- like for the reading comprehension, I read the directions, then the questions/choices, then have them read the passage, then read each question/choice again!).  People.  There are FIVE Reading and Language Arts tests and FOUR Math tests x 4 groups... you get the picture, right?  I actually lost my voice Thursday, which was perfect timing (ugh), but thankfully Mrs. W. covered my morning group and Ms. M. covered my next groupie.  Yikes!  I believe I should get workman's comp!

Sometimes it's tough to read each thing and be with a small group because I know what they should be putting and sometimes they just AREN'T!  One of my colleagues said she's stopped looking at which choices her students are making because it's too depressing.  One of my other colleagues said that she purposefully doesn't read the passages (to herself -- we aren't allowed to read the passages aloud because of the skills the state is assessing is students' abilities to read and comprehend on their own) so that she doesn't know which choices are the correct answers.  This is a good plan, really, so she doesn't emphasize the right answer and all that.

I am just trying to make the environment totally relaxed.  Some kids get really nervous about these tests (and some should maybe care a BIT more!).  I guess only time will tell if all of our efforts to do well on these stinkin' tests have paid off!

Budget

So, I have to be honest.  We did awesome our first few months being on our budget.  This month... not so much.  BUT, we are still making much better progress than we did before.  We're out of our money from the envelopes today - BUT JJ still has some money in his billfold and it is close to the end of our month (ends on the 15th).  Blame it on JJ being gone for a little trip -- with eating out on both of our ends (without JJ of course I had to eat out at least a few times -- I can only sustain myself on cereal and PB&Js for so long)... or MVJ needing new toys... or MVJ's eating habits... or being sick and needing different supplies (more kleenix, more tylenol, more nyquil/dayquil, etc.)... or needing to buy treats for a few different occasions... orrrrrrr...

I knew the toughest months were coming up -- whenever it starts getting close to the holidays I feel frantic to buy presents.  I am a gift giver from way back.  I wish I were more creative and could make worthwhile projects that don't cost a ton.  Any ideas??  : )

Nine Months tomorrow!

I can't believe Miss MVJ is already *almost* nine months old!  Here's a quick update:

1) She is CRAWLING!  Oh boy!  She seemed to be such a lazy baby we didn't think she'd ever make a move, but, oh boy, she is a moover and groover!  She especially loves to get into things she shouldn't.  JJ put her down one day and turned around to see her shaking as she held a container of batteries.  It seemed like she knew she was being naughty but she was just thrilled by it.  Yikes!!

2) She waves hello and goodbye (without modeling)!  If she's being shy she won't do it, but for some reason she loves to say "buh-bye" to Daddy as I carry her off to bed.

3) MVJ loves to stand, but definitely needs help in this endeavor (not necessarily Mommy or Daddy, but it could be the couch, her toy, etc.).

4) She LOVES feeding herself, and with six teeth, she definitely has the chompers to try new food.  We're trying to build up her repertoire of "real people" food -- Daddy is more adventurous than Mommy.  MVJ has eaten chunks of banana, apple, and cheese, crackers, canned fruit cocktail, and of course cheerios.  She does NOT like cheese, but what a new taste to someone who's only had fruits, veggies, cereal, and recently meat - I'm sure she'll get used to it!  Her favs are Gerber snacks, but they get so expensive - especially when MVJ would eat them 24/7 if we let her!

5) MVJ loves medicine.  Oh man!  At least she takes it well... but hopefully this doesn't turn into a habit!  : )

6) MVJ seems to have become a cuddler.  She still does NOT like to rock, but when she gets tired, she'll stand into my lap so that I lift her up and she puts her head on my shoulder.  It's just about the sweetest thing ever!

7) Yesterday, when I went to "rescue" her from her crib after nap time, she was sitting up in the corner.  I guess it's time to lower that mattress!  Yikes!  It's only a matter of time before she pulls herself up!

Poor babe!

Last week, MVJ started getting crud in her nose, which developed into a full-on runny nose, which developed into becoming a demon baby who would not sleep ALL NIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT.  WHICH... developed into her first trip to the clinic that wasn't a well-baby check up.  WHICH developed into her very first diagnosis of EAR INFECTION.  Yuck!  My poor sweet baby girl is sick!  : (  Apparently I got ear infections quite often when I was a baby - let's hope this is NOT one of those things I passed on to my child!  Seriously, one whiff of the amoxicilan brought back memories of that bubble gum medicine that frequented our refridgerator growing up.  Once, my brother actually broke out of his crib to find more of that sweet tasting medicine...

Anyways, today I took a day of "sick child leave" (which is a fabulous thing to have I think).  I know it wasn't completely necessary since JJ is home with her, but I just had to be there.  My BABY WAS SICK!  M-m was just discontent the whole day, becoming super tired crabby and then taking about 15 minute naps before waking up screaming.  In other news, she IS still eating like a trooper... stinker!  But, at the clinic she weighed in at 17 pounds, so obviously she's not porking out as much as I thought she was! 

Decisions, decisions

Being a parent is SO FULL of decisions.  As a person who is TERRIBLE at making them, it gets tough sometimes!  I'm so glad I have the other half of the equation to help me out.  With every first in MVJ's life comes a precident as well. 

So her first Halloween is coming up quickly.  We have officially decided we're not doing the whole Halloween thang.  JJ never did Halloween and although we did, there wasn't a huge emphasis on it and definitely not on the darker side of it.  Our church does a "Hope-a-ween" and so maybe we'll do something like that when MVJ gets older, but for now it'll just be handing out candy to the friends that stop by.  BUT, we were given a supercute little costume from a friend, so I'll just have to put it on her even though we're not technically celebrating Halloween!  : )  She's too young to know the difference on that one!

This girl loves to eat

I read somewhere that breastfed babies develop good eating habits because they only eat enough -- it's not like "C'mon, you only have 1/2 oz. left, just finish the bottle..." or that mentality.  They'll eat what they need and then either just stay latched because it's soothing - but don't necessarily connect food with comfort - more mom/the cuddle OR unlatch and look for the next activity.

I've been believing that but now that MVJ is on to more and more different kinds of foods, she can't get enough.  Seriously.  It seems that she would keep eating forever if we'd let her.  She loves any and all Gerber snacks, especially yogurt melts, wagon wheels, oh and definitely the puffies.  She loves fruits.  She loves vegetables.  She even loves oatmeal (as long as she can play with it - squooshing it in her chubby little hands and getting it EVERYWHERE) - (confessions of a control freak parent here... I have to take deep breaths and remind myself that this play is part of how she learns about the world!).  She LOVES it if she can feed herself, but still hasn't quite mastered the spoon - in fact, we try to NOT let her take the feeding spoon because she jams it down her throat. 

She STILL, however, won't drink much liquid throughout the day when I'm gone.  At times she'll take a little bit of a little juice/a lot of water from a sippy cup, but she definitely doesn't go for it like when she's getting her milk fix.

300

No, not the movie this time.  It's my 300th post!  Yipee!  I don't have much to talk about tonight.  I've been so busy these last few weeks that when I have some down time I don't necessarily want to type on the computer, you know?

MVJ has been such a good little sleeper lately.  And she's so cute.  We rock for a little bit (I'm TRYING to make her a snuggler!) while I pray out loud with her (and we've also read here, but now she just eats books -- like has gotten chunks of cardboard -- so we've forgone that step for a while...).  Then I put her down and she cries until she has her blankie on (one I crocheted for her, so I feel like it's at least semi-safe in her crib with her).  Then she S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-S until she is twisted to the side.  Then she sleeps and when we come in to get her in the morning (YES, we've had two days IN A ROW of all night sleeping!) she is on her tummy.  That would freak me out, her being on her stomach, for the first few times.  But then I read that after 6 months or something like that, you should put them down on their back, but what they do after that is up to them, and it's ok.  I know she can easily flip back and forth, so I'm not concerned, it's just weird that she's a mover and groover.  Also, she loves to be so much on the side of her bed that usually an arm is sticking out the side.  One day during naptime she got her leg stuck and Daddy had to rescue her.  Sometimes her face is smashed against the rails. She's so silly.

Oh and another funny thing.  MVJ has started hissing like a snake.  What a goof!  She's teething (AGAIN -- #6 is growing rapidly and we're pretty sure both #7 and 8 are on the way on the bottom) and has been drooling like a feign.  She makes a "f" sound and with all the extra spit from the teething it really sounds like hissing.  So, this morning for example, Daddy went in to get MVJ and she was on her tummy (baby cobra pose anyone??) hissing at him!  Goofball baby... baby!

Now how did this post randomly turn into all about MVJ?  She is my life.  My sweet baby girl!

DATE NIGHT!!

JJ decided before we left for our little trip that he'd like to have a date night. We really had to twist Gma and Gpa K.'s arm, but FINALLY the agreed to babysit. ; ) JJ was the perfect hubby and let me make all the decisions. I think he just likes to see me squirm. I am NOT a decision maker and I think I've gotten worse lately. After looking at almost all of our options and taking tons of recommendations for anyone who would offer them, FINALLY, the decisions were made and off we went.

I decided on DiDonna's for supper. JJ wasn't super impressed, but I enjoyed most of the meal. We shared every part so we could try more stuff. I even ordered an Italian soda -mmm! After ordering strawberry, JJ commented that that would've been the last flavor he would've ordered for me. We're always learning more about eachother, even after 5 1/2 years of marriage. : ) We had tomato/mozz. cheese salad (with red peppers and kalamata olives), but no balsamic or oregano or anything... a little bland... and the cheese wasn't the best I've ever had. (CM [SIL LJ's mom]'s caprese salad was much better at E-fest). Then, I got to choose the main course: five-cheese manicotti with red sauce. JJ didn't like the red sauce, but I thought this part was delish -- a little bland, just how I like it!! For desert we shared some tiramisu and thought about our friend JBP, and his Johnnymisu. This was JJ's favorite part of the meal and I agreed that it was delish!

I don't think we even FOCUSED on MVJ, like we normally do even when we have some time to ourselves. It was nice. Then we went back home to feed her before the movie, but she was sleeping! We headed out for "The Proposal" (my choice of course). It was a cute movie, with some funny parts, overall a little predictable but nice. When we got home, MVJ was awake (and apparently had been for just about the whole movie) and ready to eat, after refusing two different bottles/sippy cups. Stinker! Good thing she's so cute! ; ) She slept ok Saturday night, but I think she kept waking up because she was cold - she kept kicking off her blankies, and Gma and Gpa K's house (along with practically EVERYONE'S residence) is colder than our HOT apartment (I blame it on living next to the boiler room).

Trip to B-Town

I had a conference in my hometown this week (Wed-Fri) and it worked p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y. It was great to spend some extra time with my family and MVJ really warmed up to Gma and Gpa K, which was so great to see! They have a little chair that has tons of little learning things around it, which sing and make noise. MVJ was in heaven and it was just the cutest thing! She'd sit there hitting buttons, moving gears, and turning pages while DANCING to the music. It was the cutest thing seeing her little tush bopping around. The conference was awesome, by the way, and now I have to process all the info. that was thrown at me via presenters, speakers, books, and even the vendors. I did come away with tons of ideas... and even some math tricks! I can tell you which day any date falls on in the past and future. I was amazing my family with which day of the week they were born on. It's all supposed to be done mentally, of course, but I still have to use pen and paper -- BUT I can do it! : )

JJ had a YUCKY cold and Uncle WK had to babysit one morning. MVJ, just being herself, made sure that he did his calestethics that morning. She just worries so much about her family's fitness. JJ, after sleeping extra Thursday evening and Saturday morning (thank you Gma and Gpa, we LOVE YOU! Being able to sleep in is truly a GIFT!), started feeling much better.

MVJ got to meet Great-Great-Aunt HW, my Gpa's sister. She LOVES MVJ and sends nice notes often! We got pictures of her by the quilt she made MVJ (she does her quilting by hand... it's gorgeous work!). She ALSO got a new tooth! Ugh.. no wonder she woke up FIVE times Wed. night, FOUR times Thurs. night, TWO times Fri. night (much better), but then again FOUR times Sat. night. When this Mommy is used to getting a full night's sleep, it makes it that much harder to be thrown into no sleep - especially when listening to a dry speaker here and there at the conference. Thank goodness most sessions were an hour long, so I could get up and walk around in between!

Eight Months and Cute as Ever!! : )

Friday MVJ turned EIGHT MONTHS! Wow! Time is flying by. I don't know if I'm ready, but I ALWAYS say that. I didn't know if I was ready to get pregnant... ready to be six months pregnant... ready to PUSH... ready for a one month old... etc! : ) I love my baby girl. She is so sweet. Here is a very quick recap of her eigth month (I have a calendar that I write on every day):

*Went with Mommy and Daddy to sand volleyball
*Such a sitter! Plays with O's, A's, G's and J's!! Has first teething biscuit!
*THIRD TOOTH!
*BBQ with J's and O's -- first time picks up puffs by herself!
*Likes to sit with boppy behind her
*Mommy pay day! Woohoo!
*Go for NICE walk - beautiful weather!
*Mommy and Daddy WIN volleyball tourney!
*Fell asleep on Daddy (which never happens anymore) -- Mommy stole her and rocked her sleeping angel
*Errands with Mommy, attacked by bugs when walking with CJ and AJ
*First trip to the farm! Met lots of great aunties and unc's!
*Mommy coached softball; back to sleeping all night! YES!
*Grocery shopping with Daddy
*Said, "Buh-buh ma-ma" before I left for work!
*Daddy videotaped her eating her first banana!
*Daddy works double -- we go shopping! : )
*Church AND Bible Study (only make it through about half of Bible Study before DONE); supper at J's -- says "Da-da", when I tell JJ, he cries!
*Mommy coaches softball; celebrate FO's 2nd birthday!
*Loves to move from sitting to laying on tummy via boppy
*Starting to get cranky... not sleeping all night...
*Mommy has conferences - MVJ wakes up when I get home to eat!
*Gpa K's bday; Estrogenfest in Fargo - fun with the J's; FOURTH TOOTH!
*LJ soccer game, nap with Mommy, bonfire at B's
*Great Gma's bday, Fall supper at the Farm -- yum!
*Visit Gma and Gpa K while Mommy has a conference- don't sleep well in Pack 'n Play

Estrogenfest!

Every year, sometimes several times a year, my SIL LJ hosts a party celebrating good girl friends. It's a night to just socialize as women and share yummy treats. The highlight (for me anyways) is the gift exchange. So after chomping down on delicious appetizer-type food and playing a quick icebreaker involving putting together food puzzles with conversational topics on the back, we headed in to the living room for the gift exchange. I had brought five gifts. I hail E-Fest as my chance to get rid of "junk". LJ puts in the invites that it can be gently used things you don't want, like a lotion you're not a fan of the scent or a purse you barely used and don't need any more. This year I decided to be a little silly and included THREE count 'em THREE sets of these odd colored windchimes that my Grandpa got at an auction sale. Everyone was laughing at the poor gal who opened them.

Oh, I should go over the rules, because they're a little different than other white elephant exchanges I've experienced. So all the gifts go in the middle, and a couple of pairs of dice are sent around the circle. In the first round, you roll the dice and if you get doubles, you get to take a present from the middle. The dice keep going around and around until all the presents are claimed. Then you unwrap the presents you chose and put them in front of you. Next we go around and show off what we unwrapped, and people secretly decide which items they'd like to "steal". Then the dice go back around (with a secret timer this time). If you get doubles this time, you get to steal any item you want (and you don't have to trade with the person, just take the item and add it in front of you). THEN, lastly, when the timer goes off, if anyone is left without a present in front of her, she gets to choose any gift she wants to take.

So, you can see that Estrogenfests are really the place to be. LJ is an excellent host and I've gotten to know many ladies from this event. One thing I learned at this particular Efest is that I'm having trouble finding my identity apart from MVJ. I had trouble having a conversation that didn't revolve around her and when people asked about me, I could only answer with things about MVJ. I'm not complaining, but I just found it interesting. MVJ, by the way, wasn't going to miss out on her first Estrogenfest. She stayed awake THE WHOLE TIME. She would NOT go to sleep. So, several times I grabbed her (she was hanging out with Daddy and Uncle AJ watching a movie) and chatted with her on my hip. Everyone oohing and aahing at her was normal to me... and took away the need for me to struggle with conversations not surrounded by my daughter!

LJ's Soccer Game

Saturday we got a special treat. Although the weather wasn't cooperating, it was niecey LJ's soccer game day! Oh my goodness. There is NOTHING cuter than five-year-old soccer let me tell you. JJ was asking LJ all about it before her game and she said, "Well, I don't really like to run ... or kick the ball ..." First of all, since the weather was kind of yucky, there were only four girlies on her team there (including her! She wouldn't've been there either except that it was her day to bring treats!). Then their coach called them in for the huddle. All four girls sat seriously on their soccer balls watching the game plans intently. Then they put their hands in and made an animal sound. I guess they make a different one each huddle. Their team is the Seals (which gives SIL LJ a cause to use her hidden seal noise talent, much to niecey LJ's embarrassment!) Then it was game time! There is no keeping score, no goalies and no rules really even. The ball would go out of bounds and everyone would continue to race around huddle-style. Sometimes the coaches, who were also the "refs", would choose to do a throw-in, sometimes they'd just let them play. They played three-on-three and when it was LJ's break time, she'd run off and call for her water bottle.

I'm so glad we got a chance to go to her game. It was so much fun and seriously so stinkin' cute! I can't wait for MVJ to be a part of a sports team. What am I saying? Let's get her crawling first and then we can deal with bigger things! : )

Visiting the J's - Part 1

My SIL LJ called to wrap up some final details about our visit/the party she was throwing (not connected!). After we hung up, I looked at my coworker and said, "I love my SIL!" Seriously, I always look forward to visiting JJ's brother and his family. We are pretty close in age, beliefs, and now even have babies born in the same year! We are niecey LJ's godparents and SIL LJ and BIL AJ are godparents to our MVJ. It's a pretty special relationship and I treasure it. So anyways, we get to their house and after chowing down some pizza, we are just hanging out while LJ runs around the house putting finishing details to her partay (like the cucumber rolls and virgin sangria and such).

Nephew BJ (3) is trying to tell Daddy AJ, JJ, and I something, which we can't quite make out. We offer plenty of guesses and it sort of becomes a charade, poor BJ. He has one finger up from each hand and has them on his head, like horns. Here are some guesses, can you figure out what he was telling us? Big Brain? Cowboys? Beige Aaron? Finally the little guy decides to show us. On his sippy cup there are... duh duh duuuh... SPACE ALIENS! Phew! I thought Beige Aaron was really the closest of all of our guesses!