Amber clapping

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Amber's a stinker

So, for about a month now, Amber has been trying to stand/pull herself up on us.  She seems to think she can only use us though or maybe she just doesn't feel secure enough if we're not there to hold her if she wobbles too much.  And she does wobble.  She almost looks like she should have a hula hoop around her.  Probably just likes to dance like her dad.  I'm still trying to decide whether that right leg (the inverted-at-birth knee) is putting equal weight on it.  The right foot seems to want to be a step behind the left when she's standing.  A trip to the orthopod may be in order.

On Tuesday I started hearing 'nnn-da' here and there amongst the silly sounds.  When she cries a sad cry it's 'mmm-boo.'  So, she's having fun and says dad and when she's sad she says mom....  Sounds about right.  Yesterday, I was on my way out the door for work and she started to cry when I left the room.  When I came back she sighed and stopped screaming, but when I actually left after that she screamed.  All this while Daddy was holding her.  I guess she might like me around.  Either that or she was hungry and she thought she wasn't going to get anything if I left.

Amber has 2 teeth on the bottom now and I think she's working on some more because she's been biting toys and drooling and crying a lot again.  Not to mention waking up at 3 or 4 for no apparent reason, and even Daddy* can't get her back to sleep.  I end up having to feed her.  Not a good habit to form.  * When Amber was getting up in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, and I thought she was hungry so I would feed her, I was losing way too much sleep.  She didn't seem to eat when she would wake up later in the morning so we figured she'd just gotten herself on a weird schedule by habit.  Ken started getting up when she would stir and as soon as she would see him coming she jerked her head to the side and went back to sleep (that what she does when he puts her to bed at night)!  Problem solved!  I get to stay in bed and not wake too much and not lose an hour of sleep feeding her, and Ken gets to pop out of bed and right back in after re-swaddling her and only lose 5 minutes of sleep. 
This better start working again soon.  Right now we keep trying Daddy first and when all else fails I feed her.  So either teething or growth spurt in progress...

Along with trying to pull herself up, from a seated position she bops up and down like she's either going to stand up or go on her hands to crawl.  She'll reach way out to get a toy or something and sit back up, too, but she's never happy on all fours or on her tummy.  And the magic of the changing table has completely disappeared (used to make her chatty and happy- no more).  So she screams a lot when she's laying down.  Rolling from back to tummy and crawling are going to take a while.

I think my favorite and most recent milestone would be clapping (pat-a-cake)!  She'll almost do it on demand, too!  Just say 'yaaaaaaaaaay' and clap a few times and she'll clap, too :)

I'm back

I should be sleeping and I'll kick myself in the morning but for once I had to take advantage of this late night inspiration... Andrew's birthday party is finally up!  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to post what Amber's been up :)  Oh and if you've been having trouble leaving comments it should be easier now- I changed a setting that was making it weird.

Andrew's Party

We were fortunate enough to rent the pavillion at Everybody's Playground in Horsham for Andrew's third birthday party, thanks to our friends S & J who still live in our old neighborhood (you have to pay 5x as much if you're not a resident).  It was HOT, but the pavillion had a great breeze coming through it and provided shade so it was bearable, especially since we did it early.  Poor kid turning one had his after us and it was just not worth it.

Uncle Kevin made Andrew a Lightning McQueen cake to go with his Disney's CARS theme that was spectacular.  I couldn't get the candles to stay lit (told you it was a great breeze), but Andrew didn't seem to mind.  He just wanted to eat McQueen :)  We also had a pinata my parents found of McQueen and friends in the new kid-friendly style that you pull strings on the bottom and the candy falls out instead of beating it (or friends) with a stick.  The video oughta be funny since the first time the kids pulled the streamers just came out.  Our ribbon pulling pro, Reese, was able to get that puppy to give up the goods!  Thanks Reese!

And there was lots of playing on the playground by all of the kids!  Got some cute shots of neighbors and friends, but forgot to take advantage of all the cousins together for a photo.  They're getting so big!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!  Love you!!

writer's (no Mommy's) block

This is what I was afraid of with starting/having a blog.  Writer's block.  Or more accurately Mommy's block.  I have things I want to say, but worry whether they are publishable (that is not a word, right? lol).  I want to tell you about Andrew's birthday but ever since it happened he's been making me crazy and I don't have the good vibe I want while blogging.  Not to mention I've had a total of about 19 hours of sleep all week.  So, here I am more or less complaining instead of sharing happy thoughts.  I know they can't all be happy thoughts, too, but most people want to read those instead of these sad, self-pitying ones.  And I definitely don't think you want to read about how I'd like to defenestrate things/people on a daily basis.  Did I mention I don't like my boss?  Nope, I just re-read and saw I didn't so- I don't like my boss.  I liked my boss at my old job but she had a crappy boss so I guess I didn't like it there either.  Boy, this IS turning into a gripe fest.  Please stand by while we dope up the author and look for the exciting and cheerful updates that should hopefully follow.

This is probably my newest favorite photo!

The big 3

We had a nice day for Andrew's birthday yesterday- rain, humidity, mugginess....  Didn't stop us from going to the pretzel place to order his party tray and having a pretzel dog (which the dog got half of).  Aunt Rosie came by with Claire and we went shopping at Toys R Us with Andrew's birthday gift cards from Sandrina & Jim.  We got a great Under Sea puzzle that he's already really good at, some new paints and a Color Wonder book of opposites.  Gram and Nonni came over for cake (frost and top your own cup cakes mm mmmm!) and Daddy brought home balloons, which he wanted to take to bed, but settled for leaving them in the middle of the living room for when he got up this morning.  Nice day.

my baby likes me

Today I got home from work a little late and was trying to quickly get ready to go up to my parents' for dinner when Ken brought the baby into the room.  She must not have really noticed I was home prior to this visit because she did a tiny double-take, smiled with the softest, sweetest expression on her face and gave a gentle sigh  aaaaaaahhh.  Then when she thought I was moving toward her she reached out for me to take her...
she melts my heart <3

don't cry over spilled milk

*GUYS MAY NOT BE INTERESTED OR WANT TO READ THIS*
I was in a whole lot of denial about going back to work Wednesday night.  I put off making the pot roast, I put off the laundry, I put off taking a shower till almost 5 o'clock....  So later that night I was sitting there at work, minding my own business, when my milk starts to let down.  Ok, it happens and I don't think anything of it.  A few minutes later I get up from my chair and feel something cold on my scrub top.  Ditsy forgot to put pads in her bra after taking a shower.  I know, I should have had some in my purse, but I usually have a diaper bag with me with spare ones when I'm out for a while.  I think there's still a set I keep in my winter coat from when I had Andrew (I wash the coat thank you)!
Wait it gets funny...  I go to the maternity floor right above the lab to see if they have any and she says no we don't keep them around (they did when I was there... damn hospital cutting costs).  So, she tells me they use peri pads, yes maxi pads, cut in two or three (cuz you know how HUGE the ones are that you use after delivery) "stuffed in there."  I thank her, take them and march back to the lab.  Um, no.  So I called the other maternity floor and thankfully they had normal bra pads on hand so I didn't have to walk around with GIANT rectangles introducing the girls the rest of the night.

Ken's vacation = my vacation

Ken's vacation must be over, my voice is getting louder.  I have a much higher tolerance for Andrew when Ken is around, but the short-tempered side of me does not deal well with toddlerisms alone.  Add the infant to the situation and I find myself asking why I had more than one.  The optimist comes out screaming, "Because they're awesome, they're beautiful and they're lots of fun!"  Good thing they are... ;)  And so I thank God each day for Ken Brown and all of you for your support.  Smack me when I mention wanting another one because as much as there is optimism, there is more insanity in that scenario!!

Pool time!

We got the pool out for the first time since last year because telling a toddler it's too hot to go outside never seems to get through.  Thank goodness for the beautiful tree in our back yard that provides shade after 11am.  Heat the pool in the morning sun and spend the day in the shade in the pool.  Oh yeah, add some bath toys so the sand toys don't turn the pool into a beach ;)

And we have a tooth!

Amber has been eating only a little at a time for a couple of days and biting everything in sight.  So excited to find a tooth finally erupted today!!  The little pointy devil popped out this afternoon on the front bottom left.  Way to go Ambi!  Fun food is on the way :)

Standing up!

Amber has been agreeable to standing up when supported for a while, now, but only recently showed signs of doing it on her own.  Today she was sitting on Ken's lap, leaned over and grabbed his shirt (and some chest hair hehe) to pull herself up.  Although we encouraged some repetition Ken offered his hands to hold to avoid any further chest-hair loss.  Clapping and cheering were naturally my reply to each further attempt :)
Love to watch her play with toys, too.  Such a difference in how and what Andrew took an interest versus Amber.  Speaking of- boredom has struck again.  To the rescue!

Fireworks

We almost missed them... We assumed fireworks at our decided location for this year would actually be on the 4th.  Thankfully I checked the website and found out they were on the 3rd.  The day was actually working out for us to go anyway.  Andrew slept a little later and we were out doing errands, which made Andrew's nap time later than usual, too.  With no definite plans for the evening we heated up some leftovers and got ready to head up to Peddlers Village.  Andrew was very excited.  His first fireworks last year were a big hit, and he talked about the "booming" for weeks afterward.  So, any anxiety rested in how Amber would fair.  We had never been to Peddler's Village for their fireworks and didn't know how close we would be (for the intensity of the "booms") or how being up past her bedtime would affect her mood and reaction.  Let's just say we have a happy baby on our hands, most of the time.  We were far enough away that the "booms" weren't too loud (good thing 'cause I forgot the cotton).  And we found the perfect spot to sit with no obstructions after meandering through the crowd for fifteen minutes.  Andrew even entertained the folks around us with some silly, excited dances, and lots of chatter about the fireworks starting soon and how pretty they are and how loud they can be and how Amber didn't seem scared (after we heard a test "boom").  Amber seemed mildly interested in the pretty colors, and was happy to sit and play.  I'm so glad we got to go!
Forget that we're paying for it today ;)

Reminisce

A little more than seven years ago we were married.  Three years before that we started dating.  Fast forward to the present and we still love each other, encourage each other, long to spend time together in this busy world of parenting and working.  What a juggling act I've found it to be... I never truly knew just how poor my multi-tasking skills were until I was a mom.  That's not to say I can't handle the job; I'm just not performing to my own standards (perfection) and I'm tired of things not getting done.  I do believe we are raising some pretty spectacular offspring, though.
Living in the condo in Horsham seems like a whole other lifetime ago.  And anytime someone brings up something we did in college I feel old.  Let's not even mention high school!  My least favorite part of getting older is the memory loss.  I don't remember much from yesterday let alone from high school and college unless it had a significant impact on me.  Thank goodness for my dear friends who remember well the silly young girl I was and many of the fun details of our comings and goings.  You all better live longer than me so I can remember who I am (I'll be senile by the time I'm fifty)!  But enough sad stuff- thanks for being there for me <3
Especially you Ken Brown.