Although I like to think of Annelise being the perfect child, she does have the occasional tantrum. Usually it's because we've told her to not do something she wants to, or because we won't let her have something she wants, like candy or her pacifier. Luckily, they're still few and far between, but I have a feeling as she continues to exert her independence as a little toddler, we'll have more of them to come.
Her tantrums right now are pretty tame. The weakest ones are when she just sort of whimpers when we haven't noticed that she wants something. She'll walk over to whatever it is, and start her fake little cry. Or sometimes she starts a tantrum with that, when she can't get something to work right, like getting food on her spoon or fork.
The next level of tantrum is when she gets upset while we're holding her, or she's in her high chair, or really, wherever, and she arches her back suddenly, and just about careens herself to the floor. She cries a lot more loudly, and makes it known that she's obviously unhappy. If we take care of whatever it is that she's complaining about, this is usually where the tantrum stops. Sometimes she realizes that she doesn't care that much, and gets over it quickly. But if not...
The final level of tantrum is a full out wailing and throwing herself to the floor, laying face down on the ground and wiggling. This has happened 2, maybe 3 times. One time was because she couldn't get the food on her fork, she really didn't want anyone to help her, and she freaked out when I tried. Since then, I make sure to ask if she wants help, and it seems like she understands that phrase and that I'll just put food on her utensil and she can do the rest. Another time was just that either Mark or I was holding her, and she really didn't want to be held at that moment in time.
Honestly, I still find her tantrums funny. Especially the full out, lay on the floor and wiggle around ones. They're usually over ridiculous things. Kids are kinda crazy sometimes, you know?
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Bed Time Routine
Annelise's favorite bed time story lately is Pajama Time! I sing it in a jazzy tune, and she really loves it. The last page is all about her getting tucked in bed and hushing down to sleep! I did some research online, and found that there's actually a song written already. As it turns out, my version is pretty darn close to how they sing it here: http://www.myspace.com/sandraboyntonmusic/music/songs/pajama-time-81010623#!
I try to read her a bed time story each night so it sort of become routine. We not so great at routine around here, though. But at least I try? I've been trying to sit her down in her rocking chair and have her hold a book that I read through with her. She's almost got the attention span for that now. But even if she wanders away for a bit, I keep reading the story and eventually she comes back to see what I'm doing. I think it's working to just read and let her figure out whether she wants to sit there and listen. Sometimes when we're reading, she tried to pull forward to other pages, or just go to the end and she says "ah-eh", like "The End"... but it's not over yet! She just gets excited? I have to force her to let the pages go in the correct order so hopefully she'll eventually understand that we're going to read it all through before "The End".
I've been trying to brush her teeth each night, too, but it's hard to do that since she always wants to rip the brush out of my hands and just gnaw on it. The toothbrush was one of her favorite teething toys, and it's still somewhat of a comfort item for her just to hold it. She got a Baby Pooh bear toothbrush for Christmas, and I've designated that to be her regular toothbrushing brush. Hopefully it'll stick.
I try to do a bath time every few nights. If we did every night, I think her skin would dry out too much. But she really loves bath time! Especially with the new squirty toys she got for Christmas! Starfishies, penguins, whales, walruses... they're all cute and Annelise thinks they're awesome. She's also got her little yellow ducky as usual, her Cheat Commando toys, and a couple of bath books. Sometimes she has so much fun, she doesn't want to get out. But she's all pruny, and really needs to. So I drain the tub, and she gets kinda bummed. But then looks forward to the nice fluffy warm hooded towel! That hooded towel she got for her birthday is the best. I should really make her a couple more of those now that I have a sewing machine of my own.
Once bath time is over, we usually have to calm down a bit by playing in her room, reading a story, or coming down for one more light snack before bed time. Bed time is usually between 8 and 9pm, but it just depends on how hectic or lazy her day was, or if she got a good nap in. We're not totally strict with routine, and try to follow her cues as much as possible. But she sometimes doesn't want to go to bed at all! Even when it's almost 9pm! That's when we know she's either hungry, or overtired and we have to let her deal with it and complain up there in her crib until she figures out she's tired and falls asleep.
She's a good sleeper, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Even with fussy bed times, she usually falls asleep within 15 minutes of laying her down. I can only really remember a couple nights over the past few months where she just wouldn't go to sleep. Poor baby... I think she was probably teething at the time, and nothing was really helping.
So there you go. Our bed time routine, or lack thereof, as we currently have for now.
I try to read her a bed time story each night so it sort of become routine. We not so great at routine around here, though. But at least I try? I've been trying to sit her down in her rocking chair and have her hold a book that I read through with her. She's almost got the attention span for that now. But even if she wanders away for a bit, I keep reading the story and eventually she comes back to see what I'm doing. I think it's working to just read and let her figure out whether she wants to sit there and listen. Sometimes when we're reading, she tried to pull forward to other pages, or just go to the end and she says "ah-eh", like "The End"... but it's not over yet! She just gets excited? I have to force her to let the pages go in the correct order so hopefully she'll eventually understand that we're going to read it all through before "The End".
I've been trying to brush her teeth each night, too, but it's hard to do that since she always wants to rip the brush out of my hands and just gnaw on it. The toothbrush was one of her favorite teething toys, and it's still somewhat of a comfort item for her just to hold it. She got a Baby Pooh bear toothbrush for Christmas, and I've designated that to be her regular toothbrushing brush. Hopefully it'll stick.
I try to do a bath time every few nights. If we did every night, I think her skin would dry out too much. But she really loves bath time! Especially with the new squirty toys she got for Christmas! Starfishies, penguins, whales, walruses... they're all cute and Annelise thinks they're awesome. She's also got her little yellow ducky as usual, her Cheat Commando toys, and a couple of bath books. Sometimes she has so much fun, she doesn't want to get out. But she's all pruny, and really needs to. So I drain the tub, and she gets kinda bummed. But then looks forward to the nice fluffy warm hooded towel! That hooded towel she got for her birthday is the best. I should really make her a couple more of those now that I have a sewing machine of my own.
Once bath time is over, we usually have to calm down a bit by playing in her room, reading a story, or coming down for one more light snack before bed time. Bed time is usually between 8 and 9pm, but it just depends on how hectic or lazy her day was, or if she got a good nap in. We're not totally strict with routine, and try to follow her cues as much as possible. But she sometimes doesn't want to go to bed at all! Even when it's almost 9pm! That's when we know she's either hungry, or overtired and we have to let her deal with it and complain up there in her crib until she figures out she's tired and falls asleep.
She's a good sleeper, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Even with fussy bed times, she usually falls asleep within 15 minutes of laying her down. I can only really remember a couple nights over the past few months where she just wouldn't go to sleep. Poor baby... I think she was probably teething at the time, and nothing was really helping.
So there you go. Our bed time routine, or lack thereof, as we currently have for now.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Christmas 2012 and updates!
This Christmas has been an exciting one, that's for sure. Of course, Annelise still doesn't really get Christmas, but she's understanding that opening boxes means fun things come out of them! Since I haven't updated in awhile, I'm going to try and recap a lot of what she's up to lately.
She's almost 15 months old. Has her doctor's appointment on January 4th for the 15 month visit. I won't be able to go, since I'll be in Ames at my new external office! That's a whole other story, but I'm sad that this will be the first doctor's visit I have to miss. Ever. Mark had better take good notes of what goes on in that appointment!
For Christmas this year, we went to Mark's side of the family, and got to hang out with the whole gang! It was a really great time, and I'm so glad we got to see everyone. Annelise especially enjoyed all the hubbub, but occasionally needed her downtime after being with so many people. The first night we were in town, we went to a local west-Mex restaurant, as Mark likes to call it, and Annelise didn't really like anything but the cheese chips or cheese quesadilla. She really likes to eat independently, so me and Grandma helped give her little bites of each to choose from. Any time we tried to give her beans or rice, she'd make a face and push them out of her mouth with her tongue. I tend to get annoyed when it happens because I want her to like lots of food! But it's really pretty hilarious when it happens. For breakfast, Grandma makes a feast of foods, pancakes, french toast, bacon, eggs cooked how you like, fruit, juice, coffee, milk, chocolate milk... Anyway, Annelise loves fruit, and is randomly picky about eggs. She likes pancakes pretty well, and sometimes likes french toast. She hasn't had a lot of bacon yet, but I think she likes that, too. She loves drinking out of her straw for juice or milk! She got to have lots of egg nog this Christmas! When eating meals, she's decided that's she wants to be independent. So, we have to give her a little fork and break up her food in pieces small enough that she can stab and get to her mouth. She's pretty good at it already. She's really not great with a spoon, though. Doesn't quite understand the scooping concept nor does she have the coordination to keep the food on the spoon if she happens to get it on there. But oh well. The fork works well most of the time! She does get really frustrated if she can't get the food on the fork in the first couple of tries. It takes some calming down or helping (if she lets me!) to get her going again.
Speaking of food, we're trying to get her to eat more different kinds of foods. She really likes most breakfast foods, oatmeal, cheerios, pancakes and such, but sometimes doesn't like eggs. She's randomly picky about veggies, but usually likes carrots. At Christmas Eve dinner, she was being really cranky, and wouldn't eat much but the dinner roll, a little sweet potato and some cranberry sauce. She might have just been tired, though... it was approaching 8 which is her early end of her bedtime. She's usually getting ready from 8-9pm, and usually earlier than that if she's had a busy day. She does have a pretty good nap and sleeping routine. I'm kind of surprised it's so regular it is, but she generally gets up around 8, naps at 12 until 3 or so, then is up till 8 or so.
During our time at the grandparent's house, Annelise practiced her walking a lot. In the living room, she'd walk between people sitting on the couch, to the chair, to the rocking chair, to the rocking chair her size, and to whoever else was around. Maybe 5 feet walking distances each way. It seemed to really build up her confidence, especially when she'd make it all the way to one side without plopping down or tripping on anything and we'd cheer for her! Yaaaaay!!! She gets so excited when we cheer and clap for her. Sometimes she'll try to do things she knows we've clapped and cheered for in the past again, just because she loves it so much. Like taking a toy in and out of her toy box over and over because we cheered the first time for her putting it away! Or when she puts on her gold or pink bead necklace, we cheered the first time because it was so cool watching her figure that out... then she does it over and over! If we don't cheer for her, sometimes she cheers for herself. It's so funny. Anyway, throughout the course of the Christmas time, she eventually decided she likes walking! Now that we're home again, she's walking everywhere, falls every once in awhile, but usually just when something's in the way. (It's still a mess in here with her little toys and things around the living room...) She's not my little baby anymore! She's a big girl who can walk all by herself!
Other new things... Annelise has a few more words she sort of says. In the mornings when I get her out of bed, I bring her into our bedroom and say, "Hi Daddy!" And usually she copies me and says, "Hi Deh-deh!" It's adorable! She also pretty clearly says "dah" when she wants down on the floor. One time a long time ago she tried to say "Pooh Bear", that came out "puh-buh" really cute sounding... but she hasn't tried to say it since that day. Sadness, especially since I was out of town. But at least it's on a Voxer I can listen to over and over again! Mark and I think she sometimes says "all done", but it's little too garbled and inconsistent at this point to really know that's what she's saying. Her latest word that she says really consistently is "uh-oh!" She started saying it in the car ride on the way home from the grandparent's house. It was just me with her, so Mark didn't get to hear it right away (he was driving the other car home). But she said it right after I heard her drop her pacifier down the the car floor beside her car seat. I copied her, and she copied me back. We probably spent a whole 10 minutes on that drive saying "uh-oh" back and forth. And now she says it for whenever she drops something out of her high chair, or loses her pacifier out of her crib, or knocks something over while walking... it's really cute!
Annelise also has enough hair to hold little hair clips with bows in her hair! She looks like the cutest little girl ever. But she usually takes the bow back out within in five minutes of putting it in. I'd love for her to wear them all the time, but alas, bows would be all over the house. The first time I put one in, I also put one in my hair to show her. She got jealous of course, and wanted me to help her put one in her hair, then we looked in the mirror, and I told her, "So pretty!" She thought she was cool stuff, you could tell. But then, she tried to grab the bow out of my hair, then grabbed the one in hers and pulled it out. So... it's not long lasting. But I'm still excited her hair is long and thick enough to hold a tiny bow clip!
Very first coloring all by herself happened today! I opened her brand new Toy Story coloring book that was in her stocking, with some included crayons, (the basic red, yellow, blue, and green) opened to the first page for her, and she colored it up! Red is her favorite... wonder why? ;) Check out her masterpiece...
Anyway, those are the latest updates. I'll end it here. This was long. Hopefully I'll post again soon! But I likely won't. Unless my facebook fills up with too many posts about Annelise and I need a better and slightly more permanent outlet for all this. Or I get inspired. You better hope I get inspired.... :)
She's almost 15 months old. Has her doctor's appointment on January 4th for the 15 month visit. I won't be able to go, since I'll be in Ames at my new external office! That's a whole other story, but I'm sad that this will be the first doctor's visit I have to miss. Ever. Mark had better take good notes of what goes on in that appointment!
For Christmas this year, we went to Mark's side of the family, and got to hang out with the whole gang! It was a really great time, and I'm so glad we got to see everyone. Annelise especially enjoyed all the hubbub, but occasionally needed her downtime after being with so many people. The first night we were in town, we went to a local west-Mex restaurant, as Mark likes to call it, and Annelise didn't really like anything but the cheese chips or cheese quesadilla. She really likes to eat independently, so me and Grandma helped give her little bites of each to choose from. Any time we tried to give her beans or rice, she'd make a face and push them out of her mouth with her tongue. I tend to get annoyed when it happens because I want her to like lots of food! But it's really pretty hilarious when it happens. For breakfast, Grandma makes a feast of foods, pancakes, french toast, bacon, eggs cooked how you like, fruit, juice, coffee, milk, chocolate milk... Anyway, Annelise loves fruit, and is randomly picky about eggs. She likes pancakes pretty well, and sometimes likes french toast. She hasn't had a lot of bacon yet, but I think she likes that, too. She loves drinking out of her straw for juice or milk! She got to have lots of egg nog this Christmas! When eating meals, she's decided that's she wants to be independent. So, we have to give her a little fork and break up her food in pieces small enough that she can stab and get to her mouth. She's pretty good at it already. She's really not great with a spoon, though. Doesn't quite understand the scooping concept nor does she have the coordination to keep the food on the spoon if she happens to get it on there. But oh well. The fork works well most of the time! She does get really frustrated if she can't get the food on the fork in the first couple of tries. It takes some calming down or helping (if she lets me!) to get her going again.
Speaking of food, we're trying to get her to eat more different kinds of foods. She really likes most breakfast foods, oatmeal, cheerios, pancakes and such, but sometimes doesn't like eggs. She's randomly picky about veggies, but usually likes carrots. At Christmas Eve dinner, she was being really cranky, and wouldn't eat much but the dinner roll, a little sweet potato and some cranberry sauce. She might have just been tired, though... it was approaching 8 which is her early end of her bedtime. She's usually getting ready from 8-9pm, and usually earlier than that if she's had a busy day. She does have a pretty good nap and sleeping routine. I'm kind of surprised it's so regular it is, but she generally gets up around 8, naps at 12 until 3 or so, then is up till 8 or so.
During our time at the grandparent's house, Annelise practiced her walking a lot. In the living room, she'd walk between people sitting on the couch, to the chair, to the rocking chair, to the rocking chair her size, and to whoever else was around. Maybe 5 feet walking distances each way. It seemed to really build up her confidence, especially when she'd make it all the way to one side without plopping down or tripping on anything and we'd cheer for her! Yaaaaay!!! She gets so excited when we cheer and clap for her. Sometimes she'll try to do things she knows we've clapped and cheered for in the past again, just because she loves it so much. Like taking a toy in and out of her toy box over and over because we cheered the first time for her putting it away! Or when she puts on her gold or pink bead necklace, we cheered the first time because it was so cool watching her figure that out... then she does it over and over! If we don't cheer for her, sometimes she cheers for herself. It's so funny. Anyway, throughout the course of the Christmas time, she eventually decided she likes walking! Now that we're home again, she's walking everywhere, falls every once in awhile, but usually just when something's in the way. (It's still a mess in here with her little toys and things around the living room...) She's not my little baby anymore! She's a big girl who can walk all by herself!
Other new things... Annelise has a few more words she sort of says. In the mornings when I get her out of bed, I bring her into our bedroom and say, "Hi Daddy!" And usually she copies me and says, "Hi Deh-deh!" It's adorable! She also pretty clearly says "dah" when she wants down on the floor. One time a long time ago she tried to say "Pooh Bear", that came out "puh-buh" really cute sounding... but she hasn't tried to say it since that day. Sadness, especially since I was out of town. But at least it's on a Voxer I can listen to over and over again! Mark and I think she sometimes says "all done", but it's little too garbled and inconsistent at this point to really know that's what she's saying. Her latest word that she says really consistently is "uh-oh!" She started saying it in the car ride on the way home from the grandparent's house. It was just me with her, so Mark didn't get to hear it right away (he was driving the other car home). But she said it right after I heard her drop her pacifier down the the car floor beside her car seat. I copied her, and she copied me back. We probably spent a whole 10 minutes on that drive saying "uh-oh" back and forth. And now she says it for whenever she drops something out of her high chair, or loses her pacifier out of her crib, or knocks something over while walking... it's really cute!
Annelise also has enough hair to hold little hair clips with bows in her hair! She looks like the cutest little girl ever. But she usually takes the bow back out within in five minutes of putting it in. I'd love for her to wear them all the time, but alas, bows would be all over the house. The first time I put one in, I also put one in my hair to show her. She got jealous of course, and wanted me to help her put one in her hair, then we looked in the mirror, and I told her, "So pretty!" She thought she was cool stuff, you could tell. But then, she tried to grab the bow out of my hair, then grabbed the one in hers and pulled it out. So... it's not long lasting. But I'm still excited her hair is long and thick enough to hold a tiny bow clip!
Very first coloring all by herself happened today! I opened her brand new Toy Story coloring book that was in her stocking, with some included crayons, (the basic red, yellow, blue, and green) opened to the first page for her, and she colored it up! Red is her favorite... wonder why? ;) Check out her masterpiece...
We also colored this one a few weeks ago, but I helped a bit with the coloring of Pooh, Tigger, and the purple tea cups. She did a lovely job of coloring the picnic setting...
Anyway, those are the latest updates. I'll end it here. This was long. Hopefully I'll post again soon! But I likely won't. Unless my facebook fills up with too many posts about Annelise and I need a better and slightly more permanent outlet for all this. Or I get inspired. You better hope I get inspired.... :)
Monday, November 19, 2012
Handedness, Standing/Walking, and More!
I think Annelise is a lefty. She tried eating her pasta today with a spoon, and got 3 spoonfuls in with her left, and none with the right. And she seemed far more frustrated with her right hand, and kept wanting to just pick the pasta pieces up with her left hand. Also, she's always favored her left hand for everything.
Annelise loves the rocking chair she got to use at her grandparent's house a couple weekends back. I think it was her Uncle Scott's? She was so funny getting in and then rocking for a bit, sticking her legs straight out as usual, of course, for any chair she sits in. Then she'll hop back out of it, play with something else for a second, and then get back in the chair and rock again! Repeat about 10-15 times. She was having such a good time!
It's been unusually warm for this time of year in Iowa. But it's great because the best way to cheer up Annelise when she's grumpy is to head outside and let her crawl in the grass! She likes to look at the rocks in the rock garden at her grandparent's house! She's so funny, because she knows she's not supposed to eat them, since we've told her as much, but she thinks she's being sneaky. She'll grab a rock, kinda lick it really fast, and then throw it over the edge. It's like she's rebelling against us telling her not to put the rock in her mouth! What a little stinker!! At her other grandparent's, she likes to crawl around in the grass, pick up leaves, and try to put those in her mouth when I'm not looking. But I'm always looking! Joke's on her!
At our place, Annelise and I like hang out on our patio, and she pulls herself up on the railing bars, and looks down to the driveway below. In our tiny little lawn, she likes to crawl back and forth, then test me on whether or not she can climb down the curb to the parking lot area, but that's a no-no! She also likes to look at the weather beacon towers. They blink red and white bright lights! I can't wait until next weekend when we put up Christmas lights to see what Annelise thinks of them this year!
Annelise has stood up on her own and stayed standing several times in the last week. She still plops down anywhere from immediately to about 15 seconds from when she got up, but it's progress! She likes to use her walker, but is so good at crawling now, she'd much rather just crawl places. I think the main reasons she likes the walker is because it makes cool sounds and I get really excited when she uses it.
For the past week or so, I think one of her molars has been trying to come through. I can kind of see the front and back of a top left tooth in the back, but not the middle part yet. She's been really cranky, waking up at all hours of the night whining and whimpering. It's so sad, and also so grating on Mark and my nerves, because it's almost nonstop for hours when it starts. We try just about everything to make her feel better, food, cold foods, stuff to chew on, Orajel, Tylenol when a slight fever hits, distractions with games or toys... I think molars are just the worst.
She has become attached to her toothbrush lately. I don't exactly know if it's related to the teething, but I'm pretty sure she loves the toothbrush because it's got both the bristled part the feels fun on her gums, and the soft rubbery part on the other end and that also feels nice to massage her gums with! She grips that thing like a mad woman, though. It's intense!
Annelise loves the rocking chair she got to use at her grandparent's house a couple weekends back. I think it was her Uncle Scott's? She was so funny getting in and then rocking for a bit, sticking her legs straight out as usual, of course, for any chair she sits in. Then she'll hop back out of it, play with something else for a second, and then get back in the chair and rock again! Repeat about 10-15 times. She was having such a good time!
It's been unusually warm for this time of year in Iowa. But it's great because the best way to cheer up Annelise when she's grumpy is to head outside and let her crawl in the grass! She likes to look at the rocks in the rock garden at her grandparent's house! She's so funny, because she knows she's not supposed to eat them, since we've told her as much, but she thinks she's being sneaky. She'll grab a rock, kinda lick it really fast, and then throw it over the edge. It's like she's rebelling against us telling her not to put the rock in her mouth! What a little stinker!! At her other grandparent's, she likes to crawl around in the grass, pick up leaves, and try to put those in her mouth when I'm not looking. But I'm always looking! Joke's on her!
At our place, Annelise and I like hang out on our patio, and she pulls herself up on the railing bars, and looks down to the driveway below. In our tiny little lawn, she likes to crawl back and forth, then test me on whether or not she can climb down the curb to the parking lot area, but that's a no-no! She also likes to look at the weather beacon towers. They blink red and white bright lights! I can't wait until next weekend when we put up Christmas lights to see what Annelise thinks of them this year!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Crawling and sickness...
[Okay, so I wrote this waaaay back on July 9, 2012 and now it's Nov 1, 2012 and I realize I totally forgot to post it. I've been slacking on writing blog posts. So here's that post from way back then...]
First of all, Annelise had her 9 month doctor's visit! She weighed 18 pounds, 6 ounces, was 29.3 inches tall, and had a head circumference of 44.5 cm. That puts her in the 43 percentile for weight, 95 percentile for height, and 65 percentile for head circumference. Basically that means she's gonna be tall like her daddy.
Next up, sickness. Annelise first started getting sick the evening of the 4th of July, might have even begun earlier that day since she wasn't letting herself take her usual naps. Regardless, by the morning of the 5th, at 5am, she was miserable. I got up and changed her diaper, prepared her usual bottle, and she drank it up mostly as usual. But.. she had a stuffy nose, coughing, sweating like she had a fever. I checked her axillary temp right after the bottle, and it was right around 97.2, which was fine. We played for a bit, then it was time for her nap. She would not go at all. The nose clogged up, and I think her throat must have been hurting... I took her temperature again and it was 99.2. Just barely below what it would be to take her to the doctor. So because she wouldn't go to sleep, I ended up just letting her fall asleep on me, which was nice because she's never done that before and I enjoyed the snuggles, but I really wish she had been feeling good. She woke up after about half an hour sounding worse than before. By that time, Daddy came and was helping out, and he eventually got her to actually nap in her crib while I went back to work. The rest of the day was spent trying to make her feel better, but even today she's still got a runny nose. :( The rest of us around here ended up getting sick throughout the weekend. First starting as a sore throat, the next day being extremely tired and feverish, and a continuing stuffy nose after that. So Annelise must have had a sore throat on the 4th, and then the full symptoms started the 5th. Basically, sad girl for the holiday.. no wonder she didn't want to stay up for the fireworks!
Even though she's been sick, she's been amazingly resilient. With the exception of that first morning, she's tried so hard to be happy. It's amazing! If she felt anything like Mark and I felt while we were sick, it was an amazing feat that she was so chipper most of the time. And to top it off, she's figuring out how to crawl on her hands and knees more! She now takes up to 4 little steps. She's also a pro at sitting up all by herself, which she's been perfecting over the last week and a half or so. And, she also pulls herself up to standing on the couch now, pretty consistently. Last night, we put the crib down to the lowest position since she's getting so strong now!
First of all, Annelise had her 9 month doctor's visit! She weighed 18 pounds, 6 ounces, was 29.3 inches tall, and had a head circumference of 44.5 cm. That puts her in the 43 percentile for weight, 95 percentile for height, and 65 percentile for head circumference. Basically that means she's gonna be tall like her daddy.
Next up, sickness. Annelise first started getting sick the evening of the 4th of July, might have even begun earlier that day since she wasn't letting herself take her usual naps. Regardless, by the morning of the 5th, at 5am, she was miserable. I got up and changed her diaper, prepared her usual bottle, and she drank it up mostly as usual. But.. she had a stuffy nose, coughing, sweating like she had a fever. I checked her axillary temp right after the bottle, and it was right around 97.2, which was fine. We played for a bit, then it was time for her nap. She would not go at all. The nose clogged up, and I think her throat must have been hurting... I took her temperature again and it was 99.2. Just barely below what it would be to take her to the doctor. So because she wouldn't go to sleep, I ended up just letting her fall asleep on me, which was nice because she's never done that before and I enjoyed the snuggles, but I really wish she had been feeling good. She woke up after about half an hour sounding worse than before. By that time, Daddy came and was helping out, and he eventually got her to actually nap in her crib while I went back to work. The rest of the day was spent trying to make her feel better, but even today she's still got a runny nose. :( The rest of us around here ended up getting sick throughout the weekend. First starting as a sore throat, the next day being extremely tired and feverish, and a continuing stuffy nose after that. So Annelise must have had a sore throat on the 4th, and then the full symptoms started the 5th. Basically, sad girl for the holiday.. no wonder she didn't want to stay up for the fireworks!
Even though she's been sick, she's been amazingly resilient. With the exception of that first morning, she's tried so hard to be happy. It's amazing! If she felt anything like Mark and I felt while we were sick, it was an amazing feat that she was so chipper most of the time. And to top it off, she's figuring out how to crawl on her hands and knees more! She now takes up to 4 little steps. She's also a pro at sitting up all by herself, which she's been perfecting over the last week and a half or so. And, she also pulls herself up to standing on the couch now, pretty consistently. Last night, we put the crib down to the lowest position since she's getting so strong now!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Fun weekend day!
Annelise had a long day today!
I woke her up at a leisurely 8:30 or so for her breakfast. She had a nice big 8 oz bottle, and most of a puree jar of apple/blueberry mixed with oatmeal.
Then Grandma came over and we were off to the Ankeny Farmer's Market! Annelise got to be in the carrier on me facing outwards this time, so she was checking out everything and smiling at everyone. She wore her super cute pink flowery sunhat that her Uncle Don, Aunt Joanna, and Cousin Wesley got her. :) It was super hot out, though, so her head got all sweaty! We only stayed for maybe 30 minutes or so, and then were off to the next place.
We went to Kohl's and Annelise got to sit in the stroller for this adventure. She was a bit apprehensive of things at first, and then we gave her Pooh bear. Then she starting jabbering away to Pooh! It was like she was telling him all the stuff she was seeing, and what she had done this morning. It was hilarious. She ate a bottle in her stroller while Mommy and Grandma continued their shopping. After that trip, we stopped at Quizno's. Annelise had some banana flavored puffs, and did really well at sitting in the high chair! Then we went back home and she took a nice, long nap.
After the nap, it was time to go out again! We were going to hang out with Don, Joanna, and Wesley for Wesley's 11th birthday party! Annelise was totally awesome sitting in her high chair at the pizza restaurant. She was smiley, chatty, and played with her sippy cup most of the time. Didn't actually drink anything, but chewed on the top for awhile. (She had some more puffs while we ate pizza.) Then we went to bowl and Annelise thought that was pretty cool. But after a while, she got noticeably irritable and would only put up with being in my arms. Which is flattering, but mommy gets tired! And other people want to hold her, too! So we fed her another bottle, and then pushed her around the bowling place in her stroller to try and calm her down. But she never really got drowsy and fell asleep. Too much noise and stuff going on!
We had planned to go get ice cream cake with Wesley after bowling for his birthday, but we ended up coming straight home because of Miss Cranky Face. We put Annelise to bed right after coming home, and she's enjoying hanging out in the peace and quiet of her room. She's not quite sleeping yet, and keeps making little squeally noises, but she'll fall asleep soon, I'm sure.
She definitely had a fun day, though! Hopefully she sleeps nice and soundly through the night! :)
I woke her up at a leisurely 8:30 or so for her breakfast. She had a nice big 8 oz bottle, and most of a puree jar of apple/blueberry mixed with oatmeal.
Then Grandma came over and we were off to the Ankeny Farmer's Market! Annelise got to be in the carrier on me facing outwards this time, so she was checking out everything and smiling at everyone. She wore her super cute pink flowery sunhat that her Uncle Don, Aunt Joanna, and Cousin Wesley got her. :) It was super hot out, though, so her head got all sweaty! We only stayed for maybe 30 minutes or so, and then were off to the next place.
We went to Kohl's and Annelise got to sit in the stroller for this adventure. She was a bit apprehensive of things at first, and then we gave her Pooh bear. Then she starting jabbering away to Pooh! It was like she was telling him all the stuff she was seeing, and what she had done this morning. It was hilarious. She ate a bottle in her stroller while Mommy and Grandma continued their shopping. After that trip, we stopped at Quizno's. Annelise had some banana flavored puffs, and did really well at sitting in the high chair! Then we went back home and she took a nice, long nap.
After the nap, it was time to go out again! We were going to hang out with Don, Joanna, and Wesley for Wesley's 11th birthday party! Annelise was totally awesome sitting in her high chair at the pizza restaurant. She was smiley, chatty, and played with her sippy cup most of the time. Didn't actually drink anything, but chewed on the top for awhile. (She had some more puffs while we ate pizza.) Then we went to bowl and Annelise thought that was pretty cool. But after a while, she got noticeably irritable and would only put up with being in my arms. Which is flattering, but mommy gets tired! And other people want to hold her, too! So we fed her another bottle, and then pushed her around the bowling place in her stroller to try and calm her down. But she never really got drowsy and fell asleep. Too much noise and stuff going on!
We had planned to go get ice cream cake with Wesley after bowling for his birthday, but we ended up coming straight home because of Miss Cranky Face. We put Annelise to bed right after coming home, and she's enjoying hanging out in the peace and quiet of her room. She's not quite sleeping yet, and keeps making little squeally noises, but she'll fall asleep soon, I'm sure.
She definitely had a fun day, though! Hopefully she sleeps nice and soundly through the night! :)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Words, Mobility, Foods, Separation Anxiety, and Teeth!
Annelise has been amazing lately. Details follow...
Today she most distinctly said "buh-buh!" as she waved her hand to me. Mark taught her to wave bye-bye to her room whenever they leave it, and I think that's the first time she put the words with the action. Then a bit later, she did the same thing when leaving my office after a quick visit during the day. We also think she said "up" when she got up from her changing table. That's a word we've been using every time we pick her up from anywhere, so maybe she's getting familiar with it? She also is definitely using the sound "mamamama" to request my presence. She uses that noise a lot when she's cranky. In general, I'm noticing a more deliberate attempt to copy our sounds of the more commonly used words in her day.
She's also a little monkey. She hasn't quite learned how to full-on crawl yet, but she can finally stay up on all fours for longer than the time it takes to just fall. I'd say, 5-6 seconds at a time maybe? She can army crawl really well now, but doesn't really like it. She much prefers standing and walking around. If I'm sitting on the floor with her, she'll get super whiny, army crawl and wiggle over, face plant in my lap, and proceed to pull herself up to standing all on her own. Maybe it seems a little unsympathetic, but I like to let her figure out how to pull herself up rather than just take her hands and pull her up to standing. The fact that she's whining the entire time is probably what makes me feel guilty and I do end up pulling her up 8 times out of 10. But she's gotta learn new things! When we were playing peek-a-boo in her crib using her bumpers, she figured out how to get to a sitting position and then pulled up to her knees using the crib rail all by herself! She's been able to get up to a seated position on her own quite a few times since then.
She loves walking around the room, and is getting really good at it. She holds our fingers while we grasp her wrists, and she'll walk pretty much everywhere with only a slight wobble now. She's also starting to figure out stairs, and with our help, she can go up quite a few on her own (with us still holding her hands), and she sort of understands how to put her feet to go down them. Check out her standing skills here at the couch...
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I'm trying to help her explore new foods now, as much as I can. Today we had banana slices with peanut butter and some chopped up pealed grapes. She LOVES peanut butter. She first tried it off her daddy's finger when he was having a bagel a while back. She couldn't get enough! So today, I put a bit of peanut butter on each banana slice and after the first slice, she figured out it was peanut butter... so she would take the peanut butter part off each banana and eat that first! She wasn't as fond of the grape slices - a bit sour - and tended to slide them either onto the floor or into the cup spot. Another food she loves (but I'm not really sure if she should have?) is potato salad! My parents and siblings came over for lunch last week and brought subs and potato salad, and of course she wanted to try some of mine. So I gave her a bit of just the saucy stuff in the salad, and her eyes got big and she seemed to really like it! Then we tried some of the softer potatoes in the salad, and she loved those, too! She's been that way with anything I'm eating around her... she'll look longingly at me, and then crawl over and start whimpering at me and pulling up on me (I usually eat on the floor in the living room area, but that might be changing now when I eat around her...). Oh, I also gave her tiny bites of my hot dogs in the crescent roll with cheese thing. She thought that was fun.
She's become extremely clingy to me. Ever since I left for Houston on a business trip a few weeks ago, after I came back, I was her new favoritest person ever. We went up to Mark's parents' house that weekend and that's really when it started. My back was so sore by the end of the weekend because she wouldn't let me give her to anyone else to hold without getting upset! She'll get super upset if I leave the room, and almost seems to not like Mark anymore because she favors me so heavily. :( It's just separation anxiety, and since I'm the one that leaves the most, she's worried about me leaving for too long again!
ALSO! I can't believe I forgot to write about this until now... SHE HAS TWO TEETH!!! They've just barely come in starting last week with the bottom middle right tooth, and the left one followed in a couple days later. I sort of noticed her pulling at her ears a couple of times, and she's been a little more cranky in general during the week or so prior to the appearance of the teeth, but I had attributed that to separation anxiety or something. Anyway, they're still teeny tiny little things, just barely peeking up above the gums. But you can definitely feel them. They're sharp! No more gummy baby mouth!
That's all I've got for today's update. Next week she'll be going in for her 9 month well visit! New doctor and everything! Hopefully all goes well for both me and her... Update will be coming next week with all her new measurements and how the new pediatrician was!
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Today she most distinctly said "buh-buh!" as she waved her hand to me. Mark taught her to wave bye-bye to her room whenever they leave it, and I think that's the first time she put the words with the action. Then a bit later, she did the same thing when leaving my office after a quick visit during the day. We also think she said "up" when she got up from her changing table. That's a word we've been using every time we pick her up from anywhere, so maybe she's getting familiar with it? She also is definitely using the sound "mamamama" to request my presence. She uses that noise a lot when she's cranky. In general, I'm noticing a more deliberate attempt to copy our sounds of the more commonly used words in her day.
She's also a little monkey. She hasn't quite learned how to full-on crawl yet, but she can finally stay up on all fours for longer than the time it takes to just fall. I'd say, 5-6 seconds at a time maybe? She can army crawl really well now, but doesn't really like it. She much prefers standing and walking around. If I'm sitting on the floor with her, she'll get super whiny, army crawl and wiggle over, face plant in my lap, and proceed to pull herself up to standing all on her own. Maybe it seems a little unsympathetic, but I like to let her figure out how to pull herself up rather than just take her hands and pull her up to standing. The fact that she's whining the entire time is probably what makes me feel guilty and I do end up pulling her up 8 times out of 10. But she's gotta learn new things! When we were playing peek-a-boo in her crib using her bumpers, she figured out how to get to a sitting position and then pulled up to her knees using the crib rail all by herself! She's been able to get up to a seated position on her own quite a few times since then.
She loves walking around the room, and is getting really good at it. She holds our fingers while we grasp her wrists, and she'll walk pretty much everywhere with only a slight wobble now. She's also starting to figure out stairs, and with our help, she can go up quite a few on her own (with us still holding her hands), and she sort of understands how to put her feet to go down them. Check out her standing skills here at the couch...
.jpg)
I'm trying to help her explore new foods now, as much as I can. Today we had banana slices with peanut butter and some chopped up pealed grapes. She LOVES peanut butter. She first tried it off her daddy's finger when he was having a bagel a while back. She couldn't get enough! So today, I put a bit of peanut butter on each banana slice and after the first slice, she figured out it was peanut butter... so she would take the peanut butter part off each banana and eat that first! She wasn't as fond of the grape slices - a bit sour - and tended to slide them either onto the floor or into the cup spot. Another food she loves (but I'm not really sure if she should have?) is potato salad! My parents and siblings came over for lunch last week and brought subs and potato salad, and of course she wanted to try some of mine. So I gave her a bit of just the saucy stuff in the salad, and her eyes got big and she seemed to really like it! Then we tried some of the softer potatoes in the salad, and she loved those, too! She's been that way with anything I'm eating around her... she'll look longingly at me, and then crawl over and start whimpering at me and pulling up on me (I usually eat on the floor in the living room area, but that might be changing now when I eat around her...). Oh, I also gave her tiny bites of my hot dogs in the crescent roll with cheese thing. She thought that was fun.
She's become extremely clingy to me. Ever since I left for Houston on a business trip a few weeks ago, after I came back, I was her new favoritest person ever. We went up to Mark's parents' house that weekend and that's really when it started. My back was so sore by the end of the weekend because she wouldn't let me give her to anyone else to hold without getting upset! She'll get super upset if I leave the room, and almost seems to not like Mark anymore because she favors me so heavily. :( It's just separation anxiety, and since I'm the one that leaves the most, she's worried about me leaving for too long again!
ALSO! I can't believe I forgot to write about this until now... SHE HAS TWO TEETH!!! They've just barely come in starting last week with the bottom middle right tooth, and the left one followed in a couple days later. I sort of noticed her pulling at her ears a couple of times, and she's been a little more cranky in general during the week or so prior to the appearance of the teeth, but I had attributed that to separation anxiety or something. Anyway, they're still teeny tiny little things, just barely peeking up above the gums. But you can definitely feel them. They're sharp! No more gummy baby mouth!
That's all I've got for today's update. Next week she'll be going in for her 9 month well visit! New doctor and everything! Hopefully all goes well for both me and her... Update will be coming next week with all her new measurements and how the new pediatrician was!
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