Bean had her first encounter with a swimming pool today. I know, I’m a bad mommy for not having taken a dip sooner. Truth is, I couldn’t find my bathing suit and I wasn’t feeling up to shopping. But I did come across it, and we went to a friend’s home to play. She loved the experience. Considering it’s close to 100 degrees, we might do this again over the next few days.
My mother sent a calendar that had gorgeous food photos with the suggestion I might use them with Bean. So today I quickly glued them to Bristol paper, which will make them less fragile. I’ll trim the edges once they are all dry. There has not been much time or energy for knitting or other creative art ventures, so in the meantime this must do.
The photos are from the Center for Science in the Public Interest calendar.
All I can say is, Bean is a fan of walking!
At the same time she has decided it is time to walk, it seems she has also decided it is time to move on from creamed, pureéd food. She has refused cereal and most pureéd fruits, as well as all pureéd vegetables. She has also been cutting back on milk and dawdling on the bottle a lot, so that I’m thrilled if she gets a mere 18 ounces into her a day. She adores tiny cut up bits of pineapple, cantaloupe, peaches, and pears. She loves her green beans and zucchini but is not so fond of butternut squash chunks (though she loved it before as a pureé). I look forward to when she is a year old and we can introduce other dairy, which I dearly hope she likes and is not allergic to.
The days hurry by like stock traders at work on Wall Street. This week we will enjoy a visit from two special people, and then before I know it, Bean’s grandmother will be here (Husband’s mom).
For posterity…
Scene: Dinnertime, 6:30 p.m. I am standing at the kitchen counter, Husband is leaning against the sink.
Me: I swear, Bean seems hungry every hour lately. I’m chopping up some vegetables for her. [Bean is clinging to my butt, whining in hunger.]
Him: What did you make for dinner?
Me: I made chicken ratatou–ee-yOUCH!
Him: Did you cut yourself? What’s wrong? [He immediately steps over to check on me.]
Me: Bean bit me! The little rascal just bit the back of my thigh!
Him: Oh, I thought you’d cut yourself.
Me: She bit me! She bit me! What an impatient little stinker.
Him: Well, she takes after her mother. [wink]
It was great fun, and we’ll miss you.
Guess who took steps without assistance today?
Bean took her first two when I was at our friends’ home. Then after her afternoon nap, Bean got to work again with Uncle T nearby for support. After many tries, she took three steps. They weren’t graceful, and they weren’t actually one in front of the other. But that’s why we call them toddlers!
She was thrilled. We cheered and clapped, she shrieked, laughed, and clapped. I didn’t get it on video this time. I’m sure we’ll soon have lots of movies of her tearing up the carpet on two feet.
I’ve been sick and am recovering slowly (I caught Bean’s cold). Uncle T is having a good time with us. Bean is doing her darndest to walk unassisted and today took two teeny tiny steps in succession. Does that count? We were visiting a friend at the time, so I have witnesses. 🙂 Bean’s sleep and naps are all whacky in part, I suspect, because she’s very busy integrating the walking. She isn’t drinking as much milk anymore since she got sick (I’m a little concerned), and I think she lost a little weight from being sick too. A mother’s job is worry. But she looks pretty healthy here! This was taken yesterday. There are a bunch of new photos and videos uploaded on Flickr for users who are friends and family on Flickr. In one of them she is saying the word “baby.” That seems to be her first distinct word.
Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention a few more tidbits. Bean really seems to favor the color blue. She always grabs for whatever blue toy (block, ball, bead); she will even grab it out of our hands. She now puts balls in her Tiny Love sorter without using the funnel. And she loves making the S sound; she often sounds like a leaky balloon. Ssssssssssss!
Uncle T arrived this morning via an early flight from Austin. He and Bean have become chums right away. Right now they are both napping, so I hope to get a few winks in too.
Bean is better; her fever broke yesterday. Now I have a sore throat and a low grade fever, and I hope this passes just as quickly.
My morning started with feeling punky and then turned odious. (Warning: somewhat gross details follow.) I was eating my toast at the table and Bean was playing on the floor. I had not done a visual sweep of the room as I have learned, having a cat, to get in the habit of doing. For some reason I happen to look over at ?, who was sitting by the sliding glass door playing with ochre-colored chunks of something. It took me a couple seconds that it was not Cheerios. Yep, Stella had regurgitated right there, and for a couple of minutes Bean had a ball playing with all the squishy stuff. Ugh. I caught her just before she put the hair ball in her mouth. I whisked her away, washed her off, and then proceeded to work on the mess. Thank goodness for the Spotbot. It took me about a half an hour because the mess covered about four square feet. Thus began the day.
Right now she is napping and I am stealing a few moments to get this post written. So, what is Bean doing at 11 months?
I’m in the process of coordinating her first birthday party. I’ve decided to keep things simple: serve appetizers and cake, do only a little decorating, and skip the party favors until next year. The party will begin at 2:00, and the singing and cake serving will happen at 3:00. My mother-in-law will be here to assist, and I surely will need it!
Eleven months. Wow.
No, not a radio station, and not the current heat index. That was Bean’s temperature at bedtime, and having had Tylenol. She cuddled me and her teddy bear all day, and I wore her in the Moby wrap as much as my back could stand it. I feel for her.
Earlier in the day, she even tried to be cheerful. Look at that little red nose!
My intuition was correct. Bean woke this morning sneezing, snotty, coughing, and with a fever of 101. Poor kiddo.
Not to worry, Uncle T. By the time you arrive she will be mostly over it, at least the contagious stage.
I’ve never participated in this meme before, but Gerry does so I thought I’d do a quick brain dump. Reader beware: the quality of what comes next might be less than intelligent. I should also mention that the meme focuses on 10 things one is thankful for; I wrote it more generally, though it could be said that everything on this list is something for which I’m grateful.
There is always something new to see, or a new way to see something.
Yesterday, the garage spring broke, leaving us stuck in our home because we couldn’t get it open. The property manager couldn’t get a repairman out until (we hope) this morning. We didn’t even have access to the stroller, which is in back of the CRV. No clearance to get to it.
With a busy girl who wants to do lots of things, I felt a little bit of cabin fever yesterday! Husband was also working from home all day, and a friend came over with her daughter for awhile.
Update 10:45 a.m.: Fixed!
The simplicity of this photo belies the amazing life activity that is constantly occurring within. A little sun, soil, and water combined with a biological blueprint creates such variety! This is just one example.
I sit at the dining table, just having put Bean to bed at 7:45 p.m. Husband is out seeing a movie with a friend; he deserves an occasional fun outing too. The challenge has been that last week I started doing something different with Bean’s schedule, and today I’ve decided it probably isn’t working out.
Before last week, our routine was thus:
Wake at 5:45 or 6:00 a.m., have a bottle
Play until sleepy around 7:30-8:00 a.m., go down for a nap
Up around 9:00 or 9:30 a.m., eat breakfast, play or go out
Bottle at 11-ish, play, then a second nap around 12:30
Up at 1:30 or 2:00, lunch, more play
Another nap around 3:30 or 4:00 sometimes
Dinner at 5:30, play, Husband home for dinner at 6:30
Play, bath, bed at 7:45 or 8:00
Last week I began trying:
Wake at 5:45 or 6:00 a.m., have a bottle
Back to sleep in the crib until she wakes at 8:00 or 8:30
Breakfast at 9:00
Bottle at 11:30
Nap at 1:00
Lunch at 2:00, bottle later, then dinner
Up until 7:45 or 8:00
Even though she is getting the same number of hours of sleep, I noticed with the new schedule she is cranky, more tearful, and tired. She seems to need a nap at 10 or so, but she won’t fall asleep. She has a mid-day long nap, but then ends up exhausted, clingy, and whiny in late afternoon; however, she won’t nap then either. So it makes for many many hours between sleep periods where she is just not her best self.
Tomorrow I’ll return to the former schedule and observe how this works over the next week. My hope is that she regains her cheerful balance. I think she simply needs more frequent, if shorter, naps.
I wish I had more to say, but at this time of day I’m lucky if I can form a thought at all! A novel and bed await.
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Next on my to-read list (once I can get a copy from the library): The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage
