Grandmama's visit part I

I forgot to get all the photos off of the Grandmama's camera before she left. She has hundreds. I have 15 and none of them include the Grandmama. There will be another part to this post once I get those photos. It was a short, quick visit, but Penelope had a great time. They went to the park A LOT! My mom called it a park marathon. They also read Penny's favorite books over and over again. If you'd ever like a memorized recitation of I Love You Through and Through or All About Baby please contact me or my mom.

On Saturday we spent the day cleaning. Penelope is getting to the "I want to help" age. Why not start her off with the jobs we hate?
(disclaimer: the toilet was already cleaned with lysol. She just had fun swirling the brush in the soapy water)

The Grandmama and Penelope had fun drawing and painting...or keeping the markers and paint out of Penelope's mouth.
The weather was great. We took Penelope on a walk when I got home. Supposedly she walked all the way from the park. Well, when I was there she didn't want to get in the stroller or walk. Nope, she decided to sun herself on the sidewalk 2 blocks away from the house. Why is she stubborn with me?!
Here's my Mommie Dearest photo. Love the Gap! We have matching shirts.
Yay! Zoo day! (Or as I call it "The Day Penelope Allowed a Barrette in Her Hair"
Beautiful flowers at the Como conservatory
Awww...sweetheart
Mommy, Penny and the buffalo

In just a year

We went to Great Aunt Janet's for a St. Patrick's Day dinner. Here we are this year:And here's Chris, Penny and Janet last year. My baby is a little girl!!

Just adorable

This morning at 6:30 Penelope was ready to take on the world. We've been spoiled with the nice weather and taken her to the park after day care and multiple times last weekend. Well, now we are back to the 30s for a high. Still doable, just not as nice. After she had her oatmeal she became obsessed with putting on a new pair of shoes. She was quite angry at the footies on her pajamas so I stripped her down to the diaper and put on the shoes. Well, it wasn't that she wanted to try on a new style...nope...she logically thought "If I put on my shoes then I can go outside":She stamped her foot a few times when I didn't agree with her.

She got her way. By 7:30 we were out the door for a walk with Cece. Not sure why this photo looks so drab, but that's kind of how we feel after spring flirted with us.

Then we headed to the Electric Fetus record store to hear the Okee Dokee band. I highly recommend their CD for something a little different than the usual kids music. It's a lot of fun.
Here we are inside the store:
It was really crowded by the concert so Penelope danced up and down the aisles. She's a little tired of me taking photos.
Such a cutie!
I'm so relieved that I don't have to worry about the walking thing anymore. The kind of silly bonus is she gets to wear cute dresses now. Dresses just didn't work well with the knee walking thing.

After the concert we went to the Global Market. Penelope shared with me. She really enjoyed the hummus & pita, cucumbers, falafel, tandoori chicken and gyro chicken meat. So much fun. We did end up going to the park twice today but I didn't take my camera. Does this blog really need more photos of Penelope in a swing?

18 months

Time is flying so fast I feel like I should be setting up college tours for Penelope. Okay, maybe kindergarten...

We went to her 18 month check up. Here's her stats

Weight 24 lbs 10 0zs (60th percentile)

Height 31 inches (30th percentile)

Each time we go to the doctor she drops another 10 percentile in height. Remember she was 80th percentile when she was born. She did hold steady at 50 until a year, but it looks like she'll take after her mommy. Although, the doctor did say she should be taller than me. Yay! More than 5 ft tall!

I've kind of been expecting this based on her feet. I have a completely non-scientific theory. You know how dogs paws are really big when they are born, especially depending on how big of a breed they are? You always hear "wow, that's going to be a big Labrador. Look at his feet!" Well, Penelope has always had teeny feet. (Is it disturbing that I'm comparing her to dogs again? Hey, it's what I've known my whole life. I'm sure if I had iguanas as my reference point I'd compare her to those)

Check out these shoes I dug up from the summer clothes box:

They fit but are a tad too small. Well, they are for 6-9 month old babies. Chris's mom gave them to her last year at this time and they were HUGE. Her feet are still absolutely adorable. The doctor commented that she still has pudgy baby feet. Reminds me of a basset hound...okay that's my last dog reference...I'll keep them in my head.

Tomorrow we are headed to a kids' concert of the Okey Dokey band so I'll hopefully post some videos of Penelope busting some moves. (can't you hear her in a few years saying "mom, why do you say things like that. You are sooooo dumb!")

It must be good karma...

Some of my old coworkers and I are talking about getting together for a dinner/drink some time. I promised not to whine about work issues. My friend said "but Laura, what will we talk about? I've never heard you complain once about your husband" And it's true. I really don't complain much about Chris. I can't commiserate about the normal husband things I hear other women say. Now if you hang out with us this may be a surprise. For instance, if we are going some place we've never been and I've written down the directions, you'd think we were auditioning to be the next John and Kate with the amount of passive aggression and snippiness. We are definitely trying to be better about this. How else will we win the Amazing Race? A dream of mine that Chris won't add to his "must do in my life" list.

Chris's boss told to take today off as an extra vacation day since he has been doing such a great job at work. I wasn't sure what he was going to do, but it was his day he earned so I wasn't going to nag him to do anything. The house was an absolute disaster. By nature I am not a neat person. Sure, it feels nice to be in a very clean, organized place, but I often find something better to do (i.e. blog, read a book, try new recipes etc). Then by the time it gets out of control, I feel overwhelmed. My cleaning tends to consist of hours spent organizing a bookshelf, while total disaster reigns around me. I've gotten better with Penny here, and now we both clean about the same amount. Chris's college roommates can vouch that he can be messy too, but he often is bothered by the messiness before it annoys me. This is what I came home to:

Chris had gone grocery shopping and cooked the penne alla vodka with shrimp recipe I've been dying to try from the pioneer woman cook book. Of course, if you know Chris, he does most of the grocery shopping and cooking around here, but I'm trying to pitch in more.

The living room was completely clean, dusted and vacuumed. When I left there were piles of Penny's old clothes that I've been "sorting" through for weeks. One of those projects that kind of became a monster. He set up a table in the basement and piled the clothes there so I can work on it there. Oh, and he sorted and organized the obstacle course of clutter in the basement. Now I don't worry about breaking my neck walking from the stairs to the washer machine.
Then the bathroom. This is usually my duty, but he did the entire thing. The counter did not look like that when I left!
And last but not least, the hurricane that was Penny's room. Every book was on the floor and toys were everywhere. Doesn't it look great? Now we just have to find a real place for all those toys on the rocking chair.

Here's the crazy thing...he did all of this and still had time to play video games, watch a movie, and pick Penelope up a little earlier from day care. I was thanking him profusely and he said "You don't have to keep thanking me. I kind of did it for me so neither of us would be stressed out over the weekend and we could just enjoy it together"

Remember in my last post when I said my mom used to compare me to a pig? That was often followed by the sentence "You better learn to take care of yourself now because no one will do it for you when you are older" Yes, I have stepped up to the plate. I do a lot more cleaning than my pigsty 15 year old self would do, but I will say I'm utterly spoiled by marrying Chris. I must have done something extremely awesome in my past life to deserve this guy!

Well, now I'm off to enjoy a piece of chocolate cake he made from scratch.

Wordless Wednesday: Our little leprechaun

A Comparison

This was our life in New York. Every weekend Chris and I drove Cece to White Plains so we could play at the dog park. We were dog people, and just like the dogs we had our pack of friends we met at the park. They were the true die hard park buddies who were there every weekend for 2 or more hours a day. Poor Cece hasn't been to a dog park since we moved. All of the Minneapolis dog parks' fences are 3 feet high. Cece can jump the darn things from a standing position. It irks me since there is a huge dog park only a 10 minute walk away so for now she deals with her 3 walks a day (spoiled dog, I know).

Anyways, I've found some comparisons between our old life and new life. I've heard over the years that a dog's intelligence is about equal to a toddler. Not sure if this has any scientific backing. Depending on your dog you could think this is pretty cool or might think it is an insult to the human race. Or I guess a dog person looking at a toddler could think it is insulting to the canine species. Here are the main comparisons I've found.

Dog Park vs Daycare

Names--You learn the dogs/kids names WAY before you learn the parents' names. After 6 months of going to the dog park, it was a little awkward to finally introduce myself to Tyson the boxer's owner. You would think after months of shivering outside in the snow talking about dogs, weather, and basic chit chat that we would have said our names at least once. I'm trying to be better about this at day care. I'd rather not wait for little Grayson to ask Penelope to prom before I introduce myself to his mom.

Enter with a warning--Today I dropped Penelope off at daycare after her 18 month check up appt. In the morning the teachers are prepared and ready to distract each child away from the door and parents leaving. Well, entering at 11:00 meant that the kids were transitioning from music time to bibs and highchairs for lunch. Just like the dog park the new kid coming in the door was swarmed by everyone until Penelope had a melt down. There's just a few differences.

Dog park: Cece enters park without us warning owners to hold their dogs back from the gate bark bark bark (sniff butt) bark bark bark (more butt sniffing) Finally Cece has had enough, snarls and barrels through the pack to get to an open space.

Day care: I bring Penny into the toddler classroom without announcing our presence to the teachers. The children who one second before had seemed quite interested in waving scarves to music are now closing in on us yelling "hi Penelope, hola Penelope's mama, Penelope!"and reaching out to touch her. Penny turns her head into my legs and cries.

Mine! Penelope's new favorite word. Any toy is interchangeable in this point. The usual at the dog park is a yellow tennis ball, while daycare it is pretty much any toy.

Rules of mine*:

My owner/parent touched it so it is MINE.

I picked it up first so it is MINE

I wrestled it away from you. MINE MINE MINE

I know there are 4 other identical toys in this room/park. They are all MINE

Your parent/owner told you to share it with me. Thus it is MINE

You rolled it in poop. It is yours and you have to give it to your owner/teacher.

*adaptation of the Toddler's Creed

Favorites Dogs and kids quickly make favorites with other owners/teachers than you. It is heart-lifting and a twinge of sadness for me. Cece had one owner she'd go and sit down next to every time he was there. Big deal since she is generally afraid of people. At day care every day Penelope and I walk by her old baby room she wants to stop in to say "buh bye" to Irma and blow her kisses. She is already falling in love with 2 of the teachers in her toddler room too. They have such a great staff at her day care.

Maybe it is offensive to compare kids and daycare to our pooch and the dog park, but I can't help but notice the similarities. Plus, until I left for college my mom constantly compared us to pigs, and I personally find that a tad bit more insulting, even if my room was a mess.

I will say Cece is a little bit relieved that we have someone else to dress up.

Spring Forward!

We really did spring forward! The sun came out and the temps were high. It must have been in the high 50s. It was just what I needed. Yesterday I napped and hibernated way too much. This morning at 10 am sunshine was coming through the living room window. I immediately got Penelope bundled up and we headed out.

Here she is at her first trip at the park. The winter coat was still needed.
Then here she is at 3 pm on our second trip to the park. She can climb the stairs to the slide all by herself. She did it over and over again.But this is what made us really really really happy:

And no, she didn't defy gravity and learn to walk sideways. One day I'll learn I can't hold my camera vertical when I'm taking video!

Aunt Pam was right! Penelope's just a genius. Why does anyone need to walk in the winter? It wasn't like we were letting her play outside in dirty snow that came up to her chest. Now with spring here she decided it was about time. This is how we all feel about it:

Ahhh...welcome spring!

Gray days go away!

We haven't seen the sun for 7 days. None at all. The population of the Twin Cities may be in danger for rickets...okay, not really, but I think the week below 0 was easier than this week. At least it was sunny, even though it was cold. We are looking forward to 50s and sunshine on Wednesday. Very exciting. Still could get more snow before April, but overall this has been an easy winter.

Anyways, it is so wet and gray out it is hard to go outside and play. The membership to the Children's Museum was the best purchase this year. We went this morning and stayed for almost 3 hours.

Penelope spent about a half hour pushing the stroller
I love that she peeks through the canopy to see where she is going.
Lots of giggles.
Do you notice the pigtails? I got lots of advice from last week's post. The winner is my dad! Well, it was actually a woman at his office who he shares our blog with when he needs to show off his proud grandpa status. She said to show Penelope on her dolly how we comb hair and put it in ponytails and barrettes. Then after a few times of dolly being pretty, she will sit still for me. I was a little skeptical, but it worked. I did it a little different though. This morning as Penelope was trying to grab the comb I was using I handed her a comb, a barrette and her favorite dolly. She sat and did Dolly's hair while mommy did her hair. Worked like a charm!
This is Penelope saying "Mom, when will you learn that just because I did it once doesn't mean you've solved the problem? It won't work again tomorrow. I'll fight tooth and nail when you do my hair, even if you give me dolly and a comb!"

Penny's daily shots

If you ever visit during our morning routine, you'll experience screams, shrieks and possibly tears. Every morning it sounds like Penelope is at the doctor's office. And for what reason? Because Chris and I are trying to put her hair up in a ponytail. She hates it. I barely even comb any more. I try to be really gentle, but it is hard when she throws herself all over the place. It is true teamwork. She sits on my lap while Chris sings songs, reads books, and pretty much just tries to hold her still, while I rush to get as much hair as I can and twist the elastic band around it.

Here's a picture of how long her hair is now. Sort of has a mullet when it is wet.

This is how she looks after a bath. Already falling into her eyes Then this is what it looks like the next morning.

Sure, I could just let her go through the day like a shaggy dog, but she often has a runny nose, which means her hair gets stuck on her boogers at the bottom of her nose. So every time I ask her to wipe her nose, I first have to unstick a curtain of hair and deal with booger tangles. Please tell me I'm not the only mom that experiences this...

So her day to day style is this samari-like ponytail.

Up until a few weeks ago, if she felt her hair in a ponytail she reached up and pulled the elastic band out. Since this hairstyle really doesn't move she doesn't notice it so it stays in place. Forget barrettes too. She pulls those right out also.

I was never one of those girls who spent hours doing my barbie's hair, unless dyeing it with Kool-Aid counts. I hated sleepovers where the main activity was learning to french braid. Never had the patience. Now every morning as I try to do a ponytail on a screaming baby it really makes me wish I had paid attention all those years ago. Last weekend when we were at the Children's Museum I saw these two toddlers with zig zag parts and beautiful perfect pigtails. My jaw dropped. This is what Penelope looked like:

She could win "crazy hair day" every day!

Here's sort of the ironic thing. Growing up I hated looking at my little kid pics because I had the worst hair cut and my sister had these beautiful long red curls. My mom always said "You hated having your hair combed and would scream at every tangle so it was a practical haircut. Plus, you looked cute"

Penelope--You are warned. Look at the pictures of your mommy and rethink that morning tantrum.

I have to say I do see some logic in this bowl haircut. No hair to get caught in boogers, and I still had crazy bed head on Easter morning, but it looked cute rather than "Child raised by wolves" look. I have a feeling Penny will hate looking at all these pictures of her with crazy ponytails sticking out of her head so I'm not sure there really is a good solution. I'm going to wait it out and hope that soon she will like having her hair brushed. I guess we could get it cut, but it is a heck of a haircut to grow out when she decides she wants long hair and no bangs...I've got the pictures to prove it.

Penelope's favorite food

Penelope eats peas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I show her the bag of peas she starts clapping and cheering. It's pretty hilarious.

Peer pressure

Last Monday at the request of our pediatrician we took Penelope to Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare for her to get a physical therapy assessment. It was about an hour long and they were trying to get Penelope to perform her tricks. She did show her knee walking and walked a few real steps for them, but how do you explain to a 17 month old that you want her to squat to pick up a toy? I knew she wasn't doing so hot when they were asking if we've ever seen her kick a ball. We've seen her walk 10 steps at the very most, and she isn't a big fan of doing it. Soccer practice is not on her radar right now. They were very nice though. After 15 mins the PT asked "um, are you first time parents?" I guess worry was written all over our faces and in our voices. At the end we were told she is just at the far end of the development scale for gross motor development but she is still within normal. They told us to be very encouraging about her walking at all times. This is more difficult then you would think. We try to get her to get off her knees, and she turns into a screaming limp noodle, but we were working on it all last week and this weekend. They said if she isn't walking in 2 months to come back, but they were pretty sure she'd start walking on her own soon...remember she took her first steps about 3 months ago so it isn't like she doesn't know how to do it.

So then this Monday was Penelope's first full day in the toddler room. She successfully slept in a cot for 2 hours, which amazes me. I was told when they see all the other kids lie down on the cots they catch on pretty fast. I guess it is true! When I picked her up at the end of the day, she was standing across the room. I said "where's my toddler?" and she walked all the way across the room. I almost cried! She just needed some peer pressure from all those older kids. She still isn't walking much on her own, but she did hold onto my finger and walked with me all the way out of the daycare to our car and then cried when I picked her up. I'm hoping she'll be a full time walker by the time her cousin Dylan visits so they can run around together at the playground.