Grandma!

Last Tuesday night I was making dinner and turned around to see Amelia walking around with her grandparents' picture tucked under her arm. I had put this on a higher shelf a couple of months ago because she had started taking it down. She doesn't do that with other pictures (go out of her way to reach them), so I really think she recognizes them. That's nice - considering she only sees them every 4-6 months or longer. Grandma came Thursday (two days later) for a visit and I can't help but think that somehow she knew.

So here she is bringing me their picture, telling me all about it - and wearing her new "Crocs" (they're actually spin-offs from Payless marked down last weekend to just $5 - who could resist!).

[pictured dated 2/20/07]

Nice Day

We had such a nice family day yesterday. Nothing exciting - it was just one of those Saturdays when we didn't have a list of "gotta do's" and no farflung place to go.

In the morning we went for a short visit to her former daycare provider "Granny", who recently took a full-time job. Livia and her parents went as well since they wanted Granny to see that Livia is now walking and not just taking steps. Granny was babysitting two of the other children that Amelia knew, so it was like a nice little reunion. At one point, the three girls - all within a couple of months in age - were sitting on the piano bench and "playing" us a concert. It was so sweet! One of those "I wish I had my camera" moments, but I was glad to just have been there to see it happen. After all, not everything can be captured on film - that's why we have memories.

After that we took our old recliner to the dumpster while Amelia played at Livia's house and then it was naptime for the Energizer Bunny, er, I mean Amelia. I did some cleaning in anticipation of Grandma's visit later this week while she slept. She had a great nap and was ready to go, go, go again and we had fun playing together. She is just such a joy. We are still marveling at how tall she has suddenly become. She is also really into bringing me imaginary things - at first I thought they were carpet fuzzies or something, but that wasn't the case. She just likes to walk over to me with her arm extended, her fingers pinched together and then release nothing into my hand. She gives me her wide, whole face smile and I say, "Thank you!" She is so pleased with herself, she will repeat this two or three times.

It's also incredible how much she can eat! This morning was a typical home-made waffle Sunday for us and I've had to increase my recipe (from the Cooking for Two book) x3 to make sure there's enough (doubling it works, but it's too close for comfort - I'd rather have leftovers). And that's in addition to banana or some other fruit plus a little cereal that I will feed her. When I drink my hot tea from a mug that has a kitty or Winnie the Pooh characters on it, she points at it and makes noises like she's trying to name them. If the mug gets turned to where she can't see it, she gets upset (meaning much pointing and unh-unh'ing ensues), so I make mental notes to myself that I need to use a plain mug so I can drink my tea in peace, but then I forget. So right now she is mimicking me and drinking from my kitty mug. I will try to get it back when she's not paying attention because I really want more tea!

She can now get on her Tigger rocking toy by herself! What a big girl. She just got on him and I need to go move it away from the sharp edged furniture - and then get more tea now that my mug is forgotten.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Amelia is our sweetheart, even if she wouldn't leave the pretty white bow in her hair. (What you don't know is that to trick her into cooperating enough for a decent picture, she is chasing/following her Thomas and Percy push-n-go trains.)

Incisor Alert!

We have an incisor invading! Yes, it's true! The right bottom incisor is making its appearance in the space that was available between the existing bicuspid (I had to double check with the Daddy what those front ones are called) and brand spanking new (but now unbloody) molar. This would most likely account for the 11:30 pm waking and wailing Friday night that necessitated Infant Tylenol when nothing else worked even though there was no fever. I so rarely give her medication, but she was clearly uncomfortable and I felt like it had to be teething troubles since she's a great sleeper and it would be mean of me not to give her Tylenol to soothe her.

And what does she do with all these marvelous teeth? There's a dozen of 'em now, ya know! She eats (among other things) peas. PEAS. Gobbles 'em up. Can't put them on her tray fast enough so I just give her the entire bowl now. She'll still eat them from a baby food jar, too. Blech. I love all vegetables with the exception of beets and peas. And I hate peas. Daddy hates peas. Grandma hates peas. Amelia LOVES peas. Where does she get this love of peas I wonder?!? We have no milkman, so it can't be him. Not yet a teenager but already she shows her individuality. What's next, I wonder. No, I'm not introducing her to beets - those she will have to find on her own.

[picture dated 2/7/07]

Cow Slippers & Deesh (Fish)

So last Sunday my feet are feeling cold and I pull out my cow slippers for the first time in a looooong time. Well, Amelia was completely put out and started whining in a very despairing and hurt way (you should have seen the look of utter betrayal on her face) as she tried to pick up the cow from its head while it was still on my foot. I recognized that she probably thought that I was somehow wearing her cow slippers, so as quickly as possible, I scooped her up and went to her room where we promptly put on her cow slippers and all was well. She was so much happier. For fun, I let my cows talk to and kiss her cows and she thought that was just wonderful.

Lately, any time we're in the bathroom for any reason Amelia toddles in and starts pointing to various things on our shower curtain. It's a fun game actually. She knows duck and recognizes them whether they're yellow, brown or whatever. So she easily spots and names most of the ducks and I've been trying to teach her the other things. We're getting close - fish comes out 'deesh', but it's certainly distinctive from 'dis' and 'dat' which she says when she points to stuff near and far all day long.

[pictures dated 2/4 & 2/3/07]

Teeth! Molars!

So I follow up a biting post with a teething post - seems appropriate, no?

A week or so ago, as Amelia's drooling necessitated yet another dry bib that day, a friend asked me if I had run my finger on her gums to determine which tooth was coming in. I was shocked at the thought of putting my finger into my daughter's razor-, er, teeth-infested mouth because I was sure to come away with no new knowledge except for the confirmation that yes, my finger hurts A LOT when clamped down on by either Amelia's sharp teeth or strong gums. But, I have to admit, I've been curious. So yesterday I finally decided to try to figure out what was going on and tried to get Amelia to cooperate by opening her mouth. Yeah, 16 month-old and cooperation are synonyms, right? I tried laying her down and making her giggle - didn't work. I opened my mouth wide in hopes of her mimicking me - didn't work. And yes, I even thought about putting my finger in there after all, but then I thought, ah, I'll get the flashlight. Well, this was fun! And Mommy learned that there are THREE more teeth making their appearance!!! (an exclamation point for each tooth - did you notice?) And not only are these teeth, but they are molars. There are gaps where her incisors will appear and then right behind the gap on her upper gum there are two sides of what will be a molar - four little white shards on each gum sitting there like they've always been there. The bottom right (my left), though, looked a little angry. This tooth was a lot more pronouced and there appeared to be some gum still covering the side. And a little blood. Poor thing. I'm not worried about the blood - I had just finished feeding her and she kept grabbing the spoon to shove in her mouth and gnaw ("teeth") on in that exact location. So this will bring her tooth count up to 11. Wow. And she really hasn't been fussy, even at night, and I am grateful this teething thing hasn't been a horrible experience for her (or us). I am glad I looked in her mouth, though, because I'll know to offer her more frozen treats in the coming weeks (like vanilla ice cream and some of the frozen mango we have) as these teeth continue to grow and that fourth one decides to make its appearance.