Sep 06

Yes, Today is Holly’s Birthday!

Our little Holly has been over here in Utah this whole year, growing up so fast! And today is her very first birthday. I’m a little sad that we won’t have any family in town for it, especially since several people came in town for Emrick’s first birthday, but I know it will make little difference to Holly herself. And I am thinking about those of you who have been going through some stressful times this past year and more.

Holly is SUCH a sweetheart — a feisty sweetheart, but a sweetheart nonetheless. She is big on cuddles. When playing, she often stops and comes over to me and reaches for a quick hug before resuming her adventures. She likes books, too. When she wants me to read a book to her, she grabs it, carries it over to me, and thrusts it violently into my face. I mean, she literally hits me in the face with the book! But it’s cute. And when I start reading it to her, she grins contentedly and looks back and forth between me and the book.

She’s a climber, too and seems to be exceptionally coordinated. I remember when Emrick turned out to be such an early walker, his pediatrician said that he was probably very coordinated, and maybe he is, but I tell ya… Holly amazes me sometimes. It used to make me nervous when she climbed onto a couch or a bed, but somehow she has taught herself to get down safely. I have seen her use a pretty complex series of maneuvers to get herself down slowly and steadily from pieces of furniture. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not climbing on countertops (yet), only soft, seat-height furniture. But still, she looks SO graceful and coordinated when she’s climbing down from something, that it stuns me. But then, maybe it’s just my own LACK of coordination that has left me so easily impressed by her skills.

She’s also very vocal. Happy, sad, frustrated or mad, Holly has something to say! I think she will be the least reserved one in our little family.

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*The little dot by her nose is a small scab. Also, I know her nose is a little crusty, but she hates having it wiped, so I opted for crusty-nosed, but tear-free pictures over clean-nosed, tearful ones 😉

Holly weighs about 20.5 pounds and is of unknown height. I tried to measure her, but she wouldn’t hold still. Doing my very best, I came up with a number that was 1/4 inch shorter than last month’s. Assuming that my daughter is not shrinking, I think I did not get an accurate measurement!

We love you, Holly Belle! You’re our sweet, one-year-old, baby darling!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, little girl!

Aug 26

Emrick’s First Day of Preschool is Over!

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I took this picture just after pulling up to the curb to pick up Emrick. Once he was helped into the car, I excitedly asked him questions about his day and quickly discovered that he was in a very foul mood! So I began to ask probing questions, only to be left completely stumped as to what he was unhappy about. He said yes to being asked if he had fun, but he refused to say more and was exceedingly irritated by my desire to talk to or look at him. So I tried to figure out why.

“Are you sad about something?”

“No.”

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

“Oh. Are you just tired?”

“No.”

“Did somebody do something to upset you?”

“No.”

As we continued on the very short drive home, I tried again to ask him what sorts of activities he did, but my questions were met with silence. When we got home, I took him out of his car seat and he went heavy and limp in my arms, so I carried him inside. Finally, I asked again, “Are you sad that I wasn’t there?”

He grew angry. “No! I am NOT sad about anything!”

I set him on the bench in the mudroom and then went back to the car to get Holly out. When I got back inside, he had lain down on the bench and was very mopey. I put Holly in her highchair and returned to the mudroom to get Emrick. I brought him into the family room and laid him on the big green chair. I then sat next to him and tried to comfort him. I stopped asking him about preschool and just asked him what I could do or get for him. His responses were either non-existent or angry.

I texted Marcus, and told him that Emrick was behaving like a sullen 14-year-old, impatient with his nosy, prying mother. Marcus responded, “Well, I’m not sending him back if he’s going to be like that afterward.”

A few minutes later, Emrick, still lying on the green chair, said “The inside of my mouth hurts.”

Aha! He had complained of the inside of his mouth hurting right after breakfast this morning, but his mood was fine, so we figured he just bit the inside of his cheek. If he had a sore cheek all morning, though, that could explain the bad mood. So I asked to see the inside of his mouth, but he was uncooperative and told me “It’s not a spot” that hurt. After more questioning, we figured out together that what he had was a sore throat.

SO. I am operating on the assumption that that’s the only thing that was wrong. After some rest, some lunch and some children’s Advil, he was back to his old self. I just heard him laughing with Holly and saying, “You have so much teeth, little girl. Open up!” He has also been more talkative about the day, since perking up. He is assigned to stand on a yellow square during a certain activity, and he has his own spot at one of the tables. And his cubby has a fish on it. And he got to play outside for a little bit. And the teachers sang a song but not the kids.

But I reeeeeaaaaalllly hope this does not mean he is getting sick.

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I am optimistic that next time will be better (unless he really is sick, in which case we will keep him home, of course) and that his bad mood was about not feeling well rather than not liking preschool. We attended an orientation last Friday and he did GREAT with that. He was in a room with his two teachers and some other kids for AN HOUR WITHOUT ME (parents attended a presentation in a different room), and was just fine with it. So I think once he’s feeling better he is going to be fine.

Anyway, so that’s how the day went and that’s all there is to tell. Hopefully next time will go more smoothly!

Oh! Just for fun, here’s a picture of Holly right after I took away from her the empty pudding cup that she had apparently pulled out of the trash while I was writing this post! I looked down from my laptop and she had her face and tongue as far into that pudding cup as she could get them. A+ parenting!

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Aug 26

Emrick’s First Day of Preschool!

Emrick is at his first day of preschool today. Marcus just dropped him off a few minutes ago, and I will be picking him up at 11:30. He’ll be going two mornings a week.  The school we’re sending him to is a private school that offers preschool through 8th grade, and they require uniforms on certain days of the week. Emrick will only have to wear his on Tuesdays. He was pretty annoyed a few weeks ago when we went to the uniform store to try on clothes, so I expected a little protest this morning when I got him dressed. But to my surprise, he didn’t complain one bit, and in fact, looks pretty happy with his new, scholarly threads.

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I think this kid is going to have a great day! I love you, Pookie. When did you get so big?

Aug 15

Brown: A S#!^^% Hair Color, Says Boy

So I just had this conversation with Emrick, while I was wiping his bum after a poop.

Emrick: Mommy, the poop matches your hair.

Me: Humm, yeah.  I guess it does.

Emrick: The poop is brown.

Me: Yes.

Emrick: Your hair is brown.

Me: Yes.

Emrick: Your hair matches the poop. Your hair is brown like poop.

Me: It sure is.

 

You know, just yesterday I was trying to decide if I wanted to get my hair highlighted blonde again. My postpartum hair loss (yes, it’s a thing) had really kicked into high gear a few weeks ago, and I was getting sick of the tangled web of hairs wrapped around my fingers in the shower every day. So last week, in a fit of frustration/inspiration, I took the scissors to my hair and cut off the bottom several inches, and with them, all remnants of my last highlight job from 2012. So now I have a full head of 100% untreated hair, something I don’t think I’ve had since I was 13. And it’s brown. Like poop, apparently. Anyway, Emrick’s observation has just given me the assurance I needed that getting blonde highlights again is definitely a good idea. It’s the right thing to do. For me, for my family, and probably for America.

*     *     *

On an unrelated note, these pictures are from a trip to Costco a couple of weeks ago. If you view these slowly, there’s a story here that kind of tells itself.

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Aug 07

Holly is Eleven Months Old Today!

It’s ten minutes to midnight, so the publish date on this baby will say August 7th. I tried to complete this post earlier, but technical difficulties prevented it.

My sweet and strong Holly Belle is eleven months old today. Can you believe that we’ll be celebrating her first birthday next month? Before the end of September, I will be saying that my children are one and four. That feels so strange and nice for some reason.

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Holly is a pretty good walker now, which means she is less and less tolerant of any sort of confinement or stillness. For every lovely photo in this post, I have three others that are just a blur of pink and gray! She’s not just a walker, she’s a climber, too. And a vocalizer, and a cuddler. She’s my sweetest sweet girl.

I haven’t done her justice on the blog. I need to do more to make time for blogging about her. Being home with the two kids can be so demanding, that when I get a free moment, I often prioritize other things. I do the dishes, or I shower, or I rest or do something unimportant.  But she deserves a better record of her amazingness. I will try to be better.

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I just don’t know how to put into words how much I love this little girl. Look at the second-to-last and third-to-last pictures above. I mean. Gah! What can you even say about that?

Our gorgeous Holly Belle weighs about 19 pounds and measures 29 inches long. She likes cereal, yogurt, and goldfish. She’s funny and loud, with a mouth full of teeth! Oh Holly! Here’s to the next 1189 months of your life, baby girl. We love you forever!

kisskisskisskisskisskisskisskiss!

 

 

Jul 21

She Walks

On July 6, I did a post about Holly’s 10-month birthday, and in it I said that she was not quite walking yet. So what did she do? She took her first independent steps the very next day! We had tried once or twice before to get her to do some practice walking — going back and forth between me and Marcus — like we did with Emrick. But she kept wanting to hold onto our hands, and just wasn’t as interested in it as Emrick had been, which was fine. We weren’t in a hurry for her to walk, but since Emrick had enjoyed those early “practice” steps so much, we thought Holly might too.

Then on the evening of the 7th, Holly picked up a rice krispie treat wrapper leftover form Emrick’s kid’s meal, and while she happened to have it in her hand, Marcus and I tried to get her to walk between us again, and she did it! We tried the walking both with and without having her hold an object in her hand, and she generally seemed to do better when she could hold something. We think it gave her the feeling that she was hanging onto something for balance, which made her brave enough to walk without trying to hold our hands.

Walking is still not her primary means of getting around, of course. But she loves to practice, as this video shows. It’s also pretty funny the way she keeps looking at the camera here… at least Marcus and I think so. Enjoy!

And there you go.

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