It is absolutely amazing

How did the 4 pound, 12 oz little thing turn into a sometimes-angel - sometimes-tantrum-throwing toddler? What’s next, kindergarten? Soccer practice? Car keys?!! Unreal.

It is going to be so weird to go to Europe for a week and come back - she’ll probably be working on her dissertation by then.

Peach fuzz

Her hair is unfortunately as fine as mine, but it’s definitely curly!  I am trying to find some sort of baby hair product that’ll encourage those curls to stay.

If anyone’s out there…

I apologize for the complete lack of posts of late.  I’m usually so tired in the evening that it’s all I can do to make/eat dinner, play with the baby, and then bathe her - let alone doing anything like, say, cleaning or laundry or whatever.

Sweet landmark

Peach is doing a lot of chatting and singing.  She makes soft words that tumble out of her in streams; sometimes recognizable (”Dada, Mama”), mostly not.  She loves to sing in her carseat while we’re on our way into work.  She’s actually a shy speaker, much more comfortable in her room with us than she ever is out in the big, bad world.

Tonight, Matthew left the room, and afterwards she said, “Ba ba” (we’ve been working on “hi,” “bath,” “night-night,” and “bye-bye”) and then waved; it wasn’t directed at Matthew, just a recognition that he had gone and what the appropriate phrase and hand gestures were.   I hadn’t realized she was grasping that sort of abstraction yet.  I don’t know why I always feel so surprised when she hits one of these landmark phases, but I am, and there you are.

Peach Pits

The day after her first birthday, our little girl has the trots.  She’s been excluded from daycare - lucky us - for tomorrow, and will be allowed to return Monday (good for me, because it’s my first day of work at my new job).

I just had to wake her up to change a blow-out diaper - she was so unhappy, and it was so unpleasant.  Sheets have been changed, PJ bottoms are changed, and she is all decked out in Desitin.  We cuddled and she cried piteously, and I fed her a little bit of a bottle.  We seem to be very good at stopping her up on the weekend by forgoing the table food and giving her grated cheese and her bottle (yeah, we can be lazy on the weekends), that I’m hoping it’ll straighten her out quickly.  We tried to give her some cut up bananas at dinner, but it would go in her mouth, start to disentigrate, and then she’d spit it out.  (Can’t blame her: I’m not hot on bananas unless they’re appearing in banana bread.)

Good times, yes?   At least we have her 1 year appointment scheduled for tomorrow - no panicked calls to the pediatrician necessary.  Whew!

Another Milestone

We had our first temper tantrum at a restaurant today.  Nominally, this was because Daddy didn’t let Peach pull a bowl of rice into her lap, then tried to take a glass of ice water away from her.  Really, it was because she was exhausted and we pushed her too far by taking her out for sushi.

Daddy gulped his sushi and took Peach out; I finished my plate and paid.  She was still screaming when we pulled up in our driveway.   It was a very loooooong drive home.

Impromptu Photo Session

She loves, loves, loves to see the camera.

She goes immediately for the camera.

But she loves to pose, too.  Here’s a shy look:

And here’s surprised:

Trying out some yoga moves:

And enough for now.

Graham Crackers are Yummy!

Peach was fussy - but only until she was given a graham cracker!

She loves these things!

Must…share…goopy…hands…with…Mommy!

Girls’ Day(s) Out

Matthew left for work very early on Monday, so Peach and I spent the day together (he was getting there a couple of hours before daycare even opened). I was going to drive her downtown to daycare, exchange vehicles, then drive to an appointment - but when the appointment failed to materialize, I thought, why bother? Let’s have a fun day together. And so we did.

We spent most of the morning playing, though I took some time to chat with my sister. (Peach contributed, especially when I put Sar on speaker phone.) After a too-quick nap, Peach and I went to lunch at an Italian place, where we shared a chicken Caesar salad and rosemary bread (she ate off my fork). Peach was well behaved, playing with a I managed a change in the ladies’ room (it was tight), and we headed off to our next adventure.

OK, we headed off to the swanky grocery store. But still, Peach sat in her first shopping cart. We looked at the kid’s toys, and she decided on a small stuffed cat (other options: elephant and mouse). We tried on hats. We wheeled around the store for no good reason (I didn’t actually need anything), except that wheeling around the store was fun. We bought a piece of cake, and shared it in the dining area. (And oh, the nasty looks I got from granola moms! The nastier they looked at me, the more I made a big deal out of feeding my kid cake. I hope they were pestered by their own kids all the way home.)

At home, another nap. Some hilarious playtime, involving pushing books around the room.

Milestones:

• “Mamamama” directed at me.
• “Da Da Da Da” directed at Matthew.
• “Mamamama Da Da Da” repeatedly, along with screams and wails, when put down for a nap. It broke my heart. I remind myself that we’re teaching boundaries, and this is good in the long run.  It still sucks.
• Standing for increasing periods of time. Walks when holding onto my hands (both sides).
• Really getting proficient with “real” food. Eats very well off of a fork or spoon (adult sized) when offered. She’s not so great about using utensils herself to get food into her mouth, but that’ll come in time.
• She can focus. If she crawls across the room to get something, she will keep going for it (usually), even after passing interesting and distracting other things.
• She enjoys playing ball. I roll it to her, and she bats/pushes/tosses it back to me. Her aim is surprisingly good for what appears to be a completely uncontrolled movement. If I miss her, she will crawl after the ball, retrieve it, then toss it my way.
• She is getting stronger and bigger.

(This was where the post was supposed to have ended - and been posted.  But…no dice.  So a quick addition follows.)

**

On Tuesday, Matthew was home sick, so I had Peach at home (again).  We met friend Nikki for lunch, along with her son, for sushi.  Peach acquitted herself well again: cucumber rolls (two on the floor, only), some tuna salad rolls, and the paper the chopsticks came in.  I dragged her to Barnes and Noble afterwards, and fortunately Matthew was feeling well enough to care for her for a while in the afternoon - considering he was out of commission all day Sunday, that was three solid days of nearly single parenting, and I was pooped.  I don’t know how single parents manage it, I really don’t.

Peach Sushi

Finally I remembered to take the camera with us to sushi!  But Peach was so tired that she didn’t even make much of a mess (one cucumber roll on the floor).  Still, she flirted with sushi chefs and was fascinated by the people waiting behind us for a seat.  We sat at the bar, which she loves - this is a place with a train, and the constant stream of brightly colored sushi was so interesting!

And finally looking my way (sort of):