you gotta crawl before you walk...

...says who?

Not that I managed to catch her at it, but Miss E likes to stand and yell at the pots and pans. I think she is telling them to entertain her. The girl gets demanding!
If I get a chance, I'll post the whole thing. She stood for me just now again, and will walk if you hold her hands. Wish she had figured out crawl first, but she's getting better at that too!

xmas training...but for whom?

Well, Emelia took to the presents like a champ. Thanks to the Grands, she had a couple to open, and a stocking gift or two! Yay! Thanks, Gram and Grampa! Nana has something coming in the mail as well, so there will be more joy for her soon. We celebrated by sleeping in, having coffee, and eating breakfast. Then we put on "The Nightmare Before Christmas", opened gifts, then played WoW. I think we have the makings of our own traditions here.
Emelia will let us know, I'm sure.
It was nice to have nothing to do for a few days, but struggle in the snow a few blocks, shovel out the car, etc. Darrell cleaned the whole place while I mostly consoled a teething baby and sat around a lot. I'm lazy when I put my mind to it...I'll work out getting out the xmas cards too (some went out today!!)
Too bad I burnt most of the cookies this year. Poop.

Here are some pics, and a few movies...Enjoy! The webcam will be in operation soon, too!

cool.

prezzie time!

for me?

shortly after this, I turned to see that she had, indeed, toppled. But she had a firm grip, a ring in each hand, over her head!

and then Super-Baby!

a taste of ...

BEETS!

beets win, next in order of preference:
apples
peas
furniture, inanimate objects, fingers, walls
rice

We're going to keep working on it. But she actively likes beets, we think because it looks like she's eating fresh meat. Noble should be proud!

This was last night. I should catch up a bit on the week with out-of-sequence posting. But the teething thing? Constant annoyance for her and us!

here's more on the eating...actually comes a minute or so before the other one.

And random pictures from the past few days:
post-teething-whine-fest

just being cute --

this was on the 23rd...rice was the flavor of the day.

and ta-da~get a look of that face as she "snort laughs" for her Uncle Bill:

teeth suck

Oof. It's been an interesting week off: running around to do long-distance errands, like Babies R Overpriced and Bestest Buy, Snow (a heckovalotofit), and Teething. I even did one of my assignments for break, and today I renewed my Illinois State Massage License.

So there's that as a list.

Remember the cleaning? Yeah, lofty goal based on an assumption of sleep. I don't know about you, but when I don't have enough sleep, I could give a shit less that the baby is crawling around, picking up cat hair and dust. I care, in general, but at the moment? yeargh.

Last night, well a few nights since mid-last week, Emelia has been having issues sleeping. She kicks when it's time to start winding down, struggling against me holding her, and crying. Then even after she's asleep, it's fuss fuss fuss. Yeah, baby. Definitely teething, coming up on a climax of a tooth budding SOON I hope. Not yet. Soon.

I tried to take a picture to show her all weepy today, but she ruined it--see? Her eyes don't center when she's tired.

Last night, she didn't really sleep until 6am, then crashed hard for a few naps. I'm trying to keep her up at the moment, so we can sleep through the night. She's hanging out in the bouncy seat right now, laying her head to the side. So cute. But whiny.
Wish us luck tonight!
this was yesterday, in my decidedly favorite shirt on her so far!

she's a wacky one

We had a nice visit yesterday with our friends, Ezra and his posse (Ashely and Gabe). Darrell rustled up some waffles and strawberry sauce, coffee, and I um played with the kid. It's always good times when sharing the "joys" of parenthood with others in the trenches. Cool to compare notes on what sleeping...isn't.

This was also to be a knitting party. I think Ashley and I did a mighty attempt on at LEAST 3 or 4 rows each! huzzah! This inspired me later to do some more while Emelia crashed out. Perhaps I'll finish a scarf that I started a year ago...by the end of next year. Progress is slow, my friends. But forward, ho.

In that, well, no ho-ho-hoing going on really. Darrell and I have yet to set up the tree nor to buy anything for anyone. We don't swap between us, but I think we have to get Emelia into the spirit of terrorizing small packages. So we'll wrap something for her, where she'll likely try to eat the package and hork it up. Lovely. Tis the story of xmas. Taking a trip either tomorrow or the next day to Babies Sure R Expensive to spend a bit and use the remaining balances from the generosity that precluded birth. JOYEAUX.

Registered for classes, working on the random bits of paper assignments, and basically detoxing from school for the moment. I really need to get on renewing my massage license, but that is something necessary for doing ASAP, so I have little interest. bah. Deadlines. I'd rather look for books to get Miss E (not today--it's a whopping 10 degrees out. Ew.)

Tried to play in the crib a bit last night. This is the first step, we've decided: desensitization. With the new monitor provided by Grandparents, it's all on us/me to get her to sleep 4 feet away in the crib. Independence shall be ours! Well, after we lower it and get the hang of it...food is also a project for my break, remember? Good times.

ah, I hear the siren call of poop-happening. Whee!

Here's a selection from the crib-time last night. For ME's fans in the house.

ok one more...

this is the excitement I like. Not the falling kind, this kind is much betterer.

pbbbbbbbbbbttttt

owie

there? upper right of her forehead, about size of a quarter

Emelia met gravity today. Not friends. Obviously, she's scarred for life and will never attempt to fly off the bed again...right?

sigh. I'm sure this won't hold when her Daddy teaches her how to skateboard.

skillz

love this new trick, and finally caught it!

a break? or the beginning of a long task list?

I fly. Whee!

Wooo boy, that was some finals week! E went into teething in high gear (no real sign yet, just bumps), Darrell caught a cold or something miserable, and I stumbled blindly into studying. So very maxed out from a very difficult semester. If you've been reading along, you're likely as ready as I am for me to shut up about it already and move on. But hey, my blog, my free therapy!

Darrell made awesome cocoa and whipped cream (perhaps with Baileys) for me during the studying saga. He loves me.

I studied, perhaps not enough in some cases, but I feel the passing of the semester with a sense of accomplishment. It's taken a lot to get me here, and in spite of how important that is, I'm happily set with a new family and those experiences matter most. (inhale) I was completely overwhelmed at times, losing sight of my real goals, and I hope to see in the future-me that I've learned from it. I met with one of the faculty yesterday for a "portfolio review", and we discussed some things about what I see for me to focus on. This was both professional and personal, as everything seems to be therapeutic somehow. Good timing, as I can ponder it and try to do some preventative self-maintenance. I never ever want to feel that kind of stress again. I think I was more prepared for childbirth, really.
Emelia is becoming more adept at this "gaming" thing she keeps hearing about.
Speaking of, and the reason I have readers, Emelia. Oh boy, she is a growing sprout. Always something new and exciting, or annoying as hell, but overall quite uber cool. We're very proud. Now I get a few weeks to focus on HER and trying to get some food into her life, while teething will negate all our efforts I am sure. eh, it's parenting and there is not any ONE manual (rather, quadzrillionses) on how to do it right. Emelia, you are our little petri dish. Smile!

Ok, after I post this, I should think really strongly about the one last f-ing paper that I have to do by tomorrow. Ugh. So annoying, but in a way I've become dependant on that 20%. Over break, amongst other things mentioned and thought and scribbled on bits of paper, I get to do 2 papers! joy is mine. bask bask.

Now go watch Emelia drooling or whatever it is I grab to post.
this was filmed on my lap. Forgive the poor production and deal with the cuteness.

how we luvs the orahell, guay!

and, yay! we're getting new neighbors! a few blocks over, and hey, she knits too!
Won't say more about that yet, dunno if it was "in confidence"...let's just say, she is an old friend revisited :O)

P.S. "orahell" is how Darrell heard it from his guys at work, which is heavily accented "OraJel"

1 test down

ugh finals.

So for a study break, I pay attention to the cuteness. Yes, I dressed my Polish princess!

When I'm out on my winter probation, we're going to work on some developmental skills. Like doing the laundry, paying bills, and NOT doing 'the worm' instead of crawling...



and yes, I just put a sweater on her--light pink :)

bonus round!

For, of course, the Grands!


And the family that reads together, eats the mail together...

naners and npr

Some pics from this week. Hey, it's been a busy one!
"hey, it's me. sweet."
Big girl bath--time to eat the ducks. I now canNOT wait for fun time in the bath! Gram will surely show us how to take a 5 minute endeavor to new heights, like an hour or two.
When not testing the fence (observe -- not shown is how she goes around the perimeter, rocking then head-butting various parts of teh pac'n'whine), Miss E is getting more and more into amusing herself. This is handy, as next week is my finals week. I haven't studied as much as I should, so it's crunch time. After all the stress this term, finals are so...anticlimactic, you know? But a lot rides on this, folks, so wish me luck.
<-- how I study. We did some banana-in-boob-sauce this morning, and I can say the results are in: success. Although E didn't eat a ton, nor did she take any initiative in the action, she kept the goo down with only a bit of protest. We were soothing her with the familiar sounds of "Wait, Wait" in the background, and she responded pretty well. D is off to work in the snow soon, and I get to stay home with the diapers, the kid, and the studying. Yes, "diapers" has become its own persona. Anything that requires 5 efforts of scrubbing a day should have its own payscale. I have to remember: we CHOSE cloth diapers!
Teeth watch 2008: No sure signs, lots of whining. Sleep last night: 10+ hours! For 3 nights straight: not much.

when I should study...

...I post!
family, just us 3
Gram created a good napping locale,
Grampa and Gramma do lots of lovin'

E on Gram's last night-->

and more napping. yay :)

enjoy the weekend goodness! we did!!