Spectacular September

We spent the first six days of September in sunny Florida (ok, it rained but we still loved it).  We stayed in a little hotel that was walking distance to the beach.  We’re finding that it works best if we can find a suite with the bedroom separate from the living area for Elizabeth’s nap time and early bedtime.  We also love having a kitchen available.  The smaller hotels have also been wonderful about providing cribs and high chairs, too.  Makes traveling with a baby so much nicer.

Here’s Elizabeth enjoying her breakfast one morning.  Granted, she’s holding her spoon…but if you look closely you’ll see she’s not holding the handle.  But she was having fun!

We got to see many of our friends during our trip and we even had some family come from Orlando and Miami to see us.  We ended up having a party at the clubhouse of our condo building and it was the perfect set up to mingle and nosh and Elizabeth could crawl around as much as she wanted.  She was still overwhelmed with the crowd and had a little stranger anxiety.  The last time she saw most of these friends and family was in February (when she was only four months old).  Things had changed a lot in those seven months!

Last visit we did lots of group lunches and dinners, but this visit we wanted to relax more and have more beach time.  This was Elizabeth’s first “real” time on the beach…time to explore and time to get into the ocean.  Boy did she love it.  We bought her her first bucket, shovel, and rake (should I share that she still plays with those toys in CO?).

Our friends Dick and Geri met us on the beach and we were so happy to see their 8-yr old granddaughter Samantha, too.  Eliz and Sam took to each other very easily.  (I forgot how the humidity & temp changes can fog up a camera lens so we lost lots of shots that day unfortunately.)

We had a lot to learn about getting sand out of a baby’s creases and folds…and we learned that she had even more creases and folds than we could imagine!  Boy oh boy.  And eventhough we had Eliz in and out of the water, we soon learned the importance of changing her out of her swim diaper and putting her into her normal ones while playing on the beach.  A couple of wet laps teaches you that quickly enough.  (For those of you who don’t know – and I didn’t pre-baby – but swim diapers don’t hold in pee, just the pooh!)

Unfortunately it was a little windy (with periodic rain) and Elizabeth refused to keep her new sun hat on, so any pictures of her that weren’t steamed up weren’t very good because she was squinty-eyed.  So no real great shots of her on the beach as I had hoped.

Elizabeth had her very first dental appointment on Sept 7th.  I was informed that we should start taking her after she started getting some of her teeth and before 1 year.  I was very proud of her – she handled it wonderfully!  Of course, it was mostly Q&A between the dentist and myself, but he did take a peek inside her mouth and they did a little brush-cleaning too.  To do the exam, they lay her on her back on a thick pad that is resting on our knees.  The dentist and I sat knees to knees with her head near him and I’m holding her down.  Now, those of you who know Elizabeth well know that she hates to be held down.  But she was very good…and her teeth are in great shape.  Yea!

The real excitement started on Sept 8th when Eliz stood up unsupported at Stacey’s (our babysitter).  Usually she would use something to pull herself up, so this was a huge feat to stand up without props.  She showed us her new skill at home on the 12th.   (There does seem to be a reoccurring theme here – this isn’t the first, or the last I’m sure, major event that happens at Stacey’s house first.)  After standing up, she would “surf” for a little while as she finds her balance in the middle of the room with nothing to grab on to.

Liam turned 1 this month.  Liam is one of Elizabeth’s buddies.  His Mom, Carrie, and I try to get together once a week for a walk/run and the two babes tend to chatter to each other along the way.  It’s very cute. 

It was nice to get to spend social time together with the moms I do see, and the dads that I never get to talk with.  It was also nice for Andy to get to meet them and for us to watch the kids play together.  Usually I don’t get to see Elizabeth interact with other kids because I’m “dropping her off” somewhere for her play time.

We started taking a Sign Language class on Sept 14th.  Apparently it allows a way for children to start communicating even before they can start talking.  What I witnessed this month was that her vocabulary took off after beginning these Signing Smart classes and I think it was partly because we would practice words more.

She was saying some of these words before, but here is a list of some of her words this month:  

• “hi” “bye” “mamama” “daddee” “baby” “all done” “ball”
• “light” while practicing sign language (the day after class began 9/15)
• “dog” while at a coffee shop in Estes Park and she saw a huge mountain dog inside the coffee shop…then three more just outside…and others on the path
• “duck” “uh-oh” “teddy” “bear” (but not “teddy bear”)
• While at Apex ChildWatch she said “neigh” “moo” “quack quack” while playing a game about farm animals
• She waves hello and yells “hhhiiiii” to everyone in shops and grocery stores or restaurants (she does seem to get hurt when people don’t respond to her – so keep that in mind the next time a baby says “hi!” to you!)

There’s not much food that she refuses…or refuses over and over I should say.  She loves fruit – with fresh strawberries and raspberries being some new fruits for her.  She has tried table food from a Mexican restaurant; she likes pita with hummus; and pizza & ice cream (especially when she was not feeling well because of teething – who doesn’t want comfort food then?).

She is now sharing her food.  She’ll pick up any type of finger food and offer it to us, even putting it in our mouth herself.  Sometimes I wonder if she wants to make sure it’s safe…by having us taste it first?  She must’ve heard rumors about my cooking.

We found a fun Halloween costume for her.  But since it’s so dramatic on the back side, I thought it would be best for her to get used to seeing the costume before Halloween so she doesn’t run around in circles like a dog chasing their tail trying to see what’s behind her, so I put her costume on Teddy.  Teddy is our guinea pig for any baby-substitute needs we have.  We used him when we were testing out the car seat before she was born.  (Here’s your preview of her costume!)

We had read an article about the risks of putting an infant in a bike trailer (or any bike carrier) before their first birthday.  It scared us enough to hold off…until we found a Chariot on Craig’s List.  Once we got it home, we were dying to get her out.  We broke down on the 17th and got her out on her first bike ride.

I won’t mention that it felt like MY first bike ride as well.  I hadn’t been on my bike since I was, what?, seven months pregnant? 

We hooked her trailer onto Andy’s bike (since he had been riding – he didn’t trust me!) and off we went.  We just jumped on a local trail near our house.  As you can tell from the photos, we had no problems with her enjoying her new ride.  She even kept her pretty new helmet on with no complaints.

We couldn’t believe that the Yoga Journal Conference was going on again this month up in Estes Park.  One year ago I attended the conference after winning a free pass to John Friend’s Anusara Yoga.  It was a blast.  This year, we just drove up for the day to meet with a couple of vendors and walk around the marketplace for new ideas.  Last year Eliz was still in my tummy (but only for a couple of weeks after) and now here she was in my arms.  She wooed everyone in the marketplace with her great smile, her big blue eyes, and her sweet-sounding “hi” to everyone we passed.

Afterward, we walked around the town of Estes.  Andy had to get HIS cup of coffee at his favorite coffee shop…the place where Elizabeth began saying “dog”.

Andy put Eliz on his shoulders for the first time.  She loved being high up with the great view, but we’re hoping she learns to sit up straighter.  She tends to lean back a little, but she is called the “lounge queen” for a reason.

 

The drive home was the lazy, scenic drive down the Peak to Peak Hwy.  The fall colors were astonishing and made the entire trip worthwhile.

September 27th was another huge day.  Elizabeth took two steps for Andy.  Her big One Year visit to the Pediatrician is scheduled for October 3rd.  We’re hoping she is walking by then so she can thumb her nose at the doctor as if to say, “Look at me!  And you didn’t think I could do this yet!”.  (She didn’t quite make that deadline, but the doctor thought she was superb anyhow.)

For how much Elizabeth loves being around people and other kids, I still enjoy the fact that she can also play so well by herself.  She seems so well rounded – sociable, yet comfortable with herself (could the shy girl in me be jealous?  perhaps).  In addition to playing with other kids at the sitters, I take her to the YMCA child watch (while I work – not workout) so she gets an opportunity to play and meet other kids.  I hope all of this is helping her blossom into this wonderful social butterfly.

Here are just some of the things Eliz enjoys doing or just funny things about her play:

• she loves “reading” books – which usually is taking each and every book off of the bookshelf and flipping thru the pages';
• she still loves dumping the stack of magazines from the end table (one-by-one usually).  Recycling one page at a time as she rips pages out of the magazines…good thing we don’t have the time to read them anyway so they are now her toys;
• she tries to push down on toys to activate sounds, but her little finger can’t push hard enough;
• She now bangs on the bathtub while I’m filling it for bathtime and throws stuff in the tub…I’m starting to worry that she’ll try to climb in soon;
• She’s getting fast and comfortable pushing her walk-behind-car around the house – sometimes I don’t know if she is walking or half-falling;
• She uses her car seat as a toy, too.  She loves crawling in and out, or even trying to crawl over the back side of it;

  

• She’s getting into the cabinets.  We’ve given her “permission” to go into one cabinet – the one with harmless Tupperware, teabags, and the such.  Now we find things strewn all over the house.  But she is learning to not only take things out but to also put things back.  She could spend 30 minutes just playing with the diaper bag alone.  Zip/unzip, take out, walk around the house dancing with her new item, put it back, zip/unzip, and repeat.

We’re struggling with her not listening to certain requests, though.  Such as not touching the glass doors on the fireplace.  I’m stubborn and thought that I could ‘train’ a one-year old to listen to me.  But these doors are a hazard – not only does she touch them, but she has learned to open them, and the one has always fallen off when not careful.  I did finally cry “Uncle” in October and we bought an ottoman to block off the fireplace…just in time for winter, too.

We joke that she has gotten our bad traits – she is stubborn like me and quick to throw a fit.  She experiences a change in personality when hungry…just like her dad.  I could go down a laundry list of traits, but I probably shouldn’t reveal that much about our dark sides, should I?  Who am I joking?  You all already know them!

Several days before her birthday the presents began to arrive.  At first I thought of holding them until her big day, but then I realized that she wasn’t going to understand it anyway.  She was also having some teething pains, so I thought it would be a nice distraction.  Here she is with her new Legos from my sister Karen.  (I’m going to make you go to the WebAlbums to see what happened AFTER construction was completed.)

But we did have to chuckle as to what else she played with.  The stiff, crinkly, shiny wrapping paper laid on our floor for days allowing her to crawl on it, step on it, crinkle it in her hands, and so on.  The box for the Legos is still in the house (as of Oct 28th) albeit a little beaten up.  She loves sitting on the box and sliding it all around the house.

I continue to find that my home yoga practice changes as Elizabeth gets older.  Now all I have to do is roll out my mat and she will come from anywhere in the house just to sit on it.  She also likes it when I break out my props…

I may never get a full practice in again…but when I see this expression on her face it somehow makes it all ok.

As always – lots more pictures on the September WebAlbums.  And hopefully it won’t take me a month before I can post October’s happenings.  Honestly, I used to think 2 weeks late was bad and now I’m a month behind on my post!  I love writing the blog, and I know many of you look forward to updates on Eliz, and I also hope to keep a record of life for Elizabeth to read years from now, but time just seems to disappear on me anymore.  We’re still trying to figure out how to bring balance back into our lives.  It’ll happen, I know it.  We’re not the only ones with a business, a kid, a side job, a desire to exercise, and a love of travel.  We’ll get there.  I still dream of showing Elizabeth the world – whether by RV, car, or plane, I don’t care.  To see that look of awe on her face every day (the same look I imagine I had as we were traveling the country) as she sees new and wondrous things.  Won’t that be grand?!  May life be filled with beauty and wonder for all of us.  Hugs.