Naughty baby!

Ok, so this is mostly my fault since I encouraged the game. But it's hilarious.



In other news, G is pulling up and CRUISING. Yes. Cruising! Walking is not that far in our future...

A long overdue post

It's been awhile since my last post. We were all sick, it was finals week, and I've started seriously working on Griffin's "yearbook". Penelope had one at her 1st birthday party and everyone had a chance to sign it. It was a lot of fun to make and will hopefully be something she'll treasure - so G gets one too.

Once I'm done I'll post the link so people can comment before I have it printed.

Here's a quick recap on everything that has happened this week.

1. Griffin is crawling!!! It's been a few days, maybe a half a week. He's getting better and better... I have some video of his first crawling attempts and will hopefully be able to post it sometime next week.

2. G is also pulling himself up on everything that is remotely sturdy enough. So tables, couches, pant legs, etc. He's also stood up unsupported for about a second or two. So cruising is not that far in our future - neither is walking. I would not be at all surprised if Griffin walks before Penelope did, but he might take his time. We'll see. I'm not exactly rushing walking. I'm just happy he's crawling.

3. I'm done with student teaching! I need to get the paperwork in to do the sub-thing for San Juan and update my resume so I can start looking for full-time (or heck, even part-time) teaching gigs. There are a few more administrative things I need to do before I have my credential, but I am done with the hard part. I still have to write my thesis before I have my Masters, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, I still have BITSA once I'm a full time teacher. Really looking forward to that one.

I have very mixed feelings about the end of my student teaching tenure. I am happy that I'm finished since it means that I'm that much closer to getting my own classroom, but I am very sad to be leaving my students and Mira Loma. I really enjoyed working at ML, the staff and my mentor teachers were wonderful to work with. I will also miss nearly ALL of my students. Even the more rambunctious ones :)

4. Mom and I start tap classes Monday. I'm happy to be getting out the house and doing something to stay active. I'm also happy to be doing something with my mom, I really love spending time with her.

You know, that's all I can think of. I'm sure there's 1,000 things more that have happened since my last post. Oh, the kids are better. So that's good.

One about the kids

First off, I wanted to thank everyone who commented or sent me messages/e-mails after my last post. It really does help to know that there are a people out there that have been in my shoes (or at least similar shoes) and that there are people who I can call if I need to talk or need a break. I feel better - getting it out there and publicly acknowledging the magnitude of my anxiety has helped tremendously. So thank you.

Now, about the kids :)

Griffin crawled yesterday! Well, it was a crawl. Singular. But hey, it's forward progress (haha, I'm so punny). I'm still hoping he'll be mobile by Christmas. For the last two nights he's also been sleeping better. Two nights ago he slept from 11-3:30 (in bed with us) and last night he didn't need an extra bottle. Bryan got up with him at 7:10 and I got to sleep in until almost 8:30. It was excellent.

Poe is stringing 5-6 words together and repeats EVERYTHING. I love her talking, especially the way she says her name "Pah-pooh-pea". She used to call herself "Penny" but now she just calls herself Penelope. I will endeavor to get it on video.

She has also now peed on the potty twice! And she loves watching her "Elmo's Potty Time" video so here's hoping "peer pressure" (from Elmo & crew) will help get her day-time trained by X-mas. We'll see.

She can also read. Well, sort of. When she sees "Penny" written she points to it and says "Pah-pooh-pea"! I'm counting it :)

I have more, but I also have pictures. So here they are... hopefully I'll find more time this weekend to blog.




Penny got this horse at a white elephant gift exchange with the mommy group... Jessica W made it and Poe LOVES it. So cute!


Poe & Jackson

Tooth #7... and Abba

Penelope got tooth #7 in today! Usually she gets them in pairs, so tooth #8 will hopefully be in soon too. I can't wait for teething to be over!!!

Yesterday (I think). We were all hanging out together and Bryan and I were trying to get Penelope to say "mama". We'd ask her, "Penny, can you say mama"? And she would go "Abba".

It was pretty funny. Apparently I'm a Dancing Queen. Or something.

She didn't take an afternoon nap today. Well, she did but it was only a half an hour. This means that tonight will not be fun and I'm not looking forward to bedtime... especially since Bryan has a softball double header and so won't be home to give me an extra hand. She's already a bit of a pill, but we're at my parent's right now so they're helping me out.

Other things that are currently incredibly frustrating:
*biting - I haven't decided if she's at an age where biting her back would be effective in getting the point across. Is 10 months too early for that? I know it's because she's teething...
*hair pulling - one of the many reasons I keep my hair up all the time.
*obsession with the cable box - I'm tired of hearing myself say "No Penny, that's not for babies". I could get a gate, but it would have to be huge and it would be a major pain in the @$$ for Bryan and I. Oh well, she'll eventually learn (and then her sibling will be all over the stuff).

Things that are super awesome:
*crawling - I love crawling. She can get around, come and get me, chase the dogs, throw the ball and then go after it... crawling is awesome. Rug burn is hilarious, it's almost baby-leg weather so that will help.
*big kid food - she eats what I eat. With the exception of uncooked fish (which I can't have now anyway), peanuts (and other nuts), and shellfish - she and I share everything.
*routine - even though we have our "off" days, P is pretty much on a routine that she fell into without much prodding. Night time is 8-6:30, morning nap is around 9:30, and afternoon nap is around 2:30. This is our schedule 85% of the time. That's pretty good (I think) and I'm very happy with it. There are some days (like today) when she'll skip or shorten a nap, but such is life. Overall our routine works pretty well and it's nice to have.

Alright, time to pack her up and go home... bedtime is fast approaching. Hopefully it will go better than expected.

Another quickie...

I wish I had time for more, but life is super crazy.

Penelope turns 9 months on Saturday, and the countdown to her birthday begins! I haven't really decided if we're going to have a big party or not. Part of me does, and part of me doesn't really want the hassle - I mean, big or small, she's not going to remember it. And I don't want to feel like I need to one-up myself every year. BUT she's turning 1! How could we NOT celebrate??

I have three months to figure it out.

In the meantime, here's a picture of some quality father-daughter time:



I keep forgetting to mention that for about 3 weeks Penny's been shaking her head "no" - she does it ALL THE TIME. It's quite hilarious... And she crawled yesterday, it was a single crawl but we're counting it. She'd still much rather walk, and I'm sure she'll be doing both quite well before she turns one.

Last night she had some night terrors, which are very rare for her, so we brought her into bed with us. This morning when Bryan was getting ready for work she almost wiggled herself off the bed (she was still asleep) and when I "rescued" her she woke up - so we were up early this morning. No fun for mama, but at least that means she took her morning nap early so I was able to wash bottles, start a load of diapers, and post this entry!

I still have to make our lunches and shower so we can head out to music class. Today is going to be a busy one, maybe she'll be nice to mommy and let me take a nap with her later this afternoon.

Happy First Father's Day Daddy!

Here's to the best Daddy and baby could ask for (and one kick-ass husband). We love you Bryan!

And now for a weekend update!

Friday Penelope spent the night at my parent's house so Bryan and I got to sleep in a little this morning. It was nice to get some extra sleep, but it just didn't feel right to wake up without Penny. Her morning smile makes my day, and we both really missed her. We're going to try and make overnights with my parents a monthly thing so Bryan and I can have date nights, clean the house, or just sleep in. Next month she'll be staying at my parents for the opening of the Harry Potter movie so we can see the midnight showing :D

This morning we went to Gottshalks and bought a new (and bigger) rug for the living room. It's prettier, larger, and much more plush - so it will be good for crawling, which Penelope will be doing any day now. She rocks back & forth on all fours when I put her on the floor. She really want to crawl! She also really loves to stand, but hasn't mastered solo standing yet. I don't think I'm ready for her to walk right now!

I'm sure there's a lot more I could talk about, but I should probably get to my homework and then go to bed since it's my night to wake up with P at 4am.

Working on it...

We're working on standing up:



This lasted for all of 5 seconds, but it was a super cute 5 seconds :)

We're also working on crawling:



And at some point I'll break out the video camera so y'all hear Penny "talk"

Oh! Here's a series of pictures I like to call "What a difference 4 months makes"
Penelope and Linden (who is 3.5 months older) in February:


Penelope and Linden (who are now 6 months and 9 months respectively):