A whole mess of stuff

It's been too long since I last blogged, which means I have a lot to talk about, which means I won't get to it all. So here's what I consider the important stuff.

Penelope turns 8 months on Wednesday, and she's 30.75 inches long according to my admittedly imprecise measurements. We don't go to see her Ped until she's 9 months so we have another month before we get official measurements.

She weighs more than her 2 year old cousin Ariana - which isn't really surprising considering 1- Ari is mobile and 2- Ari's dad is like Frank Sinatra in the early days, if Steve stands sideways you can't see him. Seriously. I'm not all at concerned about P's weight, she's healthy and is IN NO WAY overweight. It does, however, kill my arms. I can't wait until she's walking so my back & arms get a break. I may have to chase her around, but then it's my legs that will get the workout.

Speaking of Ariana, Penelope met her only first cousins for the first time last weekend. Steve, Teresa, Gadge, Ariana, and Jesse were in California (they live in Wyoming) for the week and Bryan, Penny, and I went up to see them at Aunt Frannie's lake house for 2 days. We had a good time, the kids are all freaking adorable and it was nice to see my BIL & SIL... I know we all wish we lived closer, but Bryan and I will never move to Wyoming.

Here are a few pictures of the kids:

Jesse (2), Gadge (5), Ari (2), and Penelope (7.5 months)


Jesse


Gadge and Bryan


Ariana and I (this is the face she makes when you ask her to smile)


Penelope (and her thumb)

Hmmm, what else?

I officially dislike my professor in this current class (EXC 625: Exceptional Children in the Classroom) and a significant number of my classmates have said incredibly offensive and borderline racist things on the discussion board. Don't worry, I totally called them on it. Luckily this is the last week and I already submitted my last assignment. I forget the name of the next class. I'll be SO GLAD to be done next year.

Oh, more Penny stuff...

She's repeating sounds like Oh, Ah, and Uh-oh. It's hilarious!
She is no longer interesting in trying to crawl and would prefer to stand all day.
She recognizes a whole bunch of words and responds to them, she just can't vocalize them yet.
Baba, Rara, and Uh-oh are her favorite "words"
She's teething like CRAZY... she's actually putting things in her mouth to chew on. I don't know which teeth she's getting in, but we already have 5 and she's never done this for any of her other teeth. Maybe she'll get the rest of them in at once and we can be done with this whole teething thing.
Spices we've tried (and she loves): cinnamon, black pepper, curry, oregano
Still hates banana, but will eat it if it's mixed with peaches or blueberries.
LOVES greenbeans
Is in 18-24 month sized clothing, although some of her 18 month sizes oneseies are getting to be a little tight...
Is oddly fascinated by the vacuum

Upcoming August events: Tazz's wedding next week, Christina's son Zack turns 2!, Sophia turns 1, my 10 year high school reunion...

Oh, and Wednesday was my parents 29th anniversary!!!

Picture post

Pictures as promised...


This is Penelope kissing herself in the baby play mirror... she does this about half of the time I put the mirror next to her. I think it's absolutely hilarious.


Sleepy baby on mommy & daddy's bed


A little perspective so you can see just how long she is... our bed is a Queen sized bed and she's getting close to being as long as it is wide.

A promise for more pictures

I realized I haven't posted any new pictures since the 17th - shame on me! I'll endeavor to take new pictures today and have a picture-filled post for you all this evening.

Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down...

This is Penelope's new game. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up... you get the picture. All. Day. Long. She doesn't need much assistance, just a little something for support - this is usually my chest. And the child has quite the grip (and sharp Sabertooth claws; well she used to, I cut them today). So my poor chest has been pulled, grabbed, and otherwise abused all day today - and not in the fun way.

Anyway, we have my cousin Macy staying with us for the next few days. She's on summer break, and I enjoy the free child labor (kidding!). Today we went to music class and to the pool, tomorrow we're having lunch with my mom at her office and probably going to the pool again... it's been nice to have someone to help get Penny out of the car, give her a bottle, or play with her for awhile so I can do important things like blog :) Plus Macy is pretty awesome - so it's nice to have someone other than Fussy McPants to talk to all day.

Speaking of little Miss, she has also decided to join in on conversations. Currently she enjoys chatting about "rarara", "vavava", and "bababa". I swore I heard her say Mama today, but she didn't say it while looking at me so I'm not going to count it as a first word. I'm pretty sure her first word will be either "hi" or "doggy" since she liked the "h" sound and is obsessed with Harley-Quinn.

AND... WE HAVE TOOTH #5!!!!!!

Dear Bravo TV (things that need to be said part II)

The only reason I'm singling Bravo TV out right now is because I'm currently watching reruns of the West Wing on Bravo - although there are other stations who need a similar letter...

Dear Bravo TV,

Stop. Just put the camera down and take a deep breath please. You have an addiction and I'm here to help. I've sat idly by these past few years and watched you and other networks dissolve into a mushy, super dramatic, messy, and frankly ugly clusterf**k of really bad reality TV. Housewives of Orange County, Housewives of Atlanta, Housewives of Who-The-F**k-Cares, NYC Prep, Crappy Fashion Show I, II, & III, Silly Chef Show, Miami Social, Narcissistic Douchwaffles Have Mental Breakdowns, etc. Just stop. Please. You're embarrassing yourself.

Sincerely,
Jessica

PS - I'm guilty of watching one or two of these shows on occasion, and I know that Bravo's fall into mediocrity is partly my fault. Shame on me.

Side note: Penelope is laughing hysterically at the dog, who is just sitting there watching the baby. Hilarious!

Sunday recap

1. Baby is ridiculously cute in the mornings.
2. Band practice went well, by the time September rolls around we should be decent - we certainly won't embarrass ourselves on the stage at Hard Rock Cafe.
3. I hate hot - and that's what Sac has been lately. Boo.
4. Boys lost their softball game, this makes them 1-1
5. I beat Omar in Fantasy Baseball, and that makes me happy :)

This week will be busy - and next weekend even busier! More later, and new pics of Penelope as well.

Snot-nose Banana-face Poopy-pants

Take note, the above blog title is Penelope's new name. At least for this morning.

I can only imagine that one day, when she's 13 or so, reading this blog (which doubles as her baby book) and saying "Like OMG Mom! You're like so totally weird! I, like, can't believe you like wrote that in like my baby book!"

Only I doubt "valley girl" will be in style in the year 2021 (if we're still around as apparently the world will end in 2012). So it'll probably be something more like this:

"Oh my FSM Mom! You're so Sandberg! I can't believe you transcribed this in my GTD!"

(In the year 2021, GTD (gestational tracking device) will have replaced baby books and Andy Sandberg's name will have replaced the word weird - spread the word, you heard it here first! And if you're confused about FSM, just google "Flying Spaghetti Monster").