G'n'R Out West

Adelle is a little girl….seriously no more baby. I am in total baby withdrawal…I can’t even remember anything about her as a baby.  She is just all little girl now.

This month marked the start of a new chapter.  Out little girl now goes to daycare…AND SHE LOVES IT!  I took this past week off to get her into it slowly…apparently there was no need.  She thinks daycare is the best thing going.  I drop her in the morning and she is off exploring the second we walk in the room.  When I pick her up she gives me a coy smile and usually passes me a toy…but she has no time for a hug….sigh…

She had 4 great days at daycare this week – the fifth day she was having fun, but they sent her home because she had a fever.  I guess she picked up some daycare style germs and so they didn’t want to keep her there.  I think she is just fine…just a bit under the weather.  Poor little girl.

Sleep:
Status quo. She slept through the night just once this month…however, I missed her so much that night…that I realize I am still happy getting up with her once at night..well, usually happy.  It is just nice mama baby time. 

For the most part she goes to be just before 8pm, sleeps until 3am, I feed her and then she sleeps again until around 7am. 

She has one nap a day, usually just under and hour just after lunch.

Eating:
Basically she eats what we eat.  Her favorite these days is bread….any kind of bread will do.  She is also over the moon for bananas…funny since she used to hate them!

Getting Around:
She can really get going fast when she wants to.  Although, she often prefers to hold your hand so she can get where she needs to be in a hurry. 

Hair:
She needs another haircut….her hair grows too fast. 

Eyes:
The colour changes lots.  Who knows?

Language:
The only things she really says are: hi, no, uh oh, mama (usually to Greg), dada (usually to me).  She also says B words when she sees birds, blocks and balls.  She makes a woof noise when she hears or sees a dog (she also makes her sign for dog when she sees or hears one).  She makes a bird sign when she sees a bird or hears one sing. 

Personality:
Still happy.  She is starting to show her temper tantrum side.  She often collapses in half and hits her head of the floor…but really slowly, so she doesn’t actually hurt herself!  Today she got mad at me for something and she walked over to the soft carpet before choosing to throw her tantrum (I wondered if she went there because the carpet is a softer landing…or if it was just a coincidence).   She loves outside, so if we have problems calming her down we just take her out.  She is obsessed with outside these days.  She is always trying to get out there.  She is very interested in shoes, socks, strollers, sweaters…all the outdoor kit.

 She still maintains her interest in toilet paper.  I don’t know what it is about that stuff…but she can’t help herself…and it always ends up in her mouth.  She knows she isn’t supposed to eat it.  I think she might just have a very lucrative career in quality control at Kimberly Clarke.  Lately when I catch her eating it, before I can even tell her know she pulls it out of her mouth and starts shaking her head.  As if to say ‘Mama, you can’t eat this’….you know….as if I had a toilet paper eating problem. 

Stuff that happened this month:
- your grandparents babysat you, and you loved it
- you went to daycare for the first time…loved it
- you started practice jumping…it is very cute

so tired after day care

Last week Adelle and I went over to the neighboor’s to watch the little boys play cars (well, technically motorcycles).  They had a very elaborate game going on with many ramps and some serious action.  Adelle was enthralled.  I don’t think she had really seen anybody play cars before.  She watched the boys for about 1/2 an hour.  Most of the time she was laughing so hard it was setting her off balance.  It was pretty ridiculous. 

Anyway, 3 days ago we were sitting at the table and she took a peice of her food, started making car noises (like she’d heard the boys make) and started ‘driving’ her food around her tray.  We thought it was a bit bizarre and didn’t think much more of it.  But she has done it 3 times since that day.  Neither of us have ever played with her like that.  I don’t think I realized what an impact those boys had on her.  It is so interesting what stays in your baby’s mind.  Makes me laugh.  The mind is an amazing thing.

Day 2 at daycare was great.  She was there from 9-2.  She was excited when we arrived, a bit paniced when I left…but was easily distracted.  When I went to pick her up at 2 she was interested in my arrival…but far too busy for a hug.  She saw me, promptly came over and grabbed my hand then toured me around the room.   Apparently, she had a 45 min nap with little fuss.  She sleeps about 1/2 the time as the rest of the kids there, which I think the day care workers find a bit frustrating…but Adelle only cried for a few minutes when they put her down for her nap…other than that she was as happy as a clam…so all in all a pretty good day.  I think we were all surprised that she slept at all on her first try at day care napping.  They all nap in the same room as they play in and they put Adelle on a mat on the floor to sleep (some of the kids are in cribs, but they thought they’d try her on the floor).  Too funny…we are so lucky she is adjusting so well.  I am so happy for her and for us.  We got into such a great daycare.

Adelle had her first day at daycare today.  Well her first 2 hours.  It went really well.   I dropped her off at 9am and picked her up at 11am.  I am told she didn’t shed a tear….I on the other hand, may have shed just a few.  In fact, my crying actually made the daycare worker cry…which I thought was sweet. 

When I picked  Adelle up she was just finishing off her lunch.  She looked interested in me…but wasn’t desparate for me to save her.  I took her out of the high chair and she squiggled away from me and forcefully dragged me around the room showing me all the toys she now has access too.  Her favorite appeared to be a little kitchen set that had a button on it that made a microwave sounding beep.  She showed that to me about 30 times.  She was VERY dissapointed when we left.

Tomorrow I am taking her back and she will be there a bit longer…she will also be there for naptime…or at least the time at which the other children will be sleeping!  I am curious to see how it goes.  I will pick her up in the early afternoon tomorrow so she will still have time to nap at home. 

When I picked her up at daycare I recognized one of the other kids as being a boy that we took mom and baby yoga with last fall.  We haven’t seen him in months, but it was so releiving to see a familiar face at daycare…even if that face was the face of a toddler. 

When I got home I emailed the little boy’s mom to tell her that we were at the same daycare.  She told me she LOVES that daycare and that they drive 25 minutes out of there way to drop him off there in the mornings.  I am so releived that we got into such a great place and that it is so close to home.

Last night our friend’s Val and Joe were over.  Adelle took a liking to Claire’s carseat…which I found pretty funny since she HATED hers.  Perhaps ours just wasn’t the right colour for her.  Val’s is very cool.  Adelle had lots of fun checking out Claire, she gave her a ton of hugs.  Claire was very patient and trusting of our little agressive cuddler!

Greg’s parents have been here for a week…and we are getting very spoiled.  Every day we go to work, ever night we come home to a happy baby…AND dinner on the table.  It will be hard to get used to life when they leave.  Adelle has adjusted very well to life with Grandma and Grandpa.  Just a few weeks ago she was acting strange with all the Grandparents…but now she is as happy as a clam.  It is nice to see.

This past weekend we took a fun trip into the mountains, and happened upon the provincial kayaking championships. It was pretty cool to watch.  We met some people that told us a bit about the sport.  Apparently the course is all constructed…even the river.  They open and close the dam and the river goes from a trickle to a rushing torrent!  They make the course when the river is trickling and then turn it up to use it.  It was so cool watching different people use the river. 

Random guy surfs on the river – pretty neat to watch

Yesterday, Adelle decided she loves being in highchairs that push right up to the table.  Both yesterday and today she has DEMANDED being put in them at random times.  It is really cute, although, a little bizarre. 
 

 My friend Boyd bought Adelle these blocks you can stack them and they all store inside each other.  She LOVES to topple over a tower.  She is also really into putting them inside each other, although, she is still learning about bigger and smaller, so it can be an incredibly frustrating activity for her.  Oh, and check out the socks.  They are mine, she ‘requested’ that I remove them from my feet and then place them on hers.  She then proceeded to walk…no, she paraded, around the living room in them.
 

I just love this little shot.  Adelle is just learning how to use this toy to ride on (as opposed to push).  She is very proud of her new found skill.  She is totally of that age where she gets so proud of herself.

Adelle is really into jumping these days.  She can’t do it, but she is really into the idea of it.  This isn’t the best movie of her ‘jumping’ but she sure is having fun.