Friday December 2 (day 155/365)

Today was my holiday party at work.  We all went and had a good time.  The munchkin was all over the place!  Luckily there was a dance floor at the front, so we just let her run all around.  There was also an unlimited quantity of crackers, all in all it was a pretty good evening for Phoebe!

Really Dad?  Really?

Come on guys, hurry up!!  We don't want to be late!

Doing laps on the dance floor.

Thursday, December 1 (day 154/365)

Phoebe is quite the reader these days - she LOVES books!  Every once in a while we'll be playing with her and she'll just toddle over to her book corner and settle down for some quiet reading time.  If we go over and try to read the book to her she gets really annoyed and scoots away from us.  As two bookworms ourselves, we're pretty excited that Phoebe seems to love "reading" as much as we do!

Could you two hold it down?  Baby is trying to study here!

One of Phoebe's new books from Grandma Joyce has a picture of a black kitty in it.  She is obsessed with this page and every time she turns to it she gets really excited and starts looking around for Danger.

Wednesday, November 30 (day 153/365)

I didn't see Jeremy and Phoebe take these pictures, but when I downloaded everything from the camera, they were a sweet surprise.  My two cuties hamming it up!

Tuesday, November 29 (day 152/365)

Now that she has discovered the fun of laundry, Phoebe just can't get enough.  Between the baby and the cat, it takes us 10 times longer than normal to fold a load of laundry because there's always a tiny mammal in the basket drooling and wiping their nose on our clean t-shirts.  Kind of makes you wonder why we spend so much on toys for them!

Monday, November 28 (day 151/365)

We ordered Phoebe a wooden Hanukkah playset to help her celebrate her first set of winter holidays.  After closely examining it, she seemed to know exactly what to do with the latkes!

Sunday, November 27 (day 150/365)

Today was just another get-stuff-done-around-the-house day.  Phoebe did her part working hard to make messes and break out of baby jail. 

Oh hey mom.  Nothing to see here.  Just ... playing ...

Breaking out of baby jail??  Not me!!  I am just ... trying to get a better view!

YUM!  BAGEL!!!

Saturday, November 26 (day 149/365)

Today, we had a lazy day at home getting caught up on chores.  After Phoebe watched Danger climb into the clean laundry a few times, she decided to get in on the fun.  When a new batch came out of the dryer, the baby and the cat both pounced.  This is what we call good entertainment around these parts!

Friday, November 25 (day 148/365)

Someone is feeling WAY WAY BETTER!!!  Yay!

Thursday, November 24 (day 147/365)

After Wednesday being so rough, Phoebe was much, MUCH better today.  We had already canceled our Thanksgiving plans, and decided to keep the little germ bucket in quarantine.  It was sad to have to cancel our plans, but we actually had a nice day at home, snuggling, and watching football.  One of my friends had invited us over, and insisted on making us plates to eat at home so we could still have Thanksgiving.  The food was amazingly delicious and we feel so lucky to have such great friends!  When I got back with our dinner, Jeremy ran next door to drop off a pie.  The neighbors said they had already been to the pediatrician that day, so if we didn't mind their germs they didn't mind ours.  We went over and the boys played with Phoebe and we enjoyed catching up with the grownups.  When the kids started winding down, we took Phoebe home, fed her some turkey and put her to bed.  Then, we took the baby monitor back next door and hung out with the neighbors some more.  It was lots of fun!  We'd never had a chance to talk to them without a bunch of kids running around, so it was nice to have a grown up conversation ... and some grown up drinks :)  It has been quite the year here at the Gottwoods and we feel so incredibly blessed and lucky.  We have so much to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Phoebe digs in to her first Thanksgiving dinner!  Thank you friends and family for making my first year great!

Wednesday, November 23 (day 146/365)

Phoebe had a very rough Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  Her puking kind of came to a head and she was up all night.  Most of the morning she was also ridiculously sick.  We went through all of our crib sheets and fuzzy baby jammies.  Luckily (I guess) we had a test scheduled for her stomach anyway, so we went in for that.  After the test we came home, and since Phoebe was still not able to keep anything down, we went to the pediatrician for a follow up.  Our doctor wasn't in, and the sub that we saw said she thought that on top of everything else, the little doodle bug had developed a stomach virus.  Yuck!  By the time we got home, Phoebe was exhausted and sick.  We gave her lots of Pedialyte and snuggles and called to cancel our Thanksgiving plans.  Luckily, by the evening, Phoebe was doing much better and was even able to keep down a few saltines for dinner.  We really hope we figure out what is wrong with the poor baby soon because it is so hard to see her sick!

Poor sick baby!

Tuesday, November 22 (day 145/365)

Today when I went to pick up Phoebe at daycare, some of the kids from her class were outside playing.  It is always hard to get her to leave when the class is outside because she is usually having too much fun to consider leaving with her boring parents.  The baby playground has a lot of fun stuff, and is in an enclosed area right next to the classroom, so the kids get to go outside a lot with is great!  Today Phoebe was super excited to see me, but when it became clear I expected her to leave with me her enthusiasm died down.

Oh hi Mom!  Fancy seeing you here.   Want to play?

Home?  Sure, you can go home.  Just hand over this snazzy iPhone before you leave and you are free to go.

Monday, November 21 (day 144/365)

"Big throw" you say???  Hmmm, not ringing any bells.  Maybe if you hand over that camera it will jog my memory.

Phoebe really likes to play a modified version of catch - she usually throws the ball but then runs over and steals it back from you before you get a chance to throw.  Sadly, any time we try to catch her on film, we end up with something like this.  She pretends that she has never seen a ball before.  Ah munchkin.  Really, it is super-cute.  I guess you are just going to have to trust us on this one. 

Sunday November 20 (day 143/365)

Today was my big race - I ran the Big Sur half marathon with my mom friends Lori and Mandy.  It was supposed to be really cold and rainy, but the weather was actually great and the scenery was beautiful!  We ended up doing a lot better than we thought we would, especially Mandy who we insisted leave us behind.  After the race, and some well-deserved greasy lunch, we came home and spent a lazy Sunday afternoon together.  I am really glad that I started running again!  I wanted to quit many times, but Jeremy encouraged me to keep going and made sure that I had enough time to train.  I had a really great time training for and doing the race and running has helped me reduce my stress level.  Lori and Mandy and I have already signed up for a 10k on New Years and will probably talk about some other races once we're fully recovered from this one :)  I hope that if we get a better jogging stroller we can even take the babies with us on some of them!

Jeremy and Phoebe met me at the finish line for the race.  It was so cool that they came out to cheer us on!

When we got home, Daddy and Phoebe watched the Bears.  You know what that means ... lots of TOUCHDOWNS!!!

Here Phoebe is showing off a close-up of her half-marathon t-shirt.  Actually, she's trying to eat the camera, but po-tay-to, po-TA-to.

Saturday November 19 (day 142/365)

Today was Phoebe's friend Henry's first birthday party.  After swimming we got lunch, picked up a present and took naps so we'd be well rested for the festivities.  Well, all except that last part.  Phoebe took her nap while we were shopping for presents so Jeremy and I didn't get a chance to snooze.  Despite the lack of naps, we managed to make it to the party.  We all had a really great time!  Henry's parents are super nice and a lot of our other friends from baby class were there as well.  It was a lot of fun to watch the babies all play with each other, and we have really enjoyed making friends with the parents of Phoebe's friends.  In some ways, I guess the baby has improved  our social life. 

Munchkin got all dressed up for the party in her monkey dress and the cute bow Grandma Joyce sent her.  Phoebe's parents look a little worse for wear, but nobody believes us when we blame it on the adorable baby. 

Henry had a baby-sized chair and Phoebe claimed it almost as soon as we got to the party.  She LOVED it.  She climbed right in and looked super cute lounging.

The downside of the comfy chair is that Phoebe got a tad possessive.  She was highly suspicious of other babies who came near her chair.

Henry also had a cool pop-up tunnel.  Phoebe was uninterested at first, but then her friend Milo crawled in and she couldn't stop herself from following him.  

Once she got a taste of the tunnel, Phoebe couldn't get enough. 

The babies were all pretty into the tunnel.  In fact, there were a few baby log jams.

Uh oh!  While Phoebe was in the tunnel, another baby found the chair.  Munchkin clearly needs to put an end to this situation!

Friday November 18 (day 141/365)

Today was the bake sale at Phoebe's school.  We spent a couple of nights frantically baking cookies so that we'd have some stuff to contribute to the sale.  Jeremy was pretty excited to get to drop off to see what everyone else brought.  $20 later, we ended up with some pretty yummy stuff.  Of course, we did it all for the children.  I mean if Jeremy eating a couple of cupcakes will earn the class some more supplies, he is definitely up for the challenge :)

Today was also the Thanksgiving dinner at Phoebe's school.  Jeremy was able to go during lunch to eat turkey with the munchkin.  Apparently since she refuses a morning nap, Phoebe usually passes out in the middle of lunch.  She managed to rally long enough to smile at her daddy and eat a little turkey but I guess right after Jeremy left she fell asleep.

Yummy cookies all packed up for the bake sale.

I am thankful my Daddy came to eat lunch with me!

Thursday November 17 (day 140/365)

One of Phoebe's other presents from Grandma was a cool set of tunnels with a play house.  Phoebe wasn't too sure about the tunnels, but she loved the box.  While Phoebe was inspecting the box, Danger made himself at home in the playhouse.  He was pretty upset when we put the whole thing away.  We put the tunnels in the closet and we'll try them again in a few months to see if Phoebe has warmed up to them.

Ooo, look what Grandma sent me!  This is the best present ever!

Look look look!  This present is so much fun!

Look Danger, isn't this box the best?!

Stupid baby.  You enjoy your box.  Kitty will just make himself at home in his new kitty palace.

Wednesday November 16 (day 139/365)

Phoebe had a rough Wednesday at school.  For some reason she just wouldn't nap, so by the time she got home, she was pretty tragic.  Luckily, there were some presents from Grandma Joyce waiting on the doorstep.  One of them was a set of new balls, Phoebe was super excited and refused to give up the basketball for any reason.  We even had to let her eat dinner with it on her tray.  From the pictures you can tell how totally exhausted she is.  It is ridiculous that Phoebe refuses to sleep even when she is clearly beyond tired.  I guess she is just worried she will miss something.  You'd think by now she'd realize how boring we are :)

Tuesday November 15 (day 138/365)

Today I tried to get a video of Phoebe doing the baby sign for "all done" which she does regularly.  I took at least 5 videos, but couldn't capture the sign on tape (part of it was our camera acting up - in all of the videos the audio is a few seconds ahead of the video for some reason).  So, instead, you get a picture of Phoebe "helping" us unpack the groceries.  For some reason, she latched on to a bottle of canola oil and would not let it go.

Monday, November 14 (day 137/365)

Today Phoebe's school was closed for the long Veteran's Day weekend.  Since I had to teach class, Jeremy spent the day at home with the little Doodle Bug.  They went to Parent's Place, ate lunch out, and spent some time at the park.  Both Jeremy and Phoebe had a great day, but I think Jeremy was really happy to see me when I got home from work :)  The munchkin is a lot of fun and totally adorable, but she is also incredibly tiring! 

Fun times with Daddy at the park

Are you just going to stand there or are you going to push this thing old man?

Pre-dinner story time with Mom.  Danger secretly plots his revenge.

Sunday, November 13 (day 136/365)

Today was one of those days when Phoebe was in her fourth outfit of the day by lunch time.  The first change was my fault.  Phoebe has recently had a growth spurt, so Jeremy and I have had to recalibrate where we have to put things for them to be out of her reach.  This morning I made a slight miscalculation with my coffee.  Luckily, having spent at least an hour between brewing the coffee and getting around to retrieving the cup from the coffee maker, it was ice cold by the time the baby found it.  Sadly, it was also full.  Phoebe got one mouthful of coffee and the rest of the cup ended down her front and on the carpet.  At first I didn't think it was that bad, but Phoebe was wearing a brown sleeper.  Once I took it off, I saw the full extent of the damage.  Here is photographic proof of my awesome parenting.

The second outfit actually met its demise in a very similar fashion.  Jeremy left his diet coke unattended for a second and when he turned around, Phoebe had poured it over her head into the hood of her jacket.  Since at this point she had thwarted both of our efforts at caffination, we were not 100% prepared to deal with the cleanup.  Some how we managed to get out the door to run our errands. Of course, the first place we tried to go was closed ...

The next change was due to a baby puke.  Phoebe has had some stomach issues off and on for about a month now.  Mostly, they manifest with clusters of projectile vomits.  The doctor isn't sure what is wrong, but for now we're testing the theory that it is a flare up of the old reflux problem Phoebe used to have as a newborn.  The muffin has been on Zantac for about two weeks and we thought it was working until the last few days.  At the last appointment we had, Phoebe had actually lost a few ounces, so we're going back again soon for a weight check.  We're hoping that this is just a phase and that everything will be back to normal soon!  Of course, today's puke might be chalked up to the baby getting both coffee and diet coke, so who knows :)

In the meantime, I am realizing my calculations on how many clothes we needed in the current size were based on the erroneous assumption that we'd only be going through one or two outfits a day.  A little later on, Phoebe tried to go for a fifth outfit, but luckily a little cracker-drool is easily dealt with using a damp cloth.