TheGottwoods

Sunday, December 18 (day 171/365)

2012-01-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

Today we took Phoebe to see Santa. We weren't too sure how she'd do, but we figured we'd give it a shot. You can see the results for yourself :)

Saturday, December 17 (day 170/365)

2012-01-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

There is a guy in our neighborhood who goes all out with his holiday decorations. And I mean All Out. For all the major holidays he puts up a walkway through his yard and then fills it with blow up decorations and lights. Today we took the Doodle Bug down to walk through the winter wonderland. She had a great time and really enjoyed seeing all the lights (although she did have a hard time with the "no touching" rule). We were really hoping to get a super cute picture of her but she was just too excited to sit still.

Why are we just standing here - let's go in!!

Friday, December 16 (day 169/365)

2012-01-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

Phoebe has always had what you might call a big personality. A lot of the time this makes her very fun to be around. She is confident, funny, adventurous and expressive. However, she also knows exactly what she wants. And if you don't give it to her she will get very angry. Phoebe can throw one heck of a temper tantrum. Of course, she does have a lot to be upset about - we are really mean parents. We are always making her wear pants, and wipe her nose and do all kinds of tantrum-worthy things. While she is usually genuinely upset, there is a fair amount of theatrical flair involved in a lot of tantrums. Sometimes after her bath, Phoebe will practice her angry faces in the mirror. Here you can see what happens when the baby is asked to wear socks. THE TRAGEDY!!!

Not socks. If you make me wear socks, my little baby life will not be worth living.

Hey! Are you watching??!!!

Just when I think it can't get any worse you are going to put on my shoes!?!?!?! What kind of MONSTER are you?!?!?!

Don't look at me!!!! I have on SOCKS ... and SHOES ... it's HORRIBLE!!!!!

It is so hard to be the baby. So. Hard.

Thursday, December 15 (day 168/365)

2012-01-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

We waffled about putting up a tree this year, but we finally decided we should take the plunge and decorate for the munchkin's first Christmas. Having decided to put the tree up we went to get it out of the garage only to discover ... our tree had been inhabited by mice! While that could have led to an entertaining Christmas with the cats, we decided the mouse tree was probably a no-go with the baby. We tracked down a replacement and decorated. We hung most of our ornaments on the top, but we left a few soft (UNBREAKABLE) ornaments on the bottom. Doodle bug LOVED the tree. She'd be constantly point at it and say something that we think sounded at least a little bit like "tree". Even though we know Phoebe won't remember her first Christmas, we ended up being really glad we put in the time to decorate.

Here Mom, here's a stocking. Also, guess what? It was spaghetti day at school.

Wednesday, December 14 (day 167/365)

2012-01-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

This week was the last week of classes, so my schedule was a little more open and I was able to sneak away to take Phoebe to our parent-baby class. We both love going and really enjoy hanging out with our baby (and parent) friends. Phoebe loves all of the activities and new toys ... except for the parachute. She remains very suspicious of the parachute. It is so fun to watch her explore and play!

Look! I have all the toys!

Share? Hmm ... I'll think about it ...

So. much. fun.

Right after I took this picture she put the baby in the oven. I promise she did not learn that at home.

Now that the class is transitioning from infant to toddler, we have music time every class. Phoebe loves to dance and play instruments.

Tuesday, December 13 (day 166/365)

2012-01-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Some days the baby works so hard she can barely make it through dinner ...

Monday, December 12 (day 165/365)

2012-01-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

You might have noticed that the latkes from Phoebe's Hanukkah playset have been making quite a few appearances in blog posts lately. Usually one of them is shoved into her mouth while she toddles around looking for trouble. Here is some photographic proof that she sometimes actually plays with them as intended.

Sunday, December 11 (day 164/365)

2012-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Phoebe has really had a lot to say lately. Every once in a while she will launch into a little baby monologue. It is clear she is really trying to communicate something - her silly parents just can't figure out what it is :) (Note how she switches the toy from hand to hand to allow for gesturing).

Saturday, December 10 (day 163/365)

2012-01-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Today was Phoebe's friend Dexter's first birthday party. We got the little doodle all dressed up and tried to get a cute picture, but she was way too busy. This is the best photo I got:

The party was super fun for the kids - and it is a lot of fun to see them playing together (or at least near each other). It is also a lot of fun to hang out with our parent friends. They are in the same boat as us, so they aren't offended when conversations get interrupted every 30 seconds to track down a stray baby or when in a sleep-deprived haze we call someone (or their child) by the wrong name. Hopefully some time in the next year or so I will regain the ability to carry on an actual adult conversation :)

We tried to take a picture of all five babies at the party. They were not cooperative.

Phoebe and Daddy hanging out at the party.

Phoebe really enjoyed trying out all of Dexter's cool toys. Even if she didn't necessarily use them in the standard way.

Yay! Baby friends!

Friday, December 9 (day 162/365)

2012-01-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

Now that Phoebe is eating a bigger variety of foods, Danger is grudgingly spending more time with her. In particular he spends a lot of mealtimes with her. Here is trying to figure out if there is a path to cream cheese that does not involve getting a baby hug.

Today we sent Phoebe to school in her Bears football shirt. The teachers thought she looked a little too much like a boy, so they put some pigtails in her hair. The doodles doesn't really have much hair, so the pigtails looked a little more like antennae than anything else - we called her "little bug" all night - she doesn't look amused.

Thursday, December 8 (day 161/365)

2012-01-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

Our cats have gotten too lazy to chase laser pointers, so it is a good thing we have a baby!

Wednesday, December 7 (day 160/365)

2012-01-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

Phoebe has developed a real fondness for Jeremy's wallet. She has walked off with it at least three or four times in the last few weeks. Usually (like in this picture) we catch her rifling through it in one of her favorite spots. One time, she wandered into the living room casually chewing on Jeremy's access card for his lab. The card had been in Jeremy's wallet. When we went to go look for the wallet it was nowhere to be found. It took us several days to track down, the little doodle bug is getting more creative with her hiding places!

Tuesday, December 6 (day 159/365)

2012-01-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month, the local fire department went to Phoebe's daycare to teach the kids about fire safety. I am not sure how many safety tips Phoebe learned, but she did get an awesome plastic hat that she has been obsessed with ever since we brought it home. This is actually a funny development because the little munchkin usually hates hats. Just the suggestion that we might make her wear a sunhat outside can bring on epic tantrums. The fire hat on the other hand - she will put on her own head. We have enjoyed having our little fire fighter toddling around the living room.

Monday, December 5 (day 158/365)

2012-01-01T20:47:00.001-08:00

Look at all the glorious electronic devices! If only my arms were just a little longer!

Sunday, December 4 (157/365)

2012-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

Sunday is frequently football day around here because I'm something of a junkie. Things waned a bit in December as the reality of the Caleb Hanie era set in for the Bears this year. This picture shows Phoebe sitting in her new portable eating-seat, looking concerned with her papa.

Saturday, December 3 (156/365)

2012-01-01T20:23:00.001-08:00

Kate's been pretty busy lately, so I'm going to step in as guest blogger for a few posts to help us get caught up.

December 3 was Kate's birthday, so she and I arranged for our friend Le

slie to babysit in the evening while we went out for a rare dinner together where nobody threw food on the floor or spit up on their bib. As much as we love the muffin, it's nice every couple of months to have a leisurely, sit-down meal together.

This, of course, does not mean that Phoebe did not do some adorable things for her mama's birthday.

Kate got Phoebe a wooden Hanukkah play set. You can see the menorah off to the left, and next to it is the spatula used to make the wooden latkes that came with the wooden frying pan. Did I mention that this is my favorite wooden play set ever? Anyway, it also came with a whole bunch of wooden gelt. Phoebe is sadly holding one in her mouth, clearly pining for when she can get actual chocolate gelt.

Later in the day, Phoebe is looking stylish in her new shades.

Finally, here's a movie of Phoebe in a moment when she clearly thinks she has Danger cornered.

Friday December 2 (day 155/365)

2011-12-05T20:38:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T20:32:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T20:19:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T20:18:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T20:12:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T20:04:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T19:51:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T19:48:00.001-08:00

Someone is feeling WAY WAY BETTER!!! Yay!

Thursday, November 24 (day 147/365)

2011-12-05T19:29:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T19:19:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T19:09:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-12-05T19:02:00.001-08:00

"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)

2011-11-21T21:03:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-21T20:29:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-21T19:58:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-21T19:46:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-21T19:19:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-21T19:03:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-21T18:56:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-13T19:51:00.001-08:00

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.

Saturday November 12 (day 135/365)

2011-11-13T19:14:00.001-08:00

We had a pretty awesome Saturday! I had to do a 10 mile training run today so we decided I would just run from home to the gym where swimming is to meet up with Phoebe and Jeremy. It would have actually been about 10.75 miles to they gym, but it turns out to be almost exactly 11 to the Starbucks downtown Monterey, so I decided to do 11 - I do have priorities after all :) After running and swimming, we met our friends the Sheaus for lunch at Chipotle. On our way to lunch, Jeremy and I realized we were almost out of diapers in the diaper bag, so we stopped at Target to pick up a package. At some point during the afternoon we managed to lose the ENTIRE package of diapers. Not sure how that happens, but we blame the sleep deprivation.

After lunch, we went to the cool Dennis the Menace playground downtown Monterey. I wasn't sure how much fun Phoebe would have since she is so little, but she LOVED it! She was all over the place. Phoebe also went down the slide by herself for the first time ever. It went something like this:
Kate: I'd take Phoebe down the slide, but I'm not sure I'd fit
Jeremy: Just send her by herself
Kate: What!?!?! Are you kidding?!?!?! Poor little baby, I bet she'd be so scared all by herself.
Jeremy: Let's just try once.
Kate: If you insist
Phoebe: WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Let's do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was worried so I was very careful to lay Phoebe all the way down and reach as far as I could before I let her go. On subsequent runs she pretty much flung herself down the slide as soon as she saw it.

When we were all played out at the park, we went over to the aquarium. Now that Phoebe is a walker, she pretty much insists at walking everywhere. And forget about holding her parents' hands - that is for BABIES. This is fine in say, the living room. At the crowded aquarium on the Saturday of a holiday weekend, not so much. It was quite the workout chasing after the little muffin.

We worked up a big appetite, so we all came back to our place for pizza and cupcakes. We are all pretty awesome parents because we managed to eat the cupcakes without alerting the babies to their presence. We could pretend that we didn't feed the kids cupcakes because we were worried about the sugar or cavities or something, but it was probably more like we really didn't want to have to share :)

Phoebe and the Sheau's older son Kestrel are super cute together. They played a lot of the day and were always giving each other hugs and high fives. They also did some wrestling, almost always instigated by Phoebe. She would toddle up behind Kestrel, grab him around the neck and pull him down to the ground. Luckily, the little guy was a pretty good sport.

We had an awesome day! We can't wait to hang out again. We also didn't even bother to pack a camera. Geoff has a really good camera (and is a great photographer) so we told him he was on photo duty for the day. All the pictures here are curtesy of Geoff. Every time I see pictures he has taken I am tempted to buy a cool new camera. Then I realize that it would still be me and Jeremy taking the pictures - a camera can only do so much :)

High Fives!!

Friday November 11 (day 134/365)

2011-11-11T21:14:00.001-08:00

This past week we had a toy and clothing swap at Phoebe's daycare. During the first part of the week, people could drop off old things they wanted to get rid of. Then, later in the week anyone could go through the pile of stuff and take home new treasures. We ditched a couple of big bags of old baby stuff and I had promised not to bring anything home. But, as a member of the PTA, I had to help clean up after the swap (all the leftover toys and clothes get donated to the center). As we were packing stuff up, I came across the perfect toy for Phoebe - a baby remote control! We brought it home, cleaned it up and gave it to Phoebe. She was pretty thrilled - although she was pretty sure there was some catch - we wouldn't just hand her a remote control ... would we? I am not sure she is completely fooled, after all real remotes don't have googly eyes and Elmo on them, but she is pretty excited to finally have her very own remote.

Thursday November 10 (day 133/365)

2011-11-11T20:49:00.001-08:00

Phoebe has discovered the camera. Now whenever I get it out she stops whatever she was doing and motors over to where I am. Then, as soon as I take a picture, she demands to see the picture on the camera screen. The end result is a lot of pictures like this:

Rather than capturing Phoebe in the middle of doing something cute, we get her on her way to grab the camera. Hopefully this phase will pass soon, otherwise be prepared for 232 more days of baby camera grabbing shots :)

Wednesday November 9 (day 132/365)

2011-11-11T20:45:00.001-08:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Tuesday November 8 (day 131/365)

2011-11-11T20:42:00.001-08:00

Happy election day! It's never too early to be a good citizen.

Monday November 7 (day 130/365)

2011-11-11T20:37:00.001-08:00

Someone did an art project at school today and came home covered in marker. Right now her artist skills tend towards eating the supplies rather than actually doing the projects, but at least she's a cute marker-eater.

Luckily, there was another football game tonight, so we got to practice our touchdown skills again!

Sunday November 6 (day 129/365)

2011-11-11T20:33:00.001-08:00

We all needed some down time this weekend, so we got up on Sunday and got some pancakes. After pancakes and a quick trip to Safeway, we came home and hung out in our jammies all day! It was nice to just stay at home and hang out together. Phoebe got some quality football watching time with Daddy. Most importantly Jeremy finally got her to do touchdown. He'll yell "touchdown" and Phoebe will throw her arms up to make the sign. Of course, she was so excited, she kept doing the sign all afternoon. Next we'll have to work on getting her to do it only when a team actually scores :)

Someone is ready for her pancakes!

Saturday November 5 (day 128/365)

2011-11-11T20:27:00.001-08:00

Phoebe loves to take advantage of her new drawer and door opening skills to empty the kitchen cabinets on a regular basis. This particular morning she was excited to find a cookie sheet - she used it to "surf" around the kitchen. It is amazing how the simplest things can lead to so much fun!

Friday November 4 (day 127/365)

2011-11-11T20:21:00.001-08:00

For the past month, Phoebe has been really into peek-a-boo. She'll even request it by either handing one of us a blanket or coming up and turning Jeremy or I around so she can hide behind us. However in the last week or so, Phoebe has started taking advantage of the hiding part of peek-a-boo to get into trouble. Here, she takes advantage of Jeremy being under the blanket to make off with his water bottle. While I am taking this picture, Jeremy is saying "Where's Daddy?". I am pretty sure if she could talk Phoebe would be saying something along the lines of "Geee, I don't know ... that's a tough one"

Thursday November 3 (day 126/365)

2011-11-11T20:14:00.001-08:00

Danger pretends not to like the baby, when she is baby attention to him he meows and acts put out. On the other hand, if the baby loses interest and starts ignoring the kitty, he gets equally miffed.

Hi Baby. Kitty here. I don't want to play with you.

Baby? Baby?? Don't you see the kitty? I am right here in front of you.

Look baby, I am even making it easy for you. Look LOOK! LOOK AT THE KITTY!

Wednesday, November 2 (day 125/365)

2011-11-11T20:00:00.001-08:00

Today I got yet another phone call from daycare alerting me to a baby head injury. I called Jeremy, but we decided that since the teachers thought Phoebe was fine, we'd just wait until the end of the day to pick her up. When we got there we were met by a very tragic munckin. She was curled up in the arms of one of the teachers and looked pretty pathetic. It turns out they kept her up for a while after the head bump to make sure she was ok, so in addition to having a big gash on her head, the muffin was exhausted. She passed out on the way home and we couldn't bare to wake her up, so we let her nap on the floor until dinner. Poor little pumpkin had a rough night, but she is almost all recovered!

While munchkin napped on her quilt, we got a good shot of the newest head injury.

They day wasn't all bad though! Our new Cookie Monster from Grandma got lots of smiles!

And story time is always fun. Phoebe likes to have her own book these days.

Tuesday November 1 (day 124/365)

2011-11-11T19:55:00.001-08:00

Phoebe has learned how to open drawers. Most importantly, she has learned to open the drawer containing the kitty treats. Guess who has a new best friend. Or, she would have a new best friend if she also knew how to open the package of treats. So close Danger, so close.

She does owe him a few kitty treats ...

Monday October 31 (day 123/365)

2011-11-11T19:47:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween! Jeremy and I both had to work all day, but we hear that Phoebe got to march in the costume parade at school! Next year we'll have to make sure we plan in advance so we can get pictures. In the evening we stayed home and waited for trick or treaters. We felt like we couldn't really take Phoebe trick or treating since she can't eat candy yet. It would be pretty obvious that we were just using our adorable baby to get strangers to give us free candy. We never get very many trick or treaters but we're always sure we're prepared just in case ... usually with a Costco sized bag of candy ... we're usually up to the challenge of eating the leftovers :)

Phoebe was a little black kitty for school.

Grandma Joyce sent Phoebe a bunch of Halloween cards. Phoebe LOVES mail. We parceled out the cards one a day and Phoebe was always super excited!

Grandma also sent a package! Phoebe loved the toys inside but she also loved having a new place to corner the kitty.

Sunday October 30 (day 122/365)

2011-11-11T19:33:00.001-08:00

Today we had a nice at-home family day. In the evening the neighbors came over to admire Jeremy's Darth Vader pumpkin and we got some cute pictures of all three kids playing together. The older little boy next door is so cute with Phoebe. He is always giving her hugs, helping her pose for the camera, and reminding us that he is available to babysit :)

It is increasingly difficult to get good pictures of Phoebe. This is, in fact, the best shot we got of "Daddy's little pumpkin" with her pumpkins. Oh well, there's always next year! (or Photoshop I suppose)

Daddy and Phoebe show off their fancy pumpkin.

The boys were getting rid of their old sandbox so after it was emptied out all three kids played in it like it was a boat. The younger boy would jump up and down to make it rock and Phoebe thought it was super fun. She is definitely a rough-and-tumble little girl! As adorable as the situation was, it turned out to be another one of those times that I just couldn't get a very good picture.

Here the boys admire Jeremy's pumpkin. The taking of this picture was hilarious. Jeremy wanted to take the photo without a flash to get the full jack-o-lantern effect, but that meant the boys had to hold still. Jeremy kept saying "hold still". The boys would reply "ok" and then they'd inevitably start jumping around.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

We thought the Phoebe-zilla costume would be a little unwieldy to wear all day at daycare, so Phoebe is going to school as a black kitty today. Happy Halloween from both of our little black kitties!!

PS Sorry, my work computer rotated the image for me, I will rotate it back tonight at home.

Saturday, October 29 (day 121/365)

2011-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today we had another busy day! Lori and I had to run 8 miles and after that we felt like we deserved a treat, so we had the husbands and the babies meet us at a restaurant by the end of our run for lunch. It was a ton of fun! Later in the day we ran some errands, hung out a bit with the neighbors and then we carved our pumpkins! We got a big pumpkin for Jeremy to carve and a tiny pumpkin for Phoebe. Here she inspects the pumpkin insides and is a tad underwhelmed.

Really, I was trying to enjoy a snack here people!?!

Friday, October 28 (day 120/365)

2011-10-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Phoebe-zilla's reign of terror begins!

Halloween sing-a-long with Daddy.

Bouncey house!!!!

The little vampire is Phoebe's friend Andrew from school. Both sets of parents took a ton of pictures and this was the best of the lot. It turns out that while getting a good picture of one baby is hard, getting a good picture of two babies at the same time is pretty much impossible

Phoebe got to ride in the fire truck! Sadly, she was much more excited about getting a bottle of water.

Thursday, October 27 (day 119/365)

2011-10-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

The best part about being a walker is how much more quickly the baby can get into trouble ... and all without dropping her favorite ball!

Wednesday, October 26 (day 118/365)

2011-10-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Kitty dilemma. The highchair is full of chicken

The highchair is also full of baby

What's a kitty to do?

Tuesday, October 25 (day 117/365)

2011-10-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

PEEK-A-BOO!!!

Monday, October 24 (day 116/365)

2011-10-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 23 (day 115/365)

2011-10-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Today was another day of not-a-lot-of-sleep and ongoing baby tragicness. So, rather than a coherent story, there is just a random mix of pictures.

All morning, Phoebe insisted on using both of her push-toys AT THE SAME TIME. As you can imagine, this led to no end of baby breakdowns when she would get stuck or run over herself. Of course, she couldn't give up and just play with one toy at a time. THAT WOULD BE CRAZY!

Baby really needs some caffeine, it is so hard to get a good night's sleep in this joint.

The baby was being pretty loud downstairs, so Danger sought refuge the only quiet place he could find ... the changing table.

Jeremy left his wallet and phone out in a baby accessible locale. It looks like I caught her in the middle of ordering one of everything from Toys R Us.

Not only did Phoebe find Daddy's phone, she also got the remote. It was pretty much like baby Christmas!

SNUGGLES!!!!!! One of these two is WAY more excited about snuggle time than the other.

Towards the end of the day we played a little Rock Band thinking the singing would help cheer the munchkin up.

Phoebe says she could get used to the rock star lifestyle!

Saturday, October 22 (day 114/365)

2011-10-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today we had a big day! In the morning Phoebe and Daddy had swimming, and I went for a run. When we were all done with our athletic endeavors, we ran errands. Phoebe was super excited because we went to Costco - she loves a trip to Costco. In the evening we went to an engagement party at Sathya's house for our friends Leslie and Scott! I don't know if I've mentioned it lately, but we have the best friends ever. The engagement party started at 4:30 in the afternoon and was at a house rather than a bar, specifically so that Miss Phoebe could attend. Our friends are all so great with Phoebe! And she, in turn, eats up the attention - she was all smiles and giggles and high fives (despite the preceding weeks of poor sleep and baby tragicness). At the party she also officially became a walker - she was toddling all over the place. For the last month or so Phoebe's been surfing along walls and taking a few steps here or there, but at the party she stood up and motored across the room ... multiple times. That is one thing about our little munchkin, she knows how to work an audience. The one "person" Phoebe took a while to warm up to was Sathya's dog Darwin. Darwin is very good with Phoebe (other than occasionally getting a little over-zealous with the kisses) and is actually very gentle for a big dog. At the beginning of the night, Phoebe wasn't too sure about dog, but by the end of the night they were buddies.

Friday, October 21 (day 113/365)

2011-10-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today Munchkin and I got up early and made Daddy some homemade whole wheat, banana, blueberry muffins for breakfast. I mean, if you are up at 5:30 on a week day anyway, why not bake? Phoebe loves hanging out in the kitchen, especially now that she has learned how to open cabinets and drawers. We originally only latched cabinets with dangerous stuff in them, but we are clearly going to have to do a second round of baby-proofing. Either that, or every piece of kitchen equipment we own will be coated in a film of baby drool. I actually like having Phoebe in the kitchen with me - we have a lot of fun - even if she does hoard all the measuring cups!

Don't look now mom, I am making you a surprise ...

You keep using this phrase "not for babies" ... I don't understand ...

Oooo, look at all this stuff. You were wrong mom, this is DEFINITELY for babies!

Thursday, October 20 day :(

2011-10-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Sadly, we do not have a photo for today. We made it over 100 days, but then we forgot! It was just sort of the perfect storm of events: Phoebe had us up all night, she was completely tragic all day, I had a late meeting at work so I wasn't home until after bedtime ... Long story short, I didn't get a picture. It was pretty crushing to realize that after managing to get a picture of SOMETHING for so long, I had forgotten!!!!! Boo!!!!! I wasn't sure how to handle it. I guess, if I was a purist, I would start over at day 1. But I am more of a realist. We have a baby. An active, sometimes cranky, attention-demanding baby. We both work full time. We try to keep our house moderately clean (or at least this-side of an episode of hoarders), cook healthy meals (almost) every day, and to spend time with our friends and neighbors. In the scheme of things it is just one picture. I am disappointed that I missed a day, but I am going to forge ahead.

Wednesday, October 19 (day 112/365)

2011-10-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Hide and seek in the wee hours (Phoebe is easily distracted during hide and seek)

Danger reminds us that he is HAPPY to sleep through the night. Or he would be if we didn't keep jumping out of bed to tend to the baby, disturbing him in the process. Poor kitty. He is down to like 18 hours of sleep a day. A kitty can't be expected to live like this.

Tuesday, October 18 (day 111/365)

2011-10-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Phoebe is very into magazines and junk mail right now. She had one particular solicitation card from Carleton College that she carried around for three days. She was probably thinking the same thing as us - maybe if they didn't spend so much cash printing fancy, glossy brochures, they wouldn't have to hit us up for cash so often. Anyway, I digress.

A parenting magazine - thank god! These people need all the help they can get!

Hmm, only $12 a year, maybe if I leave this card laying around they'll get the hint a buy a subscription!

Hey mom, have you read this one? It has some great advice, not that I'm saying you need advice, but I'm just going to go ahead and mark the article for you ...

Monday, October 17 (day 110/365)

2011-10-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

This month Phoebe went through a phase of horrible sleep. And when I say that, I mean horrible even for her. She would take forever to fall asleep, would wake up multiple times throughout the night and then she'd want to get up for good at ridiculous o'clock in the morning. If I was a glass-half-full kind of gal, I'd say that I got to spend a lot of quality time with my baby before I left for work in the morning. Frankly, it is very hard to maintain a glass-half-full perspective when you are exhausted. To make matters worse, since Phoebe wasn't getting enough sleep, she was grumpy most of the time too. It was a rough few weeks around here! This particular morning, I was actually trying to get a video of Phoebe throwing a fit (one of many) in an attempt to garner some web-sympathy. However, as soon as she saw the camera, Phoebe perked up and pulled herself together. On a whim, I took one of those arm-length self-portraits of the two of us (where you hold the camera out and take a picture) and the munchkin went nuts - she thought it was the funniest thing ever! Needless to say, we took a lot of self-portraits this morning. Phoebe is absolutely adorable in all of them. I just look ... exhausted.

I see you are trying to capture a video of me screaming and throwing my bottle around the living room. I can't have footage like that getting out there. What will the fans think? Allow me to turn on the baby charm.

Look at how adorable I am! Do I look like a baby who would throw a fit?? Who are you going to believe? A cute bundle of adorableness or that lady? Yeah, I thought so.

Sunday, October 16 (day 109/365)

2011-10-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

This week I wasn't able to meet my friend Lori to run on Saturday, so I had to make up a long (7 mile!) run on my own. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I mapped out a route from our house through campus and I finished the whole thing! (I wouldn't necessarily say that a lot of it looked like running, but I went 7 miles and that is what counts). After actual running, we went to go run some errands including lunch at Chipotle. Phoebe loves Chipotle just like her parents! We always hope there will be left-over kids meal quesadilla for Mom and Dad, but the munchkin can pack it away. She usually eats at least half a cheese quesadilla and a healthy serving of black beans!

I see you eyeing my quesadilla old man ... don't even think about it.

After lunch, someone was a little grumpy, so we threw her in the Ergo and took a long walk downtown. Eventually Phoebe fell asleep, so we just wandered around until she woke up. We spent a while watching an adorable otter playing in the ocean - Phoebe missed the whole thing!

Most Sunday afternoons/evenings we hang out at home and relax before the next week starts up. Here are Phoebe and Jeremy playing one of their favorite games - KABOOM!

Happy Birthday!

2011-10-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today is Phoebe's Great Grandma Rita's birthday (Jeremy's grandma). Happy birthday Great Grandma!! Jeremy and Phoebe Skyped with her this morning while I went for a run. They had to set up an appointment in advance because Great Grandma's social calendar fills up fast! Every time we try to call her she is out having fun with her friends. The other day I said "I hope we have as active a social life when we're in our 90s!" and Jeremy replied "we don't even have as active a social life NOW!". Very true.

Saturday, October 15 (day 108/365)

2011-10-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today was the open house at school, so Jeremy took Phoebe to swimming by himself and then they stopped by campus to say hi to everyone. In the afternoon we tried take two at the pumpkin patch (a different one) and this time everyone seemed a little happier. We even picked out a great pumpkin to carve for the front porch. After pumpkin picking, we went out for Chinese in downtown Monterey. This was probably one of the first (if not the first) place that we have taken Phoebe that wasn't (a) the deli around the corner (b) Chipotle or (c) pizza. We had a great family dinner (Phoebe got the tofu-broccoli) and an all around nice family day.

Thursday, October 13 (day 106/365)

2011-10-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

Playing with Daddy

Friday, October 14 (day 107/365)

2011-10-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

Today I had to work late to attend an event at school. Jeremy and Phoebe got to spend some quality Daddy-daughter time, during which Jeremy took this sequence:

Hmm, Dad is in the other room making my dinner, so I think I'll just take advantage of this conveniently located backpack to see what is on the couch. ooooo .... remote ...

Oh hi dad, I thought you were in the other room, how's my dinner coming?

Maybe if I just act cool he won't notice ...

Wednesday, October 12 (day 105/365)

2011-10-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

Phoebe has gotten really good at using her two little teeth. Pretty much anything you give her she can gnaw away at. She gets very excited when you give her anything whole rather than cut into chunks. In this picture you can she her work on a bagel (it looks very similar to the work of a small rodent). Every time we throw a bagel on her tray she looks up at us like "really? I get the whole thing??" I know she won't always be so easily impressed so I guess we should enjoy it while we can! In this picture you can also see Phoebe defeat the no-spill mechanism on her sippy cup. Sigh.

Hey look mom, if I push in the valve, I can make milk come out really fast and go everywhere. Isn't that FUN?

Tuesday, October 11 (day 104/365)

2011-10-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Part 2 in the series "Just like Daddy"

Phoebe is walking a lot more now. She is still not super-stable, but with a hand to hold onto she will walk for long stretches. She also stands on her own (without having to pull up) and can stand for quite a while. However, sometimes she still chooses to crawl (or she'll start walking and when she tips over she'll just keep going on her hands and knees). It is adorable how excited she still is about being able to move. I especially love the enthusiasm she puts into crawling!

Monday, October 10 (day 103/365)

2011-10-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

We all had a very rough night Sunday night and then poor Jeremy had Phoebe all to himself all day on Monday. To make matters worse (better?) Monday was the baby school trip to the pumpkin patch. Jeremy took Phoebe but from what I gather neither one of them had a ton of fun. I had dressed Phoebe in her "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" shirt in anticipation of loads of adorable pictures ...

Here is Phoebe at 4AM. She is about to get marched around the neighborhood in a last-ditch effort to get her to sleep a little more. She is waaaaay more excited about this then anyone else is.

At the pumpkin patch ... unimpressed by the goat.

Equally unimpressed by hay bales.

Really old man? This is all you've got. Wake me when it's time to go home.

Sunday, October 9 (day 102/365)

2011-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we went outside to play and the neighbors were out. The mom had me hand Phoebe over the fence (after a weekend of sick, teething baby I briefly considered making a break for it, but figured that would be pretty unsuccessful since we live next door) to play with the boys. Phoebe loves getting to play with the boys and had a great time - they even shared their cars (this is a big deal if you are a five year old boy). If we are outside and the boys come out, Phoebe will immediately stop what she is doing, toddle over, and press her face up against the fence. We really feel fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors! They are so friendly and generous and their two boys are absolutely adorable. Not to mention how understanding they are about the flair and volume with which Phoebe voices her displeasure at all hours of the day and night.

Phoebe gets a little help posing for the camera.

Saturday October 8 (day 101/365)

2011-10-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Phoebe had a little bit of a cold this weekend and on top of that she started working on a few more teeth. By the middle of the day on Saturday, the baby was just a snotty, drooly, grumpy mess. At some point the tragic-ness escalated to the point where we pulled out the big guns (the Muppets). We don't let Phoebe watch much TV at all, but every once in a while we'll throw in an episode of the Muppets when nothing else is working. Usually we only end up watching 10 or 15 minutes but it is enough to get our little muppet settled down.

When Phoebe gets really worked up, she'll scream and scream and scream (even while you are holding her and rocking) and really only two things will calm her down
(1) The Muppets
(2) Putting her in the Ergo (baby carrier) and walking laps around the neighborhood
at 2:00 AM deciding which method to employ often comes down to a coin flip - but at least if we watch the Muppets, we don't run the risk of running into the neighbors in our PJs.

Muppets and snacks with Daddy make everything better.

Phoebe demonstrates her technique for defeating the "no spill" feature on the no spill snack cup.

Friday, October 7 (day 100/365)

2011-10-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Daycare was closed for a four day weekend for Columbus day, so Jeremy and I worked out that I would stay home with the munchkin on Friday, and he'd do Monday. Phoebe and I had a great day together! We ran some errands in the morning, went out for lunch together, and then spent the afternoon at baby sing-a-long and hanging out with some of the other moms and babies that had come to class. Phoebe loved sing-a-long. She danced, played, giggled and had an all around wonderful time. I really enjoyed getting to spend the whole day with Phoebe!


Here's Phoebe playing before the singing got started. The little soft barrier in the front (the thing with the mirrors on it) was no match for the munchkin. When she decided she wanted to be on the other side, she just threw herself over head first.

For one part of sing-a-long, they hand out plastic eggs full of beans or something (they make rattling noises). Phoebe was a HUGE fan of this development. She reached right into the basket and grabbed two eggs.

Here is Phoebe taking her egg-shaking very seriously.

Yay! Music!

Thursday, October 6 (day 99/365)

2011-10-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was Phoebe's nine month well baby visit so Jeremy and I kept her home in the morning so we could all go to the doctor. The little munchkin is doing great! The doctor said she's right on her growth curve and seems to be meeting the necessary milestones. If you remember a while back, I mentioned that the pediatrician had detected a click in Phoebe's hip. It was still there at this visit so we got sent next door for baby x-rays. The x-rays themselves were a horrible experience because Jeremy and I had to hold Phoebe down and she was not a fan of the process. The good news is that her hip is 100% fine and there is nothing to worry about. That is definitely a relief. At this visit, Phoebe weighed in at 19 pounds, 8 ounces (50-75 percentile) and measured 30 inches (>97 percentile). They didn't measure her head this time so we'll just have to assume that is doing fine too :)

Here's photographic evidence of a rather frightening baby milestone - climbing! Phoebe has started climbing anything she can. Including one time when she managed to get half way up the baby gate.

Oh, I'm not supposed to climb on things and get into your stuff? My bad.

Wednesday, October 5 (day 98/365)

2011-10-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

Phoebe loves to play catch with her Daddy! She has a rough understanding of the concept of throwing the ball and then waiting for it to come back. At some point she usually gets impatient and crawls after the ball, or gives up on throwing and just toddles over and puts it in your hands. We were trying to capture he on video, to no avail. And there's a special surprise close up at the end. Not to spoil it, but somebody is very jealous of all the attention the baby gets ..

Tuesday, October 4 (day 97/365)

2011-10-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Phoebe has really been working on her motor skills and we've seen a huge improvement in what she is able to accomplish. However, things don't always work out the way she wants them to:

Step 1: Baby puts the ball in the basket

Step 2: The baby proudly admires her handiwork

Step 3: Remove the ... WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING???? BABY IS UPSET!!!!

Monday, October 3 (day 96/365)

2011-10-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a while ...

.. so Danger would just like to remind everyone that he is still not on board with the baby situation.

Sunday, October 2 (day 95/365)

2011-10-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

We end up at Trader Joe's about once a week - usually early on either Saturday or Sunday morning. Phoebe loves both riding in the cart and flirting nonstop with the other shoppers and the staff. Even if she is having a grumpy day, she can instantly turn on the charm for Trader Joe.

Phoebe spends most of her cart ride turning around as far as she can. She likes to keep an eye on things and to see where things are headed.

Hmmm, I see we have pears and peaches, where are the pancakes?

Saturday, October 1 (day 94/365)

2011-10-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

Today was Phoebe's friend Kestrel's second birthday party, so we drove up to Palo Alto for his party and had a great time. The party was in a cute local park where we bbq'd, played with other families, and ate cupcakes. It was especially fun to watch the older kids play. There was one little boy with an encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs. He would stage elaborate attacks between different dinosaurs (played by his dad and himself) - it was pretty adorable. We also got to meet Kestrel's new brother Sylvan. Sylvan is super cute! He is also the most mellow baby ever (well, at least since Kestrel). He would make a tiny little grunt and his mom would say "aww, are you getting grumpy?". Jeremy and I would just roll our eyes.

We are used to Phoebe so whenever we're around other kids it helps us recalibrate what "normal baby behavior" looks like. There were two other babies there (one was 7 months and one was 11 months). Both of them were quiet and snuggly and spent most of the party peacefully hanging out in a baby carrier. Phoebe on the other hand was all over the place. She tried to dive on to the concrete patio, she ate at least three handfuls of grass, and she really wanted to join in the big kid wrestling match. Jeremy and I always feel like we look more run down and exhausted than other parents. Every once in a while we are reminded why that is :)

Yay Slide! Phoebe loves slides!

Playing ball in the park. Phoebe is pretty good at sharing, but not when it comes to her special ball.

A brief break for some refreshments

P.S Just in case you were wondering, her onesie says "I just boldly went". It is both a reference to Star Trek, and a poop joke at the same time. I think Phoebe is really looking forward to the day when she can dress herself.

Friday, September 30 (day 93/365)

2011-10-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today was open house at Phoebe's daycare. We almost didn't go because it started at 6 which is getting a little late for the munchkin, but we are glad we were brave and went! We were the only family there from Phoebe's room for a long time, so we got to hang out with all of the teachers. It was fun to see them when they are more relaxed - we joked around and swapped Phoebe stories. As part of the programming we did a mini-day at daycare. First up was circle time. All the adults sang songs while Phoebe tried to eat the felt board and dumped toys on the ground. I am guessing this is pretty typical. Then we tried an art project. Jeremy made an adorable glittery fish (definitely out of place with all the other infant art work - it was at least toddler quality if not preschool), but Phoebe kept trying to eat the paint, so her art time was cut short. After art time we had snack time, by this time more families had arrived. The teachers offered the kids and siblings a variety of ridiculously sugary treats washed down with juice. Then they sent them home. To their parents. I am guessing all the frosting is (sweet) revenge for everything they have to put up with during the week. Since Phoebe is too little to understand about not getting cookies like the other kids, we had a great time and will definitely have to make a point to go to open house every fall!

Circle time! This is the part of hickory dickory dock where the baby tries to eat the clock

One of the climbing toys in the infant room. This toy alone has been the source of at least three "incident reports"

Ah, climbing toy, my old nemesis, we meet again.

The one shot we were able to get of Phoebe actually sitting in the circle at circle time. Jeremy must have a fast shutter finger, because I think this lasted for all of half a second.

Just like Daddy ...

2011-10-06T19:34:00.001-07:00

Thursday, September 29 (day 92/365)

2011-10-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

This week was the book fair at Phoebe's school, and being good PTA parents, Jeremy and I each worked a one hour shift as cashier. When I showed up to start my shift, the woman at the front desk said "oh, it's Phoebe's mom, I was just about to call you". Uh-oh. Phone calls are typically reserved for major "events" (in other words, when they need to warn you in advance that your child will be sporting a new giant lump/bruise when you come to pick them up). In true Phoebe fashion, the new bruise is smack in the middle of her forehead. She seems to be a fan of (literally) jumping into things head-first. We have noted that while some days she looks more like me and some days she looks more like Jeremy, there is no mistaking that Phoebe is starting to take after her Uncle John 100% when it comes to behavior. We are preparing ourselves to be the parents that can recite the signs of a baby-concussion from memory and can assess the number of stitches a wound will require from 20 paces.

Phoebe was pretty tragic all evening, so I could only get a shot of her new lump during dinner.

Today was also parent-teacher conference for Phoebe. We love the teachers in her room and we especially love Miss Erica who is in charge of tracking Phoebe's milestones. Each kid gets a big binder full of developmentally-relevant milestones. Their teacher keeps track of the day when they first notice the corresponding behavior and also takes pictures as documentation. We ended up with a bunch of cute pictures of Phoebe feeding herself, showing emotion (she's GREAT at that), and even playing with a friend! The teachers are all very observant and we love hearing stories about Phoebe's days at school. The teachers are also really good at working with us on things like getting Phoebe to nap. Given that we can't be with Phoebe all the time, we feel very fortunate to have her in such a caring, enriching environment! We had a great first teacher conference, here's hoping the next 18 years of conferences go just as smoothly :)

Wednesday, September 28 (day 91/365)

2011-10-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Guess who has (finally) learned high-five??? (hint: the baby can do it too)

Jeremy has been waiting for Phoebe to be able to do baby tricks pretty much since we found out I was pregnant. For him, this is the first major parenting pay-off (followed closely by being able to embarrass your child in public and never having to do the dishes again ... although my dad claims that last one is a big fat lie because he had TWO kids and he still has to do the dishes). We've been periodically showing Phoebe high-five and then looking like complete idiots while we repeatedly high-five each other and she just laughs in our general direction. Then, we realized that another kid in her class is a huge fan of the high-five, so we started doing it with him when we'd drop Phoebe off at school. Finally this week she seemed to catch on. Of course, she'll only do it two or three times in a row - after that she just looks at us with the baby equivalent of an eye roll. She also tends to prefer high-five with Jeremy, I often get left hanging.

Anyway, Jeremy is very excited about this latest development. He has a whole list of tricks that he wants to teach Phoebe. Next up is "touchdown!" then stay tuned for a video of the baby doing "wax-on, wax-off" (from the Karate Kid).

Tuesday, September 27 (day 90/365)

2011-10-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Auntie Regina!!!

Tuesday we had a special treat! Jeremy's Aunt Lynn and Uncle Greg were in California for vacation, so they stopped by for dinner. They brought an adorable present for the baby, but more importantly they brought champagne and fancy chocolates for the baby-parents! They are now officially our favorite dinner guests of all time. We had a really great time catching up with Aunt Lynn and Uncle Greg. They are both retired and spend a lot of time traveling all over - they are pretty much our retirement role models! We actually wish we could have spent more time chatting, but Jeremy and I don't do very well past about 9 PM these days. I guess if I'm being totally honest, we don't do that great past 8, but we can usually pull it together for an extra hour on special occasions :) Thank you for visiting Lynn and Greg!!! We hope you make it back this way soon!

Phoebe loved spending time with Aunt Lynn. Phoebe got lots of snuggles and Aunt Lynn was a really good sport about getting smeared with half-chewed crackers :)

Uncle Greg, Jeremy and Phoebe

Monday, September 26 (day 89/365)

2011-10-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

This week, I snuck out of work long enough to take Phoebe to baby class. Our new class is very different from our old one. In our Wednesday class, at least half of the babies are pretty active so Phoebe blends a little better. In our new Monday class, Phoebe is by far the most mobile baby. I think that a lot of the other babies (and moms) just aren't sure what to make of her. The pictures on this post are from class and you'll see that all of the other babies in the background are sitting calmly with their moms. Phoebe, on the other hand, is tearing around the middle of the circle, stealing toys and stepping on babies. That's right. She actually stepped on another baby's head ... twice ... not my proudest parenting moment. At the same time, I feel responsible for the first head-stepping-on, but the second?? ... I mean if someone stepped on your head, would you not get out of the way before it could happen again?

In our Wednesday class most of the parents are used to active babies, so we just all pitch in with whichever baby/babies is/are closest to us. We're often picking up and redirecting other people's kids or breaking up mini-baby traffic jams. In the new class, it seems like a lot of parents are quite sure what to do, so they just sit there while Phoebe mauls their kid. I spend a lot of time running around the circle behind Phoebe apologetically. The other parents are really nice, but I think it will take us a while to feel like we're part of the group. Towards the end of class, one of the moms looked at me sympathetically and said "my first baby is like that". I remarked that she was pretty brave to have a second. She then pointed out that her older kid was almost 5 years older than his little sister.

We do serve a purpose in our new class. The topic on Monday was baby proofing and the teacher told the parents that a good way to see what you need to baby proof is to get down on your hands and knees and crawl around the room. Then she added "or you could have Kate and Phoebe over for a play date".

Look mom, all these kids are sitting in a circle! So much easier to figure out which toys to steal when I can see them all at once!

Sunday, September 25 (day 88/365)

2011-09-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

Today was a great family day. It started out with a great night! I'm almost afraid to say this out loud, but Phoebe slept straight through from bedtime until 5:30AM. I know I've now jinxed us and for the next three weeks we'll be up 10 times a night, but still - we had a great night last night!!! Of course, we could talk about how sad it is that the baby woke us up at 5:30 AM and that now qualifies as a good night. Yikes. Anyway, while Jeremy got a little more sleep, Phoebe and I got up and Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa. When Jeremy got up, we all went out for pancakes! There were a lot of big kids at the local breakfast joint, so Phoebe had a great time. After pancakes we did our grocery shopping. On the way home Phoebe fell asleep in the car and ended up taking a 2+hour nap.

After nap time we went to Phoebe's friend Noah's first birthday party. Phoebe now gets way more invitations to social events then Jeremy or I do. It is a good thing that she's too young to drive so we get to tag along. The party was great! One of Noah's other friends has a dad who is a chef, so there was some really yummy food. We also got to meet a lot of really nice people. While the whole party was a lot of fun, the highlight has to be the water table. The babies had a really great time splashing around, stealing toys from each other, and trying to drink the entire contents of the table.

Baby friends!

Saturday, September 24 (day 87/365)

2011-09-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

The Phoebster had a little bit of a rough weekend, especially on Saturday. She did really great at swimming, and then took a 3 hour nap(!!) but she woke up cranky and stayed cranky all afternoon. We're not sure if she's coming down with something, or just needed a little extra sleep to make up for her lack of sleep during the week. It is hard for us when she has a rough day, because there's just nothing we can do to make it better. Luckily even on a rough day, she is a pretty fun baby to have around.

Stare down under the play table.

Lately, Phoebe has really been working on babbling. She still doesn't say anything intelligible (except for maybe "Dada" - although since she uses it to refer to both Jeremy and the cat, we're not sure if she is trying to say "daddy" or "Danger"). She does however think she is telling us stuff and she always seems fairly disappointed that her idiot parents can't seem to follow simple instructions.

And we all know what makes everything all better ... Daddy snuggles!!!!!

Are you finished yet? I was playing.

Really? Again?

Friday, September 23 (day 86/365)

2011-09-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Phoebe sees each baby gate in our house as a personal affront. She keeps trying to figure them out. Luckily, she is still a little too short to reach the buttons on them.

So, they push that button and this thing retracts. If only I could reach ...

Oh hi mom. What am I up to? Nothing. Just hanging out. Nothing to see here.

Thursday, September 22 (day 85/365)

2011-09-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

Does dancing baby with bongos ever get old? I didn't think so. As an added bonus, in this video she does her entire routine with a ball shoved in her mouth.

Phoebe is starting to learn that there are certain things babies aren't supposed to get into (e.g cat food). This new awareness doesn't actually stop her from doing forbidden things, she's just a little sneakier about it. Her other strategy is to give you a giant baby smile while she does something that is against the rules. I guess her thinking is if she is cute enough you will be distracted from the rule-breaking part.

What do you mean mom? I wasn't going to climb the stairs - that is against the rules! I wouldn't break the rules. Frankly I'm offended that you jumped to that conclusion so quickly!

Wednesday, September 21 (day 84/365)

2011-09-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

Grandma Joyce sent another box full of cute clothes and fun toys. One of the most exciting toys is this fun trike/baby walker. This walker is much easier for Phoebe to maneuver than her previous one and she has been having a ton of fun zipping up and down the hallway.

Excuse me mom, you're in my way.

Look out, here I come.

Tuesday, September 20 (day 83/365)

2011-09-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today there was a fundraiser for the baby school at a local pizza place. We're always willing to go eat pizza - for a good cause. Jeremy even insisted that we get dessert FOR THE CHILDREN. Phoebe actually does ok eating out now that she is big enough to sit in a high chair and look around. Since the restaurant was full of other families with kids, she had a great time watching big kids run around and eat dinner.

I may be a baby, but I'm not stupid. That pizza you are eating looks WAY better than chicken and carrots. And don't think I didn't notice that cake.

You might notice that in a lot of our pictures, particularly from during the work week, Phoebe appears to be wearing a fairly random selection of shirts and pants. Just so you know, we don't actually plan to dress her like a hobo all the time. In fact, in the morning we actually try to send her to school in outfits that, if they don't match, at least don't clash. However, she invariably comes home in some combination of her original outfit and her emergency clothes so she never ends the day looking nearly as put together as when she starts. One day she actually went through all of her emergency outfits, a spare outfit from daycare and Jeremy still brought her home with no pants on.

Monday, September 19 (day 82/365)

2011-09-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today, Jeremy took Phoebe to baby class while I went to work. He was skeptical about going, but ended up having a really good time. At both daycare and baby school they have a lot of big padded things for babies to crawl over/on/around and Phoebe loves to climb and fling herself all over the place. At home she tries to create the same fun using the floor pillow, her big stuffed animal and the couch cushions. One of her favorite games involves Jeremy sitting her in front of a big pile of pillows, pushing her over and yelling "KABOOM!".

I am just going to throw myself headfirst into this pile of pillows - what's the worst that could happen?

Did I bump my head? I don't even notice anymore.

KABOOM!

It is pretty fun to throw myself around and bounce off the furniture! It is even more fun to watch mom try not to freak out while I do it!

And look who is standing!!!!!

Phoebe also loves water. Swimming, bath time, it doesn't matter, she could splash and play all day.

YAY BATHTIME!!!!!

Haha, the baby is such a sucker. Let's see those people try to give ME a bath.

Sunday, September 18 (day 81/365)

2011-09-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

After dinner we cut up some watermelon for Phoebe which she usually loves. She was having none of it. We couldn't figure out why she wouldn't eat it. Then I noticed she kept reaching for my slice. It turns out she just wanted to eat watermelon like a big kid.

What are these little chunks? Why do you treat me like a BABY?!?!

Much better

Saturday, September 17 (day 80/365)

2011-09-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday Phoebe had a really busy day. We started bright and early at 5:45 AM - you can probably guess whose idea that was (hint: Jeremy and I would have been fine starting closer to 8). Since we were all up anyway, we got our grocery shopping out of the way - Safeway is open 24 hours so it is perfect for people with babies. After grocery shopping we came home and played for a little bit before swimming.

We had to leave right from swimming to go get Phoebe's school pictures taken. She was grumpy the whole way to pictures and Jeremy and I were joking about how we were going to get a bunch of very expensive pictures of screaming baby tonsils. We dragged Phoebe into the picture room, put her dress on her and as soon as the photographer started talking to her she burst into a huge grin. Totally hammed it up. So I guess we aren't so much paying $10 for a 5x7 print of the baby, we are paying 10cents for the print and $9.90 for the photographer magic that actually got our baby to smile for the camera. Totally worth it.

Once we got back to the car and changed Phoebe out of her dress, she went right back to being tragic. She had a rough rest of the afternoon, especially after her nap. At one point, we finally turned on an episode of the Muppets (a last ditch trick that we pull out every once in a while). Phoebe snuggled up with Daddy and took a little break. Daddy snuggles are the best!

Friday, September 16 (day 79/365)

2011-09-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a random collection from Friday. Towards the end of the week we're usually lucky if we remember to take pictures, so we end up with bits of this and that.

The batteries in this toy have been slowly dying and as they do the music has gotten progressively sadder. Here Phoebe is depressed by the macabre tweeting of the bird.

Phoebe has been doing a really good job at learning the concept "gentle". Well, she does a really good job until she gets excited, then she gets not-so-gentle.

Thursday, September 15 (day 78/365)

2011-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Phoebe LOVES the dishwasher, but when it isn't available the refrigerator comes in a close second. She hasn't quite figured out how to open it yet, but when she does she might rocket up in Danger's list of favorite people.

Look, I found the fridge!

Mom, it looks like you've had a rough day. Hang on a sec and I'll grab you a beer.

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

With our sparse blog updating these days, we're late recognizing a lot of big milestone. This past weekend two wonderful babies were born!

Jeremy's cousin Jack and his wife Virginia had an adorable baby girl named Winnie.
Our friends the Sheaus had their 2nd baby (it's a boy!) Sylvan

Welcome to the world Winnie and Sylvan, we can't wait to meet you both!

Wednesday, September 14 (day 77/365)

2011-09-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

There isn't really a connecting thread between today's pictures other than they all show Phoebe hamming it up.

Mom, can't this wait until I've had my coffee?

My complements to the chef!

Who you calling TROUBLE?