Last night was my first night away from Marlee...not necessarily by choice. I got a call at 6pm that a client's water had broken. By midnight, she was ready for me to come to her house to help her labor. After a very long night, her little boy was born just before noon today. I knew it would happen eventually...I've been really lucky with labor timing so far. Still, it was a little sad to know that MJ was waking up without me. :( I guess there's a first time for everything.
On a related note, I am really really tired.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
More Cuteness!
Click here for the Schug Shots from Marlee's party. We're lucky Marlee's godfather is such a talented photographer!
Click here for a slide show of Marlee's portrait session at the park with Lori.
Click here for a slide show of Marlee's portrait session at the park with Lori.
One Year Check-Up
Marlee had her one year well visit today, and it was good all-around. We were surprised to learn that she weighs 20 pounds, 2 ounces! That's the 31st percentile! She's 29 inches tall. She has finally started to drink milk (I had to mix it with a bit of yummy yogurt), which should make weaning a bit easier. My plan is to cut back to nursing twice a day for now. We also got a thumbs up from her pediatrician on the selective/delayed vaccine schedule I planned. So, other than a couple toe pricks for blood, the appointment was good.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Good Night My Someone
I just put Marlee to bed for the last night before she turns one. As I sang her her lullaby for the 366th time (leap year!), I got a little teary-eyed. I'm not sure if she noticed a quiver in my voice or just sensed my emotions, but she squeezed a little tighter and pat my back.
At this time a year ago, Michael called to tell me he was on his way home from a meeting. His mom had just left, and I told him I had been feeling some contractions. I had been having them on and off for weeks, but I joked, "You never know. Tonight could be the night!" And it was. It was the night...and the following day that changed my life forever. And for so much better.
I am so in love with my baby girl and so proud of her. She's sweet, silly, and smart. Truly a bundle of joy. Who knew I could love so much?
Here are 12 things about Marlee at 12 months:
1. Walking? That's the question on everyone's mind. I dunno. Maybe she is. I think not quite. She'll take a few steps, but I'm waiting to call it walking until she can cross a room.
2. Talking...oh yes. She has quite the little vocabulary. The most recent addition is "fish."
3. She makes animal sounds and will answer, "What does the doggy say?" She can also do kitty, and best of all, beats her (or your) chest with fists when asked what the gorilla says.
4. Smarty pants can identify pictures in a book...mostly animals. She'll point to dogs, cats, cows, chinchillas (yes, chinchillas), gorillas and more when you ask her to find them. She can also identify lots of real life items. Some she had down months ago (chupa, shoe, book, cup), but now she's branching out (banana, red fox, baby).
5. She's a great eater! Her favorite foods are blueberries, mac n cheese and saffron rice with black beans, but she'll eat just about anything.
6. She's still a signing machine and goes a bit overboard with the sign for "more."
7. She can sort items (we use wooden beads) by color (two colors, but not yet three).
8. She has two full teeth and four partials.
9. She always wants to be a helper. First it was unloading the dishwasher. Now its flushing the toilet.
10. She LOVES to read and be read to. She'll hand you a book, then climb into your lap and wait for you to get the hint.
11. She has not only masted the art of climbing up onto furniture, but can finally also get down. It's adorable to watch her scoot to the edge of the bed, lie on her belly, and lower her feet down.
12. She is the greatest, most wonderful, fabulousiest baby in the world...at least in my book.
Happy Birthday My Someone!
At this time a year ago, Michael called to tell me he was on his way home from a meeting. His mom had just left, and I told him I had been feeling some contractions. I had been having them on and off for weeks, but I joked, "You never know. Tonight could be the night!" And it was. It was the night...and the following day that changed my life forever. And for so much better.
I am so in love with my baby girl and so proud of her. She's sweet, silly, and smart. Truly a bundle of joy. Who knew I could love so much?
Here are 12 things about Marlee at 12 months:
1. Walking? That's the question on everyone's mind. I dunno. Maybe she is. I think not quite. She'll take a few steps, but I'm waiting to call it walking until she can cross a room.
2. Talking...oh yes. She has quite the little vocabulary. The most recent addition is "fish."
3. She makes animal sounds and will answer, "What does the doggy say?" She can also do kitty, and best of all, beats her (or your) chest with fists when asked what the gorilla says.
4. Smarty pants can identify pictures in a book...mostly animals. She'll point to dogs, cats, cows, chinchillas (yes, chinchillas), gorillas and more when you ask her to find them. She can also identify lots of real life items. Some she had down months ago (chupa, shoe, book, cup), but now she's branching out (banana, red fox, baby).
5. She's a great eater! Her favorite foods are blueberries, mac n cheese and saffron rice with black beans, but she'll eat just about anything.
6. She's still a signing machine and goes a bit overboard with the sign for "more."
7. She can sort items (we use wooden beads) by color (two colors, but not yet three).
8. She has two full teeth and four partials.
9. She always wants to be a helper. First it was unloading the dishwasher. Now its flushing the toilet.
10. She LOVES to read and be read to. She'll hand you a book, then climb into your lap and wait for you to get the hint.
11. She has not only masted the art of climbing up onto furniture, but can finally also get down. It's adorable to watch her scoot to the edge of the bed, lie on her belly, and lower her feet down.
12. She is the greatest, most wonderful, fabulousiest baby in the world...at least in my book.
Happy Birthday My Someone!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
What Part of "Nur-Na" Don't You Understand?
I have started the process of slowly and gently weaning Marlee. We've dropped one day time feeding, but I have to keep her distracted so she doesn't realize it. A few days ago, I got her up from her nap and sat on the floor to play (we used to nurse after every nap). After a while, MJ crawled in to my lap, nuzzled me, and said, "Nur-na (nurse)?" I said, "Not now. Ooh, let's read this book!" A few pages in..."Nur-na?" "Look! Mommy has your hippo!" "Nur-Na?" "Let's play music!" At this point, she crawled over to our end table, opened the drawer where I keep my nursing cover for times when we have company over, took it out, crawled back to me and put it in my lap. "NUR-NA!"
This is going to be harder than I thought.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Drinking from a Cup
I couldn't help but notice how well Marlee drank her pretend coffee...so I put some water in the cup. She drank it right up, with just one tiny little spill! Who knew?!?! :)
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Coffee Break
MJ is so needy lately (4 teeth!) that I often can't even have a few sips of coffee in the morning without her fussing at me. I finally found a solution...we had our "coffee" together this morning.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Four New Teeth!!!!
Marlee's two tiny teeth finally have some company. Three of her top teeth have popped through, and the fouth is sooooclose! Four teeth at once...no wonder she's been crabby!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Canadian Adventure
We all began our adventure in our respective home towns at met up at the airport in Duluth, Minnesota. We waited for our van to take us to the Boundary Waters and had a good laugh when it arrived. We walked out of the airport to find a limousine-style party bus, complete with neon lights. Our sweet ride drove us about 2.5 hours to the Boundary Waters, where we met two boats ready to take us into Canada and on to our camp at Zups. After an hour and a half boat ride including a stop at the customs dock and two portages over land, we arrived at Zups.
The camp was, um, rustic, but nice. The 17 of us were divided between 3 cabins. Each cabin had a basic kitchen and bunkbeds and luxuries like lights and running water :) Ours also had a screened porch where we hosted game nights. We really enjoyed staying at Zups. It's owned by a husband a wife, Mark and Kathy, and has been in Mark's family since 1936. It felt like staying at a bed and breakfast. The lodge had fresh baked goodies and comfy sofas for relaxing. Our first night, we had dinner in the dining room. Each day, we had breakfast at the lodge, lunch in our cabins, and took turns cooking dinner for the group.
We spent our days enjoying the scenery and fishing. On Thursday, we took a group trip to a small island, where the Zups staff prepared a fish fry for us. From there, we went to see some Indian pictographs and pick up the M family, who had been camping for a couple of days.
On Friday, some of us went out to Spring Lake. Zups has exclusive rights to the lake, and we had it to ourselves. It was truly beautiful and worth the rocky half mile portage, which was uphill both ways....really.
There are too many pictures to post, but here are a few. Click here to see more.
The camp was, um, rustic, but nice. The 17 of us were divided between 3 cabins. Each cabin had a basic kitchen and bunkbeds and luxuries like lights and running water :) Ours also had a screened porch where we hosted game nights. We really enjoyed staying at Zups. It's owned by a husband a wife, Mark and Kathy, and has been in Mark's family since 1936. It felt like staying at a bed and breakfast. The lodge had fresh baked goodies and comfy sofas for relaxing. Our first night, we had dinner in the dining room. Each day, we had breakfast at the lodge, lunch in our cabins, and took turns cooking dinner for the group.
We spent our days enjoying the scenery and fishing. On Thursday, we took a group trip to a small island, where the Zups staff prepared a fish fry for us. From there, we went to see some Indian pictographs and pick up the M family, who had been camping for a couple of days.
On Friday, some of us went out to Spring Lake. Zups has exclusive rights to the lake, and we had it to ourselves. It was truly beautiful and worth the rocky half mile portage, which was uphill both ways....really.
There are too many pictures to post, but here are a few. Click here to see more.
Some Canadian beauty that speaks for itself.
These are pictographs painted on rocks by natives over 500 years ago. See the figure in the middle holding a spear?
Marlee rockclimbing
My best catch, a Northern Pike
Daddy and MJ at the fish fry
Our canoes
We had an absolutely wonderful trip, but we're glad to be home...with lots of memories of course.
I'll have to tell you about the trip home, but I'm too tired right now!
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