My Baby is 9 Months Old!

I can't believe I have a 9-month old.  When did that happen?  Wasn't she just 9 weeks old?

She's so grown up...

We got a package in the mail from our friends in Germany.  MiniM.E. had a blast opening it.  Of course, the box was her favorite.  Next, the paper inside, then the bag, and eventually she got around to the actual present.  Its an adorable bowl, plate and cup set.  Does she want to use them for eating? Of course not.  They do make pretty good instruments though.

Yesterday we went to a work picnic for Bob and MiniM.E. got to pet a puppy.  That's a pretty good 3/4 year birthday present, right?

She even got to stay up late.  Cutest PJs ever!!

More Teeth... Really?

So as a new parent I just have to say, what's up with the teeth!?!?


I endured a few weeks of fussy, inconsolable baby about a month ago when MiniM.E. got her first teeth.  Then, thankfully, it was over, and my lovable baby was back.

Now it's happening AGAIN!  Really??? And she has to get HOW MANY more teeth???  I don't know if I can handle it...

We're on day 3 of absolutely terribly unhappy baby.

I feel terrible because she feels terrible.  I also feel like tearing my hair out.  Would it be bad parenting to just go in there with some sandpaper to help it along?

Our days have been filled with tears, screaming and fits of all-out-yelling.

Last night, she was up every hour.  And took what seemed like hours to go back to sleep every time.  So I'm assuming I got negative hours of sleep last night.

The only time MiniM.E. is happy is at the grocery store or in the tub.  Example as follows:

Another Busy Weekend!

This past weekend we had lots of visitors.  One of Bob's friends came from his hometown to see Phish, who were playing at SPAC.  One of my friends from high school came to town and stopped over to see MiniM.E. and after Phish was over and Bob's friend left the librarian from my old school came to visit.

We were so busy that I kind of forgot to take pictures... which happens more often than I like to admit...

It was nice for Bob to see his friend and to get to go to a couple concerts and hang out sans-baby.  It was really nice to reconnect with my friend from high school.

It was great to see K. from my old school! We tried to get together last summer, but funnily enough, when I went to Austin, she was up here in NY... We didn't get to go out at night, or do very much... but such is life with a 9-month old... We did a lot of playing, and took a walk downtown.

I did remember to take a couple pictures...

Here's a picture from... um... sometime.  It's her eating puffs in her stroller, which is super cute...

Happy 4th of July...

...a few days late.

For the 4th, we took off to Lake George with our friends M&G.  It was a gorgeous (but super hot) day, and we really enjoyed being at the beach.  It was MiniM.E.'s first time being at a beach when the weather was warm enough to actually go in the water.  Of course, though it would have made for some adorable pictures, I was so hot that I wanted to go in the water too... and knowing me and my history of breaking cameras, I left ours safely on dry land.  I did take a bunch of cute photos though...

Prepping for the trip

Not really sure about this... 

Mom... enough with the pictures

Her favorite toy

Reaching for favorite toy #2... the camera

Waking up from a nap

So excited!

Hope you had a great 4th!

Montreal Jazz Festival

Forward to this post:  I decided that since Stretchy is not nearly so Stretchy anymore... I'm going back to MiniM.E.  It just feels right...

This past weekend we took MiniM.E. to the Montreal Jazz Festival.  We made reservations months ago... like probably when she was two months old.

As the weekend approached, I was excited anxious terrified ready to take MiniM.E. and hide under the bed and hope Bob didn't notice we were gone and would just leave without us.  We'd been to NH.  We'd been to NC.  We'd even flown on a plane.  BUT we'd never stayed in a hotel, or been someplace where I didn't know the location of the nearest Wal-Mart in case we needed more diapers/food/clothes.

What if she throws up on/ poops on all her clothes and she doesn't have anything to wear?
What if we run out of diapers and can't find a store to buy more?
What if we run out of her favorite food, puffs, and they don't make them in Canada?


To heighten my anxiety about the trip, MiniM.E. just had to learn to crawl a week before we left... Really?

What if the carpet in the hotel isn't clean?
What if she doesn't want to be in the stroller or the frame pack because she just wants to crawl?


And there were the normal concerns about any vacation with a baby...

What if she cries the whole time?
What if she doesn't want to eat?
What if I can't nurse her in public because she's too distracted?
What if she gets sick?


And worst of all:

What if we totally mess up her sleep schedule and she NEVER SLEEPS AGAIN?




I suppose it's my job to worry, but this was a little ridiculous.  Not to mention the fact that I was also having an anxiety attack about what to pack.  On all our previous trips, there had been a location for MiniM.E. to sleep, a washer and drier, and, as previously mentioned, a Wal-Mart.

It only took me three days to pack our entire house in the car.  Well, not quite, but we needed a roof carrier.... need I say more.


Fortunately, all my packing was worthwhile as MiniM.E went through just about every outfit we brought. I may have overdone the diapers, as we drove home with an entire box... but better to be safe than sorry!

AND, all my worrying was for nothing.  MiniM.E. was a fantastic traveler and everything went really well... except the entire day that I worried that MiniM.E. had Tetanus because she got the tiniest of scrapes on her foot from crawling around the hotel carpet... but I'm pretty sure she doesn't, so we're good now...

MiniM.E. loved the hotel.  There were so many new things to explore.  Fortunately, all the rooms had recently been renovated, so I was cool with letting her go to town crawling on the carpets.

Ooo... fun circles! 

If only I could learn to jump, this would be ten times better!

Eating at the makeshift baby-highchair. (Sorry Delta, for the sweet potato stains on the armrests of your chair...)

There was a lot of eating in the room

We brought most of MiniM.E.s toys... even this play table

And reading books

And some walking practice

 MiniM.E. can't walk quite yet, so there was a lot of being carted around.

On daddy...

With daddy...

In the shade...

In the sun...

and with Mommy...

As you can see, MiniM.E. didn't seem overly excited by the jazz festival... in fact, this is how she spent a lot of her time...

sooo tired

face plant sleeping

This was at an incredibly loud concert...

Fortunately, there were a couple fun things for her to do on the trip.

We swam a few times...

And got wet in some awesome fountains at the jazz festival.

Overall, I think it was a successful trip, and in the future, I will try not to stress so much... though I'm sure that I will anyway.  We had a really great time.  If being so exhausted that you nap anywhere and everywhere by the end of a trip means you had a good time, I think MiniM.E. really enjoyed herself too.

Did I Mention My Baby is AWESOME??

I just can't believe how quickly babies learn.  Yesterday morning the quickest Stretchy could get around the house was by lying on her stomach, shoving her face in the floor and using her toes to push forward... inch by inch.

Then yesterday she somehow learned to crawl, pull up, stand and cruise.  All in one day.

So this morning, I started baby-proofing...

Is it the cutest that she crawls like that?  Definitely.

I Don't Mean to Brag...

but my kid is kind of awesome.  We had to make a trip to the doctor's office yesterday, and even though Stretchy was supposed to be acting fussy and rubbing her ears (inner ear infection?), she was all smiles and cuteness...

Now, typically, as I think most parents know, when your child can do something awesome at home (wave, clap, talk, walk, stand on their head...) they never do it in front of someone else when you want them to, which often makes the parent look like an idiot, especially if they person they are trying to show doesn't have kids.

Scenario: Stretchy learns to wave and I want to show it off at coffee with one of my friends.
  (arrive at coffee shop.  Stretchy waves at multiple strangers the cashier and the barista while I wait for my friend.  Friend arrives, we get coffee, make small talk.)
  Me: Guess what Stretchy learned to do this weekend?  She can wave! Wave hello, Stretchy!
  (I frantically wave my arm around in front of the baby)
  Baby: Gaaaaa.  Ba. Ba. (gives quizzical expression and drops toy to ground)
  Me:  Come on, wave!  Hi! (I wave more, people start staring)
  Baby: Ba. Ba. (bangs table) AAhhhh! (starts crying).
I look like a giant liar.

As we sat talking to the doctor, Stretchy started waving.  The doctor waved back and said, "wow, already waving, huh?"  So, being the proud mom that I am, decided to try to show off her latest skill.

"Watch this," I said...  "Clap your hands..."

And for once, Stretchy actually did something awesome in front of somebody else.  She clapped.  The doctor seemed pretty impressed.  I was pretty impressed.  Which made me extra proud of my awesome baby.  Just had to share...