Ba ba bath from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Elise pursuing John from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Diapers from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Salad Spinner from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Piano/water bottle from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
10 months!
John's mom had a great idea to put the blog in the form of a Q&A, so I will try it this time in an effort to spice it up!
How big is Elise?
I will take her to the doctor next week for 2 shots, but until we get the accurate measurements, I will guess that she is around 22 lbs and 30 inches. She has not outgrown any 12-18 month clothing, but most of her onesies, shirts, and dresses are 18-24 months.I bought a little big so that it will last for the whole winter.
What does Elise eat?
She eats 2 meals of finger foods at lunch and dinner. This requires me to be much more prepared. I keep lots of frozen vegetables and fresh fruits on hand. I LOVE my Beaba Babycook and use it at least once a day. It is perfect for steaming frozen food or harder fruits like apples. She loves black beans, sweet potato cubes, steamed apples, bananas, cheese, lima beans, grapes, peas, and carrots. She has eaten Rudy's brisket and chicken and LOVED it! She also loves Chipotle. I will put scoops of it on her tray and she will devour everything except the rice. I also love using my mesh feeders to give her things like apples, cucumber, pears, etc. It is so nice to be able to eat while she feeds herself!
I recently switched from 5 to 4 nursing sessions during the day. She has been waking up hungry during the night, so today I added a breakfast meal of cereal. She was VERY hesitant at first because she hasn't wanted to eat anything with a spoon, but after a few "airplane noises" she eagerly ate what was offered.
She will eat any finger foods so far except for broccoli and avocado. This is especially strange because avocado used to be one of her favorite foods!
What are Elise's sleeping habits?
She is a great napper. She is very predictable. She wants her first nap 1:45 or 2 hours after she wakes up, and it lasts about 1.5 hours. She is ready for the second nap about 2-2.5 hours after she wakes up from the first nap, and it also lasts about 1.5 hours. When I carry her into her room at naptime, she automatically lays her head on my chest and puts her thumb in her mouth. The only time we play in her room is between bathtime and bedtime, so she has been programmed to know that when we walk into her room during the day, it is naptime.
We start the bedtime routine around 7:15 and she is in bed between 7:45 and 8:00. I have mentioned in previous posts that this month has not been great for sleeping at night. I think it has been about 2 weeks since she has slept for 12 hours in a row at night. She is still in bed for 12-13 hours, but she's been waking up hungry. I have been holding out on the breakfast meal because of laziness, but I recently decided that I would rather take the time to feed her again during the day instead of at night. I have been so spoiled with a great sleeper that it has been hard to wake up and feed her!
What is she doing physically?
She is crawling all the time now. The little inchworm was so cute that I am sad to see it go, but the crawling is adorable too. She has a strange technique on the tile, but I don't blame her. Her poor little knees!
She pulls up on everything, including the coffee table, couch, entertainment stand, walker, exersaucer, toy bucket, end table, Leapfrog table, wall, back door, my leg, crib, glider, ottoman, pack n play, and the salad spinner (not joking!). The salad spinner is one of her favorite kitchen toys. It was one of those wedding registry must-haves that I never used, but now it is worth the extra cabinet space. She loves playing with it.
She has been cruising really well for a while now. Nothing has really changed in the last month. She took her first step a week ago, and repeated it 3-4 times, and did it again a few days later, but hasn't attempted anything since then. I think she needs to get better at standing alone before she'll be able to take two steps.
She has REALLY improved getting from a standing position to a sitting or crawling position. This is a great relief because it means that I no longer have to "rescue" her in her crib to lay her down so that she will fall asleep. She slowly lowers herself down onto her knees, then sits down or starts crawling.
What is she doing verbally?
She tries so hard to repeat some words that I say. For puppy she will say "puh", for ball, bath, Boss, etc, she will say "bah". She really focuses and mouths the words rather than just babbling. It is so adorable... even cuter than just babbling! Her second word is officially "daddy". Tonight we were sitting in the glider in her room and she said "daddy" very distinctly and then pointed to the pictures on the wall of Mike and I. She has been saying a variation of "dada" or "dat tee" when she sees Mike on the webcam as well. She combines many consonant and vowel sounds together. I love listening to her from around the corner when she thinks no one is around. I think her third word will be puppy. I need to stop saying it whenever I see Boss (it is a habit) to see if she says it first instead of just repeating it.
What else has she been doing?
She loves to point at objects. She's gotten more consistent at waving 'byebye'. She knows a lot of words that she can't yet say, but if I say them, she will look at and sometimes point to the object or person (as long as she isn't distracted!). These words include cup, ball, table, crib, light, fan, spoon, puppy, necklace, button, nose, walker, maraca, Sophie (her favorite teething toy), mama, pop (my dad), etc.
She gets very excited when she hears the word 'milk' or 'bath'. You have to be prepared to feed her or give her a bath if these are mentioned! She loves bathtime and will start crawling toward the bathroom when we start talking about a 'bath'.
She is starting to pay more attention to books and will often make it through a whole board book without trying to eat the book.
Diaper changes are FRUSTRATING! She is so squirmy and wiggly and half the time starts crawling away and pulling up and cruising as I am trying to fasten the diaper. I try to have a new toy or object on hand for her to play with, but sometimes it just doesn't work.
Here is a cute video of her after naptime a few days ago. I am sorry that this post is a few days late! I am also working on a volleyball post and a running post and I will get those done soon. We are currently 7 months into the deployment and a little tiny light is starting to appear at the end of the tunnel.
Happy Thanksgiving!
How big is Elise?
I will take her to the doctor next week for 2 shots, but until we get the accurate measurements, I will guess that she is around 22 lbs and 30 inches. She has not outgrown any 12-18 month clothing, but most of her onesies, shirts, and dresses are 18-24 months.I bought a little big so that it will last for the whole winter.
What does Elise eat?
She eats 2 meals of finger foods at lunch and dinner. This requires me to be much more prepared. I keep lots of frozen vegetables and fresh fruits on hand. I LOVE my Beaba Babycook and use it at least once a day. It is perfect for steaming frozen food or harder fruits like apples. She loves black beans, sweet potato cubes, steamed apples, bananas, cheese, lima beans, grapes, peas, and carrots. She has eaten Rudy's brisket and chicken and LOVED it! She also loves Chipotle. I will put scoops of it on her tray and she will devour everything except the rice. I also love using my mesh feeders to give her things like apples, cucumber, pears, etc. It is so nice to be able to eat while she feeds herself!
I recently switched from 5 to 4 nursing sessions during the day. She has been waking up hungry during the night, so today I added a breakfast meal of cereal. She was VERY hesitant at first because she hasn't wanted to eat anything with a spoon, but after a few "airplane noises" she eagerly ate what was offered.
She will eat any finger foods so far except for broccoli and avocado. This is especially strange because avocado used to be one of her favorite foods!
What are Elise's sleeping habits?
She is a great napper. She is very predictable. She wants her first nap 1:45 or 2 hours after she wakes up, and it lasts about 1.5 hours. She is ready for the second nap about 2-2.5 hours after she wakes up from the first nap, and it also lasts about 1.5 hours. When I carry her into her room at naptime, she automatically lays her head on my chest and puts her thumb in her mouth. The only time we play in her room is between bathtime and bedtime, so she has been programmed to know that when we walk into her room during the day, it is naptime.
We start the bedtime routine around 7:15 and she is in bed between 7:45 and 8:00. I have mentioned in previous posts that this month has not been great for sleeping at night. I think it has been about 2 weeks since she has slept for 12 hours in a row at night. She is still in bed for 12-13 hours, but she's been waking up hungry. I have been holding out on the breakfast meal because of laziness, but I recently decided that I would rather take the time to feed her again during the day instead of at night. I have been so spoiled with a great sleeper that it has been hard to wake up and feed her!
What is she doing physically?
She is crawling all the time now. The little inchworm was so cute that I am sad to see it go, but the crawling is adorable too. She has a strange technique on the tile, but I don't blame her. Her poor little knees!
She pulls up on everything, including the coffee table, couch, entertainment stand, walker, exersaucer, toy bucket, end table, Leapfrog table, wall, back door, my leg, crib, glider, ottoman, pack n play, and the salad spinner (not joking!). The salad spinner is one of her favorite kitchen toys. It was one of those wedding registry must-haves that I never used, but now it is worth the extra cabinet space. She loves playing with it.
She has been cruising really well for a while now. Nothing has really changed in the last month. She took her first step a week ago, and repeated it 3-4 times, and did it again a few days later, but hasn't attempted anything since then. I think she needs to get better at standing alone before she'll be able to take two steps.
She has REALLY improved getting from a standing position to a sitting or crawling position. This is a great relief because it means that I no longer have to "rescue" her in her crib to lay her down so that she will fall asleep. She slowly lowers herself down onto her knees, then sits down or starts crawling.
What is she doing verbally?
She tries so hard to repeat some words that I say. For puppy she will say "puh", for ball, bath, Boss, etc, she will say "bah". She really focuses and mouths the words rather than just babbling. It is so adorable... even cuter than just babbling! Her second word is officially "daddy". Tonight we were sitting in the glider in her room and she said "daddy" very distinctly and then pointed to the pictures on the wall of Mike and I. She has been saying a variation of "dada" or "dat tee" when she sees Mike on the webcam as well. She combines many consonant and vowel sounds together. I love listening to her from around the corner when she thinks no one is around. I think her third word will be puppy. I need to stop saying it whenever I see Boss (it is a habit) to see if she says it first instead of just repeating it.
What else has she been doing?
She loves to point at objects. She's gotten more consistent at waving 'byebye'. She knows a lot of words that she can't yet say, but if I say them, she will look at and sometimes point to the object or person (as long as she isn't distracted!). These words include cup, ball, table, crib, light, fan, spoon, puppy, necklace, button, nose, walker, maraca, Sophie (her favorite teething toy), mama, pop (my dad), etc.
She gets very excited when she hears the word 'milk' or 'bath'. You have to be prepared to feed her or give her a bath if these are mentioned! She loves bathtime and will start crawling toward the bathroom when we start talking about a 'bath'.
She is starting to pay more attention to books and will often make it through a whole board book without trying to eat the book.
Diaper changes are FRUSTRATING! She is so squirmy and wiggly and half the time starts crawling away and pulling up and cruising as I am trying to fasten the diaper. I try to have a new toy or object on hand for her to play with, but sometimes it just doesn't work.
Here is a cute video of her after naptime a few days ago. I am sorry that this post is a few days late! I am also working on a volleyball post and a running post and I will get those done soon. We are currently 7 months into the deployment and a little tiny light is starting to appear at the end of the tunnel.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Waking up from a nap from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
We're still here!
It has been a while since my last post, and a lot has happened over the last week. Elise has been crawling full-time and I think she likes being able to pull up and sit up from the crawling position... it is much easier than from her belly! On Sunday she took her first step (several times) from the coffee table to me, but hasn't done much since then. She needs to get better at standing alone before she will be walking alone. She is still obsessed with cruising and she's gotten much more graceful about getting down from a standing position.
She typically doesn't leave the room unless I do. There have been many times that she has crawled or cruised after me (saying "mama") into the bathroom, laundry room, her room, etc. I have to be very vigilant about keeping the bathroom door closed!
She makes a great effort at repeating many words, though she can usually only get the first syllable. She repeats "puh" for puppy, "bah" for bath, "bah" for ball, "bay" for baby, "pop" for Pops (my dad), "buh" for book, etc. There have been a few times that she has tried to say puppy or book without me first saying the word. She says it a lot when we are talking to Mike on the webcam. It will be interesting to see what she does when she sees him for the first time in January. I think she's actually learned that "dada" or "dadeeee" refers to Mike!
Here are a few videos of her that I've taken during the past week. They aren't as funny as the spoon video, but they give a good summary of what our days are like.
She typically doesn't leave the room unless I do. There have been many times that she has crawled or cruised after me (saying "mama") into the bathroom, laundry room, her room, etc. I have to be very vigilant about keeping the bathroom door closed!
She makes a great effort at repeating many words, though she can usually only get the first syllable. She repeats "puh" for puppy, "bah" for bath, "bah" for ball, "bay" for baby, "pop" for Pops (my dad), "buh" for book, etc. There have been a few times that she has tried to say puppy or book without me first saying the word. She says it a lot when we are talking to Mike on the webcam. It will be interesting to see what she does when she sees him for the first time in January. I think she's actually learned that "dada" or "dadeeee" refers to Mike!
Here are a few videos of her that I've taken during the past week. They aren't as funny as the spoon video, but they give a good summary of what our days are like.
Elise - just a typical afternoon from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Bend and Snap
Somewhere I have a video where Elise does the "bend and snap" from a sitting position... here is the "bend and snap" Blogger: The Powells - Edit Post "Bend and Snap"from a standing position. I think Reese Witherspoon would be proud.
Elise and the spoon from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Let's just call her "Elle" :)
More walking
It frustrates Elise that her walker is designed to go in a straight line. Take a look at how she solves this "problem".
I have found her in the craziest positions lately. I let her have free reign in the kitchen and living room and she loves to explore. She won't leave those areas unless I leave them, in which case she will follow me to the bathroom, laundry room, etc. She has also been imitating my actions more frequently. The top of her walker has a hole that creates noise when you drop an object through it. She watched me pick up a ball and put it through the hole and then tried to do it herself a few times. What a big girl!
The napping issue has been solved. I just needed to put her down a little earlier in the afternoon (about 2-21/4 hours after she wakes up from her morning nap) and she doesn't feel the need to explore in her crib and then scream because she wants me to come lay her back down. This has worked for 4 days in a row. Yippee!
She still creeps most of the time, but if she wants to move somewhere from the sitting position she will usually crawl (at least for a few feet).
She has a mild upper respiratory infection and the last few nights have been a little rough because she had a hard time breathing. I had a humidifier for the second night and that helped a little (thanks, Mimi!). Today she seemed completely normal aside from the occasional cough.
She was actually looking at Mike on the computer when I took this picture. Isn't that sweet?! He witnessed her first experience with Chipotle. She loved it but it was VERY messy!
I had to put this picture in to add some scale to the rest of them. This shows how tall she is when she is cruising around. She has added walls into her repertoire as well as the unconventional walker use, so she can get practically wherever she wants to go! Scary!
Elise - an unconventional use for the walker from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
I have found her in the craziest positions lately. I let her have free reign in the kitchen and living room and she loves to explore. She won't leave those areas unless I leave them, in which case she will follow me to the bathroom, laundry room, etc. She has also been imitating my actions more frequently. The top of her walker has a hole that creates noise when you drop an object through it. She watched me pick up a ball and put it through the hole and then tried to do it herself a few times. What a big girl!
The napping issue has been solved. I just needed to put her down a little earlier in the afternoon (about 2-21/4 hours after she wakes up from her morning nap) and she doesn't feel the need to explore in her crib and then scream because she wants me to come lay her back down. This has worked for 4 days in a row. Yippee!
She still creeps most of the time, but if she wants to move somewhere from the sitting position she will usually crawl (at least for a few feet).
She has a mild upper respiratory infection and the last few nights have been a little rough because she had a hard time breathing. I had a humidifier for the second night and that helped a little (thanks, Mimi!). Today she seemed completely normal aside from the occasional cough.
She loves to cruise over to the back door to look outside.
She creeped under the Leapfrog table to get to the walker and then I had to rescue her because she didn't have enough room to pull up or turn around.
This looks like an "I didn't do it" face. She loves to walk behind the couch. If Boss isn't careful, his feet/tail/ears get pulled in the process.
She was actually looking at Mike on the computer when I took this picture. Isn't that sweet?! He witnessed her first experience with Chipotle. She loved it but it was VERY messy!
I had to put this picture in to add some scale to the rest of them. This shows how tall she is when she is cruising around. She has added walls into her repertoire as well as the unconventional walker use, so she can get practically wherever she wants to go! Scary!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Where's Mama?
Elise continues to amaze me. I just wanted to document a few cute things she has been doing over the last few days.
She now likes to walk along the walls and along the back of the couch. She LOVES her push walker and will walk with it until she gets to something else that she would rather walk along. She can even cruise around it and step over the legs. She has great control over it and can effortlessly speed up, slow down, and stop. She's only been walking with it for a few days and today she decided to stop, let go for a few seconds to stand alone, and then hold on again. She repeated this several times. Yikes! She also enjoys playing with the toys on the front. I would definitely recommend it. It is the Chicco Activity Baby Walker.
Elise and her walker
Last night John came over to play while his parents went to a Hail and Farewell (gotta love those!) They were quite flirtatious!
Elise and her boyfriend, John
At the end of the evening, I was trying to nurse Elise in the living room while Sarah nursed John. Normally I just go in another room to avoid distraction, but I thought that it might work since she was sleepy. Wrong! She decided to play a game instead. She took my nursing cover and held it up over my face, then took it away and giggled. Then she did it again and again. This is the first time that SHE has been the one to initiate peekaboo! So cute. She also rediscovered clapping. She started clapping a long time ago (maybe around 6 months? I posted a video of it at some point) and then seemed to forget about it for a month or two. Well, yesterday she decided to start clapping again. So, after the peekaboo nursing cover game, she just wanted to clap. She would eat for a few seconds, then pull off, sit up, and start clapping. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This is all about 45 minutes past her bedtime!
Now for some not-so-cute things. I would say that the past month has been the WORST that Elise has slept since her newborn days. Aside from the growth spurt here and there, she's been sleeping 12 hours straight since she was a little over 2 months old. Then, starting around 8.5 months, she has been waking up once (hungry!) about half the time and twice!!! at night about 1/4 of the time. We went through the big 9 month growth spurt and we've had a bunch of milestones in the last month (experts say that babies like to practice these milestones when they wake up at night), but seriously? If I have to go get her in the middle of the night, she is either sitting, crawling, standing, or cruising around the crib. And screaming her head off. Thankfully, she goes right back to sleep after she eats (if she is hungry) or after she is laid back down (see following paragraph).
The other issue we've encountered over the last week or so has dealt with the afternoon nap. She still takes two good 1.5-hour naps, but the afternoon nap has started requiring a little intervention on my part. The morning nap and bedtime are still running smoothly, but in the afternoon she decides to play in her crib before sleeping. This would be totally fine except for the fact that she will sit/crawl/stand/cruise around the crib and realize that she is tired. At this point, one would hope that she would lay back down and go to sleep. Wrong! Instead, she screams for mama to come lay her down (yes, sometimes she actually says 'mama' in the midst of screaming). If I pick her up, she lays her head on my shoulder and puts her thumb in her mouth. So I lay her back down and she goes to sleep (most of the time on the first try, always by the second try). I think I might need to reevaluate the timing of her afternoon nap. Currently she wakes around 8 (I wake her up by 8:15 if she isn't already up), then is ready for her morning nap around 10 and wakes around 11:30. Maybe I am putting her down too early or too late (but I always wait for a sleepy sign before putting her down... it just usually occurs within the same 30-minute window). What time would you put her down for the afternoon nap? Perhaps I need to consult Babywise again.
Enough of that. Here is a cute video clip from today.
And here is a picture that I took of her walking behind the couch right after the video... you can see Boss laying on the couch cushion.
A few thoughts...When the "single mom" phase started 6.5 months ago, I didn't know what to expect. It sounds horrible, right? Stick a first-time mom with a 3-month-old to raise by herself for a year, minus 2 weeks for R&R. I can honestly say that it has not been hard at all. I would even say that 98% of the time it has been easy. There has only been one time since he left that I really needed a break, so I drove to Austin, dropped her off with my parents, did a little retail therapy, and returned good as new. However, let me qualify this thought. Even though Mike isn't here right now, he is still my partner in this parenting adventure. He encourages me and is always eager to hear about Elise's accomplishments, sleep habits, feeding habits, playdates, toys, games, new clothes (okay, maybe that is pushing it!), etc. He is the perfect match for me and I can't wait to see him really get to be a daddy when he gets home. When he left, Elise was just a cute, smiling, stationary blob. He is going to have so much fun with her. I can't imagine going through this without him as my partner. I have so much respect for "real" single moms and I pray for them often.
To Mike: I love you so much! I am so thankful that God has blessed us with such a happy, easygoing, adorable baby. Elise has no idea how lucky she is to have you as her daddy. I can't wait for our little family of three (well, four, including Boss) to be reunited.
She now likes to walk along the walls and along the back of the couch. She LOVES her push walker and will walk with it until she gets to something else that she would rather walk along. She can even cruise around it and step over the legs. She has great control over it and can effortlessly speed up, slow down, and stop. She's only been walking with it for a few days and today she decided to stop, let go for a few seconds to stand alone, and then hold on again. She repeated this several times. Yikes! She also enjoys playing with the toys on the front. I would definitely recommend it. It is the Chicco Activity Baby Walker.
Elise and her walker
Last night John came over to play while his parents went to a Hail and Farewell (gotta love those!) They were quite flirtatious!
Elise and her boyfriend, John
At the end of the evening, I was trying to nurse Elise in the living room while Sarah nursed John. Normally I just go in another room to avoid distraction, but I thought that it might work since she was sleepy. Wrong! She decided to play a game instead. She took my nursing cover and held it up over my face, then took it away and giggled. Then she did it again and again. This is the first time that SHE has been the one to initiate peekaboo! So cute. She also rediscovered clapping. She started clapping a long time ago (maybe around 6 months? I posted a video of it at some point) and then seemed to forget about it for a month or two. Well, yesterday she decided to start clapping again. So, after the peekaboo nursing cover game, she just wanted to clap. She would eat for a few seconds, then pull off, sit up, and start clapping. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This is all about 45 minutes past her bedtime!
Now for some not-so-cute things. I would say that the past month has been the WORST that Elise has slept since her newborn days. Aside from the growth spurt here and there, she's been sleeping 12 hours straight since she was a little over 2 months old. Then, starting around 8.5 months, she has been waking up once (hungry!) about half the time and twice!!! at night about 1/4 of the time. We went through the big 9 month growth spurt and we've had a bunch of milestones in the last month (experts say that babies like to practice these milestones when they wake up at night), but seriously? If I have to go get her in the middle of the night, she is either sitting, crawling, standing, or cruising around the crib. And screaming her head off. Thankfully, she goes right back to sleep after she eats (if she is hungry) or after she is laid back down (see following paragraph).
The other issue we've encountered over the last week or so has dealt with the afternoon nap. She still takes two good 1.5-hour naps, but the afternoon nap has started requiring a little intervention on my part. The morning nap and bedtime are still running smoothly, but in the afternoon she decides to play in her crib before sleeping. This would be totally fine except for the fact that she will sit/crawl/stand/cruise around the crib and realize that she is tired. At this point, one would hope that she would lay back down and go to sleep. Wrong! Instead, she screams for mama to come lay her down (yes, sometimes she actually says 'mama' in the midst of screaming). If I pick her up, she lays her head on my shoulder and puts her thumb in her mouth. So I lay her back down and she goes to sleep (most of the time on the first try, always by the second try). I think I might need to reevaluate the timing of her afternoon nap. Currently she wakes around 8 (I wake her up by 8:15 if she isn't already up), then is ready for her morning nap around 10 and wakes around 11:30. Maybe I am putting her down too early or too late (but I always wait for a sleepy sign before putting her down... it just usually occurs within the same 30-minute window). What time would you put her down for the afternoon nap? Perhaps I need to consult Babywise again.
Enough of that. Here is a cute video clip from today.
Where's Mama? from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
And here is a picture that I took of her walking behind the couch right after the video... you can see Boss laying on the couch cushion.
A few thoughts...When the "single mom" phase started 6.5 months ago, I didn't know what to expect. It sounds horrible, right? Stick a first-time mom with a 3-month-old to raise by herself for a year, minus 2 weeks for R&R. I can honestly say that it has not been hard at all. I would even say that 98% of the time it has been easy. There has only been one time since he left that I really needed a break, so I drove to Austin, dropped her off with my parents, did a little retail therapy, and returned good as new. However, let me qualify this thought. Even though Mike isn't here right now, he is still my partner in this parenting adventure. He encourages me and is always eager to hear about Elise's accomplishments, sleep habits, feeding habits, playdates, toys, games, new clothes (okay, maybe that is pushing it!), etc. He is the perfect match for me and I can't wait to see him really get to be a daddy when he gets home. When he left, Elise was just a cute, smiling, stationary blob. He is going to have so much fun with her. I can't imagine going through this without him as my partner. I have so much respect for "real" single moms and I pray for them often.
To Mike: I love you so much! I am so thankful that God has blessed us with such a happy, easygoing, adorable baby. Elise has no idea how lucky she is to have you as her daddy. I can't wait for our little family of three (well, four, including Boss) to be reunited.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Her new favorite toy
I recently bought this push walker for Elise, but she wasn't too interested in walking with it. She either wanted to cruise around it or play with the toys on the front. Well, today she just wanted to push it across the room, and across the room, and across the room. We would "crash" into the box of FRG shirts and she would get so mad that we had to back up and start over again. Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Crawling/Flirting/Blogging
Well, after 6 weeks of creeping, Elise has decided that crawling might be easier. If you haven't creeped in a while, you should try it... it is a tough workout! Today she crawled quite a bit, up to about 8 feet (after this she switches back to creeping). She has an interesting technique. She has also been experimenting more with the upside down V, which she will eventually use to stand herself up. After she took her bath, I sat her in the hallway with only a towel so that I could get the diaper/pajamas/etc. I found her crawling in the bathroom and trying to stand herself up, buck naked! This was in front of her boyfriend, John! Yikes!
I had to include this second video from her date with John. He is definitely her favorite toy. She loves to cruise to him, creep to him, crawl to him, roll to him, etc. She loves to touch his face, arms, and clothes. She is definitely putting the moves on him. He obviously has a great sense of humor and makes her laugh. Check it out.
I won't be surprised at all if she takes her first step pretty soon. There were several times today that I thought she was about to do it. I will keep you posted!
A few friends and I have created this blog... check it out!
Crawling from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
I had to include this second video from her date with John. He is definitely her favorite toy. She loves to cruise to him, creep to him, crawl to him, roll to him, etc. She loves to touch his face, arms, and clothes. She is definitely putting the moves on him. He obviously has a great sense of humor and makes her laugh. Check it out.
Elise and John Flirting from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
I won't be surprised at all if she takes her first step pretty soon. There were several times today that I thought she was about to do it. I will keep you posted!
A few friends and I have created this blog... check it out!
Monday, November 2, 2009
New cruising video
I haven't posted many videos lately because the webcam has been working really well and Mike has gotten to see her new tricks "live". I have some mama videos, cruising videos, pulling up videos, trying to crawl on all fours videos, and trying to stand up by herself (the upside-down "V" position), but this is the one of the day. She is really good at moving back and forth between the different pieces of furniture. Pay attention to her footwork...maybe we have a future volleyball player on our hands! Cruising is definitely her favorite activity right now. Be forewarned... the video is pretty long.
Also, don't forget to vote for Elise in the "Rock the Tutu" contest! You can vote once a day through November 6.
Also, don't forget to vote for Elise in the "Rock the Tutu" contest! You can vote once a day through November 6.
Elise cruising from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Finally, a Halloween post!
Last week, we attempted the pumpkin patch again (it was really hot the first time) and John and Elise had a great time.
On Halloween, Jennifer and I took Elise to the Arboretum to take some pictures. Elise's adorable outfit was made by Shannon over at Jelby's! Go check it out!
A side note to those who are interested: My daylight savings strategy worked perfectly! A few months ago, I began gradually moving Elise's wake time from 8am to 9am and bedtime from 8pm to 9pm. This way, when daylight savings time hit, I didn't have to do anything! We automatically went from 9-9 to 8-8. The 8-8 schedule fits our lives perfectly, and I am so excited to be back on track! This way, I don't have to wake her up early on church/bible study days and I don't have to try to keep her up until 9. This morning I woke her up at 8:10am (I set my alarm for 8 and pressed snooze) and she went to sleep tonight at 8:05pm. Naps and feeding times have also been moved up by one hour. I will be doing this next year too!
On Halloween, Jennifer and I took Elise to the Arboretum to take some pictures. Elise's adorable outfit was made by Shannon over at Jelby's! Go check it out!
A side note to those who are interested: My daylight savings strategy worked perfectly! A few months ago, I began gradually moving Elise's wake time from 8am to 9am and bedtime from 8pm to 9pm. This way, when daylight savings time hit, I didn't have to do anything! We automatically went from 9-9 to 8-8. The 8-8 schedule fits our lives perfectly, and I am so excited to be back on track! This way, I don't have to wake her up early on church/bible study days and I don't have to try to keep her up until 9. This morning I woke her up at 8:10am (I set my alarm for 8 and pressed snooze) and she went to sleep tonight at 8:05pm. Naps and feeding times have also been moved up by one hour. I will be doing this next year too!
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