Monday, August 25, 2008

DNA results


I was relieved today ... We found out the paternity test came back negative. What this means is things should get a little simpler for us. We were told that the judge will probably determine that the father is unknown and will end the search. This should make things simpler when we head to court next week. Just a week away from tomorrow!

P is doing fantastic. In the last week she has started saying "daddy" some, and she also now able to do spanish "r" rolls. She usually only does them when she gets frustrated and starts crying/whining, which is very funny because that is when Jenn's little boy does it also. Wonder if she picked that up from our visit a few weeks ago?

Tonight she was trying to say duck --- all she got out was the "d" sound --- but she tried several times and I was very happy with that.

I posted the photo above for two reasons. 1) to demonstrate how tiny she is ... she might not be that small but for some reason it seems so weird for her to barely be able to see over her crib, and 2) to show that she does cry. She is getting into the clingy stage.

Tropical Storm Fay finally left. We had rain bands with torrential rain downpours this morning several times, but none since lunch time! Our basement had quite a bit of water in it, and we have that mostly pumped out now. Getting it pumped out was quite a chore and involved several trips to Lowes. Next, we just have to clean out the basement, and I guess get a new leaf blower. I'm thinking that after watching ours float around it's not going to work anymore. We just bought a weed eater and hedgers last week ... I'm very glad that they weren't damaged also.

And Thomas starts school this week! The start of his 3rd year in the PhD program. I think that is very exciting.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

9 month update


Can you believe it? It has been 9 months. The time has flown by and P is getting big so fast. I'm practically dreading her first birthday because it will mark the end of her baby days. But I also know she will doing more fun and enjoyable things, and after all Thomas wants her big enough to swing a bat.

Sweet P is a delight every moment. There are days where every time I hug her she starts clapping with excitement. In addition, most every time I go to pick her up while she is sitting down she starts bouncing with glee. It is so absolutely adorable. She is so lovable, so happy, and so much fun.

Today, I ironed this transfer onto a onesie for her. It says "no sugar added, 100% me." And of course, she had to have a pair of matching pants. So I also made these pants this morning. There just a slight too long ... growing room.




If you look close enough in this last photo, you might notice her gums are swollen just a little. She is definitely teething.

She went in for her 9 month visit on Wednesday. Her growth has slowed down considerable if you compare it to the three months before. She is growing around the 50th percentile for height and weight; I'm not sure of the exact percentile. At her 9 month visit she weighed 18 lbs was 27.5 inches. (At her 6 month visit she was 16 lbs and 26 in)

While she may not have done much growing, she sure did a lot of learning in her 8th month, including:
  • learning to crawl
  • learning to walk with help
  • pulling up to a standing position
  • saying "uh-oh" over and over again
  • waving bye bye
  • signing for milk
  • pointing at objects and book pictures
  • clapping
  • saying a lot more sounds
  • putting her arms in her sleeves by herself, all I have to do is hold the shirt out to the side! She picks them up and pushes them through her sleeve.
And a few last looks for those of you that I know are interested. Yes, below are two videos. The first one is of her crawling. It starts off a little dark but gets better. And I wanted to be sure she didn't have any hindrances - no dresses this time. You can get a much better look at her peg leg in this one. The second video Thomas filmed so you could see her walking.





Friday, August 22, 2008

Tree of Life

I simple fell in love with this tree. After surfing online and eying it for several months, I finally ordered it. I couldn't wait to get it up. It only took a few minutes and was more fun than decorating a Christmas tree. Just love what it has added to P's room! You can either make one really big tree or two smaller trees from the package. Plus, its completely removable and reusable.

And, about the photo below. Thomas thought it would be fun to wear a funny shirt ... thus the "Obama is my homeboy" shirt. The good news is that most everyone who knew him also knew they were seeing his humorous side. The downside ... we met a lot of new people that day.




And finally a photo of me. Our friend's little boy (who is just 4 years old) took this photo. And tons more. And actually, there were some really great shots. Next we have to teach him how to focus by pressing the button half way down.


Thursday, August 14, 2008

Leisure & Fun



So you may be wondering what we do around here everyday. Or maybe not. Or maybe you feel like you have a pretty good idea of how we spend our time. Yes, I work, Thomas goes to school and works at school, there is also a lot of quilting, sewing and reading going around at our house. And this week in particular we have spent way too much time watching the Olympics.

Well, one thing we wish we did more of was getting outside for fun activities. We really want to hike, but honestly, where do you hike in Florida. And you would have to be absolutely crazy to head out for a hike in the middle of the summer. And its about 2 hours to the closest beach ... you can get to the water in about 45 minutes, but not a beach. So, we are talking about doing a 3K in a week or so, in then a 5K a couple weeks after that. These of course would be early morning runs. Besides this, our only outdoor activity these days is swimming. Luckily, we all love it. I honestly wish we did more of it.

So with this in mind, I've included a video below of us in the pool. I hope you enjoy! This is really just a video of P in the pool. (You don't need to see us after all in a bathing suit online.)



And because I meant to include this photo of her last time, here is one of her standing up in her room. This photo was taken a week or more ago. She can actually stand by herself for a little at a time now. And she is also saying a lot of "g" sounds(guh). So for instance, today when she saw the dogs she said "g" - as in do"g". And I pointed and said "dog," and she said "g." I think she is just realizing and recognizing the sound at the end of the word.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Pictures of P



I thought I would try to post some photos again. I don't have a clue why it has not been possible lately. I also loaded a video below of her crawling.



Friday, August 8, 2008

More New Things

Its seems like every time I turn around P is doing something new and I want to post about it. She is growing and learning fast. When I picked her up from day care yesterday, she just squealed with joy when she saw me. Isn't that the sweetest thing! I loved it.

She is pulling up on just about everything now, dining room chairs, toys, anything she can grab onto. And then she stands up and tries to walk around some. She pulled up on one of her toys this week while the caseworker was here to check in on her ... and was so very proud of herself.

She is also clapping on cue now. Thomas couldn't believe it when I told him. I was videotaping her crawling and wanted to get her clapping ... but I was so worried that she wouldn't do it. Finally, after debating this in my head, I said "yeah!, can you clap?" And she started clapping. Thankfully, I got it on tape or Thomas' wouldn't have beleived me. But I didn't need to show him the tape; instead she did it on cue again at dinner while we were talking about it. yeah!

Her nickname when she crawls is Quasi Moto - because the gait of her crawl is so similar to his walk. It's hilarious. Its pretty obvious she does not want to be on her knees, but on her feet instead.

She points all the time. Every night we read Goodnight Moon, and she always points to the cats on each page. She also turned almost every page in the book last night. She started pointing to other objects in the house also.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Petra can crawl!

So, I am super excited that she can traverse across land. Woo HOO!

I was starting to wonder tonight if she would crawl, or just start doing the Mogley walk on her hands and feet.
Well, its actually somewhere in the middle. She does a modified crawl - on her right knee and left foot. So its sordof a Mogley walk and sordof a crawl. But she definitely has the hands figured out - one in front of the other.
I took a video of her - but she was in the tub crawling from one end to the other to get her rubber duckie. So you'll just have to wait for me to get a video of her fully clothed.

Tonight she was also clearly pointing when we were reading Good Night Moon. She pointed to several different things in the book. And also got so excited several times that she was jumping in my lap.

And on top of that, she was rolling a toy across the floor tonight. I remember the development specialists testing Silas for that when he first arrived.

Oh, and I meant to mention that last week she started the "drop and watch" game while we were eating out on our way home from Orlando.

I tried to upload some photos - I keep running into server errors. Will try again later. Sorry!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Developmental Update


I know so many of you want to hear what new things may be happening around our house. P is growing fast. She has started to get fussy when you try to change her clothes, she tries to roll over on the changing table, and is generally more sassy than before especially when she wants her bottle. But she is still just as sweet as ever, and just loves to be held.

She also:
  • Can sit up on her own (from laying on her stomach)
  • Get up on her hands and knees and move around more, but can only crawl with the right side - she keeps leaving that left leg stuck straight out so that she can sit back up
  • Get up on her hands and knees in a V position - trying to figure out how to stand herself up
  • Get a toy out of reach by laying down and then sitting up facing another direction, or just crawling with her right side a few inches forward
  • Pull herself up to a standing position - although generally she won't pull up on anything except for us, for instance, she might pull up holding onto my shoulder
  • Can take adorable, little baby steps if you hold her hands - she is really proud of herself for this one
  • She sometimes signs for milk and sometimes seems to wave hello or goodbye
  • She also pushes her arms through her sleeves when we are getting her dressed