Lazy Mommy!!

Mommy was whining about being too tired to upload all my Florida pictures tonight, all she did was pull them off the camera and ramble something about getting to them tomorrow night. Because I know that at least one or two of you are anxious to see them, I'll post a few more teasers before the rest come sometime this week...

Too sunny and windy for any of us to smile!!

Hanging at La Piagga with Cousin Ashley

Doesn't everyone adorn their hair with a flower after a dip in the pool?

Hanging out in Grandpa's place, waiting for someone to take me swimming!

Ahh, this is better! (wearing my cute new cover up from Ashley and Justin)

And finally, wishing everyone a belated Happy Hanukkah (and Merry Christmas)

From our (very exhausted) family to yours!! (sorry we all look so tired here, this was after a long day of flying back from Miami!!!)

Florida Fun!

Mommy is uploading all the pictures now, but it's taking her too long, so in the meantime I wanted to show you my date with my new friend (ok I'll never see him again, but still), Arthur. He was a cute boy I met at the playground. He was so cute that I got shy and just started sucking my thumb... gimme a break, it's hard to talk to boys!!







Here's another one of me in Florida... Mommy and Daddy are starting me young... Apparently they think I'm going to be a soccer star. I can even kick a full size (size 5) soccer ball!)

Greetings!

Greetings from Sunny Florida!!! We're having a great time, but mommy told me that our vacation is coming to an end soon... We'll be flying back on Sunday. I'll update more then, but for now here are a few pictures of me showing off my latest trick... driving a boat!! I took everyone on a tour around Ft. Lauderdale...

Okay, okay, Uncle John drove for real, but that gave me time to check out the scenery with daddy!!

Mommy and Aunt Barbara got in on the action, too!

We've also been having lots of fun in the pool...

I'll post lots more pictures when I get home. But for now, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all!!

melt my heart

Normally, before bed, we let Jenna watch one of her shows. I'll bring her up to our bedroom, turn off the lights, and snuggle up with her while she watches. When it's over, we say "bye" to the tv characters and she goes to her room.

Last night, it was time for bed, so I asked Jenna if she wanted to watch a show. She said yes, but instead of coming upstairs with me, she ran over to Josh on the sofa and said "up." He put on a show for her, and, since she seemed content, I came upstairs to check the internet.

I went back downstairs a few minutes later, and there were my two favorite people, all snuggled up to one another, looking as cozy and content as could be. It just melted my heart and made me feel like the luckiest person on the planet. I decided I wanted in on the action, so I went over to Jenna and asked for a hug... but instead, she said "daddy!" and snuggled in closer to his side. Josh and I both got a laugh out of that, and I asked if he paid her to say that. He said no, but that he would have if he knew it was an option.

So I just joined the party, snuggling up from her other side, and indulged in a sappy moment to appreciate my wonderful family.

Happy Holidays!!

ABC's

Josh just sent me the following email:
"was I dreaming/sleeping this morning, or did Jenna really say ABC?"

You know what this says to me? Our child watches too many baby nursery rhyme shows. One of the songs is the ABC's. This morning, in bed, while watching a baby boost show, we heard Jenna sing "A-B-C" in the tune of the ABC's. Those are the only letters she said, and she only did them that once, but it was clear as day. No, I don't think my 15 month old knows the ABC's, I just think that she watches too much TV and, just like "row row row" knows the intro to her favorite songs.

Still, it was pretty cute.

Jenna has more than 1 of the same pink blankeys. I think I actually have 3 of them, one to leave at daycare, one to leave in the crib at home, and one in case of emergency that is usually floating around the house. Last night it was in the den. I got home from work, and Jenna and Josh were laying pathetically on the sofa (she was pathetic, not him. she has a cold and is all stuffy and hoarse). I walked over to hug her, and she stuck her thumb in her mouth, cuddled in closer to Josh, and said "Daddy." (I guess this was her manipulative payback for me getting home late). Because she looked so sleepy and sad, I gave her the spare blankey to cuddle with until it was time for bed.

I guess I must have brought it up with her, though, because when I went in to get this morning, she was standing up, holding a pink blankey in each hand. When I walked in, I said "who has TWO blankeys!!" and she looked down at the blankeys clutched in each fist and started cracking up, with a look on her face like the cat who ate the canary.

She dropped them both, and I thought "great, maybe she's going to start saying 'bye' to the blankey before we even change her diaper!" but of course right before I picked her up, she reached back down and scooped them up. In more grown up news, I held her in front of her closet this morning and asked her what she wanted to wear. She pointed to an outfit and said "this!" so I pulled it out and got her dressed. As we left to go downstairs, we said "bye" to Josh, then pointedly started chanting "shoe shoe shoe" to remind me that she did not have shoes on yet.

Last night, I got a UPS delivery of some shoes that I had ordered (for myself) from zappos.com. As soon as I opened it, Jenna started in with the excited "shoe shoe shoe." Josh and I decided that we have a future Carrie Bradshaw on our hands. I'm hoping her habits stop short of $400 Manolos.

3 more days till we leave for FLORIDA!!!!! Because we'll be staying at my dads, I'll try to log on and upload pictures/posts from Florida, but otherwise you'll hear from us when we return!

Shoe

Jenna taught herself the word "Shoe" last week. I guess she's used to hearing us say "put your shoes on." She NEVER keeps her shoes on in the car, no matter how well I think I secure them to her feet, she manages to get them off and toss them into the depths underneath the seats, so I spend what seems like hours searching around for her shoes when we arrive at our destination. This weekend, though, I was driving, and I hear her saying "shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe" over and over again, in different inflections. I look back at her, and she had taken off her shoe and was just holding it up to her face, talking to it, saying shoe shoe shoe...

This continued all weekend. Whenever she saw a pair of shoes, she wouldn't just say "shoe"... no, it was "shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe" I wore my heavy Ugg boots to the Ravens game last night, and when we got home, we stood her up inside them (they take up half her body) and she just stood there cracking up, saying "shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe." This morning, I was trying to get her ready for daycare, and she was sitting in her high chair chanting "wa-ffle, wa-ffle" (her favorite breakfast). I was running around trying to get everything, and finally I said, "Jenna, are you ready to go?" She looked around, and, before saying "yes" or "up" which she would normally say, she said "Shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe" Sure enough, I had forgotten to put her shoes on. I thanked her for the reminder, and off we went. Of course, by the time we got to daycare, her shoes and socks were both buried in the mess that has become my backseat, and I had to kneel in the cold parking lot trying to find her shoes. From now on I'll just put on her "shoe shoe shoe shoe shoe" once we arrive at our destination!!

Stealing Kim's idea....

After reading Kim's blog, I decided to go back through my online photo album at "The Picture People" to check out the pictures we've had taken of Jenna... exactly a year ago we took her to get pictures done to give Josh's parents as gifts for their 35th Anniversary and Robert's 65th birthday (both in mid-December)... here were the final products...

Hard to believe how much she's changed in a year!

So you've heard me talk about Jenna's saga with her blankey... we say "bye" to it, then she runs back to get it... it's usually only in the mornings. So last night, after she ate dinner, I brought her up for her bath. I got her undressed in her room, then put her on the floor and said "let's go take a bath!" she loves the bath and normally runs right across the hall into the bathroom. Unfortunately, once she got down on eye level with the crib, she locked eyes with the pink blankey....

I was already heading towards the bathroom (RIGHT across from her room), and I knew she couldn't bring her blankey into the tub, so I just said "no, Jenna, c'mon, let's go take a bath!" and I kept walking into the bathroom. She was clearly unhappy that I said she coudln't have her blankey...

So I turn around (by now I've taken the 2 steps into the bathroom) and I see her standing (naked) in front of her crib and leaning over so she can see me across the hall... as soon as she sees me turn to look at her she gets a huge pout on her face and bursts into tears (while leaning over to make sure I can still see her... if she stood up straight, she'd be blocked by the wall).

Talk about drama queen... "Mommy, you're upsetting me by not letting me have my blankey, so I'm going to make sure you know how sad I am!! see! look!! tears!!!"

Moments later she was playing in the tub and had forgotten all about the blankey denial incident. I'm sure she'll be on a therapist's couch 25 years from now talking about how I wouldn't let her have her blankey when she was 1 (more likely she'll be talking about how her crazy mom blogged about every minute of her life on the internet!)

Little Diva

I'm a little concerned that I'm raising a future diva. Last night Jenna went to bed at 6pm... way earlier than normal, but she was really really tired. She went to bed without a fight and actually seemed relieved to be in her crib. Josh went to the Raven's game, and at 10pm, I went to sleep. At 11:30, I woke up to Jenna screaming. Completely asleep, I stumbled into her room, brought her into bed with me, and turned on one of her baby boost tv shows, cuddling up with her so she couldn't get away. Clearly during the 12 minutes of her tv show, I fell asleep. Also during that time, Josh got home. He tip toed up to bed to see if I was still asleep. Instead, I woke up to his laughter... he walked into our bedroom to find me passed out and Jenna (who he assumed was asleep in her crib) wide awake, watching tv, and saying "hi!" to him. Nice parenting, Liz.

After that, I sleepily explained that she had woken up, and asked him to take her so I could resume my peaceful sleep. Peaceful... ha. I listened to Josh trying to get Jenna back to bed, and Jenna refusing to sleep, until 12:45am. Finally she dozed off, as did we. This morning, at 7am, it was time to go, and thus time to wake Jenna.

Normally when I walk in her room, if she's not yet awake, she hears me and scampers to her feet, holding her arms out and ready to get up. This morning, however, she clearly was not ready to start her day. I walked in, looked down on her, and she looked back up at me. Instead of standing up, smiling, etc, she simply said "Bye" and put her head back down. It was as though she was telling me "get outta here, woman, you're disturbing my sleep!!" I started laughing and told her it was time to go to daycare. She begrudgingly stood up and instead of just picking up her normal pink blanky, she also picked up the fleece blanket that is supposed to cover her during the night (but always winds up on the opposite side of the crib) as if to say, "fine, I'll get up, but not without showing you how much I don't want to!!" So I changed her diaper, and then she said bye to her blanky like normal, dropping it into her crib.

We went to dispose of the dirty diaper, and just as she did saturday, she ran back into her room, grabbed her pink blanky, and this time, while running back out to show it to me, she was cracking up hysterically. I must have laughed and found it funny when she did it over the weekend, so now she thinks she the smartest kid in the world that she figured out how to defy my "say goodbye to blanky" system. I managed to get it away from her with the promise that another blanky waited downstairs (the perks of buying them in multiples... there's always another one handy somewhere!)

She is turning into such a little sneak!! Over the weekend, she was hungry, so she went to the pantry, got a box of triscuits, and brought it to me in the den. I said "are you hungry?" she said "yes!" so I said "go put back the triscuits and I'll give you some yogurt." I expected her to just look at me blankly, holding out the triscuit box until I caved and gave her one, but instead she toddled back into the kitchen, actually put the triscuits back in the pantry, and went over and stood next to her high chair, patiently waiting for me to pick her up. It's amazing how much they understand at this age!!

15 months is a fun age, but I'm also ready for her to be able to communicate a little better and tell me what she wants (though she has no problem saying "eat eat eat!").

So... tell me what you think... right now, her hair is in her face. It's very hard to keep out of her face during the day at daycare because she won't keep a bow or pigtails in her hair. For that reason, we're tempted to cut her bangs so at least the hair isn't in her eyes. At the same time, though, I really don't want her to have bangs, I want to just let her hair grow out so it can go off to the side. I think her daycare teachers are going nuts, though, cause her hair is always in her face (i'll take a picture later). What do you think, are bangs cute, or should I just let it grow and find ways to keep it out of her eyes? She looks SO much cuter with her hair off her face!!!

Jenna must have read the blog and taken offense to my complaining. She slept for 13.5 hours straight last night, 6:15pm (she was tired and insisting on going to bed) until 7:45am this morning. That must be some sort of record!

I don't often take to the blog-waves to complain, so indulge me just a minute, would you? Where oh where has my good sleeper gone? where oh where could she be?? The last few nights have been tough. Jenna will go to sleep as usual, but the night before last she woke up at 3am and wouldn't go back to sleep till 5. That made work on Friday less than enjoyable. Last night she went to bed at 7 and was up from 10-11:30. Thankfully Josh stays up later than I do and was up to play with her. Then she woke up at 6:15. It used to be that, without fail, Jenna would sleep 7am-7pm, and I thought I was pretty darn lucky. Think I spoke too soon!

In cuter news, she was pretty hysterical this morning. Normally when I go into her room in the morning, she's standing in her crib holding her little pink blankey. I change her diaper, then hold her over the crib and we say "bye" to blanky, and she'll drop it in the crib (if I'd let her, she'd carry it around all day while sucking her thumb). This morning, however, she must have sensed it wasn't a daycare day, and when I asked her to say bye to blanky, she utterly refused. Against her will, I extracted blanky from her fastidious grip, and left it in the crib. After that, we went to the bathroom to get rid of her dirty diaper... well, as soon as I put her down, she ran full speed back into her room, reached through the slats in her crib, and pulled out her blanky. Then she ran back to me and waved it in front of my face. I could almost hear her saying "nanny nanny boo boo!" So, I started my day being outsmarted by a 15 month old. Things are looking up.

In even cuter news, Jenna has moved from "mama" to full on "mommy." It is the best sound I've ever heard in my life, and it completely melts my heart. Josh's mom and sister picked her up from daycare yesterday, and when I got home and opened the door, she was waiting for me and said "mommy, mommy!" And gave me a hug. Seriously, life does not get better than that. (remind me about this when she's up at 3am tonight and I'm whining!!)

Jenna talks up a storm when the camera is off, so I thought I'd try to capture some of her rambling on tape... unfortunately I made the mistake of putting a very hungry, tired baby in her high chair to immobilize her for the video... Once there, all she wanted to do was eat. Performing for the camera was not high up on her list. I'll have to just trail after her with a camera one day and catch her in action. I do get a lot of cute videos of her talking and playing in the bath tub, but some things are not for public blog consumption!!