independence

fortified for the journey

hittin' the pavement

on the road

she returns to her mama!

fifteen months!

penny is now fifteen months old!  thursday was circus day!  we had an excellent time at the show - penny watched the whole thing, and though we had to take a walk to the top of the section to get a little distance a couple of times, overall i think she had a good time!  we got to spend some time with friend clowns after the show, and it was a wonderful time catching up with them.
this week we went to the doctor for penny's checkup, so i have new stats for you!  she is 21lbs 9 oz (25th percentile) and 31 inches tall (70th percentile).  the doctor says she's right on track development wise, and complimented her on her calm demeanor during the exam.  unfortunately, she was not so calm when she got this round of vaccinations (hep A and chicken pox), but she got a circus band aid, so all is well.  also, according to the doctor, she is getting 6 teeth right now, so we're being generous about her crankiness and random screaming.
we had a lovely girls' weekend together, and finally we had gorgeous weather.  we spent most of our time outside in the playground, waving at kids, eating an alarming amount of snacks, and working on stairs and ramps.
i am REALLY excited to show you this video.  i am increasingly convinced that we have a cute baby:

also,this week's photos:

spring!

spring is slowly but surely arriving - it's getting nice enough to spend significant time outside.  poor penny had a fever and has a cough, and she's getting at least three teeth right now.  this has not stopped her from enjoying her weekend!  we spent a good two hours or so at the park on saturday, and she did not put her snack down for a moment.  she enjoyed watching other kids play, and clapping along with them and laughing with them but she wasn't in a playing mood.  saturday night, my parents came over to hang out with penny, and alex and i went to dinner and a movie!  we had a lovely time, and so did they.
on sunday, alex's parents came over and we all went to the prospect park zoo.  we had a great time visiting with the animals, and we got to watch the sea lions get fed.  the day had a rough patch in it, but overall it was a great time!
hopefully this week penny will continue to get better, and everything will get a bit easier.

toddler.

i think penny is getting the terrible twos early.  is this possible?  she has been asserting her will all over the place, and is testing her limits all the time.  she's also moving from two naps to one, which means that she's exhausted absolutely all the time.
on the other hand, she is learning words at an amazing clip, she's getting funnier and funnier, and she is a super personable baby who loves to snuggle.
the other morning, alex was on the AM shift, and the two of them were playing in the living room while i tried to get a few precious moments of morning sleep.  she came charging into the bedroom shouting "mama, mama!,"  pointed at me, wanted me to get out of bed and pick her up, and then pointed to my nightstand very deliberately saying "guh, guh."  when i put my glasses on, she said "YAY" and clapped.  i can't tell if she was super psyched that i put my glasses on (which means that i am definitely up for the day) or that she successfully gave me a command that i understood on the first try.  either way, it was a fantastic moment and we were both full of joy.

the past few days have been slightly more trying.  i know we'll get through it, and i am glad that we have a spirited daughter who is clearly intelligent and opinionated.  it's just hard that every time it seems to get really good and easier, we make it to another hurdle to get over.  but never mind that!  we had a great weekend of inside and outside funtimes!

one year ago today...

here is a video of what penny was doing one year ago tonight.  i can't believe what a different baby she is now, and what a huge deal it was for her to reach out towards a toy for the first time.  she and mr. hamburger pancake have since parted ways.

just when i think...

i should have learned by now that when i am sure penny has settled into a routine, it's going to change all of a sudden just to mess with me.  we have been pretty sure that she's moving to one nap a day, so when she slept for three hours straight on saturday, that seemed reasonable, if extreme.  then, when she fell asleep at 7:15, i assumed it was because we had gone to the playground for the first time in months, so she was exhausted.  imagine my surprise when she woke up at 11:10pm SCREAMING.  i changed into pjs really quick, and brought her into bed with me.  since alex was away, i thought it would be nice to have a cuddle in the big bed.  she tossed and turned until 3am, at which point i put her back in her crib, figuring she couldn't keep me any more awake by crying then by kicking me in the kidneys.  she slept from 3 - 7 and awoke refreshed and rejuvenated.  i was a bushy haired mess.
more playground!  bagels for both of us (penny's second breakfast) and coffee for me!  alex came home!  penny and i each took an hour and a half nap!  was everything back to normal?  no!  penny wouldn't go down for a second nap until five, and she went down HARD.  alex and i were unsure how to proceed - should we wake her for dinner?  assume she would sleep right through?  i wouldn't be able to handle another four hour waking period in the middle of the night.
we left her alone, had dinner and watched the oscars.  just as i was about to throw a shoe through the tv because the show was so poorly written and overall awkward that it angered me, penny woke up and was confused and hungry.  she slurped down a bottle after i changed her into pjs, and she slept through until 7.
hopefully tonight she'll be back on track.  she only took one nap this morning, ate a big dinner and had a good bath, but she was having her night bottle, ate five out of seven ounces and spit them all up all over both of us.  and the chair.  and my really nice anthropologie sweater (it needed cleaning anyway).
if she wakes up hungry at 11, i can hardly blame her.

but!  when she is awake, she is a dreamboat.  she has an amazing smile, loves to dance and loves dogs.  she is fairly certain that every animal says "woof", and wants to go out into our stairwell every morning so she can see our upstairs neighbor dog come in from his walk.  as i was pouring her bath tonight, she figured out how to take off her diaper, and gave me the most amazing "am i in trouble, or do you find this funny?" look (it's funny, of course!).

you don't come here to read, do you?  you come for the eye candy.  i shall oblige:

penny gets some culture

this week, penny was introduced to the wonderful world of crayons!  she is an artist!  i drew the blue "P" on the paper, but the rest is all her:

also, books!  penny's books were threatening to take over our apartment, so i bought her an absolutely adorable bookcase with some storage to try and contain the impending disaster.  within five minutes of her waking up and discovering it, this happened:

 i don't know why, but she is obsessed with sitting in baskets.  she is such a weirdo.
also, stairs!  she is up and down the stairs like a maniac!  she seems to not be eating anything, though she still has a round tummy so we're not worried.  and teeth - so so so so so many teeth.
the other day alex was making funny faces at her, and she laughed like a little girl and not like a baby.  she is gaining words (puffs, broccoli, book, bottle, bubbles, more, and my personal favorite, woof) at a rapid rate, though none of them are understandable by anyone but us.  she understands complex concepts, knows what every room is called, and now owns several pairs of big girl shoes.
she is now a person and not a baby.  incredible.