Dec. 8: Sylvia has been saying “mmmaahh mmaahh mmaahhh” to me for several weeks. She’s also been saying “baahh baaah” for bye bye (while waving) and “daadaaa” for dada. All these first words are an extension of her regular babbling, but today she said her first non-babbling word.
She crawled over to me, tapped me on the legs, and said, “maamaaa, uuhhP. uhhP.” (up) Then later she crawled over to Bryan and said the same thing. Her first word! Makes sense for a girl who likes so much to be held:)
In other news, Sylvia got her seventh tooth yesterday. It’s her top right incisor. That girl is getting a toothy grin!
Sleep. Sweet, sweet sleep
Dec. 6: We’ve turned a corner in Sylvia’s short-napping world. It’s been wonderful. Earlier this week, I again decided to put my foot down on the waking after 45 minutes shenanigans. I went in to check on her right away and then set the timer for 60 minutes. After an hour, she was still crying, so I went in and got her up. Then again for her afternoon nap, I checked on her right when she woke up and tried to soothe her. Then I left and set the timer for 60 minutes and got my still-crying girl when it went off.
Previously, I’d set the timer for 5 or 15 or 20 or 40 minutes (I have to use the timer, or I just go in because she’s calling for me for heaven’s sakes. Then I can’t not pick her up, and then it’s all over). And all of those seemed kind of heartless and horrible. I often give her 20 minutes to try to settle herself down to take the second half of her nap. Having me in the room only seems to make her more mad.
I was worried that I’d have to increase the crying times to over an hour the next day, but to my great relief, she slept for a bit over an hour. Most (but not all) naps this week have been over an hour. Often an hour and a half. And Sylvia is so happy afterward. She’ll play by herself, she won’t cry when she bonks her head, she has some patience while I’m getting her food. If I’d only known that letting her cry for two hours one day would eliminate hours of crying on other days, I would have done this months ago.
Who knows if it’s permanent, but I wanted to write this down so I remember next time what worked in the past.
If my girl slept longer and was therefore happier and less easy to anger, oh what a wonderful world this would be!
The baby clothes-go-round
Dec. 6: Sylvia will be 10 months old next week. Can you believe it? She’s started “walking” by pushing a chair across the room. She is so proud of herself. It’s fun to see. Sylvia loves it when people clap and cheer for her. But she doesn’t like it when things she wants to do don’t work. Right now, she has a very low tolerance for things not working right. And not a lot of persistence. BUT her screech went away when she lost her voice, and it hasn’t come back yet. It’s a real relief. I’m losing a lot less brain cells this way.
Sylvia has long arms, and most of her 6-12 month shirts are starting to have 3/4 length sleeves. So this morning I put away most of her short sleeved shirts, and all of her warm-weather 6-12 month clothes. That left her dresser a bit bare. But never fear! I went down into the basement and unpacked a big tub of 12 month clothes. It was so fun to pull out all those sweet baby clothes that either were Andrew’s or I bought before she was born or friends have given to us. So many sweet things. Such cute winter wear. They’re all in the wash right now, and I can’t wait to start incorporating her new shirts and jumpers and overalls into her wardrobe. I LOVE baby clothes. Love love love. It’s a genetic thing.
Terry’s adventures
Dec. 5: As part of his now-retired lifestyle, Terry’s been taking some long driving trips. He just left for a two-month trip out west (some of which will be spent with his family in Oregon). Michael set Terry up with a website so he can share stories and photos from his travels. Thought you might like to check it out!
It’s an easy website to remember: terryhaller.com
Vote now for the Christmas card photo
Dec. 5: I can’t decide! Which photo should I enclose in this year’s Christmas card? I am planning on this one:
But then I think, “No, do something more fun, more memorable!”
This one will make people smile:
Thoughts? Suggestions? Votes? I think I’ll order them tonight.
Waffles of yumminess
Dec. 5: Sylvia has been sleeping for about 40 minutes. We’ll see if she can make it past the 45 minute wake-up. The other day, I let her cry for an hour after both her morning and afternoon naps after she woke at the 45 minute mark. The next day, she took an hour-and-a-half nap…and then a 45 minuter. But maybe, just maybe we’re making progress.
She sure was grumpy this morning. She didn’t want me to put her down. When I got dressed, I laid her on the bed when she sobbed until I picked her up again. Then when I put in my contacts I laid her down on the floor where she sobbed until I picked her up again. I think it was just a must-be-held kind of morning.
Anyway, the purpose of this post is to share a wonderful recipe with you, not to again regale you with the details of my girl-child’s sleeping schedule.
Jessica just asked me for my overnight, yeasty waffle recipe, and since I typed out to send to her, I thought I would share it with you all. It’s so good. I love these waffles. My tummy is rumbling for them right now. Take my word for them. Make the batter tonight and eat them for breakfast in the morning. If you really don’t like the idea of separating the eggs and beating the egg whites, you can skip that step and they’ll still be good. Mmmm mmmm
Overnight Waffles
from: Mark Bittman’s, How To Cook Everything
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon Instant yeast
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
8 tablespoon butter melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
2 eggs
Oil for brushing on waffle iron
Before going to bed, combine the dry ingredients and stir in the milk, then the butter and vanilla. The mixture will be loose. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight at room temperature.
Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. Separate the eggs and stir the yolks into the batter. Beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into the batter.
Pour batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron. Serve immediately or keep warm for a few minutes in a low oven.
Note: This recipe is supposed to serve four, but, er, it feeds me
and Bryan and Andrew with maybe one left over (assuming we don’t have sausage or eggs or anything extra). When we have friends over, we make a double batch. They freeze well. A quick toast in the toaster oven crisps them up again.
Post-preschool quotes
Dec. 4: In the two hours since Andrew returned home from preschool, he’s uttered a handful of memorable phrases. For example:
- As we were leaving the playground,
Andrew: “How much did you and Sylvia miss me while I was at preschool?”
Me: “Sooo much! Sylvia kept saying, ‘Where is Big Brother, I miss him so much? When will he come home again?'”
Andrew to Sylvia: (grinning from ear to ear) “It’s alright now, Sylvia, I’m back! I haven’t given her a kiss yet, Mom. Can you bend down so I can kiss her yiddle head?” - When we got home, Andrew discovered that I’d put up all the Christmas decorations. He was running around the house admiring them all and wanted to try his favorite, a wooden Santa music box. “Oh, Mom! It’s so beeautiful!”
- Andrew requested a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (big shocker there) for lunch today. I made Sylvia and myself some noodles. That was a mistake, because of course then Andrew wanted noodles too. So I told him that if he finished all his sandwich, I would make him some noodles.
He didn’t like that plan. He suggested that he put his (mangled) sandwich in the refrigerator, “for later” and have noodles now. After trying several other angles, he laid his head down on his arms and sobbed. Must be tired from school today. Through his sobs, he choked out that I “wasn’t talking very nicely to him.” Apparently saying, “Honey, I understand that you really want noodles. If you finish all your sandwich including the crusts, I’ll make you some.” doesn’t count as speaking nicely:) - After our tearful lunch, I went to put Sylvia down for her nap. Andrew was helping me rip our Christmas CDs onto the computer. He loves to help with that and can do it all on his own. I’d only been nursing Sylvia for a few moments when I hear, “Help helphelp HELP help help HELP HELP!! MOMMY! HELP!” I jump with Sylvia (sort of expecting to find his finger stuck in the computer, given the frantic-ness of his cries), and come out to find an utterly distraught Andrew looking at the computer screen and crying and nearly hyperventilating. I’ve seen such behavior in adults before when computers don’t work well, but I wasn’t very pleased with him for having me jump up with Sylvia (thereby completely messing up her going-down-for-a-nap cycle). I told him I’d help him when I was done putting Sylvia down, and he continued to dramatically cry at the computer for about five minutes saying things like, “Help, oh please oh please help me!!! Oh no, Mommy help helphelphelp helpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpme!!!”
Syliva was so intrigued by the dramatics occurring in the next room that she wouldn’t settle down for her nap. So I came out to find out what was wrong. Turns out that the songs were being alphabetized by name instead of track number so the track numbers were all out of order. Makes me shake my head to think back on how completely that FREAKED HIM OUT.
Andrew’s now taking a nap. Sylvia isn’t. She’s crying sporadically as she tries to help herself fall asleep. Oh, wait, a moment of silence. Sweet, sweet silence. I daren’t check on them both for fear that it will wake them!
PS. They’ve been sleeping for an hour!!
And I just remembered another Andrew quote. This morning during breakfast, Andrew was admiring his pajamas. “Those pjs are from Grandma Margot,” I told him. “She got you those for your second birthday.” A look of delight appeared on Andrew’s face, he hugged himself and then waved his arms in the air, “I LOVE Grandma Margot!!,” he said.
We’re home again!
Dec. 2: Ahh, home again. Andrew bundled up in his snow gear this morning and tromped around our yard, making tracks in the snow. Our flight home yesterday was smooth. Sylvia only had a few crying moments, and Andrew was again as good as good can be. That said, traveling is tiring in general, and with two little ones it’s more than slightly exhausting. Bryan and I were both dragging by the time we met my dad at the airport.
We’re enjoying a quiet day at home. Sylvia woke up from her nap after 40 minutes, so I’ve decided to let her cry until she falls back asleep. She’s currently not very happy with this decision.
Andrew and I played his new Sequence for Kids game, and he’s now playing with his basket of animals, all curled next to me in blankets on the sofa.
The photo here is one I considered for our Christmas card since it captures a certain element of our life right now, but decided I’d go with something a little more calm instead:)
New family photos
Dec. 2: While we were in Texas, we had some family photos taken. The last ones we had done were when Andrew was (exactly) Sylvia’s age. A very narrowed-down selection are in the gallery.
Thanksgiving visit recap
Dec. 1: We’re heading home today. It’s been a wonderful visit. Andrew just adores everyone here, and Sylvia had a great time exploring and expanding her skill-set (she’s learned how to walk while pushing a small chair!).
As you might guess, I took more than just a few (OK, 300) pictures while we were here. A narrowed down, but still substantial set are in the gallery.
The weather was often in the 60s or 70s…today a north wind kicked in and chilled it down a bit.
We took a nice walk at a nearby forest earlier in the week. Andrew played nearly constantly with Melanie or Grandad or Ben or Granny. He especially liked the Lincoln Logs, Grandad’s animals, and the great 1970s Fisher Price toys.
Granny provided several amazing meals. Thanksgiving dinner was amazing. Then we also had a lasagna (Mom’s recipe) and fettucini alfredo dinner. Last night, we did Mexican buffet, with tostadas, nachos, and soft tacos. Yum, yum! Sylvia loved everything. She’s willing to eat just about everything so long as she can gum it!
We played a poker tournament, and we all had fun trying out Mark’s new crokinole board. He learned how to play with his grandad when he was a little boy, and we all enjoyed flicking the disks across the board. Some more than others…I was a relatively terrible player:)
Sylvia started pointing at things this week. When we ask her where Ginger the horse is, she looks at it and points! Photos of her riding Ginger are in the gallery. Too cute!
The kids are both on the tail-end of being sick, but unfortunately we passed their cold on to their grandparents. They seem to be only mildly affected, though, so that’s a good thing. Sick kids can get everyone sick!
We’re supposed to be home by 9pm tonight, so I hope all our travel goes well. Now, it’s Christmas time!