fussybudget

We tried to take a photo for our Christmas card this afternoon. At this rate we won't be sending one...but if I really wanted to send one out that captures our life at the moment, this gem would be the big winner!

Yes, we've had a few good days here & there. But mostly? Not so good. What is going on with our child? The kid has been F.U.S.S.Y. for almost an entire month now! It started on Halloween...as did her cold. She is SO clingy...if I even start to head upstairs without her she starts to frantically say mom, MOM, MAAAAOOOOM!! She whines, plops her head pitifully down on the floor & bursts into tears about 10 times a day. And extra fun for me, she's started this new thing of standing beneath me & tugging on my shirt and saying MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAAAAAAAAAAA...EEHHHHHHHHHH....MAMAMA!

On a lighter note, she's into draping things around herself these days...blankets, towels, dirty clothes...you name it! Pardon the bubble gum medicine on her pjs...She LOVED watching the parade on TV! She moved those little feet right along with the tap dancers...Look Mom! A Sesame Street float!

16 months!

Our Pea is 16 months old today...man the time goes by more quickly each month!

Some notes....
-She usually wakes at 7a, and is in the process of getting to bed at 7p...usually asleep by 8p.
-She takes one nap, usually between 12p & 1p. It lasts anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours on the crazy long side indicating she's probably not feeling well.
-She is in size 5 diapers, size 18month pants, and 24mo or 2T shirts! She is a very long girl, and shirts that would fit her little torso width wise are getting too short. Shoes are size 6. Socks are 12-24 months, as are tights.
-In addition to loving Elmo, she likes Cookie Monster, and now cannot get enough of her Choo Choo Soul music DVD. She comes up to me and asks, "Choo? Choo?" She also carries around a little train saying choo, choo. Very cute.
-Coloring...drives me CRAZY but she loves it. Interestingly enough I couldn't wait for her to want to color & craft...and now I just dread when she points to her coloring table & says cuu. It is great fun for about 10 minutes...then she wants to throw her coloring table & crayons everywhere. I find myself saying these gems over & over...."Luci, coloring is a sit still activity... Luci, we can only play with our crayons at our coloring table. Luci, crayons are not for throwing... Luci, we do not put crayons in our mouth. Luci, we only color on paper. Luci, we do not [insert unacceptable behavior here]." She does it again. "Luci, Mama asked you not to [insert same unacceptable behavior here]. Luci, if you [x] again Mama is going to take away the crayons..." And then 9 times out of ten she does the same unacceptable behavior again while looking at me, possibly shaking her head no. And then I say, "Luci, now Mama has to put away the crayons. Mama asked you not to [x], and you didn't listen. So now we have to put away the crayons." Then she cries & screams & stomps her feet & flails her arms. Sounds like fun, right?
-Climbing...it seems like overnight she has mastered our little play structure at the park. She can climb up the stairs and go down all three slides, all on her own. Sometimes she goes down feet first on her tummy...something she discovered completely on her own!
-She's started to take outside stairs like she does inside stairs...rarely turning around backwards & climbing down, but rather taking them as though she's a grown person.
-She's got the "more" sign down completely. Except instead of two pinched like hands, one is open & the other pinched like hand touches the other open flat hand. Pretty cute. She also knows "all done", but usually prefers just to push the plate away from her to indicate she is done eating. She uses more in the context of a few things, but all done is only used with regard to meals at this point.
-The baa. I mean paci. She's named the paci "baaa." We were doing a great job with limiting it to her bedroom & the car...until this month. When she's sick & whiny I am such a sucker for the baaa. I take full responsibility for this...I need her to have the baa more than she does. I vow to work on this.
-Baby....the girl loves her baby! She has two that she really likes, but with one being a clear favorite. The Lawrences gave her this baby along with a baby doll stroller, baby doll blanket & 2 baby doll bottles for her first birthday. This is far & away her favorite toy these days. We now take baby doll for walks in its little stroller around the block. Sometimes we even walk baby doll to the park. It takes a LONG TIME.
-Words...she's got lots of words, although they don't sound like yours or mine. Cuu can mean cup or color. It also means potty for some reason. Caa is cat, and meow is a high pitched hmmmmm. Caaa can also mean car. Dog is just a goofy barking sound...and cow is the same sound. Baa is paci. ahsigh is outside. shoes are a very distinct shhhhh. grandparents are guh. Clara is sort of caahaaa. Baaa is also baby doll or ball or balloon. If I ask her to say hi she waves. If I ask her to use her sounds she whispers hi. If I ask her to say bye she waves. If I ask her to say goodnight she waves & blows a kiss. If I ask her if she wants breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack she says mmmmm. Pigs say "kkkk, kkk", ducks say "kaa, kaaa", bears say "rraaahhhhhhr", monkeys say "oo, ooo, ooo".
-Other communication...she goes to the pantry & points if she wants a snack. She's very good at pointing to what she wants. She understands nearly everything. She knows when I ask if she's ready for nap or bed or bath. When I ask her for a hug she now really hugs me with two arms instead of doing her little head only hug. She fully understands how to blow a kiss. She doesn't quite seem to get some if x then y statements. She usually gets it when we use it in discipline, but doesn't seem to get if you eat more peas i'll give you more blueberries.
-She puts her finger on her nose & says shhhh and knows that means soft/quiet. She knows you hear things with your ears...if a dog starts to bark & I ask her if she can hear the dog she points to her ear. She has EXCELLENT hearing...she often points to her ear as if she hears something and when I really concentrate & listen then I hear it too (dogs, sirens, etc).
-She can identify her eyes, ears nose, tongue, teeth, head, toes, fingers, knees, and hands. and belly.
-She is ALL about shutting things...drawers, doors, the dishwasher, the refrigerator...
-She has graduated from the high chair to the booster seat at the kitchen table. She does pretty well with keeping plates & bowls on the table. Her silverware progress continues, although not at rapid pace. And I'm kind of lazy about the silverware now that we are in the booster....much greater potential for mess!
-The girl LOVES her some books!
-She's started to hang out more in her crib before & after sleep...just chatting...often she'll start to cry after 20 minutes or so of hanging out. Sometimes we go in & she's on her back with her feet up on the sides of the crib. Cracks me up.
-Usually I give her a choice in shirts or outfits. Most days she picks one without hesitation. Other days she wants nothing to do with either of them...like today.
-Her hair is getting kind of bonkers and I am wondering if I should break down & get it cut. Her three long strands in the front are ALWAYS getting in her eyes, and she will NOT leave a bow, barrette or pony in to save her life. She literally will tear it & all of her hair out with it every time. She also has a bit of a mullet like look going on because of the little bald spot she had on the back of her head for so long. She has these long, fine hairs on the top and then this sort of thicker under coat of hair...it really is sort of strange!
-In the morning when our coffee maker beeps to let me know coffee is ready she makes an alarmed sort of noise, then claps :)
-This last month has been tough health wise...seems like she's had a cold since late October...yes, as a matter of fact, it all started on Halloween. I called the nurse line at our pedi's office this morning because I'm worried about her cough & the rattling sound coming from her...she sounds like a very happy cat when she breathes. I expected the nurse to tell me she was fine & just to keep an eye on her, but the nurse wanted us to come in this afternoon to rule out an upper respiratory infection. Normally I would have waited a few more days, but with the holiday coming up I knew it was today or next Monday. So we'll head in this afternoon...I guess kids aren't supposed to sound like cats...***UPDATE***Just got home...sweet baby was diagnosed with her first ear infection today at 16 months...so she just had her very first dose of an antibiotic. mmm...bubble gum! No upper respiratory infection though thank goodness.

slackin

Cuu, Cuu, Cuu means cup, and color....depending on what she is pointing at. We color pretty much everyday, and sometimes twice. Her favorite part of coloring is the sticker activity that goes along with it. Look at that concentration...

At least until she hears Sesame Street starting...

Look Mom! Elmo!

A shot of her handiwork...

Geez...4 posts in November? I've been slacking! The month has somehow been crazy busy with Clay doing his quarterly extended stint with the Navy, visits from Guh & Guh Pierse and Grammy Rosonke, all with a broken leaky shower and contractors coming & going. And on top of it Luci's had a cold all month! Or maybe three different colds...every time she starts to feel better it seems we are shot down again with another bug. We went from snot EVERYWHERE to a crazy hacking, wet, gurgling cough with red eyes that tear up when she coughs. Poor sweet baby!

Clay has been home for a few days now & we've enjoyed some family time. Sadly he'll be working most of Thanksgiving Day, but luckily we have a wonderful family of friends here in The Woodlands that Luci & I will be having turkey with. Two turkeys, to be precise....one of which I'll cook! Wish me luck! I've done turkeys the last two years, so at least I know what I'm getting into.

In home news, the shower has been repaired & the necessary tile has been replaced...now we just wait for our shower door which should be installed sometime next week. On the fun side, we've FINALLY decided to get our stair handrail re-stained a darker color to match the hardwood floor we installed when we bought the house. Merry Christmas to us!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

some of me

IMMEDIATELY digging through her new borrowed wardrobe from Clara... Looking at Dad

Saying No, No, NO to Milo who was on the counter...

sharing her dinner with Dad.

pretty girl.

I've seen LOTS of Clay in Luci since she was very small. She's a mover & a climber...she loves a physical challenge. She's also got quite the temper...although I'm sure her dad would argue that might be from me as well...

But recently she's moved onto a few of my fav's...

Shoes: It started with shhhh, shhh (shoes). The girl LOVES her some shoes. In Walmart or Target...the minute we walk by the shoe section she kicks & smiles & claps & proclaims "ssshhh, shhhhh, shhhhhh" and points to them.

Food: She has had her first little bits of sweets (lollipop), chocolate (less sugar granola bar with teeny chocolate chips) and chips...and she LOVES them all. This is DEFINITELY from me.

TV & Music/Dance Party: Choo Choo Soul is a music DVD that we have...and she seriously can't get enough of it.

Clothes: Tonight we got a fresh bag of clothes from Clara...and Luci could not wait to dig through them...all of them!

happy belated birthday dad & catching up

Luci is very upset that I didn't get a happy birthday post out in time for her dad's birthday. Better late than never...finally...the much deserved HAPPY BIRTHDAY is finally here! Here is Luci sportin her new bike helmet (Elmo, of course) so she can go bikin with Dad...now if we could just find a bike buggy trailer thingy we'd be all set!

Luci also had her 15mo well baby visit on her dad's birthday. Stats at 15 months...
Weight: 23.2 lbs; 50-75%

Length: 33''; 95+%

Head Circumference: 18.5", 75-90%

Tuesday was Clay's birthday, and Wednesday was our 3rd anniversary. We were lucky enough to be mid-visit with Grandma & Grandpa Pierse so Clay & I were able to go out for an extra fancy dinner on Tuesday to celebrate both occasions. On Wednesday Barb & Don cooked us a lovely meal complete with dessert...they are so good to us! Here was Luci's not-so-sweet behavior when I asked her if she wanted to take a photo with Grandma & Grandpa. What a kid!

Grandma & Grandpa decided it might be easiest to take her lead for the photo...and Luci decided she wanted to ride the zebra.wearing her 'so pretty' bow...

Luci finally seems to be feeling better, although she's still fussier than I'm used to...I guess it is just the beginning of her trying to assert some independence. Unless of course Mom wants to leave...then she's bonkers about being separated. I can just tell her I'm going bye-bye and the frantic panicky neck cling begins. Fun times...

In other news, our master shower started leaking through to the first floor. We've had contractor after contractor come...most to tell us we need an entire bathroom re-model...with increasing estimates every time. We finally found a plumber who was actually interested in JUST fixing the leak...because he wasn't a re-model guy. So the leak is fixed (knock on wood), but now we need to find a repair guy who just wants to repair the tile & install a new shower door (we had to raise the threshold...long story...but result is old shower glass frame doesn't fit anymore) instead of gutting the entire thing. I'm hopeful we found someone on Friday and we should get his estimate on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Clay is on a Navy stint right now so Luci & I are really missing him. It is especially hard not being able to talk to him, but it really is only for a week or so and many many families go months...so I know we can do a week. But we sure do miss him. Luci has been giving his photos lots of kisses...

and here she is taking some kisses out of her 'kisses purse' that her dad put in there for her before he left...

And here she is this morning sitting on our latest used furniture purchase...I'm planning to get it reupholstered here soon...hopefully...

I found these great vinyl wall words at Hobby Lobby for 50% off...this phrase was 'for a boy's room', but I decided I liked it for our playroom. The playroom has made lots of progress but has a few more bits to go before I show a photo of the whole thing! The letters are not supposed to be perfect...but Clay fears they aren't off enough to make it obvious that they are supposed to be that way. Regardless, I like it.

defiant & testy

love a grammy... hug a grammy

In her party dress getting ready for her friend Declan's first birthday party! I gave her a choice between two dresses & she picked this one without hesitation.
tall girl....
her latest thing is hiding...she started out hiding in the curtains but she has since moved on to hiding underneath our chairs. please don't judge my dirty floor...cleaning happens every other friday & that is about it. also don't judge my too-short slip covers ;)

Grammy Rosonke was here this week to visit and we managed to have a great time despite Luci's less than stellar mood. Thanks Grammy! We miss you already...come back soon...and bring Granpy Rosonke too!

Luci's behavior of late has been not so great...she's been RIDICULOUSLY fussy this whole week. Granted, she's still not feeling 100%...but come on! Friday night she decided to stay awake from 12:30a to 3a. Then get up at 6a. Last night she decided to stay up from 2a to 4a. At 4a I sent Clay in & that was the last we heard from her...so tonight Dad will be the first line of response to the middle of the night wakings.

Before Clay & I went to Chicago she was very eager to please Mom & Dad. When you asked her to do something she did it & clapped for herself...delighted to oblige. Since we've gotten home, she does pretty much the opposite of what I ask, and then looks at me and grins or shakes her head no. My stern talking used to be effective...now when I get down on her level to use my stern tone she looks past my shoulder & melts into the ground...her whole body just goes limp & she lays on the floor...still not looking at me! It is funny & infuriating all at the same time...

a lil sick

Luci has been sick since Saturday. Friday was a rough, rough day for her...and I now know it was because she wasn't feeling well. On Saturday she woke up from her nap SCREAMING and no amount of rocking or singing or soothing I did calmed her down for almost 20 minutes. Same thing a few times that night, and on Sunday morning. Around 10a on Sunday I was getting her ready for church & she fell asleep after about 2 minutes in the rocker...which I was doing only to soothe her after she screamed during a diaper change (her bottom was still sore...all better now :). She slept until after 12p & woke with a 102 fever. boo. Later in the day she napped again, waking with a 102.5 fever. We had our share of Tylenol & fussies, and then her fever broke around 1a on Monday morning....which was good timing because Grammy Rosonke arrived on Sunday night!

Monday she seemed to be doing a bit better but I took her to the doctor regardless...I really, really thought she had her first ear infection (she had & still has been tugging on them a bit...but I think it is just sinus pressure back there). She did not. Her ears 'looked great', but the doctor was still worried about some sort of an infection so we did a urinalysis & a finger poke just to run some tests...which all came back normal. He was concerned because the fever started a few days after her fussiness/congestion...I guess that seemed strange and I love that he was so thorough.
She seems to be doing better today...still a little fussy & her nose is congested & driving her NUTSO. She rubs it & scowls & whines...the expressions on her face would be funny if I didn't know that she was so miserable.

I haven't taken any photos since Halloween...she's just not been in the mood. These are from Friday morning...you can see her eyes are a little 'off'...I should have known! The Elmo slippers are hers, but the PJs are her friend Caroline's...thanks Caroline!

A few funny things to note....poor sweet girl suffered her first blisters for fashionable footwear on Friday. Bad mama didn't notice till the bath on Friday.

She loves to shut things...doors, drawers, the dishwasher, caps on bottles...you name it, she wants to close it.

Tonight as I was putting her legs into her footy pjs she waved bye bye to her feet! Cracked me up!!

Happy Halloween

Miss Luci was a Sugar Plum Fairy this year for Halloween. In addition to Pea, we also call her Sugar Plum...so it felt right. Does it look familiar? (Thank you Clara). She likes to be 'so pretty' (that is what I say when I put bows in her hair...so if you say anything is so pretty she thinks it goes in her hair ;), but doesn't like to leave the 'so pretty' accessories alone.

Luci & Eleanor in the wagon...their favorite thing to do immediately upon hanging out is to switch sippy cups. Literally, EVERY TIME.

Lil Luc had kind of a rough Halloween. She woke up at 6a with a monster poopy diaper that had adhered itself to her bottom :( It was all red & broken out...not sure if it had just been there too long or if it was because she had a bit of a strawberry yesterday. We gave her strawberries at 9mo and they resulted in a ROUGH diaper rash so we hadn't given them to her again...until yesterday. So it is back to no more strawberries for awhile. Then she had a rough time at playgroup (just generally fussy...we left early), and then woke up from her nap sobbing...which didn't stop, even when I picked her up & rocked her. We looked at books....still crying. Ugh. 20 minutes & some Tylenol later she seemed a bit better. We played until 5p when we walked down to Clara's on the way to the park. She did all right at the park, but was fading fast by 6:10p or so when we started the trick or treating. She rode in Eleanor & Caroline's wagon with Eleanor...when she started to fuss I decided that having a lollipop for the first time ever might make for more fun & pleasant times. It may have, but after a few minutes Trina noticed the lolli part had come off of the stick! I had to dig it out of her mouth & she was NOT happy about it...she was certain it was the best thing she'd ever had. We replaced it with another lollipop...but by that time she had totally melted down. We hit the second house & she decided she wanted out of the wagon...and she wanted to walk up to the door like all of the other kids, but she had no idea what to do when she got there! There were lots of big kids all around so I kind of scooped her up & took her back to the sidewalk. And at that time, she wrapped her tiny hand around my finger & started pulling me home...so off we went.

It was kind of a rough day, but she sure looked cute :)

My only real complaints for the day were the mosquitoes & the heat. And the heat really wasn't bad, but I did sweat (ew, I know) carrying my heavy child all over the 'hood. Compared to cold rainy Halloween memories of my childhood, I guess it shouldn't seem so bad.

bloody lip

If you click on this & blow it up you might see a bit of a fat lip...but it really wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it might be.

This cat has an UNBELIEVABLE tolerance for our child. See the blood on Lil Luc's pant leg? poor sweet baby...

Ugh...Lil Luc got her first bloody lip today. She was playing on her little directors chair in the kitchen (hardwood floors), and all of the sudden I heard crying/screaming. I hung up on Clay & dashed over to find my baby face down on the hardwood floor...and I saw blood. I scooped her up & saw blood coming from her mouth...I put a wet cool paper towel on it...but it kept bleeding. I was terrified her tooth went through the lip...and I couldn't really see it because she was crying so hard...

So what did I do, you ask? Why, I ran down the street to Amanda's for help, of course! As soon as we got outside Luci stopped crying and started making her dog noise (there was a dog barking somewhere near-by) so that made me feel better immediately. And once we got to the Lawrences, Luci was so excited to see them that she was totally fine. Expect for the blood...which ended up all over Amanda's cream sweater (so sorry). Luckily Amanda had a 'boo boo buddy - jungle' that Luci was delighted to chew on, and sweet sweet Clara shared one of her favorite bears, Pink Bear, and the paci baby twins. We are SO lucky to have such great friends.

15 months!

my first attempt in the chair with the bear...

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take two...after her nap...a happy pea waving to you!

that sweet baby was 15 months old on Saturday the 25th...can you believe it? man, time is flying.


just a few notes tonight...I'm sure I'll add more over the last few days as they come to me...
-she's working VERY hard on using her fork & spoon
-she's very into feeding her baby dolls & the cats a toy bottle...always upside down!
-she's a babbling FOOL these days..mamamadaaaadmom & dadadadadmom are a few of her favorites
-she's still drooling like crazy. like soaking her shirts crazy.
-she's in some 12-18mo clothes, and some 24mo clothes
-she will wake up around 4am or 5am if she is cold...and won't go back to sleep until the heat is turned on
-if you ask her to put her paci in the box on her dresser after a changing or her nap she will! we now try to limit the paci to nap time, night time, changing time, or carseat time. it doesn't always work out that way, but we try!
-she is SUPER into buu..buu....which depending on the moment could mean books or balls...she is crazy about both of them!
-she's also all about 'cuu, cuu'...aka...her cup

aaaaaand - we're back!

the reason for the season...the jobeknutson wedding!

this would have been a great photo if not for that annoying professional photographer's light in the middle...stupid professional photographer...ruining MY shot! the nerve! ;) me & liz. doesn't she look stunning? me & schmol

me & Jen me & Clay...despite the appearance of a forced smile, he really was having a good time ;)

and on Sunday...SO happy to be home with our pea!! check out her Colts gear...can you tell Grandma Pierse was in charge of getting her dressed?


The last week has been busy busy busy for Clay & me. On Tuesday Grandma Pierse arrived to hang with Luci so that on Wednesday Clay & I could head up to Chicago. On Wednesday & Thursday we did a crazy 350 mile tour of the Chicagoland & Rockford areas to see if we could find a suitable place to live should we decide to head back that way. Don't get me wrong...we'd LOVE to live in the city again, but it just isn't feasible for us now with Lil Luc & our budget. So we set off for some 'burb shopping...because my previous lives were spent in the city...like any respectable urban dweller I avoided the 'burbs like the plague. Turns out there are suitable places outside of the city...we did indeed find two places we really liked...(Crystal Lake & Plainfield), a few we liked & may like even more in years to come as they develop their downtown (Cary, Oswego & Yorkville), and pretty much ruled out several others that we thought might be appealing but were not (Woodstock, Huntley, Rockford, Roscoe, MacHensey Park, Minooka & Channahon...although Clay fell in LOVE with a 'ready to build' lot there). All in, it was a very successful two days of 'burb shopping.

And to top it off we lunched with our friends the Nielsens, spent 2 nights with the Determans, an afternoon with the Tankborns, and a great day of wedded bliss with the newly married Knutsons. It was a fabulous, fabulous trip. I must say the dance party that followed the wedding was my favorite, as Schmol had the guns blazing in a way I haven't seen in more years than I'd like to admit, and Jen somehow managed to cut up the dance floor despite having a teeny weeny newborn at home.

i have great friends. thank you great friends.

and i have a great mother-in-law who took wonderful care of my baby...the special kind of care that only a grandma can give that brings peace of mind to baby's mama...so that baby's mama can enjoy said great friends who live too far away.

thank you mother-in-law.

i love you all :)