Day Three Hundred and Fifty
Thu, Jul 28, 2016
Good Play
misty · Fri, Jul 22, 2016Notes:
M had two poops in the morning and one in the afternoon! It’s been a while since she was so productive!
We went to the big playground again since we had such success there yesterday. M spent a lot of time wandering around on the bouncy turf. She climbed all the way up to the big kids’ level, but there wasn’t much for her to do there, so we didn’t stay too long. She walked under the structure and picked up every piece of trash she saw in the sand, including a couple of cigarette butts. She also went down the low slide again and again (still with me holding on, but mostly on her own). It was another successful playground visit.
In the evening, we met up with Chase downtown and headed over to The Stinking Rose for dinner (since we’re leaving soon and hadn’t been there in a while). M wasn’t too interested in the food we tried to feed her, though she ate some. She did eat lots of bunny crackers and bread, though.
M still loves going on the bus. I’m guessing we won’t be taking the bus much in Austin, which is such a shame for so many reasons. But, there will be other things for her to love there.
Big Playground
misty · Thu, Jul 21, 2016Notes:
Chase booked movers for our trip! So we’re one step closer.
This morning, Milo wouldn’t sign please to Chase, but she signed it to me when holding the peanut butter cracker sandwiches in the afternoon. I’m not sure what the difference was. We’ll keep trying.
I decided to take M to the big playground in GGP today. She was reluctant to move around much at first, but I was persistent, and eventually she explored a bit. It has a lot more stuff for infants and toddlers to play with: a lower slide, musical chimes, a steering wheel and gear shift, a couple of tunnels. She explored the sand first, of course, and she kept eating sand very quickly and casually before I could stop her. She also went down the slide on her own (with me holding on, but not in my lap) and slid on her belly for the first time. When we were packing up to go home, she saw the swings and headed over to them before I could stop her. With that kind of determination, I had to let the girl swing. She’s so stinking happy on the swing these days!
I napped while Milo napped in the afternoon. It was fantastic. I don’t know why I don’t do that more often.
After her second nap, M was very affectionate in the afternoon, giving me just a ton of hugs and kisses and crawling all over me. It never gets old.
Since Chase was coming home late due to a work meeting, I decided not to cook and ordered Brenda’s for dinner. It arrived just after I put Milo down for the night, and Chase arrived at the same time. Perfect!
Other:
- I keep forgetting to mention that I bought some water beads a little while back so that I could create sensory bags and calm down bottles. I made them, and Milo really likes carrying around and chewing on her bag of water beads (I put it in a heavy duty ziplock). She’ll find the calm down bottle now and then and carry it around and look at it, but the bag is a favorite.
Please
misty · Wed, Jul 20, 2016I still have trouble when Milo’s naps are shorter than I’ve come to expect. This morning, she had a short nap, ~40m. Usually it’s more like 2 hours. So I was a little annoyed, but then she totally turned the day around when she signed “please” when she wanted a snack!
By far, her favorite snacks are peanut butter cracker sandwiches, and I keep them in a little snack cup with a screw-on cap. She knows to bring me the cup if she wants one, but today I started showing her the “please” sign before I gave her a cracker. I even put her hand on her chest to show her how to make the sign. Then she did it! It wasn’t perfect, of course, but I was super excited!
Up to now, the only sign we’ve seen her do regularly is “all done,” and it’s usually when we’ve finished reading a book to her. So now she’s got two signs that we recognize! So exciting.
In less exciting news, Milo lost a toy from the stroller on our way to music class. I’ve had an Infantino elephant toy since before M was born. In fact, it’s probably one of the first toys we got for M because someone gave it to us free with a CL purchase. Anyway, I keep it hooked to the stroller when we go out so she has something to hold on to. Today she unhooked it and must have thrown it off without me noticing. When we go to music class, only the orange ring was still on there, the elephant was gone forever. Because I’m a little attached to it, I retraced my steps on the way home, but I didn’t see it anywhere. Too bad.
In music class, Milo has a friend named Atticus who is just so flipping adorable. He’s about a month or two older than M, and they’ve interacted with each other quite a lot since class began all those months ago. Today, they were at odds over some music toys, though. Milo wanted what Atticus had, and then Atticus wanted what Milo had. So Atticus’s mom and I played a game of pass the instrument: Atticus would take Milo’s, Milo would take mine, I’d take Milo’s, Milo would take Atticus’s, etc. It was pretty fun, actually. Who knew tiny tots would be so possessive over ukuleles?
M played with her xylophone toy properly for the first time. It’s designed so that you use the hammer to push the balls through, and they fall onto the xylophone and make music. She didn’t use the hammer, but she did push the balls through onto the xylophone, and then she put the balls back in their place and pushed them through again. Normally, she just takes the xylophone out and throws the balls around. I was glad to see that she figured out how to use it.
Notes:
- Milo is obsessed with The Foot Book (Dr. Seuss). She always finds it among her toys and brings it over to whoever is around and demands we read it over and over. I’ll admit it: I’ve hidden The Foot Book a time or two. I’m not proud of it, but after reading it 25 times in a row, Mama needs a break. Oh my, how that girl’s eyes light up when she gets to look at the pages and hears us say the rhymes! I love it so much.
Alexa
misty · Tue, Jul 19, 2016Notes:
Our Echo came in the mail a couple of days ago, and we’ve been playing with it a lot. “Alexa, play classical music.” “Alexa, open pick-up lines.” etc. Every time we talk to it, the top lights up and it talks back to us. At this point, Milo has already learned that when she hears us say Alexa, the speaker on the shelf reacts. So she turns to look. Such a smart girl.
Milo made a friend named Marlow at the playground today. Marlow was super talkative, and Milo was pretty active. They gave each other hugs and watched each other play a bit. Eventually, Milo walked away. When she got to the paved area, she tried to run, for some reason. She fell and her face scraped the ground, creating her first playground battle scars on her little nose and forehead. I comforted her and eventually nursed her to settle her down, and then she played a bit more before we returned home. The scratches didn’t seem to bother her for the rest of the day.
At home, Milo loves the futon. She climbs on it every day and usually ends up on the couch, which is now allowed. Today, though, she upped her game and climbed up onto the back of the futon. She did it with such ease, too. She just got right up there and started playing “where’s Milo” with the curtain. Like it was nothing!
In another adventure, M fell inside a bin and got a little stuck. I packed all of the clothes in our black bins under the tv, which are taller/deeper than her toy bins. She was trying to retrieve a toy she’d put inside the empty bin, and she just fell right in there. Since it wasn’t completely pulled out of the shelf, when she tried to sit up and get out, her head got a little stuck. She whined for a moment and then figured her way out.
In the evening, Chase sat on the floor to play with her as he usually does in the evenings before dinner and bed. We’re always acting silly in different ways because we never know what’s going to tickle M’s fancy. Tonight, she laughed and laughed at Chase popping an empty soda bottle up in the air and letting it fall. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh that much!
Daredevil
misty · Mon, Jul 18, 2016Milo is a daring little girl.
At the playground today, she ventured out without needing me to guide her. I followed close behind to make sure she didn’t fall from scary high places, but mostly I just followed. She walked to the tire swing, through the sand, and went over to the big play equipment. She climbed up, and up, and up. Eventually she was at the highest point: the big, twisty slide. We went down it once, and she climbed up again to the shorter slides.
At some point, a group of bigger kids showed up to play, and Milo was very excited about all the commotion. The big boys were pouring sand on the twisty slide, and the big girls were trying to climb up the slide the wrong way. Milo saw them, and she decided that was a good idea.
So, when we got to the bottom of the slide, she stood up and climbed right back up there. She couldn’t get far, and when she got as high as she could, she sat herself back down and tried to slide again. I was beside myself with excitement! I helped her slide a few times, but she really wanted to climb up that slide. So I let her play there for a little while.
Eventually, she walked away, played in the sand, and swung for a while. But what an adventure she had on that slide today!
Notes:
M really loves the peanut butter sandwich crackers I’ve been giving her. I’m so glad she doesn’t have a peanut allergy!
I really, really don’t want to stop breastfeeding. It’s such a special bond I share with Milo. I love holding her close to me. I love that my body is nourishing her. I love that the milk she gets from me is keeping her healthy and helping to prevent sickness. I think I’ll stick with it a little longer.
When Chase got home this evening, we went out to take Milo’s birthday photos in GGP. I think we got some good shots, but M wasn’t too interested in smiling.
Potluck
misty · Sun, Jul 17, 2016Today was Chase’s going away party in Panhandle; as we expected, it was foggy and cold - not at all like the sunny and beautiful day yesterday. Everyone was a good sport about it. We had a decent turn out, and it was really nice to sit in the park and talk to some friends.
Milo loved being in the park for 3 hours, too! She got to walk around a lot, pick up all sorts of leaves, and she even pushed her stroller around a bit (I forgot to lock it).
Everyone brought food, and Milo was in heaven. I can’t even remember all the things she tried. She loved the bin of fresh picked strawberries - so much so that she picked one up, bit it, put it down, picked up another, bit it, put it down. Etc. She also tried some okra chips, bread, mozzarella, lots of cheese crackers, and she got her hands on some cookie chips. By far her favorite part was climbing into and pushing the stroller, though.
The rest of the day was spent preparing food for the potluck (mac n cheese and fruit salad) and packing. Poor Chase had to make several trips to the store because I kept forgetting ingredients that we needed. He was a good sport about it, though, and he took Milo every time, which I’m sure she loved.
Saturday
misty · Sat, Jul 16, 2016Notes:
Man, today was such a sunny and beautiful day. Chase’s going away potluck is scheduled for tomorrow in Panhandle Park, so hopefully tomorrow is just as lovely as today!
We took advantage of the weather and ventured out to a new playground in Hayes Valley. New to us, anyway. We pass it every time we take the bus toward downtown, and it always looked like a cool little place. We decided to pick up ice cream first and then head there. Once at the playground, we let M walk around a bit and then tried to encourage her to play on some of the equipment. She liked climbing and swinging with Chase, but there really wasn’t a lot else for her to do except walk around. So we let her, and we also played on a few things :)
The rest of the day was spent cleaning and packing and grocery shopping for the potluck tomorrow. Not a bad day.
Where's Milo
misty · Fri, Jul 15, 2016Notes:
This morning, Milo sat on the floor near the bed and played “Where’s Milo” with the comforter. Chase quickly hopped on the bed and we all played together. She’s so good at covering and uncovering herself!
M continues rolling the walker while it’s flipped upside down. Today, she pushed it forward instead of sitting on it and pushing herself backward with her legs. It’s going to be a sad day when she tires of that walker.
At the playground, kids often abandon their toys in the sand while they go play with other things. M found a small tonka truck in the sand and LOVED playing with it. She is still uncertain about how she should play in the sand (mostly she just touches it and tries to put leaves in her mouth), but she’ll get better. Also, seeing her with that truck really let me know that I need to get this baby some wheels!
Milo was super fussed in the afternoon. At the same time, her little xylophone toy came in the mail, so instead of packing it, I decided to give it to her. It helped, and she was very interested in figuring out what to do with it.
We had a FaceTime call with Lynn and family in the afternoon, as well. They got to see Milo climb all over the place. She even did her futon-box-chair-couch routine several times, as well as her throw-herself-backward-crying-fit routine every time I took her off the (still forbidden) couch. Good times.
Being silly and asking for more
chase · Thu, Jul 14, 2016Tonight, as I was putting Milo to bed, I decided to take the rim of one of her socks in my teeth and stretch the opening over my nose. It didn’t really stay that way, but if I held it in place for a second, it looked a bit like an elephant’s trunk. Milo loved it. I know this not just because she watched intently, and not just because she giggled violently, and not just because she pulled the sock off my face every time. I know it because she handed the sock back to me, again and again.
Tonka
misty · Thu, Jul 14, 2016At the park today, there were a couple of boys running around with large Tonka trucks. They pushed them all around the playground, and Milo could not take her eyes off of them. When they rounded a corner, she stretched her neck to see, then she turned around when they came around the bend. It was something to see.
Milo decided to walk around a bit, too! She went to the tire swing and pushed it just a bit. I held on to it so that it didn’t swing back and knock her down, and she seemed to have fun just pushing it. When she eventually saw a leaf and lost interest in the swing, I decided to sit in the tire and put her on my lap to swing together. She loved it! She got to see all around the playground, and I sang while we moved slowly.
At home, Milo has been really abusing her walker. She can flip it over any way she likes now, and lately she likes to lay it flat and sit on the under side like it’s a chair. Today, I even caught her sitting on it and pushing herself backward with her feet.
Notes:
- Milo still loves to be sung to. Lately I’ve been singing Allee Galloo and doing a little dance, and she just stares and sometimes smiles. It’s a good way to get her to eat, too! Another favorite is the Crawdad Song, but with that one, she likes it best when I run around and sing “Run, run, run…FREEZE” to the same tune. She squeals with delight when we do that!