Day Two Hundred and Eighty-Four
Mon, May 23, 2016
Bubbles
misty · Mon, May 23, 2016Notes:
Typical Monday at home; Chase went to work, and Milo and I spent a lot of time hard at work on figuring out her toys and how best to play with them.
Gave Milo some Rice-A-Roni for the first time, and she ate it up! It reminded me that we need to give her rice more often.
I bought some bubbles at the grocery store a while back and we hadn’t tried them yet. Tonight, as Milo played at the busy board, we blew some bubbles and she was amazed. Bubbles are magic.
Since taking her first steps on the 12th, I can’t say that Milo is really walking, but she will take a step or two now and then. We’re not doing a lot to encourage walking since it’s so early and we know that crawling is still important for her. Plus, she’ll start walking more on her own soon enough. No need to rush it, right?
Busy Board
misty · Sun, May 22, 2016Today was not the busy day that we had yesterday, and mostly the only thing we did was let Milo nap and put together her busy board.
The busy board has been on my mind for a while, and I only recently was able to get motivated enough to really get started on it. During her nap, Chase went out and bought some things to attach to it, stopping first at Goodwill, then at the small hardware store on Haight, and finally going all the way out to the bigger hardware store farther away. He was gone a while, but he came back with a treasure trove of stuff for the board!
It includes:
- a gate latch
- a toilet paper holder
- a sliding latch
- a chain latch
- a hinge
- a combination lock
- some eye loops to hang carabiners and other stuff on
- a caster
- a pipe bracket (also to hang things on)
- a pvc pipe hung at an angle so she can drop things down in it
- a door stopper
We spent a little while putting it together, mostly after Milo had woken up. She was very interested both in the process of putting it together and in the stuff we put on it. She chewed the cardboard toilet paper roll off immediately, so we decided to just keep the holder on there with no cardboard.
So, the busy board is a success. And we set it up in the space between the rocking chair and the side table, so it provides a much needed barrier between Milo and the radiator!
Note:
- Milo can successfully use her toddler bowl now, so we have been putting crackers in it. She just eats them up!
Maker Faire
misty · Sat, May 21, 2016I was nervous about Maker Faire today because Milo is always such a handful when she doesn’t get to nap, but the day was pretty good.
Maker Faire is in San Mateo, and getting there via public transportation was not an option due to the amount of time it takes, so we rented the car in the building and drove down. We packed pretty heavy, even took the stroller with us. We met JP and Puja there (and Avani), and together we strolled around and checked out all the cool sciency stuff.
Highlights:
We got to see the working R2-D2s and BB8s, which was awesome!
Chase and I ate some carne asada fries, which was also awesome.
Mousetrap the board game brought to life on a HUGE scale. In real life, it takes a while to get all that stuff going.
We bought a new backpack, which I’m particularly excited about for no real reason. It’s orange striped!
Milo napped pretty well in the ergo as Chase carried her around, which was great and made me feel better about the whole trip. They weren’t great naps, and both lasted only about 40 minutes. But it’s better than zero minutes, and she was in a good mood most of the day.
The place was crazy crowded, and it was difficult to navigate with the stroller, as predicted. But I was glad we had the stroller so that she could recline and take it all in.
Dumb
misty · Fri, May 20, 2016Milo successfully climbed down from the stool for the first time, and I was super excited! She kept getting back on after that to try and duplicate her success, but no dice. She worked so hard today on figuring out how to get up and down. Being a parent is dumb sometimes. I was so excited about this silly thing. When she did it, I sent a text full of explanation marks to Chase about it. Silly.
We went out to lunch with Chase at the ferry building. He held her as he ate, and Milo reclined like she was laying back in an easy chair: put her feet up on the counter while she ate her baby food. She’s so cute.
Notes:
Milo is getting better about eating baby food out of the pouches, which means she’s more consistent about eating lately. I have such anxiety about getting this girl to eat.
We bought her a little toddler bowl that has a lid that she can grab food out of. We’ve been trying to teach her how to use it, but so far she can only hold on to the handle. She’ll get it soon.
Notes
misty · Thu, May 19, 2016Notes:
Milo is still trying to climb, but she’s climbing in more things today: the clothes bins, her toy bins, etc. She also emptied the clothes bins before trying to climb inside!
In addition to climbing inside things, she’s also getting under things. Today it was the bed. She got under there and found our scrabble game. Nothing will stop her exploring!
Instead of cooking, we went to Off the Grid and got some delicious food truck food. It was nice to get out all together again, and I know Milo loves being outside in the evening.
Notes
misty · Wed, May 18, 2016Notes:
Milo tried to climb on the bed from Sophie’s stool. She spent a lot of time on the stool, trying to get that leg high enough to help boost her onto the bed. No luck today, but probably soon.
Music class was fun - I’m getting better at the songs, and Milo loves it when I sing them at home, despite my horrible singing voice.
Today was a better day than yesterday. We’ve learned our lesson about Chase’s departures and returns - Milo needs a grace period. I do, too, I think. We’ll plan accordingly from now on.
Hard Adjustments
misty · Tue, May 17, 2016It was Chase’s first day back after his trip, and he had to go to work. So of course it was a terrible day at home. Milo didn’t want to nap and was very fussy most of the day. It’s always difficult when she decides not to nap because I’m never sure about how to comfort her during her fussiness, and she expresses her fussiness by whining and screaming while crawling all over me.
At one point, after she did decide to nap for a short time, she woke up and spilled the diffuser that I keep on a table next to the crib. I don’t know how she even reached it, but she did. Also very frustrating.
Luckily, Chase was able to get off work early to come help. After he got home, we went to Golden Gate Park and put Milo on the swing. It was actually nice, and it helped me not be so upset about the way the day had gone so far. Milo had a good time, and we let her play in the sand for the first time. Chase sat down with her there, and they both got good and sandy!
Afterward, we went out to eat for dinner and went shopping for a few items to put on a busy board we intend to build. Not a bad ending to the day.
DIY
misty · Mon, May 16, 2016Pretty uneventful day, but not a bad one by far. Milo and I played together a lot, and she played on her own quite a bit, too. I love watching her entertain herself. It’s especially fun to sit back and watch her try to figure things out or turn things over in her hands with an expression of total focus and wonder on her face.
She continued to climb on her walker backward, though she didn’t get stuck as much today. One thing she’s been doing a lot lately is crawling over to the radiator, and I can’t get her to stop. I must take her away from the radiator area at least 5 times per day. I think she thinks it’s a game, but I use my stern voice and tell her that it’s dangerous and she can’t be there. Hopefully in time she’ll learn to stay away.
She had two great naps today, and during her second, I laid on the floor and dozed off, as well. It was pretty great. I woke up only about 2 minutes before she did. Pretty good.
After her second nap, we went to Panhandle Park and played on the swings a bit. There’s not much she can do there just yet except swing, but hopefully when she’s walking better, we can let her explore. I think pretty soon we’re going to let her sit in the sand. Hopefully she doesn’t try to eat it.
When we got home, we played a bit more. Yesterday, I bought some velcro hair rollers for her to play with, and tonight she seemed to really like them! I showed her to pull one out of the other, and we worked on that a while. I also tried to get her to stick them to her stuffed animals, but she mostly wanted to pull them off once I’d stuck them there. We had a lot of fun with that, though. She’s such a smart, curious girl!
Notes:
Milo’s newest game is dropping socks outside of her crib after her naps. I always let her stay in her crib for a few minutes when she’s woken up, figuring that she’ll either go back to sleep or have a few minutes to fuss and then calm down. During that crib time, she’s taken to pulling off her socks and dropping them outside of the crib - on the far side where I can’t reach them. Trouble maker. Oh, and two days ago, she also pulled all of the stuffed animals off of her mobile because apparently she can reach them now and she’s super strong.
Today, Milo spent some time actively trying to stack blocks. I showed her how to do it, but in true Milo fashion, she didn’t want me to help her. So each time I put one block on top of another, she knocked it off and tried to put her block there. She’s not quite coordinated enough to stack them yet, but we’ll keep working on it.
Recently, Chase and Milo started playing a game where they pass one item back and forth. She’ll hand it to him, and he’ll accept and say thank you. Then he offers it back and she takes it. and on and on. It’s a great game, and today we played it a bit with the blocks. Milo gets so excited when we accept and say thank you. It’s very sweet.
I put Milo’s baseball hat on her yesterday while she was in the ergo so that she couldn’t take it off, so that was the first time she really wore it. It ended up in her play bin when we got home, and today she found it and tried to put it on her head. I helped, but of course she didn’t want my help.
My girl still happily gulps down water whenever she happens to find either our water bottle or hers. It’s so crazy how much she loves drinking water. She’ll just sit there and drink and drink if we don’t take it away from her.
Bay to Breakers
misty · Sun, May 15, 2016The one thing I love about Bay to Breakers is that the morning is silent. Fell St. is closed down, so there’s no traffic. I think I could actually hear birds and nothing else this morning. Eventually I heard the clapping for the runners.
Later in the day, probably starting around 9:30 or 10, that’s when it becomes less fun. The rowdy crowds make their way to Fell, and it’s loud and crowded. It’s fun to go out and look at all of the crazy drunk people in costume (or naked), which is what Milo and I did. She just kept looking around at everything, and I think she got a little overloaded. So we walked to the park in Panhandle and I waited in line for the baby swings. This time, Milo LOVED the swing! She laughed and smiled the whole time!
After the park, we walked around a bit more, took in the crowd on Haight, and made our way home. Milo napped a few times, though again her first nap was only about 20 minutes. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but her subsequent naps were great.
Most of the day, Milo played well and was in good spirits. We went out again in the afternoon, and again she just looked around and was content.
Since Chase has been gone, bed time hasn’t been too hard, but it’s more challenging than usual. The bath was fun, and Milo definitely went to sleep without a lot of fuss. But there’s more squirming than usual and only one of me to control her. Anyhow, tomorrow night is the last night, so it’s almost over.
Notes:
Milo now climbs into her white toy bin, but she can’t get out. She just takes one leg out and then puts it back in over and over. It’s pretty cute. I’ve tried helping her learn to get both legs out, but she hasn’t mastered it yet.
Since she likes to climb on the walker backward, she keeps getting her leg stuck between the wood dowels on the back side. It looks like it hurts her so I get it out immediately. I’m not sure how to teach her not to do that.
In the evening, I managed to get her to eat nearly a whole jar of baby food by putting it into a reusable pouch! She just sat in her high chair and fed herself, and I got to clean the kitchen!
Trying
misty · Sat, May 14, 2016We definitely had a trying time this morning. It started out well enough. Milo woke up at around 6:30 and played in her crib for a while until I grabbed her. Then we spent some time playing and she got fussed pretty early. I nursed her a bit, which always soothes her, and tried to give her things to chew on in case it’s more teeth coming in. But she stayed fussed until around 9:50, when I put her down for a nap.
But she only napped for 20 minutes. So, she was fussed and clinging to me for the next two hours until she got tired enough to take a real nap. Somewhere during those two hours, she nursed again, I gave her some medicine to help with her gum pain, and she bit my nipple. So I was frustrated. But during her second nap, I sold her playmat that she never uses anymore and made lunch!
The rest of the afternoon was much better. She had two good naps, and she wasn’t too fussy or clingy. She also spent some time practicing clapping and taking steps, which is still very exciting. She also continued to mimic, which I took advantage of by teaching her to hug and kiss her baby doll.
All in all, not a bad day.
Man Trip
misty · Fri, May 13, 2016A couple of weeks ago, Chase made plans with some of our Peace Corps friends to meet up in Ohio for their supposed-to-be-annual-but-hasn’t-happened-in-a-few-years get together. And I’ve been dreading it ever since. I do want Chase to catch up with friends and hike and have fun; I just always get a little anxious about not having anyone around and not getting a break from mothering. But it’s only a few days. I just have to keep telling myself that. Chase will be home on Monday evening.
Chase has been really nice, too. This morning we went out for breakfast sandwiches and he bought me a brownie. He even stayed a bit later than normal, which felt good. Oh, and he loaded our iTunes account with some credit so that I can watch a couple of movies while he’s away. So sweet!
The day wasn’t too bad. Milo played a lot and had good naps and went to sleep pretty easily this evening. If this trip is anything like the previous one, tomorrow will be the big test. Hopefully tonight goes well. So far, so good.
Notes:
Milo just keeps taking steps! I don’t want to say she’s walking yet because she’s yet to take more than about 4 steps in a row, but she’s definitely being quite daring about letting go and trying to balance.
She learned to clap today! We’ve been working on this for a while, but lately she’s just been learning so much, I guess we’ve been clapping more.
Milo started mimicking Chase this morning when he was playing with her on the carpet. He patted his hands on his knees, and then she did the same. She’s just so darn smart!
Another thing Milo’s been doing is trying to put her colorful rings on the wooden stick. It’s another thing I do with her daily; I stack them and count, and she immediately overturns the stick, dumping all of the rings on the ground. But lately, she’s been trying to stack the rings! So smart.
First Steps
misty · Thu, May 12, 2016Big news of the day: Milo took her first steps! She has been almost walking for several days, but today she took the big leap and ventured out with no assistance.
Blanca mentioned that it would happen when I least expected it, and I had no idea what that meant. Apparently it meant that she’d take her first steps when I was opening the box my new laptop came in and had my back turned for 3 seconds. I opened it, turned around, and caught one solo step forward. I rushed for my phone, and managed to capture the third and fourth step on video. I’m so excited that it happened before Chase left on his trip!
She took more steps (at my prodding) later in the day, which I also got on video and sent to Chase. When he got home, we spent some time sitting across from each other with our arms outstretched encouraging Milo to walk to first Chase and then me and over again. It was a great evening!
Notes:
Milo’s eating habits continue to be weird. She doesn’t want purees, and now she doesn’t want to eat anything that I try to put in her mouth. She wants to feed herself, but she’s so uncoordinated that she basically eats nothing I put out for her because it all ends up on the ground. The only thing she successfully eats right now are the teething crackers. It’s pretty frustrating.
Milo’s sleep patterns haven’t improved. She still wakes at least twice per night and needs help getting back to sleep. Still, most of the time I don’t mind it. But I sure would like to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time.
