Scared of the "New Guy" in the House

Today Anny and I cut my hair while Abby was napping. She went to sleep and daddy had a thick head of hair, woke up to buzzed-down daddy.

When she woked up from her nap, I went to pick her up. She was wailing, not just the normal wimpery cry. I got her to the chair to comfort her a bit, and she wailed even louder. I thought maybe she was wet, but that was not it. She had just eaten before her nap, so hunger was not the issue. Anny came to see if she could be helpful, and Abby got quiet immediately.

She was scared of me. She saw me as a stranger in the house, not to be trusted. Not a good feeling for either of us, I can promise you that. I'm used to hearing her cry, she is a baby after all. That scream of terror, though. Wow.

We calmed her down and within a few minutes she was okay with hbeing around me again. Phew!

For your fun, here is a picture from earlier today. She is playing with a duck that sings about wanting to be the Easter Bunny. It's silly and cute in person. You'll have to settle for a picture!

From March 2008

9 Month Stats & Easter

27 1/2 inches long (or tall if she's standing with help!)
20 lbs. (still, probably because she's crawling so much and pulling up on things)

Except for the-cough-that-won't-go-away, she is healthy and happy. No shots this time, but we do have to take her for blood tests (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)

On another note, I'm remembering Easter last year (needless to say it was a couple weeks later, but it is what triggered memories). Rob convinced me to to let him paint my very big and still growing belly as an Easter egg. This year we have the cutest Easter dress picked out and will surely have photos up next week of adorable Abby!

So many changes and happiness in the last year!

Fearless or Reckless?

As an update to "How does she know?", when I fed Rusty this afternoon. Abby watched him drink from his bowl and tried to splash in the water. I picked her up and set her down away from his food. Then I made the mistake of turning around to get her medicine for the cough that won't go away. When I walked over to give it to her, she had grabbed a hand full of dog food and had one piece in her mouth!!

I'm glad Rusty isn't so intimidated that he snapped at her but I'm also surprised that she was so bold as to take it right out of his bowl while he was eating it.

Baby Food Warning!!

When introducing new fruits and vegetables to your baby......

Never follow Carrots with Prunes.

Follow up joke:
What's grosser than gross?

You guess!

How Does She Know?

How does she know where the dog's water is?
How does she know where the swiffer is?
How does she know where where the dust bunnies hide?
How does she know where to grab the dog's tail so that he can drag her around?

Okay, that last one was hillarious to see!

I refuse to believe that any place can be baby-proofed, and I believe that now more than ever. You can do your best to make sure that things are less hazardous, but unless we put her in a rubber room with plush toys, she will find something to get into!

So, we have already baby-protected 90% of the living room. Now that she can crawl, she's no longer interested in the living room, she has moved on to the kitchen. Yesterday we bought the latches for the cabinets, but only after deciding which ones to lock. We both believe that exploration is the key to learning and that we can not and should not lock everything away.

In our continued baby-protection process, I'm curious to hear what other parents have forgotten until your child brought it to your attention. (i.e. the dog food)

Also - what did you do with your dog food? Right now I'm thinking that we will just put his bowl down for food time and pick it up off of the floor when he's done.

Please leave a comment!

More Crawling = More Crying

As mentioned earlier this week, Abby is officially a crawler. This has brought about some good things, and some things we are learning to deal with, too.

One great thing is that Abby can come to one of us when she wants to be picked up, rather than just sit and whine. If she wants to sit just to whine, that's okay. If she wants to be picked up, she has to make the effort.

We are getting used to more bumps and bruises, and more actual tears. I absolutely love her pouty face, so I'm actually okay with an occasional head knock.

More Photos Here

She learned quickly to be mobile off of the carpet, where the real fun is. She's smashed her face on the floor several times, the TV cabinet once, and got a good one from the changing table on Sunday right before church. Yeah, Anny was already there so I walk in with a baby that looks all abused. Real fun like.

This morning I put her on the kitchen floor so that I could grab her coat. In the two seconds I was in the hall, she took a look around, and somehow picked the dog dish as a target! How do they know immediately where the water (i.e. drowning hazard) and dog food go? I dragged her back to the middle of the floor from there pretty quickly.

Observations From a Walk

It's 6:00 and 66 degrees (Fahrenheit, that is) outside. Needless to say, today is a great day for a walk around the lake! In our area there are at least a half dozen nice places to walk, including one right here in town. (Funny that it has its' own Wiki page!)

Anny, unfortunately, had a dentist appointment this afternoon, so Abby and I took off. I thought I would share some observations from our little jaunt:

• First, I am out of shape. Anny has been much better during the cold weather about walking at school. I don't have the opportunity, though, and by the time I get home I just want to chill with Abby.
• Fishing is what can bridge all of our differences! I saw people of four different races with lines in the water today.
• It's windy on the lakes this time of year.
• I'm convinced that all businesses should be required to close two hours early for the first five 70 degree days. Talk about boosting morale! (I did not get to leave early, but it would have been nice.)
• Walking the lake loop is more fun with a friend. More specifically, a friend that can talk. Abby is fun and all, but I missed having Anny around. I'm such a sap.

Two questions for you all:
What did you do with the nice weather?
How long can I get away with telling Abby that Geese are Ducks? They look similar, sound the same, and there is no way she will know the difference for a long time. Am I a bad dad for telling her they are ducks?

Officially a Crawler!!

It seems that Abby is much more mobile at school than at home. I guess it is to be expected as we don't have much easy-to-crawl space in our living room. We have a 5x7 carpet surrounded by hardwood all the way to the bedrooms. I guess that I have refused to acknowledge that she's been crawling because she has not been doing it at home.

That all changed yesterday before church. I could tell that Abby was getting hungry, so I put her bottle on one end of the carpet and her on the other. I tell you, hunger is the best motivator! She got there in a flash, even while stumbling over her toys to get there.

Once we got to church it was a sealed deal. The nursery is baby friendly, so there is carpet from wall to wall, and more toys than you can imagine. I plopped her on the floor so that she could sit and play. I pushed the toys way out of her reach, and she bolted for them! It was GREAT! By the time Anny came down from her meeting, Abby was all over the place.

(Side note: if you want to play with toys from YOUR childhood, go to a church nursery. They're all in good condition, but about 25 years old! I don't even mean toys like the ones you played with, these are definitely the originals!)

Guess it's time to finish baby proofing the living room and kitchen. The gate to the stairs is up, and that's where my biggest concern has been. Everything else would pale in comparison.

Any advice for a new-crawler?