Happy 10 months, Li’l Miss!

How has the time gone by so quickly? My little Miss is already 10 months old today!

My precious girl, in just 10 months you have added so much joy and sweetness to our lives.  Everyone comments on how happy and content you are, and it’s so true.  You are always looking for a smile and you kick and screech happily when you see Daddy, Z, or me.  Lately you’ve been a little shy with strangers, but in spite of gripping my hair or neck fiercely, you still offer a small grin to anyone who smiles at you.  You have gotten very vocal (and LOUD – people are often surprised at the volume a tiny body like yours can generate) and have started making noises that sound an awful lot like words (“hi” in response to my greeting, “ma” when you want my attention, “moe” when you want more food).  You’re not crawling yet, but you are moving very quickly around on your belly.  You also do a lot of rocking on your hands and knees, so I know that crawling is just around the corner.  You are generally happy to eat anything, although you’re still not a big fan of chunky textures.  You love to watch your brother and try to play with whatever toy he has (and he’s very good about giving you another toy to play with before he takes his toy out of the room where you can’t follow him).  You like to turn (and chew on) the pages of the books we read to you, and you especially like “Goodnight Moon”.  You are very curious about things you can hold in your hands, and you turn them around and around to check out all their sides before putting them in your mouth.  You are very patient about your somewhat inconsistent nap schedule (you get a later nap 2-3 mornings a week because we have to take your brother to preschool or other activities), and you have been sleeping 12 hours through the night since you were 9 months old.  You are happy to ride in whatever stroller or carrier we put you in, but you’ll only nap in the Phil & Ted’s.  We moved you to the big car seat a few weeks ago, and while I am still getting accustomed to it, you adjusted quickly.  You are very social and hate to be left behind in the play room if we are doing something in another part of the house, so you belly-crawl to the gate and chew on or shake it while yelling for someone to come get you.  You’ve perfected your supersonic screech, and I’m sure dolphins and dogs around the world look for earplugs as you practice your echolocation skills.  You got your first two teeth when you were 7 months old, and seem to have decided that two are enough for now.  You are showing more and more of your feisty, extroverted personality every day, but the primary quality that shines through everything is your sweetness.
You are growing up so quickly, and I cherish every moment I get to share with you.  I love you, my sweet girl!
 
*Yes, I realize I use the word “sweet” a lot in this post.  I tried to come up with another adjective, but “sweet” is really the one that describes my Little Miss best of all.

A day with my boy

I haven’t had a chance to spend any one-on-one time with Z since Mei-mei was born, so today I planned a morning of fun for just the two of us.  After I nursed Mei-mei, I put Z in the Ergo, grabbed my backpack, and set off for our first destination:  the bus stop.  Z loves buses and points out every city/school/shuttle/tour/double-decker bus he sees.  But he’s never ridden a city bus – only the shuttle buses at the airport or in Beaver Creek.  So we started out our adventure by taking the city bus to Seattle Center.

Z spent the entire bus ride providing a running commentary on what we were doing.  “Bus stopping.  People get on bus.  Bus drive on Aurora.  People standing on bus.  Zachary, Mommy riding bus.  Bus going downtown.”  He even helpfully pointed out that the man in front of us didn’t say “Excuse me” when he sneezed, and the guy sitting next to us was wearing a dress (he was actually wearing a utilikilt, but you can’t expect Z to know that).  And once we got off the bus in Seattle Center, we stood on the sidewalk and watched it leave while Z said his farewells.  “Bye-bye city bus!  Zachary, Mommy not on city bus.  City bus going away.  Bye-bye!”

At Seattle Center, we went to look for the Space Needle (which Z refers to as the big water tower that people can ride up in elevators).  When we reached the base of the Space Needle (which happens to be right next to the Fun Forest Amusement Park) Z was excited to see the elevators going up and down the Needle.  But he was more excited to see the cars going around the tracks on the amusement rides.  So he went on several rides, including the cars (three times).

After riding the cars, the fire engines, and the carousel, we headed to the Monorail station.  We stopped to listen to the Peruvian musicians play a few songs (Z wanted to sit down on the sidewalk to “hear one more song”).  Then Z noticed the Monorail going by behind the musicians.  And he was off!  Although he loves to listen to music, it can’t compete with a train.

We took the Monorail downtown, where I loaded Z back into the Ergo.  We rode the escalators in Westlake Center several times before heading out to Pike Place Market.  Since it was a sunny Saturday morning during cruise season, Pike Place was jam-packed with tourists.  So we just walked through (with a quick stop to watch cheese being made at Beecher’s) and headed down to the waterfront to find a place to eat our picnic lunch.  The waterfront was crowded as well, but we found the perfect place for a little boy obsessed with trains:  a bench that was situated between the train and trolley tracks (the trolley no longer runs, but Z doesn’t know that and was so excited by the possibility of seeing a trolley that I couldn’t disappoint him).  We ate lunch and then called Chris and Mei-mei to come pick us up.  As a final treat, we rode the elevator to the pedestrian bridge so that we could look for trains.  Then we crossed over to the water side and waited for our ride home while watching the cruise ships.

I had a wonderful time spending the morning with my boy!  Of course I took pictures, and I’ve posted several on my photoblog.  Which, incidentally, is new (I’m retiring mamarazza).  Enjoy!

Where my kids at?

I love this.  It makes me want to get a Toyota Sienna.  Marketing WIN.

Stop this nonsense, please

 

And by “nonsense”, I mean the whole “getting up on your knees and rocking back and forth, just moments away from taking off at a full crawl”.  It’s already enough of a challenge keeping an eye on you as you pull yourself around the house (very quickly, I might add) on your belly.

Cinco de Mayo, Trophy style

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned Trophy Cupcakes on this blog before.  I probably mentioned it every other day when I was pregnant, and if I didn’t actually write it down, it was because it was too hard to type while eating a cupcake.  I’ve tried cupcakes from most of the local cupcake shops, and I have to say that Trophy is still my favorite.  I’m kind of particular about frosting (I don’t like too much, and I don’t like it to be too heavy) and that’s where Trophy beats the competition every time in my book.

Anyway, it’s Cinco de Mayo, so what’s the best way to celebrate?  Cupcakes!  (Who am I kidding…it’s Wednesday, and cupcakes are a great way to celebrate Wednesday!  And Thursday.  Und so weiter.)  Trophy puts out special flavors for holidays and events, and their Cinco de Mayo flavors are two of my favorites:  Margarita (fresh lime cupcake topped with Tequila Lime buttercream and finished with candied lime peel and salt) and Mexican Hot Chocolate (chocolate cupcake topped with bittersweet chocolate buttercream with cayenne and cinnamon).  So this morning, after dropping Z off at preschool, Mei-mei and I made a quick stop at Trophy to pick up a couple cupcakes.  Mei-mei helped me carry them to the car, and she was very excited to try them.

So there the cupcakes sit, snug in their box, on the kitchen counter.  I fully intend to save them until Chris comes home so that we can share them, but who knows what will happen between now and 5 PM.  I bet if I replace his cupcake with a Dos Equis, he won’t complain too much.  After all, it’s still in the spirit of celebrating the Battle of Puebla (and the triumph of American advertising), right?

9 month stats

 

Little Miss had her 9-month check-up this morning with the Dude.  As we suspected, she’s quite a Skinny Minnie (or a supermodel in training)!  She weighs 14lbs 11oz (-3rd percentile), she’s 26.75” long (25th percentile) and her head is 44.6cm (70th percentile).  I guess that actually makes her a bobble-head, doesn’t it?

Even though she’s quite thin, the Dude isn’t concerned.  He said that as long as her growth is proportional (i.e. her height and weight are increasing at the same rate), she’s fine.  Babies often hit a plateau around 9 months.  He did suggest that I increase the amount of fats in her diet, so I will start the Ben and Jerry’s introduction soon.  We went through the same thing with Z, so I’m guessing that’s just how we grow babies around here.

First day

My sweet boy went to his first day of preschool today!  He’ll be going two days a week at least through the summer, and will probably increase to three days a week in the fall.  I was nervous about his first day, but he, in typical Z fashion, was excited and completely unfazed by the idea of starting something new.  He likes to recite “to-do” lists (“Wake up…change diaper…go downstairs…eat snack…wash hands…get Mei-mei…GO PLAYGROUND!”), and every list ended with “GO PRESCHOOL!” this morning.

I wasn’t sure how the drop-off was going to go, but it was super easy.  I introduced him to the head teacher, Miss Aida, and he immediately started exploring.  She took his hand and showed him where the play area is and he happily trotted off, calling back, “Bye-bye Mommy I love you!”  So that was that.  He was good to go and it was only 9:02 AM.  It reminded me of how I agonized for weeks over when and how to wean him.  Before I got around to actually doing it, he decided on his own that he was done with nursing and never looked back.  He’s like that.

When I went to pick him up at 1 PM, Miss Aida said that he had a really great first day and was very happy.  He wanted to explore a lot so they helped redirect his attention, but she said that he was cooperative and didn’t melt down at all.  They went on a nature walk, which he really enjoyed, and the first word on his daily report sheet was “busy”.  Yep, that’s my Z!