The Official One Year Posting February 26, 2008

I know I know, her Birthday just goes on and on…but I realized i never made an official one year posting with the picture of her and the cow and her stats etc.

We went to the doctor on Friday and Fiona is 21lbs. and 30″ long….50% and around 65 or 70%…which I think is funny because she’s totally outgrown her 12 months clothes and fits into some 2T’s already! Who do they make those clothes for? The appt. went great and the doctor was impressed with our little girl as always. Fiona wowed her with all of her skills and even took her shoes over and put them on the doctors feet when we started talking about them.

She got a few shots which made her cry….but nothing like the little boy in the room next to us who was SCREAMING bloody murder and yelling I hate you to anyone that would listen for about 30 minutes. Man I felt sorry for his parents and hope that that’s not us in a few years! Today she feels poopy and has a low fever which i really hope was caused by the shots and that she isn’t coming down with something.

So all is good! I think this is the end of the cow pictures =) Now we’re on to toddler postings!

Weally weening February 26, 2008

It seems that we are weening. Fiona takes the bottle while I’m at work so she’s pretty used to it and funny enough we struggled with the bottle so much in the beginning and now it’s not a problem at all while other friends whose babe took the bottle in the beginning with no problem can’t get them to take it now! I also switched Fi over to whole milk after she turned one and she LOVES it!

So a couple weeks ago i thought i’d try giving her a bottle in the morning instead of nursing her. She didn’t bat an eye and was completely happy to take it. After a week or so of that I thought I’d try giving it to her at night before she goes to sleep…and once again…no problem at all. I didn’t intend on purposely weening her…but like so many other things for whatever reason it just felt like the right thing to do and is going smoothly so far. I know that I have a couple of upcoming work trips that helped the thought process along….I didn’t want Greg going into something that had never happened before….and oh yah…there is the biting that she’d been doing. I mean HARD biting…which also made me think that maybe she wanted the bottle instead of me.

We still nurse in the middle of the night purely out of convenience for me=) but otherwise we are completely off the juice. It was a little sad….but, i’m kind of glad it’s happening. It’s nice to not have to think about what time of day it is and if i can put whatever it is that i’m about to eat or drink in my mouth and it be o.k. And honestly…I have to say..I enjoy giving Fi the bottle…we can get all scrunched down in a cuddly spot on the couch and cuddle away while she drinks it….when she nurses i’m always in an uncomfortable position…and as far as eye contact goes…fiona has never looked me in the eye while we were nursing…she always is looking past my side….so the bottle is kind of nice. We’ll see how long it takes to give up the middle of the night nursing…that may take a while longer…. or not =)

Lilly February 26, 2008

Last weekend…two weekends ago? oh geez. We FINALLY got to meet little Lilly Mount…I actually had met her once before with her brother Jason but they were weee ones and sleeping at the time. Greg actually had the pleasure of meeting them when they came home from the hospital…which I still think back on LM and CAN NOT imagine having a house guest the day you came home from the hospital with twins!

Anyway….Lilly and her mom Laura were out visiting from Madison Wis. where they live with twin brother Jason and dad Tom (Greg’s best friend). During her whirl wind tour we had a chance to stop by and play with them for a bit and it was great just to talk face to face!

Laura’s friends that have gotten together for some time now were there…they all have babies now too…and Laura’s sil with her three kids (including infant Charlie). It was crazy…there was a 6 week?, 4 months, 10 months, 1 year, 18 months, 3 year old and 5 yr old there. The babes are all so close in age but just far enough apart that they couldn’t really play. We had a great time and can’t wait to see them all again!

taking care of zoe February 26, 2008

wow it’s been a long time since i posted! here are a couple of picture of fiona “taking care of” zoe last week. She’s very sweet to her (though zoe may say differently) she likes to bring zoe her collar and put it on her neck and then grab the dog towel. We’re not sure if she’s drying zoe off or covering her up but either way it’s sweet. The expression on zoe’s face is priceless!

It’s A PAAAAAAAARTY! February 12, 2008

We had such a great day on Fi’s birthday! We woke up and shuffled around the house getting ready for the party that afternoon.

First Fiona got to open gifts from mom and dad. (that’s me and greg…sometimes mom and dad is my mom and dad…i get confused too =) Fiona got her very own slide and swing set, a guitar (she LOVES music), and a big green monkey:

Then as a special surprise we all walked down to the grocery store for a coffee and a big mylar balloon. She has been coveting a balloon for many a months and finally her time had come!

Then it was down for a nap…3 HOURS! perfect. Guests arrived at 3 and Fiona was up and ready for them just in time. For her party she wore a little onesie that says Birthday Girl #1 in pink rhinestones and beautiful ballerina skirt with roses in it. We had many family members and lot’s of friends come to celebrate her big day ( i think there may have been 30 people!!!!) Grandma made a monkey cake and cupcakes for all to enjoy:

we had chilli and dips and fruit and vegetables. It was wonderful! Then it was time for Fiona’s first cake. Everyone sang Happy Birthday as we blew out the candle. At first Fi was very lady like picking at the cake. She would dip one finger in and lick of the frosting….but soon she discovered how good it felt between her fingers, AND TASTED, and she dug right in. She loved it…of course…and ate almost half the cake!

After a thorough hosing off it was time for presents. I can’t believe all the wonderful gifts she was given. This little girl might just be spoiled =) But who can resist those eyes and that smile.

It was the best possible day. We all had a wonderful time. Thank you to all of our friend’s and family who have done so much for us this last year.

That night Fiona was wired for quite some time. Her normal bedtime of 8 became 10:30 with a fair amount of fuss but otherwise this party was pulled off. We’re glad it only happens once a year =)

Happy First Birthday Fiona Rose February 12, 2008

we did it. we made it to one. i’ve been thinking about what to write for this for a couple days….all the same things everyone always says; i can’t believe it’s here, time is going by so fast….when you read a lot of mom’s blogs you read those words many times. But it’s true. I can’t believe that it’s here. Time is going by so fast. I’ve said many times that the first few months were so hard but the last few have been so fun.

The most unexpected thing happened to me on Sunday, when everyone started singing happy birthday to fi i almost started to cry. it came from nowhere and i’m not even sure what it consisted of…maybe a little sadness, a little relief, a little pride and a little joy. I remember when Fiona was a little tiny baby – crying non stop- I couldn’t wait until she was a little older, big enough to hold up her head, to crawl, to walk, but that time seemed so far away. Now I look down and see my little girl running across the house chattering away and i realize i don’t even have a baby anymore i have a toddler. where did the baby go? will i miss toddlerhood too?

This year has been such a year of discovery and learning. Greg was marveling the other night at how much she has learned and changed in a year and I was marveling at how much we have learned and changed in a year. People always refer to the journey of motherhood and I’ve never quite known what exactly they meant and now thanks to little miss fi i believe i am finally on the pathway.

I am excited for this new year. I’m sure I’m as blissfully unaware of what 12 to 24 months brings as I was of 0 to 12 – but this time I have the knowledge that I don’t have the knowledge and instead of being afraid of what I don’t know I’m ready to greet it.

Happy Birthday to both of us.

in labor February 10, 2008

this time last year we were at the hospital really in labor. tomorrow is fi’s big the day…the BIG ONE….Here’s a little glimpse of what things looked like last year: