18 month appointment

Jenna's 18 month appointment was yesterday morning. She was excited to go because she was going to say, 'hi doc' when we saw her doctor. It was cute. But, as they took us from the waiting room she heard a little boy start to cry and she got nervous and started to whimper. I put her on my lap when we got to the room and she felt better. The nurse had me undress Jenna and then measured and weighed her. She weighs 30lbs 6oz and is 35 inches tall with a head circumference of 19.25 inches. The height and weight are still really high for her age, but the doctor says that they are still perfectly proportional, so as long as she's continuing to eat healthy she's just fine. Her head is at the 95th% for her age.  The doctor looked her over, commented about how inquisitive and smart she is and then answered some questions. She cried a little bit during the beginning of the doctor's exam, but he gave her a small plastic green duck and she then she wasn't as nervous. She got one shot at the end of the exam and screamed and cried like crazy, but I reminded her that she had a new toy waiting in the car since she was so brave and she calmed right down. It didn't hurt that she had a new owie to tell people about.

When we got home we babysat Lexi, who just turned 1. She was a sweetie and it went really well. She went down for a nap after lunch and Kim and Jocie stopped by to play as Kim had the day off. Jenna loves Jocie so much. Jocie is full of energy and has the sweetest personality, so it is a lot of fun watching them together. Jocie's just enough older that she has lots of new tricks that Jenna hasn't even thought of. For example, Jocie stood on a 2" thick book and jumped off it (it was a big enough book that it was safe). Jenna can't actually jump yet, but she tried and now today, everytime she steps on something she has to 'jump' off it and she says 'Jocie'. So cute! Lexi woke up around the time Jocie had to go, then I gave the girls a snack and put Jenna down for a nap and I played with Lexi. I don't think she knew what to do as she has an older brother and sister and goes to daycare. She had no one to steal her toys or to boss her around. She spent about 30 minutes cruising all over the room and making silly faces at me. Then she got tired again, so I put her back down for another nap. I got her up 30 mins later when her dad was due to pick her up. I brought her downstairs and she fell asleep in my arms. It was so nice. Jenna's just not one to sleep when other people are around, so it has probably been since she was 2 or 3 months old since I got to have a baby sleep in my arms.

A Trip to the Zoo

We had a great day at the zoo! As we pulled up, I started regretting our decision to come before school was out for summer. There were no less than 10 school buses lined up and oodles and oodles of parents and kids waiting to get into the zoo.  We got in line (the school kids and parents were not in line, so we didn't have a long wait) and then entered the zoo. The first few exhibits were a bit crowded, but as we moved farther from the entrance the crowds died down.

We started in the Australian section. This exhibit was new the last time I went to the zoo (in the mid-90s) and Aaron had never seen it. It is section off from the rest of the zoo by a train station. Oddly enough it looked a lot like a train station that we visited in the Australian rainforest, so I'd say they did a good job in making it look Australian. We walked through the gates and into an aviary, then on the other side of the aviary there were a few exhibits of larger birds and a few other Australian (and New Guinean) animals, including some free roaming kangaroos. The 'roos stuck to a field and didn't cross into areas where visitors went, but they could if they wanted to. Unfortunately, unlike in Australia, we didn't get to pet the kangaroos, but we did have fun looking at them and remembering the fun time we had petting them in Australia. Hopefully someday we'll be able to take Jenna to Australia so she can pet them, too!

After Australia, we headed to Africa and got sidetracked by the elephants. I don't think Jenna realized how big elephants are, so it was cute to see her face when she first saw one.

Along the way we got to pet a sheep (which Aaron kept calling a goat - drove me almost as crazy as the lady at the petting zoo that kept calling the shetland pony a donkey!) and some small deer.

Happy Wednesday

A few weeks ago I remembered that a decorative trunk we had on our fireplace was full of big kid toys. I decided to open it to see if there was anything Jenna could play with yet. Pretty much everything in there was ok! Of course since it is all new stuff (to her), she constantly wants me to open the trunk so she can play. Today she pulled out a huge roll of smiley face stickers and unrolled about 8 feet, then took orange crepe paper and shredded about 4 feet of it into tiny pieces, then she pulled out every necklace and put them on (I think there are 10) and then took a piece of gold pirate treasure and bit it, just like you see treasure hunters on tv do!

We have a busy rest of the week ahead. Friday we are going to the zoo. I'm so excited to take her and hope she enjoys it. Then Saturday we're meeting up with some friends from Colorado whom we haven't seen since before Jenna and their youngest son were born (plus Jocie is going to be there, too), then we'll be heading to Aaron's cousin's graduation and subsequent party. In the meantime I'm hoping to get Jenna's room painted and we're going to get supplies for tiling our upstairs bathrooms. 

A fun day

Now that Jenna’s getting older and the weather is getting nice, I’m excited to start doing more family activities. But, we don’t have a lot of extra money to spend and we have a hard time thinking of activities that are truly entertaining to a young toddler.  As part of my mother’s day gift, Aaron suggested that we go to the Arboretum at some point over the weekend, so we loaded up and drove the 10 miles, unloaded and explored.  They had a plant sale going on, so we checked it out first. We didn’t need any new plants and decided we’d see how our garden does this year before buying more herbs or veggies, so we headed into the park.  Last year Jenna and I went by the arboretum a couple times, but it was mainly for me, not her, so I was excited for her to see everything again.  I was also excited for Aaron to see it, too. He’s not a huge nature person, but he does like to learn the names of native plants and he loves water (he is a Pisces), so I thought he’d enjoy the grounds.  We started out by pushing Jenna in the stroller, but she’s at that age where she wants to walk or push the stroller, so we let her out and figured she’d ride again if she got tired. Boy, she can walk a lot farther than one would think! I held her hand at first, but mostly she stayed close to her Daddy.

Here are a few shots I snapped during our adventure:

Checking out a water feature (Jenna loves them as much as her dad does!)

 

I love the look on her face in this one. She’s inside of a covered tunnel, I guess she thinks that’s pretty darn cool.

 

Another one in the tunnel

 

Doesn’t this one remind you of being a kid?

This is the view I had most of the day. Doesn’t it melt your heart!!!

Sitting on a stone bridge in a meadow

Such a big, happy girl!

First Official Haircut

Jenna got her first “official” haircut on Saturday. By “official” I mean that a professional was paid. We went to a salon that specialized in children cuts.  Since it was her first cut, they were going to do this big package with a before and after picture and a special lock of hair. Since we’d already trimmed her bangs a couple times, we already have a lock of hair and the before/after picture was just a quick b&a shot printed on a piece of regular paper. So, if you know Aaron and I, we figured we could save the extra $20 and take a picture ourselves. Heck, it was like pulling teeth for us to pay for the haircut! So, here’s a picture from last week (doesn’t the look on her face scream – get the bangs out of my eyes Mom!)

 

 

here is the big reveal!

Ends up, this place puts the kid in a chair shaped like a car, flips on Dora, and faces the kid toward a mirror. Smart folks, I tell ya! They also stocked the first half of the store with toys, tiaras, bows and candy.  Very smart indeed (not that we were willing to pay for any of it!). Jenna’s not interested in Dora, but she is interested in driving…and in Jenna, so the mirror and car (mainly just the steering wheel) were helpful.  She was a happy girl and held still when asked. We think the stylist felt bad for getting paid $17 for about 3 minutes worth of work, so she did a little side braid in Jenna’s hair. It was cute. Right now the way her hair grows, the top hair goes forward, like bangs, so for now, we need to keep it corralled with a bow, barrette, or pig tail, until it is long enough to go behind her ear. In the picture above, part of the non-bangs were missed in the braid, so it looks like she has a long spot in her bangs, but rest assured, they’re even and that rouge hair is kept pulled back.  Will we go back to the special kiddy hair salon? Probably not, but it was a good place to go for the first “official” trim.  I watched closely, so I’ll probably keep trying my hand at managing the bangs.  Hopefully by the time we need to cut the back, she’ll be older and I won’t feel bad taking her to a different, less expensive salon.

A Mother’s Day Message

I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

I awoke to Aaron and Jenna cooking French Toast for me.  I don’t often let Jenna help me cook, so I could tell she felt very special to get to help her daddy. Breakfast was delicious! Jenna gave me a cute card, that she signed herself and is going to get me a small greenhouse for the deck.  Aaron and I are growing a small container garden this year and hope to move into a raised bed. We tried growing a few plants from seeds, but it didn’t turn out well, so we’re hoping a greenhouse will help us next year. I’m excited to get it, even if we won’t be using it for a while.  Since it was a gloomy day, the three of us spent it inside – including two good naps for Jenna (Aaron and I watched a couple Netflix movies we’ve had for a long time). It was perfect!

Before becoming a mother I always imagined what it would feel like to love my child. Even now after having her I think my idea was pretty accurate.  My heart would be so full it would ache, my mind would constantly be amazed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ;) What I didn’t realize is how your child truly feels like an extension of you. When she hurts, I hurt, when she’s happy, I’m happy. I always want to be near her and take care of her, teach her, dance with her, make silly faces with her. I never imagined that!  I’ve only seen it from the other side as a daughter – where you see yourself as an independent person, most importantly independent from your own mother!! Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom and unlike most girls, I really never went through much of a phase where I tested her (okay, maybe there were a few months when I was 11 or 12), but I have always wanted to be independent. I can still remember when I was growing up, my mom (the least morning person I know) would wake up before us, go cook breakfast (including making me something special like a burrito or pot pie because I “didn’t like any breakfast foods”), then knock on my door and say, “Good Morning Sunshine!” Every morning I would wait for her to come in before I got up, but one morning I decided that I didn’t need a wake-up call! I didn’t need my mom to make me breakfast! So I told her this. Oh so nicely. I could do it on my own, I really didn’t need her babying me. I couldn’t understand why she was upset. Hey Mom, I get it now! I dread the day my baby girl doesn’t need me to get her up, doesn’t need me to make her breakfast, but when it happens, I can hope that it is because I’m doing my job right. It is a cruel irony of life – being a mother. I can’t imagine the day that I can’t hold my baby in my arms, but I know it will come. I can’t imagine the day that she can buckle her seatbelt, but I know it will come. I can’t imagine the day she falls in love…and has a baby of her own, but I know it will come.  I want all of those things for her and I’m raising her to be able to make those decisions and feel confident and independent, but what I really want is for her to stay 17 months old and need me and want to lay in my arms before I put her in her bed at night! 

I am so blessed to have the Mom that I do. I’m sure you all know this, but to know her is to love her. She’s always been so present in my life. She volunteered at school, girl scouts, church, heck she even volunteered at sporting events! Sure there was a time or two that I wasn’t altogether happy about having my mom around so often, but I could count those times on one hand - the vast majority of the time, I was proud that she was there and proud that she was MY mom. I never doubted her love and have always valued her opinion (even if it was to tell me my boyfriend was a jerk – she was right BTW). Now as a mother, every.single.day I make decisions based on things she’s taught me or from advice she’s given me.  So, I just want to say Thank You Mom! I love you and am so thankful that I got you as my mom! I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Saturday Morn

Jenna and I are having a lazy Saturday morning. We're watching Wonder Pets and eating breakfast in the living room.

Today we're going to Lowe's to get supplies to tile our master bathroom and some paint for Jenna's room (not sure if I posted about her room or not, but my first paint attempt went terribly wrong). Oh and we're taking Jenna for her first official haircut. We've trimmed her bangs a couple times, but she was younger and less mobile and I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge this time. We'll probably just have the ends trimmed and the bangs cut so they're out of her eyes. We're going to a salon that specializes in kid cuts. I really didn't want to go there at first, but I think it will be fun for the first time and hopefully we'll be able to get a few tips so we can cut it ourselves in the future.

Hope you all have a great Saturday