She's a big girl!

Some big updates-
This weekend, in addition to our huge meal, we took Adelaide to the Smithfield outlets Friday morning. She did a great job, and attracted a lot of attention! She had on shiny red shoes, which were a real hit. She was also a good girl while mommy and daddy watched some movies this weekend - also a treat. We drove around and looked at houses on Saturday. Sunday we ended up asking Kristina, our friend and realtor, to take us to see a house that really caught our eye. It needs a lot of updating, but we love the lot and neighborhood. So, this week we have been trying to pull together an offer. We plan to hopefully buy a new place, do any updating needed, and move, and then list our place March 1, if we can get the financing to all work out. So far it is looking good, and we are excited!

But, even bigger Ade news - she went to daycare by herself Monday. She screamed at first, and mommy cried in the car after dropping her off. But, I picked her up three hours later and she was sitting in the high chair eating. She had a nap and played, and was just fine. Yesterday she stayed for 4 hours, and did even better. Though she is happy to see me at first, she wants to just twist out of my arms and get down and play with the kids. It bruises the ego, but it so good for the soul to see her happy and enjoying herself.

Now, Adelaide, if only we could fix your nighttime issues...

Gobble gobble.

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving just at home with our little family. Jenna and Jon headed to Pittsburgh, and Dylan went to Boston. We were going to eat with Mike and Briana, but with Ade's cold, and then Mike's cold, we figured we better not mingle germs - especially with Ella only three weeks old!

Ryan and I cooked up a storm and made ourselves:
- turkey
- mashed potatoes
- sweet potato casserole
- wild rice casserole
- stuffing
- crescent rolls
- cranbury sauce
- pumpkin pie

Even Adelaide got homemade mashed yams -which she loved! Though when she took control of the spoon we had kind of mess. But it was all festive.

Now we are stuffed and exhausted. Tomorrow morning I think we are going to head early to the outlets and enjoy some shopping. Wish us luck with the nugget.

Oh, btw, the nugget can now get up on all fours, but no crawling yet. She just gets frustrated. And she can sit by herself for a good long while before any toppling over.

Daycare Ick

So it begins. After only a few hours at the daycare, Ade already had her first cold. My mom was here to help out so I could get some work done, and by Thursday Ade officially had a cold. Today she seems to be turning the corner and starting to clear up. I hate that this will probably become a cycle. Worse, she was supposed to start at the daycare tomorrow, but now that she is sick I am not going to bring her in to infect the other kids (or re-infect whoever infected her really). Sigh. So tomorrow we are back to the no-childcare dance.

We had a nice Meet the Babies lunch at IBM on Wednesday. We have had so many kids born in our Rational UT organization in the past year. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss my cube. Being back at the office just really made me miss sitting down and concentrating only on work, caffeinated coffee at my side. I even miss the drive to work, audiobook playing on my ipod -caffeinated coffee at my side... :-)

Ade with a cold is even more fun than Ade being normal- fussy, yelling, and not sleeping. I feel so bad for the little snot-face. At night she is snorting and coughing while she tries to nurse. Awful.

Here she is at Target, in the cart like a big girl:


In addition to her IBM and Target outings, Ade got a little culture this weekend. We all went to the art museum to see the Landscapes exhibit. When she liked a painting, she yelled at it. She lasted about an hour at the museum, which I consider a success. Especially considering she wasn't feeling well.

The Big School Day

It went well! First, Adelaide had just taken a nice long morning nap (an hour and a half) so she was all happy and sweet. It was very tough for me to pack up everything, put the carseat in, etc. alone, but then we drove up to daycare and Ade was great in the backseat. In the infant room, she just soaked everything in - so many kids to watch, so many things to see. She ended up sitting in the exersaucer (a very sorry looking one compared to the one she has at home) for about an hour watching everything around her. A few of the boys who could pull up walked around the outside of the circle and petted Ade. One boy got a little zealous and scratched her under the eye. This caused only a few seconds of crying. Overall it was so cute watching her making friends and the little ones petting each other's faces.

Then, one of the room teachers, Miss Nicole, fed Adelaide her applesauce and she ate really well for her. This put me at ease because even if she won't take a bottle, and I can't run up and nurse her, she won't starve. :-) She might cry, but she won't go hungry.

The thing that was a real negative is the germs- at this age, everything goes in the mouth. And then someone else's mouth. And then there is spit up. And then that toy goes in Adelaide's mouth. Eeeewwww. I guess she will start her immunity training now. She has been rather isolated at home with mommy for a while now. She needs to become a bit more cockroach and a little less exotic orchid. Forget the fact that I Purelled us both head to toe as soon as we got home. :-)

I finished all of the extensive paperwork, so Ade is officially enrolled. I have my first parent homework - the first of many mommy craft projects I imagine - I need to make a picture board for Ade's crib (not that she will ever sleep in there...). The picture board is to have pics of mommy and daddy and other loved people and objects.

Now we are just looking forward to grandma coming down on Wednesday...Wonder Grandma is on her way to help the baby Adelaide and save the day... (If you watch Wonder Pets you can sing along)

Shoes~

After refusing to wear her infant shoes, I was worried Ade would never want to wear shoes at all. This weekend she wore her pedipeds over to Susan, Eli, and Dana's for lunch, and today she wore her baby Uggs. So sweet :-) She also wore tights for the first time today -wriggly toes and chubby thighs!




Today she really mastered rolling over both directions (front to back, back to front). She had done it in the bed, but it is softer and a little easier than the floor.

I love dressing my little dollbaby up, and her GREAT Aunt Micki sure helps fuel my obsession. We got another package of adorable outfits. I can't wait to do a little photo shoot to get some pics for our Christmas cards. I am also excited to take Ade to sit on Santa's lap.

Ade has been having some terrible nights of sleep, wanting to nurse every hour! Yes, every hour. The time change has really messed us up as well - she wants to go to bed at 5pm and wake up at 4am. We are slowly trying to get her back on track, but I truly can't remember what a normal night's sleep would be like. To sleep in a comfortable position without a little human attached to me... what would that be like? She is doing better during the days though - she is eating three "solid" meals a day, usually 8am, noonish, and 4:30pm. One meal has the rice cereal with banana, and the other meals include a fruit and a veggie (like sweet potato and applesauce, for example). She is nursing less during the day as a result, down to maybe every 3-4 hours. Her naps still aren't great. Her morning nap is the longest - usually an hour or so. The other naps (maybe 2-3) are between 30-45 minutes.

I am still worried about daycare - today she was with daddy for two hours, and freaked out. She just NEEDS mommy. Bla. Tomorrow I will be taking her up to "school" for practice. I will stay with her in the infant care room for two hours to help transition her in. I'll report back on this adventure...

Must remember...

...the way she looks up at me so sweetly while she nurses ...her tiny, coy smiles like we have a secret together ...the gentle way her small hand pats my back ...the eager look and puckered lips when we sit down for her to eat ...the contented sighs when she is almost asleep, in rhythm with her swallows ...her wiggling toes ...calming her sobs and wiping away tears ...that dopey, milk-drunk floppy cuddle when she is full and happy...

These are things to remember when it feels too hard or too restrictive. I am sure that as much as I can't wait to wean, I will really truly miss these close times with my baby.

Pumpkin baby

Ade was asleep during trick-or-treat hours, but that doesn't stop a mom from dressing the baby up and taking pictures!!!


See the other pics from yesterday:
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=sltrunzo&P=&AID=4925787&T=1