newest nursery addition

So, I saw this picture of a bookcase on the internet, and loved the look of it. I instantly recognized it as IKEA, and after a quick tour of their website, I found out it was on sale for $99! Knowing we were going to be within an hour of an IKEA in Texas, the hub and I decided to pick one up. We were planning to take the changing table out of Britton's room (since we never use it anymore and she HATES it with a passion), and wanted to replace it with a nice storage piece.



Well, we got into IKEA and stood next to the bookcase. It was huge! Britton's room isn't terribly big, and the bookcase would've taken up over half of one wall. So we noticed the half-sized version, and snagged it instead. Oh, and some baskets from the display bookcase. Being as instantaneous-gratification as I am, the hub put it together within hours of us getting home. And I quickly descended and decorated.



Sadie is a connoisseur of compact Swedish furniture, and approves this bookcase.

memorial day in texas

We went down to visit Grandma and Grandpa for our three-day weekend. The hub and I decided to take off early on Friday and attempt to beat the considerable holiday traffic. We got to Texas and instantly threw ourselves into the weekend. Britton got treated to a whole new batch of toys and was thrilled beyond belief.

Grandma and Grandpa watched Britton while the hub and I treated ourselves to a trip to IKEA. Oh, it was heaven on earth. It's hard to go into IKEA with a list, because you end up getting sidetracked by the amazing deals on kitchen supplies, bedding, furniture, etc., but we made it out of there with the credit card relatively intact and the car filled to the gills. It was our first time checking out their kid's section, so we went a little overboard.

Once back at the house, we went out to dinner at Pappasita's, a fantastic Mexican restaurant. Britton enjoyed her avacado slices while we all munched down on chicken, steak, queso, ceviche, seafood enchiladas, and fried ice cream. I'm still full! On Sunday, the hub and Grandpa went to the Colonial golf tournament while Grandma and I hung out with Britton. All in all, a fabulous holiday weekend!

Grandma's little after-bath snuggle bug...




New toys!







Hanging out with Daddy after the golf tournament...



Britton discovered one of those old-school plastic change purses - new teething toy!




She will never remember what he was telling her, but I will always remember this moment...




High-chair courtesy of IKEA, mess courtesy of Gerber Stage 3 baby foods...

hi ho cheerio

Is there...



anything cuter...



than a baby...



with a cheerio stuck to her face?

you "compete" me

So, we are hanging out at home with Britton, her chewing on cups, and the hub and I desperately searching for something to do. And since Britton decided she wasn't going to take an afternoon nap, we packed up the car and went to Babies 'R Us. We finally got our coupon for a free box of diapers, and Babies 'R Us is the only local store that carries her formula. Check Britton out in her Floppy Seat, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa!



We got in there, picked up a new teether, some baby lotion, some cooling vapor baby wash for Britton's cold, formula, and diapers. We got into line, where we encountered some "crunchies." Sure, I could come up with better names for these draft-dodgers faster than you can spell "Birkenstock," but suffice it to say these people were au naturel hippies.

And the dad, "Granola Guy," goes, "Your baby is around 8 months old, right?" I turn around and say, "She's 9 months old." And he goes, "Our baby is 8 months old and he looks about the same size as her. He's in the 75th percentile for height."

I reply, "Yeah, she's tall too. She's in the 95th percentile. She's a little over 29 inches tall."

And Granola Guy looks at his wife in disbelief, and proceeds to stare down every inch of Britton, even craning his neck to see her legs hanging out of the cart. He then gives us a look and says, "Really? She doesn't look that tall. 95th percentile, huh?"

Then his wife, in soothing voice and no bra, goes, "Honey, she's a girl. The percentiles are different than the ones for boys. Girls don't have to be as tall to get a high percentile. And she's a whole month older than him."

Then Granola Guy gets huffy and goes, "Well, I guess all that matters is that they hit their milestones, right? Right?!"

The hub and I left that line for another, leaving Granola Guy and his wife to deal with the fact that they were competing with perfect strangers in line at Babies 'R Us about baby heights.

Why does it matter? Why look for opportunities to try and brag about your baby's height as if it were an achievement? Did he really need to be validated that his son, at all his 8 months of age, was the best at something, even if it were height? I'm calling shenanigans, people. How about this - if it matters so much to you, don't bring it up in random conversation where your whole Saturday will get ruined. Or better yet, get over it. Percentiles don't really mean anything, other than in comparison to your own baby's previous measurements. Doctors want to see consistency, not off-the-charts readings. And milestones are in the same boat. No baby is better than another because he crawled soon, or she ate baby food at an earlier age, or she's walking, or he's speaking fluent Mandarin, or she's first chair flute in the philharmonic at the ripe old age of twelve.

I don't understand people like that. But I do understand this - if height is a competition, we won.

and for more walking

We've started taking walks in the evening after dinner so that I can guarantee that Britton gets some fresh air during the day. I know the daycare workers loathe carting eight babies out to the playground, with their sunscreen and sun hats, so I assume it doesn't happen often. Which is really a shame because pretty soon it will be too hot to even think about going outside. We've had three, count them THREE, tornado warnings in the last week, so a day off with the sun was fantastic.






Unfortunately, today it turned ugly and stormy, and we narrowly avoided a tornado developing close to our house. Britton decided to pass the time not being glued to the television set like her boring parents, but by tearing apart the latest Pottery Barn catalogue.




Action shot with her trusty side-kick...



And after she went to bed, and the threat of a tornado was gone, the hub and I ventured outside to check out the clouds. You forget how big the sky really is in Oklahoma until you look up. Once my fear was over, I could really see the beauty.

walking on sunshine*

Britton has moved from crawling to crawling fast, speeding across the room. But the overachiever that she is, she now can pull herself up to standing, walk when holding onto something, and even pick things up off the ground while standing and not fall down. It's crazy how developed she is becoming. Can I admit that I miss the days when I didn't have to keep such a close eye on her? At least crawling in helping me adjust to her being mobile. Because once she can walk, we're all in for it.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

*If you've seen what must be the funniest episode of "Intervention" then this song may be permanently ruined for you. Believe me, it is difficult to hear it without imagining huffing a can of air. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you need to go to youtube and search for it because you'll never laugh so hard in your life. After you watch the video of my beautiful little girl "walking" first, of course.

a typical sunday...in oklahoma

So we started out this morning with Britton sleeping in until.....wait for it......8:00 a.m. No lie. It was amazing. But little did we know that sleeping in meant she didn't want to take a nap. And she was being downright cranky this morning, which we attributed to her change in schedule from sleeping in. But, hey, it's Sunday and we have nowhere to be, so we went with it. Until we noticed that she was hoarding her teething toys...



Check out the old school Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone - Target's carrying all the old favorites...





And, wouldn't you know, her top teeth are coming in! Not the top two in the middle, but the two on either side of the front-and-center teeth. I have no idea why this is, and I'm hoping this isn't a sign that her top middle teeth gave up hope.



But we didn't have too much time for celebrating. You know why? Because I needed a nap. So while I retreated to the bed with Sadie (she's such a heat-monger!) Britton decided to wake up early from her afternoon nap and punish the hub for making her gums hurt. So thirty minutes later he's losing his mind, and Britton's losing her cool, so the nap is no longer. We settle her down with a biter biscuit and a sippy cup to chew on, and turn on the television. And wouldn't you know, a tornado warning for Edmond. And Gary England telling us to get to a shelter, something about heavy hail damage, and all hell breaks lose.

Britton and I get in the car while the hub and Sadie decide to secure the house. We bolt off to the safest place ever during a tornado - Mercy Hospital. A very kind nurse is standing at the parking garage holding her badge to the scanner so everyone can park in the garage and not get hail dings. We run into the hospital and find a cozy hallway in which to ride out the storm.




The storm that turned out NOT to be a tornado, but merely a "severe thunderstorm" with tons of hail.



So, Britton and I meandered home, ate some dinner, and called it a day. Whew!

a gift for mother's day

The ladies at daycare sent this home with the hub today as my present for Mother's Day. I love the picture, though it kind of creeps me out. Having arms strapped down is the hub's worst nightmare. And the use of "cuz" in the poem makes my eye twitch. But I love it, I really do because it's Britton and it's a Mother's Day celebration.

mistress in my house

A lady came to my house, and Britton invited her in lickity-split, to share puffs and applesauce and her blocks. See, this lady isn't an invited guest. In this house, she is a mistress. A mistress whom I can't stand, who shows up inconveniently at all hours of the day and night, who thinks it's funny to make Britton cranky and ornery and downright pissy.

This mistress displays her power by getting every single freaking bottle of baby ibuprofen recalled and yanked from the shelves. "Ha!" she says. "You can't beat me! I OWN YOU!" She's not a pretty, Lifetime-movie-esque mistress, no. This lady is ugly, gross, devoid of bodily cleanliness, and has a hairy mole problem. Her teeth are begging for a metal file and an orbital sander. She is mean for the sake of being mean. She is a bully. And she can't get through a joke without messing up the punch line, so help me.

She has no redeeming qualities, as far as I can see. Well, maybe one redeeming quality. She leaves my baby with little pearls in her mouth. And, as of today, a need to stick her tongue out of her mouth at all times. Ah, Mistress Teething, lady of the enamel, you have been an unfair adversary. But tomorrow is another day.

my first mother's day

Let me just say, this week did not put me in the mood to celebrate anything. The hub and I both got the stomach flu, which had us elbowing each other to get to the bathroom within seconds of feeling those waves of nausea. And the other end. Ugh. I stayed home from work for two days and only at the end of the week could I eat normally and take the stairs. Britton was sent home from daycare Wednesday afternoon for randomly throwing up, which she has done since last Sunday. I took her to the doctor Thursday, as you know, and she was diagnosed with acid reflux. So I am now armed with a note from the doctor to shove under the nose of the snotty assistant director wannabe who snidely told the hub on Thursday morning, 15 minutes after dropping off Britton, that she was welcome back at 3:00 p.m. but would need to vacate the premises ASAP. "It's our policy. These sicknesses really turn into a vicious cycle if we allow children back in the classroom before 24 hours." First of all, your policy is stupid. Because my kid doesn't have a fever or any other signs of sickness. Secondly, babies throw up all the time. Thirdly, I have a doctor's note so suck it Trebek.

Anywho, I had to make up work time this weekend because I took off for the daycare shenanigans. And that threw a wrench into our plans to go to Dallas for the weekend and celebrate Mother's Day with the in-laws. Luckily, my in-laws are very understanding people, so they hopped in their truck and came here to see us. I made up my time off Saturday morning while they played with Britton, Britton of course showing off her crawling and pulling up skills.

On Saturday we all went to TLC Nursery and the hub got me my Mother's Day gift of a rose bush. And Grandma treated me to one as well! I don't know if I'll be any good, and roses make me nervous because I hear they are finicky, but I'm going to give it my all to make those suckers grow!




And for no reason other than my daughter is too cute to not post these pictures, Britton enjoyed bathtime with Grandma on Saturday night.




On Sunday we broke into Grandma's Mother's Day gift and got our creative juices flowing. We got her a stepping stone that you can personalize with marbles, ceramic flowers, and these little discs that you put pictures in. Britton made her cement debut and the whole thing turned out so great that we're going to make it a tradition. Because I imagine Britton one day putting her much-larger hand over the little handprint and saying, "Was my hand really that small?" And Grandma and I will smile at each other because we remember the day we made the stepping stone and that her hand really was that small.





Dear Britton,

This is my first Mother's Day. And I know that the minute I gave birth, I became a mother is the truest definition of the word. But it is everything that happened since that has made me a mom. I remember the first time I ever called myself "Britton's mom" and you, "my daughter." It was August 4, 2010. I have held you, fed you, burped you, rocked you, played with you. I have cried on the bed, curled in a ball, out of pure exhaustion, and I have smiled with the most joy out of pure love. I have had less sleep, less patience, and less time than I ever thought possible. I have cried because you hurt. I have felt powerless when I can't make your world perfect. I know that for as long as I live, there will never be a night that I sleep as soundly as I did before you came into my life. You are truly my heart outside of my body.

I have spent the middle of the night staring at your monitor, willing you to breathe so that I can see it and know you are safe. I have watched you pull yourself up, only to fall into a pile on the carpet and not helped you up because you need to learn to do it on your own. I talk back to you in your baby language, the closest we come to a conversation. But I don't need you to talk to know what you want, what you need, how you love to be held close with your head tucked underneath my chin. I greet you every morning by calling you "Sunshine" and asking you if you had sweet baby dreams. And as I rock you every night, I thank you for another beautiful day, and as I gently close your door, I always say quietly, "I love you."

I don't expect you will remember these things. But I do hope that you remember that I love you. And while I have enjoyed my first Mother's Day immensely, I don't need a holiday to remind me that I've got the best job in the world - being your mom.

the stats

We went to Britton's well baby check-up today and were surprised that there would be no shots. YES!!!! And we did get her stats. Weight - 20 lbs, 12 oz (75 - 90%), length - 29.25" (90 - 97%), and head circumference - 17.25" (25% percentile). These are all similar measurements to what she has been getting, so everything is great. And, we knew she was going to be tall.

We also got some info on Britton's "vomit sessions." See, this week Britton has been vomiting randomly, for no apparent reason, isn't running a fever, isn't acting sick. There is no rhyme or reason to it, so we've pretty much chalked it up to weird baby things. But it has been the cause of Britton being sent home from daycare, then not allowed to return for 24 hours, then a frantic rush to find alternate care, followed by Missy taking her on for the entire day (thanks Missy!), and this drama has got to stop.

It's not that I'm at the point of breaking up with my daycare. It's just that we may want different things out of life. I want my baby to go where my money goes, and my daycare wants my money without taking on the baby. We're heading to therapy, I'm afraid.

So I told Dr. K about the vomit sessions, and he said it could be acid reflux. In which case we will give her an antacid, and he will write a letter to the daycare that Britton has acid reflux and will vomit and they better get used to cleaning it up and changing her clothes and NOT calling me at work to tell me about it because she ain't no way no how being sent home. Or something to that effect. I'll let Dr. K hash out the details.

nine months old

Britton is nine months old today! No stats as of yet because she doesn't go to her well-baby check until Thursday. She does, however, have her follow-up ear doctor appointment tomorrow, so we're crossing our fingers that everything is fine with her tubes. Britton is over 21 pounds now, so we have officially moved her into the big car seat (the Britax Boulevard CS), which she wasn't too sure of in the beginning. I'll admit, I do miss the ease of just moving the car seat in and out of the car with her in it. She's crawling very well, and can pull herself up to a standing position, which she holds with no help. She can take steps if you hold her hands and help her. We started giving her food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but she's not interested in breakfast anymore. She still has quite a few bottles a day, probably 28 ounces total. Britton is able to interact with her classmates at daycare and gets a big kick out of seeing other kids, regardless of age. And she now has two teeth, though her incessant gnawing makes me think she's getting some more soon. She's been sleeping through the night, 12 hours straight, for a while now. Though now she can get up and stand in her crib, which is hilarious to catch on the video monitor. Also, Britton has been clapping and playing pat-a-cake, and can now wave "hi" and waves at everyone who looks at her.

Likes: Sadie (with a passion), crawling, standing up and getting things off of the ottoman to chew on, walks in the stroller, outdoors in general, other babies, music and musical instruments, babbling back and forth, stacking blocks, bath time, and sleeping.

Dislikes: first minute in the car seat, plane rides, having her nose wiped, getting dressed, the changing table, and having her diaper changed.




And, once again, the temptation of clip art graphics proves to be too much for Britton. See the progression as she notices the jaunty flowers behind the meerkat's head, and then gives the paper a nice yank. Masking tape and chair fabric are not too tight of a bond, so the paper gives up easily. And then gets crumbled. The circle of life, I tell you.