"Mama!" Sort Of......

I have been trying for WEEKS to get Taylor to say mama. As you can see from the clip below, I'm not having a whole hell of a lot of luck. Sorry that the footage is so crappy - but our camcorder is suddenly not Mac friendly, and I'm definitely not PC friendly so therefore you are stuck with the crappy footage I get with my regular camera. If you are wondering what Taylor keeps reaching for, she was in the midst of eating a rice rusk - aka hippy kid snack. She honestly doesn't care much as long as whatever it is is crunchy and followed with a cup of juice. She is doing well with the sippy cup, as you'll note she can grab it pretty well and get it up to her mouth. The tricky part is tilting it enough to actually get anything out. That seems to be where she needs help.

New Glasses

Today I took Taylor to get "unbreakable" glasses at a different eye doctor. Our doc's office has been great, however their choices in glasses for kids Taylor's age was pretty slim. So, we went to another place around the corner to get some baby proof glasses. I must say I was impressed, they are not the most fashionable things I've ever seen, but I think with a few rhinestones and my glue gun we can really make something out of them! Plus, since there's absolutely NO METAL on them, and they're all one big piece I at least won't be taking them in every week to be fixed. As an added bonus the lenses Taylor already had fit perfectly in the new glasses, saving us $150 on new lenses. As you can see, Taylor digs them - sort of. Shortly after snapping these she decided it was time to take them back off. Let the battle begin!

She has figured out what the camera is.

See, all one solid piece.

I was actually trying to get a picture from the side and she kept turning her head and smiling. Little ham.

What? This isn't how YOU play in your bouncer?

I've Been Really Busy, I Swear!

Yeah, yeah. So I haven't posted anything worthy in a while. So sorry, but I really have been uber busy. Take today for example, I made cake balls (not my best endeavor this time.....), went to the store, made hair bows (please hold your laughter until the end of the sentence), and am about to cut Jody's hair for our very first family photo tomorrow. See? I told ya.

Nothing really notable has been happening with Taylor either - oh, except that she's about to break her glasses again, the earpiece is once again hanging on by a thread. Guess we'll be headed back to the eye doc tomorrow. She still chews EVERYTHING she can fit in her mouth, but we haven't gotten a tooth in yet. Also still no progress on crawling - though she has gotten rather efficient with her weird head scooting maneuver. I'm almost debating buying her a little football helmet if indeed this is going to be her chosen mode of transportation. At least it'll help with the bald spot!

Jody is in the process of over-engineering a toy box for Taylor (love ya babe!). I say over-engineering because the poor guy has refigured his plans several times already and hasn't even begun assembly yet. I know it's going to be fantastic, and I also know that the paint job I have planned for the finished product will probably be a great story. He has also begun a little composting project for his patio garden this year. I must admit, this idea scares the bejesus out of me - I just picture the whole thing stinking to high hell and crawling with maggots. Believe me, I'll keep you posted if my prediction comes true!

As for me, I have begun learning mammography at work. All I have to say is that ladies, I realize how unpleasant it is to have your annual mammogram. However, believe me when I say that the lady performing your exam truly isn't enjoying the process any more than you are. It is an extremely (for me anyway, maybe not all techs feel this way) nerve wracking task to realize that you are not only hurting your patient, but if you don't pay attention to a LOT of subtleties in the process you might cost a woman her life. SCARY! Then there are the usual horrors that come with any healthcare job (hygiene anyone?). And yes, you read correctly earlier - I busted out my glue gun again tonight to make a flower-bow for our family pictures tomorrow. I must say, I'm quite proud of myself, it didn't turn out too badly! I only sustained minor burns (Look ma! No blisters!) and didn't even glue any of my projects to the counter.

Taylor is very excited about the trip to Wal-Mart we were about to take. Don't be fooled, little booger passed out 30 minutes after we got there.

6 Month Checkup

Just a quickie to let everyone know how Taylor's six month checkup went. She is 26" and 18 Lb. 10 oz. That puts her in the 50% for height and 75% for weight. The pediatrician was impressed with how strong she is overall, and said that Taylor is doing great on all accounts. One of my concerns was that she still has no desire to really be on her belly, and now she's started scooting around on her back (she arches her back and sorta scoots around on her head. It's really kinda freaky looking to me, plus it's making a bald spot.). Even though he agreed that this is an odd way of getting around, he assured me not to worry about it, plus the hair will grow back in. And of course, what trip to the doctor would be complete without ANOTHER round of vaccines? This time was especially heart wrenching because she seemed more like it hurt her feelings than it pissed her off. We did also go ahead and get her a flu shot - even though I know a lot of parents who are kinda iffy about them at this age. It just seemed like a good idea since Jody and I are surrounded by sick people every day.

Nya-nya! That's right Ma, we're not only watching TV, but we're rotting my little brain even further by playing video games!

Taylor Laughs, Then Gags.....

Today Jody had a "pillow fight" with Taylor. It was hilarious to see her laughing so hard, she's normally such a quiet kid she usually only giggles a little here and there. But I guess the air brought down by the pillow felt quite funny on her face and really got her going. Of course, she got to laughing so hard that we had another first - first actual throw-up. I'm not talking the spit up that we've been whining about for months now, no this was true regurgitation at its finest (don't worry, we didn't film that). Anyhoo, check out the footage I managed to nab below.

Taylor Strikes Back

This morning while I was at work Jody texted me to inform me that our little Miss Priss decided to be more proactive in her attempts to not wear her glasses - she broke them! She has gotten kinda testy with them as of late and it's become something of a battle to keep them on her all day long. I thought it was because they were too tight on her head, so we had them adjusted at the ophthalmologist (I love that I can now spell that ALL by myself, no spell check needed!) last week. However, I think the lady doing the adjusting didn't really fix the frame so much as bend the earpieces, because they've been a little wonky ever since she "fixed" them. My original plan was to take them back tomorrow after Taylor's pediatrician appointment, but unfortunately, she broke them first. According to Jody she was playing contentedly by herself, babbling away. Then after a bit he noticed she was very quiet (funny how that seems to be the universal red alert with children). He looked over, and she had them beside her in two pieces. Nice. So, my first idea was to tape them back together ala Poindexter. But the more I think about it, that's really not the greatest idea since the tape would take up even more room for what is already a tight fit. So, I guess we'll go back tomorrow and see if we can get them fixed. If not, I guess it'll already be time for a new pair!

Yeah, that's a smug look if I ever saw one.

See, I just couldn't impose this kind of future upon my daughter......

Ophthalmologist, Round Two.

Today we went back for Taylor's one month follow up with the ophthalmologist. I must say this visit was MUCH better than our last. The doctor didn't seem as harsh as before, and we didn't have to wait around for 30 minutes just for her eyes to dilate. Taylor still has to wear her glasses all day, every day. But, at least they loosened them up a little so that they don't leave the huge red indentations on her head - now they are just small pink indentations! I have a feeling that new frames will be in order before her first birthday at the rate her noggin is growing (yeah, yeah, I know she gets the giant cranium from me.......). And unfortunately we do still have to continue with the tear duct massage because her left eye still seems to be a little blocked. I'll admit, I haven't been just super diligent about doing this. Plain and simple - I forget to do it. The only reason I can remember her medicine twice a day is that it sits smack in the middle of the coffee table where I can't avoid seeing it. We still have to go back again in a month to recheck that tear duct, and if it's not cleared up on its own we'll have to do the procedure to open it back up. That said, I'm going to try really hard to remember to massage the duct so that it will hopefully open up on its own.

My plan was to dress her super cute to detract from the fact that I wasn't doing my part in massaging her ducts. I think it worked! Thanks to Karen for this super cute ensemble!

6 Months

I can't believe that in three days Taylor will be six months old. We are already halfway through her first year :( It is so amazing to watch her now, she's no longer a "baby" - now it's becoming more and more apparent that this is a PERSON. Taylor is a babbling, wiggling ball of fun nowadays. She is very good at sitting up by herself now, and can make it for quite a while without falling as long as she's got something good in front of her to play with (as you can see below, the poor kid barely has any toys...... Ha!). She will also grab just about anything she can get her little hands on to try and pull herself to standing. We've also made the transition over to eating solids at three of her feedings every day with only one major digestive blowout. As long as we keep away from squash, we're usually ok!

The only major speed bump we've hit is crawling. Taylor ADAMANTLY refuses to stay on her stomach for more than a couple of minutes at a time. We've been trying to do mandatory tummy time for at least 15 minutes every day just to get her at least sort of accustomed to this position, but so far it only serves to piss her off royally. We've also been using the pack and play a lot for what I'm told is it's intended purpose - a playpen. Duh! I feel like such an idiot that the idea to use it as more than a portable crib never dawned on me until last week. Needless to say, she loves having somewhere new to play, and I love that I can sit her up in it and not have to hover around afraid that she's going to fall over and hit her head on something.

As you can see, she has nothing at all to play with..... Poor kid.

Alright hoochies, how come none of you more seasoned mommies out there never mentioned using the playpen on a regular basis? Uh-huh. That's ok, I'll remember that......

Random Fun

Here are some random pictures that we've taken in the last week. Wait, let me rephrase that, Jody took these - he's much more responsible about keeping the camera handy than I am!

Passed out after her last bottle.

Playing Call of Duty with Dad.

"Holy Crap!"

Rockin' the green bean mustache.

Bare Butt Munkie

In keeping with that age old tradition of taking a keepsake photo of your child's naked butt (this is also ammo later down the road once said child reaches adolescence), we had to get a few snaps of miss priss just before bath time. Seriously, does it get much cuter than this?