it's the little things...

I think Christmas is a pretty good reason to be behind on writing to you, don't you? We did take pictures on Christmas Eve, though, so Mama has made it 11 months taking pictures on the 24th. I'm pretty impressed with that. One more to go! Let's see. What's been going on with you this month? Your eating is pretty much the same. We're trying to start the weaning from the bottle. We really need to put more effort into this one. So far you drink really well from the sippy cup. Unfortunately, that means you are very efficient at getting water out only to let it fall right back out of your mouth. We've recently started giving you a cup with a straw and, while you still spill some, you swallow some as well. Progress! You're still a good eater and are eating more table foods as the weeks progress. Sleep has been a bit of a challenge at times this month. You've taken to waking up somewhere between 2 and 4:00 to cry. I don't know what's going on with that....

Oooh, ahhh. A little blog re-design. I'd imagine more tweaks are possible. What's everybody up to? Is anyone still out there?

Chicken, can I start this out with some whining? For the second time this year, your month birthday is landing on a major holiday. This time it's one of my favorites--Thanksgiving. Mama woke up feeling ok, walked Maggie, took your monthly pictures, and then started feeling bad. I was hoping it was just my non-gallbladder acting up but I think it's a stomach virus. Woe is me. So I had Daddy help me finish food prep and sent the two of you to your aunt and uncle's. I'm so disappointed I'm not there with you--your entire family is there (both sides of our family--Mama's and Daddy's). Sigh... But I'm sure you're having a good time and that everyone is enjoying the kick-off to the real holiday season with not one but two babies. Ok, rant over. What all happened this month? You got bit by the other little girl at daycare. Sometimes she doesn't want to share with you (meaning she wants what you have) and you give in but I've heard that other times y...

Interesting article: I've been watching the news lately. I'm amused by the hordes of people camping out and demonstrating (or whatever they're doing). They say they're "occupying." Well, occupying isn't enough. A rock occupies a spot on the ground. Does the rock do anything? Not much. And that's the point. A rock can be a formidable weapon (if it's a big enough rock, or if it carries a significant velocity), but when it's just occupying a space on the ground, all its energy is "potential" energy. It doesn't do anything but have potential. Money can be used for great good, but until it's put into motion, it's got a lot of potential, but it really doesn't do a lot of good (except make those of us who worry a lot feel a little better). People have great potential -- but unless they/we use that potential, move in the right direction, and do more than occupy a spot, people don't do a heck of a lot of good. The key in al...

It's official. You have now been alive on the outside as long as you were on the inside. That is so hard for me to believe--3/4 of a year. I just know the last 1/4 will fly by because of all the upcoming holiday craziness. Chicken, it has been a big month. Huge. And your changes mean my changes, especially this time. You started this month out by pulling up to a kneeling position in your crib. You were very pleased with yourself. Daddy and I lowered it that day. You're a sneaky one and you tend to make big leaps with your physical development. I didn't want to take any chances. Maybe halfway through the month, you were able to pull up to a standing position so I think we made the right choice. You have also started crawling. You just went from looking close to suddenly being able to crawl the next day. No "almost crawling" for you. You could just immediately make your way across the room. And wow, what a difference this has made. The next day I did a cursory baby ...

Funny that I stumbled across this this morning. I've been sick the last several days and finally read "The Help" during that time. When I read a lot in a short period, my mind starts thinking in the same style of the book I'm reading. Last night I mentioned this to The Husband, saying that I was thinking in poor grammar... “Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve. Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when t...

I definitely have work I should be doing but I didn't sleep well last night so I'm moving a little slowly. Hubby is sick. I think he's getting me sick. So instead of working, I got distracted by this: Can you believe she now looks like this? Crazy.

Oh, Chicken. Another month. The biggest news this month may be that you're, um, big. I weighed you on the Wii a few days ago and you were about 20.5 lbs. Seriously?! Where did my petite little baby go? That's around the 87th percentile according to an app I got for the new iPad. Your length? About 30.25"--this is off the charts percentile-wise. I guess you're relatively height-weight proportionate. That's pretty important to society once you're older. Now you're just a chunky monkey. In your brief life you've gone from being too small for the clothes that you're allegedly supposed to fit into to being too big. You're still sleeping well at night and are pretty easy to put to bed on most nights. Sometimes you are angry and not quite ready for bed. You generally still take 2 naps each day. You only napped once a few days this week and I don't think it was good for you. You were ready for bed super early and were a little grumpy/overtired. Over...

And, thus, the conclusion. You'd think I'd have some fantastic Day 30 but work is so crazy now... Monday/Day 29: I ordered delivery pasta from Pizza Hut. If you have a household with two >40-hour jobs, a baby, and a dog, you know how fun this really is. Tuesday/Day 30: I unexpectedly shared the conference room with another person from my company. Sometimes it's nice to just visit with someone. Commiserate. Hadn't met her before but it was nice to share the ridiculous day with someone. Off to what will surely end up being another ridiculous day...

Every other week since August, Hubby has been in New York for work. He's left around lunchtime on Sundays and returned around midnight (or later) on Fridays. Huge, huge props to you single moms because it is HARD. The first week was the worst but we kind of fell into a rhythm after that. And, in a way, I think it was good for our marriage since we got to miss each other again and got to appreciate all the other does (since I often had to travel on the weeks Hubby was home). On Thursday, I left the baby with the grandparents and met him in NY. Yeehaw! My plane ended up having a mechanical issue that caused the flight to be delayed by 4 hours. Good thing I jumped ship and got the next-to-last seat on another flight. Unfortunately, it was to a different airport and during rush hour so I was still fairly late in my arrival. But I made it! Hubby met me in the hotel lobby and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I changed clothes, admired the view from our room, and we grabbed some...