Spinning

Adelaida has a new favorite activity: spinning. She loves to spin (really just walk in a very tight circle). Sometimes she gets dizzy and falls, and sometimes she gets dizzy and walks less-than-straight after spinning. She has been doing this for over a week and Dale and I laugh every time she spins!

Dale took two videos of her spinning a few nights ago that I wanted to share here. (If you can't see the videos, visit our blog at http://parkesranch.blogspot.com/)

In the first video, Adelaida is holding two white clothespins. They are among her favorite toys, for some strange reason.


In the second video, she stops spinning at some point and looks up at me, so I do a twirl to get her going again. She also falls at the end, but doesn't hurt herself -- she got right back up and started spinning again!

The Danger of Having Teeth

I've been so excited that Adelaida now has teeth -- she can cut food with her front teeth and soon will be able to chew better with her back teeth. Until today, however, I didn't really consider all the implications of her having teeth.

Today, Adelaida and I went to a playgroup with some friends who have a really neat playset in their backyard. The playset has a slide, and after Adelaida played around the base of the playset for a while, I thought she might enjoy going down the slide. I sat her at the top of the slide and prepared to catch her (it wasn't a huge slide, but big enough that I wanted to catch her the first time she went down it). She was excited to go down the slide, but couldn't get started by herself. So, I reached up to gently pull her legs to start her. As I was pulling her legs, she twisted and ended up with her upper body sideways just as her lower body started going down the slide. This resulted in Adelaida's face smacking into the side of the slide.

I was right there with her and realized that she had hit the slide pretty hard, so immediately picked her up, and as I did, I saw blood on the side of the slide where she had hit her face. My little girl's first mouth wound! She cried for a few minutes and then just wanted me to hold her for a few minutes (fortunately I was wearing a dark brown shirt, so couldn't see all the blood that had transferred from Adelaida's mouth to my shoulder!). After a few minutes of being held and comforted, Adelaida was ready to get down and play again.

It wasn't until about an hour later, when I was putting her in the car to go home and she stuck out her tongue, that I realized where the wound was. She had a little sore on her tongue, where it looked like she had bitten her tongue when she hit the side of the slide. After bath this evening, we were able to get a picture of the injury (the red spot on the right side of Adelaida's tongue):


We also got the first picture ever (I think) of Adelaida's top front teeth:


She survived her first mouth wound well, and I think I survived it pretty well, too! I knew that mouth wounds bleed a lot, so wasn't worried when I saw a lot of blood, and sure enough she was fine within a few minutes!

First Teeth!

Two Four Five Teeth!
This is another post that I intended to write several months ago, but am somehow just now getting around to it.

When Adelaida was about two months old, she began to drool. A lot. I knew that drooling was a sign of teething, and that most kids get their first teeth between three and ten months, so when Adelaida started drooling in February 2009, I expected to see a tooth within a few weeks. (I wasn't worried that she was only two months old when most kids get teeth between three and ten months, because of course she is an amazing little girl and was probably just going to do everything a little earlier than her peers, including teething.)

three-month-old Adelaida shows off her gums

I waited quite patiently for that first tooth, as February ended (and still no tooth), and then March passed by without any signs of a tooth, and suddenly it was June and she still didn't have any teeth! Well, in June she was only six months old, and babies get teeth anywhere between three and ten months, so I wasn't worried -- she would cut teeth when she was ready, and certainly in the next four months.

nine-month-old Adelaida has a toothless grin

The summer came to a close with Adelaida still toothless, and at her nine-month well-baby checkup, I asked her pediatrician if I should be concerned that she still didn't have any teeth. She told me not to worry, that most kids get teeth by the time they are ten months old, but even a little later than that was not unheard of -- so she would probably get her first tooth in the next month or so, and Dr. Anderson wouldn't consider her development abnormal unless she still didn't have any teeth on her first birthday.

eleven-and-a-half-month-old Adelaida: I see a tongue, but still no teeth!

September ended, October passed by, November came and went -- and still no teeth! (At this point we realized that Adelaida hadn't gained any weight in five months, so were much more concerned about her weight gain than her lack of teeth. But that doesn't mean I wasn't looking for teeth at every opportunity!)

Then, on December 14, just six days before her first birthday, Adelaida was eating tomatoes and had the tomato skin still in her mouth (remember, it's hard to eat when you don't have teeth!). I put my finger in her mouth to remove the tomato skin and felt something hard and bumpy on her lower gum. Her first tooth! After waiting nine-and-three-quarters months for this tooth to appear, I was completely unprepared for it! I thought back over the previous few weeks, and didn't remember seeing any of the teething signs -- she wasn't drooling more than normal, she wasn't chewing on things, she wasn't cranky, her gums didn't seem swollen. It was like the tooth just appeared out of nowhere. A few days later the second one came in, and Adelaida had two adorable little front bottom teeth -- just days before her first birthday!

February 2010 started, and again Adelaida started drooling a lot. Thinking we had just missed the drooling with the first two teeth, we were now prepared for her to cut another tooth or two. We waited, and waited, and waited, and finally, at the beginning of April, she got two more teeth -- her top front ones. Gone was the adorable little toothless grin, and here to stay was a big-girl, growing-up-so-fast Adelaida with four front teeth.

Now that I know she can cut teeth, I'm not so worried about her growing up to be a teenager without any teeth. We haven't really seen any signs of teething since the first of April, so didn't think she would be getting more teeth any time soon. Then, today, Adelaida was running in the bonus room and tripped, fell, and hit her face on a toy. She wasn't badly injured, but started to cry ... and as I looked down at her to see if she was hurt, I saw another tooth! This one is on the top, on her left side, pretty far back in her mouth, like it is a molar. I only saw (and felt) two points, so I'm not sure if it is a two-pointed tooth or a four-pointed tooth that hasn't come in all the way yet, but Adelaida now has five teeth.

Adelaida generally keeps her mouth closed, so it has been hard to get a picture of her teeth. In fact, I don't think we have any pictures showing her top teeth at all. But I did find this one of Adelaida's bottom teeth:

can't see the teeth? look closer ...

... and closer still: there they are!

Garden preparations

Last summer, Dale and I planted a modest garden. We had lots of vegetables, most of which produced a good amount of crop. We had so much fun with it last year that we decided to quintuple our garden this year!

The garden preparations have been ongoing for several months now, beginning with planting some seeds inside to get them a head start on our short growing season. We started the plants back in February, in a peat pellet tray. Within days, several of the plants had started growing!


Soon, we had a pellet tray full of green plants. We had planned on some of the seeds not germinating, so had planted three seeds in each pellet, and several pellets of each kind of plant. Surprisingly, every seed germinated, so we trimmed away the two weaker plants in each peat pellet, leaving only the strongest plant. The tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli were particularly strong, and we transferred them to larger pots after just two weeks in the pellet tray.

(A month after we started our plants inside, we got over a foot of snow! Those tiny little plants wouldn't have survived outside during this storm!)






The plants continued to thrive inside, and we began acclimating them to the outside by placing them outside in the shade for a few hours every day. The peppers always looked better after being outside, while the tomatoes started to look a little weaker.


This weekend, we rented a tiller and Dale tilled up our garden plot. After loosening the soil (and removing quite a bit of grass), Dale laid out bags of gypsum (to keep the clay-like soil loose), composted steer manure, and composted mulch, which he worked into the soil by running the tiller over it a few more times.

When he was finished, we had a nice, smooth garden plot full of rich organic matter and good loose soil.







The next step was to plant. You might not be able to see it in this picture, but the garden plot has several white plant markers that indicate what we planted in each area. We didn't plant everything yet -- some of the plants won't be planted until May or even June, and we are going to let the plants that we started inside grow a little longer inside before we transplant them -- but we laid out the garden and planted several seeds.

This year, we're planning on the following vegetables in our garden:
corn
sugar snap peas
green beans
spinach
carrots (multi-colored!)
radishes
green onions
tomatoes (four different kinds)
green bell peppers
red bell peppers
serrano chili peppers
sweet banana peppers
broccoli
adirondack blue potatoes
yukon gold potatoes
zucchini
yellow crookneck squash
pumpkin pie pumpkins
jack-o-lantern carving pumpkins
watermelon
honeydew
butternut squash
green hubbard squash
cucumbers
lemon cucumbers

We also planted some other edible plants outside the garden:
blueberries
blackberries
raspberries
strawberries
asparagus
hops (for brewing, of course!)

We are looking forward to a good harvest this year and can't wait to eat home-grown veggies from our garden all summer!

Christmas in April! (part 3)

This will be the last set of pictures from our Indiana Christmas trip. Posting these pictures four months after they happened lets me relive all the fun memories I have of that trip -- so beware, I may post all of my holiday pictures four months late!

Adelaida sits on Auntie Sami's lap at Grandpa and Grandma's house.


Uncle BJ and Auntie Rachel get some Adelaida time. We had just taught Adelaida to "be sweet" by laying her head on someone.


Mary Jo helps Dad try on his new chain saw chaps!


Dale bundles Adelaida up for a quick trip outside.


Once outside, Dale zipped Adelaida into his jacket to keep her warm.


The hat was a little big for her.


Adelaida models another beautiful hat!


Uncle BJ introduces Adelaida to the fun of a laundry basket ...


... and Nonna introduces Adelaida to the fun of a spinning copper pot!


We had such a great trip and really enjoyed spending time with everyone!

Christmas in April! (part 2)

That last post was getting pretty long, so I ended it. Here are some more pictures from our fun Indiana Christmas:

BJ mediates the Adelaida-Henry interaction.


Auntie Rachel M feeds Adelaida yogurt (in fairness to Rachel, Adelaida had been feeding herself yogurt just prior to this picture being taken!).


After a hard day of playing, Henry sleeps.


Adelaida gets a little help opening her presents.


Christmas morning: Rachel R, Sami, Michael, Rachel M.


The beautiful Christmas tree.


Auntie Sami helps Adelaida model her flower hat.


Lucky Uncle Michael gets to hold both Henry and Adelaida!

Christmas in April! (part 1)

Actually, Christmas was in December, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it in April!

Dale, Adelaida, and I visited our family in Indiana for Christmas, and of course took lots of pictures! Here are some of my favorites:

Adelaida with Papaw.


Annabelle shares her baby toys with Adelaida.


One evening at dinner, Nonna and Poppa thought it would be fun to feed Adelaida a lemon. I had the camera ready, all set to get that first sour face. But she liked it! She sucked on the lemon slice for a while, never puckering up like we expected she would.


Out to dinner with Nonna and Poppa.


The cousins (Adelaida, Amanda, Melanie, Chloe, Christa, Courtney, Billy) sit around the Christmas tree, playing with Henry.


Billy helps Adelaida walk.


Sitting around the kitchen table on Christmas Eve: Mom, Melanie, Laura, Amanda, Rachel M, Bill, Dale, Michael, BJ.


Bill unwraps his special present ...


... and tries it out!


Henry is such an adorable ball of fur!


Henry and Adelaida play together.

Eating like a big girl

Dale and I both think it is important for Adelaida to be as independent as possible (within the limitations of her age, of course); however, it is difficult sometimes to remember that she is growing and developing so very quickly, so a skill that is too advanced for her one day she might be able to do perfectly well a week or a month later. I often find myself thinking, "Adelaida can't do that skill, I tried to introduce it to her last week and she didn't get it," when I should be thinking "Adelaida couldn't do that skill last week, but she has developed a lot since then so I will try to introduce her to it again."

Seeing how Adelaida is treated and what she does in school helps me to recognize things that we might attempt at home. Her teachers work with several children her age every day and have training in offering children developmentally appropriate tasks and responsibilities, and they are better able to recognize when a child is ready to attempt a new skill.

One of those skills that I saw Adelaida doing at daycare and that we recently tried at home involves eating.

Adelaida eats at school twice a day, for lunch and snack. Her room has a wonderful little table and adorable little chairs that are exactly the right size for young toddlers, and rather than being strapped into a high chair with a tray in front of her, she sits in a toddler-sized chair (just a few inches off the ground) with no restraints to keep her in the chair and eats her food from a plate on the table.

She has been in that eating environment for three months now, and for the first two-and-a-half months, I joined her at lunch every day and saw how she behaved. At first, she did not stay in the chair. She thought it was fun to stand up/sit down/stand up/sit down and preferred to walk around the table rather than to sit in one place. She also didn't like to eat off the plate -- she would take the food off the plate and put it on the table, then eat the food off the table! After a few weeks of watching the older kids in her class sit in their chairs and eat off their plates, her behavior started to change: she would eat food directly off the plate and she stayed seated for longer periods during lunch.

After two months, she was a pro at eating at the table and was the "older child role model" that she had learned from just a few months earlier. Seeing this, we started giving Adelaida more eating responsibility at home -- we transitioned her from eating food directly off her tray to eating food off a plate placed on her tray to eating food off a plate placed on the table. She was ready to eat like a big girl, but I would never have suspected it if I hadn't seen her eat at school!

Today, we took the final step: Adelaida ate her dinner at a toddler-sized table in our breakfast nook, on a toddler-sized chair that she wasn't strapped into! The chair and table are quite a bit larger than those at her school, so her feet don't touch the ground when she is sitting in her chair at home, and we weren't sure if she would be ready for this or not. The first meal went beautifully -- for about the first half-hour. She ate well and didn't try to get out of the chair, but after a half-hour was twisting quite a bit in the chair. Then she was on the ground -- she had fallen off the side of the chair, back-of-the-head first, with one leg caught between the chair and the table leg. She cried, ate on my lap for a few minutes, then went back into the chair to finish the meal with no additional mishaps (but with Dale telling her frequently, "face forward please").

The table and chair that we are using for this are very special -- they were given to Adelaida by her GG (my Grandma Betty) before Adelaida was born. For the first year, they were really only used as a place to put her toys in the living room -- Adelaida was too small to sit in the chair and too small to stand at the table! This evening, Dale moved the table and one chair into the breakfast nook and set them up next to our table so she could eat with us. Doesn't she look like such a big girl!

This big step in eating made me think back to the various seats we have used for Adelaida to eat over the past year. Here's a progression of her eating venues:

She started eating in a BebePod chair that we placed on top of the table:


We then switched to a hook-on high chair, which I thought (before I actually used it) would be the only high chair we'd ever use. I was wrong!


Next, we got a small high-chair that sits on a regular chair. It has its own tray and is designed as a traveling high chair. At first, Adelaida used this high chair with the tray it came with. This has been a great high chair for Adelaida and will probably be the high chair I start with in the future!


A few months ago, we put Adelaida up to the table so that she was using the same high chair as before, but was eating from the table rather than her tray.


(We still keep the tray handy for the really messy meals!)


Now, Adelaida sits at a small version of a grown-up table. She is growing up so quickly!


When it is time to eat, we tell Adelaida "it is time to eat, go to your chair so we can eat" and she walks over to her chair. She is so obedient! We put her in the chair and she starts the meal. In an effort to give her more responsibility, I'm considering putting something that she uses at the table (like her spoons, or bibs, or plates) in an Adelaida-accessible place (her cabinet, maybe), and having her get that item in preparation for a meal.