Eventually, she demanded that he lay down, so she could reach his head better. He happily complied!
I never thought I'd see Dale sit still so well while being unnecessarily groomed. He really adores Adelaida!
12 February 2011
Being daddy's hairstylist
Adelaida is pretty good about obeying when we ask her to do something (or stop doing something). This afternoon, she pulled a hairbrush out of a drawer, chased Murphy into a corner and started brushing his fur; when I realized what she was doing, I asked her to stop brushing Murphy and told her that hairbrushes were for people, not dogs. She backed away from Murphy, yelled for her daddy, "Daddy, sit down!" and crawled up onto the couch behind him. Hairbrush still in hand, she began brushing her daddy's 1/4-inch-long hair.
Eventually, she demanded that he lay down, so she could reach his head better. He happily complied!
I never thought I'd see Dale sit still so well while being unnecessarily groomed. He really adores Adelaida!
Eventually, she demanded that he lay down, so she could reach his head better. He happily complied!
I never thought I'd see Dale sit still so well while being unnecessarily groomed. He really adores Adelaida!
08 February 2011
Christmas 2010: Indiana
After leaving the Parkes family in Tulsa, we drove to Indiana, where we spent a week visiting with so many family members. Adelaida had a blast -- loving on GG, rough-housing with Uncle BJ, and generally being adored by everyone. Below are some of my favorite pictures from this part of the trip.
I'm not sure who is more content here: Adelaida or GG!
Adelaida likes most people, but there are a few that she really adores, and her Poppa is one of them. Every time she sees Poppa, Adelaida starts to giggle uncontrollably -- she just can't get enough of him!
Adelaida snuggles up to her Auntie Rachel M. (No, Adelaida does not have a gigantic butt here -- her butt is just being pushed up by Auntie Rachel's gigantic baby-laden belly!)
Adelaida discovers a rocking horse that is just her size!
Several years ago, we consciously taught our dogs that people who were standing or sitting on furniture were not to be jumped on, but it was OK to play/wrestle with people on the ground. Looking through all these pictures, I realize that we must have unconsciously taught Adelaida the same thing. Whenever she wants to play with someone, she directs them to "lay down!" and then begins to crawl on them and expects to be tickled, swung in the air, and much more. Here, Uncle Michael was directed to "lay down!" and Adelaida immediately sat on his chest and began poking his face. Poor Uncle Michael!
Adelaida notes a certain similarity between the lion's mane and the furry growth on Uncle BJ's cheeks.
Grandpa takes his turn as "mountain" for Adelaida to climb on.
Adelaida with Auntie Sami
Adelaida has a thing for copper pots larger than she is. Uncle Michael put her in this one, and Great-Grandma Fox was delighted to see her have so much fun in her fireplace pot!
Adelaida and Henry have always been good friends!
A nice picture of Uncle Michael and Adelaida.
Nonna learns that she is going to have not two new grandbabies this year, but three!
Dale wins the beer-tasting competition this year. His cream stout was, by almost-unanimous decision, the best cream stout of the tasting!
Cousin Evie teaches Adelaida to play the piano. Evie is almost four years older than Adelaida, and Adelaida just adored Evie! Adelaida followed Evie around for most of the Fox Family Christmas Party, and Evie was so good and patient with Adelaida and I'm sure Evie will make an excellent big sister!
The farmer in Adelaida's life gave her a John Deere truck for Christmas. Adelaida loves it!
As usual, we had a great visit with family. We look forward to future Christmases, when Adelaida will be the oldest of several cousins and will lead the younger ones all around the house!
I'm not sure who is more content here: Adelaida or GG!
Adelaida likes most people, but there are a few that she really adores, and her Poppa is one of them. Every time she sees Poppa, Adelaida starts to giggle uncontrollably -- she just can't get enough of him!
Adelaida snuggles up to her Auntie Rachel M. (No, Adelaida does not have a gigantic butt here -- her butt is just being pushed up by Auntie Rachel's gigantic baby-laden belly!)
Adelaida discovers a rocking horse that is just her size!
Several years ago, we consciously taught our dogs that people who were standing or sitting on furniture were not to be jumped on, but it was OK to play/wrestle with people on the ground. Looking through all these pictures, I realize that we must have unconsciously taught Adelaida the same thing. Whenever she wants to play with someone, she directs them to "lay down!" and then begins to crawl on them and expects to be tickled, swung in the air, and much more. Here, Uncle Michael was directed to "lay down!" and Adelaida immediately sat on his chest and began poking his face. Poor Uncle Michael!
Adelaida notes a certain similarity between the lion's mane and the furry growth on Uncle BJ's cheeks.
Grandpa takes his turn as "mountain" for Adelaida to climb on.
Adelaida with Auntie Sami
Adelaida has a thing for copper pots larger than she is. Uncle Michael put her in this one, and Great-Grandma Fox was delighted to see her have so much fun in her fireplace pot!
Adelaida and Henry have always been good friends!
A nice picture of Uncle Michael and Adelaida.
Nonna learns that she is going to have not two new grandbabies this year, but three!
Dale wins the beer-tasting competition this year. His cream stout was, by almost-unanimous decision, the best cream stout of the tasting!
Cousin Evie teaches Adelaida to play the piano. Evie is almost four years older than Adelaida, and Adelaida just adored Evie! Adelaida followed Evie around for most of the Fox Family Christmas Party, and Evie was so good and patient with Adelaida and I'm sure Evie will make an excellent big sister!
The farmer in Adelaida's life gave her a John Deere truck for Christmas. Adelaida loves it!
As usual, we had a great visit with family. We look forward to future Christmases, when Adelaida will be the oldest of several cousins and will lead the younger ones all around the house!
04 February 2011
Christmas 2010: Tulsa
Well, Christmas has come and gone and once again I find I'm more than a month behind in blogging about it. But better late than never, right?
Our Christmas vacation this year started with a long drive to Tulsa. It was long primarily because we were driving with a very-recently-toilet-trained two-year-old, so we tried to stop frequently enough for her to use the toilet, but ended up changing her pants pretty often, generally in the car on the side of the road!
We arrived in Tulsa, where Adelaida immediately started playing with her cousins. Elizabeth is old enough that she was very generous with offering Adelaida toys; Sarah and Adelaida are almost the same age and so were able to play together well, and Adelaida just loves to look at babies like Benjamin. Mamaw had so much fun with four grandchildren to entertain, and within a few minutes of arriving we announced that I was pregnant, so she spent several days thinking about future Christmases with five grandchildren!
We took over a hundred pictures of our time in Tulsa; here are some of my favorites:
Mamaw with Benjamin
When Richard and Dale get together, they enjoy rough-housing with the kids together. Here Adelaida and Elizabeth are perched on Dale's and Richard's shoulders; both girls had been upside down moments before!
Adelaida in her Christmas dress
Adelaida, Elizabeth, and Sarah all like to read books, so whenever one of the girls sat on someone's lap to read a book, another girl would inevitably climb up as well. Here, Elizabeth and Adelaida are reading a book with Dale.
Sarah brings a book over, looking for someone to read to her.
Me, happy holding a sleeping Benjamin!
Mamaw with Adelaida, on Christmas day.
In the midst of opening presents, we revealed that my pregnancy is a double pregnancy! Mamaw reads the card announcing that we are having twins and started revising her thoughts to future Christmases with six grandchildren!
Adelaida's favorite present was a baby doll that she immediately named "Yonna." She sat down and cared for the baby, feeding it a bottle, holding it, and patting its back. I know she loves babies but had never seen her so maternal!
Mamaw holds Adelaida and Benjamin
Sarah and Adelaida snuggle with Aunt Laura
One benefit of blogging about something over a month after it happens is that I get to relive the fun times by looking at the pictures! Adelaida has been sitting here with me as I prepare this post, enjoying looking at the pictures and seeing her family.
Our Christmas vacation this year started with a long drive to Tulsa. It was long primarily because we were driving with a very-recently-toilet-trained two-year-old, so we tried to stop frequently enough for her to use the toilet, but ended up changing her pants pretty often, generally in the car on the side of the road!
We arrived in Tulsa, where Adelaida immediately started playing with her cousins. Elizabeth is old enough that she was very generous with offering Adelaida toys; Sarah and Adelaida are almost the same age and so were able to play together well, and Adelaida just loves to look at babies like Benjamin. Mamaw had so much fun with four grandchildren to entertain, and within a few minutes of arriving we announced that I was pregnant, so she spent several days thinking about future Christmases with five grandchildren!
We took over a hundred pictures of our time in Tulsa; here are some of my favorites:
Mamaw with Benjamin
When Richard and Dale get together, they enjoy rough-housing with the kids together. Here Adelaida and Elizabeth are perched on Dale's and Richard's shoulders; both girls had been upside down moments before!
Adelaida in her Christmas dress
Adelaida, Elizabeth, and Sarah all like to read books, so whenever one of the girls sat on someone's lap to read a book, another girl would inevitably climb up as well. Here, Elizabeth and Adelaida are reading a book with Dale.
Sarah brings a book over, looking for someone to read to her.
Me, happy holding a sleeping Benjamin!
Mamaw with Adelaida, on Christmas day.
In the midst of opening presents, we revealed that my pregnancy is a double pregnancy! Mamaw reads the card announcing that we are having twins and started revising her thoughts to future Christmases with six grandchildren!
Adelaida's favorite present was a baby doll that she immediately named "Yonna." She sat down and cared for the baby, feeding it a bottle, holding it, and patting its back. I know she loves babies but had never seen her so maternal!
Mamaw holds Adelaida and Benjamin
Sarah and Adelaida snuggle with Aunt Laura
One benefit of blogging about something over a month after it happens is that I get to relive the fun times by looking at the pictures! Adelaida has been sitting here with me as I prepare this post, enjoying looking at the pictures and seeing her family.
01 February 2011
Snow Day!
Everyone in New Mexico has been talking for several days about the "big storm" scheduled to hit us early this week. The forecasts have been variable, but all promised snow, even at low elevations, and frigidly cold temperatures. Perhaps surprisingly, the forecasts were right.
Dale watched the weather carefully yesterday and around 4:30 we left work, picked up Adelaida, and headed home. The roads were easily passable, but the combination of low visibility and snow-packed roads made the trip home rather slower than usual. The snow continued overnight and this morning we had a few inches of accumulated snow. Dale bravely faced the cold weather early this morning to dig out the truck and drive the truck along the driveway a few times, then he stayed home with Adelaida while I drove into Albuquerque for a dentist appointment and a few hours of work.
Most of the city was closed down -- Albuquerque Public Schools, the City of Albuquerque, and the University of New Mexico were all closed today, and Sandia National Labs was on a four-hour delay. The roads were slick and in the few hours I was in town I saw two accidents happen and several others that had recently occurred.
Back home, we had more fun. There is something magical about a snow day that makes me want to put on my warmest pajamas and curl up with a good book. I did that this afternoon and just might repeat it tomorrow! Adelaida also enjoyed the laziness of the day. She woke up from her nap and wanted to sit on her daddy's lap, and soon fell asleep again! It is a rare occasion these days to have Adelaida sleeping on either of us. What a treat!
The morning, Dale took Adelaida outside to play in the snow. They didn't go far -- the front porch had some snow and that seemed far enough. When Adelaida sees snow, she says "snowman!" so Dale helped her build a snowman today! With the bitterly cold weather, they settled for a 4" snowman, but she had fun collecting snow and piling it on the snowman, even if she was only outside for a few minutes.
Of course, Adelaida got the most enjoyment out of the cold-weather accessories. She continued to wear her mittens, hat, and coat most of the day and even insisted on sleeping with her hat on, mittens on, and two coats snuggled under her when she went to bed tonight!
Dale watched the weather carefully yesterday and around 4:30 we left work, picked up Adelaida, and headed home. The roads were easily passable, but the combination of low visibility and snow-packed roads made the trip home rather slower than usual. The snow continued overnight and this morning we had a few inches of accumulated snow. Dale bravely faced the cold weather early this morning to dig out the truck and drive the truck along the driveway a few times, then he stayed home with Adelaida while I drove into Albuquerque for a dentist appointment and a few hours of work.
Most of the city was closed down -- Albuquerque Public Schools, the City of Albuquerque, and the University of New Mexico were all closed today, and Sandia National Labs was on a four-hour delay. The roads were slick and in the few hours I was in town I saw two accidents happen and several others that had recently occurred.
Back home, we had more fun. There is something magical about a snow day that makes me want to put on my warmest pajamas and curl up with a good book. I did that this afternoon and just might repeat it tomorrow! Adelaida also enjoyed the laziness of the day. She woke up from her nap and wanted to sit on her daddy's lap, and soon fell asleep again! It is a rare occasion these days to have Adelaida sleeping on either of us. What a treat!
The morning, Dale took Adelaida outside to play in the snow. They didn't go far -- the front porch had some snow and that seemed far enough. When Adelaida sees snow, she says "snowman!" so Dale helped her build a snowman today! With the bitterly cold weather, they settled for a 4" snowman, but she had fun collecting snow and piling it on the snowman, even if she was only outside for a few minutes.
Of course, Adelaida got the most enjoyment out of the cold-weather accessories. She continued to wear her mittens, hat, and coat most of the day and even insisted on sleeping with her hat on, mittens on, and two coats snuggled under her when she went to bed tonight!
20 January 2011
Two Years Old
Adelaida is now two years (and one month, because I haven't had time to post anything in the past month!) old. She is growing up so quickly and turning into such a wonderful little girl. For the past six weeks we have been telling her that she's not a baby anymore, she is a big girl -- and now I'm beginning to realize that we are right! She really isn't a baby anymore, an any way!
I think these pictures, taken on her month-birthday each month, really show just how much she has grown in the past two years.
Her birth-day, December 20th, 2008. She has come so far from such a rough beginning!
Five days old, just home from the hospital and still too small for her clothes.
One month old, happy to be carried in the laundry basket.
At two months old, she was already so inquisitive, quietly taking in the world around her.
At three months old, Adelaida still liked to snuggle and could fall asleep with me holding her. I miss those days!
Here she is at four months old, with her thumb in her mouth. Surprisingly, she stopped sucking her thumb when she was about nine months old.
By five months, Adelaida would laugh at everything! She was so much fun and we just loved to hear her laugh.
Six months old and just a bit shorter than Pink Panther:
Such a happy seven-month old!
Her hair started laying down on her head around eight months :
Nine months old and mobile!
By ten months, Adelaida could really get around: she would cruise around furniture when she could, and crawl when she couldn't cruise. Getting her to lay still for this photo was tough!
Eleven-month-old Adelaida loved to "perform" on demand: clapping, waving, and repeating sign language back to us. She could also say "da-da" but didn't really add "ma-ma" to her vocabulary for another few months.
One-year-old Adelaida was so much fun! In just one year, she grew from a tiny infant who needed to much attention to an independent, beautiful, smart little girl.
At this point I started taking Pink Panther pictures once every three months instead of every month.
Fifteen-month-old Adelaida was fascinated by tags. And, she could say "ma-ma!" I was so delighted every time I heard her say my name.
Adelaida at eighteen months, with such a cute bellybutton!
Finally, by twenty-one months old, Adelaida was clearly longer than Pink Panther. She had about a nine-month plateau in growing where she didn't grow at all, but seems to have gotten back on track and is now gaining both length and weight, although slowly.
For her two-year Pink Panther picture, Dale had to take Pink Panther into the closet (where Adelaida was sure to follow) to get a decent photo of Adelaida next to Pink Panther!
It has been such a short two years, and yet Adelaida has changed so much. I am looking forward to the next two years with her!
I think these pictures, taken on her month-birthday each month, really show just how much she has grown in the past two years.
Her birth-day, December 20th, 2008. She has come so far from such a rough beginning!
Five days old, just home from the hospital and still too small for her clothes.
One month old, happy to be carried in the laundry basket.
At two months old, she was already so inquisitive, quietly taking in the world around her.
At three months old, Adelaida still liked to snuggle and could fall asleep with me holding her. I miss those days!
Here she is at four months old, with her thumb in her mouth. Surprisingly, she stopped sucking her thumb when she was about nine months old.
By five months, Adelaida would laugh at everything! She was so much fun and we just loved to hear her laugh.
Six months old and just a bit shorter than Pink Panther:
Such a happy seven-month old!
Her hair started laying down on her head around eight months :
Nine months old and mobile!
By ten months, Adelaida could really get around: she would cruise around furniture when she could, and crawl when she couldn't cruise. Getting her to lay still for this photo was tough!
Eleven-month-old Adelaida loved to "perform" on demand: clapping, waving, and repeating sign language back to us. She could also say "da-da" but didn't really add "ma-ma" to her vocabulary for another few months.
One-year-old Adelaida was so much fun! In just one year, she grew from a tiny infant who needed to much attention to an independent, beautiful, smart little girl.
At this point I started taking Pink Panther pictures once every three months instead of every month.
Fifteen-month-old Adelaida was fascinated by tags. And, she could say "ma-ma!" I was so delighted every time I heard her say my name.
Adelaida at eighteen months, with such a cute bellybutton!
Finally, by twenty-one months old, Adelaida was clearly longer than Pink Panther. She had about a nine-month plateau in growing where she didn't grow at all, but seems to have gotten back on track and is now gaining both length and weight, although slowly.
For her two-year Pink Panther picture, Dale had to take Pink Panther into the closet (where Adelaida was sure to follow) to get a decent photo of Adelaida next to Pink Panther!
It has been such a short two years, and yet Adelaida has changed so much. I am looking forward to the next two years with her!
19 January 2011
Nap Time with a Toilet-Training Toddler
We started toilet training about seven weeks ago, and in that time Adelaida has become a pro at using the toilet. She is especially good about peeing in the toilet -- she rarely has accidents and even stays dry during naptime most days. Pooping in the toilet has been more of a challenge: she did great the first month, then got into a routine where she would hold her stool as long as she could, tell us she needed to use the toilet, sit on the toilet for a few minutes and squirm, then stand up and poop. Not quite ideal, but I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually.
Because she was holding her stool in so long, Adelaida was getting a little constipated. To combat this, we added prunes to her diet this weekend. She loves prunes, but we limit her to four a day, because we don't want the opposite problem either!
This morning, four days after starting prunes, Adelaida had a bowel movement in her diaper before I got her out of bed. That was fine with me, because at least she is getting it out. It was a pretty large volume, so I assumed she would wait at least another day or two before having another bowel movement.
Fast-forward to naptime today. She sat on the toilet and peed just before naptime, and I put her down for her nap by reading her a book, tucking her into her toddler bed, and closing the door behind me as I left the room. Adelaida often talks, sings, and plays by herself before nap, so when I heard her singing and walking throughout her room for the first hour of her naptime, I didn't think much of it. Eventually she crawled back in her bed and went to sleep, and slept almost two hours.
When she woke up, I opened the door to her room and found Adelaida, naked from the waist down, sitting on her bed. The room was littered with clothes, blankets, and stuffed animals that she had been playing with for the first hour of naptime. I asked Adelaida where her pants were, she pointed to them across the room and said "pants wet." I thought she might have peed in her pants before nap and taken them off, but they were completely dry. I then looked for her underwear, but as I looked across the floor for her underwear I noticed several brown spots on the carpet that I'm certain hadn't been there before her nap. I finally found her underwear, right next to the door, and next to several more brown spots on the carpet ... and that's when I realized what had happened.
She must have decided, sometime during the first hour of naptime, that she needed to poop. She removed her pants, removed her underwear, and went to the door (headed to the toilet, maybe?). Adelaida can't open the door to her bedroom, so naturally she just squatted down on the floor in front of the door and relieved herself there. At this point she was apparently not yet tired, so continued playing at various places throughout the room -- I could clearly see a poopy butt-print next to her bookcase, another by her closet, and a third by her dresser, as well as several smaller prints that may have been left later. Eventually she was tired, so crawled into bed -- wearing only her shirt -- and slept for two hours. When I opened the door to her room after naptime, the door scooted the poop back, so fortunately I didn't step in it myself!
Of course there was a lot of cleaning up to do this afternoon: Adelaida, her bedroom floor, her bed, every piece of furniture she could touch in her room, and after all of those things were cleaned, me!
This is yet another way I never imagined I'd spend an afternoon! But such is the life of a toddler's parent.
I was so intent on cleaning up the various messes this afternoon that I didn't take any pictures of the mess (fortunately!). Instead, I'll leave you with a picture of Adelaida from last week, when she wanted not only her pants and panties, but also her shirt, off to use the toilet. When she was done on the toilet, she painstakingly put her panties back on and put her shoes on, but wasn't interested in either the pants or the shirt, so she ran around mostly naked for a while -- and quite happy to be mostly naked!
Because she was holding her stool in so long, Adelaida was getting a little constipated. To combat this, we added prunes to her diet this weekend. She loves prunes, but we limit her to four a day, because we don't want the opposite problem either!
This morning, four days after starting prunes, Adelaida had a bowel movement in her diaper before I got her out of bed. That was fine with me, because at least she is getting it out. It was a pretty large volume, so I assumed she would wait at least another day or two before having another bowel movement.
Fast-forward to naptime today. She sat on the toilet and peed just before naptime, and I put her down for her nap by reading her a book, tucking her into her toddler bed, and closing the door behind me as I left the room. Adelaida often talks, sings, and plays by herself before nap, so when I heard her singing and walking throughout her room for the first hour of her naptime, I didn't think much of it. Eventually she crawled back in her bed and went to sleep, and slept almost two hours.
When she woke up, I opened the door to her room and found Adelaida, naked from the waist down, sitting on her bed. The room was littered with clothes, blankets, and stuffed animals that she had been playing with for the first hour of naptime. I asked Adelaida where her pants were, she pointed to them across the room and said "pants wet." I thought she might have peed in her pants before nap and taken them off, but they were completely dry. I then looked for her underwear, but as I looked across the floor for her underwear I noticed several brown spots on the carpet that I'm certain hadn't been there before her nap. I finally found her underwear, right next to the door, and next to several more brown spots on the carpet ... and that's when I realized what had happened.
She must have decided, sometime during the first hour of naptime, that she needed to poop. She removed her pants, removed her underwear, and went to the door (headed to the toilet, maybe?). Adelaida can't open the door to her bedroom, so naturally she just squatted down on the floor in front of the door and relieved herself there. At this point she was apparently not yet tired, so continued playing at various places throughout the room -- I could clearly see a poopy butt-print next to her bookcase, another by her closet, and a third by her dresser, as well as several smaller prints that may have been left later. Eventually she was tired, so crawled into bed -- wearing only her shirt -- and slept for two hours. When I opened the door to her room after naptime, the door scooted the poop back, so fortunately I didn't step in it myself!
Of course there was a lot of cleaning up to do this afternoon: Adelaida, her bedroom floor, her bed, every piece of furniture she could touch in her room, and after all of those things were cleaned, me!
This is yet another way I never imagined I'd spend an afternoon! But such is the life of a toddler's parent.
I was so intent on cleaning up the various messes this afternoon that I didn't take any pictures of the mess (fortunately!). Instead, I'll leave you with a picture of Adelaida from last week, when she wanted not only her pants and panties, but also her shirt, off to use the toilet. When she was done on the toilet, she painstakingly put her panties back on and put her shoes on, but wasn't interested in either the pants or the shirt, so she ran around mostly naked for a while -- and quite happy to be mostly naked!
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