Merry Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and we are in the midst of a family celebration!!! so I am not going to write much.

So much has happened since I posted last: Adelaida's first Thanksgiving, her first independent steps, second cross-country drive, first (two) teeth, first birthday, first family photos, and tomorrow will be her second Christmas! We are in Indiana and having a wonderful time being with our family -- laughing, staying up into the wee hours of the night, and eating way too much!

I haven't forgotten about all of my loyal followers and will be posting about all of these wonderful events when I return to Albuquerque. For now, a picture of Adelaida, with the promise of many more to come.

Merry Christmas Eve to all and have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous new year!

Mastering the Stairs

Dale encourages Adelaida to climb the stairs

A few weeks ago, we decided it was time to teach Adelaida to navigate stairs. We put her on the staircase, with a very desirable toy one step above her, and encouraged her to climb the stairs to get it.

Nothing happened.

Adelaida is standing on a book, but still can't climb the step

Adelaida is a very short little girl, so I thought perhaps her legs were simply too short to go up the stairs -- the steps are as tall as her hips, so it would be like me trying to climb onto the kitchen counter: possible, but not immediately intuitive. We used really thick books to make the step shorter for her (thinking that she'd climb onto the book, and then onto the next step from the book), but she really didn't get the hang of it.

Adelaida enjoys standing on the stairs

I wasn't too disappointed by this, since I think it's more important for her to learn to go down the stairs than up anyway, so we switched gears and tried to teach her to go downstairs. This was quite a bit easier for her and she quickly learned to go down a step, but only when she was placed in the middle of the stairs to begin with. When placed at the top of the stairs, she didn't know to turn around and would try to go down head first. We worked with her going down the stairs for about a week and she got better and better. She took several tumbles during these practice sessions, but none that caused serious damage.

Then, one day when we were practicing going down stairs, Adelaida had gone about three-quarters of the way down the staircase and then suddenly went up one step! I couldn't believe it and tried to get her to do it again, but it was a fleeting skill. I had seen her do it so knew that it was possible, but she wouldn't repeat it.

The next day when I put her in the middle of the staircase, she went down one step and then up three steps! She had a new skill and was eager to try it out. She probably went up the staircase four times that day. Suddenly, I couldn't get her to go downstairs anymore -- all she wanted was to climb the stairs.

I often put Adelaida in the downstairs family room to play while I'm working in the kitchen. I can't see her, but I can hear her making noise and generally check on her periodically when she's in the living room. I was cleaning up after breakfast yesterday and Adelaida was playing in the living room. I could hear her playing with her Legos so wasn't too concerned. I walked into the living room to give her some more food, and couldn't find her -- she wasn't in the living room, she wasn't in the dining room, she hadn't crawled into the sunroom! I didn't quite get to the panicking stage when I heard a little squeak, looked up, and saw Adelaida three-quarters of the way up the staircase, smiling and waving at me.

foam flooring pieces provide a makeshift gate and protection from the tile floor

We don't have any staircase gates, but have been using her foam flooring pieces as both a gate at the bottom of the stairs (it won't keep her from going up the stairs, but should slow her down!) and as padding at the base of the stairs so that, if she does fall, she'll fall onto foam padding rather than ceramic tile.

Thoughts on Birthdays

twelve hours after her birth, Adelaida was in the NICU but doing well

In nine short days, Adelaida is going to be one year old. It's hard to believe that our first year with her has flown by so quickly!

Dale and I have been thinking for a long time about how to best celebrate Adelaida's first birthday (and her future birthdays, and future kids' birthdays!). We've heard from so many people that separating her birthday from Christmas is both important (having separate celebrations reinforces the idea that the child is special) and difficult -- especially with all our family and loved ones out of state, it becomes easy to think "I'll get this present for Adelaida for her birthday, but give it to her when I see her at Christmas."

two-week-old Adelaida snuggles with her Poppa

Dale and I both remember birthday traditions in our families when we were growing up, and they were not elaborate gift-giving or party events, but small, special family affairs: getting a special breakfast, or going with grandparents to a special event (without the siblings!), or getting to pick a restaurant for the family to eat dinner out.

Additionally, Dale and I are fortunate enough to be able to buy anything Adelaida needs and just about anything she wants, so saving a special wished-for item for a birthday present becomes less important.

two-month-old Adelaida, chilling in her chair

With all of these thoughts taken together, we've decided that we'd like to start a birthday tradition for Adelaida (and future children, of course) that celebrates the fact that she is a very special, very loved child whose birth was a joyous occasion for her entire family. We struggled with deciding just how to implement this idea, but finally came up with a birthday tradition that we think will be full of wonderful, lasting memories.

Adelaida and her daddy look at the giraffes

For her birthday, we are going to start a tradition of doing some family event and avoid the more common birthday traditions of presents, birthday cakes, and parties. I imagine that this family event might be as simple as going to the zoo or taking art classes or as elaborate as a ski trip or vacation at a dude ranch. The birthday child will get to choose his or her event (within some parameters) and help with planning the particulars, and of course the events will change with time and be age-appropriate for the birthday child.

almost-one

At almost-one-year-old, Adelaida has been enjoying going to the zoo -- she likes to see the animals and to hear them talk. We've been to the Albuquerque Zoo with her several times, but going to a different zoo would be a real treat for her. Since we will be in Indiana around the time of her birthday, we're considering taking her to the Indianapolis Zoo for her birthday event, if the weather stays nice.

I hope that special events like this will create longer-lasting happy memories that she will always be able to remember and know that she is loved.

Utensils

Note: this post has a video, which may not come through on email or Facebook. If you can't see the video, go to our blog at http://parkesranch.blogspot.com/

Dale feeding Adelaida with a spoon, June 2009

Adelaida's eating habits have evolved over time. At first, we fed her mushed-up food with a spoon, then she graduated to long skinny foods that she could put in her mouth herself and chew on (green beans, steamed carrots, pumpkin slices, banana). She didn't know at first how to let go of the food in her mouth, so she'd eat 3/4 of the carrot and then start to chew on her hand. Eventually, she learned how to put bite-sized pieces of food in her mouth and let go, so she could eat all kinds of finger foods.

Adelaida eating finger food, November 2009

Recently, we've gone beyond finger foods and we are experimenting with spoon food again -- but with Adelaida controlling the spoon! She still likes to bang the spoon on her tray, so thinner foods like yogurt and applesauce go flying everywhere. It's quite a sight! So, we generally feed her the thinner foods and let her feed herself thicker food like thick oatmeal and cottage cheese.

This is a video of Adelaida feeding herself oatmeal. She's actually getting a lot better than she used to be!

The Quest for the Perfect Sippy Cup

I've been involved in a lot of "The Quest for the Perfect (random but very specific thing)" in my life, including:

The Quest for the Perfect Leather Bag (in Italy in 2000, I was a supporting member of this quest)

The Quest for the Perfect Crock Pot (last year)

The Quest for the Perfect Hair Clips (ongoing)

The Quest for the Perfect View (on the Routeburn Track in 2005)

The Quest for the Perfect Cuticle Nippers (I found them once, but can't find another pair!)

The Quest for the Perfect Spot to Propose (all over Europe in 2000 -- I was part of this quest, but didn't realize it at the time)

Most recently, I've been looking for the perfect sippy cup. I've purchased several sippy cups over the past few months, and each time I purchase one, I learn more about them and my criteria become more specific.

The first sippy cup I purchased was based on two factors: color (a very nice blue) and cost (it was very inexpensive). Adelaida looked at it a lot but her little hands were so small that she couldn't grasp it well.

it had handles, but Adelaida couldn't drink out of it!

The second sippy cup had handles. I thought a lot about the handles before I bought the cup and decided it was important that the handles be attached to the top of the cup rather than the bottom of the cup, so that they would always be aligned properly with the spout. Adelaida enjoyed playing with it, and even put the spout in her mouth, but the spout was so hard that she never even tried to suck on it and she didn't like it to be tipped up. I didn't like this sippy cup because it was difficult to clean: a small silicone valve had to be removed and both the valve and spout cleaned, which was not easy because they were so little. I vowed that the next sippy cup would be easier for her to use and easier for me to clean.

the straw sippy cups were hard to clean and hard to drink from

The third and fourth sippy cups (I bought a two-pack because I was certain they were perfect) seemed to solve these problems. It was a sippy cup with a straw in it. The straw was made of silicone, so very easy for her to manipulate, and she wouldn't have to tip it back to drink out of it. The problem was that she had to suck on it for a long time before any water made it all the way up the straw and into her mouth. Additionally, she had to clamp down slightly on the straw while she was sucking so open the valve. These sippy cups got a lot of use, but very little water was transferred to Adelaida's mouth. They were also very difficult to clean, with a straw that came apart in two pieces and a straw closure that had small crevices for food to get stuck.

The best sippy cup ever

Earlier this week, I was shopping and thought I'd just look at the sippy cups. They are all pretty cheap, and we do need Adelaida to be able to drink by herself at some point, so I bought yet another sippy cup.




I took it apart and love everything about it: it is easy to clean, doesn't have any small valves, has a soft silicone spout that is very similar to the bottles Adelaida already drinks from, has handles that are big and easy to grip (they are attached to the bottom of the cup, but there is a mechanism for putting the top on that ensures the handles will align appropriately), has a non-skid bottom so it doesn't fly off the table very easily, and even has a cover so I can throw it in the diaper bag and not worry about the spout getting nasty.

she can drink from it!

The best part was that I gave it to Adelaida and within five minutes she was drinking water out of it! She isn't very good at tipping it back herself yet, so I have to hold it for her while she drinks, but she has started holding it with me and I know she'll learn how to do it soon. And, she loves it! She smiles whenever she sees the cup and laughs after almost every little sip.

Quest completed.

School Pictures

Adelaida had her fall school pictures taken last month. Two things strike me about her in these pictures: she isn't smiling (I think she was too confused by the loud, weird noises the photographer was taking to smile) and her eyes look extremely brown.

A Schedule for Adelaida

Adelaida sleeping in her bouncy chair, one week old

After Adelaida was born, we made it a point to continue doing things we had done before she arrived: things like hiking, going out for dinner occasionally, shopping, and working around the house. We certainly weren't going to leave her behind for any of these events, so got into the habit of taking her with us, wherever we went. She has always been a happy, content baby and was able to sleep anywhere (in the hiking backpack, in the car, in our arms), so this worked out well for all of us.

one-month-old Adelaida sleeps on her Grandpa Steve's chest	sleeping on her Daddy's chest at eight months old

eleven months old, asleep in her crib, legs through the crib slats, with one sock on the floor!

In addition to sleeping well during the day, no matter where she was, Adelaida has also been very good about sleeping in her crib at night. She's been sleeping through the night (most nights) since she was about six weeks old. She'd wake up once during the night about two or three nights a week, want to be fed, then go right back to sleep -- all very reasonable for such a young infant! Because she slept so well from such a young age, Dale and I have always gotten up and taken care of her during the night, never thinking about "weaning" her from the middle-of-the-night feedings.

Adelaida sleeping in her crib, eight months old

All that changed about a month ago, when I started waking Adelaida up before I went to sleep (one to two hours after she had gone to sleep) for an extra nursing session. Within a week, she was waking up every night crying, wanting to be nursed in the middle of the night -- sometimes three or four times a night! I was really struggling with getting enough sleep and considered putting her back to bed without nursing her, but it was just so much easier to nurse her than listen to her cry! And so we found ourselves in a pattern of waking up several times a night with a baby who formerly slept through the night consistently.

asleep in the car, six months old

A month or so before her nighttime sleep patterns changed, we noticed that Adelaida didn't sleep very well (or very often, or very long) unless she was in her crib. She would still sleep in the car, but often for only five or ten minutes of the thirty-minute drive in to Albuquerque, and sleeping on Dale's or my chest during a walk was becoming a rarity. Of course she still needed a lot of daytime sleep, but kept herself awake whenever there were interesting things to see, and refused to sleep when she was over-tired.

All of this added up to a cranky baby, which is not like Adelaida!

before she was mobile, Adelaida often slept in the closet when we traveled! (seven months old)

Earlier this week, we decided to make some changes, starting with a more consistent routine that included frequent naptimes in her own bed. At the same time, I stopped feeding her before I went to bed and are increasing the amount of time between nursings at night. Our new routine goes something like this:

between 5:45 and 6:30: wake up (if she's still asleep at 6:30, we will wake her up)

6:30 - 8:00: nurse, get dressed, eat "first breakfast," play, nurse

8:00 - 9:00: naptime (if she's still asleep at 9:00, wake her up)

9:00 - 12:00: eat "second breakfast," nurse, play, eat lunch, nurse

12:00 - 2:15: naptime (if she's still asleep at 2:15, wake her up)

2:15 - 4:30: nurse, eat midafternoon snack, play, nurse

4:30 - 5:30: naptime (if she's still asleep at 5:30, wake her up)

5:30 - 7:00: play, eat dinner, nurse, play

7:00 - 8:00: bath, pajamas, nurse, quiet play, nurse

8:00 bedtime

A happy, well-rested eleven-month-old baby!

We've only be sticking to this routine for a few days, but it has worked wonderfully! She has been happier during the day, goes down for her naps without any protest, and is sleeping longer stretches at night (including ten hours last night!). This is the happy Adelaida we know and love :)

Learning to crawl

Note: this post has two videos, which may not come through on email or Facebook. If you can't see the video, go to our blog at http://parkesranch.blogspot.com/

This post is a little belated, as Adelaida has been crawling for about two months now (and has reached the point where she prefers cruising to crawling), but the videos were so great that I just had to share them with you. They were taken at the beginning of October, when Adelaida was just learning to make crawling motions and could even propel herself forward, although not very fast. Adelaida learned to make these crawling motions on carpet at our house and couldn't quite figure out what to do on her Uncle BJ and Auntie Rachel's hardwood floors. Adelaida loves her farm animals puzzle.





Together, the videos are two minutes long, and she had been trying to get to the puzzle for a while before I got the camera! If nothing else, she is certainly a determined little girl.

Thanksgiving

It's already a week past Thanksgiving, but I wanted to post this list of things Adelaida is thankful for.

Daddy and Momma

Snuffles Jr

Ms. Vickie and Mrs. Adrienne

mushrooms   gravity (most of the time)

Grandpa Steve and Grandma Mary Jo   combines!

bows for her hair   Murphy and Maggie   playing peek-a-boo

Mamaw   books   tomatoes

 trips to visit family, and having family visit

her friends Shreya, Connor, Anara, and Hamilton

Nonna and Poppa   her music table

all her aunts and uncles    drinking water out of a cup   Legos!

cute little dresses and her elfin-coat

GG and Papaw and Nana and all the other people who love her

puzzles and whiffle balls

naps in the car
being tickled   bathtime

alpacas   the playstructure at the zoo

her friend Liz, who always comes up with great blog post ideas :)

Fun in the Playstructure

The Albuquerque zoo has lots of great features: a big open grassy area for running around, a flock of peacocks (and peahens and peachicks) that roam the zoo loose, excellent animal enclosures that allow you to get close to the animals, and lots of cute baby animals. In my opinion, though, the very best feature of our zoo is the kids play structure in the middle of the zoo! It is a multi-story foam and canvas structure, complete with really fast slides and rope swings and zip lines. The sign outside the structure area says "anyone under four feet may use this play area," but the zoo is generally so empty (at least on weekdays and in the winter) that I've gone in to the structure with Adelaida several times. (We have an annual pass for the zoo and often meet other moms and kids at the zoo for playdates.)

We have so much fun playing there! I took a few pictures of us in the play structure and wanted to share them with you all.

This is Adelaida in an area with a woven canvas floor and large foam noodles hanging from the ceiling.


Adelaida hasn't yet learned to crawl to me when I call her (she could take some lessons from Maggie and Murphy in that!), so I had to tempt her across this section by placing leaves in front of her. She would crawl to the leaves, pick them up, and try to eat them!


She wasn't at all afraid of the foam noodles as they swung into her head. At first she tried to use them to stand up, but gave up since they aren't attached at the base and she couldn't grab onto them very well.


This was a triangular canvas hallway with a curved floor. Adelaida crawled through it without any problem, but couldn't quite figure out how to stand up in it -- she would grasp the side, try to stand, and hit her head on the side as it sloped inward. (Think about how small this enclosure is and remember that I was crawling through it all with Adelaida -- so much fun!)


This was taken on a cooler day, with Adelaida all bundled up. She was having so much fun crawling around!


Dale took Adelaida down one of the slides. I'm sure she had no idea what was happening, but Dale sure enjoyed it!


Dale coached Adelaida through an area with large noodles attached to both the floor and ceiling. She really wanted to stand up on those!


I plan to visit the zoo as much as I can with Adelaida, and it doesn't really matter to me if we see the new baby elephant or the snow leopards or get to feed the lorikeets, but we'll definitely be visiting the play structure every time we are at the zoo!