Captured!

Daisy, shortly after her climbing expedition, looking very pleased with herself.

Yesterday we put Daisy down for a nap and, when we checked her on the video monitor, noticed her head was conspicuously close to the camera lens. Yes, she had managed to pull herself up to kneeling and then almost standing, using the crib bars!

So, at less than 7 months, we've had to lower the crib mattress down all the way to the toddler-bed level. Boy, let me tell you, it was a real reach to put her down last night!

Last night was also an experience in watching Daisy really propel herself across the room with her new crawling skills. She still does not have a fluid motion going yet but she muddles along quite sufficiently. Put her binkie on the other side of the room and watch her go!

Ayyyy Karumba!

Halloween Play Date

This month's play date for Daisy was at Aunty Natalie's house and all the kids dressed-up in their Halloween costumes (or, in the case of Daisy, Halloween v.1)

Although most of the munchkins were not at all impressed by being dressed up in plush, we made it through and had a good time anyway. (The wine kinda helped!)

Full of personality

An email I got from my medical group about Daisy's development this week talked about the emergence of a personality in, what was previously, just our ball of cuteness. Of course, I think Daisy has always had her own little quirks and characteristics but it is true that, right about now, I'm starting to see more of the kind of girl she's going to be.

The email asked these questions and I thought it was fun to consider what the answers meant to who Daisy might be in a few years...

When she reaches for a new toy, does she keep trying until she grasps it? Or can she be satisfied by something within her reach? Depends on her mood. Mostly she'll try and then, if she gets frustrated, move on to something else.

When you take her to new places, does she explore or does she watch? Previously I would have said watch, because you definitely see her taking everything in. But now that she is getting more mobile and aware, I would say explore. She's into everything these days - hands, mouth, eyes... all busy trying to make sense of everything around her. At today's Halloween play date, she rolled around the floor trying to find the hardest thing to touch and, potentially, smack her head against. I can see she's going to keep me quite busy!

Does she try to get the attention of new people, or does she become quieter? Oh, she's definitely going to be an attention-seeker. Daisy loves nothing more than an audience. In fact, she is happier with more people around her rather than less because it keeps her interested. If you leave her in a room on her own she cries yet if you put her on the floor in a room of people, she'll happily play away on her own.

What do I conclude from all of this? That she's going to be an impatient, adventurous, social-bunny.

I LOVE IT!

And, we're off...

Daisy is getting more mobile by the minute and it's becoming scary because the developments and milestones seem to be picking up speed.

Ready or not - here I come!!

Strength and determination meets coordination.

First there was last week's crawl-and-flop and now she's actually able to get from a crawling to a sitting position and back again. This morning she also began a more efficient transfer of weight from her hands to her legs, meaning she can actually move one arm in front of the other. (Before the legs were moving separately but the arms worked in unison - hence, the "crawl and flop".)


Haha! You're in so much trouble Mum and Dad!

Moving on from just grabbing things randomly and stuffing them into her mouth, Daisy is also trying to stack, turn and pull things. She tries to put her cups in or one one another (not successfully but you see her thought process in action), turns the handle on her jack-in-the-box, and tries to pull open the drawers on the entertainment center.

Oh, and we also don't like socks. Having grown up, mostly, in summer heat, Daisy thinks anything going on her feet is just plain silly. She routinely pulls one sock off on her walks, usually her right because she finds that easiest.

Up-down-up-down. Left-right-left-right

Daisy is reaching for higher ground and trying to pull herself up. Using very little of our support, she can push up on her legs to get from sitting to standing. Once standing she wants to march around the living room, deciding her own trajectory, which is usually toward something that she can't have: favorites include any sort of paper and a coffee cup. She also likes to stamp on over to her toy box and pick out her own toys. She leans over, examine her options, and then carefully grabs the one that takes her fancy. I have to say, I'm all for the last development - it takes the guesswork out of whatever will keep her entertained!

A walker that isn't.


Outta my way, puppies!

Brandy brought over her daughter's old jumperoo a few weeks ago and we have been using it in the kitchen to allow us to make food as well as introduce Daisy into the dogs' territory. She started off by just moving around, back and forth, in it, more interested in interacting with the dogs than by actually jumping. Then she progressed to flinging herself around like a crazy chick and then she realized that, with the right amount of forward momentum, she could actually move the jumperoo forward across the floor. And so, the jumperoo has become a reluctant walker.

This weekend she actually made it between the kitchen counter top and the refrigerator, into the kitchen, then back through again (with a little guidance from mummy and daddy to avoid scratching the fridge doors.) Thankfully we don't have a real walker (and don't intend to purchase one) because she would be bouncing off of every wall for sure. Oy vey!

A feast for the senses.

Textures and sounds are of more interest now than they have ever been. You can literally see her little brain ticking away as she clenches her hand around something smooth and then moves to something with texture, similarly for something hard and something maleable. She'll move her hand back and forth from one to the other, examining the way each feels.

Daisy also seems to have an appreciation now for the different sounds things make when she bangs them together. She'll bang her cups together over and over again and then grab something soft and bang one of her cups against that, seemingly (at least to me) taking in the difference in the sounds she creates. (I see pots and pans in our near future!)

Houdini Baby

Although she has never much liked being restrained in anything - swing, bouncer, car seat, stroller, high-chair - Daisy has begun to move beyond simple complaining about her situation and on to finding a solution. She now intently watches you as you strap her in and then spends time trying to figure out how to either (a) unlock it herself or (b) wiggle herself out of it.

At a restaurant on Saturday night, she managed to twist and get her leg out of the high chair restraints, almost launching herself over the side. Fun!

Weekend Report Part One: Apples on the hill.








It's amazing how much more Daisy takes in now. Rather than being just a pure, excited observer of the the world around her, she is now trying to figure things out and find ways to participate. That makes it much more fun to take her to new places and show her new things.

This Saturday was my mum's birthday and so we headed up to Apple Hill for an afternoon traversing some orchards. For those of you that don't live locally, Apple Hill is literally a town of apple orchards and, in the fall during harvest, the orchards open up the gates and become mini theme parks for families: pony rides, petting zoos, face-painting, corn mazes, craft fairs, and pumpkin patches meet fresh-baked apple pies, turnovers, and caramel apples. There are around 50 orchards in a few mile radius (with a few wineries thrown in for good measure) and, if you so wanted, you could spend all weekend driving from one to the other. We only had a few hours in the afternoon (more than enough for a 6 month old) and so we hit two orchards: Apple Ridge Farms and Kids, Inc.

At Apple Ridge Orchards we fed goats and sheep (and I got bitten on the finger by one cheeky little lamb), marveled at moo-moo cows, laughed at bunnies, and got lots of carmel stuck in our teeth (the latter being Hubby and I, not Daisy.) At Kids, Inc., we ran through a corn maze, walked through the orchards, and picked out a pumpkin for Daisy's halloween pictures. Then, before we drove home, we stopped at a Bake Shop and bought pies and turnovers galore. All of which was quite enough for a Saturday afternoon with a 6 month old, let me tell you. Poor Daisy was a zombie all Sunday, bless her, although she was clearly having a good time.

Weekend Report Part Two: Swings and slides and paddles.

Despite not being as high in spirits as she usually is, we still managed to fit in a couple of fun, if more low key, activities on Sunday.

We started off by Grandad coming over to erect the swing and slide contraption that Nanny bought.

(Don't talk to Grandad about this unless you want a string of expletives... easy it was not!)





Later just the three of us went to Lake Natoma (minus camera) for a quiet (if expensive - $10 for parking!) walk around the park and along the water. We brought salads and sandwiches and enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather while watching ducks. We finished the day's activities by dipping Daisy's feet in the lake, which she enjoyed immensely, soaking her Dad and herself by splashing her feet around like a crazy child.

We definitely need to make it over there more, especially with the lovely fall weather and the fact that the place is less than 5 minutes from where we live. It's uncrowded, has gently sloping beaches, and beautiful picnic spots, not to mention it hooks-up with the Folsom>Downtown bike trail and so the walking opportunities are endless.

And so ended a lovely weekend...

More photos from Apple Hill, here.

SUPERWOMAN? Sadly, not I.

A friend sent me this as a fun email today and it made me stop and think for a second. Although I certainly do not do all this AND can, thankfully, say that I have a husband who is more-than helpful in many of these areas, I have somewhat been feeling lately that I've been letting the whole clan down on the supermom job. I'm mad at myself for having so many needs in my own health, exercise, and nutrition department that take away from my ability to work (the money-making kind), spend time with Daisy, and/or get things done around the house. It's like a 3-legged stool that's always off balance.

This email, however, reminds me that it's largely unrealistic. None of us are supermommies. Ok, maybe some people get closer to the goal than others but, for most of us, we do what we can do. We strive for a balance of happy kid(s), good marriage, nice house, and some time to focus on ourselves. Some days we fail miserably and that just has to be ok. Continually setting ourselves the target of reaching the moon every day is just not realistic. I'll settle for making it upstairs to bed at night.

Enjoy...

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes. There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry,and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in moneyfor groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives,and send cards out on time--no emailing. Each man must alsotake each child to a doctor's appointment,a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment. He must makeone unscheduled and inconvenient visit per childto the Urgent Care.

He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function. Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times. The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed. During one of the six weeks,the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches,and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find timeat least once to spend the afternoonat the park or a similar setting.

They will need toread a book to the kids each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information:

each child's birthday,height, weight,shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name.Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name,f avorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.The last man wins only if... he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right To be called Mother!

Poo Poo the Flu?

I have to say I was pretty astonished to read on Facebook today that many mothers are choosing not to vaccinate their babies for swine flu and that many of them have received advice from their pediatricians not to do so.

My initial reaction was: WTF? But then I moved to... ok, is this something I should be more worried about?

Pretty much everything I have seen or read seems to be telling me that:

1. The H1N1 virus has a higher incidence of serious illness or death in young children.
2. It spreads faster than the regular flu because it does not mutate the same way.
3. The H1N1 vaccine was developed the same way as the regular flu vaccine which many of the same moms are still getting their kid vaccinated with.

Our pediatrician recommended that Daisy get both the regular flu vaccine (shot #1 of which she has already had) and the H1N1 vaccine, as soon as it becomes available (whenever that might be.) She also recommended that Hubby and I do the same.

So, I'm a bit confused. Where is the fear of the vaccine coming from? Maybe there's some piece of research or a valid medical concern that I'm missing? I'm willing to hear it but I can't find it.

It seems like we've switched from complete and utter fear that the swine flu would eliminate mankind in a matter of months, to fear of the 'cure' itself. (Of course, I know a vaccine is not a cure, per se.)

I'm certainly not judging the mothers who are choosing not to vaccinate their kids (I'm sure they have good reasons) but, personally, I'm much more concerned about the pretty high likelilhood (given that the plastic bubble isn't an option) that Daisy will get the swine flu if I don't vaccinate her, than I am about her maybe experiencing some kind of rare side effect from the vaccine itself.

Thoughts?

BABIES ARE NOT PEAS!

I'm getting a bit irked with the number of people who insist that I should provide a brother or sister for Daisy; people who just can't seem to understand that I'm serious when I say that one is the perfect number.

The typical response is something like: "Never say never" or "You say that now..." as if I'm a three year old who won't eat peas and will eventually grow out of it.

First of all, if you fall into this camp, let me say four things:

1. You clearly don't know me well. When I make my mind up, I make my mind up. It's made up. Get over it. (Incidentally, this is not a unilateral decision - Hubby agrees - but this post is about me.)
2. You don't live in my body and have not been through the roller-coaster of physical limitations and pain that I have in the past 18 months. I do not want another c-section and I don't think my hip could handle another pregnancy without more, lasting damage. Ergo, I do not want another hip surgery. All surgeries, ix-nay. Gettit?
3. I am not evangelizing single-childhood to you as if it's the only, possible and sensible way forward. Should I be running around telling all my mommy friends "Oh, you say you want another one now, but you just wait..."?
4. Babies are not peas! You can spit peas out. Any mother attest you can not do the same with babies.

I think a lot of this attitude comes from people who have siblings and just can't imagine being an only child. I get this. I can't imagine having to share my parents with a brother or sister, although I suspect I would have been equally as happy if I did. So it makes sense that the opposite would be true.

There is also the myth of the only child: spoiled, aggressive, selfish, socially inept, lonely, and maladjusted - something that dates back to the late 1800s and some idiot called G. Stanley Hall who called being an only child a "disease". (Thanks for the lifelong stigma, Stan.)

Since then I like to think we've evolved (but maybe I'm too hopeful.) The science bears me out. There have been hundreds and hundreds of research studies that show that only children are no different from their peers. In fact a landmark 20-year study showed that increased one-on-one parenting produces higher education levels, higher test scores and higher levels of achievement. (Can you see me sticking my tongue out and thumbing my nose at you right now?)

A generation ago, only 10 percent of families had only children. Today that percentage has more than doubled. Daisy will likely be one of more than 6 kids in her class who is an only child. The change, by the way, is largely because it costs between $200,000 and $300,000 to raise one child to the age of 17.

(Pause for a moment to avoid hyperventilating. Arrgh! I mean, ARRGGGHHH!)

Many of my friends lovingly call me "spoiled". I've happily lived with that definition for 34 years because I choose to redefine it. To me it means that I have had the undivided attention and financial resources of two loving parents. Given that, why should I be ashamed or apologetic? However, I take umbridge at the assertion that I am a "spoiled" (as in ruined) person any way as a result of that. Although I'm sure that parts of my personality are attributable to being an only child (good and bad), I also can pinpoint many other life experiences that have shaped the person I am today. I know or have met many people with siblings who are aggressive, selfish, socially inept, and (especially) maladjusted. Some of these people are exactly that way because of their siblings.

We are who we are for many different reasons and people. You can't just point to the things you dislike about someone and say it's because he or she is an only child; it's a cop-out, quite frankly.

Further, the other reaction from my (our) decision seems to be that we are (or more specifically me, since everyone would never believe such a thing of my ever-likeable husband and, of course, because he is not an only child himself) selfish. They believe that we don't want to make the sacrifices necessary to have another child (about which they would be right) and they somehow put this in a negative light. It's sort of extended from those overbearing parents who look down on couples who choose to be childless as if they are pariahs of society. This just makes me laff, laff, laff because it's so dumb. There are way too many children born into this world to parents who either didn't plan them, didn't want them, and/or who were ill-equipped to raise them. Isn't it better to be self-aware enough to realize what you want out of life and pursue that rather than having a baby because society says you should?

I, personally, took a long time coming to the decision that it was time to be a mother. Notice I didn't say "have a baby". Too many people think about having a baby as just that - having a baby. They don't think about the time, money, physical and emotional energy it takes to raise that child once it's here. They forget it's a lifelong decision. I, however, thought about it. A lot. I was shit scared. I wavered right up until the December before we started trying. I sat on a beach in Mexico with my Hubby and weighed the pros and cons. We loved our life, we were doing ok financially, we were having a good time. Did we want to mess with that?

Of course, I'm glad we did - I love my little sausage chops with all my heart and I look forward to every new day of watching her learn and grow - but I'm done. I know that. I know what I want from life and I know I'll have to give up a little bit more of that again if I have another child. Health issues aside, that's not something I am comfortable with. I wake up every day loving my life, my husband (my best friend), my daughter, my family. Now why would I want to mess with that?

As for Daisy, she is a sociable little kid. I'll bring her up that way because that's how I am. Of course, she'll be her own person within that and I'll have to take my cues from her, but I'll do what I can to show her the joy of sharing her life with those around her.

Meanwhile, from her Daddy she'll get compassion, sensitivity, and a caring heart. From her Nanny, she'll get a joy for life and a sense that anything is possible. From her Grandad she'll learn the power of a few chosen words and that love is just as valid when given in actions as well as words. Finally, her Grammie will teach her that it's ok to be a little unconventional and to slow down, not buy into society's pressures. Maybe she'll still be stubborn and bossy but I certainly won't conclude that it's because I failed her by not giving her a sibling. She'll be what she's going to be because, you know, she already is.

Babies are not peas. All peas look and taste the same. My Daisy will be an individual that thrives because she is loved and wanted. What more does she need?

On that note, for those of you who have not seen them yet, here are some pics of sausage chops herself at our recent photo shoot...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37135&id=1061916609&ref=mf

Happy weekend!

Motherhood makes the mind loopy

I think most of you who know me at least a little but would agree that I am not, typically, neurotic. I think, as one of my friends said today to me in an email, I am fairly sensible vs. sensitive. In other words, my brain kicks in and tells my heart when it's been a dumbass... most of the time.

Yeah, well, Monday was not one of those times.


On Monday, my nanny, Brandy, took an emergency gig with my friend, Natalie, babysitting her daughter of the same age, Mackenzie. (For those of you who don't remember, Mackenzie was born 1.5 days after Daisy in the same hospital and Natalie and I were in Lamaze classes together. The stars aligned and we are friends.)

Mackenzie is adorable. Lots of reddish-brown hair, pink, round cheeks, and a rosebud mouth - a total scene-stealer, just like her mom. Natalie is a hot momma, having lost all her weight like, 24 hours after she had Mack. (Her recent post about fitting into her pre-pregnancy jeans on Facebook got me putting down a cookie in a hurry!) They live in a lovely, big, new, immaculately clean and tidy house in El Dorado Hills, about ten miles east of me.

I was so happy that Brandy could help out Natalie because Daisy loves her Aunty Brandy and I knew that Mackenzie would be in safe hands with her.

Yes, well, that was until I emailed Brandy to see if everything was going well. We chatted about how cute Mackenzie was, how amazing Natalie's house was, how great she looked after the baby... and I started to panic. (Natalie - it was all nice and full of envy, I promise!)

What if Brandy likes Mackenzie better than Daisy? What if she thinks Mackenzie is cuter, or more fun, or less of a hassle to babysit? What if she came back to work with Daisy and sat there thinking: Mackenzie wouldn't have done that. Mackenzie was much easier to look after. Mackenzie was better at this. Worse, still, what if she wound-up sitting in my living room thinking what a filthy, lazy, fat housewife and a terrible mother I was????

I know, right? Who is this person occupying my brain????

Seriously, motherhood makes the mind loopy. Never before have I doubted and questioned so much.

Of course, I am over it. I love my house. I would like it to be tidier and cleaner but pah, whatever. My daughter is challenging and fun and adorable and I know her Aunty Brandy loves her. And as for my hang-ups about my physique - I'm actually getting tired of hearing myself on this topic. I give it a big whatever. I still look good with some make-up and the right clothes on.

So... my head kicked in. A little late. But beter late than never. Jeez!

Country boys and girls gettin' down on the farm

This weekend we went to a local pumpkin patch with the Tings. Daisy got to have her first hay ride, sit on her first giant pumpkin, pick her first pumpkin, and (most importantly of all) dress up like a little farmer girl from the mid-west. Yes, we have an outfit for EVERY purpose.


On the 40lb pumpkin


Taking a rest after stacking some hay. (It could happen!)


And what dirty little secret is Uncle Joss whispering into cousin Ezra's ear?


Push, cousin Adah! PUSH!


Pumptings! Haha. I crack myself up!


"Now, Daisy... do you think you could carry THIS one?"


"You toucha my pumpkin, I smasha your face!"

And the winner is...

The Floppy Seat





Yes, after much hullabaloo, we made a choice on the Shopping Cart Cover - The Floppy Seat in Paisley.

(If you missed the significance of this monumental purchase, please see The Great Shopping Cart Cover Shopping Expedition)

The bottom line is that I wanted something now, not in November, didn't want to spend $80 with shipping, and wanted something soft. Floppy met all those needs being $39 and immediately available at Babies R Us.

We have already used it on a shopping cart (or trolley, as we like to call it in England) as well as on a couple of restaurant high-chairs and it's been a hit as you can see below.


Daisy absolutely loves sitting on the restaurant high-chair as she can look around at everyone in the restaurant. She actually looks somewhat miffed when she watches people walk past our table and they don't stop and "goo" at her. Clearly she thinks herself VERY important. (Of course, I have NOTHING to do with that.)

Using it on the 'trolley', however, didn't go as well. First of all, she's still a bit small for the child seat and tends to flop from one side to the other (reason why I wanted something very padded.) Secondly, parental malfunction resulted in it slipping off one side of the cart and, before we knew it, Daisy's chops were munching on the corner of the dirty shopping cart. Ack! Since this is exactly what we were hoping to prevent, this was a tad upsetting.

All those germs are good for her immune system, right?

6 month stats and parental neglect

Today was Daisy's 6 month check-up and shots.

Here are her vitals:

Weight: 16lbs - 50%.
Height: 26" - 55%.
Head: 42cms - 40%

Yay! We caught up with our height! We've been 25% for height and 50% for weight almost all the way through until now. As a shortie myself (5'1" with a 29" inseam) this makes me very happy.

Like every other parent, we had an in-depth discussion with our pediatrician about the swine-flu. Every pediatrician is a little different in their advice but ours confirmed most of what we've been hearing on the TV news - two shots, 3 weeks apart, should be available by the end of the month.

We also talked to her about our planned vacation to Jamaica, since one of my mommy friends cancelled her trip to Hawaii on the recommendation of her pediatrician because of fears of catching the swine flu on the plane. Our pediatrician, however, had a different take on things. She said that there was no more significant risk of catching the flu from an airplane than there is from going to the grocery store. Going to day-care or school is the greatest risk for any child right now and, since Daisy is cared-for at home, she is protected more than most right now. This did lead us to ask about our weekly visits to Gymboree and this is where she suggested we make a sacrifice. It makes sense. There is just no way that those places can clean every germ from every toy or surface.

So, plane-rides in, Gymboree out. I can handle that!

Parental Neglect

Last night I had my very first bad-mommy moment.

After Brandy left, I had one more email I had to respond to so I took Daisy upstairs with me while I replied. At first I thought I could do it while she was on my lap but then she turned into wriggly-worm and I decided it would be faster if I plopped her on the floor with something to chew on.

As I was putting her down, I did think to myself "I'll have to keep a good eye on her in case she falls back and hits her head on the legs of my chair." This, however, should have been my cue to change strategies because, not one minute after I put her down, despite checking on her every third word I typed, I heard a clunk against my chair. Yep, she had turned and flopped directly onto the wheel on the foot of my chair - head first!

I picked her up and, of course, she was screaming. She was so red in the face and squirming around so much that I couldn't even tell if she had really hurt herself, so I had to carry her to a mirror to take a look. There, just above the socket of her left eye, was a huge red bump, swelling like crazy. I ran downstairs and grabbed something to ice it (I knew those boob cooling packs would come in handy post pregnancy!) and, even though she was screaming like crazy, iced it on-and-off for a good five minutes. I think it was this that saved me because, despite looking like she was going to have a black eye last night, you can barely see anything this morning.

I beat myself up about this all night. If only I had listened to my first instinct!

Then I began to worry that, if I, the most careful and forethinking of all her caregivers (at least in my humble opinion) could let something like this happen to her, then what tragedies would befall her with everyone else????

Yep, time to take a deep breath there, mumma!

Thankfully Hubby was understanding and made me feel a lot better about myself. Which was just as well considering that he managed to scratch up her belly pretty good today on his sunglasses.

Upon seeing just how mobile our little scallywag is, our pediatrician did mention child-proofing our house (which we will be doing in the coming weeks) but I'm actually more worried about parent-proofing the child!

Baby Malletts

On Saturday, Daisy turned 6 months old. Whooooah! It's pretty unbelievable that, 6 months from now, we'll be planning her one year birthday party. (Ok, in reality, planning will probably start 4 months from now.)

With our DSLR, mini camera, and handycam at the constant ready, I have had to now stop identifying pictures and video by the week and begin using just the month. It has been getting just too hard to remember which week we're on! To-date I have taken 2,204 pictures or short-videos, amounting to almost 9GB of space on my PC. And yes, it's all backed-up on a removable hard drive .

Tomorrow is her 6-month check-up at the pediatrician's so I'll post weight/height stats then but for today just a quick catch-up on some new and exciting things Daisy has been up to.

Baby Malletts

When laying on her back now, Daisy smacks her legs on the floor (or against whatever might be in her way) with such force that we've come to call them Baby Malletts. When you think about it, this kid must have KILLER abs. Have you tried to lay on your back and lift your legs like this over-and-over-again? I'm considering adding this to my workout routine. I'm serious! I think we could learn a thing or two about muscle conditioning by watching babies!



Party Party Party!

Daisy had 3 parties to attend this past weekend. The first two were sort-of joined - her nanny, Brandy, has two girls and both of their birthdays are so close together that they decided to do one big double-header this past Saturday. Her daughter, Lizzie, is one and her eldest, Chloe, just turned four. Unfortunately, Mummy here forgot the camera and so I don't have any pictures to post BUT Daisy had a great time watching all the older kids jump up-and-down on the bounce-house.

On Sunday was cousin Adah's third birthday. I already can't believe that it was as long ago as three years when I held my first ever niece for the first time. Here I am below holding Adah when she was just one day old.

The only picture folder on my computer to rival Daisy's is Adah's with 750 photos and almost 3GB of space.






















Every year Adah has had a birthday party and each year I take it upon myself to be the unofficial photographer. With that in mind, here is a trip down memory lane with a pic from her 1, 2, and now 3 year birthday parties. One of these days I'm going to be doing this with Daisy's pics. Scary!































My sister- and brother-in-law did a great job of prepping a fantastic 3 year old's party in their park-like back yard. With plenty of toys to play on, cake and a pinata, it was a great way to spend our Sunday morning!

As for my little scallywag, she had a great time being held by friends and family as well as watching all the other kids race around.

Adah gives Daisy advice on how to score the biggest piece of cake at her first birthday party while Grammie watches on.

Cuddles with Uncle Ju'tin. Uncle Ju'tin lives in San Diego and so Daisy is under strict orders to suck up to him at every available opportunity, for beach vacations, Legoland and SeaWorld visits! (Just kidding, Justin, we're coming to visit you, of course.)


Sharing a joke with Grandad. (Probably about Nan!)


Being squished by Mummy.


Uh, oh! Telling on Grandad about that joke!


After all that partying, Daisy and I decided to chill at home with the puppies, a camera, and a mirror. As you can see, much fun was had by all!