Hysteria at the doc and tales of teething...

No, she's not crying.  This is her response when I asked her to smile for the camera.

"Dtar"

Her new favorite activity: taking the bottom out of her dolly 

cradle and sitting in it (on the floor). 

Amelia had her 15 month check up recently.  She weighs 23.8 lbs, 83rd percentile if I remember correctly, she's 31 inches tall which puts her in the 97th percentile for height (wow, I was surprised by this one) and her head is still off the charts.  No surprise there.  She's still got some cradle cap going on her scalp, stubborn stuff.  Not much to report as she's tip top as usual.  We are always so thankful for this report.  What we are not thankful for is the hysteria that ensues when the doctor simply walks in the room.  That's all he has to do is just walk in and one look at his long white coat and his black stethoscope wrapped around his neck and she's in full on hysteria mode.  He's not even the one who gives her the shots, for crying out loud.  We love doctor Frank but if I thought switching to a different doc would help the situation, I'd do it.  Unfortunately, we've found it's this way with all medical personnel.  So we pray that it's just a phase, a very sad one at that, and that will end soon!  It's terribly difficult to conduct any type of conversation with Dr. Frank while this goes on as she clings to me, and buries her face in my neck while screaming.  Amazingly, Ford has been able to be at every appointment so far and bless him, he does his best to distract and entertain her (though she won't let anyone hold her but me).  Sometimes this works, for half of a minute and as soon as Dr. Frank moves in his squeaky chair, she's clinging harder and crying again as if to say "mama, don't let that guy come near me!"  So sad, poor kid.  Doctor visits stink.

Onto teething.  Amelia has 12 teeth now.  Top 4 incisors, bottom four incisors, and 1st molars and she's eating chicken and turkey with the best of them.  She is now cutting her eye teeth, otherwise known as canines or cuspids.  I have heard and read that these 4 can be the most painful for babies.  She's certainly acting as if this is true.  Biting on things, chomping on her mommy shirt and wash cloths, even bitten down Ford and I a few times.  She's been displaying general crankiness and poor sleeping at night.  It's amazing how these poor sleeping spells come around again and again...just when you think you've got it licked, we're up 3 times a night or for an hour or two at a time.  And I find myself questioning myself all over again, just like I did when she was 6 months, a year...is it really her teeth or is she playing me for some mommy snuggle time?  After analyzing it all, this time I do believe it's teeth and am treating it as such and this has helped with the sleep trouble a bit.  But just a bit. So we take it a night at at time and pray for the best!  

The latest obsession in Amelia's life...toe jam.  Yes, she's discovered the sock fuzzes between her toes.  She spends great lengths of time sitting down and pulling her foot up as close to her face as she can get it so she can inspect between all of her toes.  In the morning while I'm changing her diaper, she sticks her feet in my face and spreads her toes...her way of asking me to do the inspecting for any footie pajama toe fuzz.  I do it.  Yes, I do.  And she's always so happy and satisfied when all is free and clear.  Clean toes, so liberating.

Mama and Dada

I've mentioned before that Amelia thinks that all images of princesses are "Mama."  But today, while Ameila and I did a little shopping at the grocery store, she finally revealed who "Dada" is...

Thanksgiving and Uncle John's Donuts

Ameila enjoying an Uncle John's Donut.  Pumpkin variety.

mmmm...donuts.

Hard at work painting a Christmas tree complete with "dtar"

Happy Thanksgiving.  We continue to give thanks for our many blessings.  For health, for family, friends, for the food on our table, warm beds to sleep in, and for miracles.  We are truly blessed as a family and thankful to have all of you in our lives.  It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by since Amelia's first Thanksgiving. If you remember, we made the long trek to Michigan, by car, and zipped around from place to place over the short weekend to share in the many holiday festivities.  And if you also remember, Amelia was OVERloaded, I'll never forget it, and she and I spent most of the holiday tucked away in various bedrooms!  This year, although a year older and a much different baby, we stayed in Nashville for Thanksgiving.  It was tough not being with family but we enjoyed a quiet day with our own little family and even prepared the entire Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings.  Amelia, however, did not care for Thanksgiving dinner, except the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie of course.  Maybe next year.  

Big news and also a reason to give thanks...three dozen Uncle John's donuts made their way down to Nashville this weekend.  After mentioning on my facebook page back in September, that I was wishing for a warm pumpkin donut from Uncle John's Cider Mill in St. John's, MI, close to where I grew up, Aunt Mary Sue made it her personal quest to get us some of these delectable treats.  (One of the things I miss about fall in Michigan are the trips to the apple orchards.  Tennessee does not produce apples, at least in our area, and therefore there are no apple orchards and consequently no cider mills and ultimately, no freshly baked pumpkin and cider cake donuts).  The donuts finally made it South, along with a gallon of fresh Michigan cider, via personal delivery by the Cole family, friends of Mary Sue, who traveled to Nashville to visit their daughter for Thanksgiving.  Can you even believe it?  Above you will notice Amelia enjoying a nice pumpkin donut.  A special THANK YOU goes out to Auntie Mary for working so hard to make sure Amelia did not miss out on this fall tradition!  We are thankful for you, Mary.  :)

 

Language EXPLOSION!

Saturday morning...relaxing in the sun and twirlin' hair.

Pumpkin and chalk purse.

Little old lady, or what?

Big girl.

...it's happening.  She's trying out all kinds of words.  Some she's commited to her vocab for regular use and others she just tries out, or repeats if she's asked to.  It's amazing to watch it happen right before our eyes.  She's jabbering more than ever before with hilarious inflection and animated facial expressions, just like she's talking and asking questions.  Her favorite jabbering phrase, is:  "jaba-jaba-jaba-jaba-joe". To which I answer" "jaba-jaba-jaba-jaba-joe?"  To which she replies..."butha-butha-butha-babeeee, baby."  

old favorites: baba (bottle, which is acutally a sippy cup or any type of drink), baby, mama, dadee, up, bear, and of course the ever popular animal sounds...

New ones include:  star, wa-wa (water), down, boo, bath, please, cheese, Jesus, cracker, Gi Gi (her dolly), bumpa, mam-ma, Pat (Grandma Pat),  juice, blue, I-I (her friend, Ivey)

Phrases:  "mama, bath!"  (this was a demand, actually, made to me after Ford already told her she didn't need a bath).  And her first phrase was actually: "dada baba" which was in reference to Ford's beer bottle :)  Nice one. 

It just happens, all of the sudden!  You can actually see the wheels turning and the determination and desire to communicate.  She is growing up, right before my eyes.  Any minute now she's going to be asking for a puppy. 

And perhaps one of my favorite things she communicates right now is this...

Usually at meal time I am in a scramble to get the cooking done and the kitchen cleaned up and the dishwasher unloaded...and all the while, Amelia tends to try to roam about freely into other rooms and out of my sight.  So that I can keep my eye on her, I put her in her high-chair and get her started with some food while I cook.  So, she's well into her meal before I sit down to eat with her at lunch time.  The same usually goes at dinner time when Ford and I both sit down with her, she's usually already started her meal.  So, here it is...without fail, whether it's just me or both Ford and I, as soon as we take our seats, all on her very own Amelia stops eating and folds her hands to pray.  

Every time.  

As soon as we are all seated as a family, she knows it's time to pray.  Sadly, I have to admit, in the craziness and hustle to get everything done and everyone fed, I tend to forget sometimes.  I am always so grateful for the reminder and, everytime, so amazed that she remembers this very important activity...praying as a family and thanking God for our blessings. 

Girls' Weekend

Playing in the rain.

Breakfast in my cow hat.

Let me see, mama!! 

Oh, that's a funny hat...

Participating in fall fun fest at the Nashville Library. 

All serious about her crafts.

"How's it going?  Wanna play beads with me?  You have nice hair...I think I'll touch it."

...and the boy runs away.

Well, Girls' Weekend was a success.  It was long, challenging at times, but a good weekend.  Ford attended a music festival in Florida, which was also a success by the way.  He had a good time but missed us greatly and we missed him.  Here's a quick recap of our weekend together...

Friday, rain, all day.  We decided to try out Ameila's new raincoat and played for a bit in the drizzle and puddles.  Amelia seemed quite serious and melancholy during our little romp in the rain...it was just that kind of day I guess.  After that we headed out to search for a Halloween costume which is proving to be harder than I thought.  We have a perfectly cute and appropriate lion costume sent to us from her cousins however, Amelia will not go near it.  She thinks it's pretty cool from a distance but there is no way she's going to actually put it on on Friday.  So, what will she agree to be for Halloween?  A princess?  A fairy?  A butterfly?  If I can't find an appropriate costume in the next few days, she may just be a homemade cow.  See photo of cow hat above..another hand-me-down from her cousins, she loves this hat.  She actually enjoys wearing it.  Anyway, looking back, it seems that the best costumes of childhood were the ones we made up, improvised, dug in the backs of drawers and our parents closets to find just the right ensemble.   So stay tuned.  But, she might just be a baby. :)  That night we went out for dinner where we shared a bowl of broccoli cheese soup and a baguette.  She quite enjoyed it and so did I. 

On Saturday, we headed to the Nashville Library to participate in the Fall Fun Fest activities which turned out to be a very crowded craft hour.  After creating a few fall masterpieces for her Dada, we moved on to the play area where she continued to mingle and approach and talk to everyone and anyone...whether they paid attention to her or not.  I have to admit I am a little amazed at how much she has changed and come out of her shell, for some reason I thought she would be a shy one, I think not.  It's fun to watch her try to make friends move about freely with confidence but then every now and again turn around to check that I'm still nearby and sometimes even run over for a quick hug.  The rest of the day was low key; a nap, a walk, sidewalk chalk, dinner and a bath and I even let her watch a little "Best of Kermit" before bed.  I actually got a little teary when the original "It's Not Easy Being Green" skit came on and I watched her watch it for the first time, all big-girlish sitting in her rocking chair, cozy in her footy pajamas with that silly suckie...our version of a movie night. 

Sunday, just a quiet day at home and Ford arrived mid afternoon.  Though happy to see him, she was extra clingy to me.  A bit out of sorts I think after a busy few weeks and then Ford's absence, can't blame her, I was too a bit out of sorts, actually.  But now we are back to life as usual however we are both feeling a bit under the weather.  The snotty nose is back...

To wrap up, I'd like to just document that my little angel has discovered hitting, a new behavior she decided to develop while Ford was away.  She hits me and then herself when she's feeling frustrated and cranky.  To be expected now that we have entered the toddler years I guess, but what wasn't expected is when I tell her "no," in a firm, and serious tone, she pauses, starts to crack a small grin and then actually laughs and does it again!  That's right, not sad, or surprised or the least bit afraid that I have raised my voice and given a new kind of disapproving look all for the very first time.  So, this is new territory for us all, she's exploring the boundaries, expressing herself in a whole new way, testing the limits and then waiting for the reaction...classic...and this is going to be interesting.  

BLOG!!

Swimming with a suckie?

A kiss for mama!

Unhappy about standing in the sand.

I have not forgotten about the blog...just so you know.  We've had lots of activity around here including a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Loto as well as a fun-filled trip to Sanibel Island, FL for cousin David's wedding.  The activity continues as Ford heads off to FL tomorrow for the weekend to play in a music festival. Amelia and I are on our own for a few days...girl's weekend.   There are many things to write about but for now I feel as if I must at least post a few pictures for those of you who check our humble blog daily.  Thank you, faithful subscribers.  Don't give up on us.  Lots of exciting things to come!