Headed downtown for a quick photo with Rosie Redlegs & then off to Sawyer Point park!

Zoo Day!

Headed out to the zoo today with a few friends & their kids, plus my newphew. Aydan was the only guy! We told him one day he'd appreciate a day like this! It rained a little bit, but made it all the way thru plus a bird show, train ride & our first time on the carousel.

Last day @ Miss Niks'

I'm just going to say 'Thanks,' or I'll end up writing a book. You're a great friend!

Yeah, she's sleeping like that

Our little one has recently figured out how to sit up after lying down. So we lay her down for a nap, & she sits up to play instead....until she gets so tired & falls forward!

This morning

Hmmm......Daddy's computer wires look good to chew on. (crawl, crawl, crawl, crawl, crawl.) Opps, guess I'm not allowed to have that; I just got picked up & moved to the other end of the room. Oh wait, what's that? A big nob to turn! I'll go get that. (crawl, crawl, crawl...) Dang it. Daddy just stopped me again & said I'm not allowed to touch his receiver either. Hmmm....guess I'll just go hunt Allie.

It's been a busy last few days...a play date with the Hummel kids, more & more car shopping (which I'm glad is now over!), a trip to the zoo & a pool play date with Lexi our neighbor. On top of that, the army crawl is FAST! So much for playing in one spot anymore. The glass coffee table is now downstairs, & all floors received a proper cleaning. Sean just made a wonderful dinner to celebrate his getting a new car & I'm fully enjoying my 4th glass of wine in 17 mos. (not consecutively of course.) Please excuse any spelling errors. :)
We're also working on a sippy cup. Right now, we're mostly chewing on it, as we're checking out our new teeth & more coming in.

Poor Allie or Poor Brooklyn?

Now that we've got the army crawl down..... why not crawl to our best friend, the dog, right? So Allie lays there, as Beez crawls her way. She gets right to her, & with sheer accomplishment smiles, reaches out & touches Allies' 12 yr. old arthritic paws, only for Allie to quickly gets up & walks away..... & B lays her head down & cries as her lil friend walks away. All that effort to get there too!

Ma...I really want an IPOD!

I love this! Thank you Mrs. Nik! B's actually moving!!! It's been the crawl stance before, but never the move. Anyone else move like this?? Go ahead, it's ok to laugh, this is her first time ya know. Guess she really wants that IPOD. We'll work on getting the arm out next!

Tooth #2 has just broke thru.

Someone was beginning to peak over the top of their bed, so its obviously time to lower the mattress. No big deal for her, in fact, she likes it! She likes having more visibility with the rails & started a game of peek a boo with us! She fell asleep very early tonight after a long playday with her daddy! So much for sleeping in tomorrow. :(

I took these 2 pics tonight after dinner to showcase her latest nickname: spike. What can I say, her hair is growing! (or volleyball star in the making). I took these pics back to back. Do we have an animated one or what?! Also, I captured the first tooth photo..yeah!

I know she's a bit messy, but this is also the first night I tried to puree eggplant. A tad more texture than what she's used to so of course we have to put our fingers in our mouth & play with it a bit!

daycare

Our search has ended. After checking into several different options, Sean & I didn't settle, we scored big on a new daycare for B! The search was painful too-at daycare centers it was either no openings in the in the infant rooms, or they were uncomfortable accepting a child with her level of food allergies. In home care led to mildew smelling homes, small playzones with limited toys, & even more that were uncomfortable with food allergies. Finally, I wrote a post on a local website & this in home daycare responded: Bachelor's in Early Childhood education, all staff is CPR certified, food allergy policies in place, multiple play & educational opportunities that extend to pre-school, clean & organized. Secured it on the spot.

basketball

Brooklyn, I'm ratting out your daddy. After you go to sleep, he's been playing with your basketball each night this week! ;)

A bit blurry, but I like these! Coordinating outfits unplanned. :)

Allergy Stuff

It looks like I will be the first of my friends making (some of)my own baby food. Mimi helped out with creating the first batch of peas, carrots, & chicken/apples. Thanks Mimi! Cooking this first week wasn't too painful. Michelle & Mere have friends who are dealing with similar issues. The sharing of info, websites, & recipes has been very helpful. Still haven't made the next grocery store trip, just working with what is here already.
Brooklyn had her first night at Party in the Park on Wed. While I did have fun catching up with friends, I was a bit paranoid that someone with beer would touch/kiss her & we'd have another breakout. This was intensified since she just had a breakout two hours earlier at daycare from drinking a bottle. My poor girl.
The allergy issue also adds a new twist to our daycare search. Miss Nik has been nothing short of wonderful with our daughter. I cried leading up to the day I first dropped Brooklyn off with her ... & I will probably cry even harder on her last day at the end of the month. There are daycare centers we like, but at this age, a big risk for her during meal/snack times & the ever gross idea that these kids are all teething on the same toys. I just started checking into private sitters today, but neither of the two I've met with seem like a great fit. And the search continues....

Happy 60th birthday Grandma Kay!

It was a casual day- B enjoyed her new pool my mom had bought her. She was more interested in the toys than the water squirting from the monkey! (It has a slide too, but I didn't finish blowing it up. We'll save that for next year.) Headed out for a little bargin shopping, & then back home for dinner. Sean found a great brownie mix: Cherrybrook farm- pretty much everything free, so we had that with ice cream for dessert.

I'm writing this at a very special time

It's 12:34: 56 on 7/8/09

123456789. That will happen again in another thousand years!

Is it 4th of JULY?

It's 66 degrees, & raining. We're all ready to go to our traditional Lipps pool party, but first we must rid of the other animal that came to visit our yard today-a 5 ft. snake. Fireworks are on hold until tomorrow, but we did hang out with great friends & lots of little ones. And may I say I have one of the best friends ever! She made a special trip to the grocery to try to find chocolate chip cookies that I could eat. She found some, baked them, tried them, & threw them away. Yucky fake cookies! Soon enough, I be able to eat a few of Juju's famous baked goods again, & I can't wait.

Brooklyn's new "you did great at your allergist office visit" gift!
(and a big thanks again to our PNS crew for being able to video record.)

So we have a big party to go to this afternoon, & I've just tried laying Brooklyn down for a nap for the 3rd time. I'm watching her on the monitor, pulling down her bumper & peaking thru the rails & yelling "maaaa ma." It's too damn cute. We are mobile. The last 2 mornings, we've gone in to get her & she's been on her belly at the opposite end of the crib, & during playtime, she's easily rolling around & rotating. Monday, she tried pulling herself up on a toy box at Miss Nik's, but could quite figure it out.
We've also added "og og" or "dog-dog" to our vocabulary. One of these days she's going to ask me why we say everything twice: Mama, dada, night night, bye bye. Guess that's why we have dog-dog. Or maybe she's just telling us there's 2 dogs at daycare since that's where she said it first.

Went to the Allergist

We are allergic to: Peanuts, Treenuts, Eggs, Wheat, Rye, Barley, & Shellfish.
Thankfully, there is a chance she can grow out of these, but only time will tell.
As a nursing mom, it was very difficult hearing this. Maybe the saying should be "Breast is best....if your child doesn't have food allergies." Then again, did you know there is only 1 very specific formula, that doesn't contain tree nut oil? The allergist warned things I wouldn't have thought of: Going to Graeters where they use the same scoop for vanilla as they do the butter pecan is now a no-no. At least she's young enough to not know what she's missing. Plus, both we both love our fruits & veggies.
I am also now the owner of an Epipen. I pray it never has to be used.
Needless to say, it has been a very overwhelming morning. I can't imagine how much longer I'll be in the grocery store reading labels! Well, off to clear out the pantry.