You did what?

So, last night I'm getting Jessie ready for bed when Jamie comes in to the room. I'm not surprised to see her because no matter how many times I've tried to explain that I would prefer not to excite Jessie before sleep she still comes in to play goochy goo with her sister. However, this time was different. Jamie was standing there holding her forehead with a look of .. I don't know how to explain it (though I recognize the face) maybe fear describes it best. I ask her, are you hurt, did you bonk your head? She shakes her head no. I then ask (somehow already knowing the answer), did you cut your bangs? She nods yes. I take a deep breath and tell her I'll meet her in her room. I hand off the baby to Jeff because I need to be able to wrap my head around what could be a disaster. I go to her room and ask to see the damage. She shows me. I'm relieved, because it could have been worse. In fact I think I've seen women pay to have their hair dresser give this uneven look. I think unless you where looking her in the face you probably wouldn't even notice. I feel like she knows she screwed up (and I've done it before myself) so I avoided the screaming. Though she lost all scissor privileges (which she typically uses for her art projects). Jeff of course had a fit. I suppose it's right to have one, though I'm remembering all the trouble he caused his parents. Maybe he did too, because he calmed down pretty quick.

and we're off and running

...ok, not so much running as it is crawling. Jessie started crawling last night. She has been showing signs for the past month that it could happen any day and that day was yesterday. She wasn't doing it at school yesterday, but when we got home in the evening I put her down and she crawled and continued to crawl all night as if it was something she always could do. Well, good for her, we a re very proud. Now we have to be even more careful. Also, since she started eating finger foods her pincher grasp and hand to mouth have gotten pretty good. When I was sitting with her this morning on the floor she managed to sneak a piece of tanbark in her mouth (that had fallen out of Jamie's shoe). I don't think she enjoyed me going in after it.

p.s we visited the Dr. office today for our 9 month check up. Jessie is 75-90% on everything. The doctor told me when she was little(er) that it's common to start off big and kind of level out. I guess that's what we are doing. We also had our vaccinations. Not a big fan (either one of us).

9 Months

Ok, so she turned 9 months last Saturday, but better late then not at all (in my opinion). It's hard for me to believe we are 3 months away from a one year old. It doesn't feel like it. When Jamie turned one she was just starting to walk and knew how to say at least 15 words (I think there was more that I was oblivious to). When I think about that we feel miles away from that with Jessie. Though, they are very different and Jessie will get to all things when she's good and ready.

So... on that note, what has Jessie been up too. Teeth is the first thing that comes to mind. The bottom two are in, the two fangs (I think they're called eye teeth or something) have broken through, but one of those you can just see a little bit of. One of the front teeth is coming through. Every day I can see more and more of it. These teeth seem to be popping up at record pace (again very different then Jamie).

Crawling! well sort of.. She gets around a small area by getting on all fours and then sitting. Every time she sits she is in a different spot and kind of gets around this way. She has taken a step or two in a traditional crawling position and then she flops on her belly. She has always loved to stand by holding on to things and yesterday she stayed standing even after letting go. It cracks me up that she seems to be trying to stand without holding anything. She has her legs standing straight but she can't figure out how to get the rest of her body pulled up (it looks like she is doing a downward dog (yoga) position). I imagine this is foreshadowing to eventually learning to walk.

Talking.. nope we're not there yet. She still says her standard Mama, Dada and Baba. Though, she does manage to keep her teachers amused with all the sounds she makes. It cracks me up too. Though, not that fond of the screaming at the top of her lungs in the car, especially when Jamie thinks it's funny and joins her.

She still loves the bath. When Jamie goes in she stands holding the tub, desperately trying to reach in and splash.

Eating. She is a great little eater. She will eat anything you let her. (thank goodness, not picky like her sister). Her favorite foods right now are garden vegetable (earths best) and.. well all the jars of veggies. She also likes canned green beans and mashed up bananas. The more solid, solids make me nervous but I'm working on it.

Lots of pictures coming soon...

Christmas 08

Click on the link to see our pics from Christmas.

I didn't have time to describe the pictures, so if you don't know who the people are.. my kids should be obvious.. then there are Jeff's parents, his brother Chris, his sister Karen, her husband Fernando her little one Dylan and her step daughter Jazmine.

All the pictures where taken at Jeff's parents house in Kansas.

Winter Break

We packed our bags and headed to Kansas last week. We where taking our annual winter trip to see Jeff's family. Luckily Jeff's parents have most things that we would need so we didn't have to pack much more than clothes. We had great plane rides both directions. This may be our last easy flight with Jessie. I imagine next time she will want to run around. Jessie had her worst cold yet which had me freaking out. I was away from our pediatrician (though I called and he called me back on Christmas. nice. I told him merry Christmas because that's what everyone seems to say, he didn't say it back which made me think... hmm he's probably Jewish..oops next time I should keep to the happy holidays). Even though I had talked to him I still took her in to urgent care because I wasn't going to feel better until someone listened to her lungs and looked at her ears. We where given antibiotics for her ears. She hates taking medicine but her body seems to tolerate it better than Jamie did.

Anyway... we all had a great time. Jamie loves this time of year.

Though, it is nice to have my kids back to their bed time routines. I depend on it.

Jessie's third tooth broke through. They seem to be coming fast and furious.

Jamie just loves to play with her sister. She loves that she can make her laugh and is in her face every chance she gets... I wish the car was bigger..

Jessie is starting to wave which is really cool. She seems like she is really close to crawling and really enjoys standing... though.. I wouldn't be surprised if we still had to wait awhile for that stuff. (fine with me)

I will try to post pictures soon. Jeff took some nice pictures and I just have to figure out if we have made them small enough to put them on the blog.

correction

Yesterday I said Jessie just had the one tooth. Well, last night I noticed number 2 had broken through. Maybe that explains the rough day at school on Monday. Poor baby.

Jessie turns 8 months today.

Jessie is 8 months today. So what is she like at 8 months... She is still a very happy baby. When she gets excited she flaps her arms up and down (which always makes me laugh). She always has lots to say (not as much as her sister). She says mama (I swear she knows how to use it) she says dadada, bababa and my favorite ohhhh and oooohh. She plays very well by herself. Though, there are the moments where I can't so much as touch her toe to the ground or she stars crying. She wraps her arms around my arm as if to say.. don't leave me. It's so sad. If I'm not with her but she sees me in the room.. get ready for the tears. This can make getting ready in the morning tough.

Jessie loves to stand. Her face lights up when she does. She is getting a little more sure footed and can stand up holding on to something (without parent support). Last night she even took some steps while holding my fingers. She doesn't seem to want to pursue crawling. I'm not worried either way.. she will figure out what works for her when she is ready.

Big sister Jamie adores her. Though, not a good idea to turn your back on them. Jamie's hugs can border on tackling and she always wants to hold her hands with every germ known to man on them. That's a little tough for me. The other day I stepped out of the room for less than a minute and Jamie was bouncing her a little too hard in the bouncy. Yep, don't recommend leaving a five year old with a baby. Jamie loves to have her around though, she likes to help give her baths, change her, and sometimes feed her.

Oh.. and how could I forget... teeth.. we are standing strong with our one bottom tooth. I'm sure more are on their way. Along those lines, she loves to eat. She will eat nearly any of the jars we give her and anything that you can mash up on your plate. She also enjoys toast.. and anything you will let her put in her mouth. She watches everyone eat and appears to be studying. She also likes to have her own spoon when she eats. She will take up to two (size 2) jars of food a day (usually 1.5). She nurses 3-5 times a day with me and I'm lucky if she will take any milk at all at school. We got all excited yesterday because she drank 3 oz. This doesn't seem right to me, but everyone tells me since she looks healthy not to worry about it.

I'm starting to buy 12 months clothes and they fit. She is a big little girl but somehow it seems just right.

She makes us all very happy and we are a better family for having her in it.