What a gorgeous day! 

at the Chicago Botanic Gardens 

tons of pictures

Whew! That was a lot of pictures to go through. And I still haven't posted the pictures from her actual party. Those will come soon. She did have a great time at her party, though. She woke up from a brief nap right at the beginning of the party and stayed awake and happy the whole time. She seemed a little tired at points--especially while eating her cake, but that was just after she woke up--but played well and was in a good mood. It's always nice when the guest of honor cooperates. I hope this blog actually does last and is accessible for many years so that Phoebe has it as a diary/scrapbook of her childhood, or at least her first year if, for some reason, I get lazy and stop posting. It really is a great way for me to document all of her important moments.

leaps and bounds

I know it has been over a month since my last post, and what an incredible month it has been. Phoebe has done so much. She finally got her first teeth--first one on June 11, and while they are supposed to come in pairs, the second tooth (both front teeth on the bottom) didn't break through until June 21. In my last post I said she could pull up to standing in her crib, but that was only if I sat her in her crib, then she would pull up on the side, but shortly after that, she figured out how to sit herself up and pull herself to standing. So when she wakes up in her crib, she immediately sits herself up and then stands at the end near her door; and if her door is not shut tight, she will grab onto it and open and close it. She does not walk, yet, but she does like to stand up and walk holding onto hands. She walks herself along furniture and can go between pieces of furniture. And on June 25, she began crawling. I will try to include a video of this--I have new videos, but they are also on a new camera, so I have to figure out the new software for the camera and get the pictures and videos downloaded. Phoebe also went swimming--she has gone twice with Brett. I wasn't there for the first time, but I did get to capture the second time and have some pictures and video of that. Anyway, the crawling is interesting. I guess all babies have their own kind of crawl. Phoebe's is definitely odd, but it gets her around. More than just clapping her hands, she likes listening to her wiggleworms songs and following the instructions. She will stomp her feet, clap her hands, and wave hello. Sometimes she tries the "touch your nose" verse, but she is too slow. She recognizes many words--like ball, bottle, and fish (if you ask her where her fish are in her bedroom, she looks at her wall at the top of the tree). She says mama and dada to the right people, and her favorite word this week is uh-oh! She definitely learned that one from Sydney. It is funny. So she has been amazing to watch. How fast she changes and grows! I can't believe we are almost upon her first birthday. I know, I know--it all goes fast.

If you're happy and you know it ...

Posting again so soon? I know, miraculous! I just needed a place to document Phoebe's new trick so that I remember it. Yesterday (May 31) Phoebe figured out how to clap her hands. Brett and I had been showing her for a very long time, but she didn't seem interested. Then, yesterday, out of nowhere, she started clapping. We were actually in the middle of a tour of a daycare center and not giving her a great deal of attention at that moment because we were talking to the lady at the center when Phoebe took to clapping. Most of the time that we were touring, Phoebe was getting lots of attention because Brett played with her with most of the toys in each room. We didn't get a picture of her clapping, but I did catch this one when she was sitting on the floor of the Freshman English office at Lake Central High School. We stopped there on the way to our tour so Brett could say hello. I am sure that clapping is not nearly as exciting to everyone else as it is to Brett and me, and I respect that about everyone else. :) What is an earth shattering, euphoric event for the parents is generally probably merely a cute moment (if that) for the other healthy, stable people who witness it and that's definitely for the best. In fact, there are some small accomplishments that are only exciting for the parents that outside observers are forced to hear about and/or watch repeatedly anyway; however, to whomever does so, thanks for humoring me and reading this crap anyway. And thanks for letting me be a bit boastful with all the pictures I post under the assumption that everyone thinks my daughter is as cute as I think she is. I can't help myself, but I realize, too, that I am quite biased. In reality, if I had to compare her, I couldn't say she is any smarter than the average baby, nor a faster developer, and there are probably lots of babies just as cute as she is (notice I did not say "cuter than" :)), but to me she is more fantastic and more beautiful than I ever thought any baby could be.

On your mark, etc.

Brett has been running for about a year now, and today he ran in his first race--the Ridge Run 5k in Beverly. In the crowd of people in the picture on the left, there are two men in yellow shirts--Brett is the one with sleeves and you can see part of his head and his right shoulder. He was wearing his number (2233) on his back, so you can't see it. His coworker and head track coach Brian ran the race, too. Brett did great! He finished in 23.12 (his goal was to come in under 23--so he almost made it) and he was 4th in his age group (89th overall). I also included a bunch of new Phoebe photos below since I didn't have any with the last update.

"Daddy, I'm not letting go." 

I can stand by myself (as long as I have something to hold onto!) 

strolling is so exhausting! 

First ride in a shopping cart. Yes, that is a cart seat cover! (we did mention the neuroses, right?)  

Grandpa and Phoebe sharing a moment 

"Let me help you." 

Who me?! Visiting and enjoying friends: Rimas, Rachael, Michael and Cheryl (not pictured). Thanks for the amazing dinner and great time, R&R

latest milestones

For those of you still keeping track, here are Phoebe's latest achievments. She likes to stand as often as possible. She will usually hold onto me unless there is something more appealing to grab onto nearby, and she can pull up to standing in her crib. She can't sit up on her own, however. Once I put her in a sitting position, she will grab onto the side of the crib and stand herself up. She doesn't crawl yet, but you can see her desire for mobility when she is trying to get something out of reach--she just can't stand being on her belly long enough to figure out the crawl! She is a non-stop nonsensical talker. She sounds like she is trying to speak a foreign language--which, I guess, she is. Still no teeth. She was a little over 15 lbs. at her last Dr. visit (still pretty small compared to other ten-month-old babies). She is definitely a Daddy's girl! She is perfectly happy to be with me most of the time, but when her daddy comes home at night and holds her, she does not readily come back to me. She usually cries the first time he gives her back, so he takes her back and we try again a few minutes later. She gets so excited to see him come through the door. It's fun to watch them together. Luckily, soon she'll get more time with him.

swing away

so fun to ride with Daddy!

So many firsts

Phoebe had her first zoo visit, her first Easter, and her first swing at the park in the past week. It has been quite eventful. Last week, we went to the zoo with Terra and Sydney, but I forgot my camera--luckily Aunt Terra took some pictures, but I don't have those yet; but on Good Friday, since Brett had the day off and it was so nice out, we went as a family. Brett thoroughly enjoyed teasing the goats with Phoebe and vice versa. And Phoebe loved it, too. Easter was nice--as busy day as most holidays are, but we enjoyed seeing everyone. Phoebe has discovered swings and she loves them! She is doing great in her ninth month.

bath time

So Phoebe is finally sitting up and I was so excited because I could put her in her duck tub. Tonight was her first bath, and I think you can tell by her expression how much she liked it. I guess this is something you have to ease into. Apparently switching to a bath isn't so easy for some kids. She likes her shower. So we'll work on a more gradual transition so that she can enjoy her bath. How upset she looks--we're torturing her. As soon as I set her in the tub, she got confused and she was ok for a few seconds, but then she just got angry.

Spring is finally here!

Phoebe had her first outside play time yesterday (March 30). She loved it. She sat up nearly the whole time on her own. She got to take off her socks and hat for a few minutes so she could get the full sensations of outside--she even stood on the grass for a couple seconds to see how she liked it under her feet. I was of course worried about the sun, but we didn't stay out too long. We captured some cute images, though; and Henry really enjoyed having us out there with him. He would run and play and then come back and check on us once in a while.

Oh! It's so bright. 

A new leaf--how fun! 

It's just so nice out here! 

Of course Henry didn't want to be left out! 

sitting by myself 

Mom, my hat's too small! 

leaves are crunchy! 

discovering nature 

Troublemaker

"Posting again so soon?" But I must. I had to record this so Phoebe has a record of it when she is old enough to remember things. We brought Phoebe and Sydney to Evergreen Park High School's musical today. We thought it was a good idea--we thought the girls would enjoy the music and have fun looking at the stage (they really enjoyed the light show at Argo high school last month and Phoebe loved watching her daddy in the talent show, so we had reason to believe that they would behave and cooperate). The girls, however, were not as enthused as we had hoped and alas, Phoebe got us kicked out of the place! She just wouldn't stop making loud noises. Sydney was not being too noisy--only an occasional yell, but she wasn't terribly interested in staying in her seat. And once Grandma Shobe escorted Phoebe out, Sydney really didn't want to stay put, so we all had to leave. Apparently they just aren't ready for the more sophisticated indoor events--they need noise and a lot of action, otherwise they will be disruptive. As the parent, of course, it is my job to make wise decisions on behalf of my daughter who cannot as of yet make her own decisions, but I am not so wise as I should be--yet. I feel bad if we offended anyone in the audience. I can't believe I became one of those parents who the rest of the audience is thinking and whispering about: "why doesn't that lady just take her baby outside? I can't believe all the noise that child is making and the parent isn't doing anything about it." I certainly did not intend to be that parent, so I will be more conscious of these things in the future. On the bright side, if that's the worst place she ever gets kicked out of, then I will have a lot to be thankful for.

Phoebe has a neck!

So many little things happen every day with Phoebe that I think to myself "I should write this down or go put it on the blog," but I never quite get around to it. I am going to be sad when I can't remember some of the fun things she did. She is eight months old, and I just noticed two days ago that Phoebe has a neck--I don't know when she got it, but it's there: thin and round. Before she just had a head that sat on shoulders. But now when she looks around, I can actually see her neck craning. It is fascinating that these things happen and you don't notice them happening--just all of a sudden they're there.

I didn't have my camera downstairs last night, and it is hard to capture the pictures (especially this one) when you are by yourself anyway, but I want to remember this image, so I'll write about it. I was watching Sydney since Terra was working and Mom and Dad were out, and I was by myself because Brett had a late track meet. So I had the girls and Henry in the basement: Phoebe was in the exersaucer with her bib on and I was feeding her organic garden vegetables from a jar (which is a challenge because she does not stand still in her exersaucer--she likes to bounce and bob around), Sydney was sitting on my lap playing with the toys on the exersaucer and eating magic puffs, and Henry was standing impatiently between my arms trying to lick Phoebe's face and spoon between bites and get Syd's snacks. I imagined that if I could stand outside myself and see that happening, it would look pretty ridiculous. I discovered that I can manage several individuals at once and fairly successfully. I even got Phoebe to sleep while Sydney was playing in same room.

Because of Sydney, Phoebe got a little bit ambitious last night--she was watching Syd play at this stand-up play station and she wanted to do it, too; so I had to hold her underarms as she stood at this toy and played with Sydney. It was great. Phoebe is still not sitting up on her own and she is not crawling. Her fine motor skills are good, however--she can grasp small things and she uses her fingers well rather than her whole hand. She reacts well to most things. She likes to play peek-a-boo; if I give her a cloth of some kind, she'll cover her face and wait for me to ask where she is and then pull it off herself. Then she laughs. She says "mama" and has been saying that for quite some time--well over a month. She would also say "baba." So I figured since she was getting some sounds I would start working with her more rigorously (although I did push the ma ma ma ma mommy quite a bit). I didn't take notice as to when was the first day that she said "mama," but I decided to start working with her on da da da da daddy. We did that for about a week--I would say it several times a day. Then on Tuesday, March 14, all of a sudden she started saying "da da da da da da da" and even got the "daddy" sound out. And for at least a week that's the only sound she would make "DA DA DA DA!" She would yell it and get really happy with herself. It was great! Now she is back to saying mama with an occasional dada. We are working on "Water" since the beginning sound isn't so much different from the other beginning sounds she knows. She is becoming more cuddly and snuggly. She gets very excited when she hears her daddy's voice on the phone. She is also becoming more demanding, so I have to start being more careful with giving in to everything she wants if she starts screaming for it. :)

Everyone always wants to know, so here is how things are going on the sleeping front: She does not sleep straight through the night, but she is 90% better than she was up until two weeks ago. I decided that I was going to take control of our nighttime routine rather than continue allowing her to control it as she no longer needs night time feedings for nutrition and we both need to get good nights of sleep. We had one night that was very hard, but it was worth it because I know it is best for her physically and emotionally. She screamed and I bounced my head off the wall, but we made it through the night with a lot of consoling but without getting her out of her crib and ever since that night, she wakes up usually once if at all before 4 AM and all I have to do is give her her pacifier and put my hand on her chest for a minute or two to get her back to sleep. Then she will wake up sometime after the 4:00 hour (generally closer to 5 or 5:30, but before 5 the last couple of mornings) and I bring her back to bed with me so that she can nurse and fall back asleep and then we get up sometime after 7. So it is working well. Once I ween her from nursing in a couple months, I will work on getting her to sleep through that 5:00 wake up as well.

I am sure there are several other things that have happened with her since the last time I updated, but she is up from her nap and wants my attention. I will happily oblige.

working on sitting