3/3/2011

Anniversary night

Picking up where I left off....last weekend went too fast as usual.  After a relaxing day with mom & dad on Saturday, Sunday afternoon I was pleasantly surprised by a visit from Grandma & Grandpa Steffen again!  I guess they are done with their whirlwind tour of the Southeastern US.  I think they said they drove 6,000 miles.  Ok, I am making up the amount...but whatever, it was a lot.  Their pictures and stories were pretty cool.  Also pretty cool was the fact that I got to hang out with them by myself Sunday evening.  That's right...mom and dad snuck out to go to a nice dinner to celebrate their "anniversary".  I guess that deserves quotes because they were married on leap day.  Whatever, they celebrated 3 years together as husband and wife.  I think that I am a good dinner partner, but apparently they needed some alone time at J.Gilberts and I had alone time with Grandma & Grandpa...  Win-win, I guess!

Ava and I decided we should coordinate a Husker day
at school (which by the way worked, b/c they beat Mizzou)
We let Grace in the picture since she got the 'sport' memo!

Our guests left Monday AM, and it was back to normal weekdays: daycare, home, daycare, home, etc.  Until yesterday.  Dad picked me up a bit early from daycare to take me somewhere special....no, check that, to take me to the doctor.  Ugh, seriously?  I guess it was time for my 6 month check up.  Where does time go, huh?  We did the usual routine.  I was stripped down to my birthday suit and they did their measurements.  As always, I attempted to take in some air to get extra lbs like mom instructed, but I just don't think that works.  I weighed in at 13 lbs 6 oz. which is just below the 10th percentile.  I know, I know....all my friends hit that at 4 months at least, blah, blah.  But I did have some major things going against me: 1. I am not even officially 6 months yet.  2. Hello, I was sick and puking just 2 weeks ago  3. I went through a few days of low appetite during the whole teething thing...  Ok, enough on the weight front.  Height charted in at 25 inches, which knocks me down from 50 to 15 percentile in height.  Right when I was starting to get a complex, the doctor informed me that she pays no attention to height because it is so hard to be accurate.  She started going on about how she did this study where 8 different nurses came in to measure a baby and they all got different results.  Moral of the story - they need to hire some new nurses?  Who knows...but I won't be surprised if my next official height is 30 inches.  My head is still perfect.  Oh, I mean perfectly average.  In other news, I had to get all those darn shots again.  Not a fan.  But we also got the go ahead to start eating some more exciting stuff other than just cereal.  Tonight I tried sweet potatoes, I'm not sure my opinion quite yet.  Stay tuned on stories and pictures of new foods I'm trying!

I think I have mentioned before that my favorite thing to do now is answer everyone's questions.  Of course my answer is always no.  But for some reason people LOVE it.  The nurse was especially entertained yesterday when she was going through all the standard questions and I kept telling her 'no'.   Here is a video that gives a little taste....


Here is another video that mom & dad took after my late night snack.  I was SO tired.

Apparently it is a bit reminiscent of a video of Marley when she was my age.


Amelia OUT!

2/26/2011

I like to eat my foot after bath time, but of course the camera
came out, so I had to take it out to smile!

Well, not a lot to share...but thought I would post an entry so no one forgets about me!  I have spent this last week just trying to get back to normal.  I really am feeling much better these days.  Every once in a while I have a coughing fit, and I have woke up once or twice in the night....but all in all I think I must have got dad's genes because I am a fighter.  I punched that bronchilitus in the face and it has now gone away.  Now mom's weak immune system has caused her to be hacking up 1/2 her lung for the past week.  She may not sound like a dying cat, but it still is nasty.  Dad and I are really getting sick of hearing her...  Anyway...one good thing that came out of being sick...I apparently cried enough to officially open up my tear ducts.  That's right no more waking up with my eyes glued shut.  Yes, the little things make me happy.

Let's see...in other news.  I am eating rice mixed with breast milk every night now, it is good.  Dad agrees with me and so does Marley.  They both get a spoon full at the end of my meal.   My first tooth has popped through.  Mom & Dad seemed all excited when they saw the white poking through....you can just barely see it.  I don't know...I have been feeling this thing coming for a while now, and I don't find it so exciting.  More of a pain if you ask me.  I have also been told that this is just the first of many.  Awesome.

As you can see from all my pics this time around, I have now learned to smile when I see the camera comes out!  Next time I will upload the video of me telling everybody NO.  I love to do it and everyone loves to see me do it apparently.  Amelia OUT!

Napping (and smiling) with daddy!

2/20/11

Hi everyone.  I have had some fun and not so fun times since I last blogged.  We'll start from the beginning...and the fun times.  Actually I don't remember much about the rest of the week where I left off.  What I do remember is the weekend Grandma & Grandpa Steffen stopped for a visit.  I guess they are taking a long road trip to Florida and decided to stop and see me on the way.  Yay!  We had a great time getting caught up all day Saturday.  Mom went dress shopping with Stephanie, so dad, grandma, and grandpa stayed to hang with me.  I felt a bit of a cold coming on, but I tried my best not to show it and be on my best behavior for our guests.  I think I was a hit.  They took off Sunday after lunch and we laid low here at home.

My cold/cough started bothering me a bit more, but I kept telling myself I'm 5 months now...stay strong.  Monday AM, mom took me to school where I was excited to see Miss Martha again...and show off my red heart hoodie.  I was ready for Valentine's day!  Well apparently not entirely ready....I woke up from my morning nap and did NOT feel good.  I quickly let them know by screaming and then vomiting all this gross stuff up.   Needless to say, that was no fun.  I had a fever, so they took off some of my clothes to cool me off a bit.  Then mom showed up an hour or so later to pick me up and take me to the doctor.  All the doctor did was inform mom & dad that I had a viral infection (bronchilitis) and that is why I am so hot and can't breathe so well, but they didn't give us any medicine to make me better.  That's right...apparently I was going to have to rough this one out solo - well with mom & dad's support of course.  The next few days are a bit of a blur to me, I just remember wanting to be held ALL the time.  I know...that is so not typical, but their arms just made me feel so much better and forget about how I was feeling.  I know they love me, because they stayed up holding me every night.  By Thursday night, I finally started sweating like crazy...I guess my fever finally broke.  That made me feel lots better.  I woke up Friday with no voice, apparently all my crying and my sore throat/cough finally caught up with me.  Mom kept saying I sounded like a dying cat all week...very nice I know.    So that was my super fun week.  Sick...the entire time.  I like staying home with mom & dad, but not under those conditions, I really hope that is a one time occurrence.  Apparently I also made mom miss out on her surprise...dad sent her flowers for Valentine's day (not a usual thing)...but since she stayed home with me all week, the girl that sits by her at the office got to enjoy them.  She said that I am prettier than any flower, so she wouldn't hold it against me.  Oh..and as if being sick wasn't already awful...I ruined my chance to see my godmother Sonja again and meet her kids.  I was so looking forward to it, as I haven't seen her since I was a couple weeks old and then I went and ruined it by being sick.  :(  They were only going to be here a short while, as a stop on their way from TX to IA, but still....  Ugh.  Stupid sickness.  I'm told that we will make a trip to Lincoln soon to see Grandma Janice (she is back from the other side of the world...yay!) and maybe - just maybe - we'll be able to sneak in a visit with Sonja, as well as other friends then!

Just hold me please...

We have had a pretty low key weekend trying to recover (oh, did I tell you I gave mom & dad a cold too....my bad). Today I am starting to feel better, and I have even got back into my routine of eating and sleeping (by myself), so I can tell that dad and mom are happy about that.  Speaking of eating, apparently I have been growing enough...because I am now officially wearing size 2 diapers today.  Yeah, the little things excite me.

We just got back from a nice walk, I think the fresh air (70 degrees in February!) did me good.  But I  need to keep on sleeping to get well so that next time I write it will be full of exciting - and not sick - news!!!  So....Amelia OUT!

2/8/10

I think I had the same pose for my 4 month pic!

I picked up the tab at Red Robin

That's right, only 4 days since my last blog.  I have hit another milestone.  FIVE months old, boy does time fly.  I will be 16 and driving before I know it!!  My 5 month birthday was jam packed, we decided the night before that we should celebrate it with a family dinner at a new restaurant.  I guess dad had a gift card he wanted to use so we tried somewhere new.  We went to...get this....Red Robin.  Again, I saw no robin's - red or otherwise - anywhere in the building.  One week teased by a potential Blue Moose sighting and Red Robin the next...where else are we going to go that is going to just let me down?  Dad was saying something about a red lobster.  Speaking of let downs apparently we won't be making a trip there (at least if it's not free) anytime soon.  Mom & dad weren't impressed with anything but the strawberry malt.  I think that is reason enough to go back...but apparently I don't get a say in the matter.  I had a good time there nonetheless...now the car ride home - not so much.

I have officially passed up Marley.  I outweigh her by a 1/2 pound!

Sunday was a new day.  My 5 month birthday!  I woke up, ate, and got dressed like usual.  Then it was time for a quick photo shoot with my signs before heading off to church.  I had a nice time at church and some quick naps on the way there and back.  I was just so happy that I didn't really want to nap I wanted to talk and play my day away and eat!  That's right...I got to eat like a big kid.  With a spoon!  I must say, I don't know what all the fuss is about, it seemed pretty easy to me.  Except it took me a lot longer to eat than per my usual methods.  Also, this rice cereal that was suppose to be super exciting, tasted and looked a lot like the milk i always drink.  Just in a spoon.  Whatever...it's something new so I will go with it.  Of course the camera was in my face every step of the way and I still ate like a rock star - as you can see in this video.  Barely missed a drop!

Me, Ava, Ryder & Violet

The big boys are so scary!

John gave Rennick & Will some fun 'pony' rides

After hanging out and playing some more, we got bundled up and headed out.  I was so amped up on cereal that I hadn't napped much so needless to say I was out in the backseat.  I have no idea how long I slept, but when I woke up I was surrounded by 10+ people looking at me.  And it freaked me out.... once I calmed down I realized we were at the Bodenstab's house and all my friends were there.  Apparently everyone decided to get together to watch the Super Bowl and eat lots of food.  Maybe in the opposite order.  All of my friends were there (we were only missing Ava & Will's mamas).  This is the first time ever that everyone was able to show up...so needless to say mom decided that some photos were necessary.  Us 4 new babies all decided to lay down on the ground next to each other (from oldest - me! - to youngest).  Mom thought it was pretty cool that Ava and I immediately started holding hands.  Of course, we're daycare BFF's why wouldn't we always hold hands?  : )  I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to make any moves on Ryder this time around, but he seemed to have eyes for Violet.  I don't know if he likes the younger girls or perhaps it was her stylin' outfit.  I'm sure it's hard to pass up a girl in a frilly skirt.  That...and all that hair.  How can I compete?   Anyway, they decided to get the big kids (Rennick & Will) in the pic - but they scared me.  Apparently me sharing my fear out loud took off like wild fire, before I know it everyone else started crying.  Ooops....my bad.  We all calmed down in time to start watching the big game.  Mom went to go eat while I hung with dad and my bottle of food.  Good stuff.  I can't tell you much about the game, but I do recall half time.  I don't know why all these people are saying the Black Eyed Peas were horrible.  I had a blast showing off my dance moves to everyone.  Seriously how can you not get down to the BEP's?  Again, I didn't let mom catch me on video...but take my word for it, I've got skillz!  All the dancing wore me out so we headed home for bath and a nightcap and bed!  Maybe next year I will make it past half time....or maybe I will wait till the Chiefs are playing in it.  Hmmm...that may be a while! 

That's right...I may not roll over - but I have about mastered sitting by myself!

Amelia OUT!

2/4/2011



Marley finally gave in and let me ride her!



If you look really hard you can see Marley playing on the deck
before dad scooped out a path for her.

Baby it's cold outside.... Let it Snow, Let it Snow....you get the point.  Lots of cold weather tunes going on about now.  Apparently I have had the privilege to witness one of Kansas City's biggest snowfall in decades, because of that they closed my daycare up for a couple of days.  This meant I have had some extra time this week with mom & dad...and BONUS...we get to stay in pajamas all day.  Sweet!  They have been keeping me warm and entertained here at home.  We have had a LOT of fun dancing,  Of course, I have quite the moves....I take after dad in that way.  I have yet to let mom get these on video, but I'm sure it is inevitable.  I have been doing a ton of talking lately, whenever someone will listen.  Actually, no I take that back, I really don't care if anyone is listening.  I am happy to talk when I am hanging out by myself.  Put the camera or computer in front of me, and I would rather stare at those then keep telling stories.  Yesterday was my first day back into daycare.  I don't know if it was the cold temps or what, but I wasn't in such a hurry to get up.  Mom informed me that I had my timing a bit off as I could have slept in the past couple of snow days when she was home, instead of waking up early at 5.  She just doesn't get that I was super excited to spend the whole day hanging out i couldn't keep sleeping!  Anyway, I thought i would give you some pics from the week so far.  Not a lot...but want to make sure you don't forget me! 

Here is a youtube video of me doing some talking... I know it is sideways but just turn your head!




Amelia OUT

This is my favorite position for a quick 15 min evening snooze.  Dad is not a big fan of my house slippers, but what's a girl to do?  They are warm!

Another video of after a nap.  Not quite as happy as in the morning when dad first comes down to get me...but still full of smiles!

1/29/2011

I just realized I am really pushing it since my goal is to get at least 4 posts out a month.  I'm not totally last minute though...I still have a couple days!  Anyway, picking up from my last posting....  Last Saturday was a milestone day for me.  Why you ask?  Well mom and dad got all dressed up, so I figured we were going somewhere special.  I wondered why I was still in the same outfit I had spit on all day, and soon found out it was because I wasn't going with them.  What?  That's right...it was my first time at home with a paid babysitter.  Mom & Dad did have a night out back when I was only a couple of weeks old but that was Sonja...she's my Godmother so that was totally cool.  This time it was going to be some total stranger...so I looked to the door to see this stranger who was going to hang out with me for the night, only to see it was Martha!!   Psyche!  Mom & Dad totally tricked me.  You see, I see Martha every day at daycare as she is my Lead teacher.  That is awesome for me because she knows me well enough to know when I'm tired, etc.  We had a great time together while mom & dad apparently went out to have a nice dinner at Boulevard with dad's work.  Martha even gave me a bath and we discovered something new.  Tummy time in the bath isn't so bad.  That's right...I have never understood the appeal of this tummy time...so I usually just give up and lay my head down.  But combining it with my favorite nightly activity of a bath makes it not so bad, I actually quite enjoy it.

It's Martha!

My favorite place!!!

Sunday we went to church so I got to see some of the usual friends for a bit before coming back home and hangin' with the fam.  I did a lot of my usual..playing in my exersaucer, walking around and dancing in the Bjorn (I really do love that), and the newest fun activity - my "Sassy" jumper....dad decided we should give it another try.  I haven't quite got the 'jump' part down yet, but it's fun hanging in a new spot.

This week consisted a lot of the usual routine with mom & dad.  I got to skype with Grandma Janice the night before she took a 40+ hour trip to go to Malaysia.  Mom says one day I will get to go somewhere cool like that but for now we just have to pray that she stays safe and has fun and brings me back presents.  Oh wait, did I say that out loud?  I guess it will be hard to get the chance to talk to her for the next few weeks while she enjoys her vacation but I am sure I will keep busy with my other skype buddies.  This week I talked to my cousins Gabby, Jay, & Will with Grandma.   One of the other highlights of the week included trying some water for the first time.  I must say I thoroughly enjoy helping to hold the glass and playing...but once I got a taste, I didn't really see much of the appeal of it.  I'll stick with my milk.  Speaking of my milk, we did a weigh in tonight and I was at 13lbs!!

Daddy where are you going???  I quickly warmed up.

Tyler decided I was OK to hold after all!  

I have had a pretty good weekend so far.  Last night we had my friend's Tyler & Sarah over for dinner.  Mom told me that they were moving to California so we wanted to hang out and grill them up some good Nebraska steaks before they left.  Then surprise...they aren't moving after all!  Yay!!!  Luckily they still came for the good stuff...and brought their puppy Lilly to play with Marley.  Have I mentioned how much I like Marley....she makes me smile.  Anyway, apparently when they grilled out the steaks they left me out of the fun...one day.  I had a lot of fun with them, I even let them in on my private bath time.  I figure I have years to gain modesty...for now I'm good with people seeing me in my birthday suit.  After my bath, I had a bottle and was still ready to talk for the night...but apparently everyone else was tired so our guests left and mom made me finally go to bed.  I slept in a bit (6:45) this AM and had a great day at home talking with everyone.  Apparently I was so good that mom & dad said we could all go out to dinner at the Blue Moose.  I didn't see any Blue Moose...too bad that would have been cool....but I had a good time talking and smiling at people around me.  It wore me out.  Better rest up for church tomorrow.  Amelia OUT!

Marley decided if she was very quiet she could sneak up and get some dessert

I have been trying to put more movies on here, but am having problems getting them uploaded...so maybe next time.

1/20/2011

Avery and her dad, Maddie with her mom, and me trying out the Bjorn

I know it's been a while so lets just dive right into this thing.  Let me see I am 4 1/2 months so not much is going on in my life but daycare and sleep, but I have had a few interesting tidbits for you.
1. Mom started singing Brown Eyed Girl to me today - so apparently it is official I have gone to the dark side.
2. I have found it fun to roll from my back to my side to play with things
3. I still sleep on my back, but I often turn myself 90 degrees before dad comes down to get me

Hanging with Maddie

Ok on to the fun stuff.  Last friday was my first dinner party with my fellow bloggers Maddie & Avery.  We went over to Maddie's house, her parents are Patty and Stu Ludlow.  Avery soon showed up with her parents Mike and Katrina Davenport.  I had so much fun over there.  I tried to get a hold of Maddie's hair and I guess since I am bald she decided to go for my eyes (as evident by the picture).  This was the first time I got to spend some quality time with Avery.  As she is quite a bit older (a whole 17 months), I am not sure that she was all that entertained, but I tried to talk to her a bit.  She seemed to like that.  She can actually say things to her mom and dad, so apparently I need to hang with her more so she can help me out, because it does get a bit frustrating that they don't always understand me.  I also found my new favorite thing.  It is called a Bjorn, must be German or something.  I loved just sitting in there getting a whole new look at the world.  Dad loved it so much that he found one on Ebay that he had to order.  He said there was no way that he was going to pay $80 for it when he could get it for half that on Ebay.  (He is not tight, just thrifty.)  Anyway back to the party.  We had a blast Patty and Stu made us a great meal and dad and mom looked like they were having fun.  We stayed way too late, like 9 pm, I was so exhausted I didn't even take a bath that night.

Hanging with buddy Ava, we like to hold hands

I slept in a little bit the next morning until 6 am before getting everybody up and going for the day.  I got to get dressed up because later that day we went to another friend of mine's birthday party, Will, he turned 1.  He was actually born on the day that my mom and dad found out that I was coming.  Just a side note he also shares a birthday with my Grandma Kay.  Pretty cool tidbits.  Anyway, back to the birthday party, give me a break I am 4 months old I get sidetracked easily.  Shoot the other day I found my foot and I was busy for 15 minutes.  Anyway the party was a lot of fun, Rennick, Violet, and Ava were all there to help share in the fun.  I got passed around a lot, apparently they all enjoyed how much less I weigh than their kids.  I caught a glimpse of mom holding Violet (6 weeks my junior but 4+ pounds my senior), it sure looked like she was having a tough time of it.  I guess I need to keep the weight off as long as I can.  We took some pictures with the our original small group, missing Tyler and Sarah (who I am sure were very nervous that the mighty HUSKERS almost came down here and beat them that day) and Derrick who slid out early to go watch football.  We had so much fun seeing everyone, and helping Will celebrate the big 1.  And by the way dad downed the cake, it must have been pretty good.  I can't wait to put down some cake with all the milk that I have been drinking.

The whole gang.  Misty/Rennick, Josh/Christina/Ava, Dad/Mom/Me, John/Liz/Will, Andy/Shelley/Violet

Sunday was a typical Sunday we went to church and came home and took advantage of the Sabbath day by just relaxing a bit.  Monday was MLK day so mom went and got a massage and picked me up early so we could hang out longer than usual.  I have been a very popular girl lately with all the Skyping that I have been doing.  Skype for those of you who do not know is video chatting.  Well with Grandma Janice, Aunt Rhonda, and now that Grandma and Grandpa Steffen getting into the new century and buying a camera for their computer we have been keeping up pretty good.  They are just amazed by every little thing that I do.  Let see I think that is all I got for today, since it snowed dad is hanging with me all day since they closed daycare.  I am trying not to give him such a hard time though.  He says I am too little to go out and play in it, but maybe next year.  It sure is pretty.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.  Amelia Out!!

Taking advantage of the Sabbath!

Look how strong I am!!