6/27/2011

2 words.  I'm MOBILE!  Watch out world.  Yep, I finally gave in and showed mom & dad that I really can crawl last Wednesday when we got home from swim lessons.  Which by the way, I enjoyed quite a bit more than usual.  I am starting to get a bit more use to the cold water, probably didn't hurt that I had 2 great naps at school that day.  I think I had a better time than my friend Maddie, because she puked in the pool!  Ooops...  Luckily I was on my way out, so dad sheltered me from seeing it too much.  Don't worry, pretty sure she wasn't sick.  I think she just took in a bit too much water, because she was totally happy and smiling! 

Anyway, back to the biggest news of crawling.  This crawling this isn't half bad.  If I really want to get to something, and I can go get it myself and not wait for mom & dad.  I can also go hang out with them if they are in the kitchen cooking, etc.  At first, I was sticking to the carpet in the living room - which I think mom and dad liked, but I figured out that I don't mind crawling around on the wood floor - so now the whole house is game.  Sweet!  I really don't venture too far - no real need - but I sure can if I want to.  Watch out Marley!!  Although, I still have some work to do in the speed department.  Now the biggest problem I have found with this being mobile thing, is I just can't seem to stop.  It use to be that when I went to bed, I didn't move an inch once I got down.  However the last few nights, mom and dad have found me all over the bed.  This would be ok with all of us, but somehow during my moving I get myself all stuck in the stupid slats in my crib.  I woke up completely stuck the other night...and after mom FINALLY came downstairs to save me, she found me butt up with both of my legs dangling outside the crib.  Not my idea of fun.  Realistically, I can make no promises that I will stay still at night - so I am hoping they figure out something out pronto!  I put some videos of me in action for proof.

checking out the polar bear

This past weekend I was teased with thinking I was going to go to Lincoln, but last minute we decided not to make the drive.  Apparently the interstate is closed due to flooding and it was going to take us an extra 1-2 hours.  Of which, none of us were ready to sign up for.  Whatever, I just go with the flow...not a lot of choice, you know.  Mom on the other hand has been itching to get out of town for a while now, so she was bound and determined that we have a 'staycation'.   I have to say it was pretty fun. 




Saturday was a really nice day outside, so after a good morning nap we decided to go lunch on the plaza.  Little did we know that there would be a gazillion people there and nowhere to park.  We opted to go up the street a bit to Spin Pizza.  Of course I don't care where we go (like I said...'go with the flow'), but I had fun.  We then got back in the car and headed to the zoo.  Yep, this was mine (actually all of ours) first trip to the KC Zoo.  Truthfully, I was underwhelmed...but mom and dad said I have to hang out at this zoo for a few years and then we will get to go to the real cool zoo in Omaha!  We visited the Polar bear.  Pretty cool...he was huge.  It was like a big monster doing flips in the water.  We then walked around "Australia" and looked at other animals; monkeys, tigers, kangaroos, etc.  I don't remember a lot of it, because I started getting so hot that it made me real sleepy.  When mom woke me up to go back in the car, I noticed I left a huge wet (sweat) mark in my stroller.  Darn both mom & dad for giving me the 'sweating' gene.  I am doomed.

Mom says I am a genius because I have mastered
putting the circle puzzle piece as well as my circle
block in the right holes.  Dad says when I follow it
up with trying to put a square in the same whole, I
still have some room to grow.  Speaking of growing
yes, I am wearing the same onesie I wore back in
October but it is just a bit tighter!

Sunday was another fun day.  It started off with church, which is always fun.  I wasn't real sure with the guy volunteer that took me at first, but I warmed up ...and my friend Ava showed up so that is always good.  After church, lunch, and a nap we went to the neighborhood pool.  I didn't have high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.  This place that is just up the road from home is super cool.  Now of course I can't do most of the stuff at the pool as it is for big kids...but they did have a couple of baby areas and fountains for me to play with.  I had a blast!  I sang and talked the whole time.  Speaking of speaking...did I tell you, I now say mama (along with dada, baba, nana).  Sorry, sidetracked...but mom LOVES it when I say it....anyway...this water was much warmer than the water at my 'lessons'.  I got brave and stuck my face in the water lots.  I think i may just have to talk the parents into buying a pass so I can go more often.  This swimming thing may not be that bad after all!   We spent a good amount of time swimming and playing there, but then dad said we better get going.  He wanted to wash the car (which was a waste of time since it rained all night...oops!), oh well...mom, Marley, and I had a nice time hanging outside watching him work.  Needless to say, after my busy day outside, I was pretty tired.  I did not want to wake up this AM.  But alas, I had to get back into the weekly grind and head off to school.  I am now the oldest girl in my class (Ava 2's last day was Friday)...kind of crazy!  I don't even want to begin thinking about having to leave myself.  I love Miss Martha and Sharina.  Ugh...now I started thinking about it...and am really sad.  Dang it.  Now I am going to bed sad.  : (   Amelia OUT.

6/21/2011

Hey...how's it hanging?

Amelia here...I am going to go ahead and jump right into this thing.  Starting on last Wednesday.  Dad picked me up and instead of going home we ended up at the swimming pool again.  I don't remember being told that this is a reoccuring thing.  Don't get me wrong, it is nice to see my friend Maddie & Tatum, but I really don't think this swimming thing is for me.  Mom says maybe it is the same phenomenon as my lack of desire to move (the whole overly cautious thing), I just know that the water is cold and it is loud.  They try to get me to blow bubbles.  Seriously?  I see my friends dipping down and blowing bubbles (or more often swallowing the water), and it really does not look all that appealing.  I don't think I will ever be hungry enough to want to put my mouth in there.  Mom says I will eventually learn to hold my breath and have fun.  I keep telling them that my idea of fun is jumping, swinging, and spinning in my jumper (I'll try to post a video soon of me spinning - mom says she gets sick just watching me - WEAK).  Dad tells me I need to buck up on this swimming thing and that I better not be this way when it comes to riding roller coasters. 

hold me tight mom!

I have been a bit more on the move lately, but apparently I'm not officially 'crawling'.  I make my way across the room - when desired - but I do it very slow and steady (like everything) that no one even realizes when or how I got from one place to the other.  I have a feeling my stealth like moves could come in handy one day.  Perhaps in my teenage years.  I have mastered waving bye and clapping (my hands finally), we are working on blowing kisses and acting like a monkey.  Huh?

Ready for summer, sporting my cute
outfit grandma Janice brought back
for me from Malaysia!

This weekend was a quiet one again as dad was on call for work.  So that means we have to stick fairly close to home.  We went to Houlihans (surprise) for dinner on Friday night.  Where I enjoyed my dinner and realized i am NOT a fan of spinach and artichoke dip.  Really I am a creature comfort girl, not real interested in any new foods that I am given.  But I'll take the old standbys (sweet potatoes, carrots, Cheese puffs) any day!  Although, I did recently try a goldfish cracker, I'm thinking i will let those stay in my repetoire - not too bad.  Still don't like fruit and am not thrilled when they try to sneak it into anything.

so maybe I shouldn't try and play paddy cake in the water

Back to the weekend.  Mom & dad decided that I have so much fun (not!) at swimming lessons, why not bring the pool to us.  Ugh.  I guess they figure practice makes perfect.  I wasn't thrilled with the idea of getting into this new pool...especially since it is too little for mom or dad to join me, but I actually thought this one was pretty fun.  First of all it is a big crab - cool.  Secondly, it really is just like one of my baths...but with a little cooler water.   I hung out in there while mom and dad drank a couple of beers, if this sounds a little trailer park (nothing against anyone who lives in a trailer park, but come on this is what you see in trailer parks) it was, dad had his shirt off, wow it was bright.  Sorry dad, but you need a tan.  The rest of the night was pretty low key for me, I think after I went to bed mom and dad started a fire outside.  Sunday was fathers day so I let dad sleep in for an extra hour, he was happy when he came down stairs and found me signing his card.  I gave him some new slippers, since he said that I wore his old ones out from walking me around all those nights.  I also gave him a picture of me that has me talking (saying dada).  It has magnets on it so he can stick it in his work van and here my voice anytime he wants too.  He was very happy with his presents.  We then went to church and on the way home dad's friend Chris called up and said that they were in town and wanted to stop by and see me and the house.  So Chris, Carmen, and his three kids stopped by for a visit.  We grilled some hot dogs and hamburgers and other good stuff.  It sure was nice meeting them.  All in all a very good weekend.    We'll see what's in store for this next week!

Here is a video of me playing with dad today when I got home from school

Dad says I can't get my legs any farther apart.  I'll show him!

chillin with Carmen, Hazel, & Emma

6/14/2011

I had a pretty good week last week.  I got back into a good napping routine at school and I have been working (albeit slowly) at getting to be more on the move.  As expected, my report card from school shows that I still have a lot of work to do in the 'movement' category, but I have mastered most all the other things months ago.  Back to dad's statement of me being an engineer over an athlete, I guess.  Thought I would include some videos below of the latest in these categories.  More of me mastering the rings (b/c I am that good), and one of my mom catching me on video actually getting to sitting position.  I guess this is something I am suppose to do (along with crawling), but neither of them are all that appealing. 

picnic in the park

Wednesday was my big day last week.  Why you ask?  Well 1. it was time for my 9 month old check up!  The minute I sat down on the all too familiar white paper at the doctors office, I knew this wasn't going to be fun.  But I was pleasantly surprised by this visit.  It was real low key she just listened to me breathe, checked out my mouth, ears, etc. and I did the usual growth checks.  No shots!!!  Let me tell you that made me quite happy.  Yes, in case you are wondering, I exceeded expectations.  I weighed in at a whopping 16lbs 10oz, which puts me in the 12 percentile..right on track!  I am 27 inches tall so still pretty avg. there and my head is 17.5 inches which is the 65 percentile.   I guess now I understand why I got the sea turtle reference from Jason.  Click here for the updated chart info.   Doc said everything looks good and she said not to be worried yet about me not crawling, that I am just a "content & cautious" child, so hopefully that will get mom off my back (well actually off my knees) for a while!  I just like to ensure that I can do something good before getting started.  :) When we got home from the doctor I was pleasantly surprised yet again, by a visit from my friend's Tyler & Sarah!  They came over and ate some Runza with mom & dad.  I think they liked it!  I haven't seen them for quite a while so it was so awesome to talk to them and show them my toys and how good I am.  We had a lot of fun, it seemed to me that they were talking a lot about babies (I am sure that was all about me)...and looking at books- but I did my best to distract them with my flashy smile.  Of course mom totally slacked and took no pictures of us.  She seriously slacked last week with the picture taking.  I guess I will have to start pushing dad a bit.

Global Day of Prayer

Luckilly she made up for it by taking pictures this weekend.  Mom, Marley, & me went to Loose park on Saturday to enjoy the beautiful weather.  It was great...I hung out in my stroller and just sang while mom and Marley walked all around.  Whenever I caught a glimpse of Marley, I'm pretty sure she was looking wantingly at my stroller hoping for a ride too.  She is such a wimp, it was nice out.  We were checking out the geese when dad showed up!  He ended up getting off the OT work he had to do a bit early so he joined us for a picnic in the park!  What fun.  They ate Jimmy Johns while I enjoyed some mac n' cheese.  Marley laid down and panted.

Sunday was another fun day.  I participated in my first Global Day of Prayer at the new Livestrong Park in KCK.  It was pretty awesome with lots of cool music that we sang and danced to.  I even got to quickly see my friends the Bodenstabs and Indellicates!  We were hoping to meet up with friends afterward for some dinner, but it started getting a bit late and hot...so we took off and headed home for my nightly bath and bed.  Next time I guess.

Yes, Ava got the memo to wear polka dots!

Yesterday started off like any normal day at school until it was time to go home.  Surprise...Ava came along to hang out!  Sweet.  What a fun night it was.  I showed her my toys and jumper (she was totally jealous), we both ate dinner, did some dancing with dad, reading with mom, and even took a bath together.  I must say it was pretty fun sitting in the big tub with her, it made splashing in the water that much more fun!  Mom & dad said that since we are only 3 days apart they got the feel of what it would be like to have twins.  Not too bad......for a few hours!!  All in all we had a lot of fun, of course I have lots of pictures to prove that! 

What are you doing with my squirt toy?!

Ok, I'm off to bed - I have had a nagging cough that likes to come on strong at night, so I'm a bit more sleepy.  Amelia OUT!

6/6/2011

Don't you love my outfit?  Grandma Janice made it for me.  SOOOOO cute!

I am NINE months old today!  Wow!  I must say, I don't feel a day over 6 months.  Maybe that is why I still am content not crawling.  Who knows?!  My 9 month birthday makes this a little bit better than most Monday's....which is good, because I had such an eventful past week (weekend) that I wasn't ready to get back to the daily grind.  Let me back up....to Wednesday of last week.  Dad picked me up from school, per usual.  And as has been customary the past couple of weeks, I was quite tired from my lack of napping during school.  I expected a quick little 5 minute snooze before getting home, but this was different.  I napped for 20+ minutes and ended up somewhere totally different.  Luckilly mom was here, but the place was loud, warm, a bit smelly, and WET.  I had my first dip in a pool at my swimming lessons.  I got to put on my cute swimsuit and see a couple of friends.  Maddie was there with her parents and so was Tatum.  It was the first time I met her, her mommy plays volleyball with mom.  She seems pretty cool, she is about 5-6 weeks younger than me...but per the usual, has WAY more hair!  Anyway, dad took me in to this oversized bathtub nice and slow....everyone else looked happy, so I figured it can't be too bad.  But then I felt the water....I tried to tell dad to hold up, as this is way colder than my tub, but he just kept going despite my protests.  Tatum was like a little fish and seemed to really like it, so I told myself to calm down and try to take it in.  As long as dad kept me close, I guess this isn't all that bad.  All we did is walk around, apparently I am going back to this place every week - so I have a feeling they are going to make me do more in this pool.  I'm not real thrilled on the idea, but I'll keep you posted!  

Tatum was ready to get started!

Chillin' with Maddie before class

Needless to say, we got back into the car and I was exhausted.  I woke up and hung out a bit, before taking my kind of bath and heading to bed where I slept like a rock.  Ahh, how I love my bed.  Thursday started off per the usual, my teachers were really proud of me for taking long naps.  But then realized when I woke up from my afternoon nap that I was sleeping more because I was so hot.  Yep, I got another fever - so mom had to take off early to come and get me.  They informed her when they got there that another kid was sick earlier and just now told them today.  Nice.  My mom gave me some ibuprofen and it really made me feel better, I spent the afternoon napping with her.  The only good thing about being sick is mom stayed home with me on Friday, really I was happy and having fun most of the time.  Grandma Janice even showed up to hang out with me while mom worked.  She tried to feed me some lunch, but I wasn't real hungry so I decided it would be more fun to show her how good I am with my rings and blocks, but when ever my fever would creep back up to 102+ would I start getting a little irritable....so mom decided it was time to go to the doctor.  Ugh, I never like my trip to that place.  They poke and prod me and then usually make me take gross stuff.  This trip was no different.  I found out I got my first (and hopefully last) ear infection.  Since I was just on the pink stuff a month ago, I got some new white medicine that actually tastes a bit better...but I would never let mom & dad know that.  I must protest every time they give it to me!  The good news is, I started feeling better and back to my smiling, talking self real quick.  The real good thing is, I was told today that both the kid that bit me and gave me this latest illness (if not others), have left.  So hopefully I will be incident free for a while!

Not long after I got back from the doctor more visitors showed up!  Grandma & Grandpa Steffen, with my aunt Rhonda, cousins Eric & Jason!!  So much family here....I soon found out it was all for me...apparently I had a big day in store for me.  But first I got to spend Friday evening with all the family.  They ate some Stroud's chicken and I flashed my smile and told some stories before mom told me it was time to go to bed.  With all the medicine I was doped on, I slept like a rock yet again.  That was a good thing, because I had a full Saturday.  It started off with a lot of the usual, eating and sleeping - and playing with my grandparents (ok, that is not usual).  Then mom got me all dressed up in this pretty dress and we drove to church.  But wait, it's not Sunday?  Apparently I got my own special day there.  Pastor Don met us there and baptised me.  I already knew I was one of God's children...but I guess it is official.  : )  I even got my very own bible!  I am so excited to have mom & dad read that to me and learn more about Jesus.  Now I understand why everyone came to see me.  I feel so special that they made the long drive just to celebrate with me.  

They took

LOTS of pictures...me & the pastor, me with my Godfather Eric, me with grandma,...you get the point.  All about me!  :)  After we were done with that we walked to the Cracker Barrel for some lunch.  Well most of them ate.  Aunt Rhonda, Jason, & I mainly hung out on the cool rockers outside as we weren't hungry.  Have I told you yet how much I like my cuz Jason?  He's pretty cool.  Even though he says I look like the sea turtle from Nemo.  He says it is cute though, so I guess I'll take it.  I can't do much about my big head! I was pretty exhausted so I fell asleep immediately upon getting in the car to go home.  But surprise again...we didn't go home.  We went to hang out at the hotel.  Dad fed me some lunch and then I hung out with Grandma Janice while mom & dad went swimming in the pool with Eric & Jason.  It's like they thought they were on vacation or something!  Whatever, I had fun talking (NOT napping) with grandma.  Apparently that wasn't mom & dad's plan because they were not happy with me when they came back upstairs.  Oh well, mom decided it was time to make another attempt at the swimming thing...so we got all changed and took another dip.  Again, I wasn't real thrilled at first...but I got use to it after a while and enjoyed splashing a bit with mom and moving around the pool.  Better than being out of it.  Boy was it hot outside!!  I went back home to take a good snooze (LONG day) and woke up just in time to go to dinner.  All of us (well not Grandma & grandpa Steffen) went to Houlihans for a dinner out.  I had a blast talking with all of them while they ate some pretty yummy looking food.  What a great night.  Needless to say it didn't take long for me to zonk out for the night!


Yesterday I had one last great day with everyone.  I got to play with them all while mom & dad went to the Nascar race.  Apparently I by far got the better end of that deal.  All I heard from them was how bad traffic was and how hot and loud it was.  Unfortunately everyone had to leave yesterday to go back home to their everyday lives.  We did the same...and I have been working on catching up on my beauty rest ever since.  Amelia OUT!

Here is a good pic of my front teeth that recently popped through.  Looks a bit like of a Letterman gap?