Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Steve's birthday and we did what every man dreams of doing on his birthday...we had family pictures done! Cam did not surprise me, he was his usual unruly self. He was all over the place, wouldn't listen, and wouldn't sit still. The photographer was great she tried so hard. She did manage a few smiles and laughs from him. Of course in the pictures that he's smiling in, Arianna is not. Oh well, maybe some day!

After trying to get shots of him alone and with Arianna for 10 minutes I gave up. Steve took him to play on the escalator ("that kid is STILL on the escalator"...name that movie!)I didn't get any pictures of him alone. When they came back he saw that Arianna was posing and having some fun so he jumped in there to try and get her to laugh. That's when we got the only good pictures of the two of them. Luckily you cannot see his bright blue Crocs!Here are some of the pictures, minus the family one because Steve would kill me!





By the time it was over we were all exhausted. Unfortunately we had gone out to dinner to celebrate the night before. We could have used a beer after that!

Arianna's 9mth Well Visit

Well, she's consistently small.
weight: 16lbs 6oz (10th percentile)
height: 26 1/4" (10th percentile)
The only thing that seems to be growing at a steady pace is her head: 45.5cm...90th percentile!!

I was talking with the nurse about her shot schedule and I asked about the dreaded MMR. Cam got it at 15 months but a friend's babies got it at 12 months. The nurse said that most, if not all of the doctors in the practice wait until 15 months to give the MMR "when language is a bit more developed." I found this very interesting. The nurse continued to say that some people delay the shot up to 2yrs. I will be discussing the shot with the doctor at her 12 month appointment. Cameron had a horrible reaction to it and since Arianna is so much smaller I am leaning towards waiting.

We did discuss her overly sensitive gag reflex and the fact that she is still on all pureed foods. She cannot handle any bits or pieces of anything that is fed to her. If it is in stick form and she can control how much is in her mouth she is ok (as long as she doesn't break a piece off and choke). If she gets a piece of something on a spoon or even a cheerio/puff she gags and chokes. He was a little surprised because he said usually those with a sensitive gag reflex have trouble with purees and liquids. He said she would most likely grow out of it but to keep challenging her. He also checked her lungs to make sure she hasn't developed any pneumonia from aspirating any food. There was this incident last week with a Biter Biscuit...

I challenged her milk sensitivity with some yogurt before the appointment and she did fine. She wasn't irritable like she was as an infant. The doc said that was great and since there was no reaction she is not allergic to the milk proteins. Since the proteins in the yogurt are exactly the same as they are in milk she would have had a reaction. He said she could have had a problem with the milk sugars though. The active cultures in yogurt break down the milk sugars so if it is the milk sugars we could still have an issue. I am going to try and give her some milk around 10 months and see how she does. If there's an issue there's always soy milk (though she did have a problem with that...). But I honestly don't foresee any problems.

She says "mama" and he was surprised by that because it is the harder of the two words to say. I like to think it's because she's a mama's girl! She is very good at crawling around on her belly and she has started pulling up on things. She can get up on all fours but she has no desire to go forward. She'd much rather stand up. He said some babies bypass crawling and go straight to cruising. I am not going to encourage that!

New foods she's had this month: waffles, toast, mango, blueberries, kiwi, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, yogurt, zucchini, summer squash, whole wheat crackers.

New words: mama

He Cracks Me Up!

This morning I was getting Play-Doh ready for Cam. He was waiting patiently for me (a first) and he said,
"Arianna's too little for Play-Doh."
I said, "that's right. When she gets bigger she can play with us."
"When will she get bigger?"
"Well, when she grows."
"Why don't you put her in your garden?"
:o)

Experimenting

Lately I've been experimenting with different settings on my camera and trying to become more familiar with what they all mean and do. I really want to get a better lens but I should know more of the basics before I do. Here are some pictures from today.








And when I knew it was time to wrap it up!

Arianna and the Dandelion

Make Way For Ducklings!

Today I took the kids into Boston. I had just planned on going to MGH to visit but since it was so nice out I got adventurous and decided to take them to the Public Garden. As usual, we left late, then we hit traffic. Cam kept asking why there were so many cars and why they were stopped. So, Cam learned all about traffic. When we got close to the huge gas tank Cam said, "look Mommy, a jumper (moon walk thing) can I go in it, pleeeease?" I tried to explain to him that he couldn't jump in it that it was just a big container. "Ok Mommy, maybe when I'm bigger I can go in the jumper?" "Sure Cam, when you're bigger." It was a long ride to Boston!

Cam was very well behaved when we went to visit. My boss had chocolate and he was beyond thrilled! We stayed for a little bit then we were off. It was a beautiful day and I really missed being in town. Especially walking down Charles Street, which Cam calls, "the bumpy road" He's not a fan of all the bricks! I longed for a slice of from the Upper Crust but it's so not stroller friendly in there. Maybe next time.

As soon as we got to the Public Garden we visited the Make Way For Ducklings Ducks. Cam had fun going from duck to duck saying, "little, little, little" until he got to the Mother duck then he said, "bbbbigggg!"

I was very nervous the whole time about Cam running off on me so we didn't go too far. We did take a walk so he could feed the real ducks. On our way over we passed a Policeman on horseback. Cam was enthralled by the fact that a Policeman actually gets to ride a horse. It was the first time he's seen a horse close up too. When we got to the pond I was afraid Cam would go in the water so I told him that if he went into the water the Policeman would come over and yell at him because you weren't allowed to go in...a little white lie never hurt anyone right? All I could picture was him jumping in and me having to go in after him. Yuck. Cam had no problem feeding the ducks his lunch. Will this kid ever eat a meal?? He was running around screaming, "quack, quack, quack" flapping his arms like a bird. He was very entertaining to watch.
I guess I've been living in the country for too long because I forgot just how fearless these ducks are. At one point the ducks started forming a circle around Cam. I thought nothing of it. I was taking pictures of Arianna and giving Cam more of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich to feed them. Well, the next thing I know a male duck jumps up and bites at Cam's fingers to try and get the sandwich out of his hand! Cam jumped back and looked at me like "WTF just happened?" I told him to drop the sandwich and to get away from them! At that point it was like a mob! Cam surprisingly didn't cry, he just grabbed his hand and said "Mommy he bit me", then we both laughed about it. Then we got the hell outta there!

I know...you're all saying "only you."

Watch Out World...

she's on a mission! She isn't a fan of crawling though she has mastered going backwards. She LOVES to stand up though. She is a very determined baby girl! If she falls she screams and screams until I help her stand back up again. She can say "mama" now, it only took 8 1/2 months!

Cameron is so great with her. He finally interacts with her and it is so wonderful to see. Here he was putting the block on her head and saying "look she's a Princess!"