Time Flies!

Time flies when your husband is home! And when your mom, dad, and sister come into town! And when your cutie 5 year old niece has a birthday party! It's been almost a whole week since I've posted! What? It was just yesterday, I swear! I have a billion (OK, not really) pictures I want to put up, but they are on my sister's camera. And as I really ought to go to bed as we've had WAY too many very late nights this week, and as I have too much to say, I'll just post these way cute pictures of Jane and her cousin Joey. We had Joey over Saturday while his mom did all the prep for the birthday party. I was surprised how well they didn't play together. Joey loves to share his toys with adults, but definitely not children. Or Jane. And Jane isn't used to have someone yank her toys away. Or knock her over.

All this is a long wind up/excuse to post these pictures I took several weeks ago. They "played" together a bit better then, or at least there was no knocking over ;-)





Joey is 9 months older than Jane, so you get an idea of just what a big girl my babe is! I think they will be great friends. Jane is teaching Joey to talk, and if I'm lucky, Joey will teach Jane to get off her tush.

One Great Day

I woke up well-rested (I fell asleep at 9:30 the night before). Jane and I were doing dishes in the kitchen before 6:45. Jane was pulling all the lids out of the cupboard and I was pulling all the dishes out of the dishwasher. I made green smoothies and egg mcmuffins for breakfast--whole grain English muffins with mesquite turkey, partially smooshed and refried black beans, pepperjack cheese and an egg. It was a hit with the whole family.
Then we got moving. Our to do list has been piling up all semester and now that Eric is done (or has a week off before petitioning), we've been tackling it full speed ahead. We rearranged Jane's room (I'm finally pleased with the furniture layout), put away a billion things, hung pictures, posted stuff to Craig's list, followed up on a googleplex of paperwork, bills, etc, etc.
When Jane woke up, we packed a lunch and went to the beach that's nearby. It was like we were a real family!
It has been so nice to just be together. It's wonderful to work together on projects around the house and so soothing to play together. Jane enjoyed the water and the sand. Not so much the sun. I wish we'd taken a video, but whenever she'd pull her hat off or her eyes where unshaded, she'd start twitching and convulsing and we'd say "Jane's melting! Jane's melting!" It was hilarious, that vampire child of mine. Although I seem to have developed an allergy to the sun or something. I've got quite the itchy redness on my arms and legs...


Lunch was also a hit. Jane tried PB&J for the first time and really liked it, ate almost a whole half of a sandwich! And she even got her favorite dessert--gnawing on an apple core! She'll seriously gnaw on one for half hour. Probably longer if I let her.

So yea. Great Day. Beautiful weather, beautiful family, just doing projects, having fun, and chill-laxin'.

Loving Blogworld

How did SAHMs do it before blogs? Maybe that's why they had Relief Society in the middle of the week. Anyway, I love, Love, LOVEd this post from Momedy. If you have ever procrastinated anything or if you know anyone who does, it's worth a read. Or if you are just generally interested in motivation as a topic, check it out.

9 Months + a Day

*sigh*

Isn't she sweet? I can't believe how much her looks are changing--it's that personality of hers that's just bursting out. Jane turned nine months old yesterday, and although the weather didn't cooperate for the planned photo shoot, we did get the above beauty. A few things you ought to notice:
1. All six teeth? Yep, they are really poking through.
2. The nose crinkled up? That's from Mom.
3. Two dimples. That's from Dad.
4. See the blue bow on the top? Jane's foofy-fro is finally long enough to gather together and put a bow in it. Barely. Her hair doesn't lay flat, even with product in it, at least not for long. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
5. Spring blossoms and green leaves as the backdrop! YAY for Spring.

And the Nine Month Stats for Jane Skylar Ludlow are....
.....drum roll, please.....
Weight: 22 lbs 5 oz (95th Percentile)
Height: 28 1/4 in (75th Percentile--although Mommy thinks she wasn't measured accurately)
Head: (are you ready for this?) 47.25 cms (that's off the charts, people. Well, off the curve. SIGNIFICANTLY off the curve. They had it measured three times to make sure. Thank you Grandpa Lloyd)

Newborn Jane, 1 week old

At Nine Months Jane is sleeping a good 12 hours at night and regularly gets in one good nap a day (usually 1 1/2 hours in the morning, 9:30-ish). Afternoon naps are rare and frequently a battle. Without an afternoon nap, she's asleep before 6:00. And we are pretty strict about that. We kept her up till after 8:00 Monday and have been paying for it all week.

7 months old

She eats solids three times a day and has 3-4 bottles. Doctor told us that we can pretty much give her anything but honey (or so the new research shows), so gloves have come off and Jane has had all kinds of things lately including eggs and even peanut butter puffs. She loves green smoothies (I mix rice cereal with hers) and will always eat squash and sweet potatoes. She loves, loves, loves, finger foods and feeds herself so well. She's also really good at putting her food on the floor and stashing it next to her bum in the high chair. She eats cereal, puffs, noodles, all kinds of fruit, bread, bagels, she even loves to gnaw on my apple core.

Flirtatious 9 month old Jane (check out that hair!)
--yes, we had to take her name down, she was getting too strong and pulling on it too hard and too often.

Now for the list of Jane's Skilz:
1. She can turn in circles while sitting: on the carpet, on the tile, in the tub.
2. She can turn in circles laying on her tummy: ditto for carpet and tile, not so much the tub.
3. She has started singing: mimicking Mommy or Daddy, singing along with a CD or her musical toys, or just singing to herself in the morning when she wakes up, or in the bath, or while eating. Pretty much anywhere. Daddy loves this, as evidenced by his wide grin. (not pictured)
4. She can hold our hands and use her legs to stand herself up (yes, without any pulling on our part)(or hers).
5. She has also started taking steps while holding Mommy's hands, especially when she wants something.
6. She mimics burping. Blame this on Aunt Amber, she's the one who taught Mommy her unabashed talent.
7. She has the consonants M, N, B, D, T, Th, L, G, mastered. P and W are on their way. She doesn't string syllables together much, but she plays with pitch a lot.
8. She knows that "yay" and clapping go together, usually with something fun. And when she wants to play a silly game with us, she will often clap.
9. She loves to read and helps turn the pages. She loves the books with flaps she can lift (all by herself!) She likes to make squeaking sounds on the pages by pushing and dragging her finger. The regulars in her storytime line up are:
One Sleepy Baby
I Am Happy
Where is Baby's Belly Button?
Tumble Bumble
Buzz Said the Bee
Where's Spot
I Can Fly
10. She can give Mommy and Daddy a high five! (sometimes necessarily prompted with a "clap Daddy's hand" or something along those lines; but she sure looks cool doing it!)

That's probably enough gushing for now. We sure love our little girl. She just keeps getting funner and funner. Of course, she's not crawling yet, so I'm still in the honeymoon, right?

Silence

So, I thought I would post something lovely on Mother's Day. I thought I would reflect on what the last almost-nine months have meant to me, how they've changed me, etc. I was sure I'd have something profound to say about love and service...and, well, I was just too tired.

Which I think is humorously appropriate.

I was up with Jane at 6 on Mother's Day, she mostly played while I got things ready for church--the primary children where singing in Sacrament Meeting and I had a few things to get ready for that, plus preparing for regular singing time, plus an extra singing time since all the women were leaving primary to go to "big kid church." And I had to prepare my lesson. And I left for choir at 11:15, but had to get Jane ready to go and put her down for her nap so Eric could stay home (he had a final Monday morning, so he studied nearly all of Mother's Day) without taking care of Jane.

All this was after a marathon Saturday--fun, but long. Again, mostly church related activities and preparation.


phew...I'm still tired. Don't I look tired? It's not just the Longhorn orange wiping me out, either.

Spring

Minnesotans work really hard for Spring. Consequently, I haven't enjoyed a Spring this much since, well, ever. It happens all of a sudden, too. One day the earth is just barely blushing green in the spotty new grass. The next it is all out flushed green with blossoms on trees, bushes, flowers, shrubbery. Even the dirt is greener.

I Got Skilz

Apparently, I'm a good cook. At least that's what my ego is telling me tonight. Why is it so outspoken on this particular evening? Because I had TWO really cool ladies in my ward call and ask me cooking questions. One called for clarifications on a recipe I came up with for one of our cooking groups and the other called to ask what kind of olive oil I use. Totally flattered (which, incidentally, equals an awkward and embarrassed Marcee on the phone).

Speaking of really cool ladies, there were so many of them back home in my church that mentored me, that impacted my life, etc. It's weird to think that I'm now in the same position as those really cool ladies (the jury is still out on my relative cool-i-tude, but now I'm the teacher with the impressionable girls at my feet...boggling).

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, Good.

I've been wanting to post this video for awhile. It's pretty darn cute. Apparently I'm a little vocal when encouraging Jane to eat because she had to pick this up from somewhere. And of course, once you take the camera out it loses 50% of it's cuteness because baby gets distracted, but here you go.

Speaking of baby food, Jane is really getting into finger foods and I'm having a hard time coming up with stuff to let her feed herself. Any ideas? She really prefers to feed herself and if it's in a spoon, she's pretty picky about texture. So I'd love to give her more opportunities to practice those fin motor skills.

Late Nights

So, I occasionally get into these "ruts" of staying up late. Much later than I should with a daughter that consistently wakes up before 6:00 am. And I'm kind of conflicted about it. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. But what about Mom? What does it make her? It's like sometimes I have to stay up past a certain hour to become "me" again, whoever that is. I feel like I find myself in the wee, small hours after midnight. And I'm tempted to do it again tonight...

Or maybe it's just giddy sleep deprivation that is giving me a rush, I don't know. Thoughts?