Last Week of Babyhood

Well this past week was my last week with my little baby girl. This week she will become a big girl.

We had a fun and busy week. Last weekend we went to Sesame Live. We got a steal on the tickets so we headed to the RBC Center to visit Elmo again. I was a little worried it would not hold her attention. Boy was I wrong. As soon as Big Bird and Elmo came on stage she clapped, pointed, and waved at them with excitement. It was awesome. She paid attention the whole 1.5 hours. Wow. Impressive to say the least. We will definitely be visiting that again next year. I am thinking we can milk another year out of Sesame. I have to say Sesame doesn't bother me as a kids show. It is educational yet not freaky in a teletubby way. I mean who doesn't like a big furry puppet?

Then this past Monday we started our new class. Yes Lily is officially in the one year old class. She sits at a table and eats, she sleeps on a cot, and she drinks out of the big girl glasses (sippy cups). It brought tears to my eyes to see her at the table eating her goldfish. And I picked her up and she was napping so peacefully on her little cot covered by her blankie.

I did have one complaint about the new class. Since she was transitioning into a new class I expected some fussiness when we dropped her off. By transition I mean they just dump them into the new class...no easing into it here. Luckily she knew most of the kids in there so it hasn't been unreasonable. Overall the transition has been good with one exception. In the morning they combine the Toddler I (12-18 months) and the Toddler II (18-24 months) rooms due to resources or whatever. Well when Michael dropped her off she was getting trampled by two year olds. AND he was having to take her the the Toddler II room. Now I may be wrong but since she is in a new class I felt she should be dropped off there so she knows where her new 'home' is. Not to mention there is obviously a difference between a not quite 12 month old and a 24 month old. They seperate the classes for a REASON! Michael said she was scared silly! She was crying. It might be the worst drop off to date. She got knocked down like four times in a few minutes. She is just now getting the hang of walking and doesn't need big kids pushing her down! Maybe I am just Mommy protective but I was pissed. I was literally in tears at my desk and everyone probably thought I was crazy. Michael said he was scared to sit her down because they would swarm her. The two year olds are like vultures I tell you! Who knew they started so young? It is like they smelled fresh meat. Or as a friend described the "Thriller" video with the zombies coming after you.

All is well for now I talked to the teacher and asked that they not combine until Lily gets adjusted and gets a better grasp on pushing the kids back when they push her...haha! Not to mention there is a little girl that moved up with Lily that is not even walking so we need to think about her safety as well. Meanwhile I will be playing Kung Fu Panda on repeat until Lily learns some defensive skills.

Like I said overall the transition is good. They take her outside twice a day and she runs around. She is wearing shoes everyday and walking really well in them. She is usually wearing the same clothes when I pick her up which is an improvement on my laundry budget. They may not be clean but it is less to wash. She seems happy when I pick her up. I don't get to see the teacher much because she works 7-3:30 so by the time I get there at 4:30 she is gone. I think we will have to utilize the teacher conference day this year. I did feel like in the infant room there was always an open line of communication...I am not sure about this class though. I just think the new teacher needs to love Lily as much as the infant room teachers did. We may have spoiled...just a little.

We spent Friday night to visit Meg and Craig so they could see Lily for a bit. She was not exactly an angel. She has battling a cold all week with a nasty cough. As has Mommy. We didn't get there until like nine that night so that didn't help. She stayed up WAY to late and then go too tired. She wasn't exactly an angel the next day either but even her bad isn't terrible.

We went to a baby shower for Brent and Chris on Saturday morning. So cute! She looks great. I am insanely jealous that she is barely even looking pregnant. More like she ate one too many brownies. But she is tall so tall is blessed in pregnancy. She got lots of cute stuff. I think they are all set and just waiting on Will to arrive. If their registry is any indication they don't need much else. We actually got them a pack and play, diapers and wipes because when Brooke and I went to buy a big gift together there was nothing left! The pack and play was a basic one so not pricey. We had to supplement with something and all mothers know diapers are an awesome gift!

Chris did bust her butt towards the end of the shower and actually went to the ER. Her ankle is sprained but the baby was fine. She got an air cast and they monitored her for four hours afterwards. I was laughing on the way home about how clumsy I was pregnant. If I went to the hospital every time I fell I would have spent the last three months being monitored. Lucky that your bones are all flexible during pregnancy making it difficult to break anything. Lets see I fell on the front steps once and skinned myself up pretty bad. That was probably the worst fall. I tripped going up the stairs on a daily basis. Hey I couldn't see my feet people! You would think being short and having a low center of gravity would help but it doesn't. Maybe this is were Chris' tallness is a disadvantage. She does have farther to fall.

After the shower we stopped by Teagan's birthday. I know a long day! Her parents were so happy. It is exciting to see the girls getting bigger but sad at the same time. We saw some old friends we hadn't seen since last Fourth of July and I didn't even recognize the kids which made me sad that we have gotten so wrapped up in our life that we have dropped the ball i nother areas. I guess somethings always gotta give right? But Lily was running around the yard and having a blast. She kind of stuck to herself but she seemed to enjoy the outside time.

We need to invest in some outside toys. Start encouraging it now. When we get home I have been trying to take her outside to walk around and play for at least fifteen minutes. You know just get her used to it. She likes it and likes to pull leaves off my bushes. She doesn't seem to mind that they are prickly.

Her walking has exploded over the past two weeks. She is a champ and using it as her primary mode of transportation now. I have only seen her stand up in the middle of the floor unassisted a few times but once she catches onto that we are in trouble. She is almost trotting now. And she found the stairs yesterday. Every time I turned around she was walking towards them. I followed her up them and sure enough she knows how to climb them. Ugh. Does anyone have a stair gate? I am too broke to buy one....the upcoming post will let you know why.

On Sunday we had our One Year Photo Session with Nicole Faby. She is awesome! Check out her site. We actually went to college together and she is a fellow Chi Omega. I cannot wait to get our proofs back. All I am going to say is that we may have a little Ballerina on our hands. Lily was very well behaved but was quick to let us know when she was done (after about an hour). It started getting really hot all of a sudden so I wasn't surprised. We did them at the Raleigh Rose Gardens. It was my first time there. It had character but kind of reminded me of an old lady's garden. You know the ones behind the old creepy mansions. haha! I think it will make for good pictures though. I haven't been disappointed with my previous pictures from her.

Whew long update and I know I don't have any pictures but I had to get all this in before the BIG ONE post. I will try and download some stuff tonight.