Trippin'

We are in CA visiting Grandpa Jim. We have had a blast so far. The first day, we went to the Long Beach Aquarium and it was awesome. I know that the Georgia Aquarium is supposed to be the largest but maybe it's not the best!

Friday we went to Disneyland. Jade was a little quiet at first but then enjoyed riding the Mad Tea Party ride with Benjie, and the Dumbo ride with me. Of course, we got her a pink hat with mouse ears. This was also Ben's first trip to Disney. Since we didn't bring a stroller, we rented one there and it was nicer than what we have, it was a nice big jogging stroller. Many pics to follow on flickr...

Saturday we all went to the Spanier's house in Arcadia for lunch. It is a beautiful house on a hillside with a killer view! The are friends of my parents and knew me when I was Jade's age. It was a nice visit. After, we went to The Alpine Village which is mostly a German grocery store and restaurant. My mom liked to go there. Ben had some bratwurst and sauerkraut and washed it down with a beer. Jade met the cute little wiener dog in the picture. His name was something German that I can't remember let alone spell!

Today, we went to Venice Beach and enjoyed watching the eccentric folk. I got some pictures of a street entertainer jumping in a mound of broken glass. Jade had a hard time walking in the sand, but thought it was the funnest thing ever. We all got sandwiches and sat on the grass and had a picnic. Then we walked to the water which had to be a mile there and back. (the beach went on forever)

We have been crashing around 9pm CA time each night and sleeping until 6am, (at least Jade and I have....) I am worn out at the end of the day! We still have tomorrow, but leave early Tuesday morning. Vacation is always over too soon.

More later....

She has changed so much!

My little peanut has changed so much! She is walking, and talking (her own language), and is just all around precious. She has become affectionate with us and a little cautious of strangers (not a bad thing in my mind). Now that we have her first birthday behind us, I can think of how she was this time last year instead of how pregnant I was. She is so much fun!

Crawling and First Fever

Jade started crawling on April 24. She is still pretty slow about it, but she does get around! It all happened pretty fast.

Yesterday, she developed her first fever. She was tired and clingy and felt hot to the touch so I took her temp under her arm. It was 100.6. She wanted to eat a lot, so I cut her feedings in half and just fed her every 2 hours. It made me feel as though I was keeping her hydrated too. It was seriously like taking care of a newborn again and it made me realize how big she is getting!! Hopefully, today she will feel better.

Moving on....

Jade is now more mobile. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth. We had to put her in the play yard until we get the downstairs baby-proofed, because she rolls and scoots across the room. Crawling is gonna happen soon.

The latest food that we introduced is spinach. She loves it! We did introduce a fruit, even though I said I wasn't going to. I decided that variety was more important. She likes pears, but not the applesauce I offered. I am going to try another kind. Next up is egg yolk.

More Teeth! and Other Stuff

Jade has #'s 6, 7, and 8 trying to poke through...She was hugging me the other day and put her mouth on my shoulder like usual, except she bit me!! I was so surprised, I didn't even respond!

The cloth diapers are going well. I still need a lot more to do it full time. Above are pictures of the old fashioned prefolds with the snappi and then the pink velcro cover. Quite bulky, but cute.

Fun with remotes

The other day while I was at work I called home to see how baby Jade was doing. Ben told me that he let her play with the cable remote but didn't take the batteries out of it, so she ordered us a nice 1970's movie from On Demand!! Next she will be dialing Fiji on the phone!!!

Cloth dipes and more

We are converting to cloth diapers. They are a lot more fun than they used to be. They have snaps and velcro and a waterproof cover built in to the diaper itself. It is a slow process because 1) They are expensive initially, but save money in the end. 2) I bought 5 different kinds to see what I would like best. I am figuring out that you need different diapers for different situations, like nighttime. I even bought the old fashioned prefolds with covers! But, the covers have velcro fasteners and instead of pins you use a Snappi to fasten the cloth underneath the cover. That is the cheapest option. They also really come out clean in the wash! Even the really poopy ones! It's a cold rinse, hot wash, and another cold rinse then in the dryer they go! So easy.

We are about to add meats into the food rotation. I will make it for her. Since we feed Gerber meat jars to the animals at work, I can't imagine feeding it to Jade. It's pet food to me. So far she tolerates green beans, avocados, and carrots. We are holding off of fruits until she is about a year old. Grains will come in around 10 months. So much fun!

She is having what one of my friends nicely termed a "wonder week". She is about to do something developmentally and has gotten clingy and her sleep is disrupted. She did this right before she sat up by herself, so I know it doesn't last. She has started rolling all over the place today!