His 'n Her Towels

10 Months Old

10 months old!

http://crazy-plum.blogspot.com/2012/04/10-months-old-perfect-ten.html

9 Months Old

trying to catch up, only about 4 months behind....

 

http://crazy-plum.blogspot.com/2012/04/9-months-visions-of-sugarplums.html

Moving (virtually)

I've wanted to move my blog for awhile now. I use typepad, and NO OTHER blogs I read use typepad. It makes it hard to manage my blog reading list and whatnot. Plus, I'm paying for a typepad account that doesn't work all the time. SO, i've thought about it for YEARS and i'm finally making the switch to Blogger.

You can now find me at Plum Crazy: http://crazy-plum.blogspot.com/

Hopefully, now I'll be able to keep up with other blogs better, as well as my own. I might have gotten rid of the blog altogether, but I don't have a baby book for Della, so this new blog is essentially her baby book. If you feel compelled, please take a peek at Plum Crazy. THANKS!!

7 Months Old

Dear Della Plum,

You turned seven months old on September 28^th. We were busy this month enjoying the fall and doing all the necessary fun fall activities. We were on the go so much your knees barely touched the floor. Probably explains why you haven’t had any interest in crawling or scooting around yet. Your Dad made me a bet, he said that you would be crawling by 8 months. He now owes me a shopping trip. Thanks, Plum!

 

This month we also learned that we will most likely have to move. Your dad’s company wants to transfer him to their St. Cloud branch. I will try to put that in baby terms for you: Dada go bye-bye. Basically they want him to move away from where we live now. And since we kinda like Dad, we’ll probably have to go with him.

It’s sad, but also exciting. I don’t want to leave the house where we brought you home from the hospital, or the room that we worked so hard to build for you. However, if we move I will be able to leave my job and stay home with you during the day instead. We could make many new memories. For me, that is a pretty decent trade, so I’ll agree to the move. Now all we have to do is find a new house.

On top of looking at new houses, and getting our house ready to sell, we also took advantage of this beautiful fall! We went to the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch. You picked apples, went on a hayride, carved a pumpkin, went for a bike ride.

 

We went to Wabasha to see the leaves change colors. You were really interested in the Eagle Conservatory we visited there. The eagles caught your attention and you were mesmerized, that hasn’t happened too often, you are usually the one trying to get people to notice you.

 

Here is what else you’ve been up to this month:

- We are continuing to work on pureed foods. We’ve also introduced you to some finger foods, like bananas, bread, and the almighty PUFFS. You literally go GAGA over puffs.  

- You are sleeping more consistently through the night. We are totally cheating, by the way. Against everything we have ever learned from the baby books, we are putting you to bed asleep. Since you are getting more to eat during the day, we have cut out your dreamfeed. I now only nurse you at 7:00pm and let you fall asleep. This way you usually stay sleeping until morning and we no longer have a three hour battle before bed. We may regret this habit we are creating later, but I hope not. For now, this works and we can have our peaceful evenings back. Plus, I love snuggling you to sleep.

What else can I say, this has been a great month! We had so much fun with you, and we are happy we can take you to lots of different places and share these experiences with you with ease.

A lot of changes are on the horizon. I know you can handle them though, you are such an easy going kid (except when it comes to sleep, of course.) The way you are maturing and absorbing everything, I can tell big things are going to be happening for you soon too.

Love you so much, Plum! Stay super sweet.

Love,

Mama

 

6 Months - Half-Birthday Baby!

Della Plum,

You turned six months old on August 28^th. Happy Half-Birthday! We had your 6 month checkup and it was confirmed what we already suspected … you are one short plum! You are 24 inches long, that’s the 4^th percentile on the growth chart. That means if you were in a room with 100 babies your age, 96 of them would be taller than you.  I think you may be destined for life in the front row.

 

We started you on pureed foods a week before you turned 6 months and you are doing fantastic. You are now weighing in at 15 lbs 3 oz (45^th percentile).  If you were in that same room with those same 100 babies, you would probably steal all of their lunches. You have been trying everything we’ve been giving you. Your favorites are still sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, apples, pears, mango etc. We make our own baby food, so we went a little crazy and tried zucchini, eggplant, asparagus, and all kinds of gourds, and you liked them all. I think the only thing you don’t like so far is broccoli.

 

We had your 6 month photos taken. That day you were so sick, but you still managed to be charming during the photo session. You can’t even tell by the pictures that you were running a high temperature with an ear infection, and that later we had to make a trip to the urgency room.

 

 

Here is what else you’ve been up to this month:

-You are in size 2 diapers. 3-6 month or 6 month clothing.

 -Without the swaddle you are now free to roll on your side and stomach easily at night, helping you sleep better. I’ve found you a few times with your face straight down in the mattress though and it scared me, but you eventually learned to turn your head.

-You are starting to put your pacifier back in your mouth by yourself, if it falls out. You prefer to put it in upside-down or sideways.

-You love your toys and you love to play. You are always searching for a toy to play with. You like to take the musical/movable toys and turn them over and touch the screws and battery covers. No matter how colorful or loud a toy is, the screws are more interesting to you.

-This month we went to the State Fair. I’m sure you remember the State Fair from last year, when I was pregnant with you, and forced you to absorb 10 pounds of fried cream cheese. I think you appreciated the State Fair even more, from the outside, this year.

-We also visited the race track and let you bet on a few horses.

 

We can’t believe it’s been half a year already. I’m excited to see what you have in store for us in the next half! I believe the tough part is over, now it’s all about having fun and learning how to use those extra limbs to do cool new stuff, like, walk the dogs or mow the lawn….

Love you so much, Plum. Please stay so sweet!

Mama

The Joys of Carrots

 

 

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, this is the face of a person who really likes carrots.

She's actually mad i'm not moving the spoon fast enough into her mouth.

5 Months Old!

 

Dear Della Plum,

You turned five months old on July 28th. Since then you've been checking off one milestone after the other on your to-do list. Some things you've done only once and decided that’s enough. Some things you do obsessively and compulsively.

Rolling from front to back was one of those one-time things for you. I'm pretty sure you only did it to get us to shut up about it too. We keep trying to tell you, that as a baby with little mobility, rolling is a good way to get to where you want to go. But you seem content with staying put.

 

You started to sit at four months, and now you have perfected this skill. You like to sit and you do it well. I'm not surprised; sitting was the only trick we could successfully teach the dogs too. We are a family of sitters I guess. Rolling over is for suckers and poodles.

 

You are noticing everything these days. You noticed things before, but now things are not just things anymore. Everything is something to you. Everything is important. Everything must be touched, tasted, inspected. You must touch every button, salt shaker, ear, shadow, sponge, and dog whisker you can. I envy you, as you can find value in an empty carton of ice cream. Whereas, I cannot.

 
 

At the end of this month we wanted to help you kick your swaddle habit, so we planned an intervention. We set your arms free and tried sleep training. "They" say sleep training is important in order for you to learn to "self-soothe".

“They” are idiots. And they obviously haven’t met you.

When you started to cry we had to wait two minutes before going to soothe you. When you cried again, we would increase the wait time by two more minutes before intervening. The first night it only took twenty minutes for you to fall asleep. The next night you caught on to our operation, and you staged an intervention for us. You cried, nay, SCREAMED, inconsolably for over an hour. After five continuous days of screaming LONGER and LOUDER, we decided to nix the sleep training idea.

 

You've never acted that crazy before. Sure, you’re a not-so-great sleeper. Sure, our whole lives revolve around that dreaded five-letter word. But usually, as long as you were swaddled and pacifiered correctly, you went to sleep (eventually) (without teetering on the edge of insanity at least). Then we go and take away the swaddle and tell you to just deal with it.

We are bad people.

We learned some very valuable lessons that week though: Don’t fix something that isn't hopelessly broken. And don’t try to change multiple things at once.

It took awhile, but we eventually gained your trust back and you stopped screaming at us like we were a colossal threat. You went back to your normal fuss, reinsert pacifier, fuss, reinsert pacifier, then finally fall asleep routine. And we are totally okay with that!

 

 

After all that you did learn to sleep with your arms free. We have been a swaddleless household ever since. This is by far mine and your dad’s greatest accomplishment-to-date, besides, you know, creating life.

Here are some other things you’ve been up to this month:

- The week before you turned 6 months old we introduced you to solids. That was the same week we tried sleep training and removing the swaddle. Again, I think we changed too much too fast. No wonder your system malfunctioned. Fortunately, you took to solids pretty well. You love sweet potatoes. Avocadoes not so much. You obviously don’t understand the gloriousness of guacamole yet.

-We were quite busy this month. We went to the county fair, Valleyfair, the splash pool, a waterpark. One good thing about a baby that doesn’t nap is that we can take you anywhere, and we don’t have to worry about your nap scheduled. Because you don’t have one.

- You weigh about 14 lbs, and are in 3-6 month or 6 month clothing. Size 2 diapers.

You’ve taken the biggest leaps forward this month. So many huge changes for one little girl, but you handled it well considering. We love you and are so proud of you!

 

5 Point Friday

- Both dogs and baby slept through the night for 3 nights in a row. Uninterrupted sleep. This sort of thing only happens when the sun passes through the shadow of the moon at the same time that Mercury is in retrograde, Neptune aligns with Pluto in Sagittarius, and when the dish runs away with the spoon. It is rare. Usually all the dogs and babies in our house seem to think that 3:00am is a good time to regurgitate breast milk or two days worth of grass and women’s underwear. But for those 3 nights no one woke up to puke!

 

- Then last night happened.

 

- Picture this: Carl, Della, our dog Coya, and me in one big pile, half asleep on the floor in Della’s room. All sharing one tiny baby blanket. While Bixby, our other 90 lb dog, was very comfortably stretched out in our king sized bed. No one would sleep (side eye to the baby) unless we were all sleeping in uncomfortable positions on the bony floor. Except for Bixby, who is way smarter than any of us.

 

- My husband has this toe fungus. He is not going to be happy with me for sharing this, but that is his punishment for spraying his toe-fungus-remover-foam on his feet and then not cleaning up after it. I now have two fungus-foam outlines of size 11 feet on my bathroom floor. We just need his autograph and some dirty handprints and it will be our own little germy version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

- I’ve lost the ability to fake cry. Sometimes when Carl and I are having a disagreement, I’d throw in a fake cry here and there to give emphasis to my point. Shameful, I know. But unless you have a better way to quickly justify three much needed pairs of new boots and one wine tasting outing before noon, then feigning distress is a crucial debating tool. However, since getting pregnant my faux tears have dried-up completely. In fact, I lost the ability to fight altogether. Anytime I try to argue with Carl I can’t help but smile, and then eventually I start laughing hysterically. My credibility is shot. Carl thinks I’m actually a happy person now. This is not good.

 

4 Months - Baby You're A Firework

 

Dear Della Plum

You turned 4 months old on 6.28.11. It's been a whole month since then (you're actually 5 months today).  I'm not chronically late for everything. Honest. I just like to take my time writing this monthly letter to you. I want to make sure I get the details of the entire month going forward.

 

 
 
The month started off with a bang, it was your first Fourth of July! We went up north for a mini-vacation and I have to say, vacations agree with you. You were so good. You went swimming, then napped. Boating, then napped. Hammocking, then napped. You are a baby of leisure, that’s for sure.

 

 
 

You even slept through the fireworks. At home, I can't put a feather in a hat without waking you up, but you can sleep through a night of deafening fireworks, obnoxious trumpet-playing clowns, and God Bless America on repeat?

 

 

 

Unfortunately, when we got back you came down with another cold. At first I thought you were just allergic to not vacationing, but I was wrong. It was, in fact, ANOTHER cold. This cold was a little better than the last, but it still warranted a trip to the doctor.

 

Della, you were baptized on July 10th. It was such a special day as we stood before God and asked him to watch over you. You were beautiful in white, surrounded by all the people who love you. We couldn't help but envision you on your wedding day, and we are thankful that we get to experience life with you from now to then. I am so blessed to have you in my life and I thank God everyday, multiple, multiple times a day.

After your baptism we had brunch and cake at our home. You received a lot of nice gifts that day, The Bible, a gorgeous musical globe with a cross in the middle, delphiniums (the flower), and even a purple tricycle ...so that you can bike with Jesus?

God Bless Delphine is all I have to say. 

 

Here is what else you've been up to:

-At your 4 month checkup you were 12lbs 10oz, and 23 inches. 25 percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height. You are one short plum.

-You laugh! Your first real laugh was at your Uncle Jason. He asked, "What is so funny?" and you laughed and laughed at him. You don't laugh too often, but when you do, it. melts. hearts.

-Currently your favorite song is Moves Like Della (Jagger) by Maroon5. You find it hilarious when I sing it to you.

-You started laughing, but STOPPED talking, almost completely. It is the oddest thing. You used to "coo" so much we thought you might be part pigeon, but since you turned 4 months old you haven't said a peep. I wish you would start talking to me again. It's way too early for you to figure out how to give me the silent treatment.

-When I drop you off at the babysitters you have begun to stick your bottom lip way out and you get a little sad and teary-eyed. I think you've figured out what's happening. You don't stay sad for long, and some days you don't even notice I’m gone. Still, it secretly makes me feel good if you cry when I leave. You'll learn this one day, but crazy women like me need someone to miss them when they are gone.

-When Dad picks you up from daycare you get really excited to see him. You start fervently flapping your legs and arms in hopes to swim through the air to get to him. You always smile the biggest at him. And when he’s talking grownup talk to others, you patiently wait, smiling up at him until he notices you.

-We took a trip to the URgency room this month. Dad noticed that the tip of your tongue was black. I’m not a baby expert, but I don’t think baby’s tongues are supposed to be black. We called the nurse and she suggested the UR. It turned out it was just a bruise, but seriously. Could it be anymore obvious we are first timers?

-You sit! You do not rollover, nor do you have any interest in rolling. But you can sit up now. Good job Plum!

-Size 3-6 month clothes. Size 2 diapers. Naps are still inconsistent, and you will be swaddled for 18 more years.

There’s so much to say about you this month. I could go on and on about how you like to eat books, how you recognize people you love, how you will leave your mouth open so that Bixby can lick inside it (Gross!),  and how you are so proud of yourself when you sit in a high chair at the dinner table with us. Each week you keep adding more stuff for us to talk about. You are one captivating subject, and I love being your mom!

 

 

Love you always,

Mom

Our Wedding: The Location, The Church, The Dress

Monday marked the two year anniversary of when Carl and I said our sweaty "I Do's". This blog was supposed to chronicle our journey to the altar, but instead it came down with a severe case of babyitis. Babyitis takes over your life, leaving you bleary-eyed, itchy, and certifiably insane. Trust me. I’ve been rolling around on baby blankets trying to get my scent to rub off on them, because someone told me it would help the baby sleep. Now my body is covered in rug burns, and the baby still cries when we try to make her nap.  See, certifiable.

Before this blog succumbs to babyitis completely, I might try to get some wedding details down. Since that is where it all began anyway.

 

 

The Location: Vernazza, Italy

Vernazza is one of the five towns in the Cinque Terre region in Italy. It is a tiny fishing village on the Italian Rivera.

There are no roads, or car traffic in Vernazza. Just a beach, boats, sunbathing rocks, gelato, and plenty of fantastic things to eat. The perfect quaint Italian town, where the locals speak little English, and everyone knows you (if you stay long enough).

 

 

 

 

The thing to do, besides drink wine from the local vineyard, is to hike between the five towns. It is gorgeous! My favorite place on earth.

 

 

 

 

 

The Church: Santa Margherita d'Antiochia

One of the main reasons we chose to get married in Vernazza was the church. It was built in 1318 right on the sea. The church looks like it is coming out of the rocks and water, and when we were standing at the altar we had the most beautiful views. We didn’t need any decorations, the views did it all for us.

 

 

 

 

The inside of the church was gorgeous as well. Typically, when you see one old church, you’ve seen them all…but this one definitely stole my heart.

 

 

 

 The Dress:

Three things I needed when searching for a dress: one that would fit with the venue, one that had sleeves, and one that was easily transportable. We were informed that the ladies shoulders should be covered during the ceremony, so I went looking for a dress with sleeves, that wasn’t completely modern and awkward against our traditional Italian Catholic ceremony, and that we could drag across all of Europe. I think this dress fit all my criteria pretty well.