Daddy's Girl

Nothing to report today. Another slow day around the house. Hopefully tomorrow we get some things crossed off our growing to-do list! I have two weeks off of school and one week of that we won't be home, so...I have one week to do the odd jobs around here (ex-photo albums, baby book etc) without having to worry about homework!

Tonight I am going to attempt to work on photo albums. We have all of our pictures on the computer but like to have a photo album around for people to look at as well. We take hundreds of pictures a month, so the photo albums are just favorite photos. Now that I have figured out how to order pictures from home I think printing out pictures on a more regular basis will be easier. Now I just have to get caught up...and not fall behind again...


*Uncle Mark, we don't have any pictures of Amelia and G&G Peterson, our camera wasn't out the day that they were here. I think you mentioned they are on your computer, could you e-mail us a few? (fronczek@uwm.edu) Thanks :)

Pool Time!

Today we finally tried out Amelia's pool! She wasn't too sure about it. The water was a bit chilly but she eventually grew content sitting in her pool. Here are some pictures:







She did NOT like being on her back in the pool:


It was a fun afternoon!

...Now if only Jason hadn't learned of Favre's meeting with the Vikings...he is not happy at all. He first saw it on Facebook and while he was searching online for something on it I thought his head was going to explode! Needless to say, he will not be a happy camper if Favre joins the Vikings this year, but he will always support them.

Bath Time and Toys!

We had another not so interesting day here. We have been bad at bath time the past few weeks! She gets washcloth baths a lot of the time but today we finally did a "real" bath and she had fun! It had been awhile since we had a bath in her tub and had some time to play in the water. After her bath she was rolling around in her towel, being silly:


We tried to go to Wal-Mart to move pictures from memory card to disc and a few pictures to print out, but after almost twenty minutes of sitting at a machine it shut down. We left. Whenever we are at Wal-Mart for a long time like that (which we normally are, it is a much longer process going there than to Target) I find a toy for Amelia. Nothing too fancy, just something to say, "sorry we are still here honey". Today she got stacking cups:


She liked banging them around! We realize we could have just given her storage containers and it would have been virtually the same, but we use a lot of GladWare and Ziploc containers that often have some sharp edges and since she is sucking on everything she sees lately we wanted something with smooth edges so she wouldn't cut her tongue.

Amelia also did some cooking tonight:


Those measuring cups are one of her favorite toys right now!


*We don't print out pictures to send to people for the most part. If anyone wants a picture of Amelia (or a few), let us know! After today's disaster at Wal-Mart I made an online account with them and we can have picture orders sent to any Wal-Mart for pick-up! There are some sitting at the Hudson Wal-Mart as I type this. So, if anyone ever wants a picture for any reason, you can e-mail us or leave a comment on here (you can do it as "anonymous" and just sign your name at the end, no need to make an account). Just let us know which Wal-Mart you go to...

Super Sunday

Today was super for many reasons. First, I made breakfast this morning which is something I never, ever do for Jason. Hopefully it wasn't too terrible. After that we went to church as a family for the second week in a row (normally just me and Amelia go in the evening). After church we stopped by the art museum for an hour or so. It's nice to be members and be able to just stop by when we feel like it, even if it is just for an hour or two. Today we went through the featured exhibitions, The Eight and American Modernisms and the Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs.

Here are some pictures of Amelia from the art museum:



This afternoon Amelia and I went on a nice, long run. We went from Bay View all the way to the East Side. Our destination was the Oriental because I knew ice cold water would await me there, plus, I know that it is about nine miles fom our house. We went around nine miles in about 90 minutes, not too shabby. I think we could have been quicker but I kept hesitating at first, not sure if we should attempt it (there was rain on the way, the news said so and so did the skies). We made it though and only got rained on a little. We stopped for shelter once, but got going again within 5 minutes. After we reached our destination we hopped on the 15 and it brought us back to Bay View.

I had a hungry baby this evening, even her fairy looked good:


Lastly, we worked on the whole sippy cup thing again tonight. I know it might be a bit early for this but she is so adament on holding her own bottle (somewhat unsuccessfully I might add) that we figured we'd let her try. We just put water in it. She seems to know what to do with it:


Now if she would just tilt her head back and lift the cup, she'd be able to get a drink!

Another Simple Saturday

Today started out as most other Saturdays do, we went to the farmer's market. We got there pretty late so it was crazy over there and we got in, found our stuff (steak fajitas this week!) and got out. Pushing the stroller on grass amidst a sea of people all stopping to look at things = near disasters, often. I actually clipped a few heels this morning...oops :/

We also went grocery shopping today and dealt with the Saturday afternoon crowd at Woodmans. We also got a good laugh at the Sonic employees... There is one opening across the parking lot from the grocer and the employees were out, skates and all, training in there neon uniforms. Remind us not to grocery shop Sonic's opening weekend, it will be a mess over there, people love their Sonic! I, however, have never eaten at one.

Here are a few pictures of Amelia playing today:




In other news, Jason finally rode his bike to work today! yay! Yesterday while I was at work he and Amelia went to REI to get tires and exchange an inner tube (he got two, but they weren't the same, so one had to be exchanged) and later that afternoon he got the new tires and tubes put on! I don't post a lot of pictures of Jason on here (he doesn't like/let me take many most of the time) but I took this when he left for work:


He still needs a helmet. We are ordering on online this weekend, sometime. He knows the one he wants and tried them on at REI so he knows what size he needs. Now all he has to do is find one for a good price online and order it!

Lastly, here is a picture of the Duck:


Our kitchen chairs are always so covered in cat hair because of stuff like this! I still don't know why they all hang out in the kitchen, it is the only part of the house that the a/c doesn't reach at all. Yet, they are all in there in the afternoon, sleeping. Funny guys!

Teethers

I am not convinced that Amelia is teething just yet, but her fascination with putting things in her mouth is growing every day! Here is her reaction to one of the refridgerated teethers:



She wasn't too sure but she kept at it, pretty priceless! She does better with toys that have built in teethers, in fact she really seems to enjoy them:

Baby's First Beach Adventure

Yesterday I took a break from schoolwork so we could go to the beach before I had to work. It was a very hazy afternoon with a nice breeze, perfect for getting out of the house! From the beach you couldn't even see downtown it was so hazy:


Amelia has her very own lifejacket! We picked it up last week for when she and I go up north in a few weeks. We decided to try it out at the beach to see how she liked it. Here we are getting it fitted on her before we went on our walk:


Jason's "big catch":


Amelia wasn't too sure about Lake Michigan. She just kept staring at the water with a very concentrated/concerned look on her face:



Here are some more pictures of us all at the beach:



Yup, as the above picture suggests, Poopy joined us at the beach (we have a pet stroller that we pushed him there in. yes, we are those people)! We tied him to a piece of driftwood so he had a little bit of freedom:


Amelia on her "pony" Poopy:


She was a pretty happy baby by the time we left!


By the time we left and were on our way home, the haze had lifted and you could actually see downtown:


It was a nice way to spend the afternoon before heading to a long night at work!

BIG Smile

Somebody's got a BIG smile:


This is the biggest smile I think I have gotten a picture of! (I was shaking a toy above my head, that is why she is looking up and away from me/the camera)

This is my final week of summer school (yay!) and I have to work on my final "project" for Wednesday. Normally in this class there are two papers to write but as most teachers do, they cut things down for the summer (all teachers except my Vietnam War teacher that is...) and there is just one paper to write for this class. However, he makes it even easier for us summer students...instead of writing any paper we can make notecards/flashcards of the deities we have studied in the course. Way easy if you ask me! Remember, I am accustomed to making hundreds of flashcards each semester for art history exams, so this is nothing! The only difference is he won't accept handwritten ones and I have never printed mine before.

Jason found me a kit at Wal-Mart that I wish I had discovered sooner! It comes with 200 notecards, 4 on a page that is perferated, so all I have to do is tear them apart once I print out the info/image on them! This is going to be a cinch, I think! This morning before church Jason made me a template to use to make the cards. So, between now and Wednesday morning I just need to type up the info, find an image of each Egyptian deity and hit print! So much easier than my normal routine for making cards (cutting out images, using double-sided tape to put them on notecards and then handwriting any information I wanted to include on the back).

We had storms here again today. I must admit, they were calmer than I had hoped they would be. By 4 o'clock it was black out and I had to turn on lights in the house to see (it was like night!) and then the storms were, in my opinion, kinds wimpy :( Hopefully the humidity will be gone tomorrow after the rain this evening! Today was yet again another miserable day here. Jason saw on the news that the heat index was over 100 degrees today. At 7 a.m. it was already 80 here, crazy! Remember, we live right on Lake Michigan (literally) and we are used to a very nice, cooling lake breeze, which means even hot days are bearable outside. The humidity however is a whole 'nother thing.

Sorry for the lack of pictures and excessive rambling on my part today. Hopefully next time I will have some more pictures of Amelia to share!

A Rainy Day

Today we woke up to thunderstorms! It was nice to finally have a good storm (we had one in May, and Jason recalls one other, but that is it for the summer so far). Amelia slept a bit later today (10:30 actually, a couple hours later) and we can only assume it was because there was no sunshine poking into her room to wake her. It has been dark and gloomy all day.

Amelia and I skipped running today for two reasons, the rain obviously, and the fact that when there was a break in the rain it is HUMID beyond all belief. Even just walking into our stairwell for a minute makes me feel sticky all over...not ideal weather to be out and about, working out, for me at least. We also skipped going to the farmer's market this morning because of the storms...no fresh veggies for us this week! Instead we stayed in our nice, air conditioned apartment and played! Amelia is getting better at sitting every day. She is getting better at pushing herself up when I put her on her butt:


We tried out her new Winnie the Pooh blocks I found for her at a yard sale. We got them all cleaned up and she enjoys them! They are rubbery, so they are easy for her to grasp:


Amelia and I read a few books this afternoon too (something we try and do often, but it doesn't always happen). As she is getting older she is getting more interested in the books, so that is helpful in making me remember to pull a few out and read them to her. She has her soft books that she likes to play with on her own as well. Two of the books we read today had "mirrors" in them and I took pictures of her "reading" in them:


We had a good day today, despite the weather! By the time we were done playing this afternoon, the floor was covered in discarded toys! Toys...and everyday baby items that are now kitty toys... We have several nasal aspirators in this house (which ironically, Jason and I can't seem to make any of them work properly on little Amelia) and the cats have taken a liking to the blue one that the hospital sent home. More than once we have found it on the kitchen floor. There are now bite marks into it in several places, so we decided to just let the cats have it. I must say, it is pretty funny to look up and see a cat walking by with one of those in their mouths. See for yourself:



Lastly, here is a final picture of our happy little girl:

Practicing Sitting

Amelia and I have been working on sitting up for about a week now. In the evening she and I sit on the floor with her Boppy, or her Bumbo, and we work on sitting upright. (today we struggled because Lucky was on the chair and all she wanted to do was stare at him) She does really well in the Bumbo, usually, so now we are trying it with less support. She can stay up for a few seconds. Then she likes to lean to one side on the pillow and look around:


Other times she falls forward:


Once she is forward like this she usually manuevers herself onto her stomach. A few times she has managed to push herself up enough to lean to one side and balance on the pillow again, so we are making some progress, which is all that matters!

In this one she looks like she is dancing or something:


Amelia has figured out the new camera already. When I push the button to take a picture, there is an orange light that shines on the subject and then it takes the picture. When she sees the orange light, this is what she does:



She seems to know that it is time to smile for a picture but she goes a little overboard with her smiling!

In other news, I noticed some red crystal-like stuff in Amelia's diaper this afternoon. I took a second look at her bottom and she has a rash way in there that bleeds just a little. I called the doctor and told them what I found and also that she has been grunting a lot the past few days and that one month ago she started her only formula diet. The nurse said that there should be nothing to worry about. Her body is still not adjusted to her new diet and it is most likely causing her to be constipated (which I figured). They said to keep an eye on it, use Desitin or another similar cream (I chose "Butt Paste") and to let them know if more blood appears.


Lastly, this is Jason's new pepper grinder that came today. His old one broke and there was a lifetime warranty on it, so we sent it in. He got a letter back saying that it was discontinued but they would like to send him a new one to replace it. He was pretty excited about that. The company is Olde Thompson. I think it was great that they were willing to replace something that they no longer carry with any other pepper grinder they have, no matter the price (this one is much nicer/fancier than the one that broke).