Monday, January 29, 2007

Whoosh!


Coloring Game
Originally uploaded by georgiegrrrrl.
It's been a crazy week here, with B-Fest and related houseguests. It's been good, but taxing on all of us. Gaz was a pill all weekend long (and understandably so, considering the wackiness of our days and the amount of time we spent driving) but today she was fabulous. She had a great time with Marissa (houseguest #1, who was with us Wednesday night/Thursday morning) and then with Jennie (houseguest #2, who left just today). I'm a bit worried that Gaz will freak out on me tomorrow, with the dramatic lack of ultracool ladies to chill with. I've got a full day of nothing planned for us as a cushion between the hectic previous week/end and the inevitable madness of trying to get to Wiggleworms on time. (Please let us get there on time this week! And maybe without tantrums!)

Today we braved the cold and somewhere in a memory card in Montana there are pictures of myself and a stroller-bound, sleeping Gaz at the giant shiny coffee bean thing in Millenium Park. It was some very focused, very chilly sightseeing, but since Gaz took that opportunity to nap, it all worked out pretty well.

But there is a new game in our repetoir--a coloring game! First, you draw a bunch of shapes or something on a piece of paper, because Gaz won't color on a blank sheet of paper. Then, when she's gotten into the whole coloring thing, you try to color various areas and she pushes your hand away and she laughs hysterically. It's a riot! It often degenerates into crayon marks on the table and occassional crayons getting thrown in a certain child's excitement, but generally speaking it's a fun game.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Freshly baked photos!


Good Morning, Bagel
Originally uploaded by georgiegrrrrl.
Now on Flickr! Go! Now!

Today we did indeed make it to Wiggleworms. All the way there, Gaz screamed "GO!" and kicked the back of my seat when we stopped at red lights, and let me tell you there were many red lights.

She also demanded to sit on Miss Lisa's lap at the end of class, and enjoyed being right next to the guitar while it was being played.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Things!

Yesterday Gaz put her pants on by herself the right way. All I had to do was lay them out so she could see that there were two legs. She also stood beside me patting my head while I was doubled over coughing up all sorts of mean, nasty things. She's such a sweetie.

Today she fed herself with a big-people spoon, and just now was stabbing me in the leg with the same spoon. She's very happy to say "spoon" and "fork" (which often comes out "foke" but we can tell what she wants). She's learning to cooperate when we say please, and she's learning to say please herself. She can sign "thank you" like a champ, but the words aren't coming out. That will happen soon enough.

I've just been marvelling at how well she fills out her 3T clothes now. She's getting so tall! The drawback of us not going in for an 18 month doctor appointment is that I don't get to have those lovely little baby stats to share. Doing it at home doesn't seem to be all that accurate.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Now that I've reconfigured Flickr


Hug!
Originally uploaded by georgiegrrrrl.
I can blog photos again. Sorry for the sad learning curve here. Don't forget to check out the latest Gaz photos. I'll be uploading a bunch of crazy hat pictures soon, too, I imagine.
Gaz is feeling fabulous, if just a touch snotty. I still feel like crap on a crap cracker, but I expect I'll improve. I'm at least well enough to get Miss G to Wiggleworms this week.

Some new Gazness: she's figured out some climbing feats, such as climbing up onto the dining room chairs by herself without splitting her face open (yay!) and climbing up into bed with the help of one of our under-the-bed storage boxes. I showed her the boxes on Thursday, and by Friday she had figured out how to use them for climbing up to get the cat.

But the best thing she can do is tell us that she is happy, which she does now with actual words. She will pull Mark and I together for a big family hug and, grinning from ear to ear, shout "happy!" I'm trying to teach her the sign for happy, but it's getting lost in "please" because they are so close. It's another heartmelter. She knows just how to cap off a week of sickness and cranky.

Whatta gal.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

On the Mend

Gaz and I are both feeling better, but she's still the Moco Monster from the Moon. Because of that and the fact that it's hard to sing songs when I've got this much phlegm in my lungs (still), we took a pass on Wiggleworms today. We'll do a make-up sometime when we're both in top goofing-off form.

We're awash in new words, too many of them to count but I definitely remember her saying "trash!" when she saw me carrying some used tissues to the trash can. We've got new games too, such as the plastic cow game, wherein I say "Cow stands up!" and Gaz rights the plastic cow. She knocks it over when I say "Cow falls down!" I'm sure there are more games, but I'm covered in snot and that tends to be more memorable right now--my battles to keep my clothes clean when I am Gaz's favorite snot rag.

I forgot to blog yesterday, but she built a fine 13-block tower before she was overcome with the urge to destroy all block towers. After that she couldn't hold out for more than five before smashing them, but the initial effort was so impressive I couldn't find it in me to criticize. She probably won't do it again, but oh, what a sight.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Gaz and I continue to mend, but in the meantime I have two tidbits for you:

First, is that thanks to a visit from the completely awesome Grandpa Will, our printer works again. That means that I can get back to work doing mailing labels for the long-overdue Christmas cards and many thank-you notes. Huzzah!

Also, we've got a bunch of new words: butt, walk, and . . . man, there are so many that I can't think of any more through the haze of cold medicine. She's much better at accurately mimicing us, so beware, all who visit.

But now back to our regularly scheduled tantrum for no good reason.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Wiggleworms!

We had our first class today and it was so much fun! There's singing and wiggling and all sorts of wonderful fun. Gaz threw a wee bit of a tantrum when I had to fight her to give up the maracas at the end of shakers time, but fabulous teacher Lisa was prepared with bubbles. I must try that at home!

Lil' G is sacked out now on the couch. Her little cough is worse when she's sleeping on her back, so the couch is an ideal nap venue. Very easy to prop her up on her side. She's Miss Molly Moodswing still, happy as a lark one second and raging baby the next. I'm looking forward to her feeling better soon!

Monday, January 8, 2007

new things

Gaz can now sign and say "bed" (which often comes out more like "bee") and does so quite often. Usually she wants me to sit on the bed while she opens and closes the door from one side, then the other, but she's using it appropriately, so I won't complain.

She's got another sniffle (coughle, to be precise) but is weathering this one better than the last one. She had a low fever today, but is back to normal now. She starts Wiggleworms this week, so she better be healthy by Wednesday!

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Wheeeeee!

We are having an absolute blast lately. There have been tantrums, of course, but by and large Gaz is wowing us with how much she understands and can do. To wit:

- Today we called her to dinner and she showed up at the table with a spoon in hand, ready to eat! No one told her to bring a spoon, but she did!

- Today I found two Gaz-sized plastic forks and a Gaz-sized plastic spoon in her onesie. She's been picking things up and hording them for later. Why she thought she needed all those implements, I have no idea.

- We were pretending to give shots with her animal hospital play syringe, and she really liked giving me "shots." I said "Ouch! Oh, that's not bad," and then Gaz started saying "nah bah."

- She's also working on "hello" (huh-oh) and "Dipsy" ("Deeesee"). She's got Po pretty well down, but Tinky Winky and Lala apparently sound way too funny for her to try to repeat.

- She helped me sort laundry yesterday, and is really good this week about bringing her socks and/or shoes and/or jacket to one of us when it's time to go someplace.

- Her ability to express what she wants, while still complicated at times, is really improving dramatically. Sometimes it's just pointing, but she's really good as acknowledging when I've hit upon what she wants. I'm amazed every day.

- Her fine motor skills are taking off too, as she's much better about really using the keys for her recently-acquired key toys. I'm very proud of my girl.

- She has a new toy laptop computer (a gift from Auntie Lis) and she LOVES it! Now she can be just like Mama and Dada. If only ours were as sturdy as hers. She's been sitting on it, throwing it, and who knows what else when I'm cooking breakfasts and lunches.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Overwhelmed!

I don't know what to say, except I am continually amazed, agog, and so deeply grateful for the love and support of our families. We have experienced such generosity this holiday season, it doesn't feel like "thank you" can suffice to show how much all your gifts mean to us.

Thank you all so much, from the bottom of our hearts! You all mean so much to us, not because you give us gifts, but because you're here for us. Words just cannot sum up my feelings adequately enough.

So to all of you--and you know who you are--our deepest thanks and our prayers that they blessings you bestow on us are returned to you a thousand-fold! (And yes, for some of you that would mean that we're hoping you get a thousand fabulous children's books. ;-) )