Walking and Tying

Poppy Walks!

She started taking steps at the beginning of July. Then she interchanged walking and crawling. Now she zips everywhere on her two little legs.


Ms. Sue saw her at Storytime and said she couldn't believe her eyes. Poppy is walking!


I thought to myself that I didn't remember Rosemary looking like this when she learned how to walk. And then it occurred to me that Rosemary was a full two months older. Poppy started walking at 14 months, the age when Rosemary first got her orthotics. Poppy still has some of her babyish charm, where, at 16 months, Rosemary was starting to look more like a toddler.



Growing Up

Rosemary is intent on learning how to tie her shoes. She leans over the laces and proclaims, "I do it!" Until she has trouble, and, instead of accepting my help, says, "No, Mommy, YOU do it."

She can lace the straps on her orthotics through the buckles. Mommy still needs to tighten them down.


When I was a kid, I was given a shoebox prop that had holes poked through the top and shoestrings laced through just like a sneaker. I made one for Rosemary. She could spend a whole hour knotting this thing up.


She'll bring it to me and say, "Look, Mommy! I made a present for you!" It was cute the first couple of times. The laces will be all knotted up over and under themselves. I'm not sure how to redirect her back to trying to tie an actual bow. I'll ask where her granny knot is, where her bunny ears are, and, "will this knot help you keep your shoes on?" She just takes it away to play with it some more. I can't blame her. I spent a good deal of my childhood knotting string all across my room, until it looked like a drunk spider had tried to spin a web. I meticulously knotted it all up, and then spent equal time undoing it all.

There's no wonder where Rosemary gets her focus from.


Just look at that smile.

Play

The girls are starting to play together.







Poppy is always interested in whatever Rosemary is doing. Rosemary tries not to be annoyed about it, but you just know she so totally is.









They do well playing side by side until Poppy knocks over Rosemary's block tower.
R is all about her block towers.



They both love the swings.



And here they are providing some after-dinner entertainment. (warning: turn down your volume)

Looking forward to seeing their relationship continue to develop.

Birthday Girl

Poppy's birthday was on a Friday. In lieu of a party, we pretty much celebrated the entire weekend.

On Friday, we visited the hospital where she was born to deliver gifts to the NICU.

On Saturday, we ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and Poppy tasted her first cupcake.








On Sunday, we did gifts and another round of cupcakes.










Monday capped the weekend off with Poppy's one-year well visit checkup.




She's one year old now, but she's still my baby.



I love both of my babies to pieces.

On Poppy's First Birthday

In celebration of Poppy's first birthday, we went back to the NICU today to deliver gifts. We had done it before. I bought some preemie outfits and put them in a gift bag with this photo montage:


I dropped Rosemary off at daycare this morning and then Poppy and I took the long drive to St. Louis to meet Daddy up for lunch. After lunch, Daddy had to go back to work, but Poppy and I continued further into the city until we reached the hospital where both she and Rosemary were born.

The sense of deja vu that accompanies these visits always gives me the chills. Memories just washed over me: finding a spot in the parking garage ("I made it back to my car in the parking garage, sent Senpai a text asking him to take care of dinner, and then.... I dropped my chair back and took a nap."), using the elevator ("We laughed it off when the elevator took us to the basement, and then the sub-basement, but no one laughed when it stopped and the doors didn't open."), waiting in front of the NICU doors. Those memories seem like a lifetime ago... until I'm back there and it all comes rushing back. There were some changes, too. The bridge from the garage to the hospital that was under construction last year is completed. The roundabout to the back entrance is completed. With these projects done, the garage is metered again and no longer free (boo....). A new project that I hadn't seen started before is a beautiful waterscape descending from the front entrance to the back. I hope I get a chance to see that when it's done. 

Inside the building, the hallways were blocked off by new nurse stations and locked doors. I told the lady at the first station that I had gifts for the NICU, and she pushed the button to open the automatic doors. I walked a bit and avoided the next station by turning right to arrive at the NICU doors. I picked up the phone and told the receptionist that I had gifts to deliver. The doors swung open. 

This part lasted for only a moment. The receptionist was new, not someone who recognized us, so there were no happy greetings and no calling of free nurses to the front for a visit. I just told the guy, "It's this baby's birthday today. She was born here and stayed in the NICU, so we're celebrating her birthday by bringing preemie outfits for you." I handed him the bag and then walked out.

It was all rather anti-climactic. 

I decided to go to the cafeteria to see if they had any chocolate pudding for me to indulge in (it was my favorite lunch treat; I made quite a few facebook posts about it). I was happy to see plenty of dark pudding cups lined up in the cold case, but then I realized I couldn't afford one, haha. I had always eaten with a nursing mother voucher before! I was full from our lunch out with Senpai anyway, so it was probably for the best that I didn't further stuff myself with unnecessary treats.  

Not sure what to do next, I thought Poppy and I might go to the picnic tables outside where I used to eat. As we worked our way out of the cafeteria, I was thrilled to run into the lactation consultant who-- out of a group of three-- was the one who worked with us the most. It was a very serendipitous encounter.


The LC, Becki, was so thrilled to see us. She remembered Poppy's name and even recalled some details of her NICU stay, "She was one of those babies who did so well and then just conked out. Do you remember that? Around 36 weeks." Yes, I remember now. Becki loved hearing that Poppy breastfeeds so well, and further delighted in the fact that Poppy refuses to take bottles, "It's because you worked so hard at it. You did that." I did what I had to do. Everything that went wrong with Rosemary, I did the opposite for Poppy. I wish I had known better when it was Rosemary's turn, but there is nothing to be done about that now. It still makes me sad, though.

Becki took our picture to show to the other LC's and then we said our goodbyes. Poppy and I continued out to the courtyard.


We didn't stay outside for too long as the weather was cold and dreary. Making our way back through the cafeteria, we had another chance encounter with one of Poppy's NICU nurses, Kim.


After that, I let Poppy wander wherever she wanted to go.

The seats in front of the elevators...


and the stairs.


Poppy received many complements from passersby: She looks like Strawberry Shortcake! She's such a doll. Does she know how cute she is? They're all true.

We ended our visit with a walk through the gift shop. I bought Poppy a stuffed animal for a birthday gift, and I bought myself a bottled frappuccino. I didn't get my chocolate pudding, but no day at the hospital would have been complete without a vanilla frappuccino. I bought the place out back in the day! Overall, it was a lovely visit. I'm very glad we did this. 

Again.

Preschool Prep.... ha.

This was the week it all fell apart.

Poppy is teething. She's had the same two bottom teeth out since February, and now her top canines are trying to join the party. I can feel the bumps protruding, but nothing has broken the surface of the gums yet. I wish they'd hurry up and come out already so we all can sleep again. She has been feverish and unhappy. She desperately needs sleep, but she does not stay down for a nap when I try to walk away. It has been very hard to do anything but pay attention to her. That being the case, Rosemary's studies have been pushed to the wayside.


Midnight munchies for a miserable, teething baby.

Senpai reminded me that we have money allocated toward daycare that needs to be used before July 1st. I scheduled Rosemary to go back to the daycare she had been at before, starting next week. It's a good daycare; the reason we took her out was because she wasn't handling the separation well. She is more sociable and outgoing now, so hopefully she will like the experience better. We told her that she will go there to play with other kids and she sounds happy about the idea. The daycare does crafts and lessons everyday. I will gladly let them teach Rosemary while Poppy's gums are under attack from sharp, pointy teeth. Once I can sleep and think again, I will check in and see where Rosemary's studies may need supplementing at home.



I'm looking forward to seeing this happy face again...


So I can enjoy more of this.

ELEVEN

We're long overdue for a Poppy update! She is 11 months old, and there are 11 days left until her first birthday.

She has two teeth. They grew in at the end of her ninth month, so that must have been late February.


She claps. Just started doing that last week. Another new thing from last week was that she learned how to say "Dada." She's been saying "Mama" since January. I was thrilled that she said Mama first, since Rosemary was the other way around. ^_^


You already know that she crawls. She started that at the beginning of April.


She's started trying to climb the stairs. She can make it the second step. There's a door that opens to the stairwell from the dining room, so, needless to say, we leave that door closed now when Poppy is crawling around. Rosemary needs to learn how to use the door so she can make it to the bathroom!


Poppy loves to do everything her sister is doing. She learned how to use straw cups and sippy cups way sooner than Rosemary did just from watching her.


She loves to rifle through the diaper bag, looking for fun things to play with, including her sister's underwear and Mommy's wallet.


And she still loves food.



Well, there's our Cookie, just shy of her first birthday. She's almost walking, too. Mommy and Daddy are super proud. :-)

Preschool Prep, Week 2

Well, we've got another week of lists and stickers under our belt. As much as I want to just wing it as we go, I find that our days go so much more smoothly when I pre-plan the night before.

For Monday, I looked up what the Storytime book would be about and then planned our activities around that. The book was "The Red Boat" by Hannah Cumming. So when we got home I folded a red origami canoe for Rosemary and let her paint a lake for the boat to float on with some of her toys inside.



On Tuesday, we voted! I carried Poppy on my back and pushed Rosemary in the stroller to our polling place. Rosemary got a sticker, seen on her hand below. A fire truck was in the parking lot and Rosemary talked to a fireman and sat in his seat in the fire truck. She declined putting his helmet on her head. We then went home and voted on what we would eat for lunch. I voted for leftover hamburgers, but Rosemary and Poppy won the vote for PB&J sandwiches.

Decorating the voting box.

Tallying votes.


We also played Chutes & Ladders. Rosemary won!


On Wednesday we went to the craft store to pick up supplies to make a "calm down jar." I call it a Sparkle Jar. I had seen the tutorial on Pinterest and wanted to give it a go.

Making the jar.

Giving it a good shake!

This is what it looks like at rest.

Falling stars.

I won't lie; we made this jar for me. I'll often shake it up when I'm stressed and then instantly feel my blood pressure drop along with the sparkles.


Poppy wanted to get in on the tong transfer activity that day.

We also went outside. Man, Wednesday was a great day!


Thursday wasn't as productive. It was obviously a "let's not plan ahead the night before and see what happens" day. Well, nothing much happened. It was also too cold to play outside. Fail. Too be fair, we were in the basement for an hour waiting out a tornado warning on Wednesday evening, so that got in the way of planning time. That's my story.

I at least have some cute pics from Storytime.



Today, Friday, I started the morning by testing Rosemary's knowledge of the alphabet. She can recognize 9 capital letters!

I also decided to try a sensory bin. It's like an indoor sandbox! It kept Rosemary entertained for at least 20 minutes, which Mommy really needed. It was a rough day.

Sensory bin with white rice, barley, chickpeas, and measuring cups.


Poppy is enjoying her new-found mobility. Here she is exploring the toy area.


That's it for this week. Tune in next Friday to see what else we put on our lists!