Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween festivities started early in the week, when Rose had her school's fall festival on Tuesday evening. What a rodeo seeing the teachers and parents try to wrangle 20 toddlers into costumes! And then to watch the lead teacher trying to get the kids to sing their Halloween song! It was so much fun to see :)

I know you're all here to see pictures of Rose, but I just want to interject the AMAZING decorations that my team did at work! Super impressive!

Wow!


Anyway, back to Rose :)   Isn't she the cutest little lion you've ever seen?!?  We did a little practicing at home so she could learn what happens when you say "trick or treat." She was thrilled when she got a cookie from Grammy as her treat!

Then my mom took our annual Halloween photo!  (Click the link to see how much she's grown up in the past year!) This was the best photo we got since Little Miss was getting antsy to get outside...

The four of us did our usual routine of stopping at two neighbors' houses: Brian and Sue down the street from us, and Marcy, Andrew and Noah's house across the highway.

Rose loved going out for the evening stroll, but she wasn't too fond of  ringing doorbells. Little did we know, she was actually dressed as the "cowardly lion" this year. (Ha Ha)  If the costume still fits next year, we'll be sure to get her a courage medal to go with it! :) 

Actually, I think she was getting more and quiet because she was getting more and more queasy. (She's actually not "cowardly" at all, usually!)  Unfortunately, after bathtime she spent a couple hours throwing up. :(  I think it was just some sort of daycare virus, but I hope she doesn't associate Halloween with sickness from now on! At least she got to spend Friday home with my mom in the morning and with Mike in the afternoon - that's a good consolation prize, in my opinion!

Hope you all had a great Halloween, and that it ended better than Rose's holiday did!

18 months!

We just had Rose's 18-month appointment. She is growing and developing right on track! She's our little rock star. :) The pediatrician put me at ease about all my neurotic first-time mom worries (language development, potential tooth decay, dandruff, carseat safety, etc.). She also did a great job reassuring me when I started crying about Rose's burns. Sigh. Most of the time I've been thinking that I've forgiven myself, but sometimes I still start crying at the drop of a hat! I guess I haven't completely forgiven myself yet, although it's definitely getting better. In other news,  Rose's assessments show that she really excels in fine motor skills. She can hold a spoon like a pro!  Also, here are her stats:

Two months
weight:  12# 6.4 oz (85th %ile)
height:   23.5"  (86th %ile)
head:    15.5" (66th %ile)

Four months
weight:  15# 10oz (86th %ile)
height:   26"  (95th %ile)
head:    16.75"  (85th %ile)

Six months
weight:  17# 7oz (78th %ile)
height:   27.25"  (93rd %ile)
head:    17"   (72nd %ile)

Nine months
weight:  19# 9.6oz (65th %ile)
height:   28.75"  (87th %ile)
head:    17.5"   (66th %ile)

Twelve months
weight:  20# 9.6oz (61th %ile)
height:   30.5"  (89th %ile)
head:    17.75"   (55th %ile)

Fifteen months
weight:  23# (70th %ile)
height:   32.25"  (91st %ile)
head:    18.25"   (67th %ile)

Eighteen months
weight:  24# 9.6oz (72nd %ile)
height:   2'10" (98th %ile!)
head:    18.5" (68th %ile)


 And, since I know you all prefer pictures over text, here she is! :)

milk time with daddy!

helping daddy brush his teeth

love her big brown eyes!

she LOVES to read!

and to stand on books :)

her "official" 18-month portrait

Happy hump day, everyone!

Yum

Forget the pierogies! This girl wants TWO utensils, just to get more peas!

hello? helllloooooo???

Is anyone there? I thought I heard crickets. I did! Well, I suppose that must be my fault for not posting anything in the last two weeks! Seriously, how has it been that long already?!? Yikes. Here's a quick rundown of what's been happening recently:

* I went to Osmo Vanska's farewell concert with the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra. It was heartbreakingly beautiful. I hate not going to classical musical concerts throughout the year! I am firmly on the side of the musicians and wish the Board would (a) end the lockout and (b) adhere to the recommendations from Senator Mitchell!!

* Rose was sick again last Friday with a fever of 104! It was scary...and also scary that I'm getting a bit desensitized to such high fevers. We didn't go to the ER (on the recommendation of the on-call nurse) and the fever broke around 20 hours after it started. Whew!

* Speaking of ER's, we've started getting EOBs and bills related to Rose's last ER visits (for fever and then for burns). Man, modern medicine is expensive!

* Last weekend Rose had her first sleepaway without her parents around! Mike and I were at a wedding in Duluth, so Rose spent the weekend with Grammy and Grandpa Jack. We all had a great time!

* This is MEA weekend, so Rose got to spend all day with Grammy and Grandma Roles today, and tomorrow she gets to spend all day with her Daddy. What a lucky girl! (Thanks, grandmothers!!!)

* Rose's new favorite words are "uh oh" and "no." She especially loves saying NO to Mac - poor cat! She also refused her bath last night, which turned into a disaster of epic proportions. She tried to refuse it again tonight, but we insisted and her bedtime routine went as usual, so hopefully her sleep will be as usual tonight too.

I haven't taken a lot of photos recently, but here are a few to tide you over until her "official" 18-month shots next week! (Can you believe she is 18 months old already?!)

Rose has been super interested in ears recently. Sometimes it hurts when she pulls on them or inserts her finger.

When Rose is feverish, she just lays lethargically on me.

When she feels good, she LOVES to help me bake :)

Mike and I had a great time at the wedding!

Have a great Friday, everyone!

Another one

See that ginormous welt on her leg? Yep, she got bit again today. Ugh.

Friends who bite

See the big bite mark on her forearm, up by her elbow? Apparently Rose has some "friends" at school who like to bite. This is the third incident that we've had since she entered the toddler room. None of the others have left marks, but this one looks bad! Poor girl.

long time overdue updates

Two full weeks since my last post?! Yikes! Here's what we've been up to in the past couple weeks:

* Rose's burns are almost completely healed! Yay!!!!

* I was in Washington (state, not DC) for work for almost a  week. I planned to get caught up on sleep, but ended up coming home even more sleep deprived than ever. (Stupid time difference vs. circadian rhythms!) But at least I came home (mostly) emotionally healed. I can now almost talk about how Rose got burned without crying. Almost.

* I took the WA jurisprudence exam - on my birthday. Blech! Let's just hope I passed.

*  We went apple picking at Mike's stepbrother's new house!

* Rose is pretty much fully transitioned to the toddler room at "school" now. According to Mike (who does daycare dropoff every day), she is now reaching for her teaching rather than clinging to him and crying each morning.

* Mike starts student teaching tomorrow!

* The change in schedule means that I have to do both dropoff and pickup. Gulp! Wish me luck with that...

* I played mahjong with friends, sewed a few more quilt squares for Mike's belated anniversary present, and had lunch with another friend. As you can see, I'm working hard to fit in time for self-care.

* I've also been trying to exercise again, but every time I start running, I end up getting sick! It happened again last week (and maybe being sleep deprived, stressed from taking an exam in WA, and getting the flu shot had something to do with it, but apparently I'm just going to blame the running). I think running is just a lot of stress on my body and I'm also making too many changes all at once (eat better! see friends! do hobbies! and RUN!). I've started looking into yoga classes and gym memberships so I can try to get exercise in a more gentle way, since I'm sick of being bed-ridden for a day or two within 2-3 weeks of each running attempt. Sigh.

* And Rose turned 17 months old!



Here are some photos from the last few weeks, in completely random order:

Remember when I was pregnant and said I'd never dress my daughter in all pink? Well, apparently the saying is true that you're a far better parent before you become one yourself! :)

Teaching the art of the "selfie."

She is so excited to finally be able to reach the sink faucet!

Her burns were mostly healed when I returned on 9/14 (above), and the scar is barely even visible now.
I am SOOOO thankful she was not hurt worse.

She's turning into such a little person nowadays. She LOVES seeing dogs and was pointing to one here.

Cousins Claire and Ella, as we hiked through their forest.

My two favorite explorers!

Claire asked me to take a picture of her under this tree.

After the woods, we hiked through a field.

Rose has learned to flirt for the camera!

She decided that she loves fettucine alfredo!
(I love her big, expressive eyes!)

My friend Marcy brought over some DELICIOUS cupcakes for my birthday. Her son Noah was so wonderful with Rose! He read her books, practiced animal sounds with her, and taught her to be silly by putting the tupperware lid on her head. She loves him!


Rose's two new favorite "games" are:

...picking up a tomato from the pile in the kitchen, making a bite mark, then hiding the tomato in our living room. So far I've found about seven of them. I hope I find any others soon.

...or giving "gifts" to the cats. It sure is sweet to watch, even if the cats are completely uninterested.

She also loves crawling through the tunnel my parents gave her.

And she is learning to enjoy helping me bake! (Finally!! I can bake again!!!)

And, last but not least, here's her official 17-month-old photo! Mike and I both think she looks SO similar in this one to a photo of me (at about her age) that we've seen, but neither of us knows which exact one. Maybe my parents will know so we can do a side-by-side comparison.

So for the very long (and very belated!) post! Have a great week, everyone!