16 months--

Niana will be 16 months on Nov 24th. Here are some updates...

1. Her hair is really long and in her face. She sometimes will look like Pebbles from the Flinstones.

2. She now has almost 8 teeth. She has four on top, the two middle on the bottom, and the two next to those are slowly creeping in.

3. She has found the word "No" and the word "MINE". I think maybe she found them at daycare because we haven't lost those words at home.

4. She kisses her baby (and mommy and daddy) night-night.

5. She eats at the big kid table at daycare and sleeps on a cot at daycare. (We still have her caged in a crib at home).

6. Some words she utters when she feels like it:

• mama
• dadada (or da-yee) but if asked to say dada-- she responds with mama-- very cute!
• Coco-- the dog at daycare
• ah-ble which means apple
• byeeeee or yahbyahbe when she screams it to the kids at daycare
• hyeeee (hi)
• dankyuu-- Thank you
• peeese - please -- most often in use with sign language please
• mo -- more -- also in use with sign language more
• pu-- is really up, but only when asked to say up to get up
• woo-woo is still woof woof
• moo
• baaa
• la, la, la-- is what three singing pigs say
• qua- quak is what a duck says

7. She loves to sit and look at books, color, and watch tv (especially football).

8. She can open doors, sit on the potty (just for fun--not going), and loves to slide.

WOW- what a big girl!

At the Park

My favorite season is fall. The weather starts to cool off just a little, the leaves start to fall, and there is a sense of Christmas just around the corner. Last year, my babyniana did not get to experience fall as she should. Last year, I did everything to let her experience it by having her pictures taken with wonderful fall leaves, dressing up and passing out candy on Halloween, and even having her "Baby's First Thanksgiving" outfit on. But unfortunately, she was sleeping most of the time being only 3 months old.

Now at 14 (almost 15 months) and a proficient explorer, this little adventurer was ready to experience fall. Lucky for us, today was just a great day to do that. Grandma Kathy, Niana, and I had gone shopping last week for warmer clothes for Niana. So today, having been much cooler and cloudy, was the perfect day to try out the new "back to school" clothes.

I was so very anxious to go. I was ready to pack a lunch, load up in the cars, and have our day relaxing at the park. But being a baby who rules the world, she decided it was nap time just before lunch. THEN she slept for 3 hours. SO, finally at 3:30 we took off to Fresno. When I lived on the west side of Fresno, I would frequently visit a small park in NW Fresno. I remembered it had a wonderful children's playground and a ponding basin that was the home to some ducks and geese. (Oso de Oro Park for those of you in the area).

We finally arrived and Niana went straight for the slides. She has been on the baby slides in the nursery at church and she also has a slide into her baby splash pool. So she knew exactally what they were for. She stepped up the big stairs and flew down with glee. After we spent some time on one thing, I ushered her over to the next and new exciting thing. I have never seen so much excitement on her face than each time we played with a new part of the playground. Eventually we got tired of the playground. Well, ok, I should restate that..... Mommy and Daddy got tired of the playground. So we moved on. We kept exploring the park. Leaves, sand, bushes, trees! It was all so new and such fun. We even went over to chase some friendly ducks. Then, it was over. Just as it always is..... Mommy or Daddy pick up Niana (who does not want to leave). She throws a bit of a tantrum, then calms down and enjoys the ride in the wagon up the hill and past the ever-so-fun playground without even a second glance. Her first day at a park was just perfect!

Thanks for reading my fun little adventure with Nanah! We had a lot of fun, and now since the weather is cooler we will take some pics outside, so you don't have to keep seeing the inside of our house!

Haircut

So I chopped off my hair!

On Saturday I had CPR training in the morning. As I sat there, I began to think.... "Niana is with Scott all morning. My hair is driving my nuts. I just measured it, and it's gotta be 9 inches! Time for my hair to be gone!"

For those of you who don't know. I have been growing my hair since right after I had Niana. That's when I found out my BFF Monica was diagnosed with cancer. She did loose her hair because of the treatments, but her hair is coming back slowly. The rest of us from college decicded to grow out our hair and cut it for Locks for Love. Mine has been resting at 9 inches for the longest time, so I looked up Pantene and they would take 8 inches.

Saturday I went to the last place I got my hair cut (over a year ago) and asked if they would dontate their time to cut my hair to donate. Well, I walked into the right place. The stylist actually has been doing this for 6 months. She takes the cost of the haircut and puts it into a MMA to (hopefully) increase and then donates it to wig making for people going through chemo. She had tons of wigs all over the store that came from donations right here in our small town. (It was also very cool because I could try on the wigs and see which style I liked best.)

The stylist (being very proficient at getting the most hair off of someone) knew exactally how to put my hair in ponies to get all the right lengths. And voila! Here is my hair. It kinda goes up shorter in the back (which you can't see in the pic) and I totally love it. It doesn't do so good curly, so I must straighten it, but that takes much less time than using the diffuser to dry my 10" of hair!

SO.... if you ever reach 8-10 inches and want to donate your hair, I know just the place!

(And blessings to Monica as she continues her chemo treatment and is getting rid of this cancer!)

Back to School

Ok, yeah yeah yeah. I am getting to back to blogging about Niana. School started for me on Aug 20 and we just had our first full week last week. This weekend is truly needed to rest and clean the house. I don't even know if we have any current pictures of Baby Girl! Here is a brief recap of August for all of you care :) Thanks!

August 4th- Niana's 1st year doctor appt. I got to take her to this one! Scott ususally takes her since his schedule is a bit more flexible on this than mine. Dr. said she is 95% in weight and 98% in height--- look out Sanger High, here comes your next athlete!

August 7th- last day of swim lessons. I can say that we did not learn a thing. She loves the pool and has never been afraid of it, so we paid the City of Kingsburg to let us swim. That last day we enjoyed pizza in the park with Caleb (and his parents) and Evie (and her parents).

August 18- I went back to work at school-- Niana went back to daycare.

and that's it.

She is much bigger now. She can reach all the door handles, the knobs on the stove, loves the tupperware drawer.

New words: ba (ball), hi, byeee, dadyee, mamma, woo-woo (dogs, or all animals)
sign language: more, eat, thank you-- still trying to get her to say thank you at right times.

I will try to upload pics as soon as I can but she just woke up from her short sunday nap

Swim Lessons

We are taking swim lessons with Caleb & Evie for the next two weeks at the Kingsburg Pool. Tonight was our first night and Daddy came to snap some first swim pictures. All three of the babies loved it. Although they did not kick or blow bubbles very well, they were all very good students and enjoyed the water.

Niana's First Birthday

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby!

picture by Amy K Photography

Shaver Lake 2008

We spent a week at a friend's cabin at Shaver Lake. We rested, ate, and played with the Griffins. Both girls (just 5 months apart) had a blast. I suppose mommies and daddies did too!

Our days consisted of...

Monday: Mommies rest and watch babies play. Daddies go back to Fresno for some unfinished business (oh, and Scott bought a motorcycle!)

Tuesday: Between AM and PM naps, we ventured out to a little unknown lake (not Shaver or Huntington, but inbetween the two) for a picnic lunch. Our little rock climbers loved it! They also got to be carried in while mommies and daddies hiked a little ways. Everyone took an afternoon nap as thunder clouds rolled in. Then back for B&J's date night. They went to H. Lake for dinner. Met a few locals and a dingy dog named Harry(?).

Wednesday: Are we renting a Jet Ski? Not yet! We visited the town of Shaver, had lunch at Hungry Hut, looked at a few shops and had great COFFEE drinks at Bob's Espresso. It wa Scott & My date night.... we ate at Trapper's at the Point (yummy!) and ventured off the road to find Big Creek (a small town for Southern CA Edison workers) and the back road to Huntington Lake.

Thursday: The day to rent jet skis? Maybe tomorrow. We went up to Huntington Lake to look around. Spent the afternoon and early evening there taking pictures and enjoying some locals singing karoke while we ate pizza by the lake. The small cottage like cabins reminded me of Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe (another adventure we had with B&J before babies).

Friday: And the last day to rent Jet Skis.... came and went. We toodled around, went to get more coffee at Bob's and then took the kids to the park---- where the sun was beating down it burnt our bottoms to slide or swing, so we opted for the laps back and forth on a church porch.

Saturday: our last day... how sad! We cleaned up the cabin and came home. Scott & I then got to work on our yard. Niana's birthday party is this Friday, so we wanted to make sure there were no big puddles created from her big birthday splash.

Thanks Griffins for having so much fun with us this past week!

Water Play

On the 4th, we also played in the water! Niana loved it! She was in the sprinkler trying to grab onto a stream of water. She followed the house to the source of the water and eventually found some mud. She played at Evie's water table with Evie & Rebecca Egli.

Right outside my kitchen window there used to be a strip of useless land. It was dirty, hot, and dusty. It was an empty path to a dead end in the yard. But this spring, we decided to turn it into a salsa garden. We chose a variety of chili peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and a few more herbs for cooking. We put a gate at the end to the front yard, and made little stepping stones go out to the front drive. I also threw out some sunflower seed to see what would happen.

So here are a few snapshots of our garden. It makes looking out my kitchen window bareable! I still need a bit of ground cover to come in to hide the dirt, but it is coming along!

We have about 20 zillion chilies and 2 tomatoes. The herbs are growing nicely (I used cinnamon basil in our chicken dish last night). The bell pepper plant is stunted and the tomatios are blooming, but not prodicing fruit. The cilantro grew like crazy and has now withered into nothingness, but it is my first attempt at a garden, and I am enjoying the look of it from my window!

Niana's Name in Lights

Amazing what creativity sparks after a great meal and pyrotechnics display at the Griffin's house. It's a sparkly shout out to our little gal (who slept through it all...sort of)!

3rd day at home......

Today is my 3rd day on summer vacation. WHOO-HOO! No, paying for daycare for the next 8 weeks! It is also my third day at home with Niana. What do I do now? That's the question at hand. For any of you stay at home mommies, give me some ideas. How do you spend your days? So far, we have read every book in the house (and have pulled them off of every shelf). We have explored the tupperware drawer (and pulled every container out and they are strewn across the living room). Tv jus sucks us in and nothing gets accomplished. I tried to organize our day with activities (like I would do at school) but with the attention span of, well, a one year old... it's only 10 min at the most at any one activity.

So, what should I do with the rest of my time?

TIA,
SUSAN

Saturday Morning with Mama

This morning it was you and I.
We made Banana Pancakes (just like
Jack Johnson sings about),
we had some apple & berry yogurt.
read some books, played in the tupperware
drawer, and then ate some mini pizzas for lunch.

What a fun morning! Now daddy is home from serving
others and we are ready for the rest of our day.....
after we both catch some zzzz's!

11 Months

This week Niana will be 11 months. Only 1 more month until her big birthday! After learning to walk in her 10th month, she has been developing the skill and venturing out into running, swimming, and climbing. She also has become quite the ham in social settings, as well.

The month of June included:


Dinner with the Griffins and Johnsons. We had these families over for a good old BBQ. We cooked up some hamburgers on the grill. The kids ate Mac-n-Cheese and covered the Radio Flyer Wagon with tons of food. (The next day Niana got to help mommy clean out the wagon and then got her first swim lesson). We enjoyed the evening on the patio and our new yard. What fun to have friends over to play!

Niana smiles for the camera. I guess if you have had the lens in your face
for your entire life, you would know what to do too!

Niana and Caleb Johnson go on a ride in the wagon. What you
don't see is the piles of Mac N Cheese at the bottom of the wagon!

Evangeline (Evie) Griffin gives the camera a wave. All 3 of these kiddos know
how to smile for the camera!

As mentioned above, Niana had her first swim lessons. We went to Grandma & Grandpa's for a Sunday evening visit. Niana splashed away in her little baby pool. She loved it. She has learned how to get in and out, so after splashing for a bit, she got out, walked over to the "woo-woo" (dog) and then came back in to cool off. It was the perfect evening to learn to "swim"!

June was also Scott's first Father's Day. We went to church, came home, and went to Grandma & Grandpa's for lunch. It was a good day of relaxing, watching sports, a nap, and a little "swim" time. Niana got daddy a card and let him buy a yard blower so he doesn't have to sweep the driveway anymore!



Finally, we went to the Pismo Beach Car Show. Niana had her first taste of the Pacific Ocean on Friday night, and loved it. She went again on Sat. and then again this afternoon. Each time a wave would come, she bounced up and down with excitement. It was wonderful watching her pick up two handfuls of sand and run out toward the water. It was also a little scary realizing our little girl has no fear! It was really warm at the coast... up well over 100* and we felt like we were back in Fresno! But it was a nice weekend. The ladies enjoyed the beach and some shopping while the guys got to look at cars, cars, and more cars. Niana did a great job of being very flexible, since we had no schedule whatsoever. She also did really well considering her two top teeth broke this weekend as well!









Look for next month's entry! It will hopefully contain great pics from her 1st Birthday Splash!

Check Out Our Walker!

Niana is 10 months

Another month has gone by. It is only 2 months until my tiny little baby is 1 year old! It is really amazing how time has flown by. I look back at this month and see what she has accomplished and how she has grown.

End of April/May 2008...

• April 20th- Niana starts taking her first steps unassisted (almost 9 months)


• April 27th- She links these steps together to walk a few steps.

• April 28th- Visits doctor and is given asthma medication (which I have given her and seems to be helping quite a bit!)


• May 6th- Celebrates Grandma Kathy's birthday at Olive Garden


• May 9th- Says good-bye to Grandma Sylvia as my mom heads off to Oregon for the summer


• May 11th- My first mother's day.... Niana woke me up with a hug and I got to spend the morning with her in the Nursery at Church. Lunch was made for us at home and then we finished off the day with a basketball game on TV.
• May 16th- visits with good friends Bob and Jolene Palmer from Oregon for the evening.
  
• May 17th- We discover that Niana can say "woo-woo" for Farley, the dog at Grandma & Grandpa's house. (She can already say Mamama & Dadada)

So far this past month has been trying to capture Niana walking on video. She will do the funniest things, then when I run to grab the camera, she will follow me and stop doing what she was doing. Some of her uncaptured moments are...

1. Juggling pacifiers... Niana will have 2 paci's and decide the one not in her mouth should be there. She then will spit out the on in her mouth and put the new one in. Well, now she sees the old one and decides that one should be in her mouth... etc, etc, etc.
2. Walking from here to there... we can never just capture it at the right time.
3. Drumming/Hammering... our little drummer girl will flip over all of her toys to make a "drum set" and use any toy she can find to bang on them. She loves hitting anything to see if it will make a sound. We think this might be the carpenter gene in her from Grandpa Ernie or the drummer gene from Grandma Sylvia.
4. Dancing.... yes, she loves to dance. One of her best dancing moments was at my school's open house. We had a Carnival with a DJ playing music. Niana loved the 70's disco music and was holding on to a chair with one hand while the other hand was in the air and she was "gettin' jiggy wit it". Everyone was loving her moves and wanted to know where she learned to dance.... Mama of course!!

Maybe some day I will be able to get video of these things to share with friends and family around the globe!

9 month doctor visit...

Scott took Niana for her 9 month well-baby visit on Monday. She is now 28" and 21 lbs! Still in the 95th percentile for her age..... grow baby!

We also were given a prescription for asthma medications. I went today to pick up the meds and really did not feel peace about giving such a young baby medications. But... ever since she took one breath of Central Valley air (24 hours after her birth) she began to have a drippy nose, a cough, and now it has turned into wheezing at times. We have been asking the doctor what to do about this, and for the last few visits (6mth, 4mth, 2mth), he has just stated that we need to use a humidifier in her room and suction out her nose. Well, now I guess her lungs have developed fully and is in need of some steriods to help open her bronchical tubes to let air (yucky air at that) flow better.

The meds she received are albuterol for wheezing attacks (to use as needed-- just like anyone else with asthma) and flovent to use every day for 1 month to help reduce inflamation of her airway. We also go the nifty little air-breather mask to help her breath it in. I know that these meds are not extrememly harmful, but still feel uncomfortable giving them to her. Does anyone have any pros or cons for using asthma medication on babies? I have been researching it and would like to feel better about it, if it is the right thing to do for my baby.

Please comment :)

(also albuterol is known to make people jittery, as noted by a few videos here.)

Niana is 9 months old. I can not believe that 40 weeks ago I had this baby. That is the same amount of time I carried her around. I just look at how much she has grown and am amazed.


This month....

*Niana was dedicated at church on April 6th. (See previous post).

* Grandma Sylvia has been to visit, babysitting and playing with Niana as much as she can (THANKS!) They have the same smile!!

*Niana learned how to spit out her food! Lots of fun! Thanks Grandma Sylvia.

*Niana learned how to "stage dive" onto the pillows. What a dare devil!

* Niana decided she looked better in Grandpa's hat than he did! But she eventually gave it back.
* Grandpa had a birthday, so Niana had her first BBQ outside with family. She isn't quite ready for the Holman family feast of meat yet, so Grandma Kathy feeds her a bottle.
*And inside, our little show off plays with Uncle Jeff on the floor. She tries to pull his teeth out here.

*Niana received a few more toys ( a walker and a ball), and loves them! She then tries to tell Evie how to use them her way, but Evie has her own ideas.

*Finally, she learns to knock down blocks with dad. What a hoot!

We also went to visit a new friend, Olivia Ruby Andrade, just a few days old in the hospital, went to our first Big Hat Days, first car show, and cut our first tooth!!! What a month--- exhaustion!

Baby Dedication

Niana was dedicated on April 6, 2008. She got to be dedicated with her good friend, Hannah Burton (Amy & Michael are her parents). We enjoyed having family join us in this wonderful time. My mom has been visiting, so we go to have her here.

"Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it," Proverbs 22:6

My Sweet Girl

I just had to share one of the most sweetest moments of my daughter's life. She has always been awesome, but tonight it was very sweet! I was laying on the carpet playing with her after bathtime and before bedtime. I then took a pillow and a blanket and laid down. I told Niana that Mama was going night-nights. She crawled around me for a bit, then came right over to my head and put her head down on mine and began to rock back and forth. I said Awwww! to her and she gave me a big sloppy kiss night-night. She then proceeded to go back to playing with her toys. Ok-- my baby is 8 months old and she gave me a kiss and rocked me to sleep! How sweet is that!

(Here is a picture of her head down-- her favorite cute pose! No one was home to
take a picture of her saying good night to me :( .)