Chuckles (long but cute video)

Singing herself to sleep

7 months old!

Why does 7 months sound so much older than 6 months? She's not supposed to be that old yet! She's growing up entirely too fast. =(
Gracie had her 7 month birthday yesterday. I need to plop her on the scale and see how much she weighs. A couple updates:
- she outgrows jommies like nobody's business. I just had to buy several new ones. I love Old Navy's, but they don't have very many designs. Those are 6-12 months. I got some adorable Circo jommies from Target, and they are 9 month. I probably should have gotten 12 month, but I'm hoping her growing will slow down a bit.
- she now sleeps on her side most of the time, no matter how I lay her down. She also scooches around the crib, so we had to move her video camera to get a wider view of the crib, 'cause there's never any telling where she will end up.
- she is working on crawling. Can't get both ends up at the same time. It is starting to frustrate her when she can't get something she wants that is just out of her reach.
- she's a champion sitter- even leans forward and to the side to get something then returns to sitting.
- we're working on pieces of food. The other day at dinner, she grabbed a handful of my salad and promptly attempted to insert it into her mouth! So I figured she might like to try some tiny bits of banana or the puffs. I am SO scared that she will choke, so I made the banana pieces so small that she couldn't get ahold of them! And I was breaking the puffs up, too. She did eat them ok if I put them in her mouth for her. We'll keep trying.
- the kid will eat ANYTHING. The only thing she hasn't really liked is the banana baby food- and I don't blame her. It is gross.
- she's down to 3 bottles (am, mid afternoon and bedtime) and up to 3 solids meals. We had to eliminate the noon bottle as she was just letting it run down her chin.
- she has mostly mastered a sippy cup! Well, she can't figure out how to tip it up, but she finally learned how to suck out of it, and gets a couple ounces of diluted juice each day to help with her poo issues.
- we had to go to overnight diapers, as she evidently does a lot of peeing overnight, and the pampers baby dry weren't living up to their name. I've only found overnights in Huggies brand, which I don't really like, and in size 4, which is a bit big on her, but they work to keep her dry.
- we're about to get her new carseat. I cannot haul her around in that carrier anymore. All told it has become about 27 pounds of baby and seat. I had one picked out, but then I had to get the tan interior on the Prius, so I had to reconsider. I found the same seat in a different pattern and I think that's the one. It is a rather inexpensive one, but since we'll have to buy at least 2, I think that's the better way to go.
- she loves to manipulate things. Especially things she's not supposed to have. She studies things like she's trying SO hard to figure them out.

I can't wait til our portraits come in- I will scan some in and post them as her 7 month pics.
In other news, Randy got stung by a yellow jacket the other day, and I got stung TWICE today at carpool by some crazy non-dying bee! I haven't been stung in ages. This thing wouldn't leave me alone! I know the parents in the carpool line thought I was insane as I did the bee dance out there. It HURT. And will itch like crazy tomorrow.

How it should be

This is SO the message we need at our school- Thanks, Trish, for sending me this!

"Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school.
In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all the options before making a selection:
* To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1
* To make excuses for why your child did not do his work - Press 2 * To complain about what we do - Press 3
* To swear at staff members - Press 4
* To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyer's mailed to you - Press 5
* If you want us to raise your child - Press 6
* If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone - Press 7
* To request another teacher, for the third time this year - Press 8
* To complain about bus transportation - Press 9
* To complain about school lunches - Press 0
* If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!
*If you want to hear this message in Spanish, you must be in the wrong country.

Object Permanence

We have achieved object permanence: the skill which allows a small child to scream with displeasure whenever a desired (usually contraband) item is removed and hidden, because said child now realizes that the object still actually EXISTS when it can't be seen!
We witnessed this first hand at dinner tonight, when taking my car keys away from Gracie and attempting to replace them with an appropriate chewthing resulted in hollering and wailing as if her ARM had been physically removed.
Now, she's done this before, but now you can tell that she is smart enough to be mad that not only did you take something fun from her, but that you still HAVE the item and refuse to give it back. Great. Just thought I'd share.

Cake Wrecks

I thought I posted this the other day, but musta forgot. Imagine.
This is the FUNNIEST site I've seen in quite a while. Having decorated cakes myself, I can't IMAGINE what these people must be thinking to actually have people PURCHASE these things. Make sure you look at all the photos, going back to the beginning. She adds new ones all the time, too. Disclaimer- it is not wise to eat or drink while reading this blog:
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com

The carrot jockeys are my favorite (June 21). My eyes tear up just THINKING about it- and the name! LOL!

Bad sammich.

I ate part of a bad sammich tonight. We have a new local eatery: The Soup Man. Yeah, that one. "No soup for YOU!". I got some broc./cheese soup, which was yummy, and a half of a burrito chicken wrap thing (beans, cheese, chicken, rice, etc.). I thought it smelled kinda funny when I opened it when we got home, but I thought maybe it was just me, or some strong cheese or whatever. So I took several bites before I discovered it had jalapenos on it. I don't do jalapenos. So I told Randy he could have it. He had also gotten half of the same burrito thing (the other half of mine) and as soon as he opened his he was like "Ew! This is spoiled! Was yours spoiled? And you ATE it?!" So he confirmed my fears that it was not good, and the wraps promptly went in the trash. Now, my tummy is a bit upset, and I don't know if it is because I'm AFRAID I'm gonna get sick, or I AM getting sick. Guess I'll find out later tonight!

Finally

We finally got the call today that our new car has be allocated to the dealership! It should arrive the week of the 19th. I have to admit I'm not real happy about this whole process- they originally told us 45-60 days, and it may end up being closer to 75-80. AND I had to compromise on the interior color at that! I wanted gray, and was pretty set on it, but the one coming in has tan interior and I guess that's ok. I'd rather deal with tan than wait any longer. The value on my car is just going down the longer we wait.
We had the portraits done this weekend, and they turned out so cute! If anyone wants to see them, feel free to email me for the username and password.

Eh

Not much going on around here, except for me losing my mind. I was supposed to meet 3 friends tonight at the Melting Pot for ladies night. I TOTALLY forgot about it. I can't believe I missed fondue. Duh. Sorry again to Sherry, Harmony and Diane!
I'm back at work, and things are going well. I've done some neat lessons with my 2nd graders, and the other classes have been fine.
Gracie is doing just fine. She had a couple nights earlier this week when she decided to scream and carry on instead of going to sleep. I don't know what her deal was. She has gone to bed ok the past 2 nights so let's hope that was just a fluke. I can tell that she really wants to crawl, but just can't figure out how to get up on her hands and knees. Won't be long. She's up to 3 solids meals a day and down to 3 bottles- she'd much rather have the solids but I know she still needs the nutrition from the formula. She's outgrowing clothes like crazy. Randy pointed out that she is almost half my height! Lovely.

NOT a relaxing week off.

I feel like I've spent half of my week off in the damn dentist chair. I DID spend at least half of Tuesday there. Luckily I don't remember ANY of it (yay drugs!). I had my root canal, crown and veneers done, and I guess it went ok. I did NOT anticipate the pain that I would be in afterward. I ended up having to go back yesterday to get my bite adjusted. THAT was not fun. I was a ball of nerves and a sweaty mess. At least it is over. My teeth look MUCH better, but I'm still really sore in the back of my mouth. Here's a pic of my new smile:


I'm on my own this weekend- Randy, Fantasy Football Commissioner Extrodinaire, is hosting The Draft at the beach this weekend. So Gracie and I are going to go visit Ella in Greensboro, and I might get my hair done at some point, and I'll probably do some shopping. And I'll probably be bored and lonely. =(