A Week in the Life (v.6.3)

Chompin' on some cheese and crackers

This is a small version of her happy dance when the water is running for her bath.

(Please ignore my "woo-woo", it seems to be my go-to phrase and even annoys myself when I hear it later on video.)

Of course now that her hair is long enough, there HAS to be a complimentary bath mohawk.

I just got a little carried away and gave you three instead of just once...

And the third and final mohawk.

During bath time, it's almost like a talk show (when she doesn't know that I have the camera on).  This is her interviewing her fish.

I tried to sneak up on her while she was by herself -- just to see what she was doing.

Karaoke night at the Murphy household.

 She sits in front of the basement stairs gate and shakes those suckers like she is a prisoner that wants to be let out.

 

 Playing on the floor in the kitchen

Saturday, we went to a sledding party (though there was no snow, so it just ended up being a party).

(Sidebar: On Saturday, I also downloaded a new camera app for my phone.  They are still phone photos, just hopefully better.)

By Saturday evening, she had developed a fever and spent a good chunk of Sunday crying, whining, and napping on me (she wouldn't nap by herself, which is lightbulb that she didn't feel well).

 After her car nap, we went thrifting in the 30 minute window of feeling good right after a nap.  Look at what we took home for her...

She was in love.  And was enthralled to be driving around the store while we shopped.

Happy 48 weeks to my darling girl!

Holy crap!!!!  Only four weeks until her first birthday!  It's amazing to think that it's almost been a year.  They weren't kidding when they say that time speeds up when you have a child.  I'm flabbergasted that it's almost going on a year since the arrival of my little girl.

• Unscientifically, Finorah is weighing in at 22.5 pounds.  And she is still 30 inches long.    
• She is currently in size three diapers -- no change coming there, although the daycare stated that we needed to send in bigger diapers for her.  But I think that it's because there must be some daycare rule that the velcro sides need to meet in the middle for the diaper to be secure.  I personally don't know how they get those diapers on so tight, but I sure as hell can't get her to lay still long enough for me to get the side closures to meet in the middle.
• We are in 12 month clothing.  Christmas was very kind to us -- both in gifts from family members (she got some seriously cute stuff there) and also in eBay thrifts.  In fact, I bought her two super cute swimsuits that I'm hoping to use at the local YMCA coming up in March.

• We are still breastfeeding.  Less than one month left.  I have actually thought about stonecold quitting a couple of times this week.  I think that she may be getting a top chomper, because she bit me multiple times three days in a row this week.  She KNOWS that she shouldn't be doing it because my reaction is instantaneously and uncensored.  In fact, every single time, she ended up crying harder than I was because I scared her.
• She is still a pretty good eater.  She definitely hasn't been amazing lately.  She is getting distracted and also starting to develop preferences to what she likes to eat and what she doesn't.  I'm still trying to feed her off our plates and adding in fruits or veggies that I feel she is missing.  We have discovered that she LOVES gnocchi last week.  She would have eaten my whole bowl if I would have let her.
• Finn is, of course, still crawling all over the place.  She is a mighty fast one when she see one of the cats.  The dogs she doesn't really care about until Bishop has one of the dogs' stuffed animals.  Then Finorah is all up in her grill.  Bishop has been really great, letting her "steal" her animals.  I also try to take an active approach in teaching Finorah to be gentle.
• We still have only two teeth.  As I mentioned above and in previous posts, I can only hope that the girl is going to break one of her top chompers soon.  I keep saying the upper left side feels different in the lightening quick time that I get in her mouth.

• She is pulling herself up and that's her new favorite thing to do.  She isn't cruising yet, but anything that she can pull herself up on, she will.  She can now pull herself up by our pant legs when we are standing.  She loves when I sit on the ground to play with her or feed her, she starts grabbing the upper portion of my shirt and is standing in no time.  There is a big grin plastered on her face and she does her famous "double wink".  
• The "Double Wink" is her face that she does when she is acknowledging that she is either happy or knows that she is too stinkin' cute.  She will smile and slowly close both eyes briefly and then  quickly squeezing them shut tight (and sometimes doing a head bob).
• She is still a big talker.  She has her first context sounds (I don't think that "uh-oh" and "ow ow ow" are considered words).  "Uh-oh" comes out when she drops something, either unintentionally or throws it on the floor and expects you to pick it up.  "Ow ow ow" is her version of "meow meow meow".  It's always done in a high pitch soft voice, almost like she is trying to lure the cats with soft noises.  She will imitate whatever sounds that are currently in her vocabulary that you say (like "mama", "dada", "baba", etc...), but no new vocabulary sounds.
• She is also still a big dancer.  Music is her favorite.  She will sit and swing her arms back and forth. I recently bought her a keyboard "Meowsic" and it sings songs, plays instrumental songs, and has a back beat to play keyboard to.  It also has a built in microphone that she loves to "sing" into -- like ALL THE TIME.

• Our sleep cycle hasn't really changed.  She is still getting up.  This week she has been up at 4:30am and is up to play, talking and singing.  This morning showed that when she wakes in the middle of the night, I simply need to keep her in her room and put her back to sleep.  With all the distractions of Daddy, the kitties, the pups gone and alone with her and I in her room, she fell back asleep within 15 minutes.  I think that it's time that she only sleep in her crib.  (Insert mama sad face here because she is such a snuggler and I'll miss waking up with her right next to me, but I'm sure that Daddy won't miss the high kicks to his sides.)
• She is a HUGE "bye-bye" waver.  The minute that anyone gets their coat or you bring her her outside coat or the minute that anyone (besides me, then she just screams) walks to the door, the hand comes up and the waving begins.  It's the cutest (as I'm sure all parents EVER have said).
• She still doesn't like the carseat (at least in my car, Daddy's car is a different story because she can see out of the windows and the back).  She will scream and cry.  I'm not sure how to solve that one.

Finorah the Frightful

And so it begins again...  Sister HAS to be getting one of her upper chompers.  She has been Finorah the Frightful for the last two days.  We have no fever.  She was drooling like crazy last week.  And she is chewing on everything (including me while nursing).  I've snuck my finger in her mouth a couple of times in the last two days and think that I feel a bump on her upper left.  It should pop out within the next week or so if that is why she is being a bear lately.

The past couple of days, she has been very needy -- meaning I haven't gotten much done.  We get home from daycare and I can't put her down.  The minute I set her on the floor to take off my coat, the waterworks turn on.  Even though, I haven't moved out of her sight and am only a foot away from her, she will start screaming because I'm not holding her.  Same goes for potty breaks or anything else that I need to do that requires both hands in the first hour of being home.  And normally, she'll play by herself for a little bit before she looks up to make sure I'm still in the room.  Not lately -- there isn't any playing without Mama sitting down on the floor next to her.

She is also developing a hitting & pinching habit. She likes to pinch your face, your cheek, your neck.  And we aren't taking playful pinches (if there are such a thing) -- she swoops in and grabs a fistful of skin and twists like a snakebite or rakes her nails across your skin.  Her hitting is more of her arms flailing around and her connecting on some of the swings.  That isn't intentional -- but the pinching has to go.

She is going to be a hair petter like her mama.  I like to stroke my hair between my fingers.  It's smooth and soft and it calms me.  It's a nervous habit that I began when I was a teeny girl.  My mom could always tell when I was getting tired because I would start playing with the base of my ponytail.  She would have to put in a ponytail before I went to bed if I didn't have one in that day, so I could fall asleep with the base of my ponytail in my hand.  Well, Finn has a lamb that is fluffy on one like and smooth satin on the other.  She will rub the smooth side in between her fingers while she falls asleep.  She also likes to grab my hair and "pet" my hair.  Only her petting is more like pulling because she can't seem to realize that when you want the hair to slip between your fingers and you try to run the length of it, you should NOT grab onto the hair...

Finorah has started giving kisses this last week as well.  I don't get as many kisses as daddy does.  But maybe that's because I just steal them from her cheek and forehead whenever I want.  The Finorah-Kissing-Booth isn't open all the time.  This Mama can't wait until the Finorah-Hugging-Booth is open.

Speaking of hug-like-things, she does this new thing (which may totally be related to her teething, but I love it anyways) where when she wakes up from a nap, she doesn't want to get up completely.  She wants to snuggle for about 15-20 minutes after.  So I recline on the couch and she lays on my chest and we either watch TV or she will fall back asleep again.  She is definitely a snuggler, which I adore.

Her hair is starting to get a little bit longer in the back and she is getting little curls.  The top is still super fine and she refuses to let me try to put in little bows or headbands.  Last week, I got her distracted long enough to put on a headband that she got from her Uncle Cory, Aunt Mandy & Cousin Owen.  It stayed in her hair for at least an hour (until she had a blowout down below and the outfit had to change -- then off came the headband).  I continually try to put bows on her hair, but she needs to get used to my messing with it.  At some point, we are going to have to put in ponytails and pigtails.  Girl needs to get used to having her hair done early.

Photographic evidence that she is in the biting stages.  She actually went in for the kiss on Daddy's nose, but bit down really hard.  I didn't post the one where he was feeling the pain for her little teeth -- but his face was priceless.

A Week in the Life (v.6.2)

We have an infatuation with the tub now.  She wants to get in the tub every time we are in the bathroom.  She also tries to get her little leg up and over the tub wall.  But she only gets about 6 inches off the ground.  It's the funniest thing -- I'll try and snap a video this week.

This is her "No autographs please" pose. 

Lady Kitty always says "Le mew." instead of "Rawr!"

We spent a good chunk of Saturday thriftin' at new thrift stores.  We found the perfect sized rocking chair.

She knew what to do immediately!  Rock it, girl!

 Pretty lady.

Waiting for the fashion show to begin outside of the dressing rooms.  (And no, the turtle didn't come home with us -- despite the screams and the pleading from a strange lady who said that "The little one obviously needs it.")

Nursery Rhyme 'Norah

So last night, we (Miss Finn & I) attended our first Nursery Rhyme Time at our local library.  I was hoping to use it as a jumping off board to meet moms that live in my little town.  There were four other babies there, but the only one that was just momma and baby was me and Finorah.  Three of the other babies were with both parents and one of the other babies was with her mom and older sister.  The "class" ended up only being 30 minutes long and it was obvious that most of the others had been there often.  They knew all the words to the nursery rhymes and surprisingly the only one that I knew was "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around."  Finn is at the age where novelty is scary and she spent the majority of the 30 minutes feeling out the crazy old lady that was running the nursery rhymes and clapping like a basket case.  Our time was spent staring and not blinking (because if we blink, they might use that millisecond when our eyes are closed and attack us).  It's a weekly thing, so we will be going next week again.  I'm hopeful that as she adjusts to the room and the crazy basket case and as we see more of the same people there weekly, I'll make some new friends.

Also, in other news, we have another new word to add to the list "Ow ow ow" done in a whisper, which is her version of "meow".  This is said upon entering the house after daycare and seeing the kitties.  It's a riot, because she never says it -- always whispers.  And I think this is because when I get her to try to say it, my "Meow" is also two octaves too high.  She doesn't understand the concept of octaves yet, of course.  So we have our first word as "Uh-oh" and the second as "Ow ow ow".  Now I'm using the term "word" loosely, as of course, neither of those are words in the dictionary.  But she uses both frequently in the correct context, hence her first two words.

She is also now "answering her phone".  See photo above.  She will pick up her toy phone and hold it as such.  She doesn't quite realize that her ear is the listening device, but she sees that she is supposed to hold it by her head, only it's basically behind her head.  She'll put it up there and make an "aaah" noise (her version of hello, I'm sure).

We also got a blow-up rockin' cow from Auntie Anita for Xmas.  It's the perfect size for her.  Her feet touch the ground and she feels quite comfortable sitting on ole' Boss.  She doesn't quite rock, but likes that she is sitting up high (kind of like a turtle does).  She hasn't really fallen off yet -- or at least fallen hard.  She is very brave -- I will set her on Boss and she starts reaching for the ground while grabbing on to Boss' ear.  She always have to have something in at least one hand.  Above it is a drumstick that looks like it could pass for a riding whip.  We are beginning to run into that problem with the drumsticks -- trying to teach her what is okay to hit with the sticks (i.e. drum sets) and what is not okay (i.e. the dogs' snouts).

For some reason, I'm particularly fond of this photo.  Poor ole' Boss doesn't know what she has comin'.

Also, apologies for the non-stellar photos this week.  I'm just starting to hit my stride after the holidays, but had to snap these quickly last night so I would have something to go along with this post.  It was later in the winter afternoon and I was too lazy to drag her out into the other room (also, I didn't want you to see that I still have my Christmas tree up with no ornaments on it -- it's a process).  The new year can only go up from here, amiright?

A Week in the Life (v.6.1)

Me & my lady on New Year's Eve -- rockin' to some oldies & gettin' messy...

E dressed her in a onesie that had ruffles on the rear and tucked the pants up underneath.

Ingenious -- and too adorable...

You are going to see a theme running through this week's videos -- Mama trying to get her to meow.

She started doing her version of a "meow" and I was trying all week to get it on video.

This video has a lot of squealing while petting the kitty cats, so volume-discretion is advised.

She may kill me for this later -- but these photos are too funny to not share...  Her hair is getting out of control in the morning.

 It is some seriously hard work to look this gorgeous in the morning...

Another video trying to get the Finn cat-call in.
Another "volume-discretion is advised" video...

Her initial reaction to my (annoying) "mau, mau" is what I've been trying to get and she still doesn't say it as loudly as she normally does.
You would think with it almost being 11 months and having a camera in her face since day one, she would be used to this by now...

Lady had her first chocolate chip cookie (Thanks to E's sister's house guests for the amazing bite-sized cookies!)

Welcome, 2013!

 
So the holidays are officially behind us and the holiday hangover has begun to lessen.  Our holiday seemed gone in the blink of an eye and now it's back to the daily grind.  I feel like a terrible mother, as I only took very few photos of Finn's first holidays.  I took some and the photographers that took others are properly credited.  I ended up coming down with a stomach bug on Christmas Eve.  That sucker hit out of nowhere!  I'm totally NOT kidding when I say that I felt amazing at 7:15pm and by 7:30pm, I wanted to die.  More (but not gory) details on that later...

 
The week before Christmas, E's parents joined us for almost a week.  It was so wonderful to have them here with us.  Lots of hanging out, playing and hugs were had while they were here.  They were even kind enough to stay long enough to be our babysitters as we headed out to dinner for our 8th anniversary.

Our holiday travel was uneventful this time around, which was wonderful.  We drove to Iowa, pushing back our original departure date due to snow.  There was 10 minutes of screaming (which occurred on both the trip out and back), but after she settled in and fell asleep, all was good in the world.  The dogs held up great -- being very patient with the 9 hours of travel.  And E & I were no worse for the wear when we stretched our legs out in my parents' driveway at 8:45pm.

Once again, being home was wonderful.  I can't stress enough how life feels different when I'm at home in Iowa.  But maybe that's because it IS different than Ohio -- I mean, hell, I'm always on vacation when I'm in Iowa.  There was lots of family, lots of laughs, and lots of gifts.  But there was also more sickness than I imagined.  In fact, being sick never really factored into my planning of this holiday trip.  But at 7:30pm on Christmas Eve (perfect timing), I came down with something (and it was a BIG something -- let's just say that I actually lost weight over the holidays).  The swiftness of this sickness was nothing like I can remember. 15 minutes from being perfectly normal feeling to feeling like death warmed over, no joke.  I spent the rest of the evening in my bedroom, not wanting to get my other family members sick.  The big moral of this story is "Never say -- I have a great immune system and never get sick." (which I did one severe cold and two weeks ago).

But the first thing that came to my mind when I was in the bathroom and E came into see what was going on with me was "We are still breastfeeding, what do I do?!?!?!"  After a consultation from Dr. Googles, it said to keep on keeping on.  So we did.  We breastfed like normal and let me tell you, I commend my mother for taking care of us when she was sick.  Finorah was kicking on my stomach, struggling to get comfortable and all I could think of was "For the love of all things holy, HURRY UP!  Momma doesn't feel good at all."  We only had one bloody murder screaming fit and that was because I had to get up right after we finished nursing to get sick and the poor girl didn't understand why Momma was running out of the door and leaving her alone with Daddy in the dark.  We survived, Finorah didn't get sick (although E did two days later & my father two days after that), and I hope that I never get sick again.

Kissing cousins

Our New Years was quiet as Finn isn't old enough to party yet and I feel too old to party.  I stayed awake to watch the ball drop but fell asleep 10 minutes before.  I hate New Year's Eve -- everything is over-priced, over-crowded, and it always feels WAY too cold to wear sequins and short skirts.  But I do enjoy looking back -- 2012 was the most life-changing year thus far.  With the arrival of my little baby who is now quickly becoming a little toddler, I'm struggling with balance.  And although I don't like resolutions, I do like goals.  One of the goals for 2013 is finding that balance.  Finding the balance between loving too much and letting go so she find her own independence.  Finding the balance between letting her run wild and putting my foot down.  Finding the balance between being her mother and being myself.

And so good-bye to 2012, a year that has grown my heart to sizes I couldn't before imagine and laugh-lines (I refuse to call them wrinkles) that weren't there before & also left its own scars.  And we welcome 2013, a year that holds every imaginable potential.  We are going to make 2013 fierce & fabulous.  Finorah the Fierce & Fabulous...