June!

{ Thursday, May 27, 2010 }
Happy June 1st!

A year ago today, I turned to the boy and said, "Well, I guess this baby is really going to have a June birthday." With a due date in the middle of the month, I felt sure of this since July 1st was a full two weeks (two weeks!) past my due date. What were the odds of being 14 days overdue?

Little did I know just how long this bean would make us wait, but she was well worth it. And even though the overgrown and uncomfortable me from a year ago would cringe to hear it, we would have waited many more months for her.

Happy birthday month, beanie!

At long last

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When we moved into this house a little over a year ago, we did just enough work to make it liveable and then we waited for the bean to arrive, expecting that it would be some time before we would be able to work on the finishing touches. Now that she is able to entertain herself for longer stretches of time, that day has arrived and we've been working on tackling our living room.

Here's what the room looked like before we moved in.




We ripped up the carpet, installed wood floors and painted basically every other surface, but the room was still blah to me.



We really wanted a 100% wool rug because we were concerned about a synthetic rug outgassing, but couldn't pay too much for one. We were lucky to find this affordable red and white rug at Ikea and we love it, but it was the only red in the room.



Our couch is old and too squishy and needs to be replaced, but we're hoping to make it last until the bean is out of the drawing-on-furniture-with-crayons-and-sharpie stage. In the meantime, if we put lots of extra pillows on it, its somewhat more comfortable to sit on, but I'm so over these black and white pillows. I'm not quite sure what we were thinking there. Oh, and the cat tree had to go.



We made things more baby-friendly by moving the wood coffee table into the corner and bringing the ottoman out, which got a slipcover and a tray so it can still be a sometimes coffee table. (The bean loves to pull up on the ottoman and throw the tray on the floor, so it doesn't get used for drinks, but it looks nice). I also made some pillows for the two black chairs and replaced the covers on the black and white couch pillows with new fabric.



The cat tree was relocated to the basement (sorry kitty!) and replaced with the bean's play table which I've temporarily comandeered for a sewing table (sorry baby!). Building a playroom is on our list of projects, so once that's done the play table will live there.



The wall opposite the couch was looking lonely with just the TV on it, so I made a collage of frames above it to keep it company. I brought the red in with a picture of a flower from our wedding and some leftover fabric from the pillows.


And here's the bean and I admiring our new room. We love it!

10 Months

{ Thursday, May 20, 2010 }
Ten months is all about standing, standing, and more standing, followed by walking while holding onto a hand (or two) and climbing up and down the stairs. We did put a baby gate at the top of our stairs, but we opted to leave the bottom open so the bean could learn to navigate them and its one of her favorite things to do (with a mom spotting, of course).

We've been signing to the bean for several months now, although we haven't been terribly consistent with it. We've been signing milk, all done, more, eat, and cat. It seemed like maybe the bean was signing milk to us, but its sort of a common hand motion for a baby and she seemed to do it at inappropriate times, so we weren't sure. The last couple weeks, its been very clear that she means what she's saying (and maybe she has all along?) and its so cute when she gets right in my face and signs milk as though she's saying, "Will you feed me already, woman?"

At 10 months, the bean is finally starting to eat the way I imagine a toddler should. She's no longer refusing to eat more than a bite or two of solid food and is instead keeping us on our toes by sometimes eating a large meal and other times eating nothing at all.

The bean has mastered waving goodbye and clapping and will raise both arms over her head if you ask her how big she is. She will also give you a hug if you ask her for one (and she's in the mood to do it) and it just melts my heart when she throws her arms around my neck and squeezes. Its truly one of the best things ever.

The bean has also started squealing and will just sort of randomly start doing it when she's playing. The other day we spent quite a while playing this game where the boy held her and I ducked my head around the corner and peaked out at them. Everytime the bean saw me she and I would squeal until I hid again. Silly yes, but endlessly entertaining nonetheless.

Mostly, the bean is getting bigger and bigger and is leaving babyhood behind. We are starting to have conversations that start with, "Do you remember when she used to . . . ?" And you know what? I'm starting to not remember. I wish I could have a do-over of her first few months with a little less sleep deprivation so I could remember more of it. I can't believe how quickly this time has passed and look how big our little bean has gotten!


The sign says 10 months, just trust me on that one. You have no idea how hard its becoming to take these pictures--the bean will hold the sign so it faces every direction but at the camera.