Walk this way!

Sophie took a couple of steps today.  Nothing concrete, more of a running forward kind of thing between me and Tom (she did the same thing from Linda to me today, but just one step) but steps nonetheless.  I think that since she started walking behind the walker this weekend she is more confidant to try it without us.  She even took a couple of steps holding on to just one hand.  We’re really going to be in trouble once she starts walking!

My oh my, where does the time go??

I’m pretty sure that last week was a blur!  I still have a half-finished post sitting in my draft folder that I need to add pictures to and post, so you’ll see these both at the same time.  Once again, I’m typing at school so I’ll have to remember to actually post it later when I can get an internet connection.

So, let’s see where we left off…

Halloween was good.  Sophie really had a good time seeing all of the kids out and about.  We only went to a few houses though because it was freezing cold out!  As an added bonus, she didn’t seem to mind her costume, so that made things easier.  Megan and Aaron were in Michigan for the weekend so they came over for a few to see the house but then they had to get  back to packing wedding stuff up to take to Florida.  We actually  had more Trick or Treaters this year than last (grand total of 3 last year, all neighborhood kids (well, 2 Brownells and then Doug brought his grandson Alex)) so that was nice to see all of the kids in their costume.  I’ll have to make sure that Tom stays out of the Halloween candy next year in case we have more (we were cutting it close this year because I really didn’t think that we’d have many people stop by). 

I went to Mt. Pleasant for a Social Studies conference on Monday and Tuesday.  It’s great to go to the conferences because you get such great ideas but it sucks that I can’t bring them back to my classroom right away.  This subbing thing really does bite sometimes!  But, all is not lost because I was also able to pick up some SB-CEUs that I’ll need when it comes time to renew my certificate.  It was really nice to stay in a hotel too – I really enjoyed coming in and having full control of the remote (you can guess who normally steals it as soon as we walk through the door!)

On Friday, Mom and I took Sophie to the city for a little shopping.  We picked up a new car seat (we needed the next size up, we can barely get her in the one we have now if she’s wearing a jacket…plus, she’ll need a new one at a year anyway).  We got the Graco Nautilus (3 in 1) so it can be rear-facing, forward-facing, or the back removes for a booster (can also remove harness and use it as a booster with the back).  There were a few that I was torn between.  The Cosco Eddie Bauer and the Evenflo (Triumph I think) both had better adjustable should straps (they don’t have to be rethreaded, you just move them up and down).  However, I liked the Graco chest snap better (I guess it could just be what I’m used to since we have a Graco now, but it really does seem easier to unsnap).  I also liked that the Graco had the built in armrests (and cup holder).  The Eddie Bauer did have arm rests that moved up and down, which would be nice, but they seemed really flimsy.  The LATCH system on the Evenflo was by far the best because it was easy to tighten.  The Eddie Bauer and Evenflo reclined more than the Graco.  Ahh, so you see all the choices and dilemmas (there was only a $20 difference between all three so that was basically negated in the decision-making process).  We went with the Graco ultimately because of the ease of the chest snap (you do that every day but you only do the shoulders every couple of months), it was the cheapest (so cost wasn’t completely ignored), and the back removed (this would give us more flexibility with the booster option when the time comes for that).  So, now all we have to do is get it in the car and we’re good to go.

It’s also worth mentioning that we did some grocery shopping too.  Kroger had some awesome deals again so I was able to pick up a few things.  I need to start thinking about Thanksgiving though because it’s going to be here before I know it and all weekends have something planned until then.

Saturday was Margie’s Memorial Dinner at the Pavilion.  We had a great turnout – over 500 people came out to support the family.  It is absolutely awesome how many people donated time, money, or food for the event and it went off without a hitch for the most part (the pig did take a little longer than expected).  The food was great, the band was awesome, and we were able to raise some money for the kids but more importantly honor Margie’s memory one last time.  Good times.

  
As you can see from the pics, Sophie is getting good at walking behind things.  She also got a new table that she can stand next to and play with.

So that pretty much takes us to today (which is Monday, but who knows for sure when this will get posted).  Sophie’s bottom right tooth (just to the right of the middle two) is kind of playing peekaboo and not really wanting to come out but I think it’s pretty much through to stay now.  She still sticks her fingers toward the back left more to chew so not sure if she’s starting to work some molars through.  The one day that I felt back there it felt swollen but then not so much the next day, so we’ll wait and see.  Trying to let her cry more at night instead of going in to get her.  Last night worked OK – she cried a few times but only for a couple of minutes and then went back to sleep.  The tough part is that when she wakes up in the morning her diaper is so wet that I know that must be part of the reason she doesn’t get a great night’s sleep but I don’t know what else to do – we’re using a sleep diaper.  Maybe  after this pack I’ll move up to the next size so that it will maybe hold more.  Speaking of sizes – I got the next totes from April and Kelly.  My baby has clothes again!  Well, she had clothes, but it’s always nice to have more options, especially since she is pretty firmly entrenched in the 18 month size now.

Just an FYI:  Did you know that the word “gullible” is not in the dictionary?

Happy Halloween!

Sophie had a great first Halloween!  She was a giraffe (perfect costume for Michigan, warm, long sleeves, and a hood!) and made a few Halloween stops for the holiday.  We walked through town to a couple of houses with the Shminas and she was really excited about seeing all the other kids out…she did her mouth open/hands waving motion which pretty much means that she likes something.  We even had more trick-or-treaters come by the house this year.  Last year we had a grand total of 3; this year we had at least 10.

It is absolutely crazy how fast Sophie grows out of clothes.  For awhile (I dunno, a month) it seemed like 12 months stuff fit her perfect…now, they’re too small and we’re firmly in 18 month clothes.  Too big!  She’s growing so fast!  She’s a pro at scooting around the house now and pulling herself up on everything.  She really likes playgroup on Tuesdays but we won’t be able to go this week because I’ll be in Mt. Pleasant for a Social Studies Conference. 

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Sick Times at Standish High

Well, the bug is definitely making its rounds.  Not completely sure whether the high amount of absences reflects an increasing awareness/fear of flu-like symptoms (i.e., people staying home longer when sick = a good thing; or people staying home with the cold = still not a bad thing).  Either way, the result is that Standish doesn’t have school today.  Fortunately, I’m schedule to be in AuGres  :-)

Sophie’s been a little extra fussy lately.  She’s been working on some more teeth and has been chomping on anything she can get in her mouth.  The tooth I see is front left of center but she’s chewing on stuff in the back too.  Her appetite had been down for a few days but it has definitely rebounded!  She eats everything in sight lately!

She stayed overnight at Nana and Grandpas last night…she sure does like going there!  The best part was when I told her to give me a kiss because I was leaving she grabbed my face and attacked me with a kiss.  When I asked for another, she did it again but without the face grabbing.  What a cutie!

  This weekend we tried on Sophie’s giraffe costume for Halloween and Tom let her try the whole spoon to mouth thing with applesauce (not bad).  Oh, and she loves to crawl under and through things.  Especially if she shouldn’t be there!  Oh, and she’s an absolute pro at pulling herself to standing along the crouch and actually moved past the army crawl and on to “real” crawling.  She even stays on her knees sometimes to play with things.  And of course she absolutely loves to play with a ball…to try back and forth, to keep it for herself, to put it in a bucket.  She’s getting so big so fast!

Alright, back to the kiddos in class.  Play group tomorrow.  Full week ahead.  Costume party on Friday.  Trick or treating on Saturday.  Our one free weekend has come and gone.  From here on out, it’s busy busy busy again!

Oops…forgot to post updates

[wrote this on Tuesday last week…just now posting it]

Sophie had her 9 month checkup last week.  Everything went well – she’s still growing like a weed.  She weighed in at 19+ pounds (I have the paper at home) and 29.5 inches (I think, again, paper is at home).  The moral of the story is that she’s 92% in height and 75% in weight so pretty consistent with the last appointment.

Unfortunately, she’s at a difficult size for clothes shopping.  Most 12 month clothes fit very perfectly (and by perfect, I mean that’ll probably only last for about the next month or so).  This makes me hesitant to buy 12 month stuff when I get her something because the 18 month stuff will last a little longer…but most of the stuff is just a little too big yet.  Oh the joys.

We’ve had a busy couple of weeks.  I’ve started taking Sophie to the BAISD playgroup at Standish Elementary on Tuesdays.  It’s been great because she gets to have some free time to play with other kids and learn some social skills but it’s also very structured so it’s nice to start to introduce that kind of routine.  She absolutely LOVES when they play the guitar in the circle.

On Saturday we went to Moore’s Farm for a hayride and fun with friends.  What a great place they have out there!  (I guess you could say it’s a bit of an improvement over the cabin we went to in high school!)  It’s so much fun to get to see everyone and chat, eat, and drink.  It can be fun to go to the bar sometimes, but I’d much rather do something like we did on Saturday so you can actually get a chance to talk to people (I know, I sound old when I say it like that!)  Sophie wasn’t great on the hayride until I let her look out the back; maybe she has issues with peoples in hats.  If anyone has pics, please send them along as I didn’t take my camera with me.  Thanks!

Sunday Sunday Sunday.  Tom, Grant, Pat, and I golfed in the Huron Breeze end of the season scramble.  It was a good time – I’d never golfed a “big-hole” before so that was interesting.  Unfortunately, I didn’t golf my best game – my irons were struggling.  However, my driver was probably the best it’s been.  Tom suggested a change in my stance and it’s really added more power to my swing.  We ended up even-par.  Tom picked golf balls for his gift and I picked a pullover.  It was a good day.

Tom took Monday off (he had some time built up from his extra work last week) so we ran out to Caseville and visited Greg, Rosie, and Evie at their cabin.  We’ve been talking about getting out there for a couple of years so it was nice to get up to the place and hang out.  Sophie wasn’t a great baby (she was starting to get a little tooth next her bottom ones) for the trip but we were still able to play some Scattergories while Evie was taking her nap.  I can’t believe how big she is getting – she’s so inquisitive and quick to pick up different words.  It’s just funny to watch because she was always so intense thinking about everything she sees and explores.  We stopped by Riverside for dinner on the way out – at this point Sophie was so exhausted she slept through dinner and part of the way home.  I think she was asleep before we even got to the paved road!

On Tuesday we went to playgroup again.  Yesterday we hung out most of the day until I had to go work at the JH Football game.  Sophie’s new trick is pulling herself up to standing in the crib.  Hopefully today Tom will get a chance to lower it down.  She’s definitely got a personality that comes out more and more every day; however, that personality may best be defined as “stinker”.  She hasn’t been eating much lately – not sure if it’s a result of teething, the fact that she’s preoccupied with other stuff, a natural shift in growing and appetite, or a precursor to a growth spurt.  If there’s one thing I know about Sophie, it’s that she loves to keep us guessing.

Whew! Done!

OK!  I cleared out my email!  Also thought I’d let you all know about a Shutterfly promotion for 3 free cards (3FREECARDS) expiring 11/4.  Not positive if it is just something sent to me or if it’s good for everyone, but I thought I’d pass it on.  Feel free to comment to this post to share other good deals or freebies that you guys might know about!  Thanks!

Fall Pics

Scanned in the pics I got from JCP the other day.  I think I mentioned that I got a few more poses for free, so that’s cool.  Enjoy!

bye bye bear

took this pic down to change out some frames – really liked it so i thought i’d share it one last time before goes into storage (or a scrapbook page one day…)

it’s from my trip to San Diego (Spanish for whale’s … nevermind).  this playful polar bear was quite the show stopper and mom was able to take this pic.  cool, huh?

argghhh!! and not in the pirate-sense

so my stupid internet wouldn’t connect and i had to restart my computer (after trying to restart my internet and that didn’t work).  i was working well (partly because tom was playing football so he was quiet) until that hiccup.  good thing firefox has the restore session button if you restart the computer without closing the windows!

just a friendly tip…

so, i don’t know if anyone ever ends up with a seemingly endless amount of emails but if you do (and use gmail) here’s a tip to expedite the sorting/responding process:  when you open an email from a company or person, hold the mouse over the name (it’s usually bold in the top left) and then it will pop up with the address and a “more” button; click the button and choose recent conversations and then you will see all the messages from that person so you can stay focused and move through emails faster.  unless you get distracted by blogging, then that’s not too much faster.  ok, back to work.

mason and sophie

this is the pic from my cell of mason and sophie playing the other day…

hello email, it’s been a while

so i’m finally getting around to taking care of my electronic responsibilities:  email, facebook, blog, pictures, other stuff that comes up through email.  in honor of my current state of focus, i thought i’d blog like i email, with no regard to capitalization.  i don’t know why i find it acceptable in email but abhor it most other forms of communication.  i mean, come on, anyone who’s been around me and a typo know that i can’t just sit there, i have to point it out.  i don’t think that i actively search them out, it just happens that way.  anyway, i’m able to do this because mom came over to pick up sophie for a few hours so that i could have uninterrupted time to get through this stuff.  of course, my first though is:  i could vacuum, pick up the house, cook some lunch, clean the bathrooms, wash mirrors and windows, and countless other things.  it’s a combination of free time and yet again procrastinating and avoiding my electronic obligations.  but i’m going to stick to it…right after i finish this post.

sophie has been in a good mood lately.  her nana bought her the cutest little dog hat yesterday at the outlet – i can’t tell you how many people commented on that hat!  it really makes her face look chubbier so i think she looks like a little eskimo in it.  she’s really working on pulling herself up to her knees and trying to stand.  we don’t really have much for her to grab on to though so mostly she just climbs on me when i’m on the floor. 

she’s also perfecting her fake cough.  i think she picked it up because paul is usually coughing and then sophie was mimicking the sound and we all laughed so now she’s been doing it quite a bit.  i’m sure it will fade as our response does…  she also likes to be chased…usually when she’s getting into trouble, playing with something that she’s not supposed to.  if i say something and start to walk toward her she’ll turn around to look at me, squeal, and then take off in the opposite direction.  it’s a fine line between an OK game and reinforcing the trouble she was getting into because it turns into a game.  parenting is a constant fine line to be walked.

next week will be busy, i have a couple days lined up for subbing and a couple of game management days.  sophie has her 9 month check up, so hopefully they don’t poke her too much.  now that i think about it, this might be the one time she doesn’t have shots.  i hope it is!  we’re also going to try and go to the toddler and baby playgroup at standish elementary that morning.  the baisd puts them on and sends out notifications so that may turn out to be a busy day!

oh, and sophie loves strings.

I know, I know, check my email!

OK, so I am still in the middle of my anti-email phase.  No, I can’t really explain it.  I’m sure I’ll work through it all soon.  Although, as of now my internet isn’t connecting, so that’s a convenient excuse.

Sophie is still not sleeping great through the night.  I really think we’re in another teething phase.  I really liked the old days when we all slept through the night.

Sophie and I got a chance to hang out with Mason (Deborah’s little dude) today.  The kiddos played really well together – you should have seen them playing together, sharing a book, crawling over each other and stuff.

I haven’t been taking as many pictures lately, not because Sophie isn’t doing anything but because she’s doing everything so I’m usually tracking her down.  Plus, still pictures really don’t seem to do it justice.  I have little videos on the camera, just haven’t got around to putting them up on the blog (they take awhile to load to the web).

Tried to take some pictures of Sophie and Zeke yesterday in front of the straw and gourds and pumpkins and corn stalks.  Zeke didn’t want to stay still and Sophie was mostly interested in eating dirt, so it was met with variable success.

Tom and I golfed 9 at Singing Bridge today.  Not great at the beginning and OK later on.  But, it was nice to be outside.  Some of the trees are turning so it was a nice chance to enjoy some of the outdoors.  I really like maple trees (who doesn’t) – I still remember the one that was across the street from our place on Towerline, it had great orange color in the fall.  Fall is way better than spring, it just feels warmer even if the temperature was the same.  Maybe it’s because the ground is warmer so the breeze across it is nice (and dry).

So yeah, I guess that’s it.  This is a distracted post, but I guess it’s better than nothing.