Let's try this

I have tried on WAY too many new blog themes today to have any sense of perspective. What do you think of this? I think I like it, but can't tell. I want something fresh, colorful, fun, whimsical. Any more senseless marketing terms I can throw it's way? You tell me, I can't be the judge anymore.

It's in her genes

I have on several occasions heard how as a child eric liked to pull all the book off the shelf and then give them to the dog who was more than happy to eat them. Mette seems to have the same affliction. I am just glad we don't have a dog who eats them!

Here she is falling down. Notice the tongue. Don't worry, it doesn't phase her at all, she gets right back up and pulls down more books. She is quite good at landing on her bum.

I really should be...

Doing any number of things other than this post, but quite honestly, this is what I can handle right now. Plus I have been meaning to get these pics up for so long now. The past few days have been a series of things going wrong last of which was Mette today refusing to take a morning nap and only going to sleep this afternoon at 2 with quite a struggle and Tylenol because I was out of ideas. So, yeah, posting seems like just the thing to do. I don't dare put away the laundry in our room which is piling up all over for fear of waking her up. I got dinner going in the crock pot so that doesn't need my help. I could put away dishes, but they will still be there after dinner and I might feel more inclined then. Probably not, but we can pretend. I REALLY could deal with the toy explosion that is our entire downstairs, but again, can also be done later, so here I am.

Enough of my complaining, let's get down to what you really want. Kids, photos and info. Otto is doing great. I know I have said it before, but I really can't say it enough. I love this age. People go on about the terrible two's and while, yes, they can be very challenging, they are also wonderful. Otto is hilarious. At times like a crazy midget dictator, but overall very funny. While he has been talking for a long time now, it is really conversation form now. You can even almost, sort of, maybe a little, reason with him. You can at least have a discussion about the problem at hand. The discussion may take many turns you weren't anticipating, and never actually get you anywhere, but if you look at that as progress (which I obviously do) then it is great. He is such a sweet kid. He really loves Mette and is beginning to love playing with her. I think he is starting to see how much fun it is to always have another kid around. He mentions how she will talk soon a lot. Perhaps he needs someone to talk to more. Funny since he doesn't ever really stop talking to me all day. I had that coming though fair and square. Still I love spending my days with him and all his quirks, both annoying and cute.

Mette is darling. Truly adorable. She could however work on a few things. One, sleep! The girl has been getting up every hour, sometimes two and EVERY once in a while, three hours at night for way too long now. I am really starting to notice it in how I feel each day. Some longer stints could really do me some good. That being said, she has good reason for not sleeping, I guess. She got a bad cold along with the rest of us which for her turned into a sinus infection, which required antibiotics which you will see later, she "loves". On top of that she cut one top tooth and has an additional bottom tooth coming in. That brings her grand total of teeth up to 4 with one more coming soon. Not only that, but the crawling, teething and cold have brought on the first major bout of separation anxiety. The separation anxiety is totally by the books for her age, but I forgot how intense it can be at times. She went through a phase of it really being rough. The world was fine if seen from the safety of my arms, out of my arms it was a scary, scary world. One where screaming and reaching for me is the only thing to do. Of course this had to really set in while eric's dad was here. Normally she would have been happy to have him carry her around all week, but not last week. Oh no, firmly attached to mommy's side was the only place to be. The last two days have been a bit better with that, but I know we are not in the clear on that. As for tricks, she has mastered pulling up and now is starting to let go. She of course lands on her nice cushioned cloth bottom so it doesn't hurt or bother her much but it scares the crap out of me.

So that is the news from the burg, where all the children are growing and all the parents are tired... and without further ado, I bring you pictures!

Mette rocking some fantastic sunglasses.

The weather has been super crappy here a lot lately and eric had the great idea of getting some rackets and balls and taking Otto to the racquetball courts at the University. It was a huge hit! No pun intended. I think it will be something we do a lot this winter. How can you go wrong with a giant room where nothing can be broken and two kids, a few balls and some weapons???

Mette getting in on the action

Papou came to visit and brought this cute outfit for the girl.

After spilling many doses that she spat back in my face or drooled out while I was reloading the syringe, I mastered this technique. Lay her down on the floor and sit on her. I don't sit hard enough to hurt her but I pin her kicking legs down and flailing arms to her sides. Then I can hold her head with one had and inject with the other. It works great. I only have 15 more doses to go, but who is counting?
This past Sunday the University held a Halloween event for kids. They had lots of tables with crafts, games and candy. We took the kids and I really think Otto had a good time. He was a huge fan of the make your own cupcake and getting candy. He also really liked all the undergrad girls who thought he was too cute and wanted to talk to him.

Mette knocked 'em dead in her Tiger suit. Did I mention she can wave?? It is awesome. She can stop traffic at the grocery store. She does her biggest grin and reaches out with her whole arm. She is working on moving her fingers, but no one who sees it doubts for a second she is waving.

Kimi as he insists on being called when wearing the suit, loved the leaves outside just as much as the fun and games inside. It was the perfect day for playing in the leaves.

Pardon Me

Pardon me, in my sleep deprived existence I managed to forget half of the amazing things our dear little girl can do that I should have included in the last post. I will now attempt to remember some of them but I am not making promises that I will get them all. I am however drinking coffee at this point in time so that might help, a little.

First of all, charm school attendance. It was really my mom who pointed this out to me and she is totally right. Together we decided that they must be offering night classes which explains what she is doing in the wee hours of the night. But really, she is one of the most charming little persons you will ever meet. She has a glow that will captivate and melt anyone in her presence. I realize I may be biased, but spend some time with her and I am sure you will agree.

Then there is the clapping. If you remember, we totally missed the ball with this with Otto. At his nine month appt. when they asked if he did patti cake (which is really just wondering if they can clap) we had no idea as we had never tried and never really clapped around him. Well to be sure not to repeat that we clap a fair amount around Mette. I even play patti cake when I remember. She loves clapping and laughs up a storm when you do so it is a good game regardless. Then just the other day while sitting in her highchair she slowly but surely starting clapping. Her version is slow and deliberate as if trying to get a bunch of people to follow her lead before she picks up the tempo. Should you want her to clap with you, too bad. If you start clapping she laughs to hard to remember to do it herself, but I am sure that will come.

She is also excelling in the teeth department. As of today she has the two bottom teeth in the front, one next to them on the lower left. Yesterday she cut her top right front and it looks as though it's neighbor is about to emerge any day now. And I can tell you I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival since she is not a happy camper right now!!

And speaking of her tooth, she just woke up from a 20 minute nap and sounds none too happy about it so I am off to help.....

Eight Months

This past weekend Mette turned 8 months and I think it is high time I sit down and reflect on all she has learned how to do. Really, it is more than your or I (and many others too) combined have learned in the last 8 months if you think about it.

She started by holding her head up and turning it from side to side! All the better to check out the world.

It took her a bit longer than I would have liked but she figured out nursing without destroying me, something I am ever grateful for.

By about three months she had not only mastered smiling, but laughing as well. This is good timing because three months for me at least is when the sleep deprivation feels the worst. Once you make it past four months you have been tired for so long you don't remember not being tired and you begin to just accept it. It is it's own kind of high.

Sitting up was the next big milestone she went for. Once you sit up it is much easier to chew on Matchbox cars, her ultimate goal in life at this point.

While sitting was good, rocking on all fours is better. What beats that? Crawling. And not just crawling, crawling at break neck speed. The girl has a rocket butt when she sees something she wants. She also really seems to enjoy just crawling around, finding toys* and amusing her self. Glorious. A trait I hope stays with her in life, well the amusing herself, not the crawling. At some point that would get awkward.

Along with crawling she has also learned how to feed herself. She is not crazy on being spoon fed but if it can be put in her mouth all by herself, she is into it. I do a lot of small dice steaming these days. She is also a huge fan of drinking water from her sippy cup. She does this with full body enthusiasm which I thought was a bit odd until I saw her watching Otto drink this way at lunch the other day. Aaahh, just one of many habits she is sure to learn from her big brother.

Next on her horizon, pulling up. She can pull up to standing on her own, though not all the time. She is constantly working on it though. It won't be long now before she is cruising the room. Watch out Otto and the cats because you are her main targets. Pretty much she just wants to lay on you and gnaw away. Good luck with that!

*Today's pocket order: Front Right-Mette snot rag, Front Left-Otto snot rag, Right Rear-my snot rag, Left Rear-small bits of unknown things I have picked off the floor or out of Mette's mouth that she should not eat. Pants without pockets are no good to me.

Keeping Busy

Things have been moving quite quickly around here I am not keeping up on the blogging end for sure. I still have to wrestle the pictures I took at the Apple and Cheese festival last weekend away from Verizon Wireless so you can see Otto riding a pony in one of the most beautiful settings you could ever imagine. Those pictures are coming soon I promise. Until then, let's skip ahead to this past week. On Thursday my mom and I drove down to see her mom, Great Grandmother Hope with the kids. They were very good considering it is a 3 hour drive each way! We got in a nice afternoon visit which was a lot of fun for everyone.

When we got home that night, Grandma Bah was set to arrive any minute from the airport. She stayed for the weekend and we have some fun pictures of our adventures. I was getting a little afraid that Otto's tiger suit that he wore for Halloween when he was Mette's age wasn't going to fit so we thought we should get some pictures of her in it fast. Otto LOVED Mette being a little tiger and the suit fits well enough that it just might make it to Halloween.


Saturday was the Wooly Worm Festival here in town. It sounds bigger than it is, but Otto seemed to have a good time. They have funnel cake and corn dogs, really what more do you need. He inhaled both. He also did a really good job of cheering on his Wooly Worm in the race. I didn't think he would get the concept but he totally did. Our worm came in second but he was in the lead for most of the race.
The festival is held in the park and Mette was sprung from the stroller long enough to laugh it up on the swings. She really loves swinging.
On sunday we made a trip to Ard's for some good fall treats. Otto drove the tractor, played in the hay and visited with the animals. After lunch he came home with a pumpkin.
I have to admit, the bunnies are really cute. It should be said, that morning when eric told Otto where we were going and that there would be bunnies there, Otto replied "I am going to eat them, they are so yummy! They have cheddar ones....". Think he thought we were going to have cheddar bunnies, (like goldfish crackers) and not see real ones. He also wanted to eat the Wooly Worms before he saw them. He was going on and on about how delicious they are. When given the chance to pick one up before the race I was a bit afraid he would try to eat it, but luckily he didn't!

The Stig Jr.