Zionsville Brick Street Market

A couple Saturdays ago, Gary, Adam, Eliza, and I ventured out on a hot day to walk around the Zionsville Brick Market--a lovely market on the historic brick main street in our town.  There were so many vendors selling really neat items.  Our favorite was the "cake in a jar" sold by a lady from Brownsburg, IN.  These are baked cakes in mason jars ready to serve and eat.  We got 4 mini cakes to share between the 3 of us and they were yummy!  I also got two unique frames for our guest room from a booth selling vintage items--I really wanted a green vintage leather suitcase for our guest room, but passed!

We then went to an early dinner at Noah Grant's, a great seafood restaurant just off the main street.  It was delicious!

We ended the day with Eliza cooling off in her mushroom pool.  Fun!

Enjoy some pictures!

Let's get going!

Set-up

Just lounging

Something on the ground must've been interesting!

I can walk!

Gotta stay hydrated!

Well, hello there!

Fun fun fun!

Splaaaaash!!!

I might be done, now.

51 Weeks!

I'm several days late in giving Eliza's most recent weekly update.  I'm blaming it on denial being busy with party prep and house work!

This past week, Eliza's 5th tooth broke through.  We think she's still working on even more, as her mildly high temp and some fussiness have continued for awhile now.  Poor thing has a congested cough, too.  We're keeping an eye on that, but her 1 year well check is next week so we'd like to avoid another Dr. visit!

We can't believe we are just 1 week away (less, now, actually) from Eliza's first birthday party.  We are so excited to celebrate our baby girl, but it's hard to watch her grow more independence.  But so fun at the same time.  Oh parenting, you are a tough beast to tame!

Since I shared so many pictures on Wednesday of last week, this post's pictures are really from the weekend.

Making faces at Qdoba

Squinty-eye smile

My hair is getting so long!

Eliza backpack

Dressed in Red, White & Blue for Memorial Day

This tantrum pose shows off my festive shorts nicely, no?

Waving my keys (note the blurry hand) at Lowes.

Phone Photo Dump

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks taken on my phone!

My mohawk is a bit thicker than it used to be!

Mommy loves my new play dress

Just eatin'

Hi!

Leaning back for Daddy's kisses

Saying "hi" to myself on the front facing camera

Let's get a closer look

And some video:

Mother's Day

I had a great first Mother's Day! Gary didn't only write that beautiful post, but he also gave me a digital photo frame.  I currently have it on my computer desk at work and find myself watching it far more than I probably should.  :)  It was a perfectly lazy day with my girl and Gary.  I loved it.

On Saturday before Mother's Day we celebrated our own moms, Eliza's grandmothers.  We invited both sets of grandparents over to our home for a cookout.  We gave our moms their gifts:

I have tried everything to make this picture right side up with no luck.  sorry, folks.

Eliza had a ton of fun painting after we did her prints for these.  That is, until she tried to eat the (non-toxic) paint.  That wasn't so fun.

We had a lot of fun with the grandparents, and even later went to the zoo!  

Overall, it was an amazing first Mother's Day weekend!

50 Weeks!

This week was a big milestone for Eliza as she took her first unassisted steps!  Thankfully our camera is usually handy, and we were able to capture video of her pretty much immediately.  Here are a couple from this past Monday evening!

So far, she has probably taken at most 6 steps at one time, which was pretty far!  She's been under the weather the tail end of this past week, so she hasn't been walking too much for us.  But it was so exciting to watch her take those first steps!

Saving a Memory

On 5/14/12, around 5:30pm, Eliza took her first unassisted steps walking from Uncle Adam to Mommy.  More walking followed!

Video to come.  :)

Continuing My Education

On Mother’s Day 2011, Abby was a little over two weeks away from having Eliza and we had just moved into the house.  Since then I have learned many things:

I thought I knew what it was to be responsible.  There is professional responsibility, fiscal responsibility, legal responsibility, tax-paying responsibility, moral responsibility, paying-the-bills responsibility, keeping-the-wife-happy responsibility, house-upkeep responsibility.  All of them pale in comparison to parental responsibility.  If you screw up you not only may ruin your life, but you will undoubtedly ruin the life of your child.  Happy procreation!

I thought I knew that child rearing would be expensive.  But not quite this expensive.

I thought I knew how much I would enjoy being a parent.  Nothing quite compares to playing with Eliza or making her laugh.  Or simply watching her play.  Or seeing her excited to see a dog.  Or seeing her look back at you as she walks with her push toy with the face, “C’mon and chase me already!”  Or playing peek-a-boo with her.  Or driving to work as she babbles away.  Or her little whimpers when she is hungry and sees her bottle.  Or her frustrated-waving-arms.  I’m not obsessed; I’m promise.

I thought briefly waking up in the middle in the night to attend to Eliza wouldn’t be that bad.  For some reason the interruption of sleep in the deep of the night, even a five to ten minute one, is exhausting.  I guess we need our REM sleep.

I thought I knew what it was to be scared.  I dunno what is scarier:  knowing something is wrong, but not knowing what is wrong with your child because she is unable to verbalize or knowing that your child is scared.  It was truly frightening when either happened.

I thought I knew how much more free time I would have.  The actual free time I do have is not even close to my original projections.  What a stupid thought in retrospect.

I thought I knew how smart babies are.  Every day Eliza does something to remind me how intelligent and how quickly babies develop.  What I find particularly incredible is how well she can process facial clues.  She understands happy, sad, mean, playful, serious.  I underestimated how smart they are.

I thought I knew how much I loved Abby.  To see her happy—not new-things happy or satisfied happy, but truly happy—with Eliza is one of the most fulfilling moments I have.  And to know she is a great mother who will always be there for Eliza fills me with joy.  No matter how close I am to Eliza, there will always be a special connection between Abby and Eliza.  My hope is that as a husband and father I will always facilitate, encourage, and further strengthen their special connection. 

Happy Mother’s Day to my lovely wife.  

49 Weeks Old

Trying to climb out of my new pool!

This pool is fun stuff!

Finger painting after making grandmas Mother's Day cards

My newest face: pucker up!

I am "mama"

You have everything it takes. You just don't know it yet. Whenever you feel exhausted, confused, incapable or at your wit's end...look within. Trust your instincts.  (http://www.kellehampton.com/2011/05/instincts.html)

I came across a saved blog-post-draft containing only the above quote, but no attribution, from one year ago when I was 37 weeks pregnant.  To my knowledge, I never published those words, and I can only imagine I was saving them as a reminder for what the next few weeks would hold.  Looking at the words a year later I couldn't remember where they came from.    A quick google search led me to one of my favorite and most inspiring blogs: Enjoying the Small Things written by Kelle Hampton.

This discovery was timely.  Not only is mother's day in 2 days, but a recent media-storm surrounding parenting styles and breastfeeding (and the title "Are You Mom Enough") has triggered a personal inventory of sorts.  And I've read several responses to the Time piece I'm alluding to (more on that at the end of this post), including this wonderful piece from the Huffington Post's Lisa Belkin. 

What the words from Kelle and Belkin reminded me of, is that all I am and need to be is my baby girl's mama.  I don't need to be tiger mom, crafty mom, attached mom, or cool mom to be her mama.  My instincts, while they may not be the same as a friend's, are all I need and my girl needs (and a big dose of Daddy, too).  And rather than compete with other moms, I should give and receive support for this most important job we have.

It's incredibly easy to fall into the mommy-guilt trap through comparisons to others.  As a working-mom, I imagine my guilt is different than a stay-at-home mom's, but I guarantee those women feel their own personal guilt.  But we shouldn't. 

So this Mother's Day, and every day, I'm going to repeat Kelle's refrain and encourage my fellow mama friends to do the same.

I mean, I'm this girl's mama.  She's happy, healthy, well fed, and beautiful.  That's more than enough.

mmmwah! (kissy noise)

Background info:
Yesterday, a mom-friend of mine shared what would quickly prove to be the controversy-of-the-moment:  the Time magazine cover and accompanying piece about attachment parenting entitled "Are You Mom Enough?"  On the off chance you are unaware, the Time cover portrays a 26-year old mother breastfeeding her 3 (almost 4) year old son.  Both are standing; the son on a step stool to reach his mother.  The photographer was interviewed for an accompanying story, and said:  “When you think of breast-feeding, you think of mothers holding their children, which was impossible with some of these older kids." “I liked the idea of having the kids standing up to underline the point that this was an uncommon situation.”  (http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/#ixzz1uak4uqWh).

The truth is, extended breastfeeding is uncommon (and taboo) in the US but is accepted globally, and Time used this image to shock and create controversy (aka sales).  Moreover, attachment parenting (the main subject of the piece) is not defined by extended breastfeeding.  And finally, as I read somewhere yesterday (maybe in one of the accompanying articles), the problem with the United States and breastfeeding isn't that people are uncomfortable with a 2 or 3 year old breastfeeding--it's that many (a majority?) of people are uncomfortable if faced with a mother breastfeeding a 6-week old, a true infant.  Something to think about.

11 Months Old

Look at my big eyes!

Weight: around 18.5lbs

Length: not sure, we'll know the first week of June

Clothing size:  6-9 or 6-12 months in clothes.  She moved up to a size 3 diaper recently.

Eating:  We've been introducing plenty of table foods.  Her favorites include deli turkey, peas, pasta, and her Gerber fruit/veggie melts snacks.

Movement:  She's figuring out the stairs!  She doesn't actually like them very much, thank goodness.  :)  No walking on her own yet, but plenty of walking  while pushing toys or along the furniture.

Sleeping: After successfully introducing sleep training at the beginning of the month, Eliza has completely regressed at bedtime.  We're not frustrated, but just sad/upset to see her so distressed.

Likes: Still her push toy, being "chased."

Dislikes: Going to bed.  Waiting for food.

Speech:  No real change here, either.  Babbles with lots of "dada" and "mama."

Milestones:  Eating table food.  Waving!

It's totally crazy that Eliza is now only 1 month away from her first birthday.  We're still in shock about it.  We love watching her learn and develop!

We also want to send out a warm welcome to Eliza's new friend Avery Brooke Lewallen, who was born this morning (5/6/12) around 5:30am.  Welcome to the world, little Avery!  We can't wait to meet you!  Congratulations to the Lewallens.  :)

so, it is increasingly difficult to get good pictures of Eliza for her monthly updates.  I couldn't get a single smile!  And then, she ripped off the sticker.  *sigh*  She still looks cute, though!

Windows are great!

fun with the little ball

A favorite non-toy toy, a tin.

What is this?

ooooh, it comes off!

Sticker?  I don't want no stinkin' sticker!

Maybe the sticker can go in the vent?

Or how about my mouth?

Posing for pictures is no fun, but playing with Daddy is!

48 Weeks!

What a full week we've had!  On Saturday we watched my cousin's little girl Gia.  The girls played a little bit next to each other, but after lunch Gia took a nap while Eliza played.  Then, as Eliza fell asleep Gia woke up to play!  So they were on opposite schedules.  Eliza didn't wake up until the moment after Amanda and Gia left.

Playing in PJs

Gia working on stand-up play

We had a busy week otherwise, too.  We went shopping on Sunday, ran errands in the evenings several days during the week, and just had fun playing.  Here are some more pictures from the week!

Trying to escape the tub

What's going on, Daddy?

Fun to chew on bunny

Reading her fuzzy puppy book

She played with the book for about 5 minutes without stopping

Eliza's tantrum face