Look Who's Talking

Romelie has started talking. A lot. Friday afternoon, we picked her up from day care, and she was making the same vowel-heavy sounds she always makes (aaaaaah, hi-yaaaa, etc.), when all of a sudden, she busts out with "dada."

Chason looks at me. "Did she just say da-da?"

"No," I say, "of course not."

She looks at me. "Mama."

"Oh, my gosh - she said mama!"

She also got out lala, and blah blah blah - which she has now shown a preference for. But yes, ladies and gents, Romelie officially babbles. She doesn't know what she's saying yet, I know, but we have reached the babbling milestone, and it's super cute.

On a different note, allergies have taken over the household. Romelie's nose is forever crusty, I slept for 12 hours last night, and Chason and I both sneeze up a storm everywhere we go. The fun part is that we started summer camp yesterday at work, and it's proving difficult to keep a clear head with 27 little 6-8 year olds running around. There are lots of counselors this year, though, so plenty of people to step up in my feeling stinky-ness. Of course, I'll be outside for 3.5 hours tomorrow in the woods teaching girl scouts - let's see how I'm doing after that!

I haven't taken any pictures since Texas, sorry...I'll get on it soon, I promise :)

Gross. Ick. Blech.

So I was sorting Romelie's laundry, pre-treating stains (on clothes, not bibs...that's what they're for, right?), when I came across one of the bibs she'd worn late last week when bananas were her new food to try. They were mashed, with a bit of breastmilk added to thin them out. Smelled pretty gross when she urped a bit up, but she seemed to like it. Well, the banana that had landed on her bib had turned brown and really gross looking. Too bad, hope it doesn't get banana on the rest of the laundry. Then I come across another banana bib, also pretty brown, but wait - what's that? What's that GROWING on the bib? Oh my Lord...it's MOLD. A bib, and a washcloth I had used to clean her face afterwards, had both grown MOLD. In her laundry hamper.

And we now have one less washcloth and bib. Luckily we have thousands more, but still - gross. Ick. Blech.

Minneapolis...we've returned

The stars at night are big and bright (clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas! Also, it’s hot there. They forgot to put that into the song.

Texas trip was fantastic. Gotta start off with the flight, though. So we’re at the gate, waiting to board the plane, when Chason notices a guy who looks an awful lot like Brian Robison, football player for the MN Vikings. I couldn’t tell you who’s who on the team, so I’m not super helpful in figuring out if it’s really him or not, and Chason doesn’t want to ask in case it’s not him. So whatever, we board the flight, and who sits down directly in front of us? Robert Ferguson, also a MN Viking, and former high school classmate and teammate of Chason! So they got to chat and catch up, and it turns out the other guy was Brian Robison, also going home for the weekend to visit his family. So Chason was just being cool, hanging out with a couple of Vikings on the plane. Nice.

Romelie got a little sick during her vacation (coughing and stuff), so she was a bit fussy for the first day or so, but that cleared up by the time she went to meet her aunt and uncle and cousins. Greta is such a cutie! Big round cheeks, very strong baby, seems super coordinated compared to Romelie! And then on Sunday, Steve and Angel hosted the family for a big barbeque and swim party – which was awesome. She met her great grandma Nona and her great aunts and uncles and second cousins and lots of friends – she was pretty well-behaved for everyone, went swimming, bounced in a horsie-thing, and generally had fun. Mom and Dad had a lot of fun, too!

Since returning from Houston, we’ve been super busy. Crystal and I ran an activity tent this weekend at the International Children’s Festival in St. Paul, so there was a lot of prep work going on last week, and my mom came down so she could help Chason with Romelie while I was away all weekend. Have I mentioned that I started working at a church daycare on Sundays? If not – I’ve started working at a church daycare on Sundays. Just a couple hours in the morning, but it’s a little extra income to cover expenses. Between that, the activity tent, some palm reading gigs I’m doing at senior graduation parties this week, and our economic stimulus check – we’re raking in the dough! Yay…putting the money into savings. Thrilling.

Last note – Romelie wouldn’t sleep in her crib last night. Every time we laid her down, even if she was sound asleep, she wake up and start scream crying. Kept rolling onto her tummy and couldn’t figure out how to get back. This went on for over an hour until we finally just took her to bed with us for the night. So I’m a bit sleepy today. Every send good prayers that she doesn’t do this again tonight.

Houston, here we come!

Tonight…we fly. Is that from a movie? Whatever, doesn’t matter – we’re headed to Texas tonight! Steve and Angel are awesome and are flying us and Romelie down for a long weekend, so we leave tonight around 7:00 and come back Monday evening. Four day weekend in TX, woo-hoo!

Romelie is very excited to see her Nanny and Papa again (did I get that right?), and is looking forward to meeting all sorts of family members, including her great grandma, her great aunts and uncles, second cousins, and her Aunt Bronwyn, Uncle Shane, and her cousins. (And we’re looking forward to meeting our new niece Greta as well!) We do sincerely hope that she doesn’t spit up on any of these lovely people but apologize in advance for when she inevitably does. She’s been spitting up a lot more since she started solid foods. Anyone know what that’s all about? Is it just immature digestive system, or is she trying to tell me she’s allergic? That’s the problem with the ambiguous spit-up vs. throw-up – not knowing how much it takes to qualify as the latter.

We’ve also been working with her on consonants lately. She’s really good at making noise, but hasn’t gotten to babbling yet (ma-ma-ma-ma, ba-ba-ba-ba…you get the point). So Chason’s been trying to get her to say da-da. So far, no luck, but it’s pretty funny to watch – he says “da-da;” she shakes her head no. He says “da-da;” she shakes her head no and laughs. Cuteness.

I’ll be taking plenty of photos in Texas, so check the blog again after we return from our trip!

Who's a big girl?

Romelie had her 6-month check up yesterday and she is…drum roll, please…17 lbs 8 oz! Still 28 inches long (she may have grown a quarter inch or so), but 17.5 pounds…whoofda. So last night, she officially made the move to her big girl bed. No longer in her bassinet (which only is good up to 18 pounds), last night was her very first night sleeping in her crib. She apparently didn’t care, as she slept just fine. Of course, that means that I’m now trying to put a new system of organization into place in her room because we’ve just lost out on two major storage places – under the bassinet, where her toys were stored, and inside the crib, where blankets, snuglis, big stuffed animals, hats and mittens, childproofing devices, her car seat, and any random items that didn’t have a place to go were stored. I’ll be heading to good ol’ Target in the next few days, and I’ll be sure to post pictures once I get everything fixed up.

Also learned something new about Romelie yesterday – she has a heart murmur. Dr. Mitchell didn’t seem too concerned (we don’t have to give her antibiotics or go to a specialist or anything yet), but it’s there. Sigh. Since I wasn’t told to worry, I’m going to choose not to for the moment until I hear otherwise.

And we tried a new food last night – sweet potatoes. Yummy. She ate an entire ounce and was still hungry, so I gave her some rice cereal. We’ll stick with this for a few days to make sure she tolerates it well, and then we move on to either acorn squash or pears – whichever one I decide to make first (probably pears). Making baby food is super fun, by the way – and healthier and cheaper. That’s my mommy motto – healthy and cheap.

I haven’t taken any pics since Florida, but look for more updates soon!

Florida Fun!

Oh, it's been ages. Ages since I've written. Sorry.

The biggest news (a bit old now) is that Romelie and I went to Orlando! Yup, we went down to visit with my mom, who was there on vacation, and my brother, who was there for my cousin's wedding which I was unable to attend. My dad was down in FL, too, though we were at different times, so it was a big ol' Florida party.

Romelie had a lot of fun. She went swimming for the very first time, and she got to experience warm weather and actually spend time outside for once! She's still too young for sunscreen, so we had to keep her in the shade all the time, but it was still good for her to get outside. We went to Busch Gardens and Sea World - she really enjoyed the animal shows. We also went to Daytona Beach for a day and she got to play in the sand - not in the ocean, though...way too many waves, mom's not that coordinated to begin with. As you can imagine, Romelie did get a bit exhausted from all the partying. So she slept in some pretty odd places during the trip :)

Since we've been back (we were down a couple weeks ago and came back 4/24), we've had some other fun events. We attended the wedding of our friends and former roommates Kevin and Nicole - very beautiful wedding, lots of fun, adorable couple. Chason was a groomsman for the event, and he looked very handsome in his tux. Crystal got to be on baby duty for a couple nights in a row (both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding) but Romelie was apparently fairly well-behaved. So that was a relief. And I had a couple of beers for the first time in over a year! To be fair, I've had a beer here and there since Romelie was born, but never more than one - not allowed, unless you're not going to be breasfeeding for a while. So that was new.

What else - Romelie moved up a diaper size - she's now wearing size 3's. She's so big! And she's just as smart as ever - her favorite things to do are spit, pull hair, and stick her toes in her mouth. Good times.

Her 6-month checkup is on Monday, so I promise to update soon with the vital stats. Happy upcoming mom's day!

Happy birthday Chason!

I'm a bit late in typing this entry. It's been brewing.

Chason's birthday was April 10, and his mom and Aunt Karen came for a visit! We had a great time with these fun ladies, and Romelie Ann enjoyed meeting her Great Aunt for the first time. If you haven't already seen it, check out the video of them serenading Romelie during her breakfast. It's fabulous.

Also, on April 11, Romelie had a bonus well-baby checkup just to check her weight and height and see if she's now eating enough. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (drum roll) rrrrrrrrr - 16 pounds, 2 ounces! And 28 inches long. So she's back up to 90% for weight, which is where she used to be and therefore where she's supposed to be. Yay, Metoclopram! And we'll be starting her on her first solids in about a week, which should be fun for all. Go, rice cereal and breastmilk. Appetizing.

I'm keeping it short cause she's been napping for about 25 minutes now, and her weekend naps usually only last about 30...so I will compensate by adding a new video - Romelie driving. And only 5 months old. I'm telling you, she's advanced.