Happy Halloween (almost)!

Romelie has finally sprouted her first tooth! (Insert fanfare.) I know, I know, most babies already have, like, six teeth by now, but that’s why it’s all the more exciting for my little one. And I will treat this like an accomplishment, thank you very much. She was actually very good for Paul and Carrie and Gramma Carol on Thursday and Friday, but she did cry for about an hour both on Saturday and Sunday. No problems yesterday, though, and you can finally feel the little jagged thing in there (it’s the bottom right tooth, for posterity purposes). Now we just have to wait for the rest of them to come through. Poor little babies having to go through this torture over and over again…

Speaking of torture – I dressed Romelie up for Halloween! We went to my cousin Sheila’s home with Paul and Carrie this weekend and Romelie got dressed in her costume, and just LOOK how stinkin’ CUTE she is!! Aww. Adorable. Sheila’s house was crazy decked out for the holidays, and there were quite a few kids roaming about, but Romelie was a bit young for the games. She did enjoy picking at the piñata, though, so I got a pic of her and her Uncle Paul. We have two more Halloween celebrations to attend this week, and I’m very excited to dress her up some more. The best part is that she doesn’t seem to mind the costume. Put a hat on her, and she pulls it off immediately (or socks, or shoes, or mittens…), but she left her little ears alone. The feet didn’t stay on long, but that’s okay.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Whirlwind weekend

We're back from our whirlwind trip to Houston. It was good to see everyone, and I definitely didn't take enough pictures (my camera was acting a little funky), but I think I've got some good highlights to post.

Saturday night we went to see Crystal's show. It was fun to get to meet a few of her students and see her classroom and give congrats on all her hard work. Finally, she'll be able to relax a bit; well deserved. Then on Sunday, Steve and Angel hosted an early birthday party for Romelie! She had her first taste of birthday cake - cried when we took it away - and got to open her first presents. I stink at sending thank you cards, but really - to everyone - thank you!! BTW, this picture of her at her party - tell me she doesn't look JUST like me in this picture. First time I've ever really seen myself in her; very exciting. Then on Monday we went to the zoo with Bronwyn and family. Romelie liked the goats and the monkeys and the leopard (or was it a cheetah?), but I think her favorite part of the day was when I gave her a few slurps of my ice cream cone. I know, I know, but hey - it's dairy, right? And she only had a taste. And then home again Tuesday morning, back at work Tuesday afternoon. I was sleepy.

Now it seems that Romelie may or may not be ready to finally cut her first tooth. Apparently she scream-cried for an hour at daycare yesterday - something she never does. Jen thought she felt a tooth just starting to poke through, so she figured that was why Romelie was so upset. Now she's up at my mom's house for the next couple of days to spend time with her and Uncle Paul and Carrie while they're in town, and she seems fine. So who knows. Honestly, I thought the kid was teething back when she was five months old or so, and I've just about given up on predictions. When I can see a tooth, I'll acknowledge that she's teething.

Finally, one more cute picture taken before we left for Houston of her napping - I love when she curls up to sleep like this, and it's even cuter when she clutches her Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in each hand. Love the baby. Love her.

Here's what's occupying my thoughts today...

I am a C...
I am a C-H...
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H-E-A-R-T
And I will L-I-V-E E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y!

At Corner Church, they always start out the service with a kids' song. This past Sunday, they sang the above song, which I had never heard before. It has been running through my head ever since. Like, ALL DAY LONG. I can't get it to go away. It's a cute song and all, but it's starting to drive me nutty.

Volleyball season is over! Yay! I mean, my team was great and all, but I'm ready to go back to a normal work week. We lost our last game of the season, which is too bad - always nice to end on a good note - but for fun, Romelie and I went to the Varsity game last night. Last season, one of the girls on my team got me a hooded sweatshirt that says "Little Red Knight" on it, so I got Romelie all dressed up and we cheered on the players. It was fun, she was well-behaved (Cheerios helped), but it went long so we had to leave before everything was done. Not before I got this super cute picture of us in our Red Knights gear, though!

Three more days to Houston...yay again! I'm in a yay kind of mood this morning. Perhaps it's the coffee. I'm excited to see everyone and to have an excuse to take lots of pictures - the picture-taking slows down when I don't have an event to take pictures during. And Angel, I got pictures printed up and they should arrive at my house tomorrow, so hopefully they won't get lost in the mail or anything!

What else...ooh, I know...I got Romelie a Halloween costume! Also will be arriving in the mail. I got it on zwaggle.com - if you haven't been to the site before, you should check it out. People put their gently used family items on their that they don't need anymore (kids clothes, DVDs, furniture, etc.) and you can get "zoints" for every item you "sell." Then you use your zoints to buy other stuff. I got rid of most of my maternity clothes on this site, and I've used my zoints to buy Baby Einstein DVDs and some cute clothes for Romelie and now, a Halloween costume! I won't spoil the fun and tell you what it is - I'll wait until I have an excuse to take pictures. Romelie's too young for trick-or-treating, but she is going to a pumpkin carving party at a co-worker's house and a Halloween party at my cousin Sheila's house and she may go up to visit Gramma Carol and check out a haunted house. So plenty of opportunities to wear the costume - hope she likes it!

Look for a Houston happenings blog entry later next week!

Immunities, Houston, and style

Romelie puts everything in her mouth. Everything. Toys, cat fur, almost a dead bug yesterday, and last night at church, she put these blocks in her mouth that must be covered in germs (they’re these political build-a-sentence wooden blocks, and she put at least six of the eight right in her mouth). Gross. Building up immunities, building up immunities…

We just had a good weekend with our little germ eater. We went on a walk on Saturday (got to get those in before it gets too cold), watched some football, went to church(es), and – oh yeah – booked flights to Houston!! That’s right, baby, we’re going to Houston in less than two weeks! It was a bit impromptu, but there were reasonably-priced direct flights available. So we’re going from the Oct. 18-21, and we’ll get to see Steve and Angel and Crystal (and her play!) and Bronwyn/Shane/Greta/Torin and it’ll be awesome! And I hear from Crystal that the air conditioners are still running in Houston (whereas we just turned on our heat in good ol’ MN) so Romelie will have one last opportunity to sport her summer gear.

Speaking of clothing (random segue, but I’m all over the place this morning), Romelie got some new duds finally. I got her a plethora of size 12 month fall/winter clothes, including some footy pajamas, fuzzy sweatpants, and other cute outfits at Children’s Place. Man, that store is overpriced considering how quickly she’ll grow out of these clothes, but I had a gift card, so everything I bought only cost me $4. And Grandma Carol got her a few outfits last week (including some Vikings onesies and a few Halloween outfits), so Romelie will be looking stylish for the fall. I now have three bins labeled “outgrown clothes.” I don’t want to get rid of anything yet since we plan on having another baby eventually, but I can see this getting ridiculous by the time baby #2 comes along.

I think that covers the last week or so.

Ready for another Vikings season!

I’m back from Indianapolis. The Colts lost while I was there, while the Vikings won while I was away. Then of course yesterday, they lost again. The Vikings seem to lose when I watch the games – maybe I should just stop watching now. I have cute pictures of Romelie in her new Vikings hat to post – I’ll get them up ASAP.

My teeth don’t hurt any more; thanks for the concerns! I did end up going back to the dentist but there wasn’t anything unusual going on and they said to try giving it a few more weeks. I get a little twinge every now and then, but I think I’m good to go.

The trip was fine, and I missed my family (of course). Romelie was a very good baby while I was gone. She got to spend a couple days up with Grandma Carol and loved watching the ducks and geese and puppies and the entire menagerie. I got special searched on the way there AND on the way back, and while I was permitted to transport my cooler o’ breastmilk, they insisted on taking every single bag of it out, laying on the counter, and testing it with some wand-looking device. So that was a little embarrassing, but at least they didn’t make me throw any of it away.

New Romelie news – three times now, she’s pulled herself up to standing! It happened twice a couple Thursdays ago (9/18) when she pulled herself up using the couch so she could get a better look at the cat who was sitting there. Both times, she freaked out when she realized that she didn’t know how to get back down – the second time, she seemed resigned to just freefall sideways, so I had to catch her. Then she did it late last week in daycare. So apparently, she’s planning on skipping right over sitting up and crawling (two things she has yet to even attempt) and go straight to standing. Brilliant.

I’ll get those pictures up tonight, hopefully. Still waiting on the pictures from visiting Uncle Paul in Wisconsin (my mom brought them down, but I forgot to ask for them, so I don’t know if they’re in my house somewhere or what). I’m a slacker, we all know that.

**Update 10/2 - Pics are up! And I got the ones from Wisconsin, so I'll try to get those up tonight or tomorrow.

Teeth

No, not Romelie’s teeth. Mine. Romelie, though she turned 10 months old yesterday, has yet to sprout a single tooth. I, on the other hand, had my first dentist appointment in I’m-not-telling how long, and had four cavities. They have since been taken care of, and now I have horrible, horrible pain on the entire lower right side of my mouth. I don’t know if something went wrong or it’s just being overly sensitive, but I’m giving it another week and then I’m going back in to get it checked out. Boo teeth problems. Better believe I’ve been a professional flosser lately, though.

Romelie has started finger foods. To be fair, she started finger foods a couple weeks ago, but I’m just remembering to blog about it now. She eats cheerios and pasta like a champ. I tried banana last night, and I don’t know what genius thinks bananas are good finger foods since they’re too slippery for her to hold on to them. I ended up just feeding them to her. But she’s improving daily at the whole hand-eye coordination thing.

Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving my family for a few days coming up here. I’m going to Indianapolis for a work conference – I leave Sunday morning and don’t come back until Wednesday night. My mom’s coming down to help Chason with Romelie so he doesn’t get completely exhausted. I’ll miss everyone, but I’m most worried right now about pumping while I’m gone. My boss arranged so I’ll have a fridge in my hotel room, but I need to transport it all back through airport security. The TSA website says a mom, even a mom traveling without a child, can transport breastmilk through security, but it specifies that it must be “in reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary.” Does 60 ounces (since that’s about what I’ll get in 3-1/2 days) count as reasonable?

Wish me luck…sorry, no new pictures to share.

Kung Fu baby

Apparently Romelie is determined to be a fighter. Here's a long and dark but still awfully cute video of Romelie kicking Joe repeatedly and finding this to be the most hilarious thing ever. Enjoy.