Inheriting the Curse

Zach's sister and her family wanted to visit some friends in St. Louis this past winter and spring.  They tried...and tried...and tried again.  Every single time they planned their trip, one of their kids would get sick.  This didn't happen just once or twice.  Nope.  I think they tried five or six times before they had a successful visit.  Did they finally break their St. Louis curse?  Well, they finally made it down for their visit, but I don't think the curse is broken.  I think they just passed it on.

We decided that it would be fun to take the girls down to St. Louis this fall for a mini family vacation.  A few months ago, we picked this week-end as the perfect time for a trip.  Zach knew it would be a less busy week at work, and we assumed the weather would be beautiful.  Zach took today off work so we could have a nice long week-end away.  Staley has been excitedly talking about going to the zoo for the past week, discussing in detail everything she would like to see and do.  (For the record, she wanted to ride the train first.)  We were all set to go until...

Staley got sick.  A fever, a headache, fatigue, and lots of tears.  Instead of spending an almost perfect fall day at the St. Louis Zoo, our day looked more like this...

Watching TV on the couch is the only perk of being sick.

I know there are lots of viruses going around.  Staley could have gotten something at the baby-sitters or from Sunday School.  Zach or I could have brought something home from work.  There's no conclusive way to know where the illness came from, but I don't blame the germs.  I blame the curse.

First Foods

Tonight was Adelie's official introduction to real food.  Her response?  A little confused.  A little unsure.  But interested.  Definitely interested.

Six Months

I used to think half of a year seemed like a long time until I blinked and my baby who was just born has reached this milestone.  Adelie is officially 6 months old.  My growing, changing baby weighs 15 lbs and is about 26.5" long.  She is wearing her size 2 diapers and 6-9 month clothes.  She eats 5 times/day, usually takes 2 naps, and sleeps from 5-9 hours at a time at night.  She now has 2 teeth and is steadily growing more (light) hair.

Happily playing with toys

Likes:  Adelie remains my happy, social, smiling, easy baby.  She loves being around people, going for walks, being outside, hanging out in the Baby Bjorn, baths, music, playing with her feet, and grabbing anything she can get her hands on.  She LOVE, LOVE, LOVES her big sister.  Adelie is happy to play with any toys, but stacking cups and musical/light up toys tend to be favorites.  She continues to prefer books with textures, sounds, and flaps.  She enjoys going to music class with her big sister, and seems to like being around all the kids at the baby-sitters.  Adelie loves our cats, especially when they unwittingly get close enough for her to reach.  Playing peek-a-boo, watching her mobile, and anything Staley does consistently make her smile and laugh.

Playing with big sister Staley is always fun.

Dislikes:  This list doesn't seem to change.  Adelie dislikes being hungry, tired, and cold.  She sometimes fusses about being in her carseat or getting lonely/bored.

Skills:  Adelie is still on the move.  She is a proficient roller, can scoot a little on her belly by using her legs, and loves to stand when held.  Her legs never stop moving, and she is starting to get onto her knees or her feet while on her belly. She is a great sitter, sitting for long periods of time to play with toys.  She is starting to use more of a controlled fall when she is done sitting.  Adelie will grab anything she can get her hands on, and she has a surprisingly long reach.  She can activate her cause and effect toys and is beginning to try to roll a ball back and forth.  Adelie continues to squeal and talk, but her new sound is a low growl (which Staley thinks is hysterical).  Our lives are brighter and fuller because of Adelie.

My 6 month old

And Coming in Second...

...is Adelie's bottom left center tooth.  Two down, eighteen to go.

Not quite a toothy grin, but she's working on it.

First Day of School

Sunday School, that is.  Today was Staley's first day attending her 2 year old Sunday School class.  She was SO excited.  She insisted on wearing her backpack.  She decided that she needed to pack a pencil and some paper, and then decided to throw in her Dora potty book for good measure.  Upon my suggestion, she also brought her Bible.

Ready for Sunday School

Based on the huge smile on Staley's face and the glowing report from her teacher (including the observation that Staley loves to sing and jumped right in with all the songs), Sunday School was a success.  We've hung up the picture she colored, talked about the 'fire' symbol of the United Methodist Church, and sung her new Sunday School songs.  Staley is already looking forward to next week.

Staley Quote of the Day

"If it's a chip and it's chocolate, then it's a chocolate chip.  If it's a chip and it's not chocolate, then it's sour cream and onion."

Big Ideas

We met Aunt Jill and Lila at Ackerman Farm this morning.  I wanted to wait for Zach to go with us to pick out our big pumpkins for carving or decorating, so I let Staley pick out a mini pumpkin today.  As she was climbing into the car with her tiny pumpkin, she had a few ideas of what she wanted to do with it.

Staley:  "When we get home, let's make pumpkin ice cream with my pumpkin."
Me:  "I don't know how to make pumpkin ice cream."
Staley:  "Maybe we can just carve my pumpkin when we get home."
Me:  "I think your pumpkin is a little too small to carve."
Staley:  "I can just use my wand to make it bigger and then we can carve it."

Despite all her great ideas, Staley had to settle for simply painting her mini pumpkin.  Although using her wand to make it bigger was a great second choice.