Over our spring break we moved back into our Casita. We put a TON of stuff in storage, and we're gradually moving things back (We're still going to keep the extra storage space- to keep our sanity!). We decided to make some purchases, so that our stuff will fit into our place better. I think we went to IKEA at least 5 times! I'll post some pics of how of space is coming together- as soon as I get all the boxes cleaned up and tidy.
We spent hours getting some of these IKEA pieces together...and little miss was a big help. This video cracks me up. She was very serious about helping mom and dad.
And now that we'll be rocking the Dimond neighborhood, I think our house needs an official name, any ideas?
It's dinnertime and Sadie just walked into the kitchen saying Rice, Rice Rice...she wanted a rice cake. I love my little linguistic queen. It feels like she's learning a word or two a day.
Here are some of her recently learned, and oft-repeated, words:
frog (fro)
bike (bi)
uh oh
cheese
strawberry
outside (side)
light (dight)
apple
door
please (pease)
thank you (da do)
gracias (I didn't hear this- her daycare people told me she started saying this week)
bus
book (boo)
agua
milk (mil)
sorry
owl
animal (she spat this out at the zoo! crazy!)
bye bye (fill in the blank)
roro
ruby
bath
dog
baby
It's fun to watch her language go and grow!! And it's exciting to hear her create phrases with the words she knows. It's also interesting to hear the sounds she leaves out- it's usually the ending sounds/tricky sounds/the sounds that aren't stressed.
I'm so proud of my little baby!! She's such a little learner!
The sad thing is that she's starting to feel less and less like my little baby, and more and more like a big girl. Time does fly!
Here's Sadie is full affect. She was 17 months old yesterday and she's been a blast lately- my little buddy. In this video, she's freaking out because I was washing one of her 2 frog blankies. She didn't even see me toss it in, so she must have seen it tumbling around. Fwa Fwa Fwa is the her way of saying, "Mama! Get froggy out of there! I don't like baths and neither does he!" (And yeah, apparently now she loathes bathtime. She screamed bloddy murder through her whole bath last night. I think the cold pacific ocean may have traumatized her.)
Here are some recent videos taken over the past couple of weeks- of Sadie just being Sadie. These are especially for those friends and family far away. I love how content of a baby Sadie is. She seems to really enjoy life.
Chatting away at bath time-
Her she is loving on a dog we dog sat. She loved walking into his tail and patting her.
I can't say that life has been wonderful to me (or to our little family) lately. It was looking up until....today. We just got back a crappy inspection on the house we're trying to sell. Really? 5 years ago when we bought it, our inspector told us it was in great condition. I think those contractors are just trying to get some work in this dang blasted lousy economy. And I don't really think it's fair that the contractors do the inspections...does that seem fair to you...it feels quite biased. We were so close to being settled for 15 years, but now, who knows? So the waiting continues...
Here's some of the fun we're having as learn to have more patience and live life:
Fashion police...arrest this girl! Well she was festive, at least, it being St. Patty's Day.
Success with veggies!! Here are some photos catching Sadie in action with a veggie-laden mommy creation. This is brown fried rice with broccoli, corn and egg. Tonight I tried throwing some sauteed shredded carrot and onion into her quesadilla- it was a hit! For some reason she liked the sauteed veggies more than the tortilla itself. She also loved the hidden veggie pasta sauce I made- so I've made that a couple of times. I'm getting better at this.
Mommy, I love it, see?
This is classic Sadie- she wanted daddy's belt. So I put it on her (double wrapped, of course). She walked around the house for more than an hour with the belt on. Isn't this look kinda hipster? Here she's bringing spices to the dog bed (we are dog sitting). She loves the dog's bed, even though we tell her it's dirty and that she cannot sit on it. What to do? She loves it.
This is Sadie's latest obsession- our friend's BOB that we're borrowing. She calls it a weee weeee. Today it was raining pretty hard all day. Sadie wanted to sit in the stroller by the front window with books and toys.
She just sat there for a good hour and was so content. I love my silly little girl.
Top Ten Activities this week:
1) Walking around the hood almost daily
2) Sadie eating whole peas covered in vegetable-loaded tomato sauce
3) Getting picture texts of baby cousin Rory
4) Finally getting back the a counter offer on a house we are trying to buy (5 days late! Craziness.)
5) Our appraisal going through on the house we're trying to sell. Whoot Whoot!
6) Husband didn't have class Thursday night, so we got to hang out
7) Making (green) cupcakes last night
8) Sadie is slowly adjusting to daylight savings time change (That's a good thing, even though it means she's short napping herself)
9) Reading before bed- I'm finally hooked into my current book club book
10) It's finally Friday night!!! And Mark's back with the take-out Indian! Yum!! Bye!
Life is full lately. We're in escrow on our house, and trying to buy a new house. I am so ready to be settled. But despite 1/2 of year of transition, cleaning rampages, and staging - our little bundle of joy remains resilient.
Sadie thought it was awfully funny to crush the blackberries in her hands.
Playing with dada's hat:
Where's Sadie?
More eating pictures. I think this is the only time Sadie is semi-still lately. Sadie says "nana" all the time for banana, "agua" or "bebe" for her milk, and she also said strawberry this week! She's becoming quite the word smith. She picks up a lot of things from day care- that's where she learned agua. She also says "abre" for open (spanish), etc... She says new things daily- it's a lot of fun!
Sadie loves grandma's. She carries around gma's necklace. In her other hand is a toothbrush- one of her new obsessions.
Reading in her favorite chair. Sadie can get in and out of this chair with no end. She usually fills it with her favorite things (books, keys, froggie, milk cup, etc...), sits for a bit, then takes everything out of the chair and starts all over. Funny girl.
Some exciting news- Mark's sister, Claire, had a baby girl this week: Rory Elisabeth! When we told Sadie, she started roaring dramatically! We tried to recreate this moment for video, but Sadie had toned down the drama by that point. We're so thrilled to have a new addition to the family!
Sadie got to go to her first Quinceanera last week! So fun! Happy Birthday 15th Nana! If you watch closely, you can watch the birthday girl walk by in her princess dress- she looked amazing! And the pork tacos were awesome!
This is a typical day in the life of Sadie- dancing, chattering, and playing contentedly with her toys. It's fun for me to watch her play.
Folks have been asking for it....so here's more of Sadie!
While the photography is not particularly stunning in these recent shots, you get an idea of our life. We've been busy- going to the zoo, birthday parties, the Lindsey Museum, gmas, etc... The Bay has been a bit rainy...but the clear days have been warm and gorgeous. We've been trying to take advantage of the sunny weather, whenever possible.
This post is dedicated to Claire, Mark's sister! She's past her due date and a new little cousin (gender unknown) will be born any day now! Who hoo! We're so excited for her and her hubby, excited for Sadie to have another cousin (more=better!), and we're thrilled to be auntie and uncle to a newborn all over again! I'll update you all when the wee one is born.
Preface: Mom, I love you. And you raised me so wonderfully- really and truly.
Part 1:
I want to be healthy, BUT. In addition to loving fruits and vegetables: I like my meat and potatoes. I like sugar and cream in my coffee. I really like cheese. I like treats (a lot and especially chocolate treats). I like seconds and secret eating (TM Peter Lendway). I like sweet cereals (perish the thought!!). And, even though I try to exercise, I'm not a fan of sweat (and really, do I have time to go to the gym?).
Part 2:
I envy my husband at times. He eats like I do...but he has this amazing metabolism, so you would never know that he's more of a sweet fiend than I am. I know that he was programmed differently as a child. If he and a friend wanted sodas after school, his mom would make them run a lap around the block. This is why he doesn't mind exercise, being fit was expected in his family (and still is to this day). Whereas my parents didn't exercise. My brother played sports. I roller skated and rode bikes from time to time. But we didn't exercise. Oh, and on top it, us Ruffs like to eat and find joy in creating food deliciousness!
Part 3:
I really want Sadie to want to eat and live healthfully. But I get so worried she's going to turn out like me- not so into the gym or into wheat over white (even though I know I should be). We're trying to limit her sugar intake, staying away from processed foods, and feeding her a ton of fruits and veggies. But I feel like all of my good intentions are going to go to the wayside, because she is going to know my heart of hearts. Do as I say, not as I do, isn't a very good parenting strategy. And it's started already- she's rejecting green veggies for cheese and meat, she's been drinking juice and having cookies at day care (aghh!!), and she wants everything I'm eating.
The End:
So, how do I go forward? I know I should change my habits...but it's hard when they've been in the making for 32 years. How do you get your kid to like being a healthy person and enjoy eating well? What do you do as a parent to form healthy habits? What did your parents do for you? I feelo a bit lost, and like her food intake is spiralling downward, which is definitely making me go into a tizzy.
Little baby Sadie is quite the talker. Sometimes it's frustrating though...she has an arsenal of pretty complex words (for a 14 month old), but her favorite word is NO, of course. I get down on myself for letting this happen. I think, "Why is my baby so unfriendly and disagreeable?" or "I really should be able to 'parent' this out of her." But, alas, the "no" prevails every time.
In thinking about it more, it's pretty cool that she says no, in a way. She's picked up on our voice intonation and she knows when we're asking a question. She may not exactly understand our questions- Are you hungry? Do you want some lunch? Does Sadie want to take a bath?- but she gets that we want to communicate with her and that we are looking for a response from her. And her first response is no or no no no no no no, even though most of the time she is hungry and she does want a bath.
I'm a little worried about the next couple years; she's so strong willed already, I don't know what to expect from her when she's 2 or 3. Well, I love my little bundle, strong will and all, so we'll just have to deal with what comes our way (it's payback time, as they say).
Here's a pathetic video of her "no"ing me:
Here's a video showing off her smartness. Maybe she does know what we're saying...in the video I ask, "What does a cat say?" and she makes a cat sound, pretty cute :)
XOXO Rebecca
PS As I'm signing off, Sadie picked up my glasses and shook her head dramatically and said no. She's right, that's a no, no.
Here's a clip of Sadie walking. Just a couple days later, she has so much more balance. Last night she was a walking machine...people tell us that we're in trouble! This morning she started climbing, she successfully got to the top stair of my wobbly step stool on her own, oh no! We shall see...
On another note, Mark and I have the tradition of volunteering on MLK day. Any good ideas of local volunteer work we can do with Sadie in tow?
xoxo
Rebecca
PS. It's my favorite sister's bday today! Make sure you send some bday love her way- because she is just that fabulous!
Here are a of couple recent videos of Sadie on her new horse from Gma Ruff (a new fav), and another of her strolling along with a friend. Good times. She's officially walking, so I'll upload a video of that soon! She's gaining more and more balance daily- It's fun to observe her progress.
Pre-Christmas my BFF visited with her little girl and hubby for the afternoon. It was great to catch up a have the girls play for a bit. I think they're all set to be BFFs too!
For Christmas we went to Chicago. The trip was a bit trying- we had a flight cancelled, several delays, 8 of us got the stomach flu on Christmas eve/day, and the airline lost the car seat on the way back. In the end, it was alright. It was good spending time with Mark's family, and it was especially good for Sadie to get some QT with her cousin, aunts/uncles, grandparents- but makes me realize how hard it is to travel with a 1-yr-old. It took her 5-6 days to recover from the jet lag/lack of sleep/social saturation. She's finally back to her sweet self, but I have to say, was the crankiest, moodiest, most worn down I have ever see her for several days after we got back. Traveling takes its toll, unfortunately!
Cousin play time in Chicago! The loved banging the pots and pans.
When Sadie starts reading a book on her own- she gets a sing-songy reading voice. It's so awesome, especially to her reading specialist mom. :)
More cousin time in Chicago. The were definitely interested in each other.
Following in our southern sister-in-law's footsteps, we made Hoppin' John for New Year's Day. It was a last-minute get together with family and friends. Many were sick and couldn't make it, but we still managed to make great headway with the black-eyed pea soup- it was too delicious (Thanks for the new cookbook Andy and Claire!- we used it for this recipe). Folks say that every black-eyed pea you eat on New Year's brings you a day of good luck throughout the year. Considering Mark and I snacked on the soup all day long- I think we're going to have a pretty lucky year.
I made little cards with pennies glued on the front (for good luck), so folks could record their New Year's resolution.
Waiting for the party to get started, looking cute... (and maybe a little saucy)
Of course she was really interested in Dad's beer-
We're dog sitting and Sadie is in heaven. I think she said "Whatisit?" (referring to the dog) 40x in her first 10 minutes awake this morning- seriously.
Happy New Year to you! Hope this year is full of goodness for you and yours!
Mark's finishing up a massive paper for his master's program
I finished up a Lit Assessment course I taught online
Our staging was taken away (now we have an empty house)
We had several realtors show our house (which = a lot of cleaning for us!)
Lots of Christmas parties, shopping, and wrapping
AND...the most important....Sadie is starting to walk!! She's gaining confidence and is taking 3-5 steps regularly. Perhaps she'll be polished enough to WOW the relatives at Xmas.
Here are some recent photos-
Cutie patootie
See Mom, I can share (with buddy, Kate).
They both "stole" these items from each other. The grass is always greener...
