Wishin' to be a California Girl... (not really)

Last night we (Gramma/Grampa McD and I) took Ms. Kelsey to her first concert. The Beach Boys were playing at Tradition for the 10th annual Westfest. We packed up Kelsey's jogging stroller, chairs and a big blanket and proceeded to join the other 5,000 people packed on a field. We got there about 2 hours after the gates opened and we found a spot waaaaaaayyyyy in the back. A local band started the night off and then Hot Brass Monkeys (a Chicago tribute band) opened for the Beach Boys. I brought lots of toys, her dinner and her jammies. She enjoyed bouncing up and down on her knees while the local band was playing.

After I fed her and got her in her jammies, I decided to head off and try to get myself something to eat. To say the lines were long, is an understatement. I waited 30-45 min for a soft pretzel. Grampa actually came to relieve me in line because Kelsey was tired and ready to nurse so she was getting cranky. The people next to us waited in line over an hour for a funnel cake..it was insane. Kelsey was asleep when I got back to our blanket, but I nursed her anyways and then laid her down on the blanket....thinking she had done good to make it that long and would sleep the rest of the time.

I was wrong, she slept for 15 minutes or so and then something startled her. She awoke, and stayed awake. Even though she was constantly rubbing her eyes, she had a good time laughing with gramma and dancing with grampa.

It was a long night..the beach boys were supposed to come on at 8, but didn't start until after 9. Luckily we decided to leave before the end of the concert, otherwise we might still be in traffic waiting to get home :-)

She's moving!!

Jabber Jaws

Kelsey has been making sounds for a while now, but never consistently, until TODAY. When I put her down for nap, she fussed for about 2 minutes, then I heard her playing and jabbering away for about 20 min before she fell asleep..... da-ba-la-u (and whatever other syllables she uses). It was very cute. She started doing the same thing at the end of dinner and it sounded mostly like da's this time...so we taped it for daddy!

Peek-a-Boo

Where is Kelsey...Peek-a-Boo. I was in the kitchen making lunch and she was laughing. I looked around the chair to where she had moved on the floor and saw her putting the blanket over her face and then pulling it down....so cute!! I was able to catch a little on video before she got bored.

Kelsey's playdate with Anthony

My friend Julie and I were pregnant at the same time and spent every waking hour together. Kelsey was born 3 weeks (20 days to be exact) before Julie had Anthony. Somehow in the whole craziness of being a mom, we have not spent as much time together. But yesterday we met at the park in the afternoon. Ava (Julie's 3 yr old) played on the swings and slides and rock wall, while Anthony and Kelsey played on the blanket.

Baby Mum Mums

Kudos to a girl in my online mom's group who mentioned these (baby mum mums) to me a while ago and to the mom in my local PSL moms group who gave it to Kelsey to try today. These are much better than the biscuits, in my opinion, because they have no oils, fats, etc. As my SIL, Michelle, recently pointed out to me that you would be surprised to find there are trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and palm oil (one of the worst sat fats)in many of the foods out there for kids. You would assume that they would all be healthy, but they aren't. As most of you know already, I make my own baby food so I have taken to reading labels before I buy anything for her. She loved these mum mums because she can hold a chunk in her hand and gnaw on it. They "melt" just like Cheerios or puffs, actually easier. They are carried at our Walmart. Just by the fact that I (you) can pronounce every ingredient on there let's you know this is not a bunch of gunk. ;-) I bought the vegetable flavor (that was all they had)and she really liked it.

Kelsey's First Easter!

Obsessed with herself....

When my laptop goes to standby mode, a slide show of my pictures comes on. Of course 99% of the pictures are of Kelsey. She is obsessed with watching herself on the computer anytime it comes on and she is near.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

If you look carefully, you can see her two bottom teeth.(top picture) I didn't take it on purpose, but she showed them!! {You should be able to double click on the picture to make it bigger}

Help, I'm stuck!!

((((REWIND.....1 1/2 weeks ago Kelsey was naping and I went in and her little foot was peeking through the crib slats b/w the mattress and the bumper...how cute I though...FAST FORWARD)))) Kelsey wakes up from her nap today crying/whining, I let it go for a few minutes hoping she will put herself back to sleep. I go in and check on her and her entire left leg (up past her knee) is STUCK hanging out between 2 slats. Oh crap...I'm trying to free her thinking ""I'm going to have to break the crib"" I'm pulling the slats apart and trying to move her leg (mind you I only have 2 hands to do this with). I am about to call someone to ask for help, when I manage to pry her leg free (without breaking the slats) HOORAY!!
Now what do I do....she is a mover when she sleeps. I certainly did not place her in the corner of her crib so she could wrangle her leg out and get it stuck. My sister to the rescue!! She suggested tucking the bumper down between the mattress and the slats. So, since I was taking everything apart, I changed the sheet at the same time. I untied all of the bows, moved the crib away from the wall so I could get to the ones in the back. Tuck Tuck, shove shove, retied the bows lower in the crib, and slid it back against the wall. Wheeeew..all this while Kelsey was whining in the pack-n-play, so I was trying to do it at warp speed. Everything is set, now hopefully this will prevent it from ahppening anymore!

Puffs!! (Banana)

So, I finally gave in. A few of the mom's in my group that have little ones about Kelsey's age (few weeks older and younger), have been giving their babies puffs for a month or so now. Even though the can says they should be crawling, and 10 months, I decided to try it.
Well, I felt like a horrible mom!! I bought them on Monday and decided to give her one while our friend's Derek and Liz were visiting. She made a face, thought it was okay, then she started choking!! Her eyes were all red and watery and she was gagging...finally the mostly disolved piece came out. Pheww!! That's all I need is to have to give my 7 month old the heimlich manuever After that I broke the puff into pieces before I gave it to her.
A few days later, while we were enjoying the beautiful weather outside, I put some broken up puffs in her tray. She was having a hrd time trying to grab them since they were so small. I decided to try to whole puff again. She was able to pick them up, but couldn't find her mouth
(so I would feed them to her)
I kept trying to "teach" her how to do it, but to no avail. Finally I just let her be and sat on the couch outside with her and read. And to my surprise when I glanced over at her...she had found a way to get the puff into her mouth.( I couldn't manage to get a picture of it though) I told her I was SOOOO PROUD of her and you should have seen her smile! I have to remind myself that some things she needs wo learn/work out on her own!

Next thing we know she'll be walking...

I was at my parents' house the other night for dinner, since Lou had a dinner program to go to. With Kelsey not really being too mobile yet, I was back and forth between the family room, where she was on a quilt, and the kitchen, where I was making a Guiness Chocolate Cake. Both room are connected and as I was walking around the counter to check on her I noticed this:
How the heck?? When I showed Lou the picture his only question was, "how did she get up there?" That remains to be answered, as my mom and I have NO IDEA. Lou lowered her mattress last night, and ended up lowering it to the lowest setting. After he put it to the middle and put her in the crib, she grabbed on to the side and pulled herself onto her knees with her little head over the top. He figured he'd probablly have to move it again in a few weeks when she figues out how to stand, so he just lowered it all the way.

We survived (and so did she)

Some of you may be wondering..."why hasn't Lori posted lately?" Well the answer is simple, We were out of the country! Lou won an awards trip to Mexico for 5 days, so we packed up and headed south of the border. We did however leave Ms. Kelsey back here in the states. That was very hard for me, Lou had left before for MBA classes and business meetinigs, but I had never left her for more than a few hours. AAAAAHH!

She was supposed to stay with her Aunt Cindy and Uncle Chris and the boy show(cousins Bian, Sean, & Colin)...but my sister decided she really didn't want to watch Kelsey and went and fractured her ankle (nice huh, all she had to do was say no!!)So we made a last minute change and Kelsey got to hang out with Gramma and Grampa McDonald for 4 days and then spent the last night/day with Cindy/Chris (that way we could pick her up quickly when we got off of the plane)

We missed her more than words can explain, but leaving her here was the best decision we made. We were able to do the zip lines through the forest, scuba dive the cozumel reef, have a couples massage, and attend all of the dinners. If we had brought our little bear we wouldn't have done any of the "excursions", but we still would have had to have a stranger watch her in Mexico in our hotel room because she was not allowed to come to the dinners.

We called her every night (except the scuba night as we got in late). She did well taking formula, since I couldn't pump enough to leave for the entire trip. I left enough for 1 BM bottle a day. She took long naps (even a morning nap, whoa!) and slept through the night (she does that for us, but I was worried she wouldn't for someone else) She learned to sit herself up from being on her tummy and she is still very close to crawling. She does this cute push up position thing when trying to crawl.

We had an incredible trip, but we are so happy to be home with our little bear! We did come home to a sick little girl, she has a cold. It's no fun for her or us, but it has led to 2 hour morning naps which I am unaccustomed to. I can't wait for her to get better as I miss going to the gym in the morning and meeting up with my mom's group. Pictures to come soon!!

Kelsey's 1st baseball game

Living in Port St. Lucie, we are only about 5 minutes from Tradition Stadium where the NY METS have spring training. We missed all of the games last year as we were traveling to Ireland and just busy being pregnant. We bought tickets for a few games this year and grampa was able to come with us.
Kelsey's first game was Saturday March 1, 2008 Mets vs Dodgers. We had tickets for the berm, which wasn't horrible, except that it was hot and the berm is pretty steep, so I couldn't really put Kelsey down. Next game we will get there a little earlier and sit up at the top, where it's a little flatter, and has some shade.
We did have a learning lesson though (it cost us $15.99)....last weekend we took Kelsey's hat out of her diaper bag and forgot to put it back in. So, we had to suck it up and buy Kelsey her first Met's hat. She did look cute in it though...and will wear it for the rest of the games too!

Carrot sticks anyone?

I was making more carrots for Kelsey the other day and decided that I should eat one myself.(Gotta be a role model) So as I cut them all up into smaller pieces to steam, I kept one out for me and cut it into sticks. While the rest of the carrots were on the stove, I sat next to Kelsey on her mat and proceded to eat my carrots. Kelsey was in awe and kept reaching, so I decided, as long as I was sitting next to her, to let her teeth on one for a few minutes. She enjoyed it, but ended up putting it down on the mat and then picking it back up...so I think I see a hair on it in the picture...ewwww!

Bathtime Fun

I said in a previous post that it was time to buy a bath seat....however, there are no stores around here you can buy one at. I need to suck it up and buy one online and just pay the shipping, but until then I found this cute duck tub for $10 at Target.
We also picked up 4 colored rubber duckies at Wally World for $0.97. Kelsey had a great time "playing" in the bath. Bath time has now gone from about 5 minutes long to closer to 10 minutes. I'm so glad she enjoys the water (and her duckies)