This is a video from Saturday night. Brady was out of her mind, crazy tired after not taking long enough naps. Her teeth are just killing her. I tried feeling in her mouth for teeth right before this was taken and she screamed. Does this ever end?!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWHTM3zdJok
Brady dancing (I need to learn not to take video vertically).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwQTpYa1Gyc
Brady saying no-no to my yes-yes:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX9ULv-V148
Yesterday we made a date with Justin, Robin, and Jude to meet up downtown. The weather was supposed to be nice (and it was until right before we left) so we were planning on walking around Town Lake and then getting a late lunch/early dinner at Home Slice. Well we ended up leaving way later than we planned (sorry again guys) so we met Justin, Robin, and Jude at Home Slice. We waited outside about 30 minutes and it was so windy. It would have been such a great day had it not been for the wind. We made the wait and got some more visiting in before being seated.
I also got to try out my new baby carrier! Brady’s Baby Bjorn goes up to 25 pounds (she’s only 22) but it’s been getting harder and harder on my back to carry her in it (although still easier than carrying her without anything for extended periods). At the recommendation (unbeknown to her) of Amy’s friend (through reading her blog) and all the positive reviews online, I decided on an Ergo baby carrier. Amazon was having a sale and I got a discount on an organic embroidered for less than the price of an original that’s super cute. Thoughts on it so far are that it’s more comfortable than the Bjorn because of the hip support band and the position it puts Brady in. I like the hip carry position (on my hip but kind of facing outward) and it seems relatively easy to use that one solo. Brady’s Bjorn position was facing outward (think The Hangover) but I can’t do that with the Ergo. I can do the hip carry, back carry (which she doesn’t like so far because she can’t see in front of me) and then a front position but facing me so she can’t see anything or get use of her arms. It is really comfortable from the short time that I’ve used it. I’m just going to have to get used to getting it on and off and Brady securely in it and I think it’ll be fine. The only other issue I can foresee is that it’s a bit heavier than the Bjorn so I think in summer in might not be an option. Hopefully by that point, she’ll be walking.
The booth we ended up waiting for was perfect! It was huge with plenty of room for the adults and space for both of the high chairs (probably could have fit a third in there too). It was tucked in the corner and the restaurant was loud enough we couldn’t have bothered anyone. The pizza was really good – we got the pepperoni and mushroom to be on the safe side – and New York style slices! Next time I’ll probably try the tasty looking pear Gorgonzola salad that Robin got and maybe one of the HUGE Rice Krispie treats if I have room! This is only the second time we’ve gone downtown since being here (other than just driving through) so it was a lot of fun to see Justin, Robin, and Jude and be down there! Hopefully, next time the weather will cooperate more and we can finally go for a walk by the Town Lake (which is actually a river)!
Brady turned 13 months on Friday! She’s teething like crazy right now and it feels like every time we get a routine established more of those teeth come in and mess things up. So now Brady is going to be around the same time (7-7:30) but is consistently waking up between 11 and 12 to come to bed with us for the rest of the night. We’re guessing she’s waking up because the Motrin is wearing off at this point and she wakes up in pain. Hopefully she’s just not getting used to waking up and is going to try and make this the new routine. I’ve only been giving her the Motrin at bedtime but this morning I had to give her some because she’s only taken a 40 minute nap and has been up since 6. Speaking of which, Brady is now waking up between 6 and 7. I fear soon she won’t be sleeping at all. I know this will pass soon enough and will look back and think it wasn’t that bad, but for now it’s no fun.
In non-Brady news, I bought an an Ultimate Cloth this week and so far am really pleased with the results. It’s $6.50 for one cloth but the company estimates in residential/home environments it’ll last 5 years. It can be used on pretty much everything in your house – bathrooms, mirrors, windows, counters, appliances, etc. Not only that it’s gonna save money from all the paper towels I use (I’m a paper towel cleaner) and it’s another step towards being more green (or as my dad calls it – hippie). If you’re interested in trying it there’s a 30-day money back guarantee (I’ve only had mine for two). And no, I don’t get a referral bonus!
Here are some pics from earlier this week! I have another post with pics that I need to post from yesterday but still getting that in order.
Blowing kisses:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3MCWdcOBt0
Mesmerized by Sesame Street (the opening credits/theme song is her favorite). Beware the video is a bit long.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HveSJ3_yttU
So in the post below I mentioned baby items that ended up going on sale right after I bought them. Today, Brady’s big girl car seat (Safety 1st Complete Air) arrived and no sooner had Casey installed it that there was a 15% off code awaiting me. Anyway, I took Brady on a short car ride tonight to test out the seat. My first impression is that it’s way cushier than her infant seat but that it’s much more erect. We’re going to keep her rear facing as long as possible for safety reasons and the new seat does make it a little easier because both front seats can be completely back without messing with the alignment of the car seat. Unfortunately the back is so high I can’t even use a mirror to see her. The erectness of the seat primarily worries me because Brady has always been a good car sleeper and even if the seat is more padded and comfortable if her head falls forward I don’t foresee her staying asleep for too long.
As of today, Brady’s picked up a couple of new skills. She’s now blowing kisses and giving high fives. With the kisses, she’ll sometimes get side tracked and beat at her mouth like an Indian instead but I think she’s catching on.
Brady is definitely getting her molars in now. While I can’t feel anything coming through the gums, they’re really hard and even a month ago the pediatrician said they were puffy and inflamed. She’s been drooling and gnawing on her tongue and fingers for a couple of days now and her good sleep habits have fallen by the way side. I suppose I should count my blessings we enjoyed two weeks of sleeping through the night and naps.
I’m always on the lookout for ways to save more money. Not that I always do everything that needs to be done, but if I can save a buck here or there, I will. I’m pretty irritated at the moment though which is what prompted this post. Twice since we’ve been in Texas (and coincidentally both times while buying baby stuff) I’ve missed opportunities to save money by just days. The total between the two items is over a hundred dollars and while in the grand scheme of things it’s not that much, I feel slighted. Casey wonders why I put off buying stuff until the last possible minute (even stuff we need) and it’s for this very reason – I want to pay the lowest amount possible for the stuff we want/need. End vent.
At Brady’s 9 month pediatrician appointment in Colorado, I was handed an ASQ (Ages & Stages Questionnaire) to be completed by her next appointment. I was organizing random papers last weekend and pulled it out and decided I would complete it. Now the directions said to do it while the baby was there so you could actually gauge their abilities but since Brady was already in bed I decided to fill it out anyway based on what I’ve seen before and what I assumed she could. She did really good and was scored normally in all areas but problem solving. This she was right on the borderline of “needs professional intervention” and it really freaked me out. So the next day I figured I needed to start working on the problem solving skills with her to get this back up to a normal level. Fortunately, she has no issues with problem solving and I could have saved myself some added worry by following the directions. Lesson learned.
This week I finally finished uploading the rest of our pics onto Picasa. There’s an upload limit for videos of 100 mb so anything larger (23 videos), I had to upload onto You Tube (you can search for vegasgirlkelly if you want to follow). Now I need to work on uploading docs to Google or emailing them to myself.
I’ve been trying to organize a lot around here lately. I made a first pass of going through all of my scrapbooking/memory type boxes and throwing out the irrelevant things that I saved just in case I’d want to use them and just stupid/silly things I saved. I pared things down from six boxes to four and then am using the two leftover boxes I’m using to organize other rooms. I’ve always considered myself pretty organized and that we live pretty lean, but apparently not. Casey calls me a hoarder and I think not having a basement here and a smaller house than we’re used to is a good opportunity to get rid of even more junk (I have a VCR that needs to be thrown away too).
