Leah's favorite toy is probably the big mirror in the family room. Nowadays, she brings everything she's playing with up to the mirror and runs back and forth from the mirror to the couch, smiling, giggling and babbling to herself. Even though it looks a bit stupid there, setting up that mirror has been one of the best ideas we've had so far, as she still has not become tired of it. (FYI, we always set a chair or stool next to it so she doesn't try to get behind it). I have tons of funny videos of her playing in front of the mirror, but here's one from the other day. I'll try to upload a few others.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Gym Rat in the Making
We ended up missing last week's class at The Little Gym because Leah was busy getting her beauty rest. She likes to sleep late, and most days, she wakes up between 9:00 - 10:00 am. So getting to a 10:00 class is a bit of a challenge. I couldn't wake her up no matter what I tried. I even changed her diaper and got her dressed, but she just wouldn't budge. Even the guys cutting the lawn that morning didn't wake her up. She ended up sleeping until 11:00 that day!
Anyway, we made it to our class today, and since it was the last class of the semester, there were a lot of dads there with video cameras. Leah was a little clingy again at first, especially at the beginning of class where we do activites around a circle. The kids and parents walk, run, hop, skip, wheel-barrow and donkey-kick, then they run around the circle shaking a big parachute, all while singing songs. Most of the other kids are toddlers who already understand commands and have been in class all semester long, but Leah is just a baby and doesn't understand what's going on yet, so during this part she's usually lost. But the other people can't believe how well she's walking at her age.
Once they let all the kids go off to the various gym and tumbling activities, Leah is usually happy to walk around and explore. This time, she was climbing things all by herself and was off wandering around having a lot of fun. She was really excited and happy to be there.
At the end of class, the teacher handed out medals, and Leah got one, too. But of course, she didn't know what it was and thought it was just another fun toy to chew on.
Three of us moms are going to start a playgroup starting next week where we'll get together almost every day of the week. It'll be great to get out of the house and for Leah to start making friends. We're also going to continue with the summer semester starting next week. I can't wait to see what Leah will be able to do at the end of the summer.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
11 months old!
On Saturday, we walked around the charming town of Hudson, just 15 minutes from us, and browsed around the shops at First & Main. We found a tiny, but interesting toy store that had some unique things. But as we strolled Leah around, something must have frightened her because she started crying hard and we had to make a quick exit! It might have been caused by hobby horses (stuffed horse heads on a stick) that were right at her level. Those things kinda freak me out, too.
We tried out another zoo on Sunday. This time it was the Akron Zoo, just 30 minutes away, and we were pleasantly surprised. It was a smaller zoo, but very nicely designed and beautifully maintained.
I was impressed by the nice landscaping, sharp looking buildings, and pretty botanical gardens. This time, Leah paid more attention to the animals. But, we couldn't convince her to keep her hat on.
Leah turned 11 months old today (on the 8th). I was looking back at some pictures from when we first brought her home and can't believe how much she has changed and grown in just a few short months. People are telling us to enjoy this time because kids grow up so fast...and I now know what they mean. She's walking and running around so well, and has even started climbing things. We're really in trouble now!
We tried out another zoo on Sunday. This time it was the Akron Zoo, just 30 minutes away, and we were pleasantly surprised. It was a smaller zoo, but very nicely designed and beautifully maintained.
I was impressed by the nice landscaping, sharp looking buildings, and pretty botanical gardens. This time, Leah paid more attention to the animals. But, we couldn't convince her to keep her hat on.
Leah turned 11 months old today (on the 8th). I was looking back at some pictures from when we first brought her home and can't believe how much she has changed and grown in just a few short months. People are telling us to enjoy this time because kids grow up so fast...and I now know what they mean. She's walking and running around so well, and has even started climbing things. We're really in trouble now!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Newfound Freedom
This past week, I started letting Leah walk around by herself upstairs and she was so excited. Usually we'd just walk around upstairs carrying her since we didn't have a gate at the top of the stairs and because we were still too nervous to let her walk around on the slippery bathroom floors. But now that she is walking so well, I let her go for it.
Until I find a better solution, I adjusted one of our pressure-mounted safety gates to fit at the top of the stairs. It's a very secure fit, but it's also very inconvenient to set up and take down each time. I've tried a few different gates, but the problem is that the wall and the banister at the top of the stairs are not quite aligned so it's hard to find a gate that can be mounted properly.
Anyway, Leah was running up and down the hallway and was just so thrilled with the new experience. She'd hide around the corner at the end of the hall, and when I'd call out, "Where's Leah? I wonder where she is?", she'd pop out, giggling and belly-laughing while running towards me. She did this over and over again and had so much fun.
Our house has been a disaster zone since we brought Leah home (ok, also before that), so I am so happy we finally found some good cleaning ladies to help out. I usually put Leah in the walker when we're in the bathroom, especially since I didn't want her down on the dirty floors, but also because she was too unstable. But with freshly scrubbed floors, I let her walk around on her own for the first time this week. She first squatted down to inspect the floors and then carefully started walking around and exploring. Before long, she was screaming and shouting endlessly, enjoying the echo of her voice and the different feel of the floors.
And here's a short sampling of her dancing in the bathroom, it almost looks like she's tap-dancing.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Another fun weekend
We've had such nice weather here lately (until now), so last weekend, we took Leah out for a stroll in one of Cleveland's woodsy metroparks. She seemed to really enjoy it. This time, she was really fascinated at the ground underneath and was peering over the edge of the stroller and holding her hand out.
Afterwards we took her to PF Changs for dinner. She always does really well in restaurants, but since I'm a notoriously slow eater, I have found that I do have to try to eat a little faster than I'm used to. Since John is usually done with his entire meal by the time the server comes back to check on us the first time, and Leah eventually gets a little fussy while waiting for me to finish, I usually end up taking half my meal to-go.
Lately, we've had to struggle getting her into her car seat. She's suddenly discovered there's more to the car than what she's been seeing, and while we're trying to buckle her in, she twists around and stands up in the car seat to look over into the front seat. It takes both of us to coerce her back into the seat and strap her in while she throws a big fit as if we're torturing her. But by the time we start driving, she is back to babbling and giggling and playing with her toys.
On Sunday, we took Leah to the Cleveland Children's Museum at University Circle. It's a cute hands-on museum, and they have a little room just for babies and toddlers to explore in. She had a great time, especially looking out at me from the upstairs mini barn house.
We took her to the other areas of the museum, too, but found that the other older kids were very wild and rambunctious and we had to be careful that they didn't knock Leah down while they were running around. I'm sure we'll come back to this museum many times. Oh, and needless to say, we ended up at the Korean restaurant for dinner again.....
Afterwards we took her to PF Changs for dinner. She always does really well in restaurants, but since I'm a notoriously slow eater, I have found that I do have to try to eat a little faster than I'm used to. Since John is usually done with his entire meal by the time the server comes back to check on us the first time, and Leah eventually gets a little fussy while waiting for me to finish, I usually end up taking half my meal to-go.
Lately, we've had to struggle getting her into her car seat. She's suddenly discovered there's more to the car than what she's been seeing, and while we're trying to buckle her in, she twists around and stands up in the car seat to look over into the front seat. It takes both of us to coerce her back into the seat and strap her in while she throws a big fit as if we're torturing her. But by the time we start driving, she is back to babbling and giggling and playing with her toys.
On Sunday, we took Leah to the Cleveland Children's Museum at University Circle. It's a cute hands-on museum, and they have a little room just for babies and toddlers to explore in. She had a great time, especially looking out at me from the upstairs mini barn house.
We took her to the other areas of the museum, too, but found that the other older kids were very wild and rambunctious and we had to be careful that they didn't knock Leah down while they were running around. I'm sure we'll come back to this museum many times. Oh, and needless to say, we ended up at the Korean restaurant for dinner again.....
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Playing hide-n-seek
After her bath, we play peek-a-boo and hide-n-seek around her crib and it's so much fun. We started this back when she was crawling, with her standing in the crib while I'd crawl around it doing peek-a-boo. That later evolved into both of us crawling around the crib. And now that she's walking and running, we've taken the game up a notch. Okay, it's probably not the best way to wind her down and get her to relax before bedtime, but she has so much fun...giggling, screaming and belly-laughing as she runs around the crib.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Gym Class
I took Leah for her first class at the Little Gym today and she had a lot of fun. There were about 12-15 other parents and their kids in the class. She's in the "Birds" class, where the age range is 10-19 months, so some of the activities were a little too advanced for her so far, but that's ok, she'll catch up soon enough. At the beginning, she was a little clingy and didn't want me to put her down, but by the end of the class, she was wandering around by herself, socializing with the other kids and parents, playing on the gym equipment, dancing, and smiling at me from across the room. I met another mom with a cute 15-month old girl who is interested in getting together for play dates, so I think this will be a great way to meet other stay-at-home-moms and for Leah to socialize with other kids her age. I'm also looking into finding music and dancing classes for babies and toddlers which I'm sure she'll enjoy!
She got her feet and hands stamped after class.
She got her feet and hands stamped after class.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Quack Quack!
Over Memorial Day weekend, Leah said her first word! Duck! It first sounded like "Dut" at first, but yesterday and today, she started to get the "ck" sound and can say "Duck" clearly now when we point at one of her duck toys. We've been using the word duck a lot, since she loves her baths in her duckie tub with her rubber duckies, and she has a few other duck toys, too. So it's not a huge surprise that duck is her first word.
In fact, she loves her duckie tub so much, she killed it over the weekend and we had to buy a replacement. This time it's pink!
For some time now, she's been standing up in the tub, and then she plops back down and makes a big splash, and does this over and over again. It makes me a little nervous, but she loves it. She also loves to try to drink the water in the tub, and when I use the shower spray on her hair, she sticks her tongue out to taste the water. This girl loves water!
She stays in there forever and it's hard coaxing her out of there sometimes. She even stands up and holds her arms out to pretend that she's ready to come out of the tub, and then smiles at me and plops back down and splashes. Sometimes I just drain the water out and she'll still sit there. She's fascinated by the texture of the tub and loves to inspect it. She'll stand up and kiss the duck's head and pull and reach for the duck's beak, which makes quacking sounds when you press on it. She's really rough with it, so no wonder there's an air leak.
She still loves the old yellow one and gets really excited when she sees it in her room. I re-inflate it for her and she jumps on it, turns it over and pushes it around the room.
In fact, she loves her duckie tub so much, she killed it over the weekend and we had to buy a replacement. This time it's pink!
For some time now, she's been standing up in the tub, and then she plops back down and makes a big splash, and does this over and over again. It makes me a little nervous, but she loves it. She also loves to try to drink the water in the tub, and when I use the shower spray on her hair, she sticks her tongue out to taste the water. This girl loves water!
She stays in there forever and it's hard coaxing her out of there sometimes. She even stands up and holds her arms out to pretend that she's ready to come out of the tub, and then smiles at me and plops back down and splashes. Sometimes I just drain the water out and she'll still sit there. She's fascinated by the texture of the tub and loves to inspect it. She'll stand up and kiss the duck's head and pull and reach for the duck's beak, which makes quacking sounds when you press on it. She's really rough with it, so no wonder there's an air leak.
She still loves the old yellow one and gets really excited when she sees it in her room. I re-inflate it for her and she jumps on it, turns it over and pushes it around the room.
Friday, May 22, 2009
In her own world
Here are a few videos of Leah babbling to herself the other day. This went on for several minutes so these are just a sampling...she's just got so much to say! She is just such a funny, goofy baby. She babbles and giggles constantly....from the moment she wakes up until the moment she falls asleep, plants big, wet, open-mouth kisses all over our faces and right smack dab on our mouths, dances all the time, etc. Just today, she jumped for the first time. She's been trying this for some time now, but today she achieved lift-off.
I signed her up for baby classes at the Little Gym, and we'll start next week. I can't wait to see if she likes it.
Monday, May 18, 2009
These Shoes Were Made for Walking
I don't remember exactly what day it happened, but Leah has stopped crawling completely and now walks all the time. Before this, she would walk around, then do the butt-plop, crawl for a few seconds and then get back up. She isn't falling as much anymore, but sometimes has major wipeouts because she is trying to walk (or run) too fast. These days, she always gets back up on her feet and doesn't spend any time crawling on the floor anymore.
She's also been running and jumping, or at least trying to jump. She stands there and tries to bounce, but doesn't know how to actually jump yet. Lately, she's been practicing walking around with her arms pressed against her sides, which is really funny to watch. But most of the time, she stumbles around with her arms outstretched, doing the drunken-sailor walk.
Normally, Leah is barefoot when we're at home, but she has a few pair of shoes that I put on her when we go out. Half the time, she pulls them off in the car and we don't bother keeping them on when we're out and about because they fall off or something. But over the weekend, I put on her little soft-soled shoes in the house to see if she could actually walk in them, and they stayed on her feet and didn't seem to bother her. She was zooming all over the place, looking so cute. Now that she's walking so well, we'll have to start adding shoes to her wardrobe.
Over the weekend, we went to the Korean restaurant with Leah for the 4th time (I told you we're addicted), and she did great as usual. I had Bibimbap and John had Kalbi this time.
We also ended up at the library in the children's section to play with the toys and board books there,
and on Sunday we went to eat at a pancake restaurant. She is always really well-behaved when we go out in public. She's so curious and just loves watching everyone.
Oh, I wanted to add that I officially experienced my very first diaper-blowout this weekend. Now I truly know where the term "holy crap" comes from. Just as I was admiring what a cute outfit she had on, I realized she was stinky and it was time to change her diaper. When I went to start getting her changed, I felt something on the back of her pants and realized she had poop all over the place...up her back, on her shirt, pants, elbows....then she proceeded to place her foot in the dirty diaper as I was moving it out of the way. It was not a pretty sight. I did a quick cleanup downstairs as best as I could, and then carried her butt-naked upstairs to the bathtub for an emergency bath! I sure hope these incidents are few and far between!
Today was our 3rd post-placement visit with our social worker. Nothing much to report. Leah showed off her walking skills and was especially engaging and interactive this time with our social worker.
Tomorrow will be two months since we brought Leah home. I can't believe how well she's adjusting and bonding to us. Our lives have done a total 180, but we can't imagine life without her.
She's also been running and jumping, or at least trying to jump. She stands there and tries to bounce, but doesn't know how to actually jump yet. Lately, she's been practicing walking around with her arms pressed against her sides, which is really funny to watch. But most of the time, she stumbles around with her arms outstretched, doing the drunken-sailor walk.
Normally, Leah is barefoot when we're at home, but she has a few pair of shoes that I put on her when we go out. Half the time, she pulls them off in the car and we don't bother keeping them on when we're out and about because they fall off or something. But over the weekend, I put on her little soft-soled shoes in the house to see if she could actually walk in them, and they stayed on her feet and didn't seem to bother her. She was zooming all over the place, looking so cute. Now that she's walking so well, we'll have to start adding shoes to her wardrobe.
Over the weekend, we went to the Korean restaurant with Leah for the 4th time (I told you we're addicted), and she did great as usual. I had Bibimbap and John had Kalbi this time.
We also ended up at the library in the children's section to play with the toys and board books there,
and on Sunday we went to eat at a pancake restaurant. She is always really well-behaved when we go out in public. She's so curious and just loves watching everyone.
Oh, I wanted to add that I officially experienced my very first diaper-blowout this weekend. Now I truly know where the term "holy crap" comes from. Just as I was admiring what a cute outfit she had on, I realized she was stinky and it was time to change her diaper. When I went to start getting her changed, I felt something on the back of her pants and realized she had poop all over the place...up her back, on her shirt, pants, elbows....then she proceeded to place her foot in the dirty diaper as I was moving it out of the way. It was not a pretty sight. I did a quick cleanup downstairs as best as I could, and then carried her butt-naked upstairs to the bathtub for an emergency bath! I sure hope these incidents are few and far between!
Today was our 3rd post-placement visit with our social worker. Nothing much to report. Leah showed off her walking skills and was especially engaging and interactive this time with our social worker.
Tomorrow will be two months since we brought Leah home. I can't believe how well she's adjusting and bonding to us. Our lives have done a total 180, but we can't imagine life without her.
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