Bye Bye Baby

I've known for a while that there's no good reason for Betty still to be taking a bottle, but putting away the bottles means she's not a baby anymore, so I've really dragged my feet. We'd replaced all but the last bottle of the day with sippy cups, and tonight she had her bedtime formula out of a cup as well. To make this transition even more distressing (for me--Betty is all "whatev") the pediatrician last week cleared us to offer whole milk. Maybe next week.

Also, today Betty did a pretty good job of eating with a spoon. She's still 95% barbarian though. She eats directly off her tray because she promptly turns any plate into a frisbee.

And in case you're wondering, no, she has not really taken any more steps (just 2 or 3 here and there when Steele is not looking) but she has started to climb on things. I'm not thrilled about this milestone, if you can even call it a milestone. In addition to all kinds of other hair-raising possibilities, it means we're probably going to have to think about converting her crib to a toddler bed. No bottles and a bed? What's going on with my baby?*

*This seems like as good a time as any to break the news to Betty's fans that The Daily Betty will be undergoing some sort of re-branding on or around June 6. Life with Betty is too much fun not to share, so don't worry. I've got big plans for the last post, and will provide the info you need to keep up with Betty in the future, just on a slightly less daily basis.

Tastes Like Chicken

It was an action-packed Memorial weekend out here in the Heights. We went over to Tray's and watched the chickens. That's not all...we also watched the goat. Yes, sometimes I do worry that all the excitement might be bad for Betty.

We went over after dinner because we'd already made Betty's favorite, black beans. And we kinda dodged a bullet. I'm sure Tray's dinner was delicious, but I've been to Punxsutawney on Feb. 2, and I don't think I could do it...

Check out my facebook page for more pics from this weekend.

Sealed With a Kiss

Betty had a great time at our friends' Memorial weekend cookout. (Here she is with Sarah, our neighbor and friend and the professor whose classes I taught last year when she was on sabbatical.)

Betty crawled around, played with some friends, and had her first grilled burger. I would have considered the evening a success anyway because she did not eat any of the 1000 Polly Pocket toys or accessories lying around, but as we were leaving Betty waved bye bye, said "BYE!" and then blew kisses! We were as charmed and surprised as everyone else. We've been obsessively waving and saying bye-bye for what feels like months now, but the kissing? That's something one of the other babies in her class does. We didn't teach her that. It's the first thing (besides illness) that she's picked up from another kid.

Devil's in the Details

Sorry this post is going up late. Yesterday was one of Those Days in which lots of little things (broken dishwasher at the new house, no power at the farm house) add up until you eventually just give up and go to bed just to get a do-over. One of those annoying things was a screw up with Betty's portrait order that means the grandparents and aunts and uncles might not get their copies of her one-year pics til after her birthday. So...to make up for that (and because yesterday's chaos kept me from taking a pic) here's my favorite picture from the recent session.

Grass Roots Effort

Betty likes to examine new things from all angles, and she makes the most serious faces as she does so. In this pic she is figuring out some things about the bales of grass recently collected here on the farm: grass smells good, it feels prickly, and it tastes yucky.

One of the many home improvement projects for the new place is a thorough babyproofing. The tricky part is finding the right balance between safe and interesting. I don't want to lock up all cabinets and drawers because Betty needs to explore in order to have fun and to learn. But she can just take Uncle Clay's word for it that dishwashing detergent isn't very palatable.

Bobblehead

Betty had her one-year doctor's appointment today, and we went to the new pediatrician in Midlothian. She ended up not getting any shots for several reasons, one of which is that she has a coxsackie virus. It showed up as a fever a few days ago that was so unremarkable I didn't remark upon it, even to Steele. And today she has a rash that I didn't even notice til she was undressed under the fluorescent lights of the doctor's office. But, til it clears, the doctor wants to wait to give her the shots.

I also talked to the doctor about Betty's size and eating habits. It turns out she's eating just fine. The doctor was actually a little concerned about Betty's weight at first, which has been 17.5 lbs for 3 months and holding. But after about 15 minutes, during which time Betty stood, crawled, toddled, rolled, stole paper, waved paper, flung paper, and tried numerous times to access the doctor's laptop, the pediatrican remarked, "I see why she's not gaining weight. She's very busy." Indeed. The doctor does want to weigh her again when we go back for the shots in another week or so.

And, it turns out that the wild Kale hair is not the only thing Betty inherited from Papaw. She, like her cousin Gretchen, who has the biggest head in the world, also got the giant Charlie Brown head upon which that crazy hair grows: Betty is in the 10th-25th percentile for height, the 10th percentile for weight, and the 90% percentile for head circumference.

P.S. That's the front steps of our new house!

Rhinestone Cowgirl

Last night I crazyglued my thumb and index finger together trying to bedazzle a cupcake onto a onesie. As I stood with my hand soaking in warm water I had some time to think about Betty's birthday getup, and I decided that a too-big tutu and a home-bedazzled onesie is probably pretty tacky. So for Betty's portrait today she wore a tasteful Gap outfit with nary a rhinestone in sight.

But I can't promise Betty's fans a tutu and not deliver, so here she is wearing it at home just for fun. (She's not wearing the bedazzled onesie cause I decided she would probably pull the stones off and eat them.)

Later, to counteract all that pink tulle, we inspected the tractor parked up on the edge of the hay field.

Bad Hair Day

Here's Betty post-bath pre-hair-brushing. I could post a pic of her post-hair-brushing and I would defy you to tell the difference. Betty has inherited my (i.e. my dad's) hair. It's more wild than curly and there's absolutely nothing she will be able to do about it. On the bright side, this Kale hair does prove useful in one respect; it doubles as a barometer. I know as soon as I look in the mirror in the morning whether or not it is going to rain.

Mah Baybee

Betty and I took a trip to Wal-Mart today. This photo is one of the only times she faced the right way in the cart, and that was just because there were people in line behind us. Otherwise she always twisted around to see where we were going.

When we got home she went down for a nap but a commotion in the hall (OK, it was me engaging in hand to segmented leg combat with a wasp) disturbed her just as she was drifting off. I was going to add a new step to our bedtime routine--reading a book together--but I've decided to wait and try that on a night when she's not so tired. Because babies defy all logic, a tired baby is a hyper baby, and that's not conducive to reading. Or to Mommy and Daddy watching the Lost finale. (Still sad I never got one of those Dharma Initiative onesies).

Sly Dog

Today Betty took a few more steps. Once she took two steps on her own, then stood there totally balanced before sitting (rather than falling) down. She also said "doggie" to Tessa and repeated "ball" after I said it.

It was actually sorta surreal to hear her say "doggie," all on her own. I know she has said "duck," but she calls everything "duck," so it's not as cool as hearing her call the doggie, and only the doggie, "doggie."

But wait! There's more! Later, we were looking at a book and she saw a picture of a dog--one that looked nothing like Tessa--and she said "doggie" when I pointed to it. We have achieved abstract thought!

Tiny Dancer

I was in civilization today, running house errands, and I popped into Babies R Us to get Betty something fabulous to wear for her 1-year portrait/birthday party. Specifically, I wanted to get Betty a pink tutu. Why? Probably because I've read too many parenting magazines and mommy blogs, but mainly because Betty is a girl born to wear a pink tutu. I suppose it makes sense, though I found it terribly disappointing, that the 1-year-old birthday party outfits do not come in 9-month-old sizes.

But don't worry--blatant size-ism will not come between this birthday girl and her tutu. It will just require a little creativity on my part.

May Flowers

As we enjoyed our evening walk on the path through the hayfield, stopping to check the progress of the raspberries, smell the honeysuckle, and look at the bird's nest in one of Tray's abandoned pots, Betty and I discussed what we will miss about living out in the country. One thing that's pretty great is how it's OK to hang out in the backyard in your underwear if you feel so inclined, right Betty?

Good Eats

Mealtime with Betty is often kind of disgusting. She still has a lingering cough, and if she coughs too hard she throws up. She also has an easy gag reflex and if we feed her something she doesn't like, she hurls it back at us. She prefers pureed food or finger food; anything in between--a puree with chunks (i.e. stage 3 foods)--and she redecorates the high chair.

On top of all that--babyfood just looks gross even before it has made its first trip down the hatch. Here she is with black beans, apples, and cottage cheese. It wasn't all mixed together when we started the meal.

I couldn't decide what historical figure she looks like here with her black bean beard and perturbed expression...then it hit me. She looks like Steele on the weekend!

On Your Mark...

Betty took her first steps this morning! We were getting our stuff ready to go out the door and she was in her pack n' play. She walked from one side to the other. She repeated this amazing feat two more times (but never when Daddy was looking). I was having second thoughts about referring to her as a toddler in yesterday's post, but now it's official! Yay Betty! I'll get a video up as soon as I can catch her in the act again.

I shared Betty's triumph via facebook and got a lot of posts from other parents warning me that things are about to get pretty crazy. Here's Betty post-bath, sitting quietly and playing with her toys. Don't believe the act--this is a baby on the move.

Rage Against the Machine

I think it must be incredibly frustrating to be a toddler. There's so much you want to do, and you can't quite get your hands and arms and legs to work right. There's so much you want, but you don't have the words.

I'm starting to see little glimmers of toddlerhood in Betty as she expresses frustration in ways other than crying--slapping at my arm when I take something from her, for example. Sometimes I don't know why she's upset. I took this pic as she was getting really really mad at Bone for some unknown reason. Maybe she was jealous because he was in the stroller and she was not. Maybe she's mad that the power company shut off the power to our new house and then was eight hours late coming back to fix it. Or maybe she heard about the continued billing problems we're having with Centra Southside Community Hospital. Facts and patience aren't working. I might try out the rhetoric of toddlerhood to see if it gets us anywhere.

Stepping Out

As you've probably gathered, our evening walks are the biggest (well, only) game in town. Betty loves to go out in her stroller, and if you stop pushing to do something silly (like take yet another photo of her) she will bounce up and down and kick her feet to let you know that it's time to get moving. Betty is a baby on the go.

In addition to all these walks we still spend plenty of time playing in the nursery. Betty's favorite pastimes lately are pushing around her doll-sized stroller, knocking down block towers, and pulling all her clothes out of the drawer. Sometimes Betty will be doing one of these activities and decide, very suddenly, that she wants to be doing one of the others. In that split second I can see her little noodle debating whether or not to try stepping toward the stroller, or block tower, or drawer. So far she ultimately decides to sit down and crawl, but I think she's going to take her first steps very very soon. Stay tuned!

Up in Michigan

Sorry to send you into Betty withdrawal, but we were out of town and wanted to wait til we got back to post about our adventures. We flew from Richmond to Detroit and rented a car and drove to Kalamazoo where Steele and 1,000,000 other nerds convened to talk about dusty manuscripts and dead white guys. We originally planned to spend Saturday-Monday with some friends in Detroit, but Betty's cold got worse during our travels. We took her to a walk-in clinic in Kalamazoo to make sure it wasn't an ear infection. Her lungs and ears are fine, but the doctor said she was very contagious, so we avoided infecting our friends' baby and changed our tickets and came home today. Even though she was ill, Betty was an angel on both flights. It is good to be home, though we're not actually in the home we own yet, and Farmville is still oh-so-farmy: Tessa got skunked while we were gone (not too bad this time, but she definitely had some sort of close encounter) and Betty picked up her first tick, which means it's time to add another step to our evening bath/bed routine.

To make up for the recently skipped posts, here are five pics from our trip:

On the way up to Michigan using an approved hand-held device.

Cruising on the coffee table in our hotel room.

Helping me unpack.

Not looking sick at all at the walk-in clinic in Kalamazoo.

Asleep in Daddy's arms on the flight back.

Darling Bud

Yesterday was a cold, wet, gray day (hence no internet connection and thus no new post last night). And I have a cough/cold, so it really feels like winter. But that didn't stop us from going on our evening walk, though we were a little more bundled up than one would expect in May.

The rest of the week is going to be pretty hectic for us, so I probably won't post again until Monday.

Ups and Downs

The big news of the day is that we closed on our house! We're still not sure when we'll actually move in, but we're now homeowners! We already met two of our neighbors, one of whom came over and mowed our grass for us. We had lunch in the empty living room: take-out food from the grocery store. If you know anything about my food allergies, or anything about the grocery stores in our current location, then you won't think I'm being silly when I say that I almost cried when I was trying to decide what to pick. Because I had choices. That goes for Betty too...her culinary world is about to expand in a major way. And she needs some practice eating. We had a bit of a yucky mess on our hands tonight (actually, on Betty's hands, tray, romper, and bib) when she yakked on some meatloaf.

Here she is trying to get away from me on our evening walk. When Betty decides she wants down, there is not much you can do about it. She thinks it's great fun to dive out of my arms toward the ground, and as you can see from my totally-not-amused smile, I'm less enchanted with the idea. Or the bills we got this week, one for an ultrasound and one for some sort of prenatal appointment. Don't get excited, Mom. These bills are in regard to the fetus you see here who is less than a month from her first birthday. Every time things start going our way Centra Southside Community Hospital sends us a bill. It's actually kinda creepy.

Motherlode

Here's Betty playing in the sandbox at a Mother's Day party following the HSC graduation. She seemed to like the sand OK, which bodes well for our upcoming beach trip.

I had a great first Mother's Day! I got several thoughtful gifts from Betty, including a chest cold and sore throat. I also got a coffee mug with Betty's picture on it in which she is wearing a shirt that says "Daddy's Little Princess." (Obviously, her day care didn't tell us that it was Mother's-Day-gift-picture-day or I might have chosen something more appropriate for her to wear!)

But the best gift (and what could be better than a chest cold or an ironic mug?) was from Steele and Betty: a membership to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which comes with all kinds of perks, like members-only nights to special events (special events!) and a discount in the museum (museum!) restaurant (restaurant!) and shops (shops!). We close on the house tomorrow. Our house. In a town that has museums. Oh Betty, we are going to have so. much. fun.

Yakkity Yak

Well, that didn't take long. Yesterday Betty said her first word. Today she talked back. The little angel you see here is turning into a toddler right before my very eyes.

She was chewing on the leg of my cast iron bed frame and I said, "No..." and made my stern face. She grinned at me, and, clear as day, said, "YES!"

Oh lord. Karma is a bi---...oh wait, I was going to stop cussing.

Look Who's Talking

As I've noted before, Betty has recognized the word "duck" for a while. And she talks constantly at home and at school about "duckle." She can also say "mama mama mama" and "dada dada dada," and does so quite often without any sort of context.

But I think I'm finally convinced that she is actually saying "duck" and "mama" and "dada."

What makes me think so?

Well, tonight she picked up her duck and said "duck."

She just sounded like she meant it. And yesterday I was in the other room packing and she was eating supper with Steele, and she kept calling "ma ma ma ma ma" toward the room I was in. And there's just something about the forcefulness of her "DA DA!" when Steele comes home that I'm thinking it's not just baby talk.

This also means that we really, for real this time, no I mean it, seriously, have got to quit cussing.

Creature Comforts

Here Steele is watching Betty watch Tessa watch some dang thing out in the field. We were going to go over to Tray's afterward to see the new baby chick that just hatched, but that would just have been too much excitement for one evening. We're saving that activity for another day.

OK, I confess. I am going to miss this place.

Lullaby League

Steele went to a faculty party tonight while Betty and I played on the HSC church playground. The warning label on the swing swallowing Betty whole in this pic says, in part, "WARNING [...] designed for very small children." Well, Betty, you're in luck.

Betty is a feather. She weighed 17 lbs 6 oz at her 9-month appointment. She turns 11 months old tomorrow, and at the doctor this past week she weighed... 17 lbs 5 oz. She is still wearing some of the same clothes that she had on at Christmas. She's a happy, healthy, active itty bitty baby.

Making Headlines

From Betty's school newsletter: "Betty's smile is so contagious in our room." Yay Betty!-- though the cynic in me adds that her smile isn't the only thing contagious in that room.

Here Betty chews on her shades, enjoying another nice evening out on the farm. The blackberries, cherries, and peaches all seem right on track to be delicious and bountiful right as we leave. It's like this place is conspiring to make me miss it. Except that shortly after this pic was taken I ate a bug so vile that I can still sort of taste it an hour and a half later.

Pucker Up

Once again, here we are on our evening walk. Betty's pretty dirty in this one: mostly smeared prunes and general ickiness from daycare. If you click to enlarge, you can also see a little dried blood on her nose from where she faceplanted while trying to crawl into a bouncy seat today at school. Her teacher reports that she was unfazed. She's definitely getting more daring as her balance improves, trying to climb her bookshelf and using the stroller toy Aunt Sue gave her to walk around. I better brush up on my boo boo kissing skillz.

Blanket Statement

When I was a baby my mom used to cover me up with a yellow blankie and say "night night!" Soon the yellow blankie was known to me as Night-Night, and I carried it everywhere. I slept with it until...well, if you must know, I slept with it until a few weeks after Betty was born. Last summer I put Night-Night away for practical reasons related to nursing and just never got it back out again. I pulled Night-Night out today while packing and am trying to decide the proper place for a well-loved blankie to spend its retirement.

Meanwhile, despite already being a devoted thumb-sucker, Betty may be finding a blankie of her own. The thing is, we never actually cover her with a blankie. As helicopter parents, of course we use sleep sacks. Like a 21st-century Linus, Betty is showing signs of an attachment to her sleep sack, pulling it out of her crib and cuddling with it on the floor.

One Mint Julep Was the Cause of It All

Here we are at our friends' annual Kentucky Derby party, and, just for fun, here we are at last year's party. As you can see, Betty was at that party too. At that point I was pretty much visible from space.

Here are some more pics from today.