Rock-a-bye baby

Tomorrow we head to Seattle to visit our families for Christmas, so I probably won't update until the new year. Fortunately, my most avid reader is in Seattle and can hang out with us, so she won't be upset about the lack of updates. Here's a sweet picture of Baby B in the rocking chair from Grandma Mary Lou. She should probably wait for another year or two to use it, but she loves little chairs so much, we couldn't resist getting it out for awhile this afternoon. Today we packed and relaxed; Mr. B finished his grading this morning. Baby B seems to have a little cold today, but hopefully she won't be miserable on the plane! She is a sweetheart even when sick, but I am grateful Mr. B is with me on this trip!

Odds and Ends

Baby B loves to climb onto this ottoman. We moved it to an out of the way corner because she is not good at getting down, but she still finds it.

Church Christmas Party. Nice dinner, but we didn't stick around for Santa--Baby B was losing the battle to sleep.

Reading with Daddy. For awhile, they were both intent on their respective literature, but soon Baby B was more interested in Mr. B than her book. Understandably.

Birthday playgroup--we celebrated all the December birthdays with cupcakes and fun times. The weather was in the 70s, so we played out back, the recycling bin ride being the highlight.

Another ottoman pose. This time with her favorite piece of jewelry, the camera cord. I was typing away an email when I looked up to see this pose. I barely got a picture before she sat up. The spiral notebook is one of many books she pulled from the bookshelf before relaxing.

Again, loving the camera cord. Baby B loves to get into small spaces, including this spot under the computer desk, any small chair, behind the rocking chair, under the bed, between the M&M box and the window...

Portraits

A few weeks ago I took Baby B to get one year portraits and Christmas pictures. Here are a few poses:

Birthday girl

Baby B celebrated her first birthday last week!! We had a great little party for her, which everyone enjoyed. Brian, Amber and their kids came over for quesadillas, cupcakes, and presents. Baby B enjoyed the whole thing. We had her open presents first, before she got tired and messy!What could be in this big package from our Puyallup family?

Birthday cupcakes

Baby B got quite a nice pile of presents. She was more interested in climbing on them than opening them, but she had Chaz and me to help.

Love this dollhouse! Thanks Aunt Laura and family!

Happy Birthday to you!

Definitely enjoying the cupcake!!

The next day: Baby B put this bag on all by herself (I swear, I did not pose her!!) and was just walking around the house, very proud of herself. I guess now that's she's one, she thinks she's big enough to go to school!!

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas is a Dutch holiday that takes place on December 5th. Our friends Brian and Amber served LDS missions in the Netherlands and brought the Sinterklaas tradition to their home. They threw a wonderful party, complete with delicious Dutch foods and Dutch gift-giving traditions. Presents must be creatively wrapped and accompanied by a poem that pokes fun at the recipient. We brought a flower (from Mr. B to me) and tree (from me to Amber), and a snowman (from Baby B to Chaz).Mr. B and me with the presents we brought.

Mr. B reading a poem to me about my M&M winnings (poem featured at the end of this post).

Amber and Finn, reading a love poem to Baby B, whose gift was a baby doll in a birthday cake.

Appropriate wrapping, as Baby B's birthday is this week!

In her cute little Santa outfit from Aunt Kelley.

Sweetie!

Ryan, Cecily and Friedrich. Ryan wrote Mr. B a poem about his Nacho Libre Halloween costume, and his present was wrapped in a wrestling ring.

Chaz, Finn, and Brian, eating yummy Dutch food.


"The Major Award" by Mr. B

There never has been a fair lady so blessed
as my dear sweet Bonnie, as I can attest.
And how, you may ask, is her life such a dream?
Well I'll tell you about my Bonnie Maureen.

One day while her baby was crawling around,
Bonnie web-surfed online to see what could be found:
Viagra, Home Star Runner, a game blasting gems,
and a contest awarding a year's M&Ms.

"That's a contest I'll enter, I admit it's true,
I'm known to have eaten an M&M or two."
So she filled out a form and entered her name;
from that moment on her life would not be the same.

Instant Winner! Congrats! This prize you have won!
A big box of candy that weighs a whole ton.
Now what would you do with a year's M&Ms?
Would you give to the poor and share with your friends?

Not Bonnie, she hoards them in a box in the back
and only retrieves them when she wants a snack.
And our diet has changed now that Bonnie's a winner:
last night we had M&M meatloaf for dinner.

They're ground up and simmered; they're in every meal.
I say M&Ms are a big pain to peel.
And I'm starting to fear for the health of her teeth;
below five grand of braces, is there rot underneath?

And what of our baby, do you understand
that her first words were "Melts in your mouth not your hand?"
And poor Audrey's health problems will really begin
when the doctors tell us she can't make insulin.

Oh Bonnie I love you and think you are great,
and I'm so glad those M&Ms haven't increased your weight.

Pink Pig

A Macy's department store in Atlanta features this Pink Pig train ride every Christmas season on a tented parking lot. It's a cute tradition, although I fail to see what it has to do with Christmas. Our playgroup went on the ride together and then out to lunch. We had a great time and the little girls were all in awe. The ride is VERY pink, even the pictures took on a hue.

You spin me right round baby right round

Baby B has discovered spinning in a circle (see video below). She also likes to talk on the "phone," using these toy keys to babble about I wish I knew what. Click on the second picture for a close-up: that and the last picture crack me up. Is that what Mommy looks like when she's babbling away on the phone??
Two minute video: Baby B shows off her spinning, tries on Daddy's sock, briefly takes a phone call, starts to read a book, and finally comes in for a close-up.

Just like Mom

Baby B saw me writing on a piece of paper and must have thought, "I need to do that too." She stood by me, reaching for the pencil and emitting a fairly sweet whine. So I closed the tip and gave it to her. But that wasn't all she wanted, because then she reached for the paper too, so I obliged. She then walked around the living room tapping the pencil on the paper, earnestly trying to write! I swapped those items for another sheet of paper and a crayon, put her on the hard floor, and took a couple pictures. She could hardly make any marks, but she was super intent. By the way, I'm fairly certain she will be right-handed; she often shows a preference.Since writing utensils are not safe objects, I eventually had to take them away. She grabbed a pen off my desk this morning, and this is how she felt about me taking it away (Mr. B comforted her). I will no longer let her grab a pen or pencil!
It's fun to watch her imitate us. She kisses back now, and she makes most sounds that we make. I said "Amen!" with gusto at the end of a prayer one morning, and she said, "Ah-ma!" But, of course, she wouldn't do it again, no matter how many times I burst out with "Amen!"

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Tallahassee with our friends Robert and Meri, with whom we ate Thanksgiving dinner last year. They moved to Florida last summer, but still invited us to celebrate with them this year! We had a great time checking out their new home and catching up. Yummy food and great company--what a fabulous way to spend the holiday weekend!

Robert, Meri, and Baby B at the new house

Baby B tries turkey--she likes it, but only eats one piece.

That big bruise on Baby B's forehead is from Tuesday, a big fall while running in our living room.

We gave her stuffing, which she ate a bit of, but she mainly ate grapes and cheese.
Baby B running around with a book. She loved the wide open spaces of the house.

Climbing on the fireplace--so many fun things to do here!

A cute picture of Mr. B and the baby a few days before Thanksgiving.

Congratulations Elder Rood!

Yesterday my 19 year old brother Paul called to tell me that he has received his mission call! He will be serving in the California San Jose Mission, reporting to the Missionary Training Center in Provo on January 16th. He will be on his mission for two years, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so proud of my little brother! Of course, before he would tell me this news, he had to tease me that he was leaving on December 23rd in hopes I might panic that Christmas was ruined, as this is the first time in four years that we're heading back to WA for Christmas, but he couldn't fool me this time. He did fool me several months ago when he sent me an email stating he had received his mission call and would be going to Bolivia. He knew how much I had been anticipating his call, plus I bugged him so much about when he was going to finish his papers. But this time it is the truth, and off to California he will go!!

Some silly moments

We think Baby B has her first word: Uh-oh. She says it almost every time she drops something, whether purposefully or accidentally I'm not really sure why she chose that word. I think I've said it to her once. Fun playing with bouncy balls.

Trying to pick up both (doesn't work).

Baby B learned how to climb recently. She loves to get into my M&M box and pull out M&Ms, throwing them on the floor, one by one. Then she gets out of the box and walks around with one pack in each fist, shaking them and having a great time.

She then figured out, I can stand up in this thing(the M&Ms are in boxes, so it's a level surface), and has attempted to climb onto the windowsill and couch. A walking child is not nearly as dangerous as a climbing child.

Baby B loves cheese sticks. She likes to hold it, in the plastic, and she's very responsible with it.
The following video is of some of Baby B's sounds. She cracks Mr. B and me up with her repertoire. First she says, "Doh!" to Mr. B, which means, "Don't do that" or "No." Then she does our favorite sound, "leedle leedle" with her tongue. Next is a spurt of clapping, a burst of raspberry blowing, another leedle leedle, and a loud protest with hands in mouth. She finishes up with a blurble, which she learned from Mr. B and me using our hands to make her mouth blurble. Now she does it on her own.

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was a fun Halloween. We had playgroup and dressed the kids up in their costumes. Baby B was NOT happy about that. We went to our church party at night, and I put a shirt under Baby B's costume, which seemed to help (the sleeves are itchy). However, she was tired and overwhelmed at the party, so she wasn't super happy there either, but all in all we had a good time.

Baby B in her witch costume (from her cousins--thanks!)

The three of us at the church party.

In her cute Halloween outfit from Aunt Laura.

Her new habit :) And a full length shot of the outfit. It is so cute. The buttons are jack-o-lanterns. The witch's skirt is a flap with orange shorts underneath, and the broom has hanging strings. Very fun!

Mommy and baby

Daddy and baby

At playgroup with four of her friends. Click for a close-up. They are all super cute!

Examining each other's costumes.

What is so terrible?? Obviously, Mom likes Halloween a little more than Baby B this year!