Camouflaged. And "Oh, hi blog". And 17 Month Letter-ish.

We finally got a baby gate and installed it yesterday.  We went with a black gate instead of a white one because we felt it would blend in a little better with our decor.  It does.  It blends in so well that when the lights are off in the dining room and kitchen, you can't even see it.  Of course I forgot it was there and, on my way from the bedroom back to the den, I walked right into the gate at full speed.  I wonder how many times that's going to happen.

This month was an exciting time for our family and for Mungee, as she received her Hebrew name.  This is something that is typically done within the first month or so of a Jewish baby girl's birth, but we had a long drawn-out because I am indecisive slight delay.  Mungee's Hebrew name is Haviva Lior.  Haviva means "Beloved" and Lior means "My light".

Mungee can now definitely be called a toddler.  She wants to walk wherever we are.  If we're at a restaurant and she's in her booster seat, as soon as she finishes eating, she says "All done, down, walk".  If you pick her up while she's walking around, she gets mad and does some sort of double shoulder dislocation maneuver to try and slide out of your arms.  She's also started kicking her legs, which I believe are the makings of a temper tantrum.  It's hard not to laugh when she does it.

 

Taking monthiversary pictures is nearly impossible at this point.  I ask Mungee to sit in her chair for her pictures and she does, but as soon as she sits down, she's up again, ready to explore.  I even gave her a camera to take a picture of me while I took her photo and this is what I got:

 

 

I was lucky to get a better picture later in the day.

The flier she's holding says "The wrong people are cleaning your house!"  I couldn't agree more.

Mungee took her first semi-independent walk outside our house the other day.   Our street isn't very busy, however, we don't have sidewalks and I didn't want her to suddenly figure out how to run and take off, plus I am trying to "train" her for going to the mall and not running off ... the point of that rambling is that I outfitted her with a leash monkey-backpack-with-a-tail-that-I-can-hold.

 

My Grammy (Mungee's Gigi) regularly gets a manicure at the same nail salon.  Today we had lunch at the cafe next door and then went to say bye to Gigi.  I can't believe that so much time has gone by since the first time I nursed Mungee in public in this salon - the very same one that Mungee walked into today on her own two little feet.  *Sniff, sniff*

It's nearly impossible to keep up with Mungee's language explosion.  She's always asking "Butah?" (what's that?) and then repeats what we tell her.  We have to be very cautious of what we say around her since she's like a little parrot.  She loves for us to sing to her and requests several songs by name: ABCs, Twankle or Uppa (Twinkle twinkle), Pake (Patty Cake) and Baby (Rock-a-bye).  She tries to keep up with the hand motions of the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Patty Cake.  Another thing that we find simply amazing is that she can find specific books that we ask her to get off her bookshelf and knows the next word or few words in certain books after we finish reading a particular page.  Is that normal for a 17 month old, or is she just brilliant?

She's obsessed with doorbells.  As soon as you greet her in the morning she says "Mik, peas, doorbell!"  At night, as she's about to go to bed, "Seep, night night, cib (crib), DOORBELL!"  So we say "Okay, do you want to ring the doorbell?" and she hesitates and says "Scared!  Lap."  Though she really isn't scared, so I'm not sure where she learned that.

Speaking of obsessions, she really likes the steamed, frothed soymilk we put on our cappuccinos.  She calls it "some" (foam), which is the same thing she calls phones.  Still haven't been able to get her to say those two words correctly, but she'll get there.

 

Get in mah belleh!

Mungee is such a funny baby toddler.  She knows when she makes us laugh and likes to put on a show.  She's so friendly and has a great personality.  She really fills our hearts with pride and love.

  

 

I'm looking forward to adding a little sister sibling to our family at some point soon.  No, I'm not pregnant, that's just the remnants of too many cookies around my waist right now.  Oh, no pictures of that to show, darn!

13 Month Letter

So this is way slightly late ... I blame my always-on-the-move baby for the delay in posting her 13 month letter.

Dear Mungee,

On September 17, 2010, you turned 13 months old.  I feel like I was just telling people you just turned one. 

It's obvious that you're concentrating your efforts on verbal endeavors rather than mobility, as you still refuse to stand without holding onto something or someone.  You have graduated to what we call the "bulldog crawl" however, and are exploring the house without fear.  I've caught you unloading the bookshelves in the office several times, you seem to know whenever the fridge, freezer, or dishwasher are open and the cat seeks higher ground when you head her way with a look of purpose on your face.  (That purpose being yanking her tail).  As much as we try to put the *kibosh* on this, you still pursue her with fervor.

 
Time to brag on your verbal abilities and smarts ...

You can tell us the sounds of about 8 animals: chicken (bok-bok), dog (woof or oof), horse (nay), cow (moo), duck (cak-cak), sheep (baa), cat (mowww), monkey (eee).

When you see a dog on TV (cartoon, mascot or real) you look at me and say "Woof".  You also do this when you see a dinosaur, koala or the Geico Gecko, but you've got the general idea.

You've started to imitate talking on the phone and brushing/combing your hair.

You drop things and say "Uh oh".  I've tried to explain to you that it's only "uh oh" if it's an accident and not on purpose for your amusement, but you disregard this advice.

You sign "All done" by rubbing your hands together like you're brushing off crumbs, but you'll often keep eating after you sign.  At least you've somewhat got the concept.  You sign "milk" and whenever you want to nurse, you'll approach me with a very serious look on your face, sign "milk" and say "Bih?!"

Yes, you're still nursing because you refuse to drink whole milk.  Grandma Bebe thinks it's because the milk is cold and that I should warm it up for you, but I don't want to get you used to drinking it this way and ONLY want it warm.  A friend recently suggested I should add a dash of chocolate to it and I just might try this (after consulting the doctor, of course).  I'm okay with the fact that you're still nursing, but I think I'll try to have you weaned by 18 months.  We certainly made it well past my goal of 6 months!

Your loves include: pretzel sticks, veggie straws, chicken, bananas, grapes, owls, cats and mama's milk.  You hate: Gerber ravioli, whole milk and sitting in the grass.

Poppy taught you how to raise your arms in the air when we yell "Touchdown!"  Now you'll do it whenever you see football on TV.  I can't wait to take you to your first Jaguars game.  Maybe when the weather cools down a bit more.

You have a pretty extensive vocabulary.  Here's a list of words you say:
-Freckle (cul) and you can identify freckles on people's bodies
-Circle (also cul)
-Turtle
-Flower
-Button
-Hot (and I taught you to blow when we say hot)
-Coffee (sounds like cocky)
-Outside
-Shoe
-Toe
-Dada
-Mama
-Chicken
-Highchair
-Water
-Milk (mih or bih)
-Owl
-Towel
-Bowl
-Hi
-Bye
-Picture
-Light (yiiiiigh)
-Kitty
-Uh oh
-Book (booh)
-Banana (nana)
-Baby (baaaay)
-Pretzel
-Apple
-Waffle
-Bubble

You give hugs and kisses on request to people or your toys.  You have kissed the cat by licking her back.  You also licked the bottom of the freezer and Daddy's cold water bottle.  You kiss the "baby in the mirror" with a hearty lick. 

You can identify your head, ear, belly and toes.  You can identify other people's nose, toes, freckles, belly (if it's bare), shoes and buttons.

We're still going to MyGym and you've just moved up to the next age group.  I knew it was definitely time when we went to class and you were months older than the oldest baby there.  The MyGym coaches think that being around walking babies will encourage you to walk.  I am not sure if I am ready for this, though I am excited for the day you take your first steps!

You are such a funny baby and you have Daddy and I laughing every day.  I'm enjoying my time with you so much and I can't believe it's going by so quickly.  Keep smiling precious girl!

****************************************

This post is linked to:

One Year Letter

Dear Mungee,

On Tuesday, August 17, 2010, you turned one year old!  To sound totally cliche, the last year went by in the blink of an eye. I can't believe you've gone from a helpless 8 pound newborn to a very mobile 19 pound toddler.  

You now have three distinct crawling styles, that you've started to use in combination.  You mostly utilize the pull and scooch method, which consists of you dragging your body along with your arms, belly on the floor, pushing off with your right foot and kicking your left foot (for effect?)   This was your original tried and true method.  You also have started to utilize the army crawl, alternating arms and knees, but still on your belly.  Every once in a while, you'll crawl like a big girl.

You can now sit up by yourself with ease, pull up like a champ, and will creep along the edge of furniture, but you are not standing unassisted yet.  You will hold our hands and walk, but you're still very unsteady.  I don't think we're in a hurry for you to walk, as exciting as it will be.  Baby gates have yet to be installed, but they really need to be soon, as you are a big fan of making your way into the kitchen and opening the cabinets.  Cabinet latch installation is also on the must-do list.

You are so vocal, always babbling and often repeating words.  You say the following without prompting: Hi, button, owl, uh oh.  You will repeat many other words when we ask you to, such as: picture (pic-shuh), turtle, water, horsie, baby, circle (cuhl), freckle (also cuhl).  The other day I told you "No" and a few moments after that, when I asked you a question, I am pretty sure you said "No".  I was definitely taken aback.

You just started playing along with "How big is Mungee?  Soooo big!"  You raise your arms high in the air and scrunch up your face so it looks like you have a double chin.

You will give hugs and kisses when requested (when you feel like it).  You look around the room when I ask you where something in particular is located.  You can "gimme five".  You love to play "Where's Mungee?" by putting your hands up over your eyes.  The funny thing is when you open up your fingers to create slits so you can see us through your hands.

You have SO MANY TOYS!  One of your favorites is your house that Bebe gave you for your birthday.  You love to ring the doorbell, press the buttons on the radio and crawl back and forth through the door.  If I peek through one side of the door and you're on the other side you'll open the door and invite me in.

You're starting to throw tantrums here and there when we take away something you want, aren't paying enough attention to you or are not feeding you fast enough.  When I took your bowl away the other day, this resulted:

You are trying to learn how to feed yourself, and you're always grabbing your spoon out of our hands.  I usually give you your own spoon to practice.  This is typically what you look like after every meal:

I'd like to move on from feeding you jarred foods and give you food that you can pick up and feed yourself, but you're so used to eating jarred meals that you will only pick at other foods that I put on your tray.  To make sure you're getting enough to eat, I'm still feeding you at least 5-6 jars of food a day.  You regularly eat Cheerios, Veggie Straws, and bananas.  You've also eaten broccoli, sweet potatoes, pancakes, noodles, green beans, watermelon, bread, chicken, pita, bagel and you tried scrambled eggs for the first time this past weekend.  We're still very cautious about giving you too many new foods at once because of your eczema and potential allergies.

You tried whole milk about a week after you turned one.  You are not a fan.  At all.  We put the milk in the same sippy cup you use for water so you instinctively took a few sips, then realized it wasn't water and rejected the rest.  Weaning may be put on hold until you decide to like cow's milk.  At least this incident didn't turn you off from using the sippy cup completely.

You constantly suck your thumb.  And only your right thumb.  You suck your thumb so much that you have what Dr. T calls "sucking blisters".  I'm in no hurry to break you of this habit, since you take great comfort in it, but I hope it doesn't cost us in expensive dental work down the road.

You bite.  When you're overtired and hyper, you will hug me tight and then try to take a chunk out of my shoulder.  You also bite our noses.  If I tell you "no biting", you laugh a maniacal laugh and go after me again.  This is not fun.

You wake up around 6:45 a.m., nurse, have breakfast at 8 a.m. and take your first nap around 9 a.m.  Lately this nap has only been lasting an hour and I wonder if you're going to give it up soon.  Lunch is at noon or noon-thirty.  Your second nap is around 2 p.m.  You go to sleep around 7 p.m.  On a good night, you'll fall asleep nursing and won't wake up when I put you in your crib.  On an even better night, you will fall asleep on your own after I put you down and sleep through the entire night.  I feel so proud (and relieved) when you nap and sleep well because it's something we struggled with for such a long time.

I thought that we would enroll you in school when you turned one, but we didn't for a few reasons.  You are not walking, which is a requirement to begin, and it's extremely expensive.  I also don't think you're developmentally ready, as you would likely be the youngest baby in your class.  In the classrooms, the babies sit at very low tables in regular chairs and are expected to feed themselves!  They only take one nap a day, on mats.  Maybe I'm not giving you enough credit, but I don't think I'd you'd adapt well to such a shake up in your routine.

Since we're not in a hurry to enroll you in school, it looks like I will be staying home with you longer than the first year, as we had originally planned.  I look forward to the weather cooling down, resuming our daily walks and getting outside to parks and playgrounds.  Sometimes I get bored, feeling like we're bound to the house by your nap schedule, and I am sure you do to. 

I am probably biased, but I really think you are the sweetest, funniest, cutest and most beautiful baby I know.  You are always in my heart and on my mind.

Love, Mama

Outtakes:

That silver string in her mouth?  Not string.  Drool.

11 Month Letter

Dear Mungee,

On Saturday, July 17, 2010, you turned 11 months old.  We celebrated by having a birthday photo session with Amanda from Photography by A. Dennette.  You were such an adorable model and had fun posing for the camera.  You didn't smile too often as you were a bit hungry because you didn't like anything we gave you for lunch and you were tired because you decided your morning nap was overrated.  Despite the lack of smiles, Amanda captured some beautiful shots of you.  I think she  may have caught your soul.

You are quite vocal and we're pretty sure you've got several words in your vocabulary.  This includes: button, door, bye-bye, baby, water, mama, dada and cat.  Even if you can't say a lot of things, you definitely seem to have an understanding of what they mean.  Before you go to bed, we go around your room and say "Goodnight owl pictures, goodnight lamp, goodnight bird mobile, goodnight frog, goodnight light".  You look directly at each of these things, so I know you know what they are.  And do you want to know how I'm certain you know?  When I say "Goodnight Mama" you turn and look me straight in the eye, smile, and give me a giant hug.  The love I feel between us at that moment is infinite.

Sometimes when you're on the floor playing and I say "Do you want some milk?" you'll start whining and climb into my lap.  

You're (finally) able to get into a sitting position from your stomach (7/14) and you're beginning to figure out how to pull up.  You have been able to pull yourself up from sitting in your crib for a while now, but that was through bracing your legs against the crib rails and pulling straight up.  Now you raise your body up while you're on your hands and knees and use your feet to stand yourself up.   The day you sat up on your own, I lowered your crib mattress after I caught you trying to pull up in your crib when I came to get you from your nap.

You are tentatively cruising along the outside of the bathtub ... I set you there while I get the water ready for your bath and you make your way over to the soap bottle, which you're fascinated with.  So far, this is the only surface you're comfortable creeping along, but I sense you'll be getting more brave sooner than I'm comfortable with.

You've mastered the ability to climb up the small step that leads from the breakfast nook into the kitchen, so we really must get a baby gate soon.  (Note to self: Also need to find a new place for the recyclables). Your mobility and speed increases daily, even though you're still crawling on your belly and not on your hands and knees.

I've taught you some very important parlor tricks such as "Gimme Five" and "Bibble bibble bibble".  I'm also working on teaching you how to feed me Puffs.  You think it's hilarious when I take them out of your hand with my mouth.  You turn pages in books at our request (actually, whenever you feel like it).

You still have two teeth on the bottom, and FOUR on top.  You're working on cutting another one on the bottom.  I was worried that you might start biting me while you nurse, but  you typically only bite me on the shoulder when you're tired and getting loopy.  You grind your teeth a lot and it makes us cringe, but I know you're only doing it because you're curious about what's going on in your mouth.  Just yesterday, you started to explore that curiosity in a new way by sticking out your bottom lip as far as possible - and when you do, I call you Popeye.  I'd love to get a picture of this because it's pouty and beyond adorable.

I'm not sure it's possible that you are really 11 months old already and that I'm planning your first birthday party.  I look back at old photos of you and wonder when you were so small and how you got so big right before my eyes.  I long to go back to the days when depression robbed me of the chance to be in the moment with you and commit to memory all the things that are now hazy in my mind.  I can feel the love I have for you bursting forth from within me and it cannot be contained. 

You are my heart, you are my everything, you are me, I am you.

Love always,

Mama

10 Month Letter

Dear Mungee,

You have entered the double digits and are now 10 months old.  To sound totally cliche', where has the time gone?  Everyone tells me to savor each and every moment because they go by so fast and it's completely true.  Just the other day I was thinking about your teeth and how it's hard to remember what your gums looked like before you got them.  It seems like you've always been as big as you are now, but of course, I know that's not true.

You're a baby on the move ... you started crawling on June 5 and you continue to practice.  You don't crawl on your hands and knees, rather you use your elbows to push up your body and then drag yourself forward.  You still find rolling around the room to be an effective means of transport as well.

You love to go after the cat.  You squeal with delight when you're close to her.  You've even started to look for her when she disappears into the laundry room to try and escape from you eat.

If you can't get the cat, you might as well just go after her food.

You're beginning to eat more textured foods and are trying very hard to feed yourself.  The table food you've had includes bread, pita, watermelon, bananas, blueberries and broccoli.  You are trying to perfect your pincer grasp, but you've got a little ways to go.  You get food in your mouth every once in a while, but you often forget to take your fingers out of your mouth before you start to chew.  There's definitely more food on your bib, highchair, face and lap when you're finished.  You've also become quite a pro at drinking from your sippy cup, as well as drinking through a straw from a regular cup.

You may be imitating the sign for "milk".  You seem to understand what I mean when I make the sign.  Sometimes you do it while you're eating in your highchair.  Other times you do it when you wave, so I might just be seeing things that aren't really there.

Speaking of waving.  You wave hi and bye randomly and upon request.  In the morning when you wake up we wave to your lamp, owl pictures, bird mobile and frog humidifier.  We do the same for night night.  You wave to people you know and don't know and you wave to the baby in the mirror.  You wave to the Kit Kat clock.  I've concluded that you're very social.

You clap when you're excited and when we exclaim "Yay!"  You also clap your feet together when you're laying on your back and often when we pick you up and fly you through the air.

You love to play "Where's Mungee? ... Oh, there you are!" (Our version of peekaboo).

You give great big hugs, sometimes on request.

You love buttons and you still like to pick at the eyes on your toys, eyes in books and eyes on your stuffed animals.  You also like to wrestle with your stuffed animals and eat their faces.  Your favorites are Violet and Sock Monkey.  You know that Violet sings and her collar lights up when you squeeze her paws.  You're beginning to understand that squeezing toys or pushing buttons can result in music, sounds and songs.

Your hair is slowly growing in.  Your eczema has cleared up tremendously since I stopped eating peanut m&ms and took you to the dermatologist.  I am sorry I waited so long.  You're getting three more teeth on the top (one appears to finally be breaking through your gums) and I think I can see two more teeth appearing under your bottom gumline. 

You can stand with support and you are trying very hard to pull yourself up.  Every once in a while I put you in your crib to practice pulling up on the rails.  I'm probably going to curse myself for doing that once you can actually start pulling up, but for now I like to help you practice. 

You are having a bit of a hard time going to sleep at night right now, due to your teething.  We try to get you in bed by 7, but you've been resistant to falling asleep.  Sometimes I put you down after nursing you and you're asleep but you wake up soon after, sometimes you're not asleep at all and I hope you'll fall asleep on your own.  On really good nights, you're asleep when I put you down and you stay asleep through the night.

You generally take two naps a day in your crib (finally!), around 9 and 2, with varying lengths.  Again, because of teething, your newly acquired good napping habits have reverted a bit.

It's hard to believe that you're just two months away from being one year old.  That soon I'll be sending out birthday party invitations.  That you'll be a toddler. 

Daddy and I love you very much and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Outtakes:

9 Month Letter

 

Dear Mungee,

You turned 9 months old on May 17, 2010.  You've now been an outside baby for as long as you were an inside baby.  You keep growing and letting your personality shine through.  Your hair is really starting to fill in and it might be light brown, but it's still hard to tell.  Your eyes are definitely a deep chocolate brown.  You still look just like your Daddy, but you have your own unique nose.  I've decided you might have my toes, but that's just wishful thinking on my part - there's got to be some of me in you!  I certainly hope you don't get my flat feet though.

 

You love to eat.  You have three meals of solids a day.  In the morning you have multigrain cereal mixed with fruit juice and a fruit puree.  Lunch is usually a vegetable and dinner is a mixed puree "meal".  I'm surprised by some of these meals that you like, because they don't seem very palatable, but I'm glad you aren't picky at this point!  You still nurse in the morning, before and after naps and before night night.

Every once in a while, I try to give you a chunk of cheese, bread or other seemingly tame food, but you haven't gotten the hang of chewing and you usually gag on it.  If we go out to lunch, I still have to feed you purees in the restaurant, which isn't too time consuming, but I will be excited when I can slap at placemat down on the table, toss out some peas, carrots and noodles and we can eat simultaneously.

You are still working on trying to crawl.  You push one knee up underneath your body to try and get going, but this always results in you flipping over.  I think you've recently figured out that is what happens so you resort to rolling to get to your destination. 

You took your first "swimming lesson" and your first bath in the big tub on April 30.  You weren't too keen on the swimming pool at first, but you warmed up to it eventually.  We also introduced you to the baby pool at home and you LOVE to make splashy splashies in it, as well as the tub.

 

 

Your ability to wave has improved.  You're most skilled at waving at the cat or to the baby in the mirror.

 

You clap with excitement when we say "Yaaaaay!"

You're becoming even more vocal, and in the last few days have REALLY discovered your yelling voice.

You suffered from your second ear infection this past month.  This time around it was only in one ear, but it was painful for you nonetheless.  Dr. W decided to treat you with Augmentin, which had the "lovely" side effect of causing you to poop about 6 times a day.  We were so glad when you finished that medicine!  

Your third tooth has come in!  It's the top front right tooth.  I can see about three more on the top that will probably come through within the next month.  At your followup doctor's appointment with Dr. T, she said the top teeth were "loading up".  Yikes!  You're really good about not biting me though.  I hope that trend continues.

About two weeks ago, after your ear infection started to clear up, I spent the whole week working on getting you to nap in your crib.  You seem to be doing well so far, although your naps are shorter than I think they should be.  You've started sleeping through the night again and we are so thankful!  We could handle the night wakings, it was you we were worried about.  I feel like your rest is SO critical to you being in a good mood throughout the day.  You and lack of sleep are not the best of friends!

Your 9 month well-visit is on Wednesday and we'll talk to Dr. T about all kinds of exciting things, including introducing new foods and upcoming expected milestones.  

I really can't believe this time has gone by so quickly.  I was thinking yesterday that just as I'm getting used to being a stay-at-home-mom, it's almost time for me to go back to work.  I wonder how long it will take for me to adjust to being back in the workforce, but more so, if it will be a tough transition for you.  

 

As always, we continue to hope that we are doing the best we can by you and giving you all the love, attention, education, nourishment, confidence, encouragement and care you need to grow and thrive.

Love, Mama and Daddy

Outtakes: