November

I have to look at a calendar to remind myself it’s November. Just doesn’t seem possible since we’ve had such pretty weather. Daphne and the bougainvillea this afternoon:

Freaky Babies

I saw a commercial today for the Chou Chou My First Tooth doll. It fusses and cries, you soothe it and then its teeth grow. And it looks like Uga. I know it’s probably just that Daphne & I have been in teething hell for the last few days, but I can’t figure out what’s appealing about that doll. It’s right up there with a doll that explosively poops. Or wants to nurse non-stop. Really. Nothing fun about teething either. At all.

Speaking of freaky babies (the plastic variety, not mine)… Last week, Chris & I took Daphne to Target and came to a section of small plastic baby dolls, similar to the doll she got for her birthday. All at once about 6 dolls sitting on the shelf directly above Daphne’s line of vision started to move their heads back and forth, wave their arms and say “mama.” It was more than a little creepy. Daphne looked up at me with fear in her eyes as if to say, “Why have you brought me to this house of horrors??!!!” Yeah, Daphne, it’s a good thing you were still in utero and didn’t get to see the big trash bin of plastic babies that greeted us at the door to our Preparing for Parenthood class:

See that nicer looking baby on the left? Yeah, we didn’t get that one to practice on. Our was Gollum/Yoda spawn with a detached leg. At least it didn’t move or talk. That would have given me Child’s Play-like nightmares.

Pettiskirt Junction

Just some test shots I took of Daphne in her new pettiskirt. I got a little creative with the post processing in Lightroom since the lighting sucked outside.

For those of you who don’t have little girls, pettiskirts are all the rage and can get really pricey (up to $80 or $90). I found a good deal online and decided to buy one for Daphne and matching raspberry pettiskirts for my nieces. I think my nieces will love them, since they are all about princesses and dress up clothes.

Happy Halloween

Tonight we took Daphne to the Fall Festival at church, then Trick or Treating around the neighborhood. She had a blast, except in the ball pit. That was a little scary!

Getting ready to go:

Playing games and winning candy/cupcakes:

Cupcake walk (in a neon green room):

Get me outta here!!!!!!:

I hope everyone else had a great day!

Scrapblog.com

I’m not really a scrapbooker. And if I was, it would be all digital. I fiddle so much with the pictures we take and if I had to mess with scrapbook layouts too I’d never finish anything. On a whim I tried scrapblog.com today (since it’s free) and was impressed. After a few minutes I had a cute Halloween page using one of their templates and a few snapshots of Daphne from today.

Anyone else into digital scrapbooking? Any other free template sites out there?

She’s Snow White (even though she looks like Grumpy)

14 Month Update

Just a quick update for the family.

Daphne is 14 months old today. I’ve been telling people we meet that she’s almost 13 months. Whoops. I don’t know where my head has been lately.

At 14 months Daphne weighs about 19.75 lbs and is 30 inches long. That puts her at 10th percentile for weight, and 43rd for height. I was surprised when we weighed her, I really thought she was catching up based on the amount of food she has been eating. Last Friday she ate a good breakfast, lunch, several snacks and then a quesadilla kid’s dinner platter at Los Cucos, followed by half of my frozen custard from Ritter’s. Oh yeah, and she’s still breastfeeding twice a day.

Daphne has 5 teeth now and I think is getting ready to have another top tooth break through. She has started to climb. She had her first scraped knee last week. Her sleep pattern changes a lot. She goes from sleeping 12 hours at night with one day nap, to 10 hours at night with 2 day naps. I prefer 2 naps- one for me to get stuff done and the other for a nap for me. Daphne’s still a screamer. In fact, she really doesn’t cry much, she just shrieks. You know how they say your second kid is much different than your first. Well, I just hope possible baby #2 is more laid back. I don’t think I could handle two little banshees. I feel terrible every time I put her in the nursery at church or our Tuesday morning mom’s group. She screams and screams. Sometimes she settles down… sometimes.

She can be so stubborn (who does she get THAT from?! hehehe). She likes to read one of her BabyBug magazines from the summer and when I ask her to point out all the beach balls, she’ll go from page to page pointing them out. She has even said “ball” three or four times. Then I’ll ask her again to point out the balls and she’ll look at me, shake her head “no” and put the magazine down. She also does that when I work with her on pointing out body parts. When I ask her “Where’s Mommy’s nose?” she’ll touch my nose once and that’s it. End of game. You are boring me, Mommy. Let’s go play with my car.

I’m patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the vocabulary explosion that supposedly happens around 18 months or so. I have been slightly worried about her speech, but I know that’s just me overreacting since she’s right on target for 14 months. I guess I expected her to be talking in full sentences like I was at her age, or at least saying no, please or bye. For now her vocabulary is limited to mama, dada, hi, Ginger, ball, and possibly Poppa.

She is so much fun to be with. Even though I’ve been totally stressed out the last week and even admitted to Chris that I’d like to run away on some of her crabby days (not that I would), I still miss her when we aren’t together. And for the last 14 months I think I’ve been away from her for a total of 10 hours. Or if you count the whole gestation period you could say I’ve only missed 10 hours of her life since Dec 25, 2006. Dang, I need a night out!

Daphne and I will be going to our mom’s group this morning, then possibly a picnic at a local park. It’s been a long time since she played on the swings and I think she’ll enjoy it. Stay tuned for pics.

Kids Clothes Deals

Ok, I’m officially done buying clothes for Daphne until sometime next year. I’m determined not to overbuy (especially dresses) this year, like I did last year. But for those of you with little ones, here are a few good deals that started today:

Hanna Andersson dress sale- price points at $19, $29 and $39. (Adorable Christmas dresses for $19, how can you beat that?!) I got Daphne her first playdress set and a few things for next year.

Gymboree started their Jingle Deal-like promos with $20 sweaters for girls and $15 rugbys for boys. And you can use one of the 20% off coupons that have been in Cookie and Parenting magazines for even more savings.

I was talking with a few other moms last week about how we dressed our kids and our strategies for getting good deals. First off, let me just say I’m not a clothing snob. As I’m typing this I’m sitting here wearing knit yoga capris from Wal-Mart. And Daphne doesn’t wear all the latest, most expensive kids clothes, and I certainly don’t pay a fortune for her wardrobe. I do my research, try and hit the best sales with the best coupons and buy ahead for next year from the clearance racks. I’ve pretty much figured out the best way to get Gymboree clothes for cheap. I never pay more than $16 for any Gymbo item, even Daphne’s winter coat this year. Daphne is still wearing a pair of pants from Gymbo’s 2007 Bon Voyage line, I think I paid $4.99 for them. Same with Janie & Jack- I only shop the Season Finale sales and have picked up some great deals.

I also try to buy things that can be worn for several years, which is tricky with a baby/toddler. Daphne has 4 or 5 jumpers from Gymboree that can be worn as a dress this year, and in the next few years as a tunic top with jeans or leggings underneath. And I think she has a number of pants from this year that will be worn as capris next year.

I try to avoid Wal-Mart and Kohl’s (unless it’s Carter’s brand) for kids clothes, because I’ve found they don’t hold up. This might be different for little boys, but the dresses and rompers I’ve bought, from Kohl’s especially, fell apart. Target is a little better, but our local store always has a horrible selection and doesn’t seem to replenish their stock often. And their Circo brand sizing is weird. Daphne’s Trick or Treat shirt is a 2T and her pants (which are too big) are 12 months. She doesn’t even weigh 20 lbs, she shouldn’t be wearing 2Ts.

So, do you have a tip or suggestion on getting good deals for kids clothes? I’d love to hear them. And, I have an extra 20% off coupon from Gymboree and Crazy 8 (expires Dec 20th so you can stack this on top of your Black Friday sales if you want). If anyone wants it I’d be glad to email you the code for online shopping, or drop it in the mail. First person to leave a comment gets it!

Bad Hair Day

It’s funny when a scarecrow has better looking hair than your kid.

Chris took Daphne to the Life Is Good Pumpkin Festival on Saturday and didn’t feel like putting her bow back in her hair as she repeatedly pulled it out. I understand. Of course, this meant she walked around the festival looking like a sheepdog. Should I cut bangs???? I’m just afraid of the maintenance. And since her hair has a little curl to it, will her bangs curl up and look funky? I have no idea since my hair has always been stick straight. What to do, what to do??

Today’s Snapshot

We’ve had a bit of cool weather lately, especially in the mornings. I guess it was too cold for Daphne because she fussed the whole time we were outside and then marched through the back door and swung it shut. OK, I can take a hint!!! This is really unusual because normally she LOVES to be outside. Here’s my grumpy girl this morning: