Greta has been very busy, learning Vietnamese AND working on her Plyometrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZSx3NU1HpI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg05m_oRuC8

Greta just finished her morning bottle, and is now working on further experimentation in her laboratory (she is playing in her exersaucer). I can hear her talking to herself-----I wish I spoke unicorn, because I'm sure we could solve the no-sleeping-in-last-two-weeks mystery.

I enjoy having house guests of all varieties. We are especially grateful for our four-legged friend, Henry. His momma, Elisabeth, is enjoying some sunshine in Florida this week. Henry enjoys long walks, dips in any body of water (especially the nasty stuff), rolling in rabbit poop, and eating cat barf. He has soft ears, a fluffy tail, and he doesn't mind Greta pulling on any of his fur.

To Whom it May Concern:

For future reference, please note Greta's "Flesh Mittens" (hands) and "Flegs" (Foot-Legs). The identification of said parts will help those picture enthusiasts make a clear connection to highlighted appendages.

Thanks,
The Management

"I'M SAILING!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrbY4hsNh64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz60jYbc8Gk

Greta and her grand Pepe. It took her a minute to warm up to Pepe, then he turned on the full court press, playing with her pacifier.

Another treasure from Grammy Joan---she loved steering the "boat."

This photo sums up our trip to Michigan---beautiful weather, a relaxed state of mind, and lots of sweatpants (but no frontal wedgies). We love the Mitten!

I am a bad mom because

a) My camera's memory card is full. Full memory card? No pictures.

b) I just went into Greta's room (she is suppose to be asleep) and she was playing with her sucky (pacifier), ready to launch it out of her crib while simultaneously kicking her legs up and down and petting her white unicorn. This is not sleeping.

c) I haven't blogged in days. To be honest, I just want to be a vegetable for the next day to recover from the hours of car riding.

d) Greta's pediatrician thinks I'm nuts. I demanded she be seen today, convinced she had another ear infection. No dice. Just teething. I hate teething WORSE than a poopy Category 5 blowout. YA HEARD ME.

e) In light of all these complaints, Greta did go in her airplane swing for the first time. A priceless, memorable moment.

We are in Fort Wayne tonight resting ip for the remainder of our journey to the Mitten. So far, we've hit up two garage sales and played fashion show with Grammy Joan and Poppy Jim.

Pictures to follow.

Enjoying the lovely weather.....and her first "walk" in the grass
(We do NOT condone naughty puppy behavior as seen the following footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37JKc4UMAi8

Another gorgeous day in Btown! Greta and I celebrated with a wonderful visit from our friends Mackinize and her son, Oliver. We've missed them---they were jet-setters last week, hitting Chicago and Minneapolis. Thankfully, they are back (only to leave yet again next week for Arizona. Boo!). To mark the occasion, Greta had a Category 3 blowout, ruining her new Hawai'ian style tunic and teal leggings. Oh farts. She is now recovering from her blowout with a nice nappies. Thank goodness for Shout! spray.

We will be heading up to the Mitten for some Ohana time tomorrow. More pictures in the future (did I mention my memory card is full?).

Clearly, I've been messing with the blog. I'll fix it.

Here is a picture of The Original Four, and by that, I mean Greta's posse. She has a starting line up of non-breathing entities. This group, as shown in the picture, are breathing, can eat Puffs, and poop their pants. Clearly, this group is way more fun.

Dear Baby Jesus,
Thank you for inventing infant ibuprofen. GFP finally slept through the night (again).
Love,
Greta's Momma

This teething business is ree-donk-u-luss.

9 Months!

Can you believe it?!?! She is 9 months old!!! Crazy. Time truly flies. This snapshot was very hard to capture---she was much more interested trying to reach for the dresser and its contents close by. If you are wondering about her hair---No, I did NOT have it professionally styled for this photoshoot. The volume you see is purely natural.

(Notice the fat toes? Yep. Fat toes.)

Greta's Starting Line Up, i.e., Her Gang

1. Jaleesa
2. Lamby
3. William
4. Vern
5. Ms. Cleo
6. Farmer Ted
7. Cyndl
8. Alphonse
9. JaMarcus Russell
10.Gingerbread Man (real original)
11. Cleo

I was lucky enough to have them stay still long enough to take this picture. (Missing from the picture is her musical dog, Julio Jones, as well as El Guapo, her trusty burro, and Veronica, Vern the Giraffe's life partner.)

It should be noted that Greta goes to sleep, at every nap and every night, with Cyndl, the mysterious white unicorn. She strokes her flowing locks and her sparkly horn. Through this activity, Greta is invigorated with strength, bravery, and courage. She is ready to face any opposition with Cyndl's great powers.

It should also be noted that Ms. Cleo, the musical dog, was Greta's first friend. Ms. Cleo has stuck around through hard times---NICU visits, teething, constipation, diarrhea, and nightmares. Thankfully, Ms. Cleo resonates the spirit of Clarence Clemons, famed saxophonist in the E. Street Band, who passed last year. Mr. Clemons has transferred his musicality into Ms. Cleo to help Greta relax and sleep.

Apparently Greta has been secretly doing Weight Watchers......at her 9 month check up today, she appeared to have lost weight! Her current stats:

Height: 28 inches (50 %)
Weight: 21.9 pounds (90 %)
Head Circumference: 45.8 cm (95%)

This is interesting, considering last visit to the doctor (6 weeks ago), she weight 22.5 pounds! It must be all of the bouncing and rolling she's been doing. Yes, she walks, but with her trusty assistant (Dad). No crawling yet....but maybe it is coming soon.

She already has one tooth, another one on the bottom that is about to break through. The doctor mentioned that the two on the top are about to come through as well, which explains why she's been sleeping so poorly.

She is developmentally right on target (10 months). We need to continue to "challenge" her to crawl, as well as introduce her to new foods and textures. She definitely struggles with new textures.

She surely has foods she loves: squash, mangoes, chicken, avocado, and bananas. We are going to skip the puffs and just do Cheerios from now on. Apparently, she has some sort of rice intolerance.

She definitely has a personality---she is super easy-going, but definitely knows how to "ham it up." She'll make her Kermit the Frog face if she is vying for attention. She is independent and affectionate. She has toys that she seems to gravitate toward (her starting line up--see below):

I should also mention her giraffe, Vernon, is a part of her starting lineup. When I say starting lineup, I mean key players in Greta's everyday life. She actually "looks" for Vern when he falls overboard (she pushes him off her exersaucer play deck). Vern is one of many:

Veronica,
Vern's life partner and lifetime member of Noah's Ark crew.
Jaleesa,
a handknit doll, made by Greta's cousins Madelyn and Emily.
William,
a duck that came with her play gym. He was down from day one.
Alphonse,
another giraffe in her crew. He is also best friends with William.
Cyndl,
her white sparkly unicorn puppet. A gift from Jack and Josie Becker.
Sally,
one of her Fisher Price Little People. She also rides the bus to school.
Farmer Ted,
another Little People. He mans the farm stand in the summer.
Ms. Cleo,
her light up lullaby crib puppy. Cleo was Greta's first friend.
Cleo (no prefix),
a gift from Ms. Randi. She has fluffy purple hair.
Lamby,
another crib friend. A gift from Grammy Jan.

There are several other key figures that are not mentioned. I will surely post a picture tonight of her gang, along with her 9 month photo shoot.

Happy Thursday!

Sam discussing the significance of crawling, in the hopes that she too will soon master this art form.

Oliver and Greta sharing a tender moment.

We had another great playgroup with my favorite Bloomington moms. I'm feeling a bit sentimental, as I truly think I've found my "village." I've mentioned this term in previous posts---by "village," I'm referring to the group of individuals that share similar beliefs and goals in raising children. I feel like these women, four in particular, are truly amazing. We are all different, coming from different families and places, but we seem to share the same ideas about parenting our children. They are very laid-back, funny, yet caring in the manner in which they interact with their babies. I love that I can discuss anything with them, and not feel like they are judging me. We've had private conversations, funny conversations, serious conversations, and I always leave feeling like I am respected, cared for, and appreciated. And most importantly, I feel like they really care about Greta.

I was very worried before I had Greta that I would not find a group of moms that I liked, especially living in a "hippie college town." Lots of ladies with very different ideals of child-rearing----i.e., co-sleeping, breastfeeding until the child is 5, attachment parenting, etc. Not my bag, AT ALL. I really feel like I've found my niche in this group. I've also had the opportunity to mix this group with my Cookie wives as well as my Indianapolis friends.

AND, pair this feeling with GREAT weather---overall, a fabulous Wednesday.

Greta, pre-antibiotics. This was after two horrible nights of sleep. Her Oil of Olay eye cream was not helping her with the undereye circles (or Mommy).

Greta, one day after starting the antibiotics. Turns out she has ear infection #2. I'm thinking some tubes might be in her future.
Thankfully, she had her friend, JaMarcus Russell (a dolly from her great aunt Mary-Ann), helping her through this rough patch. Oh, and her Tinkerbell pajamas. Two piece pajamas are a big hit----I often see her in her sleep monitor touching her belly. I feel like this activity gives her strength to sleep better.

And for the icing on the cake, her special cousin Paige came to visit us!
Paige is here until Friday. She is an amazing babysitter, AND she is great with keeping me in the college cool loop---Greta is showing Paige how awesome yogurt is AND that yogurt makes your hands extra special (as if Greta's hands were special enough).

This just in! Breaking news! Greta is NO LONGER foraging poop in her lower colon. Yep, after some kiwi, blueberries, two servings of prunes, some squash, and three bottles, she has finally forged ahead in the bathroom department. While I would never write about this (even though I AM that crass), I do believe this is key in her feeling better. Seriously---two bad ears, tooth pain, and a sore fanny. I don't think so.

It is Monday, and it is NOT turning out to be a magical week. Greta has another ear infection AND she is constipated. SUPER. She is SO MUCH FUN to be around right now. Hopefully the pink bubble gum medicine will start working. If not, I'm throwing into the backyard to be cared for by the squirrels and Biscuit.

These Boots Were Made For Walkin'........

So it appears that Ms. GFP would much rather walk than crawl. Fortunately, her intelligent mother knows this is NO BUENO, as this child MUST crawl before she walks. (Thank Marian College's Dr. Carrie Brouse for my sentiments on that subject.)

I bought Greta her first swimsuit today. (Actually, her special friend, Elisabeth, bought her one last summer. She grew out of it before she could even get one leg in.) No worries grandparents: No spaghetti straps or thongs on this girl. She looks like a lifeguard (with ruffles on the butt, of course.)

You know it is going to be a great "Mommy day" when you wake up at 5 am to the cry of your daughter----who has managed to roll over on top of her pacifier and pet unicorn, only to NOT want to go back to sleep in her bed. THEN, you wake up an hour later and look into the mirror and find yourself (or someone you might know) staring back at you that looks like a muppet died on her head/Kate Gosselin's hairdresser took over. NOT GOOD.

Greta is teething and it is raining outside. This probably won't be recorded as a great day for either one of us.

HOWEVER, I am feeling organizational today. I am going to organize her toys. The before and after won't end up on Pinterest, but I'm sure it will be a marginal improvement.

As mentioned in my previous post, the baby cows DO resemble a puppy Biscuit. While she is much smaller than a baby cow, I do see some similarities.......

(Also, for further investigative purposes, please refer to the VEAL episode of Southpark. Resemblance? I think so.)

If you look closely, you can see a baby cow in the hay. Yep, that little lady was just a few minutes old when we came into the birthing barn. My friend, Mackinzie, and her son, Oliver, joined Greta and I on our trip to Chicago. We decided to make a much-needed pit stop to corral some unnecessary crying. This is what we got.....baby cows and more baby cows.

This cows in this area were born earlier in the day. Two sets of twins, and a single birth. They were very cute and looked a lot like Biscuit. Sadly, they only get to spend about 45 minutes with their mommas after they were hatched. I think this is animal cruelty. I don't drink milk, so I don't believe I am contributing to this problem.

Oliver showing Greta the crawling "ropes." Notice her nice, wide base? Yep, I'm sure she'll use this in volleyball tryouts in a few years. Until then, Oliver is her mentor in this department. Her outfit? Compliments of Grammy Gigi (Jan).

Some updates:

Greta's first tooth has broken through her gum....several doses of Tylenol have kept our family afloat. It is obvious another one is coming in.....she is constantly chewing on anything she can get her flesh mittens on. Poor thing.

Greta has some rice allergy. I swear, every time she eats something with rice flour or rice in it, she has a red fanny and clay-like poop. NOT OKAY. I've tried oatmeal and whole grains, and they don't seem to bother her as much. She enjoys these Gerber breakfast bars I found in the baby food aisle---much like a Nutri-grain bar. She is still processing through this whole "texture" phase.

I can say Greta enjoys most other foods you put in front of her.....she LOVES squash, bananas, prunes, mangoes, avocado, cheese, and sweet potatoes. I am trying to mix it up, hoping to raise a non-picky eater. (Dana and my mom are SUPER picky. NOT OKAY.)

I am no longer embarrassed to say my almost 9 month old daughter is NOT crawling and now wears a size 12 months. I'm okay with this. Really. She is healthy and we strive to maintain a healthy body image around here. I, on the other hand, would like some Botox and a smaller butt.