On almost being One

Poppy will be ONE year old next week and I’m dying over here. Dying of joy, heartache, pride, love, sadness, and excitement all at the same time.

This little Booger Butt is the most wonderful kid I know. She is as stubborn as hell and as cute as a button, which, frankly, creates a balance so perfect that at least once every day she comes within inches of her life’s end and somehow manages to smile at me in a way that makes all the BAD go away instantly.

At story time the other day, she was chasing after a boy trying to steal his stacking rings. Oh Poppy. She sat down in the middle of the circle of children and reveled in her victory, munching on each and every ring as though it were made of Toblerone. And she doesn’t even know what that is!

As she was playing, I saw her look up from her toy, scan the room, and search the faces of all the mothers and children. Finally, her big beautiful eyes landed straight on me. On me. Where they stayed for a few moments and melted into a beautiful grin across her chubby cheeks. A big “Hi” and then she was back to the rings. For that moment, I felt like the most important person in the whole world. I know she won’t always have this kind of admiration for me. I know someday she’ll hate me for something. I know someday she’ll grow up and be independent and busy.

But for today, just today, I am her world and oh, man. It is incredible.

Poppy

My body’s in shambles, incrusted with brambles

Poppy is 11.5 months old and not napping.

Which means I am not blogging.

Or eating.

Or bathing.

Or thinking.

To make matters worse better, I have this Adam Green song stuck in my head…

Just about to…

I was just about to sit down and write a blog post about something – anything – this morning, as I heard a ruckus coming from the kitchen. I walked into the next room and found a very irritated little kitty. Following the trail of CatChow pieces, I then found a little eleven-month-old with a mouthful of soggy cat food.

So, not today, Internets. I need to go throw up. Gross.

Asterisks for Jacob

I love my husband because he

*stayed up late last night to do the dishes

*got up early this morning to shovel the driveway

*spent nine hours at work to provide for us

*came home to a stir-crazy baby and wife and still has the energy to make this amazing memory…

sledding1_bw

The days of December

When Poppy was born, this blog, along with just about everything in my world, became all about her. In an effort to keep up with this way of life, I present to you a Poppy Update. Complete with photos and witty quips!

Poppy Anne is 10.5 months old now, but who’s counting? I mean, who cares that she is a mere 1.5 months away from the big ONE YEAR OLD. I mean, no one is crying about that yet, right?

DSCF0150-pola

A week before we were set to move to the new house, Poppy woke up during the night with her first high fever. She was so pathetic, and cute, at the same time. The three of us snuggled on the couch and watched Lord Of The Rings at 4AM. A few days later, Poppy sprouted this nice pair of pearly whites. Her first teeth!

DSCF0183-pola

Poppy is on the move these days. She can walk along furniture, crawl forward and backward, and pull her self up on the most dangerous of apparatus, including our television cabinet. She has been testing her balance and even took two unassisted steps into my arms last night! She loves to walk with Jacob on the new set of stairs we’ve recently acquired.

DSCF0075-pola

DSCF0197-pola

Poppy is saying lots of new words…

Mama (YES!)

Dada (She yells this one)

Ouch (This one is super cute to listen to)

Night Night (Which is cried through tears, “Ni Ni Ni Ni”)

and Meow (in her cutest, most high-pitched voice)

DSCF0170-pola

Poppy survived the move much better than her parents. She played with Aunt Amy all day and slept like an angel on the first night in her new room. I give this kid BIG props. She loves her new house already, as evidenced by the trail of mess she so lovingly leaves wherever she goes.

DSCF0117-pola

Speaking of sleeping, our champion girl sleeps straight through the night and takes two naps a day, which makes me both extremely lucky and very SANE. Lovey is still Poppy’s closest companion (after Cheerios and Raffi of course), and if not for this little blanket, life would be so rough for our Princess.

DSCF0143-pola01

Poppy has also learned to hit us when she’s upset. It’s so hard not to laugh when we say, “Poppy, you may not hit,” and then she stops, looks back and forth between us both, gets a glorious grin across her face, and then WHACK! I can’t even tell you how many times in the last couple of weeks that Jacob has turned to me and said, “How the hell am I going to teach her to stop doing this?” Then she turns and smacks him again and we have to leave the room so she can’t see us laughing. And crying.

DSCF0153-pola

I could on and on about my tiny Poptart. She is growing into an amazing little person. I love to watch her learn new things everyday. She’s my pal and my buddy. She’s been a trooper and a joy as our family works to settle into a new place. She is leanring to test boundaries, explore her feelings and her wants, and the best of all? She is learning to love. She gives hugs when you ask her, and she finds quiet moments during playtime to turn around, crawl into my lap, and sit awhile while I kiss her soft forehead.

Babyhood is behind us and we are quickly moving on to the Bobbler stage. And this Mama couldn’t be more excited.

DSCF0191-pola

Weekend Moment:: Poppy’s breakout Annie performance

Poppy in the bath

Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!
You’re always
A day away!

Happy Thanksgiving

Tonight as I sat around the table(s) with my dad’s side of the family for our annual Thanksgiving Eve dinner, I listened to each and every family member say aloud what it is they are most thankful for this year. As it rounded the bend to my turn, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. It was amazing to speak the words from my mouth and share my heart with my family. I am thankful for my husband, whom I love. I am thankful for our daughter. I am thankful for our new home. My husband’s job. We have so much to be grateful for this year, but the best part? The only part? Having a family to share my life with. That is what I am most thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

Weekend Moment:: Poppy’s door

Door

I sat outside Poppy’s door tonight and listened while Jacob rocked her little body to sleep and sang sweetly to her…

There is a castle on a cloud
I like to go there in my sleep
Aren´t any floors for me to sweep
Not in my castle on a cloud

I love this sound more than I can express. But I guess if I had to explain it, it would go something like this – colorful rainbows wrapped in teddy bear hugs with oodles of chocolate syrup pouring from mountains of candy with newborn babies and kittens running naked through fields of Enya CDs.

Poppy and the Box

This is why I still only have 0.5 boxes packed so far…

Weekend Moment :: The Love Affair Begins

Watching figure skating

On the weekends, Poppy’s high chair gets moved into the living room where she gets to eat all of her meals cartoon-side. Today while having an afternoon snack, she caught a glimpse of figure skating on television and was completely mesmorized. Readers, behold your next Nancy Kerrigan. Well, with her build, it’s more like Oksana Baiul. Minus the DUI.

Poppy’s day today…

Poppy's day

Good eats and mail from a friend!

Where’s the Baby?

See what I mean? My especially favorite part of this video is the one-eye-reveal followed by the other-eye-reveal. Oh, and her delightful post-game squeal. She cheers for herself every time. She’s a genius.

Tricks and Tremont

I have a video of Poppy playing her now-favorite game of “Where’s The Baby?” It’s the standard children’s classic “Peek-a-Boo,” except that Poppy has no idea what Peek-a-Boo means. Somehow though, she understands that if you ask her “Where’s the baby?” that she should cover one eye, look down at her belly and then SHOCK and AMAZE you with the reveal of that one eye and a loud AHHHHHH! It’s the best. I need to get unlazy and upload that video.

In other news, things with our new house are moving along well. We are *this close* to owning a home. The closing date is November 20th, which means that the moving process will happen in that little space of holiday crazy-ass, chaotic cheer between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It should be a blast. If I live through all that and still manage to buy (and wrap!) some presents, then you will give me a free neck massage, right?

We drove by the new house again last night and I just can’t believe it. A little corner of the city for us. A garden to plant, a yard to play in, a new neighborhood to explore. I am so excited. Jacob is still able to bicycle to work, thank the Lord. Remaining a one-car family is good for us. Here’s a little glimpse of what next summer will look like for me and Poppy: Restore Tremont. Oh, and Tremont is home to The Christmas Story House and Museum. The movie was filmed here, so Cleveland doesn’t completely suck, haterz.

I wish I had a picture of the view from our new front porch. You can seriously see the entire Cleveland skyline from our front yard. It’s amazing. I love this city and I am excited to plant our family here.

Happy Halloween!

Poppy is sleeping through Trick-or-Treating right now, but here she is earlier today as a little Indian brave. Minus the war paint.

Poppy the Indian One

Poppy the Indian, Two

Poppy the Indian, Three

Poppy the Indian, Four

Weekend Moment:: First Steps

Excuse the vertical orientation of this video. Just look at how amazing this little girl and her Papa are…

« Newer PostsOlder Posts »