Wednesday, March 30, 2011

So, so tired



We are all pretty tired around here. Jane has had ear infections for the past two months and just last week was on her 4th round of antibiotics. So yesterday she had tubes put in her ears at the hospital. Did you know they make little hospital gowns for babies? She ran around the room with her little diapered tushie sticking out the back. It was so cute but at the same time so sad that she needed one.

When her turn came she ran off into the hallway with the nurses, giggling. Michael and I just watched her go feeling like, "Fine, Jane. We'll just wait here."

For the procedure they put the babies under with a little bit of gas, and apparently when the babies come out of it they feel funny and it scares them and they start crying.  When the little boy on the other side of the curtain in our room came back, he basically cried until they left.  So I kept hearing babies crying out in the hallway and thought they were bringing Jane back to me, but no! When they finally did, she was quiet (and dumbfounded), wrapped in a blanket and carried by a nurse who said, "Well, she's our first non-screamer of the day!" with a cheerful smile.  Jane was just looking around like, "What? Who said that?"

After giving Jane a bottle we took her home, where she (and Dad) fell asleep in the picture you see above. And after I took the picture I promptly laid down on the couch and slept, too. This hospital visit and the past two months of sickness have been on top of some very trying months for Michael and me, and we are all pretty wiped out.

But at least Jane can start feeling better now.  Already I can tell her ears aren't hurting her and she's been quite cheerful today.  We played hide and go seek, and one of Jane's favorite places to hide is behind the gliding chair in her room.  I love it because when I walk in the room it is usually still gliding back and forth, giving away her position.  I'll ask, "Wheeeere's Jane?" and then she giggles and runs behind her crib and sits down, usually leaving her legs hanging out in wide open view.  If I go behind her glider then she runs out of the room and into the bathroom where she slowly shuts the door.  When I ask, "Where's Jane?" I can hear her giggling behind the door.  When I finally do catch her she screams and giggles and then runs off to a new spot.  Words aren't cute enough for this girl!

Also, over the past few weeks Jane has been picking up words like crazy.  Here are the words I can think of that she has said so far:

Daddy - (she will roam around the house, looking for him, calling, "Daaaaadaaaaaa")
Mama - rarely used =(
Woof Woof - pronounced oof oof
Response to "What does the lion say?" - RRRrrrRRAAAAAARRrrrrrrr!!!
Quack Quack - pronounced ack! ack!
Shoe - pronounced "Shhhuhh" but once or twice she's said the whole "Shoo"
More! - accompanied by the correct hand sign, woo!
All done - done on Monday for the first time, THREE separate times, with the hand signal!  Pronounced "aahh dunn!"
Again - this one I heard for the first time today after I asked her, "Oh, you want to do it again?"

It really seems like just within the last week she has been picking up lots of words and repeating things back to me that I never expected her to.  More, All Done, and Again were complete surprises.  I think she is just eager to grow up even though I told her to cut it out on her birthday!

Now if I could just get her to say my name! =)

Monday, March 14, 2011

What do you feed your one-year-old?

Many of my friends have kids that are close to Jane's age right now (around 1 year), and my questions is: what do you feed them?

We have been trying lots of new things with Jane, and I have been getting books from the library about what you can feed babies and toddlers, but I'm really craving more ideas - especially practical ones.  The books I got are nice, but some of the listings have over 15 ingredients!  Or they include weird things like barley (sorry if you are a big barley eater.  I have never even seen it at the store even though it's probably there somewhere).  Jane is able to pick up small pieces of food and swallow them okay, but I feel like I'm repeating the same things over and over and I want to branch out (cheerios and bananas anyone?).

I'd love any ideas for quick easy finger foods that Jane could pick up off her tray and eat.  I'd also love any ideas for foods you can give your kids that you also incorporate into a larger family meal - i.e. what everyone else is eating.  I've been wanting to give Jane the foods that I make for dinner, but I'm always afraid that something I've prepared wouldn't be right for her - like what if I've put in too much salt?  I have no idea.

So what do you guys do?  What's your favorite finger food to give your toddler?  What do you give them from your family meal (or what do you hold back on giving them from the family meal)?