A Day in the Life of a One Year Old Princess

     Froggie started her first week as a 1 year old off by being woken from her nap to be sung to by all of the 1, 2, and 3 year olds at school and to have a birthday cookie. She seemed very wary at first of all the noise, hat and candle.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday dear Froggie. 

Happy Birthday to you.

Yummy birthday cookie

Check out that icing

Big Brother wanted a picture with Froggie

     Earlier in the morning though Froggie's teacher had sent for me to come down the hall to ask me if she had been having nose bleeds. Poor muchkin fell and hit her nose on a toy and had a little nose bleed. It looked like her nose was bleeding ALL day though because she had a runny nose and even though the bleeding had stopped whenever her nose ran it was tinted red.

This is what her nose looked like most of the day. 

     To top it all off Froggie had her 1 year old doctors appointment. We waited in the waiting room for almost an hour then we were with the nurse and doctor for another 45 minutes or so. Then after her exam (which went really well) we had to wait for two separate nurses to come in, one to draw blood and another to administer her vaccines. I can't believe how brave she is - she didn't cry or even flinch when they drew blood to check her iron levels but she was pretty upset by the other vaccinations. She checked in at 18lbs and 32 inches long, I love my little peanut!

Climbing around

waiting for shots.

Dresses, Ballons and Dinner

     This evening was a little hectic. I finally was able to go up and finalize my fitting for my bridesmaids dress for my sisters wedding. I've known what dress I was getting (we're all wearing different dresses) since before the new year but trying to figure out when I could get there for the absurd amount of time it takes them to decide what size dress you need. So tonight we met up with Hubby so that the kids could be entertained and not interfere with the process.
     Before Hubby was done we headed in to Toys R Us to use Big Brothers birthday coupon. He was patient walking through the store looking at everything, even though all he cared about were Cars and Planes. He picked out a new Plane (finding ones he doesn't have is getting harder and harder) and carried it around the store while we waited for Hubby.
     He paid for his own Plane and since he used his birthday coupon he got a crown and a balloon! He was pretty excited and opened his plane before the receipt was even printed! The weather had taken a turn towards the cold, windy and snowy and on the way to the car Big Brother's balloon ripped away from the ribbon it was attached to. It was heart breaking to listen to him cry that he wanted his balloon back! We got he and Froggie all strapped in to their car seats and Hubby went in to see if he would be able to get a replacement. I felt really badly about all of this, especially since it ripped away from the ribbon while I was holding it and Big Brother had specifically asked me to carry it so he wouldn't lose it.
     The cashier was very understanding and gave Hubby a new balloon, which Big Brother was very protective over. He didn't want to leave the car while I was fitted for my dress and Hubby ended up sitting with the kids while I went in.

The Balloon

The Balloon

    I had to describe and show a picture to the girls at the store so they could find my dress (which they didn't have in my size in store and aren't they the ones that work there anyhow?), put me in a dress that I already told them was a size too small, measured me and decided on a size and then had me try on a dress in that size (which is too big, hooray for being in between sizes!) all of which was pretty unnecessary since they order a size based on the measurements anyway.
     When that was all said and done we headed to Applebees for dinner. We honestly don't get out for dinner much more than out weekly pizza Friday night and the occasional run through the drive through when we are running late on time. It was a nice change to be in a restaurant and sitting down. Froggie was SUPER hungry so she ate while we were looking at the menu. Big Brother picked his own dinner out and we picked up spinach and artichoke dip (which I love!) Big Brother fell on his way back from the bathroom and sat on my lap for a while and we were your standard table with two toddlers - loud. We encouraged Big Brother to use his "inside voice" which he struggles with daily and he did a good job of trying until he forgot or got excited. Towards the end of our meal our server had notified us that our tab had been paid by another table who wished to remain anonymous. I can honestly say that, as a family, this had never happened to us before. It was a huge blessing and a great way to turn around a pretty hectic evening.

Visiting Santa

     We decided to take the kids up to see Santa at the mall after nap time today. We've been seeing a lot of Santa around at different gatherings and events but it's not quite the same as seeing Santa at the mall. Now, if you're my best friend you will say I was torturing my children… If you're me then I'm documenting my children growing and being with Santa while they still believe since children seem to believe in the magical innocent things for far too short a time. 

     Froggie has become increasingly less tolerant of going to Santa every time we see him. I don't know how much this has to do with Santa himself as much as it is just that Hubby or I aren't holding her. It is also a fairly regular occurrence for her to cry if I hand her off to my mother, sister or in-laws and none of them have big white beards or red suits. 

     Big Brother, on the other hand, LOVES Santa and gets excited to talk to him and talks about him ALL THE TIME. However, it seems like when it comes time to snap the picture he just pouts. So Here are the end results of our trip to see Santa. Overall I'm happy with them, as a mother and a photographer I know that just getting an infant and a toddler to look in the direction of the camera requires A LOT of work and patience. Getting them to smile/laugh/look REALLY happy is normally a happy bonus!

My Little Love

     It's been rainy again (boo), so last night we popped a bunch of popcorn and set up an impromptu movie theater in our room to watch The Princess and the Frog. This is in preparation for our possible attempt at taking Big Brother to his first movie in a few weeks once the novelty and initial rush of the new Planes movie wears off. It went over pretty well and he was able to sit still and eat popcorn and watch the movie until the popcorn ran out. Hubby and I decided that we just can't run out of popcorn and we'll be fine.

     It stormed pretty badly last night and woke Froggie and I up. We were able to go back to sleep pretty quickly after I sent Hubby to unplug computers and cover things on the porch. 

   

How Froggie feels about the rain

     Today went by pretty quickly but I was pretty disappointed at the end of the day when I realized I had gone through the entire day believing it was Wednesday instead of Tuesday! I guess I'm just really excited for our day out on Friday!

     On a Froggie related note, she is getting SO much better at sitting up on her own and can now lean forward onto her belly if she's tired of sitting as well. She moves herself around on the floor pretty well too, I'm not really sure how she does it so well - but it looks like she's swimming on the floor when she does it!

     I can't believe Froggie is getting SO big! She tried her sippy cup today too! She only drank about 1/2oz but she did a great job!

On to the Next One

     Have I mentioned lately that I'm OVER rain? I feel like we'll start floating away soon if the rain doesn't hold off! At least the next few days are supposed to be dry (as of right now anyway). It looked like it was going to rain ALL day and it did for awhile but after dinner the sky looked blue and promising.

     Did I mention that I got new shoes today? So, of course, we headed out to do our loop to finish our distance for the Let 'Em Know 5K for FragileX. Froggie was a little upset for awhile and ended up being carried for a bit. She  ended up falling asleep on Big Brother shortly after our ice cream stop. I'm amazed that she wasn't covered in ice cream when we got home!
     It started to drizzle sporadically on our way back and Hubby and I were a little fearful that we  would have to sprint home in the rain. Now that this 5K is in the books we'll be working on the next one (scheduled for 8/11).

Check Up

     Yesterday was Froggie's 4 month check up (a little late because it had to be rescheduled once). After a little bit of waiting (at 4pm you're bound to experience the accumulated delays of the day) we made our way back to an exam room and answered a few questions for the nurse. Typical things like what's she eating (breastfed or formula), is she meeting milestones (cooing, holding her head up, etc.) and measuring her.
     Froggie weighed in at 12.13lbs and was de-harnessed to get her length at 25.25". I've noticed that since she was fitted with her harness her growth has slowed down a bit. She went from gaining approximately half a pound per week to just a few ounces. I had read that this was common though there was no real explanation as to why it happens. While waiting for the doctor we experienced a handful of 2 year old melt downs from Big Brother; one regarding changing a pull-up, one about Froggie pulling his hair and another after rolling himself off the chair and onto the floor (He's ok, but realized very quickly that falling on to tile isn't fun).
     Her doctor was impressed that she's rolling (out of the harness) since she spends so much time in her harness. She actually rolled from back to front this afternoon in the office - go figure she waits until we're in the office to do things... He did also note that by time she's back for her 6 month check up (at almost 7 months) that she'll probably be ready to begin some other solid foods like cereal or fruits and veggies.
     In addition to getting her work up from the doctor she had some vaccines. She's never fond of them and it didn't help that today while I was trying to calm her down Big Brother was spitting milk all around the exam room. Gotta love 2 year olds! Over all this afternoon was pretty stressful simply because Big Brother became upset about EVERYTHING. It didn't help that He decided to wander away from me in the parking lot while I was unlocking the car either.
     I have yet to master doctor's appointments with both kids and it's a little overwhelming to try to talk to the doctor about one child while worrying about what the other one is doing. If anyone has any advice I'd be willing to hear it - Big Brother has tried toys, books, snacks, the works and by time we actually see the doctor he's burned through all of his distractions.

Mmmm... tasty froggy

I see you... 

NHL Playoffs

     I'm a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, so by default so is Froggie. Tonight was a sad day for Penguins fans because it means we have to wait longer for hockey than if they'd of progressed in the playoffs.
     This was Froggie's response to tonight's game: