Wordless Wednesday

Hangin' out at Smith's Variety

Triangle Park before it got COLD!

My new favorite activity before it got COLD (the cold ruins all things fun)!

Sipsey loves dogs.

Making a mess of Sweet P's cabinets.

Hillarie's wedding

On October 11, Ben's cousin Hillarie tied the knot at a beautiful old plantation in Ft. Valley, GA. We stayed the weekend with Ben's parents and had a blast. We got to the site around lunch for pictures, the wedding was at 2, and the reception lasted until 4 or 5. Sipsey did so well all day. I loved that the wedding was outside. Outdoor weddings are really the best when there are babies at a wedding. Sipsey got tired right before the ceremony so we strolled her out in the pecan orchard and she was asleep in 5 minutes. She slept through the ceremony (we had her in the stroller off to the side) and woke up when everyone clapped as the bride and groomed kissed. Then it was reception time! The food was delicious. Sipsey enjoyed pineapple, strawberries, crackers, cheese, and meatballs. She was the center of attention (beside the bride and groom of course!) and was happily passed around to all the loving family members who wanted to cuddle with her. I'll leave you with a bunch of pictures.

Site of the ceremony.

View of the old farmhouse from the pecan orchard.

Beautiful garden with a chicken coop with this cool breed of chickens with feathered feet. It looked like they had pants on. I didn't take pictures. :(

The old renovated barn where they had the reception. It was beautifully remodeled and the bathrooms were the most exquisite part.

Ben, Sipsey, and I with Ben's tiny grandmother.

Ben and Mini-Me.

Ben's dad and Sipsey.

Playing with the table decorations.

Now I've got it figured out!

Sipsey playing with her new boyfriend.

Whew! That was a long day!

Sippy Cup

I thought I would post about getting Sipsey to drink from a sippy cup (which I will call SC from this point forward because I am about to type it way too many times), since one of you asked and others might be having a hard time. I actually have to give credit to day care for getting Sipsey on an SC - not necessarily the teachers at day care, but the other children at day care who drink from one. Sipsey would never hold her own bottle. She still doesn't hold her own bottle (and now I know she can she just doesn't since there's a sorry sucker holding it for her!). I thought she would never like an SC. I tried it at home a few times and she got really mad, so straight back to the bottle we went. At day care one day, she would not drink from her bottle and kept pushing it away. So the teacher poured the formula in an empty SC that I had in her bag and put it in front of her and SHE DRANK IT! Just like that! So at home, our routine is to feed her at meal time and about halfway through, we'll put the SC in front of her and down it goes! If anyone is having a hard time, my only advice would be to (1) buy the Nuby brand SC with handles (This is what Sipsey likes. I had tried one with no handles and those didn't go over very well. My only complaint is that they aren't graduated so I can't measure out my water to make formula.) and (2) let the child try using one at Mother's Morning Out or at a playdate where other children are using one. I think the major reason Sipsey switched so well was watching the other kids do it.

Sipsey has formula 4 times a day. In the morning, we give her a bottle because it's faster (and sweeter and we get to cuddle) but I think that one will be knocked out soon so I can continue to get myself ready while she's drinking. At lunch and snack she has an SC at daycare and I think she's okay with this b/c all the other children are doing the same. At home, she eats dinner with us, and usually washes it all down with an SC. Of course there are nights when this doesn't work out so perfectly and she wants a bottle, so we give it to her. But we always try the SC first.

I hope this helps for those who need it and was not too boring for those who don't!

11 months

Our little booger is 11 months old today! She weighs in at 19 lbs 9 oz, which was determined at her sick visit last Monday when she was diagnosed with a double ear infection! Up til now, we have only had 2 sick visits. The first was a couple months ago and Sipsey had a really high fever that wouldn't seem to go away so we took her to the after-hours clinic, as suggested by the phone nurse. When we got there, the Tylenol had apparently finally kicked in and she was all smiles and squeals and giggles. I'm sure they thought we were nuts. Last Monday my mom took Sipsey to the doctor because she had a really gross cough and fever every now and then. That's where we learned about the ear infections. I was really hoping since we'd made it this far with no ear infections that we would never have to experience them.

Here is what Sipsey is doing these days:

• Drinking from a sippy cup except in the mornings when we still give her a bottle or when her Sweet P comes to visit and gives her bottles all day because she thinks we're making her "grow up too fast."
  
• Eating ALL table food. This child will try anything. She really loves chicken masaman from Surin!
  
• Crawling like a monkey. I'll have to post a video but she kicks her right leg forward and pulls her body forward with that leg instead of using her knees.
• Waving bye bye and hey whenever she hears these words. Someone said bye bye on the TV and she started waving!
• Pulling up on anything and everything but not really cruising or trying to walk.
  
• Following us around like a puppy dog.
• Babbling baba, dada, mama, and lots of other funny sounds.
• Loving my teeth, nose and eyes. When she sees my teeth, she starts grabbing for them and will have her entire hand in my mouth before I know it. If I keep my mouth closed tight, she goes after my nose and eyes. (I know, this is gross. We are trying to put a stop to it!).
• Getting VERY upset when told, "NO!" She's tender-hearted and cries each and everytime we tell her not to do something, like....
• Eating everything off of the floor. Sometimes she won't be interested in her meal, but when we put her on the ground, she proceeds to eat even the tiniest speck of dust on the floor.
• Handing over the tiniest (or largest) speck of dust that she was considering eating when you hold out your hand and say, "Thank you!"
• Opening and closing doors. I've found her crying in the bathroom because she crawled in and closed the door and couldn't get out. The problem is, she'll be sitting right on the other side so you can't open the door to get her out!
• Emptying the entire contents of my purse, her diaper bag, grocery bags, etc. All bags now are stored off of the floor.
• Staring out of the glass storm door at our front door. She can be really bored, mad, fussy, etc. and all I have to do is put her in front of that door and she's completely satisfied. The cold weather has put a damper on this activity for now. :(
  
• Sipsey has 6 teeth total right now, the top 2 with one on the side and the bottom 2 with one on the side.
  
• Being the most fun, wonderful, loving, and sweet 11 month old ever!
  

My mullet grew back!

I LOVE playing with (torturing) Banjo!

Sipsey's new thing

Sipsey now knows when the camera is going to flash and closes her eyes for almost ALL pictures. I'm not exaggerating. Here are some pictures I took in the car on the way home from Ben's cousin Hillarie's wedding a few weekends ago (I'll post more on the wedding soon).

Take one...

Take Two...

Take Three...

Take Four...

And Finally...one with eyes OPEN!

Just another quirk that makes Sipsey so wonderful and hilarious. We love you even if you do close your eyes in all pictures (and hopefully you'll stop pretty soon)!

Happy Boo to You!

I am way behind in blogging and I'd like to catch up this week. Slowly but surely I'll update on what we've been doing as a 10 month old! I'll start with Halloween. One of Sipsey's friends from daycare invited us over to her house to trick or treat Friday night. We had pizza for dinner with LOTS of extra snacks like Nutter Butter ghosts, spider web brownies (both from me!), homemade boiled peanuts, dirt cake, mummy hot dogs, and too much more to even remember! Natalie lives in a neighborhood great for trick or treating. We took Sipsey door-to-door for awhile with a big group of other children who came to Natalie's house too. We had a lot of fun on our first Halloween and can't wait until next year when Sipsey can acutally walk door to door (and people don't think I'm trying to get the candy for myself, which I was!).

Nutter Butter ghosts

Spider web brownies (brownies with marshmallow on top)

All the kiddos. This is the best picture I have!

My little peacock.

My peacock and me.

Peacock and Ben. I think she was waving bye bye to someone.

Natalie and Sipsey. I don't know what they were looking at but again, the best pic I could get.