Birch Aquarium

Day 3 in San Diego is kind of a blur.  I can't really recall the morning, though I'm sure J and I wanted to stab each other in the eye.  That's what happens when you are cooped up in a tiny, non-baby proofed condo instead of being out in the fresh ocean air.  I don't remember if Genevieve had a nap before we went to the aquarium or if we hoped that she'd fall asleep on the way. 

It didn't take long to arrive at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla.  Before entering I snapped this pic of J and G. 

If you've been to the Seattle Aquarium, as we have, then most other aquariums will be ruined for you.  This one was not even in the same league as Seattle, but there were still some good exhibits. 
I liked this pregnant wolf eel resting on her side.

There were a lot of kids there, but we were able to get plenty of viewing time. 

We went outside to check out the tide pool creatures, but Genevieve was mostly interested in climbing up and down the steps.  She took a break from that to pick up leaves.  We joked about how we payed $17 for J and I and all G cared about was steps and leaves!  Oh well. 

 The view from the outdoor area at the aquarium was pretty nice. 

They have an exploration area outside where Genevieve and J had fun making waves.  We put G into the shark's mouth for a picture, but her favorite thing outside was the shark cage.  She ran in there, danced around, talked to some big kids, ran out, grabbed the bars, danced some more...you get the idea.  Genevieve was being Genevieve. 

After our aquarium visit, it was back to the condo for G's nap.  She slept for about an hour and a half and woke up with just enough time to get ready to meet a friend of mine for dinner.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory and had a great visit with Cinnamon, who is expecting her first baby, a son, in August.  It was a great close to our third day in San Diego!

Sun and Sand...Lots and Lots of Sand!

Day two of our vacation was designated "beach day".  Before we could begin though, we needed to get J some swim shorts since he somehow forgot to bring his.  After showers and breakfast we headed off to a beach wear store.  There was no shortage of them nearby, but I was unaware that J had a specific one in mind.  After walking quite some time and passing no less than 5 viable stores, I tripped on the uneven sidewalk and broke my flip flop.  It was literally hanging on by a thread as we trekked farther up the road, but it wasn't long before there was no flip in the flop.  I'm sure the situation was quite comical to someone on the outside, but I was not laughing at the time.  I tried tieing strings of wipes together to hold my shoe on my foot, but they only kept ripping.  J wanted to keep going to get to the store he had in mind, which I didn't understand because there was a beachwear store RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!   He offered to go buy me a new pair of flip flops and then come back for me.  Um, no.  That wasn't going to work for me.  Okay, this story is dragging on.  In the end we crossed the street where I found a $60 pair of flip flops (gasp), and J got a nearly equally expensive pair of board shorts.

We walked home where it was time to feed the beebs and get her down for a nap before hitting the beach.  She didn't eat much because she was so tired, so it was off to bed for her.

G slept for nearly two hours.  During that time, J was restless and grumpy.  He was frustrated by how little we had done this day because of Genevieve's schedule.  He walked and grabbed lunch at the Olive Cafe right around the corner from the condo, and when G woke we got in our suits and sunblocked up.  J hated the sunblock I brought because it was difficult to apply.  Anywho...we grabbed the beach chairs, towels and umbrella and walked to Mission Beach. 

After setting up the beach chairs, which unfortunately were a little rusty, we headed out to the waves.  Genevieve was squealing and running around as the waves rolled in. The water was pretty powerful, so we had to have a good handle on the G meister.

To say Genevieve loved the sand would be an understatement!  She sat in it, dug in it, sprawled out in it, threw it, kicked it, and even tasted it...twice.  I guess she didn't learn her lesson the first time.  There are too many pictures to post on the blog, so you'll have to check out the rest on Facebook. 

Do I have sand in my hair?

 

 When we got back to the condo, we had to shower up.  Unfortunately for us there was no shower outside of our condo like many of the other beach properties had.  One of the friendly neighbors was out and offered us the use of her hose.  Luckily for G, the water wasn't too cold.  Unluckily for G, the hose was not dislodging the sand that completely covered her.  G screamed her head off when being washed in the shower, so I had to do the best I could and then pass her off to J.  He got her ready for her nap while I finished my shower.

After G's nap, we got ready to go out to dinner.  I packed up some food for Genevieve and I, and we all walked down Mission Blvd.  J wanted to carry her rather than using the stroller, and I thought he was a little crazy.  I really thought he was crazy the farther we got from our condo.  We happened upon this Thai restaurant, which made me excited because I am able to eat green curry without giving Genevieve any problems!  The food was great, and we left a little bit of a bigger tip than normal because G made a mess of their lovely tablecloth.  :\  

After dinner, we went across the street to The Baked Bear so J could see what a customized ice cream sandwich shop was all about.  Basically, you choose the outer cookies and the flavor of ice cream.  J knew that all of that sugar would kill him, so he opted for a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream in a waffle cone.  On our looooong walk home (okay, it wouldn't have felt that long if we weren't carrying Genevieve), G made friends with just about everyone we walked by.  She kept waving to people behind us and saying, "hi".

Okay, that's it for our 2nd day in San Diego.  If you're not bored yet, there will be more to come! 

To San Diego!

We decided for our 15th anniversary that we wanted to take a trip as a family, and I thought it would be fun to take Genevieve to the beach.  San Diego seemed like a good option, so we rented a condo, packed up food and belongings, and headed west!

J thought we should wake G up early in the hopes that she would fall back asleep for the first leg of the trip.  Based on our previous experiences with Genevieve and sleep, I wasn't sold on this idea.  We got her up at 5:00, changed her diaper, gave her some milk, and got in the car close to 5:15.  After putting gas in the car and ice on our food, we were off!  G was not falling back to sleep.  I gave her some food and water and that at least stopped her from fussing.  We made a pit stop at the Fry's in Yuma, and luckily for J, there was a Starbucks inside.  There was a gas station in the same parking lot, so J filled up while I nursed the beebs.  Then we were on the road again.  I gave G her baby to hold, and then just ignored her.  She was asleep by 8:00. 

G sleeping with her "deedee"

 

 

Genevieve slept for about an hour and a half, and then we stopped at the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo, CA.  J and I took turns using the facilities and walking G around.  One older couple joked that we were "teaching her early".  After nursing G again, we headed out for the last stretch of the road trip.  I read G's new Peekaboo Baby book, and then we played a few rounds of peekaboo ourselves.

Genevieve also played with her new magnet doodle board.

When we got into San Diego, J was hungry.  We stopped at a little commercial area and found a Fuddruckers.  G and I had turkey, green beans and some apple while J chomped down on a burger and fries.  Yes, I was a tad jealous.  After lunch, we headed to Fiesta Park on the bay while we waited for confirmation that we could check in to our condo early.  It was only around 2:00, and check in time wasn't until 3:00. 

The sidewalk was quite sandy, so the first thing that happened was Genevieve scraped her knees.  That didn't squelch her excitement for the park though.  She ran in the grass, though we had to be careful of all of the bees.  She checked out the water, and took a ride on a swing before we got the confirmation to check into our condo. 

We made our way to the condo and very carefully parked the car in our little parking spot.  After glancing around and setting up the pack and plan, we all went down for a nap.  To our surprise, G slept for a little more than two hours.  When she awoke, we got in warmer clothes as it was after 6:00.  We decided to walk 4 minutes across the street to walk along the boardwalk to find dinner. 

Our first view of Mission Beach

J decided on a pizza place where G and I had turkey, green beans, apples, and a pumpkin muffin.  We then walked along Mission Blvd. rather than the boardwalk to get back to our condo where we called day one a success.

Genevieve 101: 26-50

26. You have started walking backwards.  I think this began when I showed you how to pull a toy squirrel your Great Aunt Carolyn gave you.  You are too young to do this well, but you love it when you can get it to work as demonstrated by your high pitched squeal. 
27.  You said thank you and used the sign for it for the first time 5/14.  Now you say it all of the time.
28. You also now say "all done" very clearly and make the sign for it, but you don't exactly understand the full meaning.  You do get your point across at times though. 
29. You have been trying to say out, on, off, open (oh oh), baby, bye bye, and some other things I am surely forgetting.  You already have a b/d confusion as most things sound like dada (bye bye, diaper, and baby). 
30. At the time I began writing this (a week ago) you had just gone through wonder week 64 and were eating normally and playing more independently.  Sometimes you can be independent, but most of the time you want my attention, even if I'm just sitting in the same room as you.
31. You want to watch TV (sigh).  You point to the TV set, make the more sign, and sometimes grab the remote control.  You like pushing the buttons and making something happen, which usually involves an increase in volume. 
32. Your Scout walker toy plays a song that says "Would you could you feed me a treat.  ..."  When I sing the first part of the song (or even just hum it), you do the panting sounds.  I couldn't believe it the first time you did it!  
33. You, my dear Genevieve, have been fake crying a lot to get what you want. 
34. When fake crying doesn't work, you give kisses to get what you want. 
35. You love getting into the fridge!  The first time you used the word open was when you wanted me to open the door to let you get in. You will sit, stand, move things around, and put your toys inside.  I found your baby in one of the bins one day, and you put a book under the bottom bin (that was very tricky for Daddy to remove). 
36. Without fail, you always want my spoon or fork when I'm eating.  You will not usually settle for your own spoon or fork.  I admit, I give you my silverware. 
37. You want me to swaddle your baby, and then you make me sing "Rockabye Baby" while you rock her.
38. You sing sometimes.  Your voice is breathy and soft and you make different consonant/vowel sounds.  Sometimes you even sing "down, down, down". 
39. When you start singing, sometimes you point to me and make the more sign.  That means you want me to sing a song to you.  Right now you are OBSESSED with the Itsy Bitsy Spider and sometimes even do the hand motions for "down came the rain". 
40. About a week ago, you wanted to lay a blanket out on the floor so you could lay on it.  You had trouble getting it laid out.  You got frustrated and started scrowling (screaming/growling).  I laughed at you, and then I helped you.  You got this idea from Monica Brown at Connie's house last week.
41. Now that another week has gone by, you lay your baby and your stuffed animals on blankets on the floor.  You sometimes lie down with them and make snoring sounds for you and your "babies".  When I say the word sleep, you will often start snoring.  
42. I am beginning to doubt you will ever sleep through the night.  One night you woke up 4 times between 10:00 and 4:00 when I finally brought you to bed.  That's probably a pretty typical night.  I think you just want your mama.  Well, your mama wants you too...in your bed.  Asleep!
43. Two weeks ago, you stood on your tippy toes, reached up to the counter where the bananas were, and said "nana".  I had no idea you knew that word!  I hardly ever give you bananas because, well, um, they tend to "bind" people up.  Now, they are all you want to eat!
44.  You could've been bitten by a rattlesnake on the Monday before last, but thankfully the snake rattled and warned us first.  Daddy was pushing you in the jogging stroller ahead of Mommy.  Mommy needed to stop and take a drink of water earlier than normal because it was a little hotter outside.  It was dark, and there are lots of shadows on the sidewalk.  We saw the last snake before getting too close, but Daddy just couldn't see this one.  As soon as he heard the rattle, he pulled the stroller backwards.  The snake was in his strike pose, so we walked backwards and then far around him to jog back home. Tonight, we went jogging before it got too dark.
45.  You and Mommy have started sleeping in the guest bedroom together hoping that you and Daddy would sleep better.  So far, it hasn't worked.  I am blaming teething.
46.  You love picking up rocks at the playground.  You go to put them in your mouth but know you aren't supposed to, so you give them a little kiss and then look at me.  Stinker.
47.  You are teething like crazy right now!  All of the previous times have only been noticeable by you biting on everything, being a little cranky, and eating very little.  Well, this time you have all of that going on, but you are a great, big drool monster.  I know your top left molar is coming in, but I think your bottom eye teeth may be soon to follow.  You want to comfort nurse all. nigh. long. Oy!
48.  When someone tells you to smile, you give the cheesiest grin in all of the universe.  I love it!
49.  I bought you a pink hamper for your room, and I showed you how to lift the lid and drop your clothes inside.  At first, you thought it was great fun to open and close the lid over and over.  Then you thought it was the perfect place to put books.  Now, when I tell you to put something in the hamper in your room, you do so without any help.  You always impress me with your receptive language skills.
50.  We got you your first pair of real walking shoes at Stride Rite.  You have narrow feet, but narrow shoes are difficult to find.  We at least found a pair that fits your foot well, and you walk great in them!  They are so cute, and you like to carry them around, and much to your mama's dismay, put them in your mouth.  You also try to put them on, and you usually like to help me put them on you.  You are such a big girl now!

Every single day I come up with more things I want to write about.  I don't want to forget all of these moments, no matter how small.  This time is flying by!    

Genevieve 101

My sister Rachel bought me a calendar for Genevieve's first year.  I was so great about writing down little observations, and at the end of the month I would fill in things she was learning, doing, saying, her sleeping and eating patterns, and her favorite toys.  I made a lot of entries until Genevieve was close to one year.  I have a few entries for January, but the whole month of February is blank!  I added a few in March, but I did not make note of her development at the ends of the months.  I thought I'd make a few blog posts about what's going on with my little monkey.  I'm going to try to come up with 101 observations, but we'll see how that goes!

Since her calendar entries are written to Genevieve, I'm going to follow the same pattern here.



1. You wake up happy and ready to go every morning unless, for some odd reason, Mommy has to wake you up.  That is very rare!

2. You have 11 teeth and are working on your 12th, your top, left molar.  I thought you were getting your eye teeth, but I'm not so sure now.

3. You love to dance!  Whenever you hear music, you have to move your body in some way (even in the checkout line at Wal-Mart).  You bounce up and down as if you are doing mini squats.  You shuffle your feet.  You occasionally clap your hands.  Mama and Dada love every second of it!

4. Daddy showed you how to make your stuffed animals dance, and now you do it on your own.  You are a funny kid.

5. You love playing with your baby doll.  You put her in her stroller.  You give her her bottle, and make drinking sound effects, and you carry her around.  Sometimes, you hug and kiss her, and once you gave her to me to nurse.  That was hilarious!

6. You are a good eater.  Right now you love broccoli, green beans, peas, and bananas.  You will tolerate a few bites of sweet potatoes, but you are rather sick of them.  You like apples, but they are not your favorite.

7.  I think you have issues with the texture of foods.  You will not eat eggs.  I've made them fried, and I've scrambled them.  At least you tried them, but you usually spit them right back out.  You also won't eat pancakes, and I don't think it's because they are gluten free.  You did at least swallow one piece.

8.  Going in your jogging stroller with Mom and Dad at night is one of your favorite activities.  You talk and make animal noises throughout the ride.  You love it when we give you the water bottle.  You wrap your legs around it, take drinks, and play with the spout - open, close, open, close.

9.  You are obsessed with animals right now!  You only want to read books with animals in it, and you make lots of animal sounds.

10.  You know the sounds for elephant (complete with raising your hand like an elephant's trunk compliments of Daddy), monkey, dog, kitty, lion, tiger, and cow.  You can also identify these animals in books and in real life.

11.  You are a good napper, thank the Lord.  We change your diaper and put your sleep sack on.  You pick out a story, and Mama reads it to you in the glider rocker.  Then you put the book back on your shelf like a good helper, turn out your light, shut your door, turn your white noise on, and nurse to sleep.  Mama lays you down in your crib, where you'll sleep for an hour and a half.

12.  We do the same routine for bedtime, but we brush your teeth and kiss Daddy good night before reading a story.  We also skip the sleep sack since you have jammies on.

13.  You are pretty good at church.  You like to shake and sometimes tear the song sheet.  You stand on the seats and look at the people behind us.  Usually people comment on how entertaining you were to them during mass.  You sometimes dance to the music, and you've just now started trying to escape by walking away.  You are mostly content to let me hold you when we stand up.

14.  You have figured out how to make the water come out of the water cooler.  The first time you did it, you were very surprised.  I had you help me clean up the water that was all over the floor.

15.  Now that you know how the water cooler works, you like to bring your cups there and try to fill them.  Mama usually helps you.

16.  You prefer to drink from cups or Mommy or Daddy's water bottles.  You are not so great at drinking from cups because you get in too big of a hurry, making the water pour all down your front.

17.  You are always constipated.  I wish you would have normal poops, but they always look like big rabbit poops.

18.  When Daddy comes home from work, you get so excited.  As soon as your hear the beeps from the alarm, you say, "Dada".  Then you stop whatever you are doing and walk to greet him.  You make him feel ten feet tall, and you make mama's heart melt when the two of you hug.

19.  You are testing things out right now.  You throw things on the ground, say "uh oh" and then look at Daddy or me.  You hit your fork on your high chair tray or plate.  You spill your water on the ground or on your high chair tray.  You pull on electrical cords and steal our phones.  Testing, testing, testing our reactions (and our patience at times).

20.  You wave and say "hi".  You also just started saying "Mama", and you use it quite frequently.  You say Dada, uh oh, ow, oh, u(p), down, and it sounded like you said thank you yesterday.

21.  You make signs for more, all done, bath, please (and you've figured out this gets you what you want most of the time), eat, and milk.

22.  You know how to kick things, but you're not very good at it.  Sometimes you end up missing entirely or just stepping on the object you were trying to kick.

23.  You just learned how to spin around.  When Mommy says "spin", you will do it.

24.  Mommy taught you how to wash your hands.  You rub them together quite nicely, and then Mommy helps you get the tops.

25.  You have your Mommy's hair.  We aren't sure the color, but the texture is all mine.  You have a few curls in the back, which we think are adorable.  As for the color, sometimes it looks golden.  Other times it looks brown or reddish.  You have blond eyebrows though.  Hmmmmm....

When I can, I will add another 25 things.  It might be awhile, but I'm sure I can think of them!   

I am a Stay at Home Mom.

It’s official!  I submitted my letter of resignation a month ago, and I received confirmation of receipt from the school district.  Getting to this point has been an interesting process and one I thought I’d share with y’all…at least a little bit. This whole past year has been kind of a trial run and a huge learning experience in many ways.    

When I was around 20 weeks pregnant, I seriously began thinking about how in the world I would continue working at the pace I was and have a baby at home to care for.  I knew my priorities would shift once the baby arrived, but my anxiety kicked into high gear.  I struggled with the thought that I wouldn’t be able to be the teacher I wanted to be because I would be the mother I needed to be. I started talking to J about taking more than 6-8 weeks of maternity leave.  He wasn’t too keen on this idea, but eventually I convinced him (with the help of my mother in law and her sister) to let me take the rest of the school year off.   It took a little longer to convince him that I should take a year leave of absence, but once Genevieve arrived, there was no question we had made the right decision. 

I am so thankful to have had the time to learn how to be a mother, though I’m also thankful that it seemed to happen more naturally than I expected.  I have learned a lot about cooking and cleaning, and I take pride in having time to do both of those things now. Some days though, I feel like I am not cut out for staying home.  My house is a mess, and dinner isn’t always ready when J gets home from work.  In fact, some days I have to call him and tell him to pick something up.  I’ve had to learn that that’s just part of life with an infant/toddler.  I’ve had to learn to be gracious with myself, but still the doubt creeps in.  I wonder if someone else would teach G more than I can – someone who knows more about baby development.  On the flip side of that is the fact that no one knows my daughter as well as I do, so who better to teach her? 

I have worried a lot about not contributing financially.  I’ve worked since I was 16, so it was strange to not be making any money.  J assured me that my job was to tend to the needs of our daughter, and if there was time in my day, then I could tend to the needs of our household.  He told me that I had the harder of our two jobs.  (Did I mention that I love this guy?)  When Genevieve was around eight months old, J said, “How in the world are you going to go back to teaching?!”  I assured him that lots of women do it, and they make it work.   I still wasn’t sure if staying at home was right for our family, though I felt it was where I needed to be.

Some time in January, J told me that the decision to stay home or go back to work was up to me.  At that point I knew I wanted to stay home, so I told him so.  He said, “Well, let’s wait until after G’s allergy testing.”  Oooooookay.  Now I felt like he was wanting me to go back to work.  To make a long story short, we had a lovely talk on our date night on March 1st.  J informed me that he felt as though I wanted to go back to work as to not “waste my degrees” and because he knew how much I love being a teacher.  I told him that if we can make it work, that I would prefer to stay home, especially since Genevieve has so many food allergies.  I only made it seem like I was okay with going back because I thought that’s what J wanted.  It’s a good thing we were finally given time to talk!  We agreed that I would continue staying home for as long as I wanted and for as long as it makes sense for our family.  I do see myself teaching again one day in some capacity (other than teaching my own children), but I am so thankful for this time with my daughter.  Teaching will always be there.    

Kisses

For the longest time, J and I have been trying to get Genevieve to give us kisses.  We model on her.  We model with each other, which creates the funniest faces from G.  We give her ample time to practice, but kisses to her usually mean the sound made when calling the cat. 

Earlier this week as I was making dinner in the kitchen, J was playing with Genevieve in the family room.  He let out a loud, boisterous laugh, so naturally I asked him what caused such a reaction.  He said G gave him a kiss!  We knew it would happen one day, and that day had finally come.  Sadly, there was no repeat performance. 

Yesterday it was my turn.  G and I were playing, and I asked her for a kiss.  She obliged with a mouth open touching my face kind of action.  A kiss!  I can't even begin to explain the rush of love that raced through my body.  She indulged me several more times throughout the day but ignored her father's requests that evening. 

Today, my birthday of all days, she was disinterested in giving kisses.  J tried to coax one from her when he got home from work.  I told him not to feel bad because she hadn't given me a single one all day.  I was nursing Genevieve to sleep, and she was acting very restless and silly.  At one point she was repeatedly hitting me as she nursed.  She kept getting on and off, so finally I put her milk away.  She kept making the eat sign and pointing at my chest (she refused to make the milk sign anymore).  I obliged after the third frantic request for more milk.  After a few sips, she put her hands on my shoulders, pulled herself up to her knees, and gave me a kiss on my cheek.  I laughed, and Genevieve threw her head back in laughter.  It almost seemed like a thank you for giving in to her request.  Of course since her kiss garnered such a positive response, she kept doing it.  She kissed my nose, my mouth, my cheek again.  I kissed her, which made her squeal. 

Sometimes I get frustrated that getting Genevieve to fall asleep takes so much time and effort, but tonight I was reminded of the worth of that time and effort.  I laid her in her crib where she quickly and soundlessly drifted off to sleep. 

[Okay, okay.  I made that last part up.  Here is the reality if you so desire:  I laid her in her crib where she didn't even make a fuss.  Progress.  I rested my hand on her, and she held on to it.  She kept kicking her feet and moving around a bit.  She stuck her arms and legs through the slats to touch me.  She got one foot stuck, and I had to help her get it back into the crib.  I could see that she wasn't going to fall asleep this way because she is a stomach and side sleeper.  I asked her if she'd like to be on her belly and then flipped her over, patted her back a little, and rested my hand on her as she shifted her body several times trying to get comfortable.  I took my hand away and waited.  She continued to move her legs.  I waited for the cry.  When it didn't come after a minute or two, I quietly left the room.  About two minutes later I heard the cry.  I waited to see if she'd settle, and she did in less than a minute.  Another two minutes pass, and she cries again.  She does this sometimes as she's trying to get to sleep.  She was quiet after less than two minutes, so I didn't go in to comfort her.  Her sleep has improved greatly, and I am thankful for her rest and my time to get things done and fill my own bucket.]