Fave-O-Lit Friday

Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there
~Thomas Fuller~

Quail Day: Signing Time

 

The more sign made a reappearance last thursday during EI! We had it months ago and then for some reason it seemed to disappear and little to no signing has continued other than the basics of up-up. Monique thought most likely it has to do with the movement towards crawling. She said children tend to get quieter and even appear to regress when they are working on major motor milestones. She said she has known many speech therapists who won’t work with children until they are walking because of the expectation that children won’t talk much until after they have mastered walking. Well, during EI Jodie was ticklin the belly of the baby and she was giggling out loud. When Jodie stopped the Quail’s eye’s trained on her in anticipation of more. When Jodie asked if she wanted more, sure enough the little fingers came together at midline, again and again and again. So very sweet. There were also a number of standing up, leaning in goopy, open-mouthed kisses after multiple requests to “Give Momma a Kiss”. It’s my favorite therapy to practice. And don’t get me wrong- that therapy is all mine!

corner view: animals!

With a moo, and a baa and a quack, quack quack come see our other furry and feathered friends!

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,

Zuzu Day

This weeks top-conversation (via the telephone):

Momma: Hi Zuzu- Momma misses you so much!

Zuzu: Momma- Daddy and I looked everywhere here for you. You aren’t here. Are you there?

Momma: Yes Zuzu- I’m there

Zuzu: Are you coming here right now?

Momma: No Zuzu, Momma has to stay there for a couple more days.

Zuzu: Uh-huh, Did you go there by airport?

Momma, No Zuzu, I went there by car.

Zuzu: Momma, did you go there by gold car?

Momma: Yes Zuzu, I drove gold car.

Zuzu: Do you have the purple spider trip picture I painted you Momma?

Momma: Yes Zuzu, I have it right here- It’s so pretty, thanks so much!

Zuzu, Uh-huhhhh…Momma I pooped in the potty. Can I have gummies?

Momma: Good job Zu! Absolutely you can have gummies!

Zuzu: Uh-huhhh, ok, actually Momma, I have to go now. Martha’s speaking right now.

Gratitude Journal

1. more more signing

2. a giggling feverish baby

3. new baby shoes

4. sparkly pink summer sandals

5. ham croquettes!

6. greek yogurt

7. the smell of spring wafting indoors

8. Game on! Sorta….

9. 7 lbs gone!

10. our first peony!

11. training for a great new job

12. reconnecting with old co-workers

13. a supportive team

14. excellent pathology reports for family and friends

15. Award miles bringing loved ones closer

16. yellow cake with caramal and ganache

17. impossible dreams from 3 year olds

18. getting to hug my familyafter an absense

19. Sweet Cyrena helping to tend the nest

20. talking on the phone to Zuzu

21. a coconut donut gift

Quail Day: Sucking up

That’s our girl dutifully tucking in her chin while she sucks up kefir in her honey bear! Way to go Quail! We’ve been thickening her breastmilk with a variety of foods- mangos, prunes, pears, cinnamon to coax her into complying with Sarah Rosenfeld Johnson’s straw hirearchy. We regularly lecture on the virtues of the chintuck and the importance of it during drinking to her overall health. But try explaining the physics of a straw to a nine-month old. It’s been slow going. The beauty of the flexi-straw in the honey bear is our ability to squeeze some of the liquid up into her mouth. We’ve been working on it since October. We’ve gotten good lip closure and she greets that bear like it’s Yogi Bear come to life when she spies it in any corner of the room. But it wasn’t going much beyond our squeezing the liquid up. And then we realized that Zuzu’s favorite drink was the right consistency for the honey bear- and better yet- Earthfare Grocers sells drinkable plain whole milk yogurt! We added it and voila…she sounded like Maggie Simpson…suck…suck…suck. After one or two more tries with me appling a tiny bit of pressure she managed to start sucking it up without help. We’re still working on straw positioning in her mouth and her not leading into the drink with her tongue. But there is still much happy drinking doing on at our home!

corner view: Earth Day

 

Happy Earth Day friends! Let’s make a deal- We’ll do what we can and you do what you can to preserve this lovely home of ours! It’s never too early to start!

Check out Celebrations all around our groovy globe:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,

Zuzu Day

 

This is one of the first baby doll’s that joined our brood. Both of the girls love her to pieces. I’ve been asking Zuzu since she was able to pick her up what the baby’s name is and typically what she heard was my asking what her name was and so the answer was always Zuzu. Well in the last week or two a new incarnation of baby emerged. This baby, her name is Fabulous. As in,”Mommie- how was fabulous’s day, tell me about her day, tell me what she did. Zuzu has always loved pretend play based on her own reality. She pretends to get the car keys to get ready to go to market to buy kefir. She needs monies to pay for parking. She turns on my pump and then begs to make milk herself. She sits and reads to her sister and dollies pretending to be Miss Chrystil. And the newest game is with Fabulous. I’m Miss Shaina and if I sit still anywhere in the house for more than 30 seconds, she comes strolling in and deposits Fabulous at my feet, kisses her, tells her she loves her and that she’ll be back after work. Then she runs into the hall and hollars, “Miss Shaina, Miss Shaina- tell everyone whose Mommie is coming?” It is then my job as Miss Shaina to  start naming off the kids in her class and asking if their Momma is on her way. Once she shyly enters the room, she then asks for a full report on Fabulous’s day and takes great pride in hearing that Fabulous had a fabulous day- she pooped in the potty, she napped on her mat, she painted a picture of pink hearts, she ate her corn, applesauce and chicken, she played outside and she listened during group time while sitting, ” Criss-cross applesauce, hands in her bowl”. She literally beams with pride over Fabulous’s fabulous day, picks her up, tells, her “Oh my dear, Momma loves you” then gathers her coat and shoes and heads into the hall to start from scratch.