Hair

We are too tired to post anything of substance but here are a few pictures I snapped of Alaina's hair tonight. It's so weird. ;)

I tried the single pony but she doesn't do well with the Pebbles look. 

But she has the cutest little pig tails you've ever seen. Though of course you can't tell from the front. 

Her hair does smooth out in back and can go from ringlets to flips with a good amount of brushing. 

Wheelhouses

I talked to Chad and Alaina earlier tonight. She was so cute when she figured out I was on the other end of the phone. She blew me kisses and kept saying "mama" over and over again. 

My wheelhouse has definitely changed. I'm at a conference in Oakland right now and it just makes me realize that this is not what I'm very good at currently. I am not saying that I was ever the stellar superstar researcher/networker (I wasn't) but at one point I could at least form coherent sentences. It's weird that I feel like I'm more knowledgeable on things like car seat safety, breastfeeding, and RIE parenting than my own research area (I do know a lot about baby stuff...seriously). I keep thinking it's going to get better but it hasn't so far. I make a lot of excuses for myself (I'm tired/sleep deprived/it's hard being a woman in academia) but I'm also fully aware that I have a number of amazing colleagues who are working moms who do great and bounce back a lot faster than I have. They give talks and network and it seems effortless. Somehow I became even more socially awkward and unsure of myself in the last few years. It's silly. But yet, there it is. I went back and forth about posting this tonight but I truly like for this blog to be snapshots of real life, be that good or bad. I may eventually take it down. But for now, I thought it was important to say. I think some of it is just the conference itself. On a day to day basis, I feel pretty good. My lab is really productive, my classes go well, and I enjoy my friends and colleagues. And Alaina is doing great and I know I'm a good mom. But when I come to these events and am surrounded by folks who have so much knowledge and insight (and have found the time to read and write!), they remind me of all the things I feel like I *should* be able to do, I easily forget the things that are going okay. There is definitely competing thoughts about needing to be kinder to myself and also really needing to push myself to do better. Both are true. 

Anyhow. Here's a photo the night before I left. I think Alaina was trying to convince me I could fit her in my carryon luggage. 

And a picture from the bay. The weather has been really amazing. 

September sweetheart

So these were taken a few weeks ago--actually right around the last time we had to keep Alaina from school. I dropped her off and as I was walking out the door, they let me know that Alaina had thrown up. So we came home and played. She was actually fine all day. 

This was a different day. She gets sooooo dirty. Apparently she likes to scoot down a dirt pile. 

Such a sweet baby

We had a lot of stuff going on this week and I have more photos and videos to post but I just had to share these tonight.  I'm just feeling a little sappy about how fortunate we are to have such a lovely little person in our lives. Make sure you watch the videos. She's a sweetheart.

Sweet (& smart!!) cuddle bug

I've had lots of time to cuddle my sweet girl this last week or so. Between cutting 5 new teeth (teething seems to take an eternity) and allergies/cold (with a worse than usual cough), our good little sleeper has been waking up most every night lately. But she's so cuddly and sweet that I almost don't even mind feeling like a zombie during the day. 

Seriously. This laugh is ridiculous. I don't think anyone could be grumpy after hearing her. Instant mood brightener. It's truly hard for me to imagine a sweeter, funnier little girl.

Last weekend we went to Zio's with cousin Avery. The service was terrible and the food was mediocre but the company was wonderful. :)

Alaina got her belly full.

Avery loves her baby Waina. 

Silliness runs in the family. 

In addition to being silly, Alaina is starting to show just how much she's learning all the time. She isn't using a tremendous amount of expressive language (she has approximately 22 recognizable words) but her receptive skills are really developing! Last week Chad had her in the nursery while I finished making dinner. He sat in the glider and asked her to bring him a Mirabelle book (cutest books ever). He wasn't terribly surprised when she brought him her favorite, Mirabelle and the butterfly. But then she turned around and retrieved Mirabelle and the bouncy red ball and Mirabelle goes for a walk. So he asked her to bring You are my cupcake, which she did. He named five books and she got them all on the first try. I did a similar thing this weekend with her Little People animals. She loves the goat.

She also knows some body parts (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly) and is great at following simple instructions. What has been crazy for us is realizing she sometimes picks up this stuff after only hearing it once! This is all appropriate and expected milestones but it somehow still floors us. I am often finding myself thinking "wow. She can do that?!?"

In other growing up news, on Sunday, baby girl snuck into the guest room and snatched a pillow. I promptly ordered her a toddler pillow on Amazon though I'm not sure if I will actually give it to her yet. She started using a pillow at school last month due to her congestion. We just haven't introduced it yet at home. 

Alaina isn't the only one who likes this set-up.

And finally, these are just 2 cute videos of her showing off her mad dance moves.

Outside

I'll be honest. Sometimes I have no idea what I'd do with Alaina all day, every day. We love hanging out with her but also wonder what we are supposed to be doing. So she ends up playing with streamers. ;) She loves the streamers. Fortunately, she seems pretty happy.

Lately most of the day is spent with her standing by the back door yelling "SIDE. SIDE. OUTSIDE. Mommy OutSIDE!" We don't even have anything exciting out there--unless you count our graveyard of dead herbs. But she loves it. She doesn't care that it's 102 degrees.

Jasper also loves being outside but the heat makes him tired.

Labor Day weekend

We had a really great holiday weekend! I hope y'all did, too. On Saturday, Alaina and I went shoe shopping with my friend, Ricki (it was way past time. Apparently you're supposed to get new tennis shoes every six months. I'm on the six year plan as I got my trusty sketchers in July 2007). Alaina was a little crazy. We ended up letting her out of the stroller and she ran down the aisles, picking up shoes and laughing (as I was driving home I had thoughts about how I couldn't believe I was that mom. But oh well.) Afterward, we all went out for gelato. 

Yum. 

We also just spent a lot of time playing and laughing. That's what weekends are for now. These were photos that were taken when Alaina was supposed to be napping. 

Alaina loves Madeline. Madeline loves being petted but she still seems a little unsure about the screaming toddler. We are so lucky that Madeline is good natured and patient. 

Because there is a lot of screaming. 

But it's worth it. 

Maybe. 

Today we took Alaina to the Wondertorium, which is like a children's museum. Most of it is geared for kids older than Alaina but she ended up having a lot of fun. 

The Wondertorium does have a designated room for kids under 2 as well. Alaina was a bit more interested in all of the shoes (kids and adults take their shoes off, like in a play place) than playing with the new toys. 

She really loved the feel of the gym mats!

We got to see her practice climbing stairs, something she doesn't get at home. 

She also got to splash at the water table and took what may be my most favorite photo yet. Look at that face!!!

Finally, she enjoyed "grocery shopping". Her bag was super healthy! After the Wondertorium, we actually went grocery shopping ourselves. By the time we got home, she was really wound up. I think she's ready to be back in her routine. I'm sure she will be very excited to go to "skuu" (how she says school) tomorrow.