Pulling out all the stops

I have recently found the most magical battery-operated piece of machinery on earth. A playmat. Wow, if I would have known it would bring this much joy to Hallie I would have bought one while I was pregnant and played on it myself. Lol! A very good investment...these days I am investing in my sanity, and this was definitely a wise one. Hours and hours of pure baby entertainment. I found out yesterday that she is not a fan of sitting still and reading books at this point in babyhood. We tried rocking in the chair outside, rocking inside, standing up, sitting down, eating, reading, talking, playing, swinging....she was just not having it. Cue light bulb over my head...A PLAYMAT! Yes, that's what she needs. So we were off to get one. I brought it in and immediately assembled it and laid her down in the jungle. To my delight, she started smiling and kicking! Success!!! Riley commented that it looked like she was doing her own aerobics routine while she was down there. So if you all want a free workout video...here ya go. Just do as Hallie does. But I'm not sure how well it works, because her legs are a bit chubby.;)

Baby Aerobics

"Whoa, coolest toy ever!"

There is a lot to catch up on so I'll start from where we left off last. What was it, Sunday?? Gosh, I'm slacking on you grandparents. Sorry! So Sunday.....Riley had me crying at lunch. Tears of laughter that wouldn't stop. He decided it would be a funny idea to feed me my lunch just to bug me. That was the annoying part. The funny part was when I was talking to him about portion control and he helped me out a little. Had to show you all his version of portion control....

My plate...5 whole kernels of corn!

As he was serving me the food, he accidentally dropped 6 kernels on my plate but quickly took one away. Next he went on to demonstrate portion "out of control"...

His plate

Thanks for clarifying that babe! By the way, I definitely ate more than that. The rest of Sunday was really uneventful as is every Sunday. Riley worked all afternoon in the garage and Hal and I enjoyed the nice weather outside for a bit. Riley informed me Sunday that he and Hallie had a talk and she would really appreciate if mommy would change all of her diapers from now on because she gets embarrassed when he changes them. Nice try dad. Sunday night we decided that we would all start sleeping in the bedroom to prepare for my return to work and us sharing baby duty at night. We still aren't starting that part yet but we need to get her used to the bassinet again so it's not a nightmare the first night before I go back to work. Work should be a cuss word. It's just bad. Sounds bad, is bad. Just bad. Yuck! 

Monday was a day of shopping. Weddings, weddings, and more weddings coming up! We ventured to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to tackle the wedding registries. Oh, how I hate registries. I love buying gifts, just hate finding the wanted items! Geez, could they make it any more difficult to find the items on the lists!? Hallie and I had to search from three different registries which literally took 90 minutes. I don't think I will ever take a baby back to that store with me. The aisles are about wide enough for a mouse to fit through and everything is just crammed in there. Organization people!!!! Ever heard of it? Yeah, sure you have signs that say "kitchen basics" but that doesn't help much! Well we eventually made it out with everything and headed over to where else but Hobby Lobby. I actually managed to walk out the door with only two items. It felt like I was saying "haha, in your face Hobby Lobby, you don't have control over me!"

We have had to give up our morning walks here recently due to the chilly temps...so we have traded for a long afternoon walk which is actually better than the morning. No dew-covered dog to deal with.

Sleeping patterns have not been great lately. In fact, I don't think they can be considered patterns if they have no rhyme or reason to them. So our sleeping chaos has been rather strange lately. I think I mentioned before that she has boycotted daytime naps for the time being. Literally the only naps that she takes are movement induced 15 minute power naps. Movement induced naps don't count because they are either brought on my mommy driving or mommy pushing the stroller. None of these naps allow me to get a nap so they don't count. ;)  

Bad dog behavior has been spreading like wildfire at the Fanning house lately. They are about to be in the Fanning doghouse if it doesn't stop soon. It's monkey see, monkey do. Or in our case, Golden Retriever see, Golden Retriever do. Riley and I honestly think that Lucy may have developmental delay. You are probably laughing, but I really do think there is something mentally wrong with that dog. She is six years old, with the mind of a one year old. She mimics every bad behavior that she sees. I imagine them sneaking into Hallie's room the second I leave the house and grabbing as many toys out of her toy basket as they can. They bring them into the living room and have a toy feast. I come home to pieces of rings all over the floor and when I pick it up off the floor and look at them, they BOTH cower down with their tails between their legs. Both have been caught red-handed. The solution is easy: move the toys up high or close the door. Wish I could remember to do either of those. I'm just waiting for the day that we have to lay toy octopus to rest because Emmi has been drooling at that toy for awhile now. ;)

Sniffing her prey

Another week of 14 hour days for Riley. He is starting to wear thin I think. Poor guy needs a vacation! It just kills him not to be able to have time to spend with Hallie. Last night he had just about enough time to give us both a kiss hello, eat dinner, shower, and go to bed. :( Since yesterday was a long day for dad, we decided to meet Grammy at the mall after her day o' fun at the hospital...yet again! More tests, more fun! We met her at the mall after her haircut and shopped around a bit. For Hallie of course! She was spoiled yet again this week! She was being a tad bit dramatic as we were checking out in one store...she yawned real big and then at the end of her yawn she threw her head back and let out a drama queen cry! It always sounds like she is hollering "HEY!" She got a pretty new Christmas dress, some cute boots, a new hat, a blankie, and a bunch of comfy daycare clothes. Shopping for her is becoming an addiction. I may need a mall intervention soon. But just wait until after Christmas to save me, okay?

Hallie sat on Grammy's lap and stared at the lights and the sounds. Everything seemed so fascinating by the look on her face. Grammy entertained Hallie while I grabbed something to eat since I knew Riley would be home late. My mom had to listen to my incessant question asking as we were walking around "mom, is she getting heavy? Are you getting tired?" "Do you need to put her down?" Most of you know that I am a bit over-protective of my mother...she forces me to be that way!

"Hey Grammy, bangs were a good way to go."

Hallie's Corner

I want to invite all of you to my aerobics classes. I can't really give you an exact time though, that's the problem. I do my aerobics when mom decides to put me on my playmat. So you will all just have to be on-call. I have been self-trained and we will focus mostly on flexibility and leg strength. Trust me, it's a quality workout. I am 10 weeks old and fully capable of leading a well-rounded class. Bring your own mat though, there is just enough room for one baby on my mat as you can see below... 

"Dad, you are interrupting my class!"

Mom and I have been doing a lot of shopping this week. She dragged me to this big store with lots of cooking stuff the other day. I thought we would never leave that place. A bowl is a bowl and a measuring cup is a measuring cup. Mom, just grab one and let's get on with our lives. She only knocked two things off of the shelves with the basket so that was an improvement from our previous shopping trips. She better be careful or she may just take out an entire ceramic display in Hobby Lobby someday if she doesn't watch it. She blames it on being short and not being able to see over my carseat. Maybe she needs to buy some of those "shape-up" shoes to give her a couple extra inches!

I have been in a funk these last couple days. There are two possible causes: The dogs keep stealing my toys and chewing them up. I have these pretty link rings that are similar to their toys and they get them confused. I would really like it if mom would put a "NO DOGS ALLOWED" sign on my door. Ugh! I also think it might be because I've been gaining weight like crazy and I am a little self-conscious about the rolls on my legs. Mom loves to kiss on them but it's embarrassing to me. How am I going to get a boyfriend at daycare with these chubby thighs. Mom says that babies are supposed to have chubby legs but moms have to say that stuff to their babies. Speaking of daycare, I hear that there are two one-year-old boys there. I wonder if they are cute. They are leaps and bounds ahead of me in development. Maybe they can teach me a thing or two. Mom and dad say that I should start trying to roll any day now. Mom got out her old school stuff...the binder was titled pediatric physical therapy...whatever that means! I listened as she read dad a list of milestones that I would reach and around what age I would achieve each one. Looks like rolling is coming up soon and I don't want to disappoint. I was surprised to hear that I would be bringing my feet to my mouth sometime in the next couple months. GROSS! Why would I want to do that? Maybe only boys do that!

As I type this, I should be at a continuing education course at work, but there will be more of those that come along...there won't be more time at home with a tiny Hallie so I chose to stay home. Plus I would have had to take her with me. Not sure if the course instructor would have appreciated that. She already thinks we are a bunch of crazies as it is. It probably would have been nice to give my brain a jump start though since it has been in hibernation for over two months. Hallie is doing more aerobics right now under her jungle tent and loving the lights, sounds and animals. Wow, there was a squealing sound I've never heard her make before. This is funny stuff! The tables have turned and she is entertaining me now! 

Playmat = happy baby.

Happy baby = happy mommy.

Happy mommy = happy daddy.

All is well.