Allison Update

I'm so long overdue for an Allison update. She had her 15 month well visit two weeks ago, and I meant to do it then, but time gets away from me somehow.

For all of you moms who are interested, she is 33% in weight and 83% in height - long and lean! She totally didn't get that from me! However, she did get my long torso and short legs (I'm so sorry, baby!). This percentage ratio plus my body type have made it extra challenging for me to find clothes that fit her. She needs 18M tops to fit her torso, but since she is so skinny they swallow her. But she wears 12M pants for the waist (and some of those are STILL to big) but they are the right length. I laugh when I see 18M pants and hold them up to her. The hem of the pants go past her toes when they are pointed. There's just no way those are going to fit anytime soon. That's why I put her in dresses so often - no worries about length or waist size! However, she now wears a size 5 in shoes, which I think is either big or average for her age.

Allison has also gotten her 8th tooth this week. She now has the top four and bottom four. I'm convinced that I will see more though very soon. Today she was running a low fever and is very - I repeat, VERY - grumpy. She's been on a one nap schedule for a few weeks, and we've been very successful at it. Today, though, she really needed some extra rest (or maybe that was just me!) and so I let her take a 30 minute morning nap with the assumption that she would wake up maybe not happy, but at least content. Boy was I wrong!! Almost from the moment I took her out of her crib I could tell that she was in one of her moods. That's also when I noticed that she felt extra warm, so that may have something to do with it. So I started to think of things that make her happy. First on the list - a Ritz cracker and some juice. The juice was rejected but she held onto the cracker like it was a lifeline. I sat her on a chair to eat the precious cracker and went to put something away in the kitchen and she immediately starts wailing. So I pick her up and rocked her while she sobbed. At some point she drops her cracker and I pick it up and take a small bite of it to show her how good it is which was the WRONG thing to do apparently because that bumped up the crying to screaming. Ok, so what else does she like? Baths! I start running the water and try to take off her shirt but she is still clutching the cracker which wont fit through the sleeve so I have to take it away very briefly, but you can guess the reaction. Once the tub is filled, I put her in and start showing her toys, but she continues to cry and just wants to get out so I grab her and hold her again, but this time my shirt gets all wet! Plan three - Praise Baby! After the failed attempt at a bath, I wrap her in her duck towel and put her on the couch (cracker in hand!) and I turn on her favorite Praise Baby DVD. She looked so cute in her duck towel, though, that I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures before I ran to get her diaper and a change of clothes. At some point between the time I took the picture and got back with her diaper she managed to pee on my couch (sigh) but she HAS started eating her cracker finally! This day is not over, and I fully expect more drama tonight. In fact, she's crying in her crib right now - just an hour into her 2 hour nap time.



Allison is also talking more than I expect her to. Her favorite thing is animal noises. She currently knows: cow, dog, chicken, monkey, duck, lion, snake, and sheep. I haven't managed to get it on video yet, but about once a day she'll actually perform and do all of them when asked. As far as actual words, she says: sit down, cracker, Maggie (Maaaaa), shoes, no, yeah, baby, diaper, kiss, ball, wow, and of course mama and daddy. She is starting to imitate words now, too. Last night I was babysitting for a little girl named Rylee, and I asked Allison to say her name and she responded with "ReRe". So cute!

Watch out! She can also find her belly button, and YOURS! She likes to lift her her shirt and peek at her belly-b, and then lift yours up as well! Or, if you're really lucky like me, she'll pull out the top of your shirt while you're holding her to see if she can see it from that angle! :)

Lately she has gotten much pickier about what she will eat. I sooo miss the days that she would cram anything into her mouth that I put on her tray. The child wont even eat mashed potatoes! That's not American! One thing that I've discovered that really helps is ketchup! She LOVES to dip about anything in it! It's messy, but at least she eats!



No more time for updates, since she is now up from her nap and banging on my keyboard! Sorry I don't have more pictures!

2009 Book List

I've always loved to read, but this year I can't seem to get enough. Here are the books I've read so far this year (in no particular order). After I finish the one I've got, I'll have finished everything in the house that I would find interesting. I've got some gift cards to Borders, so if you have any suggestions (based on what you can see that I like below) I'd love to hear them!

1. Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky
2. Emma - Jane Austen
3. Persuasion - Jane Austen
4. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
5. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
6. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
7. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
8. The Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
9. The Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards
10. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
11. About a Boy - Nick Hornby
12. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
13. To the Golden Shore - Courtney Anderson
14. The Testament - John Grisham
15. Same Kind of Different As Me
16. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (reading now)

Holiday Card Designs

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had some fabulous holiday cards lined up for this year, and they are now ready to be debuted! Take a look at your amazing selection! What do you guys think??

The "Divine" collection comes in either a fresh look with greens, blues, and browns or I can change them to a more traditional red and green design. The possibilities are endless!! The rest of the patterns are in a classic vintage style that is very popular this year. This is going to be a tough decision, but you can't go wrong.

Each style is printed front and back on a nice card-stock paper (envelopes included). The gray area represents where a photo will be placed. Book your holiday session soon and take advantage of these amazing designs!!

www.kristinbarnettphotography.com

p.s. - take a look at my site to check out my new logo!!

My First Boo Boo :(

Last night Allison took her first really "bad" tumble outside. I knew it would happen eventually since she inherited my grace. She does not do very well with steps, so it's no surprise that a step was her downfall - quite literally. She was attempting to step up onto our brick porch and only got about half of her foot up so her foot slipped backward and she slammed her forehead on the ground. Ouch! I didn't witness it (thank goodness Frank was with her), but I heard the "I'm hurt" cry all the way from the other side of the house. I took some pictures of her owie while she bathed. I promise it looked worse in person, and that I'm only over-parenting a little. You may have to enlarge the image to see it. She's still pretty cute, though, and not worse for the wear!



















New topic. Allison is now cutting another tooth - maybe more than one. The last two nights she has gotten up crying multiple times, and that is SO unlike her. We have to go and sit with her for about 30 minutes, give her warm milk, and some more Motrin in order for her to calm down (Motrin only once a night). She'll be exhausted and asleep on my shoulder but the second her head hits the mattress she starts screaming again. On top of that, today she came down with runny nose that resembles a faucet. I'm sure all of this is related to teething, and Frank and I have decided that we hate this particular tooth. None of her other teeth have given her this many problems, and quite frankly, we miss our sleep. I think we are both having flashbacks to about a year ago. Does anyone know how long before the mystery tooth will appear? Is there an average time between when these symptoms start and when we finally see it? I'm dying to know what I'm in for. So far tonight has not been any better. We finally put her down at 9:00 (an hour late) and she's been in there crying for about 20 minutes now. I'm guessing this is going to be another long night. *sigh* I better be off to bed if I'm going to be of any use.

The Sleeper Tent

Emily has requested more info on the sleeper tent, so here you go! A friend told me about these (thanks, Shannon!) so I can't take credit for the great find. They fold down into a small circle and only weigh one pound! They also come with a matching bag that all the pieces fit in. We like it better than the pack-n-play because it's going to be SO easy to travel with. It also has an inflatable mattress that zips into the bottom of the tent, so it's really comfy! I'd say the only drawback is that it's a bit expensive (I think), but it's worth it if she'll sleep out of her own crib. It's made by Kidco for those of you interested.