margaretyagan

I finally had a good night’s sleep — mostly because I could actually breathe!  I woke up at 6:00 and got to take a shower with her in the shower, which made me feel even better.  We went downstairs and I got my hands on a box of tissue — and took every last one out of the box.  But hey, I learned how to wipe my own nose!

I had a pretty small bottle at 7:00 and had some prunes and O’s to round out breakfast.

Did I mention…IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!?  Woo!   And Mom took the day off to celebrate with me!

I took a good nap and woke up in a much better mood.  I got my very first birthday gift: a set of new plastic cups!  I used them to drink my water and milk with lunch, which also included succotash and beans and rice.

After lunch we went for a walk to Letizia’s to celebrate my birthday.  Well, it turned out to be a celebration for me much more than it was for Mom.  It all started when Mom bought me a birthday cupcake.  Processed sugar is so yummy!  Anyway, the cupcake frosting was sooooo good — way better than the cake itself.  While I had my hands in the frosting I noticed a woman walking right by our table wearing a very nice black coat.  A black coat that I thought would look a lot better decorated with…cupcake frosting!  I smeared my hand right across her coat and offered a little giggle, too.  Mom sprung to action and helped clean her coat and offering to pay for it to be dry cleaned.  While she was busy attending to that, I took the plate with the cake on it and — threw it on the floor, the plate breaking to a million little pieces.  Hey, it’s my birthday!

We then went to my 1-year doctor’s appointment.  Well, I have a cold so I couldn’t get any of my vaccinations and the office’s blood test machine was broken, so I managed to escape any needles!

My checkup went great!  The doctor said about me, “she’s good at growing!”  I weighed in at 22 lb, 9 oz (75th percentile), 30 inches long (75th percentile) and 18.5″ head circumference (90th percentile).  So, I got a lot taller and a more proportional head over the last few months.  That works for me!

When we got home, I totally refused my bottle (Mom, Dad – can you give up on the bottle already!?) but had some O’s before my nap.  I got up and played for a while and then got a surprise birthday visit from Nana and Grandpa Yagan.  They brought me a couple really great gifts: colored blocks (which I loved!) and a ball popper (which I hated!).  I had a great time seeing them and of course playing with my new toys.

Dinner was pretty standard, except that now that I’m a toddler, Mom shared carrots from soup with me.  I hope I get to eat more table food from now on!  All in all, I had a great birthday.  I’m hoping to have them more often!

I had a really  rough night — I think I’m coming down with a cold!  I couldn’t really breathe very well and I was up extra-early, at 5:30.  Luckily I’m not coughing or running a fever, so no one’s too worried.

On top of being a bit out of it due to my cold, Mom and I came downstairs to find…Rachel!?  No Nana, no Grandma.  Rachel!  I had fun with Rachel and even cooperated with her attempt to give me a bottle.  At around 7:15, Nana came by and took over for Rachel.

My nap was shortened by my inability to breathe too well.  I was congested, sneezing, and had a runny nose.  I was in a terrible mood and refused to eat lunch.  Nana was very understanding, and I got to eat extra O’s!

Mom got home and I still wasn’t any better.  I was drooling, hoarse, and still congested.  Mom let me eat flavored yogurt.  Dad had hoped to make it to my first birthday without any processed food, but Mom overruled him, citing my health needs!

Mom let me play with her purse and I got a bath, both of which helped!

I got up with Mom in the morning  and was in a great mood.  I had a couple of my favorites for breakfast: a hard-boiled egg and strawberry oatmeal.  I even drank a 4 ounce bottle, too.  Nana and I went downstairs after my nap and played on the carpet, which I really like.  I even got to eat lunch there because the dining room was being cleaned.  I had a very dairy-intensive lunch: a cup of milk, cheese sauce, and yogurt.

Then we went for a walk.  It was sunny but much colder than it looked.  I pretty much rejected  my afternoon bottle, but loved the fruit and cereal I got instead.  I like this whole assertive thing.

The morning was relatively uneventful — except that it was raining really, really hard, again.  What a wet weekend!  After my morning nap, Mom, Dad, and I got our stuff together and hopped in the car heading toward….chinatown!  It turns out we (even me) were invited to Dad’s friend Chris’s birthday party.  He’s turning 32.  32!  That’s sooooooooo old! 

We had dim sum at Phoenix.  It looked really good, but I just ate my regular food.   I don’t think I’ve ever even had Chinese food!  I’ve had Thai and Indian, but not Chinese.  It was pretty fun.  Too bad Mom and Dad didn’t bring my shoes, because I really wanted to walk around a bunch with the other kids at the other tables.  I got fussy toward the end, but otherwise I think I did pretty well!

We went straight from Phoenix to Target, where I got a couple new shirts and a whole bunch of diapers.

The rest of the day was full of a lot of hanging out, with some napping and eating all mixed in together.  I did have some fun playing with peas (check out my snazzy outfit!):

This morning I got up with Dad and after a quick bottle, we made a beeline for Dominick’s.  We were one of the few people in the store at 6:30 am!  The nice woman at the deli gave me a slice of cheese again, just like she did last week.  The deli is now my favorite part of the store!

After we finished up, we  stopped at the Red Hen Bakery again — which meant that we were going to have friends over brunch.  See, I figure things out pretty quickly!

We got home just in time for breakfast.  While I was eating, Mom came downstairs and took over feeding me while Dad started to work on making brunch.  We all played downstairs and then at 9:00, Dad took me up to my room and put me down for my nap.

When I got up Mom changed my clothes and brought me downstairs to play.  Around 11:15, our visitors arrived — I was so happy to see that my Mom’s and Dad’s friends Greg and Emily brought their son and my friend Conor!  I hadn’t seen Conor since last summer and we’ve both grown so much.  I’m jealous that he can walk!  Here are a few videos of us!

I was so sad when Conor had to leave! I had so much fun and I can’t wait to see him again. I hung out with Mom & Dad and then Mom left for a while and I hung out with Dad until my nap time. I got up and was glad to see Mom back, but then Dad left for a while, too. Finally we were all back together again and played until bedtime. Here’s proof:

See? Fun!

I got up Friday morning just in time to say bye-bye (literally!) to Mom before she left for work.  I hung out in the bathroom while Dad took a shower…and discovered the roll of toilet paper!  I unrolled almost the whole thing and ate at least a square inch or two before Dad could get out of the shower and stop me!

Dad got up with me and fed me breakfast before Nana came over.  Dad took an hour off of work to go an open house at a pre-school that I might attend: Near North Montessori! Apparently it’s really hard to get in — there are only 3 spots open in the toddler community and seven spots open in the infant community.

I had a really fun time with Nana.  We read and then I took a good nap from 9:15 to 11:00.  After lunch (broccoli risotto!), Nana and I went out for a walk in the beautiful sun!  It was so nice and there were so many kids and dogs out.  We were out for well over an hour and we had a really fun time.

After I got up from my nap, I spent some time down in the office with Dad until Mom came home.  For some reason, bath time became a photo (and video!) shoot:

Mom got me out of my crib this morning and I hung out with her while she got ready for work. I was in a great mood when came over. We played and read and had a great time! Around 11:00, I was so surprised when Dad got home! Apparently he would have gotten home last night and gotten up with me this morning if he hadn’t been on some TV show. Whatever!

I ate a little earlier than usual and then Dad, Nana, and I hopped in the car and took off for Northwestern, to go to a doctor’s appointment with Grandpa. I visited him in his recovery room six weeks ago and now I got to go with him to his first checkup. I behaved really well when the doctor was in the room — mostly because Dad stuffed me with cheerios to keep me distracted.

When Grandpa’s appointment ended, I crawled right out of the room and all over the office. Luckily people didn’t mind the distraction and kept telling me how cute I am! Wow, if I’m cute I just get to break all the rules? I like this!

We got back home and Dad went down into the office to work. Nana and I played together until my nap time, which was uneventful. Mom got home while I was eating dinner and I played with her until bed time.

Today was a run of the mill wonderful day. Not too much to report, other than I got to ea mango today. I also had a rare leaky diaper during my morning nap. Nana and I also ventured out into Wicker Park for an hour, but it was much colder than I remember it being last week. What happened!?!?

Today is the first square day of my life 3/3/9.  Dad is determined to make a math nerd out of me that he’s already looking ahead to 4/4/16 — can you believe I’ll be 8?  I might even know what a perfect square is…if Dad gets his way.

I’ve decided that one of my favorite foods is a hard-boiled egg.  Perfect consistency for finger-fooding, easy to chew, and flavorful.  I’m also really getting into a great schedule.  My 9:00 nap happens really consistently and even if I don’t fall asleep right away, I usually keep myself entertained until I finally doze off.

On the other hand, I hate “confetti slaw” — it is so disgusting!  It’s made of zucchini, apples, red pepper, and balsamic vinegar.  I used to tolerate it, but tonight when Mom tried to feed it to me, I spit it out and then picked the regurgitant and threw it on the floor.  Take that, Mom!

It was really cold today! Since I couldn’t go outside, I spent a bunch of time looking out the window watching for people, dogs, and cars to go by. Luckily, we live on a busy street, so there was plenty to look at. Nana and I read the entire “Brainy Baby” series today and I took a 2.5 hour nap in the morning.