"BA!"

Two of Maisy's favorite words are book and ball.  Whenever she sees one, she expresses herself with one-year-old enthusiasm: "Ba! BA BA BA!"

The giant red concrete balls outside the Target entrance are greeted with "Ba!"

She points at a book on her nursery table: "BA!"

The shining display of oranges at the grocery store earn a frantic "BA BA BA BA BA!!!"

One of my favorite "ba" experiences so far, though, happened Wednesday night.  We got home late from Awana, and Maisy was waaaay overtired.  Attempting to lay her down or even soothe her led to screaming, crying, writhing, and general exhaustion-induced tantrumming.

Rick and I tried the usual tricks - rocking (yeah, right!), reading a bedtime story (just led to sobbing "BAs" whenever we put a book down), checking the diaper, pacing the living room floor, singing, putting on music, just plain leave-the-room distraction - on and on for at least an hour.  

Finally, as I rocked her in the chair in her nursery, she spotted an orange plastic basketball that had rolled under her dresser.  She pointed.  "Ba!!!!!"

So, like any desperate parent, I picked up the toy ball, placed it in Maisy's chubby baby hands, wrapped her up in her blanket, and tucked her in.  When I left the room, Maisy was clutching the hard plastic ball to her chest like any other baby might hold a teddy bear.  

Then, sweet relief.  Maisy drifted off to sleep, to dream of basketballs, exercise balls, ball poppers, and bright displays of grocery store oranges.

"Ba!"

Happy First

I remember holding her for the first time, and how her tiny, perfect features erased all of the chaos and pain and fear of the hours before.  She was just right - pink and crying and beautiful.  My sweet baby.

The first night in that dim hospital room, Rick and I hardly slept.  Every hiccup, every sigh, every whimper was cause to shift and stare, stand and hold our precious girl.

My mom helped me with her first bath at home, a sponge bath on our kitchen table.  We assembled everything - towels, washcloths, baby wash, lotion, diaper, clothes.  I was so careful.  The temperature of the water was triple-checked, each tiny finger given individual attention, her head kept covered and warm as soon as it had been washed.

So many firsts have followed.  The first time we brought her to church.  The first night she slept in her crib.  Her first taste of solid food, first tooth, first walk to the park, first word, first pair of baby jeans, first dip in the lake, first babysitter, first ear infection, first snow, first Christmas, first birthday cake...

I think there must be something special about the first-year firsts.  A year ago this very night, we drove slowly home through dark snowy streets.  We slid her tiny arms into the sleeves of a big yellow blanket sleeper and laid her down to sleep in a bassinet that made her look so very small (and she was!).  First night in her first home.

And here we are: the first year is over.  Maisy is one.  Our little sweetheart is pointing at everything in sight, flipping madly through the pages of books, saying "dada" when she hears the garage door open, voicing her disapproval at being removed from the dog's water dish, bringing a spoon to the same lips that used to make the "kissy face" that we so loved.

I'm not sad, though.  How can I be sad when I think of all the firsts and seconds and thirds yet to come in Maisy's life?  She's growing.  Transforming.  Becoming more independent and vibrant with each passing day.  I'm blessed to be her mommy, to be given this precious baby-girl life with all its incredible, every day firsts.

Happy First, My Maisy.

Love,
Mommy

Great 8: Mommy Moments

I've been such a slacker-blogger lately!  I can try to blame my lack of posts on a more-mobile Maisy and a new tutoring client, but that's probably an excuse.  In any case, here are some top Mommy Moments from the past week, in no particular order (ordering takes time, and I have laundry to switch over and a 9-month-old due to awaken at any moment):

Mommy Moment #1: Snow Baby
First snow of the season last Saturday, so we bundled Maisy up in snow pants, winter jacket, mittens, hat, and shoes (don't own boots yet) to check out the heavy wet flakes. She looked just like the little boy from A Christmas Story. When we tried to set her down in the snow for a photo op we had to push snow up behind her to keep her from falling backwards.

Mommy Moment #2: We Dance
Maisy and I were playing on the floor and listening to some jazzy kiddie tunes the other day.  I found myself bobbing my head side to side in time to the music, and looked over to find Maisy doing the same thing.  Does Maisy dance like Mommy? Or, does Mommy dance like Maisy?

Mommy Moment #3: I Whistle
I dropped Maisy off at a friend's house today and took off for my new 1.5 hour a week position teaching Orton-Gillingham reading.  I suddenly realized I was contentedly whistling along to the Raffi song streaming from the speakers.  No baby in the car, no Raffi, right?  I flipped on the radio, but I'll be the first to admit that the whistling stopped when the Raffi stopped.

Mommy Moment #4: Perfect Timing
Maisy and I were due to be right on time to a doctor's appointment as I buckled her into her car seat.  Just as I clicked the last buckle into place, I sniffed.  Definitely poopy.  Needless to say, we didn't make it to our appointment on time.

Mommy Moment #5: Mega Playdate
Somewhere in the stay-at-home-mom bi-laws, I believe there is a requirement to host playdates for your children, no matter their ages. Of course, for the six moms and as many babies at the playdate I hosted on Wednesday, the moms did a lot more socializing than the babes.  Here's what I learned from hosting my first mega playdate: Six+ babies generate six times the toy mess.

Mommy Moment #6: And Then There Were Three
Teefers that is.  Maisy's third pearly white appeared early Tuesday morning.  So far, no intense teething fussiness.  Now I've probably jinxed myself.

Mommy Moment #7: Maisy's First Babysitter
Other than family and close adult friends.  Maisy's first "real" babysitter was a high school girl from church who knows Maisy from the church nursery.  Rick and I ate at the new Cadillac Ranch restaurant at the Mall of America and shopped a little before heading home to a sleeping baby.  Success!  For the record, neither of us rode the Cadillac Ranch's mechanical bull.

Mommy Moment #8: Double-Digit Woes
Maisy turns 10 months old in less than two weeks.  Double digits are approaching with shocking speed.  I know I'm lame, but how did she get so big so fast?  It really wasn't that long ago that I was waking up every 2 hours to feed her by night, and letting my tiny newborn take naps curled up on my chest by day.  Now here I am, counting her teeth, closing the basement door to keep her from toppling down, and realizing that my little baby is really not so little anymore.  When she was first born, we kept track of her age by hours, then by weeks, and now by months.  Even as I cheer on every new stage of development, I can't help but feel a little sadness with the passing of the time.

Mommy Moment #9: Holiday Cheer
To avoid going out on a melancholy note, I'll add a nine to my great eight.  I am SUPER excited for Christmas.  My Sunday School kiddos are preparing for their Advent Christmas program, my Awana kiddos are practicing Christmas songs for some in-church caroling next month, and I am loving it!  I think I'm as excited for Maisy's first Christmas as I used to get circling the toys I wanted in the JCPenney Christmas catalog each year.  Hopefully I'll sleep better as a mom than I did as a little girl, waiting wide awake at the top of the stairs in the pitch-black early morning of Christmas Day.

Two Highs and a Low

What a busy week! I'll try to sum it up with two high points and a low point from the past week or so.

High: Pumpkin Patching with Maisy

Last Saturday, Rick and I took Maisy to her first apple orchard and pumpkin patch. It was such a beautiful day! Maisy loved every minute of our excursion in spite of a nose that ran like a faucet from sun up to sun down. 

Our camera got a workout. When we first got there, I helped Maisy pose for a picture standing in front of a scarecrow measuring stick reading "how tall this fall." I think it'd be so fun to come back every year to watch her grow (good marketing!). We snapped pictures of Maisy "helping" us pick a giant bag of yummy apples, but my favorite pictures are of Maisy sitting among the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Those bright orange pumpkins got her SO excited that she grinned and bounced her arms up and down in that funny Maisy way. We planned on picking two or three, so of course we came home with four pumpkins that are now perched on our front stoop.

Gorgeous fall weather, happy baby, fun family time... definitely a high point!

High: Maisy's Baptism

We were blessed to have so many family and friends come to church and our home yesterday for Maisy's baptism. It had been a debate since before she was born whether or not we would baptize or dedicate her (in the Evangelical Covenant Church, parents can choose). I had been dedicated as a baby and baptized when I was older, but Rick, growing up Catholic, had been baptized as a baby. All complicating factors aside, I probably would have chosen dedication, but it was important to Rick's mom to baptize Maisy. So, after talking it over with our pastor so that I had a better understanding of it, we went the baptism route. 

I must say, it was very special. My brother Dan and sister Sheri are godparents, and the pews around us were filled with Maisy's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. Our church is relatively small, so each baby seems to be treasured even beyond the norm, and Maisy is known and recognized throughout the congregation. Maisy gazed right up into our pastor's eyes as he said "the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace," and I couldn't help but tear up.

After the baptism, family and friends piled into cars and came back to our house for a meal and to just hang out. My mom and I had worked ourselves into exhaustion baking, decorating, and otherwise preparing for the day, but it was worth it. The tables were decorated in fall decor, the food was good, and the kids were great. 

A fun afternoon of celebration with the people we love... another high point!

Low: Maisy's First Ear Infection

Booooooo... Our cheerful little girl became a fussy, needy, sleep-deprived baby last Sunday afternoon (the day after the pumpkin patch), but she had been struggling to sleep through the night since the Tuesday before. Monday morning I took her to our doctor and heard, "Oh yeah, that one's infected! Yep, that too." So that was that. Maisy has been taking amoxicillin - which she thinks is liquid candy - for a full week now. The first few days were ROUGH! No napping, so much crying, LOTS of amoxicillin-induced diarrhea... I couldn't get anything done around the house, yet I knew that I should because I was expecting so many visitors for the baptism. 

By Thursday, her ears and congestion seemed better and Maisy could play happily on her own again. By Friday, she was able to fall asleep without several attempts to rock and then sloooowly place her in her crib without a wakeful wail. On Saturday night, before the baptism, Maisy woke up at 11:00pm and stayed awake until 2 in the morning. 

On Sunday morning, just before we started singing the final song before her baptism, there was a rumble in the jungle. Rick and I looked at each other. "I felt that," he whispered intently. One song to go, but I had to get her diaper changed or risk a blowout in her pretty dress as we stood behind the baptismal font! I swooped her up, snatched the diaper bag, and dashed to the nursery. With a nursery volunteer keeping pace ("they're still singing, still singing, still singing, they're done!"), I whipped off Maisy's dirty diaper, slapped on a new one, skipped the tights, tied bows on her pretty pink shoes, and speed-walked back to the sanctuary with my heart racing. Our pastor stood behind the lectern, and as we walked up the aisle he smiled at us and said, "So glad to see you and Maisy, Jess." We made it!

Maisy was so good during the baptism and in the afternoon while most of our guests were still over. Late afternoon hit, and our fussy, needy, ear-tugging baby returned. We went to the doctor this morning and found out that her ear infection had resurfaced even though she'd been on amoxicillin for a week. Now we're on something totally different. All I can hope is that it won't cause her diarrhea the way the amoxicillin has. She had at least 7 dirty diapers yesterday, has already had at least 5 today, and the diaper rash that has emerged because of it makes her cry so hard every time I change her diaper. :( Poor baby! 

Two ear infections, sleep deprivation, and an amoxicillin-induced diaper rash... that's a low!!!

So there you have it. My two highs and a low. 


Right at this very moment, I can see Maisy is working on dirty diaper number 6 on her freshly bathed, rash-covered bottom. It's a good thing I had two big highs to outweigh this yucky low.

Great 8: Reasons I Love the Fall

In no particular order...

#1: Crunching leaves under my feet when I walk

#2: Surprisingly warm days - like unexpected gifts

#3: Jackets and blue jeans

#4: Peanuts and candy corn

#5: Honeycrisp apples

#6: Red and gold leaves standing out against bright blue skies

#7: Bundling up the baby on the way to the park, then peeling off layers on the walk home

#8: Picking out the perfect (plumply dumply) pumpkins

I had to edit this post because I forgot one of the key reasons I love the fall:

How could I forget Nebraska football???

Easy Fall Project: Make-Your-Own "Fall Leaves" Book

First off, let me tell you that I am not crafty. I don't sew. I don't knit. I lack the follow-through to be a good scrapbooker. Besides, I can barely stay inside the lines when I color! So when I say that this project is easy, you know that anyone can tackle it!

What You Need:
Any size plastic Ziploc bags (I used 6 quart-sized off-brand freezer bags because that's what I had)
Glue or clear packaging tape
Markers
Choice of: Hole-punch & thick ribbon or yarn OR clear packaging tape
Poster board, card stock, or other thick paper (I used business card paper that never did print right)

What to Do:
Go on a walk with your little one and pick up pretty leaves as you go. It was a gorgeous fall day! I picked up intact leaves in as many different colors as I could find - green, yellow, orange, red, brown. This is at least half the fun!

Cut the thick paper into squares - try one first to make sure it fits into the bag easily!

Use glue or clear packaging tape to stick each leaf to a page - one color per page. Glue worked fine for the colorful leaves, but the clear tape was needed for the drier brown leaf.

For the cover page, glue two or more colorful leaves to the page.

Use colorful markers to write the words. I have an 8-month-old, so I kept it simple. I wrote "Fall Leaves   by Mommy" on the cover, then "Green Leaf", "Yellow Leaf", etc. You can be creative!

Insert pages into bags & zip.

To attach the pages together, I had planned on punching two holes in the side and using a thick ribbon or yarn to tie them together. Turns out my hole puncher couldn't hack it, so I settled for plan B: Clear packaging tape. I've had this same clear packaging tape since the dawn of time, and let me tell you, it sure has come in handy!

Anyway, I used one piece of clear tape around the outside edge, then flipped through page-by-page and put tape on each page.

That's it! It's not the sturdiest little book, but it's cute and fun to read with my baby. And, of course, you can make books using any pictures, objects, or topics you want.

Here are pictures of the finished product:

Friday Faves: Online Multiplication Games

I've started back up with tutoring this fall. This time I'm tutoring a student with autism who struggles with multiplication and division. Since he has a long day of school before he comes my way, he needs to have at least one break during our hour-long sessions. He loves the computer, so I've decided to make that break a meaningful one by letting him choose from a list of online multiplication games. Here are just a few of the higher-quality games I've found:

#1: Arcademic Skill Builders
http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
This engaging website includes four multi-player multiplication games: Grand Prix Multiplication, Space Race Multiplication, Tug Team: Multiplication, and Penguin Jump Multiplication. For each one, you can start your own game and play against the computer or join another player's game to play against real people. For those motivated by competition (that would be me), Grand Prix Multiplication has a scoreboard where the fastest times are posted. Each of these games is a little unique and pretty fun to play, but Grand Prix is my favorite because of the scoreboard feature.

The Arcademic Skill Builders website also has one single player multiplication: Meteor Multiplication. This game is different from the others because you can set a maximum product for a student who only know their facts up to a certain point.

This is a fun website with fast-paced, arcade-style games. I'd play the games, and I don't even need the practice (although I didn't get on the Grand Prix scoreboard...yet!).

#2: Funbrain
http://www.funbrain.com
Funbrain is FULL of math games. If you've never visited the site before, the first place to check out for math practice is the Funbrain Math Arcade. Pick a game piece, choose a level of difficulty (1-8, basically corresponding to grade level), and head out onto a virtual game board. Each stop along the way is a different math arcade game, and math skills vary depending on the game and the difficulty. Kids really get into the math arcade. Many will choose to write down the code that allows them to pick up where they leave off if they exit the site before finishing.

More math games can be found in the "numbers" section of the Funbrain website. These games are not Flash games, but they tend to be more skill-specific. Many of the games let you choose an operation and select a difficulty level. For multiplication, the difficulty levels range from Easy (factors up to 5) and Medium (factors up to 9), to Hard and Super Brain (multi-digit multiplication). These games include: Math Baseball, MathCar Racing, Soccer Shootout, Tic Tac Squares, and Power Football. Another feature of these games is that you can choose to have the math facts written algebra-style (6 x __ = 12) or standard (6 x 2 = 12) depending on what you want your students to practice. The non-Flash games have a simpler style to them, but are more easily differentiated to your student's goals.

#3 Primary Games
http://primarygames.com/math
The Primary Games website has a wide variety of games, but it's a little confusing to separate the educational games from the just-for-fun games, in spite of labels such as "Math" and "Language Arts." Here a few multiplication-related games that seemed worthwhile:

Number Eaters - Think PacMan, except you are trying to eat the multiplication facts that add up to a certain product. Basic multiplication facts.

MathMan - Think PacMan (again), except you eat ?s that give you math facts to solve, and you have to eat the correct answer. Includes double digit facts, and not just multiplication.

The Multiplication Game - This is similar to Connect Four. This game requires some strategy in addition to knowledge of multiplication facts. More challenging, but fun!

Have your own favorite math game websites? Post below to share!