Some older photos

These pics are a couple of months old (taken in June) but I thought I would post them anyway. During this time if Lauren wanted something at the bottom of the bin she had to get help from Mommy and Daddy. Alas one time she tried it without us and here are the results. We were a little slow in capturing her with her legs in the air as she was "falling" into the bin.

"Hi Mommy and Daddy, can I play in here?"

"Wait I think there is a toy back here that I want!

"Yep, here is that balloon I like playing with!"

"Ok, can one of you guys help me out of here?"

sick....

The last couple of days have been pretty touch and go.... maybe not in the grander scheme of the world reversing its rotation, but sometimes it's felt like that...

It started I guess around mid-day Tuesday as Bethy was out and about with Lauren and had decided to eject some of the stuff that she had eaten previously. I had come home a little bit early as I know that Bethy likes to go work out, and was waiting at home when Bethy called ahead and told me to help her get ready for some cleanup work. It looked like noodles and some bits of meat that were on the car seat. I discussed it with Bethy and were trying to figure out if she had over-eaten, maybe she was hot... we weren't sure. Adding to the fact that Lauren was still in good spirits and running around, playing, wasn't running a fever and was willing to eat(obviously not as traumaticized as Bethy and I).

So after the cleanup, there was mention that she still hadn't had a BM and we were going on a couple days now... noted.

She played, ran around our re-arranged family room(sofa back up against the wall under the two windows) and she ate a little bit more, got a bath and went down for the night. In typical fashion, she woke up she came and spent some time in bed with us around 10:30 or so. A little before midnight, she had another disagreement with something, and her dinner lost out. She got to spend some time in the shower with mommy as I helped clean up. A call to the on-call nurse told us that there was a bug going around, and that the diet for the next short chunk of time was going to be water for the hyrdration, but nothing solid in the morning for 8 hours, and then only saltines/bread after that.

The problem there was that Lauren was a little fussy, hungry, and tired. Not being able to give her a bottle to put her down, Bethy put her in the car and drove her around a bit till she fell asleep. Which brings up the next situation which is the car seat in the garage. Bethy roughed it out for another couple of hours in the car in the garage till I guess Lauren stirred away at which time Bethy brought her upstairs and back into her room.

Needless to say, sleep was a bit sparce...

In the morning, she was still tired(both of them), and Bethy stayed home for the day, with Grandma coming down to help and spend some time as well. Apparently there was anther food disagreement with some water and crackers about mid-day.

I got home around 5:30 ish and she was really hungry but still sort of playing. I could tell she was tired, but from either the lack of food, or lack of good naps, hard to tell. I gave her some cheerios, but it was clear that she wanted more.

Maybe about 6:30 or 7, she got some fruit and cereal, but no liquid to go along with it. She played for a while after that... and then finally had a BM. It wasn't a pretty one, but I think she felt better, as she had a pretty good nap after that. She slept for about 1:30 before waking up, wandering around a little bit, and then Bethy took her upstairs to bed.

She's been a little restless in her sleep, but she's been sleeping, and has held everything down so far. Hopefully we're past the worst of it!

Playing with Soph Soph

Auntie Joy brings Soph Soph over to play on once in a while and here are some shots of the two of them.



"I know we can find something good in here to play with!"

"Look it's an empty bag!"

Soph enjoying the bag and chunky book while Lauren tries to point something out. Or maybe Lauren is saying "I'm number one!"

Out in the backyard

Lauren has been enjoying her summer out in the backyard of Grandma and Grandpa. There is always so much to do. Pumpkin plants, apple trees, squash...

"I'll keep an eye on this pumpkin for you Grandpa. I will check it every time I come over."


"I only get a little dirty out here in the tan bark. You can still read my bib so I'm not that dirty."

"What are you looking at Grandma?"

Since there is a water restriction in Oakland, watering the plant has been via a watering can. Grandma and Grandpa gave Lauren her own watering can to help out. Today was the first day she got to use it. She had a lot of fun helping water the plants. She also decided to water herself too, so there was an outfit change in the middle of the day. She loves this water can so much she doesn't want to let it go. She held on to it tightly all around the backyard.

"These flowers are thirsty."

"Hey Grandpa. I found a flower down here."

"Hi everyone!"

"Is patting the pumpkins good for them?

"The shade is nice after watering all those plants!"

The cute little dress Lauren is wearing is from Grandma.

A day in the park

We spent a couple of hours at the park on Thursday. Lauren seemed to enjoy herself. She didn't put any sand in her mouth and had a good time playing with other kids. The sand was a bit hot so I will have her wear some shoes next time. There were three other kids at the park (Matthew 4yo, Alex 4yo and Chloe 1yo). Her first experience at the park was a good one so I think we will come back!


This was Lauren's first time riding the baby swing. She seemed to enjoy it but after a while she asked to go down. I think it was because she could see the other kids playing with toys.


Lauren can't just have one shovel. She has to have two! The toys were courtesy of a little boy named Matthew that was sharing his load of toys with the other kids. He was very nice but he made me promise that she wouldn't take any toys home with her. I guess we eventually need to get her some of her own sand toys to play with.


From this pic you can see what a beautiful day it was. She got some Vitamin D action that day! She was very good about leaving her hat on. And she didn't eat any sand.


"I will give you this shovel for... one million dollars"
Ok it isn't the pinky but it's a pretty funny pic.


"I'm off with my pail and shovel to find other goodies in the sand!"

A weekend out

This past weekend we went to spend the night and have brunch at Hayes Mansion for Grandma's birthday. I will try to get the additional pictures from Grandpa and Greg and June but here are a few from the weekend.



Lauren loves bags and will often put one over her shoulder and walk around the house. This pic was after the yummy brunch!

Lauren loves looking at flowers. Here she is checking out the flowers as Uncle Greg watches her.

When we got in the day before Lauren wanted to play with the bubbles so here I am appeasing her. She chases them around and when she touches one I make a "pop" sound which she seems to find amusing.

Here she is with the wand trying to blow the bubbles herself. Practice makes perfect, but you have to watch her because she likes to try to put the wand in her mouth.

Some Pics from here and there

Here are just a few pics of Lauren over the past week or so.

"Kicking it with my remote, wii controller and my book. What more could I want?"

"My first pots and pans set. I will have fun clanking these around!"

One way to solve her bed head was to put a headband on her.

Of course it won't stay on for long.

A present from Ray and Flo

Ray and Flo got this particular toy for Lauren for her first birthday. I showed her how it worked the first time we opened it but since then I put it away since she had other toys to play with. She saw the toy in the box and asked me to "op" it which is open it in her language. Here is the results.





As you can see she figured out how this thing works. Kind of scary how hard she hits the balls with the mallet. After this video she wanted to hit everything with the mallet. So I had to tell her it was only for the toy. I even showed her the video and she was trying to hit the camera because she saw the balls in the picture. She cracks me up. We definitely will keep this toy in another place when other children are in the room with her.

Thanks Ray and Flo for the present! I think...

The Dora Couch

When we went down to San Diego for her birthday, we spent time at my sister Joy's house. Their daughter Catherine had a Dora couch and Lauren loved it. She liked to fold it out, lie on it, sit on it and just generally hang out on it. Eric and I kept meaning to get one for her but time just seems to pass so quickly. I was out shopping the other day and saw a Dora couch and knew I had to get it for her. From the pictures below you can see that she enjoys the couch very much. She knows its her size and just loves to sit in it.

"Hmm, let's try this couch out."

"Hi Daddy!"

"I'm getting tired."

"Oh, Jamberry is one of my favorite books!"

13 months!

Lauren turned 13 months old yesterday! The last few months I have not taken the picture with Gorilla and Burly Bear but we got a chance to last night. She was a little afraid of Gorilla at first, crawling away and giving him her concerned look. So I had to play with him and show her he was ok. Even though she was not afraid of him anymore, she wouldn't really sit very still. Through persistence Daddy was able to get one good shot though.

It looks like Gorilla is smelling Lauren's hand, but in reality Gorrilla is head heavy so we couldn't get him to sit upright.

Lauren on the Burly Bear scale. She is definitely bigger than him now. We thought it was funny she laid so still for this pic.

Thanks Auntie June for the cute dress. She is getting used to wearing little dresses now even though the majority of the time she is in pants :)!

A little visit with Tai Tai and Erwin

This past weekend we went up to see Tai Tai and Erwin. Auntie Andi was also visiting. It took a few minutes for Lauren to warm up but once she did she was walking all around the room looking at stuff. As some of you know Tai Tai has some pig of different sizes and materials. Lauren was scared of the bigger ones. She would just keep pointing to it and asking what it was. She wouldn't touch it though. Every few minutes she would circle back to where they were and asking what they were. She would get a little closer but still not touch them. Erwin was nice enough to hold a bigger one in his lap to show her it was ok. I went over to where he was showing it to her and touched it and showed her that it was just an object. Pointing out the ears, the eyes and the nose. She then touched it still asking "Wutdis?"

Here is Lauren playing with Erwin. The little piggy was not too scary to play with right away. She was handing objects to Erwin but to no one else in the room. Oh and she loves the big remote control.

Tai Tai, Lauren and me trying to pose for Daddy. She was pretty squirrelly by that point.

Lauren loves playing with balls. She was running around the room with these. She would hand them to Erwin once in a while.

Happy faced Lauren. I think she is smiling at Tai Tai in the corner.

Can I have a cup please?

Ok... here are a couple more pictures from the last couple of days.

We are teaching Lauren to brush her teeth from tiem to time... the toofbrushes are small, but she doesn't seem to mind so far(must take after her mom).


While we haven't been quite as dilligent with teaching her to sign as we might have liked... there are small victories here and there. "More" is what we got here.. maybe not perfect... but progress!!!

Maybe the next one will have a lid...

This is actually the middle moment of 3... I only got this one though.

So for Steph and Chet's wedding, we got a booster seat. We haven't used it since, and didn't really use it that day either, so we were debating on whether to return it or not. But... she's claimed it, and it wasn't expensive, so we'll keep it around.

the seat has been sitting around, and bethy told me that from time to time, she'll actually sit in it. I hadn't actualy witnessed it, but today when I was working in the garage(perpetual cleanup), bethy called me in with some earnest and I came in and saw her on the seat. I rushed to the camera, but of course that moment was lost... if you can see her current posture, also imagine that her right arm was actually slung over the back of the chair, and her left hand was resting on her knee.... I swear... not making this up.... I'll just call it "slouchin style."

The moment right AFTER this shot was her picking up the chair, and orienting it so that it faced the TV, and then sitting in it.

BTW... if you come and visit, sit down on the floor, and ask her to bring you a book... she'll bring one and sit in front of you so that you can read it to her!