WOW!!!! She's big!!!

Really, people?????

So, yes - our Punky is a little Chunky.  I'm OK with that.  Aren't babies supposed to have rolls around their thighs...ok, and big fat bellies....ok, and arms that look as though they could take you down in an arm wrestling match?  Well, my beautiful, perfect, edible little daughter does and I love every single inch of her.

I am told by pediatricians - my father-in-law included that I need not worry.  When she starts walking, she will start slimming down.  I don't feed her too much, or at least I don't think I do.  She eats very healthy.  She just is weighing in at a whopping 23 lbs last time I checked.

This rant is about the general public and why in the world they have the need to say things out loud.  Us Mama Bears are very protective of our little cubs and we will stop at nothing to claw you with our paws as we throw daggers at you with our eyes.  So, beware people!!!!!

The other day, I took Punky to the mall for a couple of things and to just get out and get some relief from the Florida heat.  We walked into a store, and granted Punky doesn't have a ton of hair yet, but........ when the first comment out of the European sales lady's mouth was "How old is HE?" I wanted to bitch slap her!  I have a rule - I NEVER say anything that would include a child's gender unless they are appropriately marked as one or the other.  A pink hairbow or a shirt stating "cute boy", but even then you really can't tell.  Perhaps the Mom is having an identity crisis through her child and is dressing them as the opposite sex.  Anyway, back to the European - I stated "SHE is 8 months old" to which she replied "WOW!!!!!!  She's HUGE!!!!!"  I literally bit my tongue and turned around and walked out.  What I really wanted to scream was "Go back to your own country lady!"

No, I'm not racist in ANY form, even though this blog post makes me sound it.  I was just so irritated....and defensive.

It reminds me of when I was pregnant and every person, or so it seemed had an opinion of what I was having, how far along I was, etc, etc.  Which is why I went practically nowhere in my last month of pregnancy.  You could of rolled me down the street.  And if I happened to walk into a sharp object, I probably would have popped!

The moral of the story - don't pass your opinions.  Hush up peeps.  My beautiful baby girl is just that - beautiful in every single way.

Happy First Father's Day

I would just like to take the opportunity to tell all of you what an amazing, incredible, loving father Dan is. Yeah, I know it sounds very cliche, however, I never imagined he would be so hands on with her.  He is always wanting to play with her, sing to her, love on her, etc.  I think it's fantastic that we have a day to celebrate all of the Dads out there.  It's got to be very difficult to juggle Law School, all of the work that comes with it, and family life.  And Dan exceeds all of my expectations on a daily basis.

I mentioned in my previous post that our beautiful 7 year old niece, Bianca is spending the summer with us.  It was great to have her here for Father's Day and be able to celebrate with us.  We started the day off by cooking a huge breakfast followed by a wonderful day at the beach and then having a great dinner with all of our family in Florida.  My Dad was in for a very short visit as well so it was a big family gathering.  If only the Strader's were here, too.  Maybe next year.

I've included just a couple of pics from Father's Day.  Delaney is appropriately wearing "Daddy's Little Girl" Tshirt.  To get her to sit still for pictures is like wrestling an alligator so most of the shots I get are when she is tethered in her highchair or just on the move.

Tomorrow Dan and I celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it!!!!  It's been an amazing four years.  I love you more than I can ever adequately put into words, Daniel.  You are my everything!  Thanks for being wonderful YOU!!!!!

So many new things!

When "they" tell you that it all goes too quickly, I am finding out that is most definitely the truth!  We were up in New Jersey for a few days for Beth's HS Graduation and came back to Florida with a whole bunch of new tricks.....as well as a summer visitor.  My beautiful 7 year old niece, Bianca will be staying with us for the summer.  Her and Delaney are still getting used to each other and are trying their hardest to adapt to sharing me.

Delaney is now popping her third tooth and handling it like a champ!

She is also pulling herself up on everything she possibly can, including her crib. This made the plane trip pretty interesting.  She does NOT like to be contained.  As I was speaking to Dan's parents over the weekend, I am coming to realize that Delaney is even more like her father.   Dave said when Dan was a baby if he was "here", he wanted to be "there" and vice versa.  Sounds very familiar!!   Oh boy!  My hands are going to be full and my days quite busy.  However, I thrive on busy so it's all good!!

We are into making animal noises these days.  She's got the growling like a bear down pat - thanks to her BFF, Ella Bella Bearski.  She quacks like a duck at random moments.  You know, whenever the mood hits her.  She is working on barking like a dog and meowing like a cat.  All very cute!

Also, the coolest development in my book, is Delaney is clapping almost non-stop.  She is always throwing a little party for herself.  Hey, you are your best cheerleader, right?  Everything she does, she thinks, is clap worthy.  Rock on little Mama.  Clap away.

We had a wonderful trip to NJ visiting with family and couldn't be more proud of Beth.  She got into GWU and will be leaving in August.  What an honor!  She is an amazing young lady who Delaney just loves!!

We made a pit stop in PA to visit my side of the family and that was superb as well.  Delaney is great in the car so that makes it all that much better.

Until next time....
Thanks for reading. :-)

You're tactile, are ya?

I'm not one of these Moms that are all about the parenting books.  Not to say I haven't read nearly every single one under the sun....but, I haven't found any one of them even slightly helpful in raising my little punky, sassy gal.  Until now!  I just recently read (and couldn't put down) "Child Sense: From Birth to Age 5, how to use the 5 senses".

This book asks you to take a little quiz to classify the way your child learns the world around them.  It then asks you to take a quiz about yourself and how you learn your world.  It then goes into depth about how the two of you (yourself and your child) can basically co-exist without you getting frustrated that your child would rather, say, for example,  eat their food with their fingers as opposed to a spoon.

Long story short, I have discovered that my little Punky is a tactile learner.  OH!  Now it all makes sense.  This is why she literally has to scratch at everything she sees!  Literally - EVERYTHING!  And, this is why she likes to touch your face while she drinks her bottle.  Also, why she would much rather feed herself chunks of canteloupe  than be spoon fed applesauce.

I have also learned that our little energizer bunny will be like this forever.  Supposedly "tactile learners" have boundless amounts of energy and can not stop jumping around, climbing on everything, and are over the top with emotions.  Really?  You don't say?  Hmmm.  Didn't see that one coming.

Here are the criteria that helped decide she is, in fact, tactile:
* needs to be held almost constantly and cries when put down (rewind to the first 5 months of her life)
* is particular about whose arms she goes into (no way!  she lets everyone hold her, right?)
* wants to somehow touch everything in her path - including putting those things in her mouth
* she can't just LOOK at things, she must FEEL them
* is VERY active while awake (you must have this all wrong)

Those are just a few things!  Please note my sarcasm in parenthesis.  It's funny how much I've actually learned by reading this book.  So, thank you Priscilla J. Dunstan!!!!!

Little Fishy

So, on Sunday, we decided to head to the beach bright and early before it got to the point of......well, the point where you just honestly can't even think of being outside with a child without fearing they will melt into a puddle of nothingness.

Off we headed to Point of Rocks beach with:
* a huge blanket
* a jogging stroller
* an inner tube of sorts
* three beach towels
* a cooler full of water
* a beach bag filled with toys, cheerios, diapers, a change of clothes for the baby, and loads of sunblock
* and an umbrella

(and to think Dan wanted to haul some beach chairs as well.)  I keep trying to gently remind him (since this was going to be his first time accompanying Delaney and I to the beach) that our beach days of lounging in chairs and reading books are a thing of the past.  He did listen to me on this one and did NOT bring the chairs.  Good man!

We got our entire site set up and then Dan blew up the inner tube.  Off we headed into the Gulf.  No tar balls or oil secretions just yet!!!!!  Dan carried Delaney out while I followed behind with said inner tube.  Once we got beyond the waves, we put her in the little baby holder and.....she LOVED every single second of it!  She was laughing and shrieking so hard.  We ended up playing in the water for over an hour. We couldn't get over how amazing she was and how much she adored it.  Needless to say, it was a successful beach day for the whole Strader Clan!  We can't wait to do it again.