Growth

Dot has grown so much!  Just look at the difference between these two photos:

About six weeks old

Nearly 11 months old

She fits quite comfortably in her daddy's computer chair now.  She has little conversations with us now, and will occasionally stand completely on her own. She eats great big meals about three times a day, and cutest of all she plays peekaboo on her own.  She'll hold up the blanket to her face, and fling it down quickly and giggle.

It's amazing how once she's mastered one thing she immediately presses on to another, once she could crawl she immediately put her sights on walking.  There's no such thing as plateauing, she just goes up and up and up. It's inspiring how much drive and curiosity she has.

I sometimes let myself get stuck, or plateaued but she inspires me to attain greater heights, and not in a guilty 'I need to be a better mother' sense, but in a 'if she can grow, I can too' sense. One thing I've read about sticking to your goals is to have a buddy.  A workout buddy can mean the difference between success and failure.  Well, I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Dot is the best buddy a mommy could ever ask for.  I'm a lucky woman to have such a wonderful little girl.

The four Bs

Dot has grown and changed so much in the last few weeks, so much so that we had to move her up to the next size of her clothing, taking out one box in the closet and putting a different one back.  She's still as fun loving as ever, but her games and interests have changed.

Balls

She loves to roll them back and forth with mom or dad, and she'll even roll them forward or to the side and then take off after them, only to throw them and chase them again once she's got them.  If she's ever upset from me telling her 'no', which always breaks her heart, if I can roll a ball to her she'll often be distracted away from her tears and into joy once more.

Blocks

She's always loved her blocks, but now she plays a new game with them.  Instead of always taking them out of things, or knocking over towers, she now likes to put them inside things.  I keep finding blocks inside the strangest places.  She's also working on stacking two blocks on top of each other, but so far has only managed to stack them inside her hand, she hasn't quite worked out how to let go of them and let them stand  on their own.

Books

Just like her blocks she's always loved her books, but she loves to read them on her own now.  She'll crawl to the book shelf and pull a few down and then sit and 'read' them for a while.  She's also gone back to letting me read books to her, she likes to help turn the pages but doesn't interrupt the story by flinging the book to the floor as often.

Boogying

Dot loves music, and when she hears a song she likes she'll dance to it. It's probably the most adorable thing she's doing right now.  Just play a song and watch her go, I so wish we owned a video camera so I could show you the dancing, because it's about the cutest thing ever. No matter how much she changes she's still a sweet, friendly baby who loves to explore and play with mommy and daddy. And while her growth is bitter-sweet because I know I'll never be able to be exactly like this with her ever again; she is just so much fun now.

Bedtime

 Dot knows it's time to go to bed when we bring out the pyjamas.  She doesn't much like being dressed, and so she wriggles and squirms.  Usually Checker dresses her because I get confused about which snap goes with which.

Daddy tickle kisses!

 Since she's such a wriggly baby, Checker usually plays with her while he puts on her pyjamas, and soon she's happy again and a bit hyper.  Every night before she goes to bed she plays with a burst of intense joy, usually romping all over the bed (and us) in her quest for fun.

Some nights she jabbers up a storm, just talking and talking.  Telling us everything about her day, and making friends with her toys. It's a wonderful way to end any day.

Pyjamas complete....

time to play!

And finally after several minutes of hyper giggly romping Dot suddenly realizes she is tired.  Some nights she'll become grumpy and cry, and other nights she'll just sweetly crawl up to me, put her head down and suck her thumb.  Then I scoop her up, pull her in to nurse, and watch her eyes slowly flutter close and begin to gently drift off to sleep.

I'm tired mom

Asleep, asleep

Modern Life

Sometimes I feel a wish to go back to a simpler time, a time when all women dressed modestly, when the family was king, and when there weren't so many cares pressing in on us.  But you know what?  That time, the time we all ache and long for, it never existed.  Each time has had its own challenges, and its own blessings.

As per the gratitude challenge here are ten modern inventions I am grateful for.

1 Shower.  Bathing used to take a long time and be quite the affair, carting around enough water for a person to wash in would have been a lot of work, carting around enough for an entire family would be even more work, so families used to share their bathwater.  Which means that not only was that water rather grimy by the end, but also cold.  I'm so grateful for a continuous supply of warm water while I bathe, what an incredible daily luxury!

2 Washer and dryer.  Laundry used to be is the bane of every woman's existence.  In the past it would take at least two days to do and involved all kinds of heavy lifting and bending that surely would have strained the spine.  Now all I have to do is gather it up, pop it in, shift it to the dyer, and fold.  That is so much easier, even if it does seem to have an unusual capacity to turn into a mountainous task.

3 Dishwasher.  I'm all for anything that simplifies cleaning, I know some people feel that washing dishes in warm soapy water as a family has unique bonding effects, but for our family, having a dishwasher is essential.  The number of times Checker and I had all out fights when we were first married were directly tied to not having a dishwasher.  Dishwasher=marital bliss. (at least around here)

4 Refrigerator.  How awesome is it that we can store food for weeks at a time?  That means I can take advantage of sales, and that if I make too much food I can just eat it the following day for lunch.  Back in the day food spoiled so quickly, and so often their meals weren't filled with much in the way of fresh food, at least not when it wasn't in season.

5 Personal Computer. How awesome is it to have the words flow from fingers to paper as quickly as you can think them?  That has got to me my number one top favourite thing about a computer, word processing when you've mastered typing.  Nothing compares to the absolute speed at which your physical ability to write matches your mental ability to create.  Not to mention all the other cool things a computer can do, photoshop anyone? And of course games, what would life be without a little solitaire and free cell?

6 Internet.  I love that I can learn anything and everything, just by clicking around.  I love that I can blog with you, that I can keep in contact with family flung all over the world, and that I can do my job at work much more effectively.  I love all the resources the church puts out to strengthen my testimony, and I love all the people I have met through blogging.

7 Antibiotics.  I would be dead several times over without this incredible discovery. A new lease on life is easy to take for granted when it comes in the form of a pill or a shot, or even an IV, but whenever we are cured by an antibiotic it is a miracle.  This one discovery makes having children so much safer, if you pair it with hygienic birthing conditions maternal deaths take a nice steep drop.

8 Engines of all kinds.  These drive our world forward, they farm our fields, transport our food, and help us go about living our daily lives.  They power jet planes to connect us all together in a flash, and car motors to get us to and from the places in our daily lives.  Are there ills associated with a driving society?  Absolutely, and I can't wait for many of them to be corrected, but still what an incredible invention.

9 Electricity.  A few weeks ago we had a power outage for several hours.  In winter.  Our apartment got rather cold before the heat came back on, and since our stove is also electric there was no way to cook anything either.  We forget how important power is, but it is the one thing that makes our modern life possible. Without power the world would come to a stand still, but with power, look how effective we are able to be!

10 Disposable diapers.  We used cloth diapers, and yes they are cheaper and better for the environment, but you know what?  They are gross.  When your baby starts eating real food their poop becomes altogether nasty and having to rinse a diaper in the toilet is about the most vomit inducing thing in the world. When my poor husband was throwing up, yes not just nauseaus actually  vomiting, every poopy diaper change I am glad there was another option.

Utah Christmas

I know, I know, it's February and quite late for Christmas pictures, but January just sort of disappeared on me with two week long bouts with illness and my return to work, so here you go, a bit of Christmas in February!

Hanging out with Grandma

Cutest little rocking chair (and baby of course)

She adored all the wrapping paper

Best present ever!

Four generations

She loved those bubbles

Shoulder ride!

the piano player

With the great grandparents

Wearing grandpa's hat at the airport

Location, Location, Location

Today I am grateful for ten places, and for different reasons.

1 The Salt Lake City temple.  That's where my husband and I were sealed to each other; married for time and eternity, but more than that, it's also where my parents and my grandparents were married as well.  The building holds great significance for us as a family, and I am so grateful for the blessings it has provided through the generations.

2 Legoland in Denmark.  When we took our big family trip to Europe growing up we visited Legoland, and it is one of my clearest memories of our month long adventure.  Which is saying something because I actually a terrible memory.  I remember the cool buildings and sculptures, all made from Lego of course, and the fun roller-coaster and driving course.  It was a good day.  One of the best.

3 BYU.  That's where Checker and I met and fell in love.  I have many happy, fond, and even profound memories of campus, but it wasn't all cherry blossoms and song birds, there were also some very difficult and challenging times.

4 California.  I've had so much fun so many times in California.  Fun at the beach, fun at Sea World, fun at Disneyland, fun in San Francisco with my grandma.  Just fun, fun, fun, what's not to be grateful about a state that has so much to offer when it comes to vacations? But more than fun, also beauty.  The beauty of Yosemite, of the coastline, of Muir Woods and the ocean.

5 Canada.  I love Canada.  I have been so happy here, and grown so much in so many ways.  Canada is where I  gained my sure testimony of the gospel.  Canada is where I had my daughter.  The US may be the country of my birth, but Canada is the country of my heart.

6 Paris.  Need I say more?  It's just such a wonderful city, so vibrant and full of life and beauty.  There's just a feeling in Paris that isn't replicated anywhere else, at least that I've ever been.  I can't wait to take my kids back there one day.

7 The Chilliwack General Hospital.  One of the most momentous days of my life took place there, I became a mother, and what an amazing (and overwhelming) experience it was! I had a truly fantastic hospital birth, the kind every woman dreams about, and I'll always be grateful for the birthing culture of my local hospital.

8 Venice.  It's a city with water for streets instead of paving, which just makes it one of the most whimsical places in all the world.  There's something that fires the imagination and fills one with awe about a city that stubbornly floats on water even as it sinks centimetre by centimetre back into the sea.

9 Our home.  Our home is wherever we are.  It's been made of cinder blocks, and it's had a stunning view of the valley below.  It's been too small, too big, and just right.  Wherever it is, it's full of us.  Full of our hopes and our dreams, our love and our life.  It's listened to laughter, tears, and arguments.  It's seen disasters in the kitchen, and triumphs of ingenuity. Though it changes location from time to time it's always the most important place in the world: where our hearts are.

10 Hawaii.  Beautiful white (and black) sandy beaches with perfect waves.  Wonderful flora wherever the eye lands, the most perfect temperatures.  A land of lava and ocean full of the kind of beauty that transports you to paradise. How can I not be grateful for the little island chain made from lava bubbling up from the ocean floor?  Hawaii is a little jewel, a gem for all to treasure.

How about you?  Where's your favourite place on earth? Leave a comment and let me know.

Valentine Dots

My daughter is incredible and amazing, and just plain wonderful.  She's grown up so much in the past week.  She now enjoys going for little walks around the house, and happily holds on with only one hand as she scampers alongside me.

She has such great finger and hand control, watching her eat is almost like a virtuosic performance compared to her earlier attempts.  She amazes me with what she'll eat, like tomatillo chili, or the ladybug she found on the floor, or oddest of all orange peel.  Not the orange, just the peel.  If you eat an orange she'll stand at your knee and beg for the peel, and then she'll munch on it with great enjoyment.

Now instead of just taking things out of everything, she also likes to put them back.  She'll take a toy out of a box and then put it back in over and over again.  Sometimes she does a little happy dance as she stands, and she loves to drum on anything, mommy's tummy (and face) included.

She is such a delight, life is so much more fun with her here to enjoy it with us.  Valentine's day was so much more fun with her by our side.  She enjoyed her French toast and strawberry breakfast, and it was fun to show her the card her daddy bought her as her official valentine.

Of course she's now getting into even more things, we've had to rejig a few things around the house to both keep her safe and to keep them safe from her.  She's the best thing since sliced bread, the best thing ever to happen to me, and to us.