Hooray for Playgroup!

 

Here's a (POOR) picture of our playgroup friends: Zoe (April 5), May (May 10), and Natalie (June 2...?) They're all growing and learning differently, and it's a lot of fun to get together with the mommies (Lisa, Rachel, and Cathy) to hear all about it! I hope to continue finding friends here in "chambana"... there have been some lonely times, but I think those are on their way out (PHEW).

At any rate- I snapped this picture just as I realized what Zoe just put in her mouth- it's a buzzing/vibrating/bouncing ball and it 'bit her' so-to-speak.... so immediately after this picture happened she was in my lap crying until I found a something suitable for changing the subject in her mind :) Of course Rachel had warned me that that particular toy shouldn't go in baby's mouth, but like most things, that's right where it went and I didn't catch it in time. As you can see in the pic, Cathy tried rescuing Zoe from the ball first... THANK YOU!!!!! It was all pretty harmless- and we discussed how babies often react just because WE react, which I think was partially the case here.... WOW I can babble about a totally useless topic for far too long in the middle of the night.

Well--- remember how on the previous post I said I was going to bed? I haven't made it out of this room yet. Silly addictive blog. ;-)

Toodles!

Play really IS a baby's work!

 


Just give her a teething toy and a blanket and she's happy... at least that was the case a couple nights ago when she played under this blanket-tent daddy made!


 


Zoe's friend May and her mommy Rachel came over to our house for dinner Monday night (while May's daddy was in D.C.). After both babies and all the parents were filled up, we headed over to the library for baby lap time "moonlight edition" (to which we were late, but at least we got there in time to play with bells and bubbles!). After laptime was finished, we played with baby Audrey who's only 6 months old but is crawling and beginning to climb up on things (and people) like a pro! Neither Zoe nor May have figured that out yet (although Zoe's really close to walking, in case you're new to our blog and missed that memo).


 


Who would've known a bowl with a little water and some other random kitchen stuff could be so entertaining? Zoe had me laughin' out loud Tuesday morning :) After she soaked her pj's I stripped her down and she commenced her playtime with a fresh bowl of water... Roxy helped clean up the 'splish splash' mess by licking water off of Zoe and out of the bowl! It was a crack-up :)


 


Zoe's also been into apples lately... no one told her you need more than 2 bottom teeth to eat one, so she's been trying to tackle a big red delicious apple for a couple days now. The apple also works well as a pseudo-ball... when she's finished gnawing on it, she'll roll it and or throw it to me- another relatively newly aqcuired skill (at least now she can do it purposefully :))

Man I gotta get to bed!
TTYL
Lisa

Swimming Success :P

Last night was AWESOME! Zoe stayed up a little late (til 9pm) but she slept all the way through until about 6:30 am (at which point she started talking as she pooed in her diaper... probably TMI, but oh well...). So I was feeling quite refreshed- THANKS, ZOE!

Zoe had her 1st swim lesson today, and it was a success! She floated (in mom's arms) on her tummy & back and went underwater two times... she wanted to fuss about getting her head wet, but I bypassed that thanks to the power of persuading her that going underwater is indeed fun and 'the cool thing to do' :) There are about 5 other babies in her class, and I think Zoe's the oldest... anyway... She got to chew on a fun rubber ducky to distract her from the fact that she was all wet, but she did get a bit chilly. Her lower lip was quivering!!! So.... I dunked her the second time :) Everyone knows that's the easiest way to warm up in the pool, right??

After swimming we went to the library to return some books and check out some new ones. We met a 2-yr-old girl named Brooklyn and she showed us some books she likes to read. I also checked out a CD I used to love using for dance class in Paso: "Keep on Moving" by Angelique Kidjo and we listened to it this afternoon as we walked and danced around the living room, kitchen, and hallway. Zoe is just about always on the move!

Daddy's coming home today, which I'm sure will be a huge hit for Zoe. He has sent her a couple of videos of himself while he's been away, and she's watched them over and over again, with a huge grin and lots of claps for daddy each time :)

Have a super Saturday!
Lisa

how DID she do that?

Here's a new one for ya-

Zoe managed to take her diaper off by herself today... with her sleeper on!!!! I was playing with Zoe and my mom asked "What's that all bunched up around her knee?" Upon closer examination we discovered it was indeed Zoe's diaper. I had to unsnap her pj's to put the diaper back on her! She had gotten 1 tab completely open, so the side that was still attached to itself just traveled down her leg as she played. CRAZY. This is a story I'll have to remember for down the road when she asks me if she ever did anything funny or weird as a baby :)

Well Frosty is sadly coming to an end. He has big holes in his head and the 'skin' has fallen right off of one arm.

Gma/Gpa Green are back in Bradley, so it's back to me & baby for the night. Wish us luck with the sandman tonight!!!!!

Over & Out
Lisa

Maybe I should go get a lotto ticket!

Update: The radio station called me back to let me know that I ALSO won the grand prize drawing (into which I had been entered because I won the call-in thing this afternoon) today! I don't remember exactly what all it includes, but it includes dinner for 5 at a restaurant, a free haircut & style, and some tanning (woo hoo.... not...). All I really wanted were stinkin' tickets to an Illini basketball game. Some other lady won those today :( Se la vie. Oh well these prizes will be fun in the meantime :)

Well Grandma & Grandpa Green are here and we're already having a nice visit... Roxy is snuggled with Mel in the recliner and my mom and I are chatting in here as I type. On that note, I'm gonna call it a night on the 'puter so I can get some more visit time with 'em! :)

Hope some of this good luck travels to you all... it feels good to win something now and then... even if it's not Illini tickets.

Discovery Zone

Zoe has made a new discovery. The light switch.

This isn't actually a brand new discovery, but today is the day that I know for certain that SHE knows for certain what that thing does. She stood in her crib today flicking the lights on and off. I have it on video!

At any rate, today's been quite eventful- Daddy left to go to All-State in Peoria (a music thing), Zoe got a haircut at the salon, and Mommy won stuff on the radio. Unfortunately all the people she knows in this town are busy (many of them are music people so they're where Leif is) so the 5 tickets she won for a cool 80's music concert by the band "Brat Pack" are probably going to go unused... that is unless she can convince Grandpa Green to go while Grandma babysits...

Well our little light flicker just woke up from her nap, so I gotta run.

Lisa

PS- here's a pic of Zoe, Daddy, & Frosty from a couple days ago

HOLY GUACAMOLE!

Zoe's newest taste in foods is guacamole! That means daddy now has to share that with baby & mommy (neither of whom originally liked it)... sorry, daddy! :)



Zoe also likes to help make dinner... Friday Jan 19th she helped tear up the lettuce for taco night!!!



On Saturday the 20th (daddy's birthday), mommy packed the car and the baby and the doggie and drove over to Purdue, where daddy had a jazz band festival. SURPRISE, DADDY!!!! On top of that, Grandma Gracie, Aunt Meghan, and Grandpa Hall also came to play! :) Daddy's band won their division and the other groups from his school did super as well (let's just say the awards ceremony MC got a lot of practice saying "Champaign Central High School"). We stayed overnight in a hotel, ate Meghan's famous chocolate birthday cake, and went swimming in the morning! We had to trek outside in the SNOW to get to the pool, because it was actually at the neighboring hotel... and when we went back to our hotel, our key wouldn't work! We had to run all the way around to the front door... big hassle, but we survived :)



Today we transported Zoe back to Urbana, unburied daddy's car, shoveled snow off the driveway for the 1st time, and built a snowman on our back patio. Zoe loves him, but he's not gonna stick around too long. By the end of dinner he was much shorter and he was leaning forward and to the side. Daddy did some 'repair' work... hopefully he'll at least last through the night!



Zoe's still working hard on walking and she's able to balance standing on her own really pretty well, as long as she's occupied (for example while playing with a Roxy toy, mommy's coat zipper, the piano, etc)



Well that's it for today... PHEW... that was a long one :) Stay tuned for more pictures and VIDEO on the picasa site as well.

Over & Out-
Lisa

Hey all!!!!

I can't stop telling everyone... Zoe took her first independent steps this afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were on a playdate with two other babies and their mommies and Zoe decided to show off her standing skills... then before I knew it OFF SHE WENT!!! She took a good 4/5 steps before losing her balance and she was SO THRILLED. She did that a couple more times and eventually got tired and asked me to carry her some more, but WOW-EEE!!!!

Now we seriously are gonna have to keep an eye on her every second :)

The other update is that she went swimming in her lime green & white polka dot swimsuit for the first time yesterday (Tuesday) morning. Grandma and Grandpa Green plus Zoe and I went to visit Great Grandma Dennis in Montpelier, IN and we traveled during Zoe's afternoon naptime & bedtime Monday so we got to our hotel around 11:30 or midnight or so Mon/Tues, then we went swimming in the *WARM* hotel pool and she had a pretty good time splashing around and playing with a couple of floating toys. She was less-than-impressed with getting her head wet, but I'm hopeful that that idea will grow on her :)


 


Zoe did really well with all the traveling- we got to Indy during her afternoon nap, then hung out and had dinner at Castleton Square Mall and Border, then we got to the hotel in Marion once her real bedtime began and we got her up to the room and back to sleep pretty easily (even with snow flurries!). We then did breakfast and swimming in the morning at the hotel and went to Great Grandma Dennis' house the rest of the day and headed back to Urbana during bedtime. We got here at midnight again, and I put her back to sleep & laid her in her crib and she slept through the rest of the night like a champ!!!


 


Fun times in the Hall household :)

I'll let you know how the walking keeps progressing- and if you have any babyproofing ideas or recommendations, please PLEASE *PLEASE* do tell!!!

<3 Lisa <3

Beef Pot Roast!!!....

OK OK OK-

so Zoe didn't try the meat, but she did try the roasted veggies I made for dinner tonight and she loved them! She must've thought it was pretty neat-o to be eating the same thing as mom & dad... at least that's what I like to think. It was mostly carrots & potatoes with some onion (way less than the recipe called for, of course :)) and other spices for flavor. She should probably be glad we didn't try giving her the meat, because it was a bit overdone & dried out :( sad day... but it was just my 1st try and I'll do better next time! Roxy enjoyed it, though (if you consider swallowing it whole "enjoying it").

Well that's pretty much all for today... we're still working on walking- once in awhile she'll take a 'leap of faith' going from Leif's lap to mine or vice versa, and she'll balance standing on her own for a few seconds, but that's it for now :)

G'night!!!

Lime and White Polka Dots
I know you can't really see the suit.... but this was just such a cute moment!
Shades of Pink with yellow & orange flowers
Zoe's on the run again... watch out, world!
(No, I'm not pushing her... she's grasping my pinky finger, so it sort of looks like I am, but I promis I'm not!)




WHICH SUIT DO *YOU* LIKE? please post!!!

Swimsuits & Soccer...

Hey there!

Just wanted to give you a quick update about Zoe's recent activities... she's discovered how to kick a ball, so that's now all the rage in the hall household! Zoe will walk all around the house (with my help still) kicking a ball... this can last for as long as 10 minutes or so and then my knees/back give out so I redirect Zoe to try something else :) otherwise she'd probably keep going :)

We have been on the lookout for baby swimsuits- not an easy task in the midwest winter time- wonder why? ha ha... Anyway, we found one on eBay, bought it, got it, tried it on, and although it's "12-mo" size, it DOESN'T FIT. Aargh. It's really cute, too.... so we went to the stores around here and much to our surprise, Target has swimwear in stock now! (sorry Grandpa Green) We tried on a couple of them, and now we just have to pick which one.... I'll post pictures later and ask for your opinion! I just haven't gotten them off the memory card yet and I think Zoe will be waking up any second now.

She slept in today, which was nice, but it also made Leif late to work because we picked him up after work last night and just left his car there so we could get outta the house for a bit... we figured since she's usually up plenty early for him to go to work (on non-jazz band days), it shouldn't have been an issue... :) So now it's almost 1pm and she's still asleep for her nap (she's usually up a little before noon) so I dunno how the day's gonna finish, but we'll go with the flow. I had to rock her back to sleep midway through her nap because she woke up fussy and couldn't get herself back to sleep. It's just an all around unpredictable day, I guess!

Well check back to see the swimwear pics.... I'd like your opinions because Leif & I can't choose!!!! (Oh and do any of you have experience with baby swimwear- are 2-piecers easier to get off once they're wet? I sort of thought they might be, but I really have no idea.... please post a reply or email me if you have an idea!!! THANKS :))

9 Months and G(r)o(w)ing Strong!

Today was Zoe's 9-month Dr appointment (well-baby check-up... whatever you wanna call it...). Fortunately she's doing just great, and the doctor gave her (and us) an A+. Zoe weighed in at 16 lbs, 8.5 oz and measured 27 inches long. The Dr gave us 'permission' to start even more true table foods (i.e. whatever we're having for dinner), just pulverized into the mush/tidbits Zoe can handle :), and she warned us to get our house baby-proofed REALLY SOON because it appears that Zoe will be walking in no time :) She also let us know that at the rate Zoe's growing right now, it doesn't appear that she'll hit the 20-lb mark by her 1st birthday, so we have to keep her carseat rear-facing until she hits both of those landmarks :) I'm not in a rush to face her forward anyway- it's safer the way it is now... although I bet Zoe will be excited for her new outlook once she is forward-facing :)

Zoe's loving solid foods these days- the puffy cereal type stuff is great, baby carrots work well as teethers, and yogurt is another new favorite treat. If she could spend the whole day walking, she most certainly would. She walks with our help, or with the help of the furniture, and she even tries getting Roxy to help, but Roxy doesn't have the patience for all the ear- and tail-pulling... we're trying to use sign language with Zoe, so the word "Gentle" is being used a lot when we're playing with Rox :) Today Zoe chased Roxy all over the house - poor Roxy couldn't get any space to herself!

Well I should log off and turn off the computer... the electric bill boogey man is coming to get us!!! (I'm dreading the bill with the increased rates.... blah.)

Take care!
Lisa

WELCOME, 2007!!!!!!!!!

Self-Portraits @ the park in Urbana on December 30th... can you believe it?!?! It wasn't even freezing! We were just fine without our coats for a wee bit (and for those of you questioning our parenting abilities, please trust that we had the lil' punkin TOTALLY bundled up in layers, and we bundled her up between pictures :)). We had a lot of fun, we entertained quite a few onlookers who were also taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, and we found a family-friendly way to spend an afternoon. Wham-bam, thank you 'mam!

December 31st Amy & Erica came down to visit and celebrate the changing of the years, and that was a ton of fun! We had to have had the quietest New Year's 'party' I've ever been to, but it really was a nice time of visiting and catching up with great friends. Zoe only woke up once (and a second time but she found her binky on her own that time) which made it even nicer.

Today (January 1st) we had to say our ttfn's to Amy & Erica who had other places to go and people to see, and then we Publishjust had another play day here at the house. Leif drove up to Bradley to borrow Gma/Gpa Green's carpet cleaning machine, so that's what's in store for tomorrow.... I'll let you know how that goes :) Our goal is to get the carpets as clean as possible and then stain guard them to the best of our abilities... between Roxy dragging mud inside and Zoe throwing food you gotta know our very pale beige carpet doesn't really stand a chance ;-) ha ha

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


To all our friends & family members... May 2007 be filled with love, peace, and happiness for you and yours.

Oh and we had a SUPER DUPER New Year's Celebration with Amy & Erica in town (OK so it was just the adults... but at least Zoe enjoyed her sleep)! We loved having your company!!!

Talk to ya later... Zoe's up from her nap.

XOXO
Lisa