Pushing

Serena just LOVES to push! Anything that will move, she pushes it around until she can't get it to move anymore. Mike & Eltza's little boys have these carts that can be pushed or rode on, and Serena was obsessed with pushing them around. When she found Max (he's 2 1/2 months older than her) sitting on one, she'd rush over as fast as she could so she could push him! She had fun playing with Fox & Max all day while we waited for things to be finalized with our house.

Sorry the picture's a little blurry! I took it with my phone! ;)

The Long Trek

Today was the big Moving Day! We left home at 7:45am and arrived at Mike & Eltza's in McKinney, TX at 11:30pm. To say it was a 'long haul' would be an understatement! We were going about 55 mph most of the way since we were pulling such a big trailer. Serena did pretty well. She did get sad at times, but we just tried to find ways to distract her from the fact she'd been in the car seat all day long! We played a lot of "Where's Daddy?" She thought it was SO funny to point at him and go, "Dada!" in a VERY high-pitched voice. If we stopped playing the game with her, she would just keep saying "Dada" over and over until we started in again with "Where's Daddy?" :) We tried to find music on the radio for her to listen to sometimes (usually music makes her happy), but we soon realized that basically all the stations were country as we drove south! :P The dogs mostly rode in their kennel in the back of the truck, but we allowed them up in the cab a couple times. Rocky decided that the comfiest ride was on Serena's lap! She thought that was pretty fun! She liked playing with his feet!

Big Girl Car Seat

We decided to put Serena into her big girl car seat in preparation for the big trip to Texas. She's a year old (which meets one half of the requirement for the forward-facing seat), but still only 18 pounds (she's supposed to be at least 20). We decided that 2 pounds is close enough that no one would know the difference by looking at her! She does look like a little peanut in it, though! :) We first put her in it for our trip to Cedar Rapids this weekend. At first, she thought it was pretty fun...she chatted away and smiled and laughed. Then, she started pointing up at us and fussing. It took her most of the trip to figure out that she wasn't going to be allowed to come sit up with us. :( The trip back was a little better, and the little trips around town yesterday and today were great. Hopefully she'll do all right tomorrow!

Cell Phones!

Serena LOVES cell phones. If someone offers her a cell phone, she is instantly their best friend. Great Grandma T let Serena play with her cell phone for quite a while this morning. I think Serena might have even made a couple phone calls!

Serena Gets Babysat

Jordan & I were treated to a WONDERFUL supper at (of course) Texas Roadhouse by Luke & Anna tonight, so we left Serena in the loving care of Grandpa & Grandma and Uncle Grant & Aunt Anna! :)

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

The grandmas worked together this week to teach Serena how to growl. It's hilarious!

A Day with Grammie

We had another great and productive day here today! Grandma & Anna were here for the morning, and then they left when Grammie got here. Serena had SO much fun once again today! She's loving having playmates! :)

Boxcar

I got a lot of packing done today and I'm almost done! Yay! Anna played with Serena all day long, and Serena had SO much fun! I found a shoe box to throw away, but first I gave it to Serena to play with. Of course, she wanted to climb in, and then Anna started pushing her around and Serena had a blast!

Serena getting a ride in the shoe box

Serena & Rocky and Aaaahhh!

Once again, I didn't take a picture today, but I took video. I have a lot on my mind. ;)

This picture is from a few days ago, and I never posted it. I just saw it again and thought it was too cute to keep to myself!

Rocky is putting Serena through 'Big Sister Training Boot Camp.' When she's not being frustrated by him, she loves him. They're hilarious together!

Serena & I have this game where she'll come around the corner with her walker and go, "Aaahh!" and then I'll copy her. She thinks it is SO funny! And it is pretty funny! :D

Pool Party

A family in our church hosted a pool party tonight to get everyone together one more time before we take off for Texas. It was so much fun! Serena loved swimming! She floated in her yellow ring and watched Daddy and the other boys jump off the diving board, trying to make the biggest splash or catch a football in midair. She would kinda laugh and go, "Ooo!" and clap when Daddy jumped! :) By the time we got her out to eat, her little teeth were chattering!!! She got in one more time after we ate, but by then the sun was behind the house so the pool was shadowed and she got cold again pretty quickly. But, she had fun up on the deck playing with a little girl's shoes and our friends' baby's carseat! She carried the shoes over and put them in the carseat and then she herself climbed in and out of the carseat over and over! What a busy girl!

No Picture?!

I didn't take a picture today!!! BUT, I DID take some video. Phew! ;) When I recorded it, I was planning to save it for Thursday (that's what I usually do when I take video throughout the week), but I guess I'll just go ahead and post it today!

You'll see she's not wearing any clothes. That's kinda been the norm for the last week or so. It's just easier NOT to put clothes on her, and not to have to wash them or try to get the dirty knees out since the house is so dirty with all the moving. :P But, now when I do put clothes on her to go someplace, she keeps pulling at them like, "Really, Mom, do I have to wear these silly things!?" ;)

At church tonight Serena was showing off her new walking abilities! She loved having an audience! :) Today she finally started standing up after she falls in the middle of the floor (she's always needed something or someone to help her stand back up before). She used to just continue on crawling, but starting today she gets back up and keeps trying to walk! I just know that by the end of next week she will really be cruising along!

I don't remember what got us started 'panting,' but Serena thought it was SO funny! She likes trying to copy sounds and motions (though not any words yet!)

Climbing the Stairs

Serena just LOVES to climb the stairs, and when she comes around the corner of the hallway and sees that the gate is DOWN, her eyes light up and her crawling quickens with the excitement of the prospect of being able to climb the stairs!

Climbing the stairs is SO fun!!!!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Serena is getting braver and better with taking steps! Every day we see improvement. Here's just a short clip of her walking between Aunt Anna & Grandma. I'll definitely be working on getting more video of it as her skill develops!

When Grandpa was here last weekend, he had Serena laughing SO hard by 'flying' her around the house chasing the dogs. It was hilarious!

A Busy Day in Minnesota

We spent the day with Grammie today!

In the morning, Christa & Marcus came over to play! It was fun!

For lunch we had a picnic at Gomsrud park. It was a pretty day for a picnic! Grammie packed SUCH a yummy lunch! One of the most popular items was a watermelon. Grammie wanted to give some to Serena, but I knew (from experience!) how messy it would be with Serena, so we waited until Serena had eaten everything else we'd brought for her. Then, we took off her clothes and sat her down in the grass and gave her a slice of watermelon. As you can see, she loved it! She devoured two or three slices!

Yummy watermelon, but WHAT a MESS!!!

"So, why is it that you get to sit on that comfy blanket and I have to sit over here in the grass?"

Well, now with such a sticky mess of a baby on our hands, we had to get her cleaned up! Grammie had planned ahead and brought along a wet washcloth, but it kind of reminded me of the phrase, "Putting out a wildfire with a teaspoon" or however that goes! Jordan said we should just go dip her in the lake, but I thought the water would be too cold. Jordan reassured me that it would not be too cold and offered to carry Serena over there himself. So, off we went to the lake! I removed Serena's diaper and Jordan plopped her down right in the water! I was curious if she would be upset about sitting bare-bummed in the rocks, but it didn't seem to bother her whatsoever! She sat there quite happily for a good 20 minutes or so before I finally took her out so we could go swing for a little bit!

I especially love the one where you can see her little bum cheeks crinkled up!

We went home for a few hours and then headed out to the fair for the evening. Our first order of business was to find something to eat for supper. Lucky for us, we ran into Jessica's friend Katelyn and her dad, who generously gave us coupons for free pork chops on a stick! They were SO YUMMY!!!! I shared mine with Serena, who loved it SO much that when it was gone she became very upset. I mean crying-upset! Haha! If it hadn't been so pathetic, it would have been funny! We walked around looking at stuff (Jordan was pushing the stroller), but every time Serena saw me she would get upset about it all over again! Finally, Jordan suggested that he just take Serena alone for a while and see if he could get her to forget about it. We met up again at the sheep barn maybe a half hour later, and it was all fine again!

Serena likes riding on Daddy's shoulders, but it's kinda hard on Daddy's ears, eyes, and hair! ;)

Next, we went to the petting zoo. Serena was fascinated by all the animals and not afraid of them a bit (of course, she had Daddy holding her, so what is there to be afraid of?!)! It's also nice that she already has lots of experience with petting the dogs nicely so she knew how to treat the animals. There was a pen with these little Highland calves in it. They were so cute with their long fluffy coats! Serena is very interested in the fact that she has hair these days, and apparently those cows' hair reminded her of her own (as you can see in the top right picture below)! Things were going along great with the little cows until one of them decided Serena's cheek looked pretty tasty! He reached his nose through the bars and out came his long tongue and he gave Serena a big lick!!! I think his tongue must have felt pretty rough on her baby skin; she started crying SO hard!!! Jordan tried to calm her, and finally had to take her out of the tent until he could get her to stop crying! In spite of that traumatic experience, though, she came back with Jordan and pet the cow again and then went on to pet all the other animals with renewed interest and zeal!

Serena's experience with the Highland calf

These cute little goats were so friendly!

Besides the animals, Serena also loved all the people, lights, and especially the MUSIC of the fair! We went to the carnival part so Jess & Katelyn could go on a ride and Serena was bopping and clapping to the music almost the whole time!

Serena with her new friend, Katelyn

Right before we left, we sat down to enjoy some cheese curds and live music. After the pork chop experience, I decided to play it safe and gave Serena grapes to eat! ;)

Serena & Grammie

Daddy's Computer

Serena is very good at climbing up onto our couch now. Actually, she's very good at climbing in general and climbs anything and everything that looks climbable. After a little tumble down the stairs, I took some time to teach her how to go DOWN the stairs and now she loves showing off that ability! Usually, if the person watching her does not start praising her and clapping for her, she will pause in her descent to clap for herself! :) She even figured out how to apply her knowledge of how to climb down stairs to other situations. Like the bed. The other morning, she was playing in the bed with Daddy, and decided she wanted to get down to visit Rocky who was in his kennel. So, she spun herself around and swung her leg off the side! Jordan grabbed her hand and helped her slide down off the bed. Anyway, back to the couch-climbing. Jordan usually leaves his computer on the couch, and Serena L-O-V-E-S Daddy's computer, so she feels like she's hit the jackpot when she climbs up onto the couch and finds the computer unattended. She usually looks around exultantly to see if anyone is there to share in the novelty of her discovery. Then, she'll point at the computer screen and in a very high, excited voice say, "Da!"

Serena looking very pleased to be on the couch with Daddy's computer

Pals

Serena relates to Macy so differently from how she relates to Rocky. With Macy she is more chummy and tolerant and more interested in what Macy is doing. However, Serena treats Rocky more like the annoying little brother. When he sticks his head up in her high chair, she grunts and tries to push him away. When he is running around and brushes against her, she generally expresses some displeasure about that too. Sometimes, Serena tries to play with Rocky by offering him one of her toys. But, when Rocky takes the proffered toy, Serena gets frustrated because she expects him to give it back to her! It's pretty funny to watch the dynamic between her and the doggies!

Serena loves to look out the window with Macy

Walking, Talking, and Sorting Shapes

First words have been hard to identify with Serena. She reaches for me and says "Mamamama" when she is upset, but won't say "Mama" any other time. She says "Dada" a lot, but hasn't seemed to say it really specifically to Jordan. Until today. Today, he was walking by when she was in her high chair and she said very distinctly as she looked right at him, "Dada." She calls the dogs "DA!" in a very high-pitched voice, usually accompanied by pointing at them. That's about it for her 'words' at this point. She makes LOTS of other noises and loves to babble!

She is taking more steps, and really thinks it's fun! We've been working on getting it on video, so hopefully by Thursday I'll have some clips of it to string together! A few days ago, she was standing at the couch and of her own accord and without any encouragement from us, she took two steps to Macy! Then, yesterday, she was standing at a chair and took a couple steps to a nearby wall without any encouragement from anyone! She's also standing a lot more on her own.

Serena will play with her shape sorter for as long as she can find someone with the patience to sit and play it with her! She does really well fitting the shapes into the openings, she just needs help matching the right opening with the right shape.

Big Giggles

Grandpa & Aunt Anna have been running Serena around the circle in our house chasing the dogs. Serena just laughs and laughs and laughs!

Apology

Well, I had the CUTEST picture of Serena to post tonight, and then I accidentally DELETED it! OFF THE CARD!!!! RRRRRRRRrrrrrr!!!!! :/

So, as an apology and in an attempt to make it up to you, I have a cute video of Serena loving on her Aunt Anna and blowing kisses! The way she blows kisses is SO funny! The other day I was trying to teach her how to blow kisses (Jordan was there too), and after watching us do it, she stuck her finger in her mouth and pulled it out to duplicate our 'kissing' sound! Jordan praised her, and ever since then, she thinks that's how she's supposed to blow kisses!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Yes, we allow Serena to torture sweet little 5-month old babies for our entertainment. So?

Serena tries to give Caroline her paci

Goofy Girl

Being silly during breakfast (sorry about all the 'see' food; she was having oatmeal!)

Temptation

This was taken right before Serena reached in and took a handful of dog food with the intention of putting it in her mouth. I stopped her. There were tears (Serena's). Someday she'll learn, right?

8.9.10

"Whatcha doin'?"

Pushing her walker and happy as can be!

Getting close to bedtime!

Ladybug Dress

I played the piano at church today, so Serena got to spend some time with Daddy in the morning while I went to the church to go over the music with the song leader. Daddy got her all dressed and brought her to church about 45 minutes after I had left. It's always weird to me to go somewhere without Serena! It makes me feel like I forgot to put on some very important article of clothing or something! :D Serena was good during the song service until I started playing my offertory piece. Jordan said that as soon as she heard it, she whipped around and started looking for me! She must have recognized it from hearing me play it at home? I only played through it 3 or 4 times this week (it was one I had played for a recital, so I was already very comfortable with it), but I guess I have played it now and then since she was a couple weeks old, too. Anyway, I thought that was pretty neat that she recognized my song! Except that she started fussing then, haha!

Serena was SO cute in her darling ladybug birthday dress today!

My Buddy

Since Serena has hit the 1-yr mark, I thought we should weigh her while we were at Grandpa & Grandma's. She is still weighing in at 18 pounds!

Serena loves her Aunt Anna!

Climbing and Cousin-love

Serena loves to climb! We found her on this perch where she had a good view out the window. I'm not sure, but she may have learned this maneuver from the dogs since it is also their favorite spot to look out the window from!

Loving cousins! :)

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

For some reason, with some of her bigger toys (especially those that are round-shaped), Serena loves to try to pick them up and carry them or hold them. It's pretty funny to watch her try to maneuver with her arms full!

Serena loves the little 'radio' we got her for her birthday! You can see her playing with it in the second half of this video.

A Surprise and Some Cousin Time

Serena got a special birthday surprise in the mail from Great-Grandma Rabe today! She LOVED the tissue paper that it was wrapped in and just wanted to play with the wrapped present until I started helping her out a little! The little dress is so cute! I'm sure we'll see her modeling it before the week is over!

Jason & Julia and Kaden & Keira stopped by this afternoon for a little visit. They are on their way to Dallas, TX for Julia's highschool reunion and to spend time with friends & family down there. Jason & Jordan went golfing and Julia & I played with the kids at the house. We had supper together (in shifts, since the boys were gone till 7:30 or so), and then Jason & Julia took off around 8:30 or so for their big overnight drive! :P The kids had a lot of fun playing together. Serena was of course enthralled by her baby cousin, and Keira rewarded her interest with all kinds of adorable smiles and coos! Serena also thought Kaden was amazing! She followed him around, trying her best to keep up. He was so nice and let her play with some of his cars since she though his toys were WAY cooler than any of hers! ;) They looked so cute together walking around the 'loop' in our house, Kaden pushing Serena's doll stroller and Serena pushing her walker! Serena was in her element walking next to Kaden!

Big smile from Keira

"Is it okay if I play with Keira, Aunt Julia?"

The girls

Can You Hear Me?

We've been working with Serena on walking. She finally started letting us help her by holding her hands. She used to get really mad about it, but Jordan (of course) was the one to coax her into realizing just how fun it can be! When Jordan's walking with her, she periodically will tip her head back, expecting Jordan to give her kisses! :) Today, I plopped her on the floor (standing) and then stepped a couple feet away. Then, I reached out my hands and said, "Come here, Serena!" AND SHE TOOK A COUPLE STEPS!!!!!!! They were of the half-running type, but they were unassisted steps, nonetheless!!! However, I couldn't get a repeat performance. Little stinker! :P We'll keep working at it!

Serena thought it was really special to wear Daddy's ear muffs!

Concentration

The concentration is written all over her face! It takes a lot of work, but she does finally manage to get the ring over the stick...only to take it off and try again! So much patience! Of course, she has her 'tunes' nearby and stops her work just long enough to push the button when the music turns off!

Birthday Cake & Presents

Today the birthday festivities continued for little Miss Serena! She ate her cake around lunchtime. Well, she didn't actually consume very much of it. She REALLY liked the frosting at the start and then she began digging in for actual bites of cake and seemed to like that too. But, she seemed to reach her limit pretty quickly as the cake-eating digressed to cake-smearing all over herself and the highchair! She ended up in the kitchen sink for some serious clean-up!

We opened presents a little later in the afternoon. Serena got a little distracted for a while with all the tissue paper (so fun to tear!); but with a little help, she soon found the goodies UNDERNEATH the tissue paper! ;) We got her a shape-sorter, a ring stacker (I don't know what you call those things, but hopefully you know what I mean!), and a Baby Einstein 'radio.' The shape-sorter is a little 'old' for her right now, but hopefully it won't be long till she can play with it. She's very intrigued by the ring-stacker, but not very good at it yet. The radio is a HUGE hit! She's definitely our music-loving baby!!!