Rough Day

Well, Serena still has a little bit of a runny nose, but I definitely thought things were getting better. However, in spite of the fact that she woke up at 6:30 and crawled all over Jordan & I for an hour quite happily, as soon as we all got up she started being a big crab! :P And she kinda stayed that way all day. Just easily frustrated and very attached to Mommy. Makes me wonder if her teeth are moving, cause that's the way she acts when she's teething. Of course, she won't let me look in her mouth, so WHO KNOWS?! We can just hope that tomorrow is better, I guess!

Sometime after 10, she started acting really tired. She would want to be up on the couch with me (I was on the phone) and then she would lay down on me for like 30 seconds or so and then get down and look at books for a few minutes before repeating. Finally, I decided to stop being a bad mommy and got off the phone so I could put her down for a nap. She only slept for about 30 minutes before she woke up crying. As soon as I picked her up, though, she laid her head on my shoulder and fell back to sleep. I was pretty tired myself (my throat's been kinda scratchy so I think I'm fighting the little cold thing that she has), so I brought her out to the living room and laid down on the couch with her. It wasn't long before I was out and we took a nice nap together for about an hour and a half. Finally, I got up and started working on other quiet little projects while she continued to sleep for another 45 minutes! Poor baby was so tired, I guess! Too bad getting a 3-hr nap didn't really help her mood out as much as I'd hoped it would! :P

Sound asleep on the couch. Isn't she starting to get that toddler look lately?!

Look at those big round eyes! I snapped this one while she was eating some late lunch (it was 2 o'clock!) shortly after she woke up from her nap.

This afternoon, Serena was losing interest in her toys and just kinda wanted me to hold her a lot but wasn't even really satisfied with that, so I racked my brain to come up with something that could distract her from whatever was bothering her. Then I remembered that we had some sidewalk chalk that I had not gotten out for her yet. At first, she just wanted to watch me draw with it, but pretty soon she started making marks on the patio herself. After a while, she got really into it. She would march over to one corner of the patio and make two marks, and then she would get up and walk (with a very serious, trying-not-to-smile-look on her face) over to the opposite corner and make two marks. Then she would go back to the original corner and repeat this little ceremony. It was so funny, I was just cracking up at her, especially because of that look on her face! What a goof! Who knows what's going on in that curly head of hers?! So, it turned out to be a fun evening. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be back to normal!

Little Sweetie

Playing Outside

Today's toy of choice: a disinfectant wipes container

Serena loves wandering around the yard with the doggies

It's fun to yell at the neighbor's dogs when they come out and bark

Stuff

This is actually a picture from yesterday that I forgot to put up. Serena loves Daddy's dog whistles. When she sees them on the counter or something, she insists that Jordan put them around his neck and then she stuffs them in his mouth in an attempt to get him to whistle with them! She tries whistling too, but is usually not successful. Yesterday, Jordan put them around Serena's neck and you could just tell she felt like big stuff! Look at how straight she is walking now, too! She keeps her legs together a lot better than she used to do. No more Frankensteinetta! ;)

Serena loves watching Daddy work with the doggies. She's very serious about it, and usually wants to get involved if it's at all possible!

This isn't that great a picture of Serena, but I was trying to get a shot of this weird gesture she does. She sticks her arms out behind her, but she only does it when she's jabbering very commandingly...usually at the doggies. Which is why it's hard to get a good picture of her doing it since her mouth is moving and her face is so animated! ;) I'm not really sure what this gesture is supposed to convey...or how she came up with it! I promise Jordan and I don't talk with our arms stuck out behind us! She came up with this one all on her own!

Big smile from Serena to say "Good night!" to you all! ;)

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Serena is a huge talker...although not saying any words really yet. Lately, her favorite 'word' is "da-ga." She is constantly saying it over and over, "da-ga-da-ga-da-ga-da-ga-da-ga-da-ga-da-ga." So, I got some of her 'talking' and 'reading' her book to me for this video. Also, her newest sign: "Please." :)

Learning about Gun Dogs

Serena's sick! :( I think this is her 4th cold now. It makes me so thankful for what a healthy girl she's been! Thankfully, the days aren't too bad...she keeps herself busy playing and apparently forgets about how rotten she's feeling; but last night was horrible!

Tonight, I took her to watch Jordan play softball. We drove separately because he had an appointment right before the game. For the last few minutes of the drive, Serena started to get really fussy. Finally, as a last-ditch effort to make her happy, I told her we were going to go see Daddy and isn't she glad we're going to see Daddy and Daddy loves her so much and doesn't she just love Daddy he's the best! (You get the idea!) It worked like a charm! Suddenly she was all perky and 'talking' away back there with all her babble and "Dada" mixed together. When I had parked and came around to get her out of her carseat, she was still going, and she was doing her sign for "I love you!" :)

Serena is getting to be as big of a dog-lover as her daddy. Here she is sneaking a peak at his Gun Dog magazine while he was in the shower.

Mommy's Birthday

Daddy was gone all morning, so Serena and I had a nice quiet time together playing and reading books. For supper, we went out to eat at a nice restaurant and Serena did really well. I was glad because it's been over a month since we've taken her to a sit-down restaurant (we usually went at least once a week with church family in Des Moines). After Serena went to beddy-bye, Mommy & Daddy stayed up late watching a movie and eating Nestle Tollhouse Pie with ice cream and cool whip. Bring on the calories! ;D

Well, it's not too great of a picture, but it's actually the only one I have from today! I took it with my phone, so I guess we're lucky to even have this one! ;)

Upside-Down!

The last couple days I've found Serena in this bottoms-up position several times! She looks around, and then she sits back up and looks around, and then repeats the process. It's so funny to watch her check out how it looks from both angles!

Pretty Romper

I just think this little romper is so cute!

Silliness!

Crossing Her Ankles

One of Serena's cute little quirks is to cross her ankles almost every time she's sitting. Whether she's in her car seat, her high chair, or just sitting on the floor to read a book, she usually crosses her ankles!

A Special Day

Today was a very special day because we found out that Serena is going to have a baby brother! We're so excited and can't wait for Horak Munchkin #2 to join us!

I hesitated to post this picture as I know it will gross some people out quite a bit. This was definitely one of those times in a parent's life that you want to take a picture before intervening. Or am I the only person who finds herself in situations like that? ;) In this instance, Serena was giving and receiving kisses from Rocky and it made her laugh so hard every time! I just had to take a picture before breaking up the lovefest!

Playing at the little park area near our house. It was such a gorgeous evening!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

This video is just a conglomeration of stuff from this week. The first part is Jordan spinning Serena and making her dizzy. I promise we have only done this 3 times, and there don't seem to be any negative side affects...other than her staggering about and looking totally stoned for a minute afterwards, haha! Also, Serena has added a new animal sound to her vocabulary (the only other one so far is the lion...ROAR!). Her new one is Macy: "What does Macy say?" "Ahh-ooooooo!" She loves that one! Especially when Macy responds with a howl! :D She's also added another body part to her repertoire (though her bellybutton is by far her favorite still). Serena picked up on where her nose is at thanks to a book Aunt Julie sent for her birthday, The Nose Book. I always point out Serena's nose when I read that book to her. Let's see...what else did I stick in this video...? Oh, her "I love you" sign, which is her version of crossing her arms in front of her...she crosses them down and grabs her wrist. ;) And then there's a bit at the end where she's going to get her diaper changed. For some reason she likes to get her diaper changed, and when I say, "Let's go change your diaper!" Serena will march happily to her room and lay down on her changing pad! Usually she swings her arms along the way (she always does that when she's in a particularly good mood), but she didn't in this video clip...I think she was being shy because I had the camera out. :P Anyway, I hope this one's not too long for you all to be able to load and watch! There's some pretty cute stuff in here! ;)

Playing at the Park

This afternoon, I was pretty tired and not sure I really felt up to my intended walk to the park. So, Jordan made it a lot more fun by driving us there, dropping us off, and then going to get limeades at Sonic for us to enjoy while we were there! He brought the doggies along too, and the kids at the park loved petting them! :)

Serena loves swinging!

Very serious about her self-imposed job of transferring all the wood chips from the playground to the cement

I totally forgot yesterday to mention that it was this blog's first anniversary! Serena has changed a lot from that first post! Keeping this blog has definitely been one of the most rewarding endeavors I have undertaken. It's just amazing to look over the past year on here! With so many of the posts I feel like I just posted them, even though they are already months old. Crazy how time has flown! I'm glad that this blog has helped me capture little bits of these precious days to cherish in the future! Here's to another year of Daily Serena! ;)

Watching the Doggies

Serena loves to go down to the park area by our house to watch Daddy train the doggies!

Sneaking a Little 'Snack'

With the gorgeous weather we've had the last couple of days (highs in the mid-70's, lows in the mid-50's), we've had the windows and the back door open and have been spending a lot of time out in the back yard! It's been wonderful!

As I've mentioned before, Serena likes to pretend to eat things. She'll just randomly put her hand in an empty cup or box or corner and pretend to pick something up and then put her fingers in her mouth. She always gives me a little 'look' when she does it too...like, "Did you see me eat that?" So, I thought nothing of it when she was doing that outside this evening and I snapped this picture. I only wish I'd thought of snapping another picture a couple minutes later when I discovered there was mud dribbling down her chin! Apparently, she had found some tiny clods of dirt that she was putting in her mouth! :P

Funny little eater

More Big Smiles!

Serena looks SO pretty in this dress! I love it!

I taught Serena to sign "I love you" this morning. I made it really simple and just did the one where you cross your arms in front of your chest. She slept till about 7:30 this morning. Jordan and I were already up. I had taken a shower and Jordan was in the process. I was going to start blow-drying my hair, but then thought I might wake Serena up and I wouldn't be able to hear her because I would have the dryer going. And since she was on our bed, that might not be a very safe scenario. So, I decided to just lay down on the bed until Jordan got out of the shower. Of course, as soon as I did, Serena rolled over and opened her eyes and looked at me! I started talking to her really quietly and after a bit she started 'talking' back. We had a nice conversation for a couple minutes and then she sat up and crawled over to me. I said, "I love you!" and she looked at me ever so carefully. I've noticed that she's been doing that lately with that phrase, just like she used to do with "Uh-oh." I said it a few more times, thinking she might make an attempt at saying it. But, "I love you" is a whole lot more complicated than "Uh-oh"! ;) Then I thought I should make it easier by putting a sign with it. So, I said "I love you!" and crossed my arms in front of my chest. Then I said it again and crossed Serena's arms in front of her chest. I did this 3 or 4 times, and then she did it herself! She was so pleased with her new ability and we both laughed! Jordan was out of the shower by then, so I took her in to show off her new sign to Daddy! I'll be working on getting it on video for this Thursday! ;)

Dog Groomer-in-Training

Serena is starting to learn the sign for "all done." I actually use it most regularly when I'm changing her. Since we still don't have a changing table, her pad is on the floor. That's definitely not a big deal at all, except that she can climb off of it a little too easily...like sometimes when I'm not actually done changing her yet! So, she's learned that she's not allowed to get off the changing pad until I say "all done" and do the sign (to do the sign, you have your hands palms up and just turn them palms down). Lately, when I'm about halfway through changing Serena, she will put her right hand out and start twisting it in the air and saying in her high-pitched voice, "uh? uh?" "No, not yet, Serena!" But, when I do give her the "all done" sign, she is so happy as she rolls herself over and climbs off of that pad and walks herself out of the room to find the next thing to do! ;) Signing makes her so happy. Almost every time she signs "more" or "eat" or I do a sign to her, she laughs.

Jordan really got her laughing today! He got her all dizzy for the first time. It was SO funny! We were laughing so hard at her! It all started when he offered to let her hold his finger while he walked her around the house. (I think they were waiting for me to finish something and he was trying to keep her happy.) She thought that was great and didn't want to stop. Whenever he would try to stop, she would come over to him and try to grab his finger again. So, he held her hand and then just turned in a circle while she circled around him. She started laughing and we soon noticed that she was getting a little dizzy! Later, Jordan picked her up and spun around. She laughed and laughed! But, when he was done, we noticed her eyes were going back and forth as if she was watching the room spin around! Haha! It was hilarious! Jordan put her down and she fell sideways onto the floor. It took her a couple minutes to be able to walk straight again! We're definitely going to work on getting a good video clip of it for Thursday! ;)

Oh, and one more funny thing she's up to now. She loves throwing balls. Because of the dogs, we have a few tennis balls around. Tennis balls are perfect since she can pick them up with one hand and they don't cause any damage when thrown! Most of the time when she throws a ball, one of the dogs (usually Rocky, since he loves retrieving the most!) will run and pick it up and bring it to Jordan (if he's home) or to me. Serena is so pleased when the dogs retrieve her ball and she comes and takes it from us so she can throw it again (apparently it doesn't bother her that the dogs NEVER retrieve it back to her). But, when the dogs don't retrieve the ball for her, Serena will stand and point at the ball and point at the dogs and shout commandingly in her high-pitched voice, "Da! Da!" The dogs don't even show any response! Haha!

When Serena saw Daddy sitting on the floor combing the dogs this afternoon she ABSOLUTELY HAD to try it herself! As you can see, she was pretty serious about it (even had the tongue sticking out!). But since we were laughing at her, she started being silly and gave us the enormous cheesy grin you can see in the top right picture! She's such a ham these days!

I definitely see "Brush the dogs" as one of Serena's regular chores someday! ;)

Important Work

Serena likes to sit on Daddy's lap and watch work on the computer

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Today's video got really long...sorry, you guys! Let me know if this is too long for your browsers to download and play. I can always cut it up into shorter videos, though I can't guarantee that I can cut out much content! ;)

The first video has Serena saying "Uh-Oh." The very first clip was Friday afternoon, and you can see how much she improves in getting the "oh" part by Saturday afternoon (which is the clip where she's in her carseat). She still loves to copy Jordan the most, as you'll see when she's in her highchair and growls!

The second video is Serena demonstrating her first signs. :) Neither of them look too much like they're supposed to, but at least she's consistent! "More" is her pointing with her right hand to her left hand and "Eat" is random pointing at her face, haha!

The third video includes a clip from yesterday when Serena was chasing dogs and then a little bit from today when she was yelling at Rocky through the window. She's so funny with him!

"Uh-Oh"

"More" & "Eat"

Chasing the dogs

Rocky Love

I'm not sure if anyone is going to enjoy this picture collage as much as Jordan will! ;)

I promise I did NOT pose these two or do anything to encourage it! I saw Serena giving Rocky 'loves' at a moment when I just (amazingly) so happened to have my camera handy! Since Serena & Rocky's relationship has been a little...um...rocky?...hahaha!...this was truly an amazing moment!

Serena & Rocky. I just had to include the upper right corner picture of Rocky because it's so hilarious! He totally looks like he's winking!!!

Stacking Expert

Serena has suddenly become a stacking expert. I have often stacked the blocks when playing with her, but never coached her in doing so. I was a little surprised when I looked over at her playing and saw that she had carefully stacked two blocks! Now blocks are a lot more fun for her to play with! It's so amazing to me how quickly she's picking up on things and trying to copy us these days!

Stacking (Her bangs are slicked over because she got cantaloupe juice smeared in them during lunch! :P)

Smiles & New Shoes

If you're able to, when you blow up this picture you can see Serena's new tooth poking through on the bottom. That's the one she decided to cut the week we moved. Lovely. :P

Serena LOVES wearing shoes! Whenever I get them out and ask her if she wants to put them on, she comes right over and sits down for me to put them on her. A couple days ago, I got her shoes out and laid them on the floor next to her changing pad (we still don't have a changing table), and laid her down on the pad to change her. She caught sight of the shoes, though, and started pointing at them and going, "Mm, mm!" and making the sign for 'more' because she wanted me to put them on her right now! It was cute! She also goes into my closet and pulls out my shoes now and then and brings them to me, wanting me to put them on even if I am already wearing shoes.

Serena's new (and much-needed) shoes!! They were a 25-cent garage sale find. Baby Gap brand, too! They looked like they'd never been worn, or maybe the baby who owned them before just never walked in them. Serena's wearing size 2 right now, which she is almost ready to grow out of. Size 3 is just way too big and she can't walk in them. Is there such a thing as baby size 2.5? Wish I could find some!

Hodge-Podge

Me & my baby girl :)

For some reason, Jordan's always the popular one at home! If he sits down, Serena and the dogs quickly descend upon him!

I don't know why, but I just love Serena's 'sippy-face'! ;)

Neither of these are super great pictures (she was eating at the time), but I just love how her lashes look in them!

My little Jordan-look-alike!

Backpacking

A couple days ago, Serena brought me her baby doll's backpack/diaper bag and was not content with anything I did with it until I put it on her. She'd never worn it before, and it seems kind of surprising that she would know that was what it was for. But, Jordan mentioned that she would have seen him using his backpack last weekend when he went hunting, and she definitely has been trying to copy him a lot lately! (For example, often when Jordan spoon-feeds Serena, he waves the spoon around to make each bite a little more 'fun.' Today, after Jordan would give her a bite, Serena would start waving her arm around with her hand clenched like she was holding a spoon. Jordan was like, "Why is she doing that now?" And then we figured out that she was copying Jordan!) Anyway, so whatever the reason, Serena now sees her backpack and thinks that she must be wearing it ASAP. She toddles around the house playing with her toys happy as can be with her backpack on her back!

Serena wearing her backpack

She was too intent on 'reading' this book (for the 1,505,603rd time) to give me a smile for the picture

I love when she squats to examine something!

And a bonus....

This is the look she often gives me when Daddy is about to 'get' her!

First Tan Line and First Word (Besides Mama & Dada)

We've been taking Serena to the pool with us 3 or 4 afternoons a week since we got here. We just go for an hour or less, usually, and not until late afternoon. I make sure to slather sunscreen on Serena, and so far we have avoided her getting burned. However, yesterday I noticed that she's getting a tan line! It goes across the middle of her back where her swimsuit hits!

Serena's very first (and very cute) tan line!

All day today Serena has been working on saying "uh-oh." For the last couple days, whenever she would fall down and I would say "uh-oh," she would look at me very carefully. So I would say it again because I could tell she was trying to figure out how I was doing that. Finally this morning she started making attempts at saying it. Until about 4 or 5 o'clock, she would usually only manage the "uh" part. Maybe 30% of the time she'd get an "oh" out...but even that was pretty delayed after the "uh." So pretty much all day I've been saying "uh-oh" back and forth with her. And listening to her say "uh" while she eats, while she plays, while I change her diaper...you get the idea! This evening, when she finally figured out how to put the "uh" and the "oh" together, she became even more obsessed with the word! It's pretty cute and I'm going to try to get it on video tomorrow. This is her first word besides "Mama," "Dada," and "Dah!" (which is doggie), so that's pretty exciting! We've been wondering when she was going to try to come up with a new word. However, unless her enthusiasm for "uh-oh" abates soon, we're going to be even more anxious for the next word to come along, haha!

Oh, another thing we did today was learn the sign for "more." Usually Serena just goes "Ah, ah, ah!" and points at what she wants, so hopefully this will be a step towards learning some table manners. I'll have to work on getting video of that too!

This afternoon, Serena brought me one of her rings from her stacker and I put it on my finger. She thought that was SO neat, and after that she kept wanting to stack rings on my finger! Even later on, when we were sitting on the floor again, she went and got a couple rings, brought them to me, picked up my hand, and started putting them on my finger again! :D

Serena loved the new twist to her stacking game!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Here's a clip of Serena's walking which has earned her the nickname "Frankensteinetta."

Serena is starting to copy sounds more and more. She especially likes to try to growl like Daddy. She is also getting really good at finding her bellybutton, which is pretty cute!

How to Climb into a Crock

First, here's a few bonus pictures...

Playing with her dolly's diaper bag ("What's this, Mommy?")

"Hmmm...what else can I find in here?"

Happy play time!

_____

And now for today's

FEATURE PRESENTATION:

How to Climb into a Crock

"You put your left leg in

You put your left leg out..."

Oh, wait! That's something different!

Keeping your hands on the floor for balance, lift your right leg into the crock next to your left leg.

Next, sit up, not forgetting to grab your toy or book off the floor that you brought over for this purpose.

A crock can be very useful. For example, it is a great place from which to make phone calls.

If the reception is bad, you might have to stand up and move around a little.

To dismount, follow all the same steps in reverse. It can be helpful to have a dog bed on the floor to ensure a soft landing.