Graduation!

Today was the first of hopefully many, many, many graduations.  Today Delaney graduated from Jackie's Class Mommy and Me, a class that we started when Delaney was just 3 months old.   I remember the first class that we went to and how terrified we were.  We strategized  for days on how/when to feed her so that she would be in the best spirits possible for that first class.  But of course, Delaney walked into the class bawling.  Fortunately that was a good ice breaker and probably earned us a few friends since everyone else was grateful that their baby was not the first or the loudest crier.  At the beginning, a successful class was one where Delaney did not cry hysterically and/or have an explosive poop.  One or both of us attended almost every class over the past year.  Along the way we made so many great friends and learned so much.  We left today as confident, happy parents, but only because we have the most confident and happiest baby, ahem, GRADUATE!   

 Here come the graduates! 

 She tries on her gown.  A little too big! 

Delaney was announced to the room, received a diploma, we all sang "Happy Graduation" and then the final rite of passage was a trip down the slide!  Can anyone say, "Summa cum laude?!"  

 Difficult to orchestrate so many babies! 

 But we are graduates and we can do anything! 

 Delaney's entourage

 Wiped out already?  Delaney, the journey has just begun! 

16 months

Delaney is 16 months!   At 15 months, she was 20 lbs (10^th percentile) and 27” (25^th percentile).   

She loves:

-          Going on walks to inspect all neighborhood sprinkler heads.  If any are popped up, she presses them down with her finger or foot and then claps for herself. 

-          Wednesday Morning Garbage Truck Chase, one of the highlights of every week.  All the local garbage truck drivers know her. 

-     Going to school. Delaney has started at a Toddler Program at Sunnyside Preschool. She's already done art projects, puppet shows, gone swimming and run around like a maniac (thus earning her new nickname "Delaniac." 

-          Vegetables, fruit and chicken, anything with ketchup, a wide variety.  She does not like plain or bland food. 

-          Solving puzzles.  We have about 8 puzzles in the house, all of which she has mastered.  She is excellent at figuring out where the piece should go, but cannot always manipulate the piece to go in. 

-          Elmo!   I am fascinated that she is drawn to this character so much, especially since we really only have 2 Elmo-related things in the house (a chair and a book).  She calls him “Mo-mo.” 

-          Going swimming.  She yells out “POOL!” when she sees a pool and I literally need to hold her back so that she does not run straight in.  We got a small inflatable pool for the backyard with a few inches of water which she loves and is much less stressful for us since she can get in and out easily on her own without us holding her (and our breaths) the whole time. 

-          Climbing on her new playset.  Poppie got her a playset with a slide which she goes up and down about 500 times a day. 

-          Pushing her cars.  She has recently figured out how to ride on the cars and go forward and back. 

-          Kicking and throwing balls. 

-          Playing hide and go seek. 

-          Shoes!  Delaney has a shoe fetish.  She loves picking out which shoes to wear and typically picks (ie demands) her fanciest, red patent leather mary janes that Grandma got her.    

-          Her shopping cart with fake food. 

-          Animals, especially monkeys and gorillas (there is a gorilla at the banana stand at Trader Joe’s which gives her such a thrill), dogs, birds, squirrels, fish, and ponies.  She is very maternal towards her stuffed animals and frequently tries to give them her milk or snacks

-          Saying “No” or “No no” while shaking her head.   She seems to respond to most yes or no questions, but we get a no 75% of the time.  The cute factor is wearing off quickly!   

-          Hanging out with friends.  She is going on more and more playdates.     

Adrian, Sam and Delaney on July 28:

Adrian, Sam and Delaney almost 6 months ago:

Delaney does not like:

-          Sleeping in

-          Waiting for anything.  Unfortunately, patience was never in her genes.

-          Car rides longer than 10 minutes

-          Being able to see me and not be with me.  We still have some pretty severe moments of separation anxiety.  I can’t say that I don’t like her being so attached to me, but it does break my heart every time I have to leave the room and hear her crying, “MAMA!!!!!!!!”    

July 4th

This July 4th was our 4th in our neighborhood.   Last year, Delaney was just 3 months and I carried her in the parade in the Baby Bjorn.  At the time, my mom said that Delaney would be walking in next year's parade and that just about blew my mind.  Sure enough, Delaney walked, ran and rode her way through this year's parade. 


Rylan came over for a breakfast playdate beforehand. 

They played hide and go seek:

 They shared a bowl of crackers on the couch: 

Delaney hijacked someone else's car.  Despite all of her ride on toys, strollers and wagons, she still steals this car whenever she sees it (and there seems to be one everywhere we go).  We are going to go get her one this weekend to save us the embarrassment of future hijackings. 

 We'll do anything to get this smiling, happy face! 

Descanso Gardens

One of my favorites places to go when I was a kid was Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge.  The gardens are really beautiful and there is so much to explore.  I went back with Delaney during my maternity leave, but Delaney was just a newborn and slept through the whole trip.   I’ve been really excited to take her since she started walking and finally got the chance on Friday when I took the day off of work.   It was just the two of us and we really had so much fun together. 

 Delaney loved all of the benches throughout the gardens and succeeded in climbing onto many of them. 

We found a quiet bench off the path to eat our picnic lunch. 

 Delaney looked really small among the beautiful oak trees.

 Hat is a little big, but one of "the rules" that we "discussed" before going to the gardens was that she had to wear her hat since it was a hot and sunny day. 

 Delaney loved the Japanese Tea House and Gardens.

 In addition to the trees and flowers, we saw birds, squirrels, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs and ducks, but Delaney's favorite part was the koi fish.  She was fascinated by them. 

 There was a puppet show but it made her a little nervous.  This was as close as she was willing to sit but watched happily from here. 

 She saw a lot of ducks from the Bird Observation Station. 

We had so much fun, I ended up buying a year membership so that we can go often.  They have jazz concerts on Thursday evenings and kids concerts on Tuesday evenings during the summer where you bring a picnic.  We are going to try make it to at least a few. 

It is really special for me to share these fond memories from my childhood with her. 

A Weekend in the Life...

We had a fun and busy weekend! 

We started off Saturday with a playdate at the Litts after going out to breakfast.  Rylan, 5 months older than Delaney, has always seemed years older than Delaney, but Delaney can finally keep up and the gap is finally starting to narrow.  They are turning into great buddies. 


They kind of look like they are up to no good... 

 They solidified the playdate with the Sticker on the Forehand Ceremony, the ultimate sign of friendship: 

Saturday afternoon we went to the mall.  Delaney loves all of the action at the mall-- the people, the noises, and of course, the stores! 

 Delaney is delighted by all of the stuffed animals at the toy store.  She practiced her gorilla/monkey, lion, dog, cow, snake, bird and horse sounds. 

 Poppie bought her a sushi set:

We started our Sunday with our normal ritual: a trip to the Farmers Market.  I don't think we've missed more than 5 Farmers Markets since Delaney was born! 

Delaney goes to all  of her favorite Farmers Market spots:  nectarine stand, steel drummer, ponies and petting zoo. 

After her morning nap we head to the park for a picnic:

 Delaney loves burying her toys in the sand. 

 Our fearless little girl still hasn't mastered getting down steps.  If left to her own devices she would step right off any ledge. 

 We wrapped up the weekend with Delaney's favorite meal: pizza! 

No one gets a free ride around here...  We ask Delaney to put her toys away, clean up spills and put her dirty clothes in the laundry.  Fortunately she loves it and hopefully that is a phase that never ends!