The Every Other Rule FAILED!

Carlie had her 12 month check up and it (gasp!) went fine! Her last appointment also went well, so I'm thinking for the first time in almost 4 years we have had two successful doctor's appointments in a row.

Ok, so we cheated a little bit. She has gained 3 pounds (22 pounds, 70th percentile) and is no taller than she was 3 months ago. The doctor noticed of course and asked if she was wiggly during the height measurement, and of course she had been. I thought maybe we had evaded the dreaded height check, but no! He asked her to stand for the yard stick, but for the first time in her recent life, she had no interest in showing off her new verticality! That's my girl!

 After he left I persuaded her to stand for the yard stick and verified her short stature (still 27 inches, 5th percentile, down from 25th), but, come on! There's nothing I can do about shortness! Give me a break! Let me enjoy two appointments in a row! (Of course, Nate took Carlie to her 9 month check-up so I wasn't there. So maybe that doesn't count?). I can always hope that maybe she wiggled for the last appointment and they were a bit generous, so the percentile drop is not what it seems.

Perhaps I've only postponed the inevitable, but I'll take what I can get.

Maybe the scheduling debacle before the appointment was enough to balance it out (I had to make an angry phone call and write an angry email. Me, making angry phone calls!)

Or Maybe Garrett paid the dues at his last dermatologist appointment where the doctor took a picture of his intriguing eczema/mollescum mix. Thanks for taking one for the team, buddy!

We made it! Carlie turned one yesterday. I spent the day feeling grateful that it wasn't one year ago. Actually her birth went just fine. It was just the weeks leading up to it that I felt pure misery. Whew.

We celebrated by taking Carlie to Rudy's for some BBQ  (she really likes meat) and I made her an orange cake (because she likes oranges). Garrett was thrilled with all of her presents and has been happily playing Daddy to Carlie's baby.

In typical Hayden style, I made a birthday video for Carlie. I made this to be shown on our TV, so I'm sorry if some parts are too small to full appreciate on YouTube. Don't worry. I would be happy to give you your own personal viewing on our big screen sometime.

We just love our little girl so much! She has such a bright smile. She has taken up to 6 steps, but actually hasn't taken any this whole week. 

This past weekend I went to California by myself for my cousin's wedding. I had a good time. It was strange being on my own like that. When I came home on Tuesday, Carlie snuggled up with me for about 10 minutes. She's no snuggler, so that was really sweet.

We're still here and I have a lot to share! I've been missing partly because I wanted to make some Hilarity Ensues of some funny kid moments, but I can never get Carlie to recreate the moment. So I'll just have to share them old style. I've also been missing because Nate and I went on our belated 2-night anniversary getaway to Fredericksburg. Ahh. So nice. Thanks to Amy for volunteering to watch my kids and Tiffanie for actually watching the kids when Amy's toddler got bronchitis.

 Part 1: The Gunny Bag

Meet the newest member of our family, Gunny Bag.

When the clean up timer goes off, Gunny Bag comes slithering out of his cave, growling, "Yum, yum, yum," searching for tasty toys that didn't get put away. If he doesn't find any, he cries. If he does find some, he eats them until the next day when he coughs them up. But if he eats them twice, the toys go away forever (he's a part of the preschool curriculum, but we have our own at home now).

At first it scared Garrett.

Now it just fills him with panic.

We set the timer and Garrett starts putting away the toys. But the closer we get to time, the more frantic he gets. We made it 8 days without Gunny Bag eating anything, but Garrett felt nonchalant last night. Until Gunny Bag came out and started eating toys. Garrett was running around as fast as he could in near hysteria because he didn't make Gunny Bag cry. We had a good talk after and Garrett learned his lesson: he vowed to not play with any toys ever again so there wouldn't be any mess to clean up.

Don't worry. He played with his toys today. But compare this with several weeks ago when Garrett sat in his playroom for more than 6 hours "cleaning up." I'm a fan of the Gunny Bag.

Part 2: Carlie

Carlie is standing up.

She's quite proud of herself when she gets there. She boastfully sticks out her chest and sometimes claps while she's up there.

We usually have stand-up time in the evening. Garrett likes to show off his physical feats as well:

 

 
Carlie is increasingly a little person. She is doing things to communicate and show that she understands us. This afternoon I asked her if she was tired and she patted her mouth to blow kisses. I told her to say good night and she waved good night.
 
Last week we were having a family prayer. Carlie was rolling around the room. Nate told Garrett it was time for prayer and to fold his arms. Carlie immediately sat up and folded her arms!
 
Carlie is already well acquainted with the phone (such a girl!) If she hears one of our phones ring, she'll look around and put her hand up to her ear. 
 

This conversation happened a couple weeks ago:

Garrett: What would you like for Christmas, little girl?

Carlie: (blank stare)

Garrett: Hellooooo?