I’ve suspected for several months that Saffie understands me more than she is letting on. It’s a similar feeling I have had about our cats for years. But there are 3 things that Saffie definitely understands and shockingly responds to most of the time.
1. “In your mouth” This is what I say at least 5 dozen times over the course of the day when Saffie holds her food over the edge of the highchair tray or tries to stash the food beside her. She is almost always looking at me when she does this. If I am beyond her line of sight she simply throws the food as far as she can. She is getting better and better at putting the food in her mouth when I say this to her – I’m sure this is just a phase she will grow out of. When people talk about how being a stay at home Mom is one of the hardest jobs you’ll ever have the throwing/spitting/smushing/rejecting of food are some of the moments I believe they are talking about.
2. “Can I have that?” This is what I say when Saffie is putting something in her mouth that shouldn’t be there (usually some kind of paper product) She is extremely good at giving up these tiny treasures. But if you take the remote control away from her watch out!
3. “Drink your milk” This one shocked me a bit. Lately Saffie is drinking her milk almost exclusively from sippy cups. If you ask her to drink her milk she grabs it and takes a sip of it no matter what she is up. She won’t drink a ton of it if she isn’t interested but seems happy to give it a try. Again, by the end of the week I’m sure she won’t be so excited about it, but for now it’s totally awesome!
We’re still working on “go back to bed”, “would you mind sleeping in today”, “drop the power cord”, ” are you teething or just really pissed off about something” closely followed by “please don’t bite Mommy while I check your gums”, and of course, “gentle . . . gentle”
Months ago I bought an album to make a baby book for Saffron. It is empty. I have a stack of photos, momentos, etc to put in there but who knows if I will ever get to it. In case this blog becomes Saffie’s official baby book documenting her first year of life – Saffie this is why your Mama is an Obama Mama.
Saffie has had a hard time moving around. It turns out she has loose ligaments which makes it harder for her to build up muscle strength. She is extremely flexible though! After some physical therapy and some exercises at home she had a breakthrough this weekend. I am very excited to let everyone know that Saffie is crawling and can get herself into a sitting position by herself. Yippee!
She was also excited to come with me when I dropped off my ballot and get a sticker (notice the big red mark on her forehead from smacking her head on the hardwood) Let the bruising begin
There is only a hint of crawling in this video but there are lots of giggles!!
Josh and I knew that when we named our daughter Saffron she would never be able to find a license plate/mug/sticker/etc. with her name on it like we could when we were kids. I’m convinced that any day now a celebrity is going to name their baby Saffron and the name will take off in popularity (I go back and forth as to whether I want that to happen).
But someone out there – Paola Opal to be exact – did a great thing for Saffie. And my friend Emma did an even greater thing by letting me know about it. Emma (and her soon-to-be-one-year-old Bella) gave Saffie the book Saffy for her first birthday. Saffy is about a little giraffe who want to pick a leaf all by herself, but she is too little to reach one. Will she find a way?
One of the fun things Josh and I did in Prague was visit a “Mirror Maze” which was more like a Hall of Mirrors as you could escape the ‘maze’ in about 20 seconds but that’s just being nitpicky. Josh and I are suckers for mirror mazes and mirrors that make you look silly so we were happy to spend some time here. By the way did you know Prague has a mini-Eiffel Tower? I didn’t either – it is right next to the Mirror Maze FYI.
One of the spur-of-the-moment things Josh and I did in Prague (actually everything was a bit like that as we didn’t really plan anything ahead of time) was our visit to the toy museum. Actually as a side note I highly recommend spending your time in Prague wandering around. It’s hard on your feet but it’s a great city to explore on foot and get lost in.
Anyway, I love toys – shocking I know – so I felt the need to pay the entrance fee to this museum even though my guide book said it wasn’t worth the money. Wrong! Wrong I say!
Love these never produced Barbies!
A closer look.
This on the other hand is just creepy and wrong.
One of the many themed displays of antique toys.
Pre-cinema display – gotta love the magic lanterns!
Definitely brought out the toy and film geek in me.
Lesson learned – don’t always trust your guide book! While our books gave us great suggestions for places to eat they failed to let us know where we could take a brewery tour ?!?!?! hello! where are your priorities! and their “suggested walks” were a bit sketchy to say the least.
Josh recently had the opportunity to attend some boring “work” meetings in Prague and Nice over the last 2 weeks. I enlisted my parents to come down for a visit and a mega-babysitting adventure so I could sneak away for a few days to join Josh in Prague for his 3 free days between his “meetings”. I unfortunately gave both of my parents colds and Saffie popped 2 teeth in the four days I was gone, but everyone survived and had a great time.
A fantastic view of the city.
The Astronomical Clock – rumor has it the original maker’s eyes were gouged out so he couldn’t make another one like it – nice bedtime story for the kids.
The skeleton dances when the clock chimes.
An imposing view of me outside the St. Vitus Cathedral.
One of the gorgeous stained glass windows inside.
Creepiest statue ever – I felt like it was following me around.
A view from one of Prague’s many bridges.
Best things about the city as a tourist – the public transportation made it super easy to get around, very, very few people could not speak English, and it was easy to see the major attractions of the city in just a few days
Worst things about the city – you had to pay to use public restrooms (this actually becomes a big deal when you have my bladder), it was surprisingly expensive (stupid dollar), and the wonderful cobblestones on the streets and sidewalks were hard on the feet (but I still loved them)
Oh, how could I forget the beer! The Czechs love their beer. Here is Josh at the Staropramen Brewery.
Overall a fantastic trip – I highly recommend Prague as a getaway. Coming soon – our trip to the Mirror Maze and Toy Museum.
I’m having an admittedly odd emotional reaction to WAMU’s recent failure. I have a tendency to be a very loyal consumer. Apple, Honda, Coca-Cola, Target, Southwest Airlines – all of these companies have somehow worked their way into my heart for one reason or another. The idea of having a non-Apple computer is repulsive to me. I have owned 3 Hondas and I have loved them all. I’m addicted to Diet Coke – this is unhealthy but true. Diet Pepsi does not make me as happy as a Diet Coke. I feel dirty and embarrassed when I shop at Walmart. I rarely fly Southwest Airlines but I will forever love them for making my then long distance relationship with Josh possible. The more bad experiences I have with United Airlines, the happier I am that Southwest now flies out of Denver.
And I love WAMU. They’ve been my bank for years. Years ago I refinanced my condo mortgage with them and it was hands down the smoothest major financial transaction I have ever experienced. A few months ago WAMU closed the 2 closest branches to me and I considered closing my ‘single girl’ checking account with them. But I just couldn’t do it. They are my bank. And now they are gone. Yes, yes I’m happy someone bought them. I know I should just be thankful my money is safe. But I’m still sad about it.
. . . this is an SNL skit being rehearsed for Saturday night. Seriously, this almost makes me more nervous than the state of our economy this week. Someone make this woman a notecard with a better answer for her to memorize!!
