Christmas Elf Sarah

Christmas

Of course, Christmas is for children, especially for non-Christian families such as ours. I know that I enjoy the time more with Sarah around. As I got older and older without children, I think I turned more and more into a scrooge. Now, though, the Christmas cartoon specials bring back memories of my childhood. The decorations remind me of how much I enjoyed the Christmas tree, the lights, and time-worn knickknacks that had been around my whole life. I even find myself letting go of all the trappings of religion and just enjoying the songs and food and people around me.

New traditions start with our little family, and, hopefully, Sarah will bring into her adulthood good memories of fun, sharing, caring, maybe a bit of the mystery that is life. It's good to have something to which to look forward. Time is short. Merry Christmas.

Big Girl Room

Mommy has made some changes recently to Sarah's room since our baby isn't so much a baby anymore. Sarah now has a cool quilt and curtains...curtains with some bling!

Naps Are Great!

Fun With Bubbles

Endearments

Names we call Sarah (Daddy likes rhymes):

• Sarah Bearah
  
• Cutie Booty
• Girlie Birly
  
• Tootsie Bug
• Little Muffin
• Silly Willy
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Stinky Winky
• Sis
• Sissy

More to come as I think of em...

Geoffrey

Well, Daddy had a scare today. We had gone out for an errand with Sarah's favorite doll, but once we got back in the house, I couldn't find him anywhere! I called the place we went, drove back there, and, thankfully, when we returned I saw Geoffrey there in the garage.

Geez. Thoughts of Sarah being traumatized for life ran through my head, her crying endlessly at night because Geoffrey wasn't there, her hating me when she got older because Daddy was the one who lost Geoffrey!

Too bad the stuffed giraffe is so rare we've only seen one on the net sold in the past year. It would be nice to have an alternate Geoffrey in case, heaven forbid, he does actually disappear one day.

Elmo for Prez!

Trip Pics and Video

First Big Trip

Well, Sarah had her first family vacation this past week, and, boy, did she have a big time. We went to Sonoma County, California, which is about an hour north of San Fransisco, an area full of vineyards and redwoods not too far from the rocky coast.

Sarah loved playing outside on the trip. She soon learned to grab her shoes in the morning and present them to the nearest adult. Sarah also enjoyed her first visit to the ocean, putting her feet in the cold waters (and even getting hit by a wave!).

Unfortunately, our baby seat we brought to hold her in the airplane wasn't FAA approved (little did we know about that), so we were stuck with a wiggly baby on the 3+ hour flights to SF and back. Daddy isn't the best when it comes to being around lots of people in closed confines, and add a baby making us the center of attention meant a stressed-out pop. Needless to say, next trip, we'll have the right seat and a portable DVD player in which to strap her in and veg her out!

Overall, though, Sarah was a good little girl. If she has activities and room to roam, there's no problem (well, unless it's close to nap or bed time). I'm proud of her on her first big trip.

Update

• Well, in the past few days, Sarah has shown she can go from sit/crawl to stand without any support. Before she would crawl to a wall or something and pull herself up.
• On the eating front, she likes cheese, chicken, yogurt, bread, "fishies", but she will eat about anything.
• No recognizable words, other than dada, coming from her mouth, though she does seem to talk in complete sentences at times. :)
• Sleeping, Sarah goes down about 8 p.m. and gets up from 6-7 a.m., taking a 2-3 hour nap late morning/early afternoon.
• She likes watching PBS Kids in the morning and her Baby Einstein videos (yes, she gets more language development from interacting with "live" people) late in the afternoon before dinner. We go for a walk with her "bro bros" in the afternoon and get some social time 2-3 days/week at Gymboree.
• Sarah is petite but healthy. She is happy and likes to have fun. And she sure has the curls in back! :)
  

Simple Pleasures

I like to watch Sesame Street in the morning with my Geoffrey and my blankey.

Gymboree

We've been taking Sarah to Gymboree since March or April. For a time this summer, she wasn't into it much, getting cranky most visits. But lately, she seems to enjoy it more, I guess since she is able to walk and get around more. Plus, she likes to walk around North Park Mall a little bit before and after we go there.

Sarah and Her Big Green Ball

Go OU!

Days and Nights

For some reason, Sarah has gotten her days and nights mixed up...at least this night. She went to sleep at the usual 8-8:30 but then got up about 12:30 crying. I got her something to drink and rocked her a bit, yet she has refused to go back to sleep. It's now approaching 4:30! Dear me!

We even drove around Edmond a bit to no avail. I guess it's just one of those nights. She isn't sick, doesn't have a fever, her teeth aren't coming in...who knows. What can a dad do but keep trying to get her to go to sleep and in the meantime stay up with her (and the late-night infomercials we all know so well).

Picture and a Movie!

Checkup

Okay. Looks like we need new pics and videos here, huh?

Doctor Visit

Well, Sarah had her 15-month checkup today. She is healthy and happy at 50 percentile in height and 20 percentile in weight. We're not concerned about her weight, though, since both parents are (or have been at least) long and lean their whole lives.

What daddy needs to focus more upon are Sarah's vocabulary (she only says "ah-oh" and "dada" now) and less milk, more other fluids in her diet. Mom is a little concerned about Sarah not eating, but the doctor said it's normal--this age is finicky and we need see if she has a "good eating day" three out of seven.

Oh, and Sarah had four shots today, too. Ouch! Poor girl. I looked at her shot record...seems like she has 10 more to go at some point.

First Big-Girl Swim

Look Who's Walking!

First Playhouse and Rocking Chair

Grammy sent Sarah a new rocking chair. Dad made a little tunnel out of the big box it came in. :)

Baby Steps

It's fun watching Sarah slowly but surely work toward walking on her own. First, she lifted her head and then rolled over on her own. Next, she pulled up and started crawling, "Army" crawl at first then four-legged crawling, which she still does mostly today. But she has "cruised" around furniture and even along walls with more and more confidence. Plus, just today she seemed to take joy out of standing on her own for a few seconds before plopping to the ground.

She'll get there soon. This process is the same with her eating, talking, and other firsts. I'm glad I have been able to witness her growth.

Learning to Fall

Boobah

Sarah and I caught this children's program the other day. Most adults consider it creepy; I guess toddlers like the colors, shapes, and music. :)

Happy Fourth!

Bushel and a Peck

Sarah's grammy sings this song to her:

I love you a bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck
A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap
A barrel and a heap and I'm talkin' in my sleep
About you, about you
'Cause I love you a bushel and a peck
You bet your purdy neck I do

A doodle-oodle-ooh-doo
A-doodle-oodle-oodle-ooh-doo

I love you a bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck though you make my heart a wreck
Make my heart a wreck and you make my life a mess
Make my life a mess, yes a mess of happiness
About you, about you
'Cause I love you a bushel and a peck
You bet your purdy neck I do

A doodle-oodle-ooh-doo
A-doodle-oodle-oodle-ooh-doo

I love you a bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck and it beats me all to heck
It beats me all to heck, how I'll ever tend the farm
Ever tend the farm when I wanna keep my arm
About you, about you
'Cause I love you a bushel and a peck
You bet your purdy neck I do

A doodle-oodle-ooh-doo
A-doodle-oodle-oodle-ooh-doo
A-doodle-oodle-oodle-ooh-doo
A-doodle-oodle-ooh-doo-doo


If you're wondering it's from the musical Guys and Dolls and written in 1950.

Website

Yes, Sarah has her own website,too....conkin.info. Daddy has updated it recently.

Teething

Getting new teeth is no fun. The past few days, Sarah has been running a low-grade fever and been cranky. Poor girl. Motrin, Tylenol, gum-numbing gel, and teeth rings help, but she's been clingy and just not her usual self.

Update: This morning her fever broke, and she seems in much better spirits. Thank goodness! :)

Keep it Simple

Whenever I find myself worrying about being a good dad or Sarah walking or using a sippy cup or whatever, I try to remember something my wife told me when I first started taking care of our daughter about a year ago: "Love her and have fun with her." Good advice for any parent. :)

Videos

A few short videos we shot yesterday from our digital camera:

What Sarah Loves

• Sarah loves going for walks with her bro-bros.
• She loves sliced cheese.
• She loves her Geoffrey doll.
• She loves playing and being silly.
• She loves her daddy.

The end.

What Daddy Did Today

1. Got up around 5 a.m. to feed Sarah. Went back to sleep (as did Sarah).
2. Got up around 9 a.m. to watch Sarah since Mommy goes to work.
3. Played with Sarah, fed her, changed a diaper.
4. Went to the park with Sarah and her bro-bros.
5. Played with Sarah, fed her, changed a diaper.
6. Took a three-hour nap with Sarah (yay for long naps!).
7. Played with Sarah, fed her, changed a diaper.
8. Sat out in the front yard with Sarah and the bro-bros, pulled some weeds.
9. Played Sarah's video, cooked dinner, wrote this blog.
10. Ate dinner with Sarah and Mommy (we had hamburger helper, she had cheese and some of our stuff).
11. Played with Sarah.
12. Helped Mommy put Sarah to bed.
13. Stayed up playing computer games til 11 or so.
14. Went to sleep.

Reading

Sarah loves her books. Luckily, grandma Coker saved all of mom's (and mom's siblings') books from like 30 years back, and now Sarah has like 100 titles, ranging from Disney to Little Golden books to Dr. Seuss.

If she's anything like her mom, who is a voracious reader, then Sarah will have a life-long interest in reading.

Almost Walking

Sarah is getting more confident in her bipedalism. Though the average walking age is about 12 months, at 13 months she's doing just fine. One thing us first-time parents have to be careful of is comparing her overly to the "average" and just let her be. Sarah is a happy, healthy girl, so no worries. :)