Talitha loves to dance and wiggle - lately her stage of choice is the kitchen table. Our normal go-to dance music is T-Rex but during this video she happens to be dancing to Grimes. She’s just swaying back and forth, but I think it’s so sweet!
Fave food: what food? She throws it all on the floor. But really I think her fave lately is hummus or oranges
Fave animal: cat
Fave article of clothing: We’re back to hats.
Fave activities: walking the dog with mama, dancing, playing Counting Bear on the iPad, putting groceries away
Weight: 22 lbs, just upgraded to size 4 shoes yesterday!
Recent words of note: Guitar, coffee, calm, glasses, Coach, all the body parts, and hundreds of words I can’t understand!
Schedule: up at 6 or 7, 2 hour midday nap, bed at 7:30. Bed time is so easy lately I never thought it would get better but it did!
Potty training: no progress
We extended Tilly’s daycare hours so she’s there 10-5 each day. I try to keep tuned in to work in the mornings but its hard when josh works early. We use that time to go to the grocery store, read books, take a bath, walk tank and watch Caillou. (And write blog posts!) Seems like our schedule changes every month or so, flexibility is key.
We went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival for the third year in a row a few weeks back (here’s years 1 & 2). Last year it was Tilly’s first concert, and I hoped to recreate the magic. To be honest, maybe music festivals aren’t the best fit for us right now. It was a mile walk there, super crowded and hot and loud. Miraculously Tilly napped in her stroller, but once she woke up she was cranky and not into it at all! Didn’t she realize Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band were singing directly to her?
I loved the Hipstamatic photos I took last year so I tried to recreate some shots this time around. I can’t believe how dark Tilly’s hair was back then! Here are some then and now pictures.
We’ve had lots of fun this past month and Tilly is a full blown walker. It is very rare that she crawls any more and she even walks a good portion of the way home from daycare every day. She gets easily distracted of course, but she loves being independent and going at her own pace. Tilly’s about 2.5 feet tall now and weighs 21 pounds. Seems like she’s been stretching a lot but not gaining weight – looking back over her infant pictures it’s funny to see how roly poly she was! I just adore her. Also Tilly has been very clingy lately and loves to be held and rest her head on my shoulder. She never would do that before, and I must say it’s the best feeling in the world.
Tilly’s 15 months now and as personable as ever. She babbles to herself constantly and has gotten pretty good at walking. We’re to the point that I can set her down in one room and she will follow me on foot into the next room. Her 15 month appointment isn’t until next month so I dont know her official stats, but here are some developmental milestones she’s reached:
Talking: Last week I made a list of Tilly’s words, and since then she’s added like 5 words to the list! I think we’re at somewhere around 15 true words. She has a few little sayings she loves to repeat all day long: “water” sounds like “what the what?” and she loves to say Doo be doo be doo, which I think is a spin off of two three two three two. (Don’t ask me why I know this, I just do.) We’re working hard on saying please for food instead of screaming, and all animals are called dada (dog). I’ve even caught Tilly singing recognizable songs a few times. I know it’s the Itsy Bitsy Spider because she does the hand motions with it, and also the alphabet song. So cool!
Eating: Tilly calls all food crackers. Every morning, the first word out of her mouth is “cah-kaw” and she points in the direction of the kitchen. This girl knows how to eat!! She’s great at taking bites of foods, so she can sit there with 1/2 a peach and just take bites on her own. That blows my mind. The only foods she really doesn’t like are meats. Like chicken, fish, beef, etc. We keep trying them though, so I think she’ll eventually get over it.
Sleeping: Tilly’s still on the 2 nap a day schedule. Most days she takes an afternoon nap at daycare, but it’s hard with all the other kids in the same room so sometimes she just skips it. Bed time fluxuates a lot, sometimes its at 6:15 and other times it’s at 8:30! I spent time with a mama friend yesterday who has her daughter on a strict 7:30 bedtime and she said it works well, so I am trying to adopt that and not give in to her crying! Wake up time is around 6:15.
Playing: Tilly’s favorite activity is sitting in her room handing me book after book after book to read. Books I’ve practially memorized include: Go Dog Go, Beautiful Oops, Baby BaaBaa, Put Me in the Zoo, Little Quack, Little Bear is Hungry, Benjamin Bunny, Rockin Babies, Sunshine on my Shoulders, Waikiki Lullabye, & The Story of George Washington. She also really loves endlessly moving objects from one container to another. And dancing!
Here are some pictures:
Wow – two trips to Oregon this summer… what a treat! This time Tilly & I went up to visit my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle on my mom’s side. They live near Ashland in a cute little town called Talent. My aunt is an equine osteopath and has 3 horses, 2 cats and a dog! Tilly was pretty scared of the horses at first but we didn’t give up and by the last day she was sitting on one with me! This trip was really relaxing and immersed in nature. We picked wild blackberries at the house, cooked ebelskivers, played in a horse trough filled with water, and ate lots and lots of delicious food. We went into Ashland one day and had lunch at the Standing Stone brewery, Josh would have loved it.
My favorite part of the trip was playing the piano with my Aunt Jannalee. She knows a 2-person song that my grandparents used to play together all the time, but she doesn’t know the name or anyone else that knows it. She said it’s imperative that it’s passed on to the next generation, so she taught it to me and we made a little video of it! It was so much fun, I hadn’t played the piano like that in years and years. I’m sure my Uncle Wayne’s ears were bleeding at the beginning, but bless his heart he encouraged us and even filmed a little. Here’s our best version – we fall apart by the end though, haha:
I don’t get to see this part of my family as often as I would like, so trips like this are extra special and worth every bit of hassle United Airlines loves to put me through! Here are some more pictures:
Tilly and I have had some quality family time the last two weekends, when we traveled to Lake Tahoe with my aunt Rose and then to Southern Oregon to visit my Grandma, Aunt Jannalee and Uncle Wayne. It was a bummer that Josh had to work and couldn’t join us, but I wanted to take advantage of these warm weekends before they’re gone for good. (Not like it’s warm here in SF, but that was even more incentive to get out!)
Here are some pictures from Lake Tahoe. We stayed at the Hyatt in Incline Village – it was our first time to Tahoe and it was everything Sunset Magazine always says it is. Traveling with Tilly this time had its highs and lows – she was pretty moody but I think it was from her teeth growing in. (Isn’t that the best excuse for everything?)
Tilly has been walking on her own for a few weeks now! Her first tiny steps were on my birthday, but she has slowly progressed to being able to walk about 7 steps in a row now. Once she gets behind her walker, she gets going pretty quickly! I love the way her butt wiggles when she walks.
I’ve been working on adding some new standards to my recipe repertoire*. Here are 3 successes I’ve found recently. Click the name for a link to the recipe:
1. Sweet Potato Biscuits - my friend Shari told me about using up baby food puree by adding flour, salt and baking soda and baking biscuits out of them. Well I used up the last of my baby food puree months ago, but I cooked up some sweet taters just to make these because Tilly needed a little variety. It’s weird, the sweet potato part turned green (which apparently is a normal reaction when it’s mixed with baking soda). But other than that they’re yummy, healthy, and super easy for 1 year olds to hold and much on (29 year olds too…).
2. Tortilla Soup - Whole Foods had whole roasted chickens on sale for $5 this week, so I couldn’t help but pick one up. They shared this soup recipe on their facebook page and it was so easy and delicious! Shred the chicken, add a can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, some salsa, and cilantro. I also added some plain yogurt mixed with cumin and hot sauce, a few avocado slices and some chips on top to make it more of a meal. DELISH and warm on these cold San Francisco evenings!
3. Egg and Avocado Salad - My stepmom recently spent the weekend with Tilly and told me that she really liked her egg salad sandwich. I had never thought of that, but since I love them too I thought I’d whip some up. I searched for it on The Kitchn because they always have fun variations on normal foods, and sure enough, they recommended adding avocado in place of 1/2 the mayo. RIGHT? So I used 6 hard-boiled eggs, 1 avocado, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and some salt/pepp. Boom – breakfast ready for the week.
*I’ve been inspired by these super cute recipe cards that I got for my birthday! I needed some new menu items to fill em out. Thanks Jack-a-roon.
Hi Team. It’s been forever, let me catch you up!
