Oh happy birthday to our sweet girl! It’s been a whirlwind week of fun! More details on that to come, including the official 12 months blog post, but today I was prompted to share with you about our gift for Beatrice’s first birthday. It’s a big deal; her FIRST birthday! We wanted her gift to be something memorable, something she would love and something that would somehow express our love for her, if only in a small way. Sharing each day with Beatrice means I know her really well. In fact, I’d even venture to say I know her better than anyone else. We (I) spent weeks researching the best options for toys for our sweet baby girl. We wanted it to be age appropriate but not something that she’d feel was too young for her in a few months. It needed to be fun and sweet, just like our daughter. I took Beatrice to several stores to look at toys, I watched her play at our friends’ homes to see if there was something they had that she loved, I read reviews online, I thought about the things she loves most and I recalled sweet memories from childhood of my favorite toys. We decided on a doll for her. Once we chose the item, we shopped and found a perfect doll that looks like Bea, has eyes that open and shut and is the perfect size for her little arms. They wrapped it for us at the store, which was great because otherwise I’d likely have given it to her the same day we bought it.
On her birthday, we had a dinner comprised of all her favorite foods: chicken, peas, string cheese and roast sweet potatoes. After dinner, she got to open her gift from us. We handed it to her and she was delighted in the packaging! We explained to her that she needed to remove the paper and she carefully pulled until it gave way. When the box was revealed she said, “Oooh! Hi Dolly! Hi!” and did her little happy shimmy. It was adorable! Jonathan (Mr. Misty) and I teared up, looked at each other and both said something like, “We would have given her 20 dolls if we knew she’d be so happy!”
In the words of Bill Yonker, I tell you that to tell you this: my joy in giving gifts to Beatrice is absolutely minuscule compared to the Lord’s joy in giving us gifts. My knowledge of Beatrice is slim compared to His knowledge of her. God has known her from the very beginning. Before we knew she was a girl, before we knew she was even alive, God’s own hand was at work knitting her together in the most adorable, booty-scooting, bow-loving, clever, tricky, giggling way. In the book of Matthew, Jesus says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7: 7-11, NASB)
I want to buy Beatrice everything she asks for or shows an interest in having, but I don’t. We don’t buy everything for her because not everything is good for her. If she got every single toy she was keen to own for 30 seconds, we’d have a house full of junk. We don’t want to give her junk. The Lord doesn’t give us everything we show an interest in either, because quite honestly, sometimes we want junk. God doesn’t give junk. He gives us that fancy imported, perfect-for-our-age-but-great-for-us-to-grow-with doll. He’s got good gifts in mind. When it seems like He’s holding out on giving, it might just be that we’re asking for crap. Lately I’ve been asking for crap. Seriously. Big time crap. Things that will only clutter my mind and distract me from living a life that honors God. That’s between me and Him, but maybe there’s some junk you want too….something from the dollar store when the Lord wants to give you the hand-made perfect item but you’d rather have the $1 item because you can have it today instead of waiting. Waiting is hard. I hate waiting. But I’m working on it.
Things have been busy around here, so there hasn’t been much time to blog! Beatrice was officially diagnosed with her first ear infection last Friday, which came with some sad, sad tears and a whole lot of runny, stuffy nose. This is why we haven’t had an 11 month blog post. To satisfy your need for a photo of our little one, I will show you a “real life” photo of how things have been lately.
There have been moments of outcry over nose drops:
Somebody HATES nose drops and having her nose wiped
Baby girl got to enjoy cuddling and a movie with Daddy:
Cuddles, a movie, and snacks
We’ll get an official 11 month blog post up soon, but for this week, we’ve just been enjoying a little down time with our girl. We’ve also had plans every night this week, which has diminished our ability to take photos and our available time for blogging.
While Beatrice certainly isn’t worried about figuring out how to walk, she’s picking up new skills all the time these days! Last Sunday, Jonathan taught her to beatbox and we were able to catch some of it on video. For some reason, hearing her “bmch bmch bmch bmch” sounds makes me sing MJ’s Billy Jean, which is really quite fun!
It is a little long, but here is a video of our sweet girl beatboxing and doing a little dancing to the beat. Happy Thursday!
Sunday night, after all the excitement of guests and fun, we had our first family dinner! It was pretty fun to find a meal that we could all eat. Beatrice, it turns out, is quite an adventurous eater! We had butternut squash soup and she really liked it! I was a little nervous about giving her something with curry powder and turmeric, but she likes it! What a good eater! Here’s hoping she stays that way. And here’s an action shot for posterity.
This past Sunday was baby dedication day at our church. If you’ve spent any amount of time with me or Jonathan, you know that we’re pretty comfortable as behind the scenes people. If you’ve ever been to our church, you know that being on that stage means standing before a big crowd, but dedicating Beatrice and our family to the Lord is important enough that we bravely stood before our congregation and asked them to pray for and with us as we ask God for wisdom to raise Beatrice in a way that honors His holy name. It was a great honor to share the stage with seven other families, though I must say baby Bea was both the loudest and the cutest of the group!
Here is the whole group of us:
Our little family being introduced by Pastor Bob (and up on the big screen!)
Praying (while Beatrice squwaked because she desperately wanted to touch the Rock ‘em Sock ‘em behind us)
Pastor Mike prayed Psalm 121 over us, which happens to be one of my favorites, so I’ll share it with you now:
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.”
After church, we had a little celebration at our home that included my Dad feeding Beatrice bits of bagel. Ah Bea, welcome to the family that celebrates with carbs! Praise the Lord for the miracle of your life and the blessing it is to be your Momma!
Here’s what’s happened in our house lately: the baby has started regularly sleeping between 6:30 and 7:00 for the night. Also, we’ve gotten a bunch of “hold available” notifications from the library. Since we try to be responsible library patrons and we’ve got a little more free time once our little Peach is sleeping, we read. Then Jonathan blogs about the books and I don’t blog and you probably forget we’ve even got a baby, but we don’t forget because we see her in person. We’re also trying to keep this from being a baby blog. She’s a big part of our life right now, but she’s not our WHOLE LIFE. We do love her, and we know some of you do too, so here are some highlights from baby land:
It snowed! Grandma E. found a sweet snowsuit for baby Bea and we took her outside to explore. She didn’t know what to think about the snow, but she really enjoyed watching us dance around for her benefit:
We celebrated our first Thanksgiving together and Beatrice got to try some turkey! (She didn’t love the turkey, but she did love that Jonathan shared part of a dinner roll with her!). She also got to wear a special shirt that says “Everyone is thankful for me” which is certainly the truth!
We took her to be part of our Eskebold/Potterson Family tradition of viewing the Christmas Trees and Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont and watching the tree lighting in Seattle the day after Thanksgiving. She really enjoyed the lights, the decorations and the singing! Even though it was pretty late for her, she did a great job.
Saturday, we had a relaxing morning at home, then braved the crowds at Costco and had a family Christmas tree hunting adventure!
We decorated the tree and got out the rest of our Christmas items. Beatrice was confused about her parents wearing reindeer antlers, but eventually got into the spirit. She really enjoys seeing the mistletoe above her when we walk through the doorway and gets really happy to see the tree all lit up! What a fun time it is for us!
Ever wonder what we do all day? Sometimes I don’t even know what we did all day. Last week, I decided to track everything for one day. I took one photo an hour, sometimes more, so I would remember and so Beatrice would know what it was like when she was eight months old. This might be a long post. Bear with me. Or read this if you’d rather have some real news. I began the “day” at midnight or thereabouts. For the sake of our eyes and our night of sleep, I took only photos of my alarm clock between midnight and 7:00am. I’m not a parenting expert, but something about taking a photo with flash just seems like it wouldn’t help Beatrice to stay sleepy.
2:38am, Beatrice wakes and I get up quickly to ensure Jonathan is least disturbed and it’s been four hours since she last nursed, so she gets a snack. I am hoping this means she will sleep till 6:00.
3:07am, Awakened to realize all hopes of sleeping until 6:00 have been dashed. Beatrice is clearly not hungry, but is going through a “hang out with me! PLEEEEASE!” phase. I rub her little back to help her relax and whisper, “I love you. I’ll see you in the morning” as I sneak back to bed.
4:09am, Beatrice is awake again. I fumble around trying to take this photo then shuffle into her room. She parties like a college student. What the heck? I nurse her again, hoping this means she’ll sleep until 8:00am.
6:45am, Beatrice is awake. My body is like a lump of lead. I literally cannot will myself to move from the bed. Jonathan takes one for the team and goes to care for Beatrice. She requires a new diaper and a change of clothes, which explains why she is wearing basically an undershirt when I get out of bed.
7:00am, I finally drag myself out of bed and find Beatrice and Jonathan playing ball in her bedroom. It’s adorable. I feel guilty for missing out on precious moments with my family, but realize she doesn’t care and they are having a blast so I try to consider it quality Daddy-daughter time and give myself a break for once. I take Bea into the kitchen where she has her first solid meal of the day: oatmeal and pears. During this time, Jonathan gets ready for work. She gobbles up her food and then enjoys practicing the old pincer grasp with some puffed brown rice while I prepare breakfast for Jonathan and me (also oatmeal). Jonathan comes out to the kitchen around 7:30am. We eat breakfast following which he takes Bea to watch him brush his teeth (she thinks this is highly entertaining) and I clear up breakfast. 7:55am, Jonathan leaves for work.
8:00am, Beatrice nurses is bit, we have some cuddles and then it is time for her nap. She’s sleepy and she’s been rubbing her eyes like she’s been sprayed with mace! I have a great feeling that today she’s going to go down without a fight! It will be a peaceful morning and I have hope of doing crazy things like getting ready without singing a song while putting on mascara or narrating while I use the lavatory.
8:20am, The reluctant napper is in her crib and she proceeds to tell me I am wrong, very wrong. She does not need a nap and she will not go down without a fight! After this momentary protest, she rolls over and falls right to sleep. Ha! I am the winner! While rejoicing in the fact that I am reigning victorious, I get ready for the day, drink another cup of coffee, take time to read a devotion, check email and begin sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. I also seriously consider whether having a dog would be more or less work than all this cleaning after each meal.
9:00am, I check the voicemail, chat with a friend, then talk with my mom. Try to figure out what to say to the people who want us to participate in a diabetes study. Is it okay for my child to be a lab rat? Decide I cannot make this call on my own and instead make the bed, clear up the living room, rearrange the couch cushions and dust a bit. I know, glamorous doesn’t even begin to describe the day I’m having. I don’t care what you think, suckas! I am being productive and it is GLORIOUS!
9:45am, our girl is awake! Perfect timing! She really enjoys helping by holding up her legs while I change her diaper and dress her, so we go with that. In the last few weeks, she has also started enjoying the distraction of a toy while she’s on the changing table. This is much better than using logic to try to get her to stop wiggling while I freshen her up and should also explain the presence of toys on her changing table. Don’t worry, I make sure they stay separate from the other toys and are cleaned regularly. I pack up the diaper bag to prepare for our departure while she plays on the floor and realize she’s already “loaded up” the diaper I just put on her little tushy. Fresh diaper time!
10:00am, we are in the car (with Raggedy Ann) and on our way to meet “the girls” for some fun. I am pleased that Beatrice seems to be easily entertained by Raggedy Ann this morning and there is minimal whining from the backseat.
10:30am, we are at the mall to meet up with two other moms/daughters. We walk around and Beatrice is in a great mood. She was a little under the weather this weekend and earlier in the week, so we’ve been sticking around home and this baby loves to see other people, especially other children!
11:00am, there is a new store opening at the mall and they are giving away Miley Cyrus tickets. The line is very crowded and fun to watch so we stop and take it all in for a bit. We walk around and then decide to explore the 3rd floor of the mall where there is a play area. Beatrice is very disappointed that we are not stopping to play with all the other children! I attempt to stop her writhing and screaming and distract her from this by spinning her in the stroller repeatedly. It seems to work until we go to the elevator where she once again expresses her dissatisfaction. Around 11:30, we stop to give the baby girls a little snack and then decide the Mommas could use some lunch too. I am thrilled! I have a goal of having lunch before 2pm and I almost never meet that goal. Today is my lucky day!
12:00pm, we stop to have lunch at Nordstrom Cafe. Beatrice is a little cranky until I pick her up from her stroller and let her sit in my lap. I’m feeling adventurous, so she gets to have a piece of the crust from my sandwich. I’m feeling awesome about this while chatting with the other moms until I notice Beatrice has eaten the whole piece of crust already! Crap! I squeeze her cheeks and pull out the full piece of crust. Feeling like an idiot, but not wanting to be wasteful, I pick apart the now fully moistened piece of bread and give Bea one small piece at a time until it’s gone. She still really enjoys it and I feel a little less dumb by the time she’s done eating. Meltdown city is starting for all the babies, so we part ways with our friends and head home. While walking to the parking garage, Beatrice giggles for quite a long time when she feels the wind on her face. I once again swell with love at how our girl has a sense of adventure about pretty much everything!
1:00pm, I drop the Netflix DVD into the post office drop box on the way back to our house. Sing at the top of my lungs while driving to try to keep Beatrice happy while we inch our way through freakishly slow traffic. Regret having taken the freeway. Hope that she falls asleep while we’re on the road.
2:00pm, I put Beatrice down for a nap, then retreat to the kitchen where I distract myself and watch the lights on the baby monitor. You may wonder why we have a baby monitor if you’ve ever been to our house. The answer: dissassociation. It is easier for me to listen to the radio and watch these lights than to simply listen to her. I read about baby food menus and then start some laundry. But wait! It’s 3:00!
3:00pm, fresh batch of laundry in the washing machine (these are the sheets for the guestroom. It’s all made up and ready for anyone who wants to visit!). Mentally prepare myself for Beatrice to wake up at any moment. She does not awaken. I wash some dishes and begin a rough menu plan for next week.
4:00pm, Beatrice is still sleeping! Crazy! I have just finished cleaning out the fridge and washing the condiment jars for recycling and started some peaches for Beatrice and some lima beans on the stove for supper. I hear a little something about 4:15 and low, she is awake! We have a quick change and then some songs, followed by the peaches I’ve lovingly prepared for her. In this house, that means in August, I took a box of peaches, blanched, peeled, sliced and froze them and then removed them from the freezer at the appointed time, cooked them and pureed them so they would be fresh and wholesome for her. Beatrice’s response? Hatred. She looks at me like I’m an idiot for ever placing them in her mouth. Ok. Hmmm. I should mix them with something! I defrost some zucchini that she liked earlier in the week and try again. Toxic waste face! What? I try the mixture myself. It’s DISGUSTING! Ok, mixing zucchini and peaches is a bad plan. This time I mix peaches and oatmeal together and offer them to her. Nope. I decide to move on. Maybe the peaches need another try some other day. She has pears and zucchini and is a happy girl.
5:00 pm,We go to her bedroom where I apply some teething gel because the stinking Hyland’s teething tablets have been recalled. She’s not a fan of the gel, but it does make her feel better.
5:05pm, she tries to see how many toys she can put on her lap! It’s hilarious and she starts to giggle in response to my laughter. We read her current favorite book a few times before I switch it up to another option. There are only so many times I can read one book.
5:30pm, Jonathan is home and he has been suckered into reading the book for her! Everyone is happy!
5:45pm, Beatrice plays around with Jonathan for a bit. This is always what I would consider roughhousing. She loves it!
6:00pm, time for jammies! She’s figured out that jammies=bedtime, so we’re trying to put her in them a little earlier and then let her play a bit so it’s less of a struggle when we put them on her. She’s in a pretty good mood! (Please note the bedhead that I can never quite get combed down. I love it, but it lasts all day!)
6:20pm, Beatrice has nursed again and gets a story with Daddy, followed by prayer times and then it’s into the crib for a nice, long night of sleep!
7:00pm, we finish up the last of our supper (Giant Crusty and Creamy White Beans) and clean up a bit. I use up the last of our apples from our trip to a farm stand and make an apple-cranberry crisp.
8:00pm, The crisp is ready! We enjoy a nice treat for dessert and relax a bit.
9:00pm, We sit down to watch The Office; it’s the one show we try to watch during the week. In fact, it’s one of the few times we turn on the television. We cuddle on the couch a bit and then I maybe fall asleep.
10:00pm, We brush our teeth and head for bed. The party starts early around here!
Well, there you have it. Lots of giggles, fun and smiles. Good friends. Not too much sleep, but hey, we don’t mind. We’ve got things that cannot be replaced and that’s worth more than sleep.
Ok, we probably have some better photos than this, but before I forget, I thought I’d put up a few photos of baby Beatrice in her “Smart Cookie” costume this weekend. It’s basically a sugar cookie with pink frosting and then Jonathan put some math equations on it and I added little pieces of rickrack to look like sprinkles. We were able to participate in the Microsoft festivities Friday afternoon. Beatrice seemed to enjoy wearing the costume, though admittedly not as much as just being able to see Jonathan in the middle of the day on Friday! Sunday, we took her to visit my Grandpa Roy and hang out with my parents where she toured the neighborhood. No trick or treating for us though, this baby is sweet enough already!
Jonathan will have more photos up here soon! We hope you all had a great weekend!
Beatrice just turned six months old! We can’t believe it either. Here’s what life is like with a six-month-old baby:
First, it’s a lot of fun! Beatrice has smiled since just a few weeks old but now she’s old enough that she understands games like Peek-a-Boo (that game is a perennial favorite for a reason!) and the list of things that make her giggle gets longer ever day.
It’s also a little dangerous. Always interested in what we’re eating, Beatrice now has the dexterity to pick up almost any object and put it in her mouth. Anything nearby is fair game to her. She isn’t yet mobile so we haven’t had to do a lot of babyproofing… but we’re starting to clear a radius of anything that isn’t safe to be gnawed on.
Speaking of her mouth, little Bea’s teeth are coming in! She was teething at five months, but her first two little chompers are now easy to see and there are more on the way. Teething is not fun and we can tell when she’s hurting, but it hasn’t dampened her overall spirits.
We’re feeding Beatrice solid foods now! And by “solid”, we of course mean what all parents mean when they say this, which is ”thicker liquid.” So far she’s had rice cereal and sweet potatoes (both were mixed with her regular food) and Baby Mum-Mums, which are sort of like edible packing peanuts made of rice starch that dissolve in your mouth. I mean, uh, Beatrice’s mouth. (I might have tried one.)
Beatrice can now sit up on her own for long periods of time, such as 10 minutes (or about 2.4 years in baby time). She can’t get into a sitting position by herself but she sure is delighted when she’s sitting. We’re pretty sure it makes her feel like a grown-up. When she’s sitting up, her time is split 50/50 between playing with toys and getting distracted by her own feet.
Beatrice’s vocabulary of facial expressions is expanding rapidly. This is her frequently employed inquisitive/confused look. She’s a very curious little girl and is interested in new people, new sights, and almost any source of light. When we’re holding her and cooking, she usually makes a lunge for whatever we’ve got in our other hand to see what it feels like, especially if it’s crinkly!
Finally, it goes without saying that our little girl is getting prettier every day. We love watching her grow and seeing the kind of person she’s becoming. Happy half-birthday, Beatrice!
(And if you just can’t get enough Beatrice, the whole six-month-old photo extravaganza can be found here.)
Jonathan and Kelly are two all-American kids living it up in the Seattle suburbs. In our spare time, we enjoy photography, cooking, general hijinx and having adventures. If you’re ever in the area, let us know. I’m sure we can find a way to meet up with you!
