Happy Halloween

Today is Vivian's first official Halloween! Last weekend, we went to a local pumpkin patch (okay, not like the patches in Oregon at all -- this was a church parking lot). Vivian decided she wanted to dress up and have her picture taken! :)













Chris is still waiting to hear back from Apple about the iPhone game. The process is really vague and some people completely fall off the radar after they have submitted a game for approval. Chris (and his two co-workers) spent the last 6 months working on this game (without income), so here's hoping we hear something soon!!

I'm still surviving the semester, although it's been a rough one with outside commitments taking a LOT of time too. We're still talking about moving back to Raleigh in April and even found a house! We'll see how the next few months play out though. Lots of things depend on whether or not we move in April versus September versus December!

Clap, clap, clap your hands

Vivian started clapping yesterday (Oct 17) the "right" way. She's been clapping her two fists together for quite awhile now. But yesterday, she started clapping with two open hands and it actually made the clapping sound. YEAH!!! Another proud mommy moment!

Vivian now has another tooth coming in -- 4 teeth at a time. Her two upper front teeth (with a gap in between them), another upper tooth, and now a lower bottom tooth. Poor kid! We still haven't resorted to using Orajel or medicating her with Tylenol or Motrin. She is doing well, just drooling all over the place.

I spoke too soon about it being fall and still in the 80s and 90s. Can you say COLD FRONT? We're freezing -- it's in the 40s! Apparently we've been in Florida WAY too long! We had to buy socks, long-sleeve shirts and PJs, and a jacket for Vivian.

It's Fall -- just not in Florida

It's mid-October and we're still in the 80s and 90s during the day and 70s at night. We've been here 5 1/2 months and are definitely counting down the months until we can leave and return to our home in NC (although it's a temporary stop).

We went to a speech/language pathologist this morning so Vivian could be observed while playing and interacting with us and the pathologist. The signs for the autism spectrum won't start appearing for another 8 months, but they'd like to establish a baseline now because there is a concern based on a questionnaire we filled out a month ago. Vivian had a great time playing with the different toys and interacting with Laurie. We'll go back in January for a follow-up appointment.

The biggest news: She stood up by hanging onto something (this isn't new), but then SHE LET GO and stood there by herself for a couple of seconds. I looked at Chris and we both had this look of amazement. It's on videotape!!

We also noticed she has ANOTHER tooth coming in. This time it's on the bottom. So, this is tooth #6.

We had a peds appointment on Monday for her second flu shot. She took it well as always. We go back at her 12-month appointment for another check-up (and probably more shots).

Chris submitted the game to Apple on Monday. So, we wait to see what happens next. Apple takes a couple of weeks to approve the game. After that, the game will be available via iTunes and hopefully we'll have some $$ coming in.

I'm in the middle of midterms and almost didn't make it to one yesterday. Vivian activated the gag reflex again while we were less than 1/2 mile from the house and projectiled all over herself, carseat, and the car. So, we came back home, gave her a quick rinse in the tub, cleaned up the car, and took the other car to school. YUCK! I went to my midterm smelling like yak!

We're starting to think about preschools. The problem -- do we put her on a waitlist here or in Raleigh?! We may be leaving in April or we may wait until October to go back to NC.

I'll try to post some videos sometime so you can see Vivian crawling around and talking to her books.

Correction: THREE teeth

We realized a few days ago that there was another little white pearl sticking through. Poor baby -- no wonder she's miserable. THREE upper teeth coming in at the same time. One of these days the frozen washcloths will no longer suffice.

I'll try to post a picture soon!

Swings and SeaWorld

September has been another busy month. Vivian turned 9 months old on the 11th. We visited the peds office for another weight check and a developmental check. She's now 20 lbs 9 oz (75th percentile) and 26" (10th percentile) and doing well.

We have discovered that Vivian likes swings. She really likes anything where she can feel the wind in her hair.



She's also mastered sitting back down and squatting from a standing position. She's getting pretty brave when she's standing up (and cruising). She likes to take both hands off of the object she's hanging on to to see if she can stand for a few seconds without holding on to something.

We've been recommended to go see a specialist about her language development. At the ped visit, we completed a survey about her language development and apparently the results caused some "concern." So, we'll see how the visit goes in a couple of weeks.

We took another quickie trip to Orlando this weekend to go shopping. Yes, 4 hrs each way to shop...sometimes you don't have a choice. I needed clothes, Chris needed shoes, we needed food from Whole Foods, and Vivian needed some things from Babies R Us.

We went to SeaWorld for a couple of hours. It was very hot (95 degrees) and humid all day, so it was a bit miserable. Vivian loved seeing the dolphins again and enjoyed spending time in the aquarium where she sat on the floor and looked at the fish and rays swim under her. We're hoping to make another trip down when it's not soooo hot.






I can't forget: We have 2 upper teeth coming in (finally!!!!!).

The hardest part about standing up....

is trying to figure out how to get back down! It's so funny how Vivian can figure out how to get up on everything now, but then gets stuck standing up. She'll whine a bit and then we'll help her get back down. We've been trying to teach her by bending a leg or offering a hand for support. Yesterday, I think she figured it out. One hand went out to the side, while the other hand was hanging onto to the object. One leg went out to the side and the other one bent at the knee and all of a sudden, she was down!

We're heading to the peds tomorrow for the 9-month visit. I don't think we'll have shots, but there is some kind of blood draw at the hospital. We're guessing she's right around 21 lbs. We'd like to ask about starting on more solid food, as opposed to all the pureed stuff she's been eating for the last couple of months. She's VERY interested in what we're eating and she's tried to grab at my plate several times. I'd like to try avocado and mashed up chickpeas. The trick is to have the food be smaller than the windpipe. The size of her windpipe though, is basically the same as the diameter of her finger. TINY! :) We might try some kind of pincher food. No Cheerios for this gluten-free kid though. We'll see what the ped suggests.

Everything else is going okay. I'm surviving my 5 classes, one research assistantship, and one other project. I definitely don't have a routine yet, which is making it pretty rough. Parking is a nightmare on campus, so Chris has been dropping me off everyday and then I hoof two miles to-and-from my classes. I guess my routine is being on-campus everyday from 8:30-9:00 am until 3:30 or 4:00 pm. Next semester (my last one of coursework) will be much easier!! Only 12 weeks to go until a break, which is much needed!!

Look Mama! I can stand!

Yes, it's true. Vivian can now stand up when she grabs onto something (daddy's bag, her crib, her Fisher Price music table, and the coffee table)! It's amazing that a few weeks ago she learned how to sit up!



We also found out that she LOVES the piano! :) Perhaps she'll show some interest when she gets older and we can start her with piano lessons.