...and more

I would really like to post something like 'not much has been going on around here lately', but that doesn't seem plausible in the near future.
So Rose finally got over her stomach bug by Wednesday, but then Justin got it...then grandma and I got it, then papa got it, and now nana has it! We are calling it the Revenge of Rose :)

Amidst all this sickness there has been some VERY good news: Rose is done with child care! So after a whole 3 days between 2 weeks, Rose can go back to being with grandma most of the week. I am sure we are going to have to have some creative solutions while uncle Matt is recovering (get better quick!), but I think this will still be much easier on Rose (and mommy).

Luckily we were all feeling better to enjoy our long weekend together. We took Rose to the Boyertown Farmer's Market on Saturday morning where she found some delicious strawberries to feast on.

 And share with Tahnee...

 I also {finally} broke in my tart pan that I have had for well over a year, maybe two, to make an apple tart. I REALLY enjoy watching Food Network and this was a recipe from Ten Dollar Dinners. I also kept the baking theme going and made some peanut butter cookies on Sunday, go me :)

Monday Rose and I had a swim date with Rachel and Ethan. This was Rose's first time in a pool since last year she was just too little. Rose stuck her feet in a bit and held on to me as we walked around the pool. Neither Ethan or Rose were big into the pool, so we spent most our time outside.

You cannot really see it in these pictures, but Rose is wearing a super cute cloth swim diaper. While we are old pros at cloth diapers, this was our first chance to use a cloth swim diaper and a reason to finally buy some new diapers :)

Several weeks ago Rachel and I spoke about cloth diapers and she gave them a try through a no commitment cloth diaper trial offer. Well Ethan is now 90% cloth diapered and Rachel feels it was a great choice for her family. I LOVE when another momma decides to try cloth diapers!!


Justin was also busy this weekend. We have now totally gutted the stairway to the second floor and removed the stairs going up the the back roof.

Monday evening we enjoyed dinner at the Stillinger household and Rose got to visit with uncle Matt.

See this is becoming a really long blog...
Rose turned 13 months this week, unfortunately I was not feeling well Thursday, so I decided just to roll everything into this blog post.

So here are some new things Rose is up to:
-walking without the zombie arms
-picking up and throwing a ball
-no bottles during the day
-climbing on furniture
-learning body parts
-stacking a few blocks
-kissing her babies
-starting to self-feed with a spoon
- Rose still has no teeth, so we continue to enjoy her gummy smile :)
-BABBLING! Yup, that's right, our little girl has FINALLY found her voice :) In the past week we have heard: ba, da, and ma. Also some random n and l sounds. She seems to enjoy making a clicking sound with her tongue too.

This has come in really handy as Rose is now obsessed with talking on the phone...no one has to be on the other end and sometimes she doesn't say much, but just walking around with the phone seems to be fun!

Sunday Snap Shots

Ok, so the week didn't start out great and it didn't end well either...
Poor Uncle Matt is back in the hospital. He was in severe pain and it was decided to take him back to the hospital early this week. Matt had blood clots in both his legs. He had to go back on blood thinners and be closely monitored, but hopefully will return home early this week. Also while he was in the hospital they realized his pinky was broken and will be taking care of that too :)

Then poor little Rose ended up sick at the end of the week. Friday morning when we got her up her crib looked like a blueberry horror movie. She never cried or screamed to let us know anything was wrong! We had checked her around 2am and she was fine, but boy did we smell it when we walked in her room. Ok, so we cleaned her up, fed her, and she seemed ok so off to child care we went. Well, right as I am opening the door, BARF! Ok, so poor little Rose had a sick day home with mommy on Friday. She was definitely not herself because all she wanted was to be held all day and took lots of naps. She had a fever and her eating was definitely off. Justin came home early from work to help out because wow, did I need a break! I was prepared to be up all night with her, but the little sweetie slept all night and had no fever in the morning.
Yesterday and today she has still not been eating great, but we get her to drink lots of fluids. She has also had diarrhea, which is such a change, because usually we are so worried about her getting constipated!
Anyway today she really seemed back to herself, except for eating and the diarrhea, so we decided to head out and get some fresh air...well, she threw up in the car. So, lesson learned, she was not ready for that!

On another note, I was really happy to unearth the treadmill and get some desk space back :)

Here is Rose getting some story time with her daddy on Friday. Yes, she is in her PJ's (mismatched PJ's at that), because when you're sick that's what you get to wear all day!

And here she was today, acting a little silly putting her stuffed animals on her chair and then just watching the fan spin.

So I hope Rose feels all better soon, but she is either spending Monday with grandma or daddy. I love her, but after 72 hours in the house with her, someone else gets a  turn!

Sunday Snap Shots

So first off, Matt is doing very well. He had two surgeries this week on his right wrist. He has several pins and a plate put in to stabilize and rebuild the broken bones. Matt may even come home this week to heal before starting rehab.

Rose also had a very big week. She started child care on Wednesday. Daddy and mommy went with…mommy to make sure everything was reviewed with the teachers and daddy to make sure mommy was able to leave L There were some tears, from mommy, Rose was absolutely fine! She went off with her friends and was very interested in the new toys. Her teachers said she had one episode of crying when all the kids surrounded her for story time, but she was able to be consoled just by holding her. When I got there around 2:30pm she was sound asleep on her cot wrapped in her blanket. They said she was super all day and had no problems falling asleep! What a wonderful little girl we have :)

Friday also went well, however, I still cried  a little... One thing I really like about the center is their staffing. They have one staff in the room who works 4 long days a week and the other staff who works regular hours all 4 days. So Rose is with the same 2 people all day and I get a full report of her activities. I also get a sheet with what she ate, how much, when her diaper was changed, and if was wet or poopy :) They also do story time, lots of outside play, and crafts. Friday I got my first craft from Rose and I LOVE it!

I also really LOVE her expression in this picture, which I interpret as: Here, they said you would like this, but I would have rather spent more time outside.

Now that you are going to school you seem like such a big girl!

Saturday was a messy day around home, because we are finally tackling the stairway. Meaning daddy ripped out the plaster and lath while Rose and I went shopping and out for a walk :) Rose has also been struggling with a very runny nose all weekend. She does not have a fever or cough, but the snot just keeps coming. 

Sunday we finally got back to church. Rose and I stayed in the sanctuary for most of the service. She spent her the time on the floor emptying every bag, but she was {mostly} quiet :)

We then spent the rest of our Mother's Day enjoying the beautiful day as a family. We took a nap, went for a walk, ate Rita's, and had lots of play time. This was one of the best weekends we have had so far! I love not having lots of things scheduled or places to go, but just having down time together before we start another busy week.

Sunday Snap Shots

WOW! When I am wrong, I am really wrong... So I thought after last weekend life would start settling down a bit and we would find ourselves with extra time to just relax, WRONG!

For those of you who are not on Facebook, on Tuesday evening, Justin's older brother (Matt) was in a motorcycle accident when a car pulled out in front of him. He has a broken bone on each limb and will still have more surgeries this week. He did have some bleeding from organs, but there does not seem to be any ongoing concerns from that. He was wearing his helmet and has no neurological concerns. Matt is going to have a long recovery ahead of him as he will need time to heal and then therapy to regain the use of his arms and legs. Please keep him and the whole Stillinger family in your thoughts and prayers.

So poor little Rose has not seen grandma since Tuesday! I got to take off Thursday and Friday to be home with Rose; I never mind having extra time with my little girl, but sadly I can't take vacation forever, SO Rose is now enrolled in childcare for two days a week. Justin and I had been thinking about doing this sometime between 18-24 months to give her more socialization with other children, but since grandma will need to be with uncle Matt, this has pushed up the timetable.

As an Early Intervention Service Coordinator I have been in about 20-30 different facilities in Berks County. So I would say most centers I have been in would be acceptable: kids are playing, staff interacts with each child, and the facility is pretty clean and neat. All facilities have to have a license from the Department of Public Welfare (private homes are different) which means they have have child to staff ratios based on different ages, have to have background checks and clearances, and trained in CPR and first aide. Additionally in PA there is the Keystone Stars rating program (1-4 stars based on additional staff training and what is offered at the center) and there is a national program for accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). So it's a given that I would need a facility with 4 STARS and accreditation from NAEYC...so Rose is enrolled at the Albright Learning Center. Right now she is in the 12-23 month room on Wednesday and Friday. Justin, Rose, and I visited on Thursday to go over a few items. They will use my cloth diapers and although they provide food, they will give Rose my substitutions as requested. We were happy with all the inside and outside places to play and Rose was immediately interested in the other children. I believe that this will be a good opportunity for Rose and I do feel secure that she will be in a VERY good place, but there is still something hard about leaving her with people I don't know...also this very super childcare center means I now have to curb my Etsy spending :(

So what else has been going on...well Rose helped me plant some flowers and decided that the taste of dirt is ok :) Rose continues to amaze us with her awesome motor skills. She can do a full squat, hold that position, and then stand back up! She is trying to pop bubbles and has stacked a few blocks on top of each other (although knocking down is still her favorite!). Rose is also making more sounds, I thinking we are finally starting to hear strings of sounds, but still no consonants. Yesterday we took a trip to another organic store in the ares to try out some new foods. We got some raspberries and Rose loved them! Sometimes she eats great at a meal and other times she prefers to throw everything on the floor and watch Tahnee eat it :) Rose is still sleeping awesome! She takes two great naps and sleeps through the night. I am a little worried about how going to childcare will effect this. They will put children down for a morning nap if they need it, but most of the children just take an afternoon nap. They also sleep on mats. Rose is a mover in her sleep and I am a little concerned as to how she will adapt to this change.

Here are some pictures from today. Yes, Rose is in mismatched PJ's :) I also had to take these pics with my iphone since Rose wanted to play with the camera.