Doorman in the making

Now that Taylor is totally mobile and into EVERYTHING, and not to mention last month’s spill down the stairs, we decided to install a baby-gate to block her from both the kitchen and the staircase. Which, of course, resulted in an earthshaking baby tantrum that was so severe that I wouldn’t have been shocked if DSS showed up to catch the tail-end of it. And after about 15 minutes of listening to her screaming while hysterically throwing her toys and herself against the gate in fury, I decided to keep it unlocked. At least until it gets hot enough to shut the windows and turn on the air conditioning. Because we don’t need anymore excuses for our neighbors to give us the stink-eye.

And here’s the big kicker, the unlocked gate is her favorite toy in the house right now. She spends forever next to it, opening it, walking past it and closing it. She’ll swing it open when we’re walking towards it and shut it behind us. And because Ruby can’t figure the gate out, Taylor is also able to regulate her four legged sister’s time next to her toys. Kinda like a teeny-tiny bouncer.

Our first quiet dinner in six months

Apparently we need to spice up our dinner conversation. Tomorrow’s topics will include trampolines and kickball.

Spike

Introducing the newest member of Taylor’s mouth: Mr Top Right.

Hopefully to be joined by Miss Top Left soon.

I’ll tumble for you

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but my town if fun. F-U-N. When Chris and I moved to Asheville six years ago, we soaked up the mountain sunshine and immersed ourselves in the local culture. Lots of good music and even better craft brews, street festivals, outdoor sporting events and, of course, the Blue Ridge Parkway is located about ten minutes from our front door.

And then we had Taylor. And the opportunities for us to take day hikes to waterfalls and drink beer into the wee hours became few and far between. But after joining the parent-club, we are discovering more and more fun things to do with babies in Asheville. And one of those things is taking her to baby gymnastics on Saturday mornings. Paige and Elliot have been attending for a few months, and now that Taylor-tot is moving and grooving we joined them for a tumbling good time this morning.

And after about ten minutes of baby watching, Taylor cut loose and ran around after Elliot and the other kiddos. It always takes her a minute to get acclimated and size everything up. She especially liked the foam pit and the trampoline.

So, what do you think? Would it be foolish to preorder my 2024 USA Olympic Gymnastics Team T-shirts?

Ninety five

Miss Taylor had her 12 month check-up yesterday, and because we had just been to the pediatrician’s two week earlier for the nasty, needle-poking, blood-drawing, shot-giving visit, she was not too happy to see Dr Childers again so soon. And other than three vaccinations, it was a pretty uneventful visit. Except this was the first check-up where she was strong enough that I had to hold her down so he could check her ears and mouth. She’s a strong girl. We might have to invest in some restraints for her 18 month appointment.

So, yes, she’s totally healthy. And totally huge for her age. Her new stats are 24 pounds, 4 ½ ounces, and she’s 30 ½ inches long – Which holds her steady in the 95% percentile of babies her age. And I’m not freaking out because A) Other than her birthday cake, I only feed her healthy, natural foods, and B) When she’s not sleeping, she is in a constant flurry of motion, and C) I have been in the 99% percentile of those charts my entire life. And I still find a way to function living as a moderate giant in society, and haven’t, as of yet, been kicked-out of restaurants or have to shop at Big-N-Tall stores. So Taylor-tot’s not THAT big. Just big enough to only have to worry about being smarter than four kids. Those other 95 are toast.

Fierce

So having Libba here for Taylor’s birthday was super wonderful because I got to spend time with my sister, AND because she took another round of amazing pictures of my Taylor-tot. Seriously, ya’ll. You’ve seen her pictures. She’s incredible. I have more breathtaking photos of my daughter in her first year of life than most people have in their lifetime. For example:

And while she was here I bombarded her with camera questions, and she adjusted the P-function on my Nikon D40 so it encourages me to shoot without my flash. Hey, she’s the expert. So for the past few days I’ve been trying to hone in on my new setting, and here are the results:

Chris update

I’m happy and relieved to report that Chris’s knee surgery was a total success. All said and done, we were at the hospital this morning from 6.30 to 11.30, with the procedure itself lasting two hours. Dr Burkhart said the surgery went as well as it could, and that he was able to both bend and straighten Chris’s leg without any interference in his knee.

And now we start the recovery process. It’s going to be long and tedious recuperation – Six months until he can pick up a golf club. Yep, it is going to be a long, long summer at the Amys house. But, if I know my man, he’s going to tackle this head on. He’s already got his first therapy session scheduled for this Monday, and hopefully he’ll be chasing after Taylor in no time.