Walking and Talking

Here is just a glimpse of Willa's decision to become a full fledged walking toddler. Actually, this video is outdated because she has started to run! I think we owe all of the credit for the running to baby Connor from daycare. Thanks buddy!

Grandma Green Visit Recap

Grandma Green came down south to watch Willa for a week while our daycare provider went on vacation to Florida. Nothing real exciting was planned for the visit. Unfortunately, mom visited at a time when there wasn't a home men's basketball game for UNC. Maybe next year she can make the visit be when UNC plays Duke. I think she would enjoy that contest. 

It wasn't Iowa cold but it was a bit chilly for North Carolina. I was hoping that the 60 degree temps from the day of mom's arrival would last for the week. Oh well, Willa and mom got to spend a little bit of time strolling the neighborhood looking for doggies. 

I think Willa's language flourished during mom's visit. Her animal sounds increased from a doggie saying woof, and a cat sorta saying meow to knowing: cat, cow, lion, and duck. My mom tried to get Willa to wiggle her nose for a bunny but somehow that became Willa shrugging her shoulders. Thankfully, that bunny impersonation has been forgotten by Willa. It was a nice try mom. 

Willa also went from being a 80% knee walker/15% crawler/5% walker to 75% walker/15% knee walker/10% crawler. The switch flipped on Friday and it caught us all by surprise. Suddenly Willa was  pacing back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. Willa is much sneakier when walking versus the clomping the happens from the knee walking. 

We didn't take a lot of pictures and I don't think the camera came out until the morning of my mom's return flight. I am happy I managed to catch the goodbye kiss and hug.  Come back soon Grandma Green!

Ole!

I promise that this weekend I will sit down and post photos and videos from when my mom was here taking care of Willa. Pinky swear. Finding time to blog when Willa is awake is impossible because I can't be on the computer without Willa begging to be on my lap.

However, this isn't just some boring blog post about some future writings...instead if is a super cute video of Willa looking at one of Daren's old birthday cards. We found it while cleaning out the office. Enjoy!

What Does Willa Eat?

Grandma Green is here for the week to be our daycare person since our lady is on vacation in Orlando. I decided to make a list for my mom of things that Willa eats. Some of the items on this list are always a winner and others have become a dislike. Willa is getting better about self feeding. Right now she puts about two bites in her mouth to about three bits of food down next to her butt in the seat.

Hummus
Ritz Crackers - broken into pieces or she becomes King Kong doing the smash
Vanilla Wafers - takes tiny lady like bites from the wafer
White American Cheese - this used to be  a staple but not it just gets chucked on the floor
Toast & Cheese - same answer as above
Mac-n-Cheese
Pancake
Banana
Diced peaches
Guacamole
Whipped Cream Cheese

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things but we also try and work at least one of those items into a meal or snack time. Willa is also getting much better with a sippy cup and has started to yell "wa wa' when she sees one of the brightly colored containers.

We did see our surgeon last week and he is very happy with Willa and life post-omphalocele. Her own little growth curve continues to go up slowly.

I love hummus!!!!!!!

Snowpocalypse Pax

North Carolina and snow do not mix. This area was a mess on Wednesday. Thankfully, Daren and I had the good sense to leave work early before the traffic headaches began. Friends and coworkers spent hours in the car not moving and others even had to abandon their vehicles. Our neighbor walked home from UNC hospital and made better time on foot. He finished the 15 mile trek in three hours while the kind soul who offered him a ride (less than a mile from home) said she left two hours earlier than he did. Snowpocalypse!!!!

Oh, and the UNC v Duke basketball game is postponed until next week Thursday. I guess the bus couldn't make it to Duke's campus to pick up the team. Sounds sheisty to me. Maybe Duke was scared at the possibility of the stands being comprised of rowdy college kids since no one else would have been able to make it to the game. Willa's UNC outfit didn't last the day at daycare. Apparently she "spit up" at lunch and needed to be changed.

UNC classes and offices were closed on Thursday and Daren worked from home. We had some quality family time inside and outside. Also, we got our workout shoveling snow. Not sure Daren wore approved attire while shoveling. I snapped a picture of him out in the morning on Thursday wearing his pajama pants and a t-shirt. Willa and I took a few spins in the sled. Maybe the four layers of clothing was impeding Willa's ability to smile.

UNC was closed again on Friday which was a big shock. I took advantage of getting some cleaning done by bringing Willa to daycare. I think Willa's books stayed neatly on the bookcase for the first five minutes after we brought her home. This child is a hurricane.

We know snow won't last long because the seven day weather forecast is calling for temps in the 60's - 70's. Is that you spring?

My Team

Willa is dressed and ready for the big game tonight. If only she, or any of us, would be awake late enough to watch. It should be an interesting day since she is surrounded by dookies at daycare AND North Carolina is expecting to get some snow and ice.

What is Happening Now...

Lots of changes are happening but none of them seem big enough to warrant their own blog post. I'll just try and hit the highlights of things happening in the Streett house.

Friday was International Omphalocele Awareness Day. It was great seeing family and friends posting pictures wearing black and white clothing (it was a very emotional day for me). We even had a picture of a very cute little boy dressed as a cow. MOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

 

Willa's communication is a combination of baby gibberish and echoing words that we tell her. Willa can also point to various body parts and items of clothing. The cutest actions have to be that she will clap along with a TV show or song where there is clapping or cheering. Also, she has become quite fond of blowing kisses.  It is pretty easy to tell that dogs are currently her favorite animal. Spotting a dog on TV, in a book, or outside gets Willa very excited and she attempts to communicate with her "woof woofs." Daddy isn't bending on his rule of no pets. Sorry kid.

Reading books makes up a chunk of our evening fun. Willa can sit and flip through books on her own or sit in our lap for 20 plus minutes. Daren has most of the Dr Seuss books down word for word. Also, Willa likes to point out any and all balls (or circles) on the pages. There is also spontaneous kissing of random pages. She is a lover.

Eating table food is still a very slow process. We continue to offer new things and Willa continues to refuse them. We are okay with this because we doubt our daughter will go off to college eating baby purees. I do think Willa could out eat her Aunt Suzie when it comes to hummus. We will have to make it a competition. Oh, and this morning when Daren weighed her she was just over 18 pounds. 

Full on sleep training is about to begin. We want to stop rocking Willa to sleep after her evening bottle. We don't want to drop the bottle…just the 10 - 50 minutes of rocking. I'm currently reading a book recommended by one of the mom's in the neighborhood. If daycare can put Willa down for naps while awake then I figure we can accomplish the same thing at night. 

Knee walking is not approved. Willa's physical therapist was not impressed to see her moving about on her knees. Oops! Glad I got a video before we knew it was wrong.