Good morning Grandpa and Mom

Nose Blower

Vera actually got some snot blown out of her nose today into a kleenex.  She's been watching Griffin and she does a great job huffing and puffing.  Today it finally turned productive.   She's been snotty because of cutting teeth.  So we've been wiping her nose a lot and coaching her on the nasal action.  It all came together today!  Yay!

When She's Upset

Last night v woke up at about 10:00 coughing and scream-crying.  We gave her a few minutes per our normal "let em cry it out" philosophy.  But then it got louder and we know she is teething and snotty.  And really, its just sad when she's upset, like I want to protect her from every bad thing in the world.

So I went into her room and picked her up and we danced around and I hummed.  Not much difference.  I wiped her nose and got the sweaty mat of hair brushed back behind her ear.  I carried her downstairs  to get some milk, teething tablets, and a little ibuprofen.  Plus a big snuggle with Mom.  Hard to say which one worked the best.   Back upstairs she laid with mom on our bed for a minute, then distracted herself with the red glow of alarm clock.  And then I put her back down in her crib, realizing that the biggest underlying problem was exhaustion.  She rubbed her lovies on her face, popped a paci into her own mouth, and settled in to sleep.  I love that lil' girl. 

She Walks!

Vera took two steps yesterday - her first ones ever.  Saturday November 16.  She's been threatening to do it for a few weeks - mostly by standing up on her own two feet with no support.  And she's done plenty of finger grab walking and pushing around the toy shopping carts.  All of which is adorable.

But yesterday she officially took her first steps.  We were in Griffin's room after he woke up from nap and she took her two steps to get to his toy shelf.  Way to go peanut!

This is a snack the whole family will enjoy, Dad

Yup.

First pair of Crocs

Teeny tiny fuzzy crocs, size 2/3, in blue, just like her brother's.  So so cute.  P.S. This is a super delayed post as we bought these at the Crocs store down in Faneuil Hall 2 months ago while we were down there with Gpa Victor.

Whoohoo! Video & Pics of Vera Standing Up

Last night (11/6/13) while on our usual Wednesday playdate at Talbot's, Vera stood up all by herself, and stayed standing for about 30 seconds.  It was amazing.  She stood long enough that I was able to scramble through my backpack to get my phone, take a few pictures and a short video to document her new skill. It was such a fun and heartwarming thing to watch and I am so very proud of my little lady.  Good job V! It's these bits of proud mommy moments that make every difficult part of parenthood unbelievably worth it.  Also, for the record, it was just as exciting to see my second baby stand up as it was for when Griffin did it.. these new tricks don't seem to get old.  Love it!

Vera Stands Up

Last night she stood up unassisted for about 30 seconds.  It was at Talbot's house just after dinner.  Way to go peanut!

Just a nice, regular evening to be Vera's Dad

Coming home from work today was a regular evening.  It was awesome.

• She smiles when I come home from work.  Griffin announces his traditional "Dad's home!" when he hears me walk in the door.  I peaked my head around the corner from the front door into the kitchen and she grinned like crazy.  Vicki says this is her (Vicki's) favorite part of the day.  
• When I went upstairs to change clothes, Vera booked it up the stairs, saying "dah!  dah!  dah!"  (Don't worry - Mom was following her closely after about step 2)
• She climbed up my leg to a standing position and smiled and laughed at me while I was taking the air conditioner out of her window.
• I lifted her over my head and set her down on our bed and she was super giggly.
• Griffin came upstairs and the three of us snuggled for a minute (okay, 12 seconds) on Mom and Dad's bed.  Vera smiled like crazy at her brother laying next to her.
• She does this super cute thing where she tucks her leg underneath her to go from laying down or crawling positing up to sitting.  She ends up sitting half indian-style, with the other leg stuck straight out to the side.  Its almost always followed by clapping.  Its like she's saying "hold on a sec - I gotta stop crawling and celebrate what just happened."  She also does this right before she puts her hands over head as if to say "up!"  So yeah, she did that tonight a few times.
• Poop face.  Litterally its totally obvious when she's filling up the diaper.  And she does it in almost the same leg-tuck position, only halfway completed so she's kinda propped up on the ankle she has folded underneath her, the one outstretched leg, and both hands flat on the floor.  Adorbs.
• She says "please" now in sign language.  Vicki said she saw Vera do it for the frist time earlier today while eating yogurt bites with her friend Ben Sither.  And she did it again at dinner tonight and again asking for toys in the bathtub.