She’s eating solids and loves everything. Rice cereal, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, the occasional banana, and pears. She’s in 6-9 month clothes with the length getting iffy on some of those pants. She’s taking good naps and is back to sleeping through the night. Her first tooth just came through on the bottom middle! She can sit up, she can roll over, and she loves playing with noisy toys now.

We had a really fun weekend celebrating Christmas with my parents and sisters’ family in town. Penny absolutely loved watching and playing with my sisters’ kids, and they were so good at playing gently and including her. Next week we’ll see the other side of the family, and I know she’s gonna love interacting with Matt’s nieces and nephews as well.

Our days have been busy hosting parties and guests, but this week it has started to calm down and we are back to the usual – laundry, errands, a trip to the library and out to pick up Matt’s Christmas gift. She continues to be great when I drag her all over kingdom come, although she hates riding in her carseat, which will make our drive to NJ next week very interesting.

For every rough night we have had in the past month with constipation and teething and growth spurts, we have three or four fabulous days together, and I still can’t believe how blessed I am to have her as my daily companion. When I realize that I am halfway to my breastfeeding goal (if I can make it that long! UGH!), I realize how quickly this first year really flies by. I have a feeling the second half will speed by even faster than the first with all her many upcoming milestones.

And as for her smile, well it just melts me.

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We started her on solid foods this month, and so far she is digging white rice cereal (hated the organic brown rice I tried to shove down her throat… go figure), bananas and squash. Next week I’m going to start her on sweet potatoes.

She can sit up unassisted for a few minutes now, but then falls over and is quite miserable. Each morning I have her practice sitting in her crib surrounded by pillows, and she seems to really enjoy being able to look out at the world.

My pediatrician chided me for not being more persistent about tummy time. Looks like my kid might roll back to front before front to back.

She is totally digging the dog, and the dog is totally digging her. Each morning when Berlin and I go to get Penny out of her crib there is much squeeing and wagging of tails. Berlin licks Penny from head to toe which seems to delight both of them. I am so happy Turtle is going to have a pup to grow up with.

The sleeping and napping seems to be getting slowly better now that she’s getting more solids in her. I am pretty hopeful that we’ll have a more recognizable schedule within the next few months.

And now for gratuitous pictures…

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From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

This year I feel obligated to include a photo for the first time in a long time because we have something gorgeous and brag-worthy to show off. Need I remind you?

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So I’m planning on putting together photo cards at Shutterfly. I’ve already convinced Matt that we need to get our Christmas tree as soon as we get home from Thanksgiving in NH so that we can decorate it and pose for a Christmas family photo shoot. Meanwhile I need to determine just which card I want to use.

I’m also going to make my Christmas shopping a bit easier this year by using my cute daughter’s smile to personalize a few gifts. Who wouldn’t be a sucker for Penelope smiling back at them from their cup of coffee?

My fingers are itching for that first cold night in December when I get to snuggle up on the couch in front of the fire with a cup of cocoa and start addressing envelopes. And then the fun of checking the mail those weeks before Christmas to find cards from my friends and family that wind up decking out one of our doors each year. I am jubilant just thinking about it!

* Many thanks to Sarah for tipping me off to Shutterfly’s Holiday Card blog promotion!

I knew you would understand.

We have roots. The kind that get into your septic pipes, not the kind that make Jimmy Fallon think he’s actually kinda cool. So there goes a few thousand dollars.

And Matt shot his finger with a nail from his nailgun, so we were in the ER last night. He barely winced, which started a whole conversation about what a great EMT he would make. Guy’s made of steel. Meanwhile I was shaking like a leaf.

But before he was maimed he did this:

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Which, frankly, is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen because cooking (and subsequently eating) is my favorite hobby. So I’ve spent a lot of time bent over this sink gazing into the ugly and dusty window gaps that are now beautifully covered!

When his finger has healed, and he feels up to picking up that nasty wasty nailgun again, he’ll add the top of the window trim that looks something like the top of these doors:

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And then we’ll caulk, prime & paint her up, strip the window hardware, repaint the window, and it will be ready for the little curtain I plan on making.

It’s been a helluva weekend, but somehow just typing about these home renovations and our future plans has cheered me up.

That’s sick.

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Jeans from Target, butterfly shirt from Old Navy, and sweater and hat were handmedowns from her big cousin. Who made those, Big Ma? I love them forever and will never let Penny grow out of them.

All but one of Matt’s appointments cancelled today, so we are having an awesome day together as a family. This seriously rocks.

Too bad Creature made it into the picture.

Yesterday we put up the curtains, and I quickly moved on to my next project which was to paint the doors on our console white. We picked up this console which I loved for the shape, but the panel doors had a funky woodgrain pattern that I didn’t like, so I am painting them white for a two-toned look. You’ll see in the picture below that they look a bit greyish right now. That’s because the only primer we had in the house was oil-based which I did NOT want to use, so the first coat of “primer” is actually a coat of gray paint for our dining room & living room using Behr’s paint & primer all in one. Tonight I’ll coat this layer of light gray paint with a crisp white layer (Behr’s “Polar Bear” in flat), and we should be ready to go.

Can I also take a minute to say that Matt splurged on some Purdy paintbrushes and OHMYWORD they are to die for. I am never going back. In fact, I think I’ll go around the house and touch up all my sloppy painting with my new Purdy paintbrush and its crisp edge. You know, when all of our other projects are done.

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Do you like how I didn’t even try to clean up the surface of the console before posting a picture? Mismatched photo frames, library books, and a bloomless orchid. That’s how we roll.

I have a big beautiful antique mirror from my Grammie to hang over our piano on the other side of the room. My debate now is whether or not to repaint the chipped frame which is currently painted gold. I’m wondering if I should keep it gold or go with some bright yellow to modernize it a bit and balance out the yellow curtains. I’ll post a picture eventually and get your vote.

Speaking of votes… don’t forget to vote tomorrow.

My oldest sister introduced me to babywearing as she also introduced me to the world of midwifery, doulas, and cloth diapering. I give her all the credit in the world for Penny’s good-lookin, rash-free bum, and for her happiness at being worn regularly (you already know that I adore midwives & doulas). I jumped into babywearing thinking it would be very convenient to have my hands free during the many tasks I take on in the course of a day. But I have come out on the other side seeing just how happy Penny is while being worn.

I read somewhere that babies who are worn spend many hours of the day in “contented calm,” and I really believe that’s true. As long as I have her positioned comfortably in whatever carrier I’m currently wearing, she is happy to watch me load and unload the dishwasher, shop at the grocery store, and change the sheets. She regularly naps for long periods while being worn when I take Berlin out for a walk. And my fear that she would never want to be put down just hasn’t come true. She happily plays in her exersaucer for up to a half an hour at a pop.

One thing that I’ve found interesting is just because a kid likes being worn doesn’t necessarily mean they want to be held all the time. They can definitely tell a difference. Penny is at a stage where she doesn’t want to be passed from person to person all the time – she wants to flop on her back or belly and squirm a bit instead of being restricted. But she almost always enjoys being worn. So when I’m craving some snuggle time, I often get better results by wearing her than by holding her in my arms.

Yesterday we took a nice long hike in the woods, and Matt wore Penny in the Ergo while I walked Berlin on the leash. Or rather, Berlin walked me. After 2 hours of walking approximately five miles, Matt had absolutely no soreness from wearing Pen – a testament to just how comfortable that Ergo really is.

The foliage was stunning.

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And our nugget napped for the first hour.

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While being “contented calm” the rest of the time.

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The whole hike we couldn’t stop talking about how much fun it will be to wear her all around when we go on our family cruise in February!

So babywearers… what are your favorite carriers?

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Ick. Uck. Nasty. What were they thinking, right?

Despite much nagging over the past year, my dear husband (understandably) was not eager to remove the awning because there were much more pressing issues (bathroom floor rotting out, a kitchen ripped down to the studs, broken AC). Plus he was nervous about what damage and/or staining there might be to the brick under the awful awning.

Yesterday we found ourselves hanging out with our neighbors outside and decided we were finally motivated to take it down. With the help of our friend across the street, Matt took down the awning to find no damage and no staining! All we were left with was a much more inviting front door flanked by two ugly old lamps. So after I begged for one more quick project, we hopped in the car to pick up new lights at Home Depot and home to install them just before dusk.

Here’s the new entryway with new lamps:

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I really need to take a photo this evening when the sun sets because this photo doesn’t do the lights justice and really they are too cute for words when they’re turned on at night. It makes the house look like a tiny little cottage where tiny little turtles live. How very fitting.

Of course now I’m interested in replacing our house numbers with something a bit more visible from the road and install a new storm door. I also need to decide on a color for the front door & door frame. I’m no longer interested in painting it red, and while Matt wants to paint it black, I just don’t know. I am feeling something a bit more creative and inviting – perhaps a tasteful turquoise blue? Or maybe yellow? What about green? Or is that too Christmasy? CHRISTMAS!!!!

So what color would you paint this door?

Life before her was totally unnecessary.

From Daily Daguerreotype