Adventures in Object Permanence

Paige is 7 months old! Its a pretty big milestone and she has lots of new (sort of) tricks that come along with her.

Paige is just starting to learn about object permanence. Thats the concept that just because an object has disappeared, doesn't mean that it no longer exists. For the most part, Paige doesn't get this yet. We like to sit her up in her crib with the bumper attached so she can only see the top 1/3 of her bedroom or so. Daddy gets on his knees and gains Paige's attention. Once shes looking and smiling, daddy quickly DROPS out of sight. Poor Paige's eyes start darting all around, her head goes from side to side, her eyebrows furrow and her smile starts to fade.....wheres daddy?! He was JUST here!? Then (of course) daddy pops back up and squeals "peek-a-boo!" and Paige giggles slaps her hands on the mattress etc. The funny thing is, no matter how many times we do it, Paige never knows where to look and is always SHOCKED when daddy pops back up in the same spot where he disappeared. Too funny. I guess thats why peek-a-boo loses its appeal later in life.

She is making some progress on this concept (I think). On Saturday we gave her a little empty bottle of Pear Juice. She LOVES that stupid thing. Anyway, I took it from her and covered it with a little blankie. "Wheres your juice?" "Where did it go!?" I revealed the juice, gave it to her, and repeated. To my surprise, on the 7th or 8th try, she reached over and pulled up the blankie! The celebration ended there though because she ignored the juice and started chewing on the blankie. Sigh. :)

Lets see...what other amazing skills does Paige have now that shes a 7 monther...well, a couple of weekends ago Paige was playing with her cousin (second cousin?) Gabe at a graduation party. Now Gabe is about two weeks younger than Paige, but he's bigger, stronger, and a much better spitter. He does this great bubble blowing, spitting trick to amuse the people around him. Imagine....motor boat noise. Paige was VERY impressed by this and almost immediately started trying for herself. I don't know if she can't generate enough drool...or if she smiles too much for her lips to stick together... but she just can't do this! The funny thing is her attempts are sooooo adorable. She just ends up...well...imagine blowing out birthday candles.

This last one is my favorite, new yesterday, continued this morning. Paige will chew on a toy (paci, jumbo plastic bead, penguin foot) offer it to me by sticking it in my mouth to chew on for a while (yeah) and then take it back. Really fun to watch her face as I suck on her paci....probably more fun for her to watch mine though.


PS. The "Peek-A-Boo" pictures are from a book called BE Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads by Gary Greenberg and Jeannie Hayden. HILARIOUS and strangely helpful. visit http://www.beprepared.net/ for more.

Happiness is a warm puppy

The title of this post is courtesy of an old Charlie Brown comic. I've applied it to our little dog Tuffy many times over the last 5 years.

Tuffy and I both happen to be "side sleepers" so when just the two of us cuddle up for a nap, she stretches out real long, back to back with me.

The first summer we were married Tuffy would sleep in the bed with me very early Saturday and Sunday after Mike left for work. We got into a routine of taking long walks after we woke up. Tuffy LOVES walks. By the end of the summer, as soon as I moved, stretched, even changed my breathing, Tuffy was up, barking, and ready to walk. I started going to bed in the clothes I walked her in so that all I had to do was quick go to the bathroom and walk out the apartment door. We walked rain or shine. Even got caught in a hail storm once!

Mike has cuddled up with her his fair share of times too. I remember the first night he had her. He was delivering a leather sofa (Hom Furniture) that the customer didn't even want. Turns out her elderly uncle had ordered it, but passed away before it arrived. Now the customer was stuck with it. They were also stuck with the uncles little dog. Mike made an innocent comment about what a cute dog she was, to which the customer replied "do you want her?" Next thing you know I get a phone call from Mike saying "Honey? We wanted a dog right?" Not having been really close to a pet before, Mike was thrilled when his new little dog slept right in the bed with him!

Tuffy has been a real good little dog. She is hilarious up at the lake. She marches right over the rocks on the shoreline (pretty heavy terrain for a 10 pounder) to get to the water. She hangs way over the edge of the boat and way too close to the end of the dock. We've got video of her leaping/falling off the dock to get to a bobber last summer. So cute!

She has been real cute with Paige too. When we brought Maggie into the house, Tuffy wasn't thrilled (Maggie's a bully....but sweet in her own way). Paige was very easy for Tuffy to adjust to however. She has been very observant while we care for her. She likes to be in the same room with Paige, even if we aren't. We find her sleeping under the crib sometimes when Paige is in her room. In fact, when I started this post, Paige hadn't gotten up for the day. Was Tuffy next to me? Was she laying in a sunny spot on the floor? Nope. Curled up outside the Baby's closed door. I'm just happy that she's not hopping into Paige's carseat and bouncy chair anymore. :)

Okay, so whats with the trip down memory lane? The Dogs were just in to see Dr. Hammond for their vaccinations, yearly check up etc. We've put Tuffy on heart medication (she's got congestive heart failure and has been uncomfortable for too long). BUT the heart medication makes her pee. SO we've put her on pee medication. BUT she won't take it. SO we have to crush it into her food. BUT she has had a diminished appetite and isn't eating. So, Dr. Hammond recommends blood work and a special diet......because we love her so much its hard to know when we've done enough.

Same Blog, New Look!

Although I've taken over quite a few of our last posts, I don't consider myself very blog savvy. However, Mike showed me last night how to make the page fancier and I went a little crazy. Bear with me as I use the blog not only as a chronicle of Paige's daily activities, but also a creative outlet :)

PS. Paige and I were cuddled up together last night, playing and talking, and I noticed her little baby breath smelled like peas. Funny.

Happy Father's Day!

"The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, 'Daddy, I need to ask you something,' he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan." -- Garrison Keillor

Paige helped make spaghetti for Papa's first Father's Day.

Lil' 49er

Paige enjoyed her first 49ers day parade last week! She had a great time...at least I assume her lack of blinking indicated a great time. She really enjoyed the marching bands, she smiled at every pretty girl who waved to her, and coulrophobia doesn't seem to be an issue. She was a little startled by some of the loud sirens & motorcycles but just squeezed in a little closer to mommy and she was fine. She was very excited to take home a swanky navy blue Terry Overracker Pluming can cooler as a souvenir! She's been playing with it for days!