THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

Well, my little sweetheart was 7 months old on Valentine’s Day. To celebrate - I dressed her up in a cute dress with matching tennis shoes and we all went out to a family dinner - and you can tell she is not used to wearing a dress…

She is getting so big and is constantly active now - which leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. She is still not officially crawling - no coordinated opposite hand/opposite foot movement - but she is a scooting champion and can wiggle her way around the room - her usual mode of transportation starts with her on her belly - she pushes up on her hands and the tips of her toes - and then hops forward on her knees and repeats the process until she gets to wherever she is trying to go. She has been so enamored with our dog Georgia lately - she is always looking for her and trying to reach out for her - and if Georgia gets excited - Rosie thinks it is the funniest thing in the world - I am trying to teach her to pet the dog nicely - right now it is more a grab and pull motion - which Georgia does not appreciate…

She still loves to stand and is always trying to pull herself into a standing position - she also loves mirrors - she thinks she is the cutest thing - and she is right…Nights have been ok - she has been sleeping pretty good - she has probably 5 nights of solid sleep every week - to bed around 8-9pm and not really waking up (excluding half waking to nurse) until 7-8 the next morning - the other 2 nights a week - who knows? She did not go to sleep until about 10:30 last night and then was up at 3am and was squirmy and kicking me and didn’t want to really nurse - just wanted to pinch my nipples - fun! She finally fell back asleep on her own at some point - I just tried to make some space and let her be and I fell back asleep and when I next looked over - she was asleep too! I am very happy that she is starting to be able to put herself to sleep, as I always have to bounce/nurse her for her naps and to go to bed at night.

We both had a bit of a cold last week - but are better now - she was really grumpy and fussy and didn’t like being sick at all - plus her teeth (or lack of them) are still bothering her- she clamps her little gums down hard on her toys and then pulls them out of her mouth with a very intent look on her face. Another thing she has just started doing over the last couple days is making a growling sound in the back of her throat when she cries - kind of like a rolling r sound - it makes her sound like an alien sea creature (anyone watch Surface?)…

She is my sweet girl and I can’t believe that I love her even more each day….

Rosie has been on a quest to put everything we own into her mouth. Of course - her toys and teething rings - things SUPPOSED to be put in her mouth are way too boring for her - her new list of favorite things to suck, chew on, or otherwise gum:
books
the newspaper
napkins or tissues that mommy or daddy are curently using
the remote control
the phone
my chin
my knee
my elbow
the arm of her highchair
the jumparoo seat
any and all tags…

Which leads to some cute photos like…

and

I guess it was only a matter of time until she realized she could add her feet to the list - how fun!

It is so funny because she looks like she is permanantly ASTOUNDED by something you are saying - her eyes following my every move with the below look on her face….

frantically reaching out and trying to grab whatever it is she is eagerly awaiting putting her mouth on - and she is STRONG too - there’s no getting back something once she has her little grippers on it (that’s right Em and Jackie - the little gripper of the new generation is here).

We have been experimenting with solids lately - tried some mashed banana - Rosie promptly spit it right out with a look of disgust - moved on to avocado instead - which she seemed to like more - but I don’t know if any of it was actually swallowed - instead Rosie decided to make a nice moisturizing face mask with it…

So, the almighty Superbowl is here in Detroit tomorrow - which is nice for MI and will bring some much needed $$ into our economy - but it has been really funny all week because according to the local news and other media sources - apparently there is NOTHING ELSE GOING ON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD - seriously…
The president gave his state of the union on Tuesday night - and the news coverage afterwards had NOT ONE mention of it - but I can tell you where Diddy and Fergie and Usher are going to be tonight and where the Maxim party is and what other stars are going to be in town. Joe was downtown last night (and is partying it up tonight too) and said it doesn’t even look like Detroit downtown - it looks like NYC there are so many lights and heaters and tents and just so many people everywhere…a ton of new stores and restaurants have opened up and will be closing after everybody leaves - sad kinda….
Me, I’m looking forward to getting my girl to bed shortly and having a glass of wine and watching my boy Prince on SNL - woo hoo - ain’t my life exciting!