Mabel's Blog

Playdate with Mia

2010-04-25T15:00:00.002-05:00

A few vids from our playdate with Mia today.

Monkey Pile

2010-03-13T19:29:00.002-06:00

Daddy always has a knack of picking the rowdiest games just before bedtime.

Gustafer Dance Party

2010-03-13T16:15:00.002-06:00

Mia's over for another babysitting swap night. Girls are having a great time. The run-around-and-laugh-while-carrying-soccer-balls game had a second appearance. Mia just had a short spell of the "Maaa-maaa!!!!"s, but it was quickly averted by a screening of a Gustafer Yellowgold DVD. Ordering pizza soon. Fun Saturday night!

Playdate

2010-02-13T18:08:00.002-06:00

A quick vid of Mabel dancing to a recent favorite song and one of Mia and Mabel. Mia is over for here for the evening while her mom and dad go out. It's Nathan and my turn in a few weeks. We are trying to do a monthly swap.

I'm not sure what the running game is, but it has been going on for over 30 minutes and only gains momentum with each lap.

Early Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-08T18:24:00.002-06:00

Here are a few videos of Mabel playing with some xmas gifts and one of her opening her Valentine from Grandma Katie. Enjoy!

Grinch

2010-01-09T12:45:00.002-06:00

It's Jan. 9th and there is no end in sight to the end of Mabel's Grinch obsession. It all started with a t-shirt from St. Nick. Then Mabel saw the animated version and fell in love. Mama bought her the book which is more tattered and torn in three short weeks than some of the books she's had over two years. Here's a vid of her reenacting "hand in hand". This happens for at least 2-3 hours a day.

NYE 2009

2009-12-31T19:44:00.002-06:00

Another rockin' NYE with Sara, Paolo, & Mia. Nathan and the girls playing a little "Reggie-Moon".

What the Heck?!

2009-12-24T13:23:00.002-06:00

Just a few recent vids of M. Enjoy!

Elmo Sweater

2009-11-25T16:00:00.002-06:00

Thanks, Aunt Kerry, for the AWESOME Elmo sweater. I couldn't get Mabel to say "thank you", but she is really into this. She somehow thinks Elmo is inside the sweater. I don't think she has fully grasped that she can wear this. And not just on Halloween. Big hit.

More vids...

2009-11-04T21:25:00.002-06:00

Just a few recent vids of Mabel.

Pumpkin Patch Party

2009-10-30T19:53:00.002-05:00

A few vids of the big party tonight. Good times!!

Playdate with Nora

2009-10-03T17:49:00.002-05:00

A few vids from our playdate with Nora.

Mabel Ciske

2009-09-24T19:50:00.002-05:00

A vid of Mabel practicing her last name. The other is of a Shel Silverstein poem that Nathan has been reciting for Mabel since she was a baby. She rattled off the whole thing at dinner tonight.

Gallop and Five Little Pumpkins

2009-09-15T18:40:00.002-05:00

A few recent videos of our big girl. I think she looks so much like Emilie when she is galloping.

Play Doh and Big Girl Bed

2009-08-16T12:26:00.005-05:00

Two big firsts this weekend. Daddy bought Mabel her first Play-Doh set and mama converted her crib to a big girl bed. We just put her down for a nap and she is standing and crying in the same corner where she stood and cried when it was a crib. She has also made a few trips in and out of the bed, but has yet to sleep. Really giving that video monitor a workout today.

Zoo

2009-08-02T16:57:00.004-05:00

We took a trip to the zoo this weekend. Like much of Mabel's weekend, it was 3/4 fabulous and 1/4 tantrum-filled.

Mabel also enjoyed some sweet corn. She usually has it "Grandpa Dick style", but last night she went for the whole cob.

North Carolina

2009-07-22T08:55:00.008-05:00

We had a WONDERFUL time in the Outer Banks, NC. We spent a week in a little cottage right on the water and had awesome weather. Mabel loved the waves and playing in the sand. We never really left the beach except for some dinners out.

Summer Update

2009-07-09T20:38:00.005-05:00

Mabel had a great visit to Wisconsin! Her adventures included fireworks with Ab & Sam, a family reunion, boat rides, a trip to Bay Beach, a trip to BEAMO beach, a parade, the zoo, a kiddie pool, lots of trips to Badger Park, and very few time outs. Included a few of the best shots and vids here. Hope to have more up soon from our upcoming trip to North Carolina.

A few new vids...

2009-06-19T12:30:00.007-05:00

Here a few recent videos of Mabel.

2nd Birthday

2009-06-09T18:39:00.002-05:00

FINALLY posting a few pics from Mabel's birthday. She had a wonderful party with all of her grandparents. She received so many amazing presents and just loved being with her fam.

She also recently had a sleep over playdate with Mia. They girls got into all sorts of mischief, but Mia was still so happy to see mama in the morning.

Smile for the camera

2009-05-01T17:08:00.006-05:00

Somewhere along the way, Mabel learned that you are supposed to smile for the camera. When I took my camera out a few days ago, she stopped what she doing and said "Smile!" and posed and smiled. Very cute.

Also included one more photo of Nora's visit.

Ooohhh.... Grapes.

2009-04-28T19:10:00.004-05:00

Here's a vid of Nora and Mabel playing together on their playdate a little over a week ago. I believe it was Nora who started this high pitched banter.

Also included a vid just for Aunt Meagan. When Aunt Meagan and Uncle Bill were in town two weekends ago, Mabel was very excited that Aunt Meagan shared her strawberries with her at breakfast. I've been trying to get the same reaction on video ever since and finally got it last night. Her reaction is for grapes, but you'll get the idea.

Easter Greetings

2009-04-13T18:04:00.004-05:00

Thanks for all the Easter cards! Mabel loved getting mail. Also included a vid of Nathan and Mabel playing catch. Hope you all had a nice Easter!

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-06T18:09:00.005-05:00

I think this is a record for the longest time without a blog entry. If you're still checking in, thanks for your patience!

We spent last week in AZ with Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick. We started the week at their rental and then moved over to their new house. Mabel loved exploring the house, especially the patio, and loved helping Grandpa Dick "fix the house".

ABCs

2009-02-25T18:27:00.004-06:00

We've been working on getting a good video of this for a while. I think we have a winner here...

Diaper & Boots

2009-02-17T18:58:00.004-06:00

Sorry it's been so long, folks. We had over 10 days of a single parent household due to my trip to Scrap and Spa and Nathan's recent work trip to Vegas. We finally got settled back into our routine here and then I accidentally deleted three weeks worth of our photo library. Oops.

So, I took this quick vid tonight to let you know what life with Mabel is like. This was taken after a spaghetti dinner. I had to take all of her clothes off and throw them in the washer and Nathan thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if we put her boots back on. She loved it.

Birthdays and Stuffy Noses

2009-01-22T20:39:00.005-06:00

We had a great time at Alayna's 6th birthday party last weekend. We're hoping we didn't pass on the Ciske flu to everyone we came in contact with. All of us have been trying to kick a nasty cold and it seems like we're finally all taking a turn for the better.

A few current hobbies of Mabes.... pulling Kleenex out of the box, drinking from mom's water bottle, playing with her Little People and kitchen, jumping on the bed (with supervision, of course), eating raisins, and shutting herself in the bathroom.

Olivia's Visit

2009-01-10T15:34:00.003-06:00

Mabel's cousin, Olivia, is here for the weekend. Emilie and Alayna are off to a daddy/daughter dance tonight, so Meagan and Olivia are here visiting. The girls started by doing some serious cooking in Mabel's kitchen and have now moved over to Mabel's table to create some artwork.

Christmas and New Years Eve

2009-01-01T19:04:00.005-06:00

Mabel is back home from her holiday travels in Wisconsin. We kicked off the holiday by spending a few days at Grandma Joyce & Grandpa Dick's house. Mabel opened her presents from G&G a day before Christmas Eve so that they could enjoy seeing her play with them. She received all kinds of cool stuff, but Elmo Live is definitely a hot ticket at the moment. He is already on his third set of batteries. Thank goodness for rechargeables.

On Christmas morning, we drove to Gammy & Dave's. Mabel enjoyed brunch with the Wigchers, Gammy, & Grandma Katie. Mabel received all kinds of awesome Little People toys. She has been spending a lot of time with the bus and Noah's ark. (We set aside the deluxe farm set to surprise her with in a few weeks.) Brunch was followed up by the big Pawlowski Christmas celebration which was fun as always.

Gammy was nice enough to host us for a few extra days since Nathan was going to the Packer game on Sunday. We were able to spend an extra day visiting with Grandma Katie and lots of lazy time at Gammy's hanging out in peej and snacking on the delicious Christmas leftovers.

After getting back to Chicago on Monday, Mabel and I packed it up again on Monday and spent the night at Brooke & John's place. Mabel was able to spend some quality time with Nora and Jack and I was able to catch up with my gal pals, Brooke & Erin.

We wrapped up the holiday season with a rockin' New Years Eve bash at our place. Sara, Paul, & Mia came over for dinner and Mabel had her first official sleep over. The Urizars stayed over and since it is so cold downstairs, we decided to put Mia in the Pack N Play right in Mabel's room so she could benefit from the space heater. Both girls slept great, but I think both mom's were ultra-senstive to any little noise from the monitor worrying that it would wake the other baby up.

Thanks to everyone for the generous gifts and well wishes over the holidays. We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend with family and friends. We wish all of our blog readers a healthy, safe, and prosperous 2009!

Christmas Comes Early

2008-12-21T07:40:00.005-06:00

Santa made an early visit to our house last night. He must have known that we will be visiting both sets of grandparents over the real Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

He brought Mabel an amazing kitchen of her very own. She's already cooked up some delicious peach cobbler and a delightful pasta with red sauce. And Elmo won't stop calling her on the phone that came with the kitchen.

Along with her kitchen, she had a stocking filled with books, some Ms. Potato head accessories, her first slinky and an Elmo toothbrush.

Santa also brought Mabel her very own electric guitar and keyboard (although the keyboard looks mysteriously like one that daddy got in college...). We made sure to capture her first strums on her guitar so it can be played in her VH1 "Behind the Music" episode.

Potties, Peej, and Ponytails

2008-12-13T20:24:00.003-06:00

Mabel got her first potty recently, but hasn't quite figured out the correct approach.

Her hair is finally long enough for the single ponytail, but her favorite new game is to pull out whatever is in her hair and then ask me to put it back in. Over and over. Fun for everyone!

We recently put up our tree and Mabel helped hang an ornament or two. She also attempted to place baby Jesus in the manger scene, but was distracted by her Hello Kitty book.

Finally, the most recent pic is the one with her in her Packer Peej. She happened to rediscover her Packer nuk which we let fly since it went so nicely with her outfit.

Thanksgiving '08

2008-12-02T20:37:00.004-06:00

We all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We started up in Peshtigo with Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick. The ladies made some fantastic sides and Grandpa Dick grilled up the perfect Thanksgiving turkey. Mabel sported one of her beautiful "sissy" dresses.

We spent the second half of the weekend at Gammy's. We had a nice visit with Gammy and Dave on Saturday and then Mabel spent Sunday in their excellent care while mom and dad went to the Packer game.

I also included a video from dinner tonight. It's hard to hear, but Mabel is showing off her new Muttley laugh.

Thanksmas

2008-11-24T21:58:00.005-06:00

Yikes! No posts since Halloween. Hopefully our little blog still has a following out there.

We spent last weekend in CT visiting Mabel's Aunt Jill, Uncle Darren, & cousins Ab & Sam. Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick decided to join us so that we could celebrate an early holiday together. We declared it "Thanksmas". We enjoyed some delicious meals, strong drinks, and good laughs.

I included one video of Mabel a week or so ago playing with daddy. There's also a video of her dancing to the new Beyonce song while in CT. I think they should redo the video and have her be a dancer. We also have a pic of her playing with one of her favorite Thanksmas gifts - Mr. Potato Head.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T20:51:00.005-06:00

Mabel's Halloween was full of treats and free from tricks. Last weekend she went to WI to visit Grandma and Grandpa and also stopped by the Wigchers to see her Aunt Meagan, Uncle Bill, Alayna, Emilie, Olivia, Gammy, and Grandma Katie. She attempted trick or treating with her cousins, but only made it to one house. There was a little too much wind and a little too much walking for a 17 month old.

Mabel's partying continued through the week. She wore her ninja costume to school on Friday and came home with a goody bag and cute craft project, so it appears there was a party at school. After school, Mia and Sara came over and we all headed out to Big Jones for a spooky Halloween dinner. The restaurant gave away goody bags to all guests and Nathan's contained a certificate for a VIP dinner for two - free apps, entrees, desserts, and a $30 bar tab. Not a bad haul for only one stop of trick-or-treating that night.

Though we suspected this earlier, it is confirmed that Mabel can sing. I included a video (really just audio) of her singing the hello song from Wiggleworms.

Dada. London.

2008-10-19T18:45:00.003-05:00

Mabel and I are SO ready for daddy to come home. I did enjoy some red meat and left a few dishes in the sink, but that wore thin real quick. And Mabel just wanders around the house saying "Dada?" and looks in all the rooms she has access to. For those of you who don't know, Nathan went to visit his friend, Brad, in London. Their daughter, Zadie, is one of Mabel's links on this blog.

Speaking of good friends, Mabel and I had the pleasure of meeting Brandon Steele this afternoon. He is as close to perfect as anything I've seen. He is the newest arrival of our friends, Denise & Brian. They also have a blog and you can check out pics of Brandon by following the links under "Mabel's friends."

Daddy has the camera this weekend, but I thought I'd put a quick shot from Photobooth.

Weekend Update

2008-10-11T11:14:00.006-05:00

We're having another great Saturday kicked off by a visit to Wiggleworms. Mabel had a fun time, as always.

Mabel has been working on her animals sounds. We included a few videos.

Dad is off to London on Wednesday, so it will be Mabel and mama alone for a few days next weekend.

We also included a sneak peak of her Halloween costume. Can you tell what she is?

Ba-na-na

2008-10-01T20:22:00.005-05:00

A few new tricks to share... Mabel copies us when we imitate the Count in one of her books. Plus she picked up a new word tonight during dinner.

Packer Nuk

2008-09-28T14:19:00.001-05:00

Mabel rediscovered her Packer nuk while watching the Pack today.

S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night

2008-09-27T20:37:00.005-05:00

Just hanging out on a Saturday night when suddenly Mabel went a little nuts. See the video for details.

She had a really nice weekend so far. We went out for dinner at T's, a local bar & grill, and Mabel walked ALL the way home by herself. Three blocks! She had Wiggleworms with Mia this morning and brunch afterwards with Mia and her fam. Then a nice nap while mom went shopping with some gal pals from work. Finally, some awesome playtime and dancing at home tonight.

Mabel is REALLY looking foward to some bonus days home with mama. Well, maybe mama is looking forward to it even more. Mom has this Tuesday and next Thursday off of school for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Play Dates with Mia & Nora

2008-09-21T21:58:00.003-05:00

Mabel had a full social calendar this week. Mama's friend, Brooke, and her daughter, Nora, came to visit. The girls had a great time playing at Mabel's house and watching daddy play in his band.

Mabel also got together with Mia this morning to kick it at the playground. No Wiggleworms this weekend and Mabel couldn't let a weekend go by without some quality Mia time. Mabel continues to despise swings, but she did start to warm up to the slide this morning.

We're Back!!!

2008-09-14T17:10:00.005-05:00

The computer dark times are over!! Our MacBook was under the weather for a few weeks, but has come back to life thanks to hard work from daddy. I have also transferred our entire photo library over to my work computer, so there should never be significant down time since my work laptop has it's own service dept. Anyway, sorry for the long break and I'm hoping to pick up the pace now that our electronic life is back in order.

Mabel continues to be a total hoot. Lots of new words. Check out the vid for her first crack at "touchdown". And FYI - pants were optional at our house this weekend. Other new tricks... sumo walk (I'll try to get a vid of that), identifying the letter M, turning the Wii on and off, reaching stuff on my desk in Craft Corner (not something I'm particularly pleased about), pretending to cook us stuff in her little kitchen, and just overall cracking us up.

Mabel has already been to two Wiggleworms classes. It's a class at the Old Town School for little tykes. We sing, dance, catch bubbles, play tamborines, and all kinds of fun stuff. The first week Mabel just pretty much watched, but this weekend she joined right in. There is no class next week, but we're looking forward to class on the 27th.

We also had Mabel's 15 month check up. All is well. So nice to have a short paragraph on that.

Finally, in general, here's what Mabel has been into lately: Elmo, strawberries, talking Leap Frog, Isabel, her kitchen, books, the moldy frog that she plays with in the tub (she brought it to day care two days last week and to Wiggleworms), creamy milk, her puzzle, her toothbrush, and her new magnetic letter thing (stick the letter in and it says the letter and sings an annoying song).

Just sayin'

2008-09-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

Packers' record against the Vikings and Lions since Mabel's conception: ten wins, zero losses.

Labor Day

2008-08-30T19:16:00.002-05:00

Just a real quick post to let you know we're still here. Life has gotten a little crazy with mama back to work. Teaching high school level math that she hasn't been exposed to since high school hasn't helped.

Mabel had her 15 month check up recently and all was well. Growth and milestones were all on track. No referrals which is always a plus. And Mabel was a real trooper for her shots.

Recent milestones... lots of new words (more, again, up, down). Dancing. Picking up books that we ask her to get. All kinds of other cool stuff that we'll report on in more detail soon. Our Mac laptop is out of commission at the moment which has limited our ability to upload photos and document our life.

Millennium Park

2008-08-07T19:46:00.003-05:00

Mabel made her first trip to Millennium Park today. The weather was perfect for a dip in the fountain. Mabel wasn't into running around too much, but she sat for almost 30 minutes just splashing and laughing.

You Spin Me Round

2008-08-05T15:38:00.004-05:00

The mama is back from the 2008 Stampin' Up convention and glad to be back with Mabel. (Check out danaeciske.stampinup.net for all your paper crafting needs :) Mabel spent a few days up in Peshtigo and now Grandma Joyce is in Chicago hanging out with Mabel and mama.

Mabel has LOTS of new tricks. I've included videos of two highlights - her spinning around and acting out the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" song. Other tricks include pointing to herself, her nose, and her mouth, doing peek-a-boo herself, attempting to complete her first puzzle, and finding many resourceful ways to get into places where she doesn't belong.

Cat

2008-07-29T17:43:00.004-05:00

Mabel had a great day on Friday with her friends Nora and Jack. Nora is Brooke's five-month-old daughter and Jack is Erin's 14-month-old son. We went to the Milwaukee County Zoo and the Cheesecake Factory and lived to tell about it. The babies all had a great time and the moms agreed we need to do it again very soon, but perhaps later in the evening. And perhaps at a more adult setting. And perhaps with babysitters.

Mabel has been cranking out some new words. She has a word for diaper that sounds something like "ada" and she likes to say "gat" very loud and chase Isabel around the house (see video).

By the way, be sure to check out the "Mia" link on the side to see some recent posts that feature pics of Mabel with her friend Mia. I forgot my camera at both events.

Back from Vacation

2008-07-22T12:13:00.005-05:00

We're finally back from our three weeks out of town. After a little over a week in WI, we flew out east for a family road trip.

We put over 1600 miles on the rental car, stayed in about 8 or 9 hotels, each received about ten bug bites, and walked for miles, including Mabel! She really mastered her walking while on the trip. Her favorite part of every day was checking into the hotel and walking around the room.

For the most part, she was great during the trip, but she eventually did tire of being moved between the car seat and stroller. She was definitely glad to get back to her toys and her cat in Chicago.

A highlight of the trip was our visit to Nathan's Aunt Kerry and Uncle Bill. (That's Kerry in the bottom picture.) They live in Newport, VT. We were able to see their beautiful home and get a peek at Bill's sailboat in the harbor. It was a great visit and we hope to see them again soon.

Walking Update

2008-07-06T16:07:00.006-05:00

Mabel has made ALOT of progress on her walking today. Thought I'd put up a quick video.

She also had a perfect Fourth of July. She enjoyed playing with Uncle Darren, Aunt Jill, Sam, & Abby. We went on walks, boat rides, saw a parade, shot off fireworks and all kinds of other fun stuff.

Just one other comment on the photo of Mabel in the red outfit. This outfit definitely qualifies as "vintage" - It was mama's when she was a baby.

Cubs Game, New Couch, Purple Dress

2008-06-27T19:34:00.002-05:00

Mabel was excited to get her new couch today. Lots more snuggle room for the whole fam.

Also wanted to include a quick shot of Mabel in her pretty purple dress from Grandma Katie. She wore it out to breakfast. If only her demeanor could have been as pretty as her dress. Mama had to leave abruptly from breakfast a bit early after Mabel smashed a plate during a fit.

We attended a Cubs game yesterday. Mabel enjoyed a refreshing cold beverage in the hot weather. Don't worry - the cup pictured was empty. She only enjoyed good ol' H2O from her sippy cup.

Catch

2008-06-25T16:32:00.004-05:00

No big news here. Mabel continues to refuse to walk without the walker, but she still manages to get into everything she's not supposed to. The other day I had taken the box of kleenex from the bathroom to have nearby since Mabel's nose was running just about as fast as her behind her walker. I stepped into another room for a minute or so and, in that time, Mabel had just about emptied the entire box of kleenex. Luckily I caught her before she ate any of them.

I bought Mabel this 99 cent ball at Target today and it has quickly become her favorite toy. She likes to kick it with her feet, but, of course, only when sitting down.

One other quick update - we had an eye appointment with Dr. Rabiah yesterday. He dilated her eyes and is quite confident that the vision she does have in her strong eye is very good, perhaps even 20/20. We won't know for sure until she can tell us exactly what she sees, but overall, a good visit. And, since her tear duct is now working properly, we're not due back to see him for another six months.

First Steps

2008-06-17T18:55:00.003-05:00

Big news today. Mabel FINALLY took a few steps without her trusty walker. She still prefers the walker, but I think we're making some serious headway towards becoming a biped.

And now for a few captions...

The first photo is an addendum to our Memorial Day post. We once again participated in the tour of all the Kramer/Drees graves. They all looked beautiful and we shared stories with Mabel about her family.

The pic of Mabel eating the famous "windmill cookie" is taken at Schaffers. Schaffers is kind of a legendary chicken place up in Crivitz near the area of our wedding reception. As always, the chicken was superb.

The shot of Nathan in the tie was taken at my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Romie's 50th wedding anniversary party this past weekend. It was great seeing the Kramer clan and sharing the big event with my aunt and uncle.

Mabel has had two play dates recently. The first was with her gal pal, Mia. Mia's mom and dad brought her over for some chicken kabobs, a wagon ride, and some delicious beer. No worries - the beer was for the adults only. Mabel also spent some time with her good friend, Jack, up in Peshtigo. Jack's mom, Erin, is Danae's close friend from Peshtigo. Erin's parents still live next door to the Kramers.

One last note... both Mabel and mama are officially on spring break, so we'll be working hard to keep the blog a little more up to date!

Fun With Photo Booth

2008-05-25T21:00:00.003-05:00

Just a quick hello from Peshtigo. The weather has been so-so, but we've had a great time visiting family. We've been staying with Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick and playing with their new MacBook (thus the crazy pictures from Photo Booth). We also got to see Aunt Meagan, Uncle Bill, Emilie, Alayna, Olivia, and Gammy today at the vacation house.

Look, Ma! No hands!

2008-05-22T20:38:00.003-05:00

Mabel had her 1 year check up last weekend and all is well. Here are her stats:

Weight - 21 lbs - 47%
Height - 30 1/2" - 88%
Head - 48 cm - 99%

We were excited that everything checked out normal. No meds, referrals, etc. Very exciting.

Some of Mabel's new tricks are to try to stand without holding on to something, blowing kisses, and finding our nose, mouth, and ears. She's also starting to copy more of the sounds we make, but we're still waiting for her first word other than the occasional "mama" and "dada". For some reason "mama" is always what comes out when she's angry and frustrated (like tonight at bedtime) and "dada" comes out when she's playful and happy. Guess that's what I get for being the strong arm that makes her go to bed.

Try as I might to capture the blowing kisses on video, I haven't been able to. I have included a picture of her standing. You can check out her new xylophone from Uncle Darren, Aunt Jill, Ab & Sam. It's next to her other smaller one. This new one is a major upgrade. We now have all 8 notes in the scale. Daddy has been playing all sorts of songs for Mabel on it. He was also pleased to discover that it's tuned the same as the little five note gator xylophone, so, eventually, they'll be able to play duets perfectly in tune.

It's My Party

2008-05-10T19:25:00.004-05:00

Mabel is officially the big 0-1. On Thursday, her actual birthday, we took her out for some polenta cakes, scallop risotto, and four cheese pizza. She also received some awesome gifts from Uncle Darren, Aunt Jill, Abby, & Sam.

Her big celebration was this afternoon. We were blessed with a morning nap before the guests arrived, so Mabel was well rested and ready to party. Guests included Gammy, Grandma Katie, Aunt Meagan, Uncle Bill, Alayna, Emilie, Olivia, Grandma Joyce, and Grandpa Dick. Mabel received some wonderful gifts and enjoyed her homemade carrot cake. It was all a bit much for her so she crashed for another two hours right after the big cake event.

Thank you to everyone for driving in for the big event and for all the generous gifts. Mabel says a big thanks and sends her love.

Weekend with the Three Sissies

2008-04-28T18:23:00.006-05:00

Mabel had an awesome time with her cousins this weekend. She babysat them on Saturday night, with a little help from mom and dad, and then went to her first Brewers game with them. It was supposed to be the whole fam, but little Olivia was under the weather so she stayed home with Meagan.

Mabel's working hard on her first steps. She came really close at the Wigchers, but is still working on her confidence.

Some very exciting news... her clogged tear duct seems to have corrected itself. And though we haven't been to the doctor to confirm this, it looks like we will be able to avoid surgery. We are SO relieved.

Just How Big Is Mabel?

2008-04-16T17:26:00.003-05:00

This one pretty much speaks for itself.

Steppin' Out

2008-04-13T16:26:00.006-05:00

Nathan picked up this cute walker thing on Friday and Mabel loves it. She's walking all over the place and can really pick up some speed when she wants to. She is very proud of herself when she's tooling around with this thing.

Aunt Meagan and Uncle Bill visited this weekend. Bill was supposed to play an alumni baseball game at the University of Chicago, but the game was canceled due to the weather. Having already lined up Gammy to babysit the Three Sissies, Bill and Meagan still came for the weekend. We had a great time going out for pizza, drinking some wine and doing a little shopping. And Mabel can't wait to wear her University of Chicago onesie.

Mabel seems to be working on some more teeth. She is drooling constantly and had a bit of a rough night last night. Hopefully tonight will be better.

A Prickly Encounter (Or, Curiosity Killed the Cactus)

2008-04-02T13:36:00.021-05:00

We're back from spring break, and not a day too soon - we sure were tired of the drudgery of cloudless skies, baseball games, golf cart rides, and four-hour cocktail hours. Feels good to be huddled back in front of my space heater in my windowless cubicle.

Our flight home from Phoenix was thankfully not as adventuresome as our outbound flights (nor as lonesome - our gracious hosts at American Airlines were kind enough to grant us seats together this time - on the same plane, even). There is one final spring break incident to log, however, and one that wasn't nearly as much fun as pizza and Michelob in front of a warehouse-sized old-timey Wurlitzer.

We decided on Saturday morning to book our last spring break lunch as a picnic in scenic White Tank Mountain Regional Park, a short drive past dozens of 'Homes By Towne' signs west of Grandma and Grandpa's soon-to-be-former duplex. Sandwiches and wheels were consumed, gossip was shared, and a wonderful time was had by all. After the meal, Mabel and her parents embarked on a quick stroll around the picnic grounds to have one last look at the local flora and to snap a picture or two. Cue ominous music.

Pops and Mabel settled in front of a cholla cactus while the Mama took a few snaps. In between shots, while Pops fussed with his hair and makeup and the Mama monkeyed with the camera, Mabel reached out and took a great big grab out of the business end of the cactus. Her hand emerged from the plant with a good seven or eight 3" pickers stuck right in the fleshy part of her hand. We could tell right away that her ensuing cries weren't a request for a bottle or diaper change.

But that's not all. As her parents began pulling the pickers out (a dangerous task unto itself), either the wind, stupidity, or just plain karma pushed another, bigger, pickier round chunk of cactus right into Pops' ankle. With this piece covered with spiky pickers on all sides, Pops ripped off his shirt and shoes trying to pull the cactus out of his leg, with varying degrees of success. The Mama continued to care for the subject of this blog, while foolishly neglecting to roll some video on the scene that no doubt would have won us the $10,000 grand prize on ABC's America's Goofiest Injuries.

Thankfully, all of the wounded were restored to full health later that day after some rest, some trappist ale, and some pureed berries.

With our return home, Mabel and I decided to make a clean break with the winter of a thousand snotsicles, dozens of man hours lost to illness, two pink eyes, and one chronically sick family. Part of our spring cleaning was to cast aside (for now) the songs we've enjoyed on our daily trips to and from daycare. There ended up being a few dozen tunes on the playlist that provided the soundtrack not only to our daily commute but to Mabel's freshman semester of daycare, Pops' return to work, and the highs and lows of the Packers' playoff run. I'll list a memorable handful for the historical record and for those of you creating your own Mabel Celebrity Playlists at home.

Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking
The Left Banke - She May Call You Up Tonight
Loudon Wainwright III - Be Careful, There's A Baby In The House
Boz Scaggs - Lowdown
Pink Floyd - Matilda Mother (original lyrics version)
Lizzard - Milk and Honey
Joe Maneri - Paniots Nine
Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan
Alan O'Day - Undercover Angel
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Roast Fish and Corn Bread
John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Through The Night
I Roy - Space Flight (To Venus and Mars)
Liz Carroll - The Diplodocus/The Gandy Dancer/The New Leaf
Sister Nancy - Bam Bam
Marlee MacLeod - Just Like Geronimo

Spring Break Update

2008-03-28T16:25:00.005-05:00

Despite our late arrival, our trip is going great! Mabel enjoyed a visit from the Easter bunny, survived an awkward encounter with some hippies in Bisbee, ate some pizza while listening to an old-fashioned movie theater organ, and had many a wheel during cocktail hours on the front patio. We included a short vid of her finding her easter basket and another of her first experience with a petting zoo.

Snowed In

2008-03-21T10:42:00.003-05:00

Some bummer news about our trip. American cancelled our flight last night due to weather. There is about 1 mm of snow on the ground in Chicago and it is not snowing and our flight was scheduled to take off an hour ago. I guess American's weathermen were misinformed. They also haven't cancelled any other American flights to Phoenix, so I guess we were just the unlucky ones. Of course, we tried to get on an earlier flight, but everything is oversold.

We're booked on flights TOMORROW NIGHT and we are on SEPARATE FLIGHTS. Very frustrating. Our flights are within a few hours of each other, they are direct, and Mabel and I (Danae) are booked on first class, so there is a small silver lining. We just are so disappointed. We booked our flight 10 months ago!

We were on the phone with Grandma Joyce talking about the plans that will have to wait another day and half. We included a short vid.

All I Want For Easter?

2008-03-16T21:56:00.005-05:00

There are two new additions to the Ciske family - Mabel is sprouting her two top front teeth. This picture is from about a week ago. They are both sticking out just a smidge more now.

Mabel's been a busy girl. She had another birthday party last weekend. She attended her cousin, Liva's 3rd birthday party. She had a great time with all of her cousins, Grandma Katie, Gammy, Aunt Meagan and Uncle Bill and was especially interested in Josie, the Wigchers' dog. I was SO sad to have to miss the party due to a mixup with another engagement, but I was glad to be able to spend some time with the girls after the party that night and the next day.

After a busy week at daycare hanging with her peeps, Mabel had some nice downtime this weekend. We had dinner out on Friday during which time Mabel discovered that spitting out food is a viable option. She wasn't crazy about the butternut squash ravioli that I tried to share with her, so most of it ended up back on the table. Saturday she hung with dad while I went out for brunch with Katherine and Victoria. Saturday night we had a good ol' Wisconsin fish fry. (Thanks to Dave for the delicous catch!) Mabel didn't have any fish, but she did enjoy a few bites of potato salad. And today we feasted on a new favorite, Welsh rarebit. It's kind of like fancy open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches. It was a big hit with all three Ciskes.

Only four more days of school/work/daycare until spring break. We can't wait for some warm weather!! We're off to Arizona for a week starting on Friday.

Mia's Birthday

2008-03-01T19:51:00.004-06:00

Mabel had a great time today at Mia's first birthday party. She shared some balloons with Henry and Mia and enjoyed a teeny tiny taste of frosting. She can have her cake and eat it too at her own party.

We also included a vid of another concert by Mabel and Daddy. You can't go wrong with a little Glen Campbell.

Tear Ducts and Veggie Patties

2008-02-28T20:51:00.004-06:00

Mabel had an appointment with Dr. Rabiah, her pediatric ophthalmologist, this week. Everything was fine. He okay'd us laying off of the patch, which was a great relief to Mabel. She is still battling a clogged tear duct which she has had since birth. There's a chance it will clear up on its own, but if it doesn't by this summer, she'll have to have a minor surgery to correct it. Here's hoping it pops open on its own.

We're working to have Mabel eat what we're eating whenever possible. For some reason, I find it scary giving her anything that isn't pureed. Tonight's dinner was a big hit - some veggie chick'n patties and rice. She loved it and actually fed herself, for the most part.

And, some VERY exciting news. Mabel had a new friend enter her life today. Our dear friends, Brooke and John, welcomed little Nora to the world this morning. She's a little peanut. Only 5 lbs. 6 oz. Mabel can't WAIT to meet her.

Fight with a Lawn Mower

2008-02-23T14:29:00.004-06:00

We decided not to wait until the first birthday...

Also included a recent clip of dinner time.

Concert for Isabel

2008-02-16T09:46:00.004-06:00

The title of this post is about the video clip. Mabel has taken to entertaining Isabel while she sits upon her throne. Isabel also continues to be Mabel's motivation for movement. She is working very hard at pulling herself up to standing so she can get to Isabel up on the chair.

Besides the constant flow of snot, Mabel is doing great. Her recent well visit was fine and her vision seems to be excellent. It certainly hasn't been due to patching since we've pretty much let that slide since the Pink Eye Incident.

Mabel LOVES to play with her toys. She continues to love the little computerized dog and actually pretended to give the dog a bottle the other day. She also loves her talking maracas and her gym. She's in "stage 3". I remember when my mom was here before Mabel was born and I was putting that thing together. We couldn't imagine her being big enough to crawl through that thing. She also continues to enjoy her exersaucer. It's the perfect place for her when we need a break from chasing her around.

She's eating all sorts of new foods and is sampling from our meals when it's something she can gum. She still only has the two teeth, but seems to be managing fine.

Daycare is going well. Mabel made us a valentine at school. You better believe that's heading for the scrapbook.

Fish & Chips

2008-02-02T07:57:00.000-06:00

Three quick updates on Miss Mabel:

1 - She has officially graduated from physical therapy.

2 - She had her first snow day. Shining Star closed due to weather on Friday. Mama's school closed, too, so we had a nice day home together.

3 - We all went out for a fish fry last night and Mabel had french fries for the first time. They were a big hit.

Cruisin'

2008-01-29T19:52:00.000-06:00

Mabel is definitely back in good health. Thought I'd post this video of her cruising around our place. She creeps pretty fast now. She's always after Isabel and her food. To get this video we baited her with Isabel's bowl. Mabel is getting into all sorts of things she shouldn't be into. The other day I turned away for just a second and she had opened the DVD player and taken out a DVD. It was an episode of Lost, so at least we know she has great taste in entertainment.

The sick cloud continues to hover over our house, but Mabel seems to have built up an immunity. Nathan and I continue to struggle with colds, but it's nothing serious.

A small bit of news about Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick. Unfortunately, the heater in their house in Peshtigo died and many of the pipes in the house broke due to the cold. My dad, also known as MacGyver, had a light rigged to turn on if the temperature dipped, but the system failed so their loyal neighbor, Ralph, was not notified in time to intervene. The good news is that my dad always shuts the water off before they leave for Arizona, so the damage was limited. Dad flew back to work with the plumbers and assess the situation. They will have to repair many holes in the walls when they get back in the spring because the plumbers had to get in the walls to fix the pipes, but it's nothing too serious. The really good news is the new kitchen appears to be spared.

Pink Eye

2008-01-24T14:32:00.000-06:00

Mabel and mama are home from school today. Yesterday, when Nathan picked up Mabel from daycare, they told him that she couldn't come back without a doctor's note that said she didn't have pink eye. Unfortunately, throughout the day, her eyes got all gunked up and red around the outside. Nathan took her to the doctor and she confirmed pink eye AND an ear infection. I stayed home with her today since I have a nasty cold anyway. And Nathan still isn't over the bug that he got at the end of December. Needless to say, we are looking forward to the end of cold and flu season.

Mabel's antibiotics and eye drops seem to be working well. She's in great spirits. She had a nice long nap this morning and has been playing and chatting the rest of the day. We may keep her home one more day so that she can have four solid days at home to recuperate.

MLK Weekend

2008-01-20T12:31:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post from the road. Mabel and I are in Connecticut visiting Uncle Darren, Aunt Jill, Abby, and Sam. We decided to come out here at the last minute since I had Monday off. We were able to get a cheap fare and fly out with only minor complications. The airlines lost Mabel's carseat, but they had an extra to lend us until they delivered her original one. Nathan is back home headed to the Packer game today. I hope he can stay warm.

Mabel is doing well at daycare. She seems to really like the ladies that take care of her and her nap schedule is excellent. They even tried a new hairstyle on her. We picked her up last week and she had a little ponytail on top of her head. I have pics that I'll post later.

Go Pack!!

Flounder Porridge

2008-01-06T19:02:00.001-06:00

So, Nathan and I were at the Japanese market yesterday and we thought we'd buy some Japanese baby food. I made her some baby flounder porridge last night. She had a few bites, each one with a weirder face than the bite before. I stopped after a few spoonfuls and switched to green beans, but the damage was done. After most of the green beans were down, the whole lot made a second appearance. We'll stay away from flounder porridge for the time being.

We had a really nice weekend, which was great since it's back to work and school for everybody tomorrow. Nathan went back to work on Wed. and my winter break ends tomorrow, which, of course, means Mabel has her first day at Shining Star Daycare. According to Galinda, one of the Russian owners of Shining Star, Mabel will be holding her own bottle, feeding herself, and sleeping on a regular schedule in no time. If so, the $265/week is well worth it.

One other exciting development...I purchased a new streamlined stroller for Mabel. It's light as a feather weighing in at 8 lbs. and handles like a dream.

First Christmas & New York City

2008-01-02T13:19:00.000-06:00

Mabel had a wonderful first Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick in Peshtigo and spent Christmas Day with Gammy, Grandma Ciske, Meagan, Bill, Emilie, Alayna, and Olivia. Later on Christmas Day we were joined by Gammy's family.

Mabel received so many wonderful gifts. She's been having lots of fun in her exer-saucer and having long conversations with the talking dog from Grandma Joyce. She's been banging out tunes on her new bongo drums and keeping rhythm with her bilingual maracas. I've also been enjoying dressing her up like a doll in all of her new outfits.

The day after Christmas, we flew to New York City to spend a few days sightseeing and eating our way through the city. Uncle Darren's in-laws were kind enough to let us stay at their city apartment for a few days. Mabel saw all sorts of fun things including the tree at Rockefeller Center, the shops on Park Ave. & Fifth Ave., Central Park, the Upper West Side, Soho, the Village, the Museum of Modern Art, and even a trip on the subway.

First Finger Foods

2007-12-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

Mabel had another nice quiet weekend at home. Her newest adventure was eating little baby cereal puff thingies. When I popped the first one in her mouth, she looked at me like, "Lady, you gotta be kidding me." Over the weekend, Mabel got better and better at picking them up, but it wasn't until tonight during dinner when she actually put one in her mouth.

We all enjoyed the Packer game today, except for the fourth quarter. The dish stopped working right before it started. I was especially sad to miss Brett's big career yard record, but Nathan found some highlights on the web. Needless to say, DirectTV received one very agitated call from Mr. Ciske. We did score a $60 credit. :)

One more week of school for mama. However, we try not to countdown to loudly, because every day closer to my break is one more day closer to daddy going back to work. :(

Ma. Ma.

2007-12-11T19:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, so maybe she doesn't know it's me, but Mabel is on a big "mama" kick tonight. Whether or not she is referring to me matters it not. It still is very exciting. This little creature who has absorbed data for 7 months is now starting to generate some output. And not just in her diapers. Woo hoo!

She is also getting pretty solid at sitting up, as you can tell from the video.

And one last thing... today was a snow day for mama! Ice day, actually. We had an excellent day. The three of us played together and went out for some Vietnamese for lunch.

Okay - I'm being beckoned again, by name, so I must be off!

Vid Chat

2007-12-10T18:58:00.000-06:00

So, the picture isn't the best one of the mama, but it does capture a big event this weekend. Mabel's cousins, Ab & Sam, got set up with an iMac. Their slick new machine allows them to video chat with us when the spirit moves them. Nathan had our Mac in Peshtigo and I had my work Mac here, so we were all able to hook up and visit a bit over the weekend. Very fun.

We have one other exciting announcement. Mabel may have said her first word today. It was "ba". But it definitely was said in reference to her bottle. She said it several times this morning and again this evening. Tonight, I also swore I heard the "ottle" part, but there could have been some wishful thinking there.

St. Nick's Day

2007-12-06T20:19:00.000-06:00

Mabel received a super-secret stealth visit from St. Nick tonight. He buzzed our door and left a bag of goodies. She got a baby-sized Toronto Maple Leafs hat, several books by her favorite authors, and a few jars of organic apple baby food. Yum.

Life has been great here for us since Thanksgiving. Nathan continues to enjoy his time home with Mabel. While Grandma Joyce was here with us after Thanksgiving, we did some daycare shopping and settled on a place called Shining Star right near Nathan's work. The people there seem caring, the fees are reasonable, and it's about three minutes from Nathan's work, so we're hoping for the best. Mabel will start there when mama goes back to work after her break, on Jan. 7. We're both very grateful that Mabel was able to stay home with mom and dad until her eight month marker.

Mabel is getting much better at sitting up. She'll stay up for several minutes, but once she sees something else she wants to get to, she's down on the ground rolling around. She does pull herself up on all fours occasionally, but no forward motion yet. Grandpa Dick was nice enough to install a very secure gate at the top of our stairs, so we're ready when she's ready.

The First Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T17:11:00.000-06:00

Mabel had a wonderful first Thanksgiving. We went to Bill & Meagan's and she got to hang out with her cousins. We forgot our camera, so we'd love e-mailed pics from those of you who did attend.

The family spent the rest of Thanksgiving weekend chillin' at home. Mabel did a lot of kicking, rolling, cooing, and wobbly-sitting. Daddy played some vids, watched some soccer, and cooked a few delicious meals. Mama scrapped her but off, finally working on some holiday projects.

By the way, the handsome young gentleman in the photo is Jack. He is the son of my good friend, Erin. He did not seem to sure about Mabel, but they ended up have a great time together.

Mama Wins Cutest Baby Contest; Upstaged Baby Refuses Comment

2007-11-13T15:36:00.000-06:00

Many milestones have been passed since we last checked in from a local tavern after the three of us had spent a sunny weekend morning drinking Belgian beer.

Late last week, Mabel celebrated her six month birthday. It seems like only yesterday our cleaning people were nervously muttering to themselves in Polish concerning the dramatic cries and groans coming from the pregnant lady in the guest bedroom. But however painful the realization may be to her (she's privately told more than one well-wisher she's four months), Mabel is half way to her first birthday. Mabel marked the occasion at home with a plastic container of lukewarm unsalted green bean puree.

The very next day, Pops' real birthday popped up on the calendar, and the family enjoyed an evening of bulgogi, grilled octopus, and concerned Korean waitresses at a north side Korean barbecue shack. While the fiery tableside coals and boiling hot miso soup proved Mabel no harm, the same cannot be said for the residual effects of the meal on her parents. The mama in particular complained the following morning of being the victim of what she coined a "kimchi hangover".

Saturday brought Mabel's six-month pediatrician appointment, a rudely unexpected round of shots, and a clean bill of health. The stats: 2'2" and 16 lbs, 9 oz.

On the home front, Mabel has really begun to enjoy toys. Her favorite toy remains the nuk, primarily for its versatility, but she also gets a lot of use out of multiple rattles, her cell phone, and the most recent addition to the rotation, the book Quack Says The Duck, a classic in the field of crinkly-sounding literature.

Last, but certainly not least, is the shocking development in Mabel's mouth - the razor-sharp hint of a tooth. Will more of these strange enameled growths pop up? Only time will tell.

A quick response to some reader e-mail. Breleigh F. in Hattiesburg, MS asks if Mabel has her own playlist in the family iTunes library. The short answer is yes, but it's over 800 tunes long and is really more of a fluid collection than anything. Since I'm assuming you're getting more at the question of which tunes Mabel particularly digs or happen to point the listener toward the path of essential Mabel-ness, here are a few that stand out that she has responded to positively in the recent past.

John Coltrane - India, take 2 from The Complete Village Vanguard sessions
Wings - Goodnight Tonight
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses
Dolly Parton - Here You Come Again
Electrelane - I'm On Fire
Grateful Dead - anything from Watkins Glen '73
Joe Walsh - A Life of Illusion
Billy Swan - I Can Help
B-52s - 6060-842
Trip Shakespeare - Fangs
Lloyd Robinson - Cuss Cuss
Scout Niblett - Dinosaur Egg (aka 'morning music')
Dashboard Saviors - Rand McNally Blues

Brunch at the Hopleaf

2007-11-05T06:16:00.001-06:00

Many of you know that our favorite restaurant in our neighborhood is the Hopleaf. It's a Belgian joint with lots of delicious beers on tap and the best mussels you've ever had. The downfall of the Hopleaf is that they don't allow admittance to anyone under 21. We've thought of trying to smuggle Mabel in under a big coat, but have thought better of it. Yesterday, they were holding a benefit brunch for the local public school and, the most exciting part, children were welcome! As you can tell from the pics, Mabel was enjoying herself, but then slipped into a food coma about half way through our visit.

Speaking of slipping into a coma, Nathan and I could slip at any time. We're running on a little less sleep than we're used to due to Mabel's new bad sleeping habits. She is crying much more when we put her to bed and wakes up a few times during the night for no reason. She also has been disinterested in napping. I am on a mission to nip this in the bud. I am off to the bookstore tonight to stock up on baby sleep books; I've gotten recommendations for "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Ferber and "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth. We're also getting new batteries for the Ocean Aquarium that was lent to us by the Three Sissies. Any other tips, tricks, books recommendations, or ear plugs are welcome.

First Halloween

2007-10-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

Mabel enjoyed her first Halloween party tonight. Her good friend, Mia, came over in her white tiger costume. Mia's mama and daddy also came along and enjoyed some pizza and an adult beverage or two. As you can tell from the video, Mia made it a little longer than Mabel, but Mabel perked up and played for a few minutes more after we filmed this. Although there wasn't any candy at the party, mushed up vegetables were enjoyed by both girls. We're also including a few other pics you might enjoy.

See You Next Fall

2007-10-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

Sure enough, not 24 hours after posting about Mabel's perilous escalation of motion, she went ahead and launched herself off the bed in the guest room, landing on the floor between the side of the bed and the wall. Pops' panicked reaction probably caused her to freak out more than the fall itself, though her crying didn't last more than a couple seconds. All extremities and mental faculties were quickly assessed and judged intact, but as a precautionary measure, she was held out of the team portion of practice today and will be listed as probable for Monday's game at Denver.

She followed up that act with an explosion of movement today that can only be described as intense. No place - neither the changing table nor the bouncy seat, both of which are typically sanctuaries of relaxation - has been immune to Mabel's relentless rolling, ab crunching, kicking, and other assorted aerobics. Hopes remain high that she can tucker herself out before this afternoon's four hour car ride up to Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick's, lest that ride turn out to be eventful enough to warrant a blog post of its own. Please keep us in your prayers. Speaking of the proud grandparents, they haven't seen Mabel since Labor Day, and I'm here to tell you that they're in for some shock when they get a load of the chatty, active, one-and-a-quarter-stone infant whose blog has been delighting fans worldwide.

In other Mabel news, she's finally begun to enjoy the occasional nuk, though, keeping in spirit with her rugged individualism, Mabel has decided she enjoys the crunchy part best, as evidenced by the following photo.

Little Miss Dangerous

2007-10-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

Mabel's self-propelled locomotion has finally reached the level at which she presents a danger to both others and herself. There's really no area of the new rug (a good deal bigger than the 6 x 9' barbed-wire job it replaced) that is inaccessible to Mabel. No area of the entire first floor of our home, for that matter, one suspects - though parental guidance thus far has prevented putting that hypothesis to the test. Mabel's first real bonk occured this morning, near the intersection of the chest and the rug. She had picked her head up good and high to more closely examine a corner of the chest when gravity reasserted its authority. There were no tears, but instead more of a surprised, thoughtful silence.

Mabel's ambulation is stuck in the clockwise position, at least for now. Reorientation of up to roughly 90 degrees is possible, thus opening up travel to more locations than straightforward tumbling. But while rolling a single time counterclockwise is no problem, particularly from supine to tummy time, the arrow of extended counterclockwise movement just isn't in her quiver yet.

We are currently working on a grant proposal to take a trip to New Zealand, where relational behavior changes could be observed. Interested sponsors may leave correspondence in our comments section.

Sick

2007-10-24T14:25:00.000-05:00

...a couple miserable nights, but the worst is over.

First Cold

2007-10-21T20:50:00.000-05:00

Mabel has her first cold. Nothing too serious. Just a little snuffy nose and cough. She's handling it like a trooper. She had a harder time falling to sleep tonight, but she's currently sleeping like a baby.

Patch update - not so good. Mabel hates the patch. She occasionally will tolerate it for a while, but the longest we've been able to keep it on her is 45 min. It's really hard to see a baby who never fusses cry and grab at her eye. We just keep doing as much as she and we can tolerate. I should note that she appears to be able to see something with her weak eye. Her favorite thing to do when she is patched is play in her gym and look at the fish.

We had a nice quiet weekend at home. Mabel had her first vegetable - squash. She wasn't too sure about it, as you can tell from the video.

We took a nice walk today in the neighborhood and did some shopping. I had been eyeing up a Christmas dress for Mabel for about a month through a shop window. I finally went in the shop today and realized that the dress was ridiculously overpriced. Somehow, it mattered not. The dress had to become Mabel's. They didn't have her size, but we should receive it from another location in a few days.

Weekend with the Three Sissies

2007-10-16T06:02:00.000-05:00

Mabel had a great weekend with her cousins and Aunt Meagan and Uncle Bill. The girls modeled their Halloween costumes and Mabel even got in on the fun. If you can't tell, that is Mabel as Hannah Montana.

The second picture isn't too flattering, but it does capture life with a baby pretty well. This was taken right after a diaper change during which Mabel peed all over herself. After she got a new diaper on, she rolled over, threw up, then put her hand in her spit up. The girls thought this was all pretty hilarious as did Mabel.

The Wigchers showed us their generosity once again by passing down a whole new wardrobe of 6-12 month clothes. It pays to have a sister-in-law with great taste who loves to shop. We also borrowed this jumpy thing for Mabel to play in. She really loves it, despite that she looks like she's about to cry at the end of this video.

The Patch

2007-10-11T06:27:00.001-05:00

Mabel went to see Dr. Rabiah yesterday, her pediatric opthamologist. Overall, we received great news. He is confident that she has a great deal of vision in her left eye. We were expecting this news, but it is still reassuring to hear from the expert. He also suspects, as did we, that the vision in her right eye is affected by the coloboma. Our new course of treatment is patching her strong eye for two hours a day. This is also not a surprise as I had read that this is a typical treatment. Patching the strong eye forces Mabel to use only the weak eye. Otherwise, her brain will just stop reading messages from that eye altogether and there will be no vision in it. Dr. Rabiah didn't seem overly optimistic that the patching will make a huge difference, but because she seems to have such good vision in her left eye, he said we were not yet candidates for outside services for vision impaired kids. We head back to see him in six weeks to check in and see if the patching is helping. So overall, great news, but Mabel may now have to switch her Halloween costume from a skeleton to a pirate.

No pictures of her in the patch yet, but we'll post one when we have it. These pics are from Aunt Meagan taken when she and the girls were babysitting Mabel last weekend.

Home Alone

2007-10-05T06:23:00.000-05:00

Life's been busy, as you can tell from the lack of posts. Nathan and Mabel are on their WI road trip. They left yesterday and will spend time with family, attend a wedding, and watch the Pack. Well, Mabel is not going to the game or the wedding, but she will be hanging with her family. Mama misses her like crazy, but Mabel and daddy stopped at school yesterday for lunch. I was able to show her off at school for a few minutes. Picture a hundred of middle school girls all crowding around Mabel going "awwwww" all at the same time. As you can imagine, Nathan loved all this attention. :)

Mabel continues to grow like a weed. She's officially into all of her 6 mo. clothes and has outgrown her bassinet. She still loves her swing and we think she has a month or two left in the bouncy. She loves to roll over, but is still working on rolling over to her right. The rice cereal is going great - more is going in her than on her bib, unlike some of her first feedings. I feel some squash is in her near future.

Stretch Run

2007-09-19T08:18:00.000-05:00

Mabel is certainly enjoying the NL Central pennant race this year, though she's having a tough time understanding why the Cubs play day games in July and August but not in September, when it's colder at night and she and Daddy could be going to more games during the day.

Mabel's gameday ritual is typically as follows - fuss with the Mama about walking to the game vs. taking the El; pick up some takeout temaki sushi from Matsuya or panang curry from Thai Classic; stop on our way to the seats to get a couple delicious Old Style beers from our favorite vendor, Gerry; field a couple tedious questions from the crowd (e.g. Q. Oh, for cute! This his first game? A. No, actually, it's her fifth.); have a six ounce bottle or maybe even two (Mabel takes after her old man - she tends to drink too much at Cub games); conk out; sleep the whole walk home stuck with sweat to Daddy in the Snugli.

Though Mabel is most definitely born and raised a Cub fan, she's happy that either the Brewers or Cubs are assured of a spot in the playoffs. With a little luck, she'll be able to see the red ivy at Wrigley in her first year, which Daddy didn't see until he was 32.

An Important Announcement

2007-09-18T19:26:00.000-05:00

We bring you a very important bulletin. An unidentified animal has been sighted sleeping in Mabel's car seat. Eyewitness accounts vary; Fox News is reporting the intruder was a hog or pig, while other observers maintain the creature was more cat-like. A small amount of material evidence, which sources say may be fur, was collected at the scene by local authorities and dispatched for further analysis. Mabel herself was not at the scene at the time of the incident, and there are conflicting reports about Mabel's current awareness level of the situation.

It is unknown at this time if today's intrusion is related to the recent wave of feral cat invasions in Badger Park, Peshtigo, but it is believed that local investigators have been in close contact with legendary Marinette County varmint trapper, Grandpa Dick.

Authorities have released these images of the creature. If you should happen to cross its path, please flee the scene immediately and call the operator. Since the identity of the creature is still unknown, it is necessary that one assumes the animal is rabid and/or dangerous.

The creature was last seen in the vicinity of her bowl.

Weekend of Firsts

2007-09-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

What an eventful weekend for Mabel! She had all sorts of firsts. She slept in her crib for the night for the first time on Saturday night. Mom and dad had a hard time not having her in our room, but she loved sleeping in her own space and slept straight through until 6 a.m. this morning.

Mabel also ate her first solid food this weekend. She had her first rice cereal on Saturday night. We made the mistake of trying to give her her first few bites when she was really hungry. We quickly changed course, gave her the better part of a bottle, and then tried again when she was a much happier baby. She was a champ and seemed to enjoy her first taste of solid food. Of course, much more food ended up on her bib than in her belly, but that's the way the rice cereal crumbles. I uploaded videos to YouTube of her first meal - before and after the bottle. Right after uploading those, I realized I can upload video directly to the blog. Hopefully, you'll find a video of her meal tonight right below the links. Here are the links to the vids on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTwjPobzrw8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juHmLwFKOV0

Mabel attended her first festival. We went to a nearby school's fall festival for which Nathan's band, Sheela-na-gig, was the headlining act. They had droves of screaming fans... well, actually about 10 4- and 5-year olds... but, still, fun was had by all.

Daddy and Mabel watched their first Packer game together. Mabel actually spent most of the game asleep in her swing, but daddy made sure to fill her in on what she missed when she woke up in the fourth quarter.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

2007-09-14T20:25:00.000-05:00

Mabel has another round of shots under her belt. We went for her four month check up today and she did a GREAT job with her immunizations. Just a few whimpers as the needles were going in. And her growth is right on track. Her weight is 14 lbs. 3 oz. (59%). Length is 25 1/4" (81%). Head circumference is 43 cm (91%). The last stat means her brain growth is right on track. And, exciting news, NO REFERRALS for any other specialists! Everything checked out great! We go to her eye doctor in a few weeks and we'll be sure to blog after that appointment, too.

Mama had yesterday off so the family went on a little picnic in the neighborhood and went on a long walk to a few neighborhood markets. This weekend is free for us and we're looking forward to some rest and relaxation.

Long Time No Blog

2007-09-09T17:54:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long stretch with no blog. Hopefully, some of you are still checking! Lots has happened since our last blog. Mabel spent time with mama and daddy's family over Labor Day. She went to a party, enjoyed a few fish fries, took a trip to Seguin's, and took her final summer pontoon ride. Last week, Grandma Joyce babysat. Nathan's leave begins tomorrow and he'll be home with her until the end of the year. Hopefully, you'll see the blog pace pick back up now that one of us will be home with her again.

Mabel's got lots of new tricks these days. She smiles all the time and laughs much more often. She has rolled over a few times and gets stuck half-way about once every ten minutes. She also received excellent marks from her physical therapist and is still only going to PT once every two weeks. She holds her head much straighter and can keep her head up during tummy time for long stretches. She is even seeming to enjoy it. She is also making lots of pre-talking noises. It sort of sounds like a continuous "ah" but she changes the pitch so it sounds like she talking up a storm.

By the way, the picture of Mia and Mabel is from today. Sara and I had a Stampin' Up open house over here and the girls hung out while the moms shared our stamping.

Mabel's New TV

2007-08-25T09:53:00.001-05:00

Mabel has waited long enough. She has suffered with regular television for over three months now and she could no longer avoid the pull of high definition television. So, to reward her for how hard she has been working on her physical therapy, we purchased a new TV. And just in time for Packer football. Mabel's request, of course.

School started for mama on Wed. and we had NO SCHOOL on Friday due to power outages from big storms that came through. The first storm hit around 3:30 on Thurs. Mabel was home safe and sound with Gammy, thank goodness, and Nathan was caught in his car for part of the storm. I was still at school and it was pretty scary. We all had to go downstairs in the office and there was no power. The rain finally let up and I drove home through lots of down trees/branches, etc. I must have seen 25 emergency vehicles. Then, at the end of my 2 hour drive home, another storm started. We had flash flooding, even in the city. Of course, I was exhausted after the long drive and the first few days of school, so I was headed off to bed early, around 9, and I thought I'd check the district website in the slim chance that school was canceled and it was! I was so excited because Nathan already had the day off to take care of Mabel so we all got to stay home together. Plus, I went scrapping last night so I actually had some time to prepare. I finally got going on Mabel's baby book. I'm only up to her baby shower, but it's a start!

M.A.B.E.L.

2007-08-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

The mama finally completed Mabel's nursery decor project. I had this idea before Mabel was born and finally completed it over the past week or so. We also just ordered this Bumbo seat. What a crack up. Mabel really enjoys sitting in it, but she starts to slump forward after about five minutes.

Speaking of Mabel's neck strength, we went to physical therapy again yesterday. The PT is not really worried about her tilt anymore, but is concerned that Mabel is not really holding her head up when lying on her tummy. She threatened us yesterday that if Mabel is not doing better on this by our next appt. in two weeks that we will have to come in more often for therapy. I then reminded her that Mabel is THREE MONTHS OLD and doesn't really take direction at this point. She will hold her head up when she is darn well ready. I am not at all sad that this will be my last visit to the PT for a while. Daddy will now be taking over for the next four months.

One last bit of news. Nathan's FMLA leave has been formally approved and his work also okay'd his request for a four-week extension so that we could make it to the end of the year before having to get child care for Mabel. This is very exciting for us and gives us a little more time to figure out what we will do come January. If anyone out there has suggestions for nannies or sitters in the Chicago area, please send them our way.

Mabel's 100th Day!

2007-08-15T16:43:00.000-05:00

Mabel is 100 days old today!! We received a cool gift from our friend, Amy, at Mabel's baby shower. The gift was a set of blocks. Here's the info that came with the blocks: "In Korea, on a baby's 100th day, family and friends get a peek into the child's future. During the celebration, parents place objects representing different professions on a table and whatever the baby touches is said to fortell their destiny." The blocks replace the objects as each block has a different letter and a different professions. (Ex - T for teacher, X for x-ray technician, etc.) Well, we're not exactly sure how the table thing works, so we set Mabel up on our bed and put the blocks in front of her. She touched the V block first so she is now destined to become a veterinarian. Our celebration is slated to continue at the Cubs game tonight, weather permitting.

Mabel's First Wedding

2007-08-11T08:56:00.000-05:00

Mabel is up north for her first wedding. Actually, she's not attending the wedding, but she is planning on crashing the brunch tomorrow. My (Danae) good friend, Erin, is having a wedding reception this weekend. Mabel is so excited to head over to her Aunt Meagan's house tonight. Meagan, Bill, Gammy, and the three cousins will be hanging with Mabel while we all head to the wedding.

By the way, a quick shout out to Aunt Jill who got Mabel this glitzed up wife beater at a little shop in NYC.

Mabel and Friends

2007-08-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Mabel enjoyed her second hotel stay this weekend. Mabel and I (mama) attended the birthday party of my friend, Victoria, in Bettendorf, IA. Victoria is on the far right in the photo. The party was a great time. It was really a shame that Mabel wasn't able to enjoy the amazing spread. Victoria's mom made a few delicious Korean dishes and Victoria's sister added some catered food. Mabel stuck with her bottle. The party started at about 7 on Sat. night and Mabel fell asleep shortly thereafter. Some of us went and gambled a bit at the Casino (the party was at Isle of Capri casino) and some family stayed back in the party suite with the youngsters. I returned to Mabel 30 minutes later and $8 poorer. Much to my roommate, Katherine's delight, Mabel once again slept through the night.

The second picture of Mabel and her non-animated friends is from this morning. She is still sleeping in a bassinet in mom and dad's room, but she takes her naps in her crib. She is getting close to outgrowing the bassinet, so pretty soon she'll have to make the big move to sleeping in her room for the night. I think she's more ready for the move than mom and dad are.

Almost Laughing

2007-08-01T18:47:00.000-05:00

Mabel is smiling a lot more these days and is getting so close to laughing. We ran some errands today, and just like mama, she was especially smiley and happy at Joanne's craft store. I uploaded a short video of Mabel to Youtube. You can check it out by following this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OSREyoxY7w

Stampin' Up!

2007-07-30T14:02:00.001-05:00

What a week! Mabel had lots of firsts this week - Her first plane ride, her first hotel stay, her first Stampin' Up convention, and she even held her head up on her own for the first time! Mabel and I flew out on Wed. morning to Denver for the Stampin' Up convention. Mabel slept the entire way. We were joined by my friend, Sara, and her 5 mo. old daughter, Mia. For those of you who don't know, I am an independent demonstrator for Stampin' Up. (Shameless plug - for more information, check out my website: http://danaeciske.stampinup.net) Mabel attended all sessions with me Thurs. - Sat. We saw presentations on new products and different on ideas on how to grow our business. We also saw lots of crazy ladies that like stamping just a little TOO much, but I guess Sara and I aren't that far behind. Mabel was incredibly good throughout the entire stay. She managed to sleep through some of the presentations and play quietly through others. Stampin' Up was thoughtful enough to have mothers' rooms in the main hall. They had comfy chairs and TVs so that we could watch the presentations, but keep the babies out of the main room if they were fussy. One of the rooms was in a convernted men's bathroom, seeing that there were about five men out of the over 2500 attendees. One presenter joked that we had converted every men's bathroom to a women's within a five block radius. I'm not sure about that, but most of the ones in the convention center were converted. We flew home last night and Mabel once again slept the entire flight. It was a great experience and I'm so glad that we decided to go. We have a quiet week this week, but I'll post again soon.

No mama

2007-07-23T08:42:00.000-05:00

Pops here.

With the Mama gone for the weekend, Mabel and I had our first overnight alone together. Between all the travel we've been doing this summer and the limited amount of time I spend with her each day (really not much more than four hours a day between when I get home from work and Mabel goes to bed), I hadn't taken care of her for more than short stretches at a time since she was a newborn. The stage was set for disaster but I'm pleased to report that Mabel and I had a wonderful weekend that resulted in the loss of neither life nor limb.

Mabel started the weekend off with a reaffirmation of the master/servant hierarchy by filling her diaper with a truly outrageous amount of material before the Mama had even crossed the state line. My lack of practical experience with changing diapers of this volume proved to be quite an obstacle, but a box of wipes and some time later, both Mabel and her room were restored to a reasonable state of cleanliness.

I was similarly unprepared for Mabel's daytime feeding pattern. Pretty much the entire afternoon from 11:00 to about 4:00 was one continuous meal. She consumed so much so quickly that I began to fear for our formula supply. Mabel also did not sleep a wink all day until her bedtime, which was just fine by me as we had a great day together. We walked around the house in the sling, we did some tummy time, we snuggled on the couch and watched the Cubs. We also did some dancing, with me pumping Mabel's arms in time with the music while Mabel vigorously kicks her legs against my chest (I looked back in my library and recalled the song that really got Mabel wound up the most was 'Brainiac's Daughter' by the Dukes of Stratosphear).

As night fell, I worried that Mabel's indefatigable energy level would be a harbinger of a sleepless night for Mabel (and, therefore, for Pops). Yet another red flag - our typical routine of a pre-bedtime bath would have to be scrapped due to a lack of available manpower. Luckily, just about bedtime, Mabel conked out about a quarter-ounce into a four-ounce bottle and I slipped her into her bed without any issues. She slept straight through until about 5am, when we got up for a quick bottle and then went back to sleep for another three hours, this time with both of us in the grownup bed.

I actually woke up before she did on Sunday morning, and we spent the morning having a nice bottle, enjoying the sunshine and listening to Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, which sparked a discussion about Mabel's birthday vs. her expected due date (her due date was May 22, Sun Ra's birthday). Just as I was finishing the story of our drive to the hospital when the Mama was in labor, who should burst through the door but the Mama herself.

(Mama added the photo of her and Mabel reading the new Harry Potter book on Sunday. Mama is finished with the book if anyone would like to discuss.)

Let's Get Physical

2007-07-17T17:21:00.000-05:00

Mabel went to her first physical therapy appointment on Monday. Our pediatrician gave us a referral for therapy because she looks to her right much more than her left and has developed a small flat spot on the right side of her head. Her physical therapist set us up with a to-do list. Mabel has to spend as much time as possible on her tummy. Sometimes she's up for this and other times it just annoys her. We have to make sure anything interesting to her (our faces, the window, lights, the TV) is to her left. We are also supposed to encourage her to put her left hand to her mouth as opposed to her right as this will make her look to the left as well. She just discovered her hands a few days ago and seems pretty excited about putting them in her mouth. We will go back for therapy once every two weeks for now. It may increase to once a week when she starts sitting up and hopefully we won't have to go for more than six months or so. This picture shows her evening workout. She could totally feel the burn.