March Madness ...

After a brief hiatus to recover from a horrible 3-week cold, the all consuming process of deciding whether or not to switch companies and career tracks in the midst of a recession, and prepping our house to sell ... 

I'm happy to say that we're back!!!

I'm finally feeling better

I left my employer of 9 years

started a new job

and our house is nearly ready to put on the market.

So, now I get to focus on documenting Della's life in motherly detail. 

Between jobs Della and I spent a whole week together enjoying a few mother-daughter field trips. 

First up was a visit to Alki Beach in West Seattle. Once Della caught sight of the Ocean my task was simply to prevent her from walking in and swimming away, which I believe she might have done. Instead I taught her to stomp on waves and throw rocks into the ocean. She LOVED the beach. 

Next up was a lunchtime visit to a lake-side park to meet daddy for lunch. While waiting for him to arrive Della enjoyed her very first baby-seat swing ride and attempted to catch a few ducks. When chased, the ducks would run off of a bulkhead and land in the lake ... Della attempted to copy the maneuver and was very displeased when I wouldn't let her go swimming.

We went to the Zoo and enjoyed having the place nearly to ourselves. Della very studiously looked for each animal I pointed out but remained very serious and quiet until we hit the playground, at which point she simply headed off on her own to explore ... mommy's not required. 

 Her favorite discovery was the plastic slats that cover the entry into one of the exhibits ... there was quite a bit of in & out ... 

 Little spider ... big web

And of course there was a slide ... 

We also enjoyed some down time where Della practiced her reading skills, block building talents, and appeared to transition from a baby to a toddler right in front of my eyes. 

Della ... thanks for spending the week with your mommy. I enjoyed every minute of it. 

February ...

February has not been kind to us Porters. Oh it started out fine but quickly descended into absent husbands and snotty noses. First Della caught a cold. We're blaming it on her second swimming lesson where the pool was just a tad too cool. For a solid week Della was miserable with a constant low grade fever, sad little cough, and snot running everywhere. Of course this coincided with Daddy's busy season at work so he was gone every day until late in the night. Nana and mommy had to step up their game!After a week of no visible improvement we took Della to the doctor who patiently informed us that we were doing everything right and simply needed to wait out the storm. And wouldn't you know it, she improved the very next day! Figures. It also figures that I caught the cold the following day! I pushed to crank out some work assignments then headed home early on Friday hoping to ward off the incoming cold with some sleep ... it didn't work. I spent the entire week of our planned staycation sick, sick, sick. So did poor Nana although miraculously Daddy managed to avoid the worst of it.
Anyway ... somewhere in the midst of all this coughing and snot Della and I managed a short visit to our neighborhood park. She'd been such a good girl while I was super sick so a little play time was well deserved. Man was she pissed when we had to head home cause mommy had run out of tissue and her nose was leaking everywhere ... but she had fun while it lasted.

My 14mo baby!  She's looking more and more like a toddler every day.

Very First Swimming Lesson ... Beyond the Tub

So the first lesson of mommy hood,  and the currently trending message on mommy blogs, is that mommies with cameras need to GET IN THE PICTURE. 

Our children need to see that we were there with them, not simply behind the lens. They need to see that we smiled when they smiled, were their caution when they had none, did things and went places solely for their benefit, because that's what mommies do ...

and that we LOVED THEM ALWAYS.

As uncomfortable as it may be for me to be in pictures I'm going to push my boundaries by not only being present in these pictures but by being present in a bathing suit! I dare you to try that ... really, I dare you. Push your own boundaries.

Della's very first swimming lesson ... beyond the bathtub.

Caution when she has none ... she was ready to walk off into deep water.

Eyes wide shut ... classic me picture. But Della's smile is so ... Della ... I had to post it.

Group lesson ... we are on the far left

She LOVED it. So far there isn't much that this girl doesn't LOVE. She was the loudest, most active, most enthusiastic baby in the bunch. She also managed to get her mommy in trouble by insisting she be allowed to play in the shallow pool prior to the lesson which is apparently off limits. How was I supposed to know ... there are no signs ... and it's a shallow pool made for baby play. Oh well ... it was worth it ... but we won't be showing up early to class again so Della doesn't have time to pressure me into such unauthorized activities.