Nod to Mo

I had a Knuffle Bunny experience this morning. Liliana was keeping me company in the kitchen while I made coffee and prepared her breakfast. She was sitting in front of the freezer drawer (we have a fridge/freezer combo with the french doors on top and large freezer door on the bottom) screeching and pointing. As this is her most effective way of communicating, I had to guess what she wanted. It is a game of trial and error with her. You pull out things that you think she may want and if you don't have it right, she pushes it away. When you hit the nail on the head and offer her the object of desire, she smiles and giggles fanatically with her nose and eyes squinched. So, this morning it was the 16 value pack of blueberry waffles. I let her play with the box while I finished up with the coffee and her breakfast. I decided I didn't want her dumping the waffles on the floor so I put the waffle box back in the freezer. She just about had a complete meltdown over this. She kept pointing to the freezer drawer screeching and vocalizing with her "da da's, ba ba's and eh eh's". I gave in to her demands and pulled the waffle box back out deciding it was fine for her to play with box and I would just remove the inner waffle pack and put it back in the freezer. When I reached my hand in to pull out the waffles I discovered her baby doll in the waffle box. Ooooh sweet reunion with giggles and squinchy face! The waffle box is now part of our toy rotation but Liliana left baby doll in a new home before her nap.

Bath Time fun

We have words!

The doctor informed me today that sounds like horse whinnies, sheep bleats and dog barks are actually considered words in the world of a 15 month old. Hooray! Add those three to "buh bye" and she officially has 4 words. I also learned that her fine motor skills are extremely advanced- hmmm brilliant she is- I KNEW IT!

Good grief. I am home with Liliana today because my nanny cancelled on me. The cleaning lady is here and is upstairs clearly doing demolition work. How does Liliana sleep through the ruckus? Holy cow, I hope to have an expanded master bath after all that noise but I will settle for a clean toilet.

Imaginary Play

I have to buffer my last post with cuteness. But for those of you who may be wondering, yesterday my boss stated on our weekly conference call that he wanted to reschedule or 2010 planning meeting so I could be there. Good sign? I hope so- I do like this company a lot...

Okay, so Liliana is so imaginative in her play. We have that Kozy Coupe car that is inside the house right now. She puts her dolls and animals in it for rides. What is so funny though is they have to get in the car through the open door. She can't put them through the window or the back. They also have to be sitting correctly; facing front and actually on their tushes if they have them. Then when everyone is properly situated, she goes to the back of the car and pushes them around the house while making car noises. I love it! Wasn't it just yesterday she was wildly fascinated with the movement of the ceiling fan?

The Stress and the Joy

I vowed I wasn't going to write about work anymore. It is dangerous territory in the blogosphere (see Jen Lancaster and Heather Armstrong). Perhaps these are poor examples because both of them have been catapulted into celebrity and a higher tax bracket as a result of their blogging. Not to mention I lack their gift of wit and talent. In any case, I feel like an elephant has been sitting on my chest the last couple of weeks. Quickly, to recap and not to enter a huge gripe fest, these are the main details. 1) received a letter from manager saying that I have to book a couple of projects in order to retain my position with my company. No quantifiable goals provided or offer of assistance for me to achieve this nebulous goal. So, I have booked a couple of projects. As a result, I sent an e-mail which leads to #2. 2) Sent e-mail to manager pointing out my booked projects and would like to sit down with him next time he is in town or even speak over the phone to get a temperature check of my situation with the chicago team. Crickets, nothing, no response. 3)Received an e-mail as part of a large group distribution about 2010 planning meetings. The Chicago team meeting is set for a date when I will be in Santa Fe. I replied and pointed this out to my manager and he said he was aware but couldn't reschedule. That we could catch up at a different time. Hmmm, not necessary for me to be at the 2010 planning meeting. For fuck sake stop stringing me along!! Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to be employed but this unknown about my future employment is so stressful! Not to mention, the strategy and unprofessionalism is highly demotivating.
We had to let our nanny go because we are 99% sure I will be getting the ax. She is working up until I leave for New Mexico. The holidays follow that trip so the timing worked out. If I am off the mark, or am right and find another job, we will put Liliana in daycare which she will enjoy.
She loves other children and will benefit from the stimulation and interaction. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason so this is leading us somewhere, it is just hard to go through the muck until you come out on the other side. What is so amazing though is how sitting on the floor with Liliana while we play with her Fisher Price Little People brings peace and calm. It is true that the joy of a child trumps everything.

Ghosts and Dinosaurs-Not a Halloween Post

Technically Liliana can walk. She has shown us several times that she can stand on her own. She will be playing in the middle of the room and I look over at her and she is standing- no fan fare, no drama, just standing. It is kind of Poltergeistish. There is the scene when the family is in the kitchen and the mom looks back and without any noise or notice the furniture is stacked precariously in an impossible pile. Haunting aside, Liliana has reached what I consider the most exciting milestone so far. It has been really amazing watching this development. She is so proud of herself with this accomplishment but she has yet to really utilize this new skill. She is a darn good crawler and doesn't quite see the need to wobbly transport herself from one spot to the next when she can do it much more efficiently on all fours and not risk falling over.

There are a couple new behaviors that are important to note. The first is the Pterodactyl scream when she either wants something or sees a kitty. It is painful to hear. I can literally feel my eardrum contracting inside my ear when she makes this sound. She has very few words (none actually) but I am not going to focus on that because I am not concerned. She is learning 2 languages right now and I believe she is just trying to sort that out. She clearly understands most of what we say. She will speak in her own time. In the meantime we have to suffer through the prehistoric screech for her to get her point across. Secondly, she has begun to throw mini tantrums when she gets frustrated. She resorts to using whatever toy is in her hand to hit things and then throw them. She furrows her brow and gets this very concerned look on her face. I can't help but laugh when she does this which only makes her more angry. It is a passing thing but Chris and I both can't help but wonder if this is just a toddler thing or a sign of an angry streak in her personality.

We are driving to Iowa in 3 weeks for Thanksgiving. That could potentially be a stressful trip. I am more terrified of our trip to Santa Fe in December. I am traveling alone with Liliana on a plane. I hope she will have moved beyond the screaming by then because I don't want to be kicked off the plane.

Now the fun begins!

November 3rd: Liliana has taken 4 unassited steps while giggling through the short journey right into mama's arms. She finishes with a huge hug for me. It is the sweetest feeling ever.