Obsession

I officially crossed the line from being laid back and casual about trying for baby Kminek #2 to being obsessed. It happened so quickly and easily with Liliana that I think both Chris and I were a bit cocky in our attitude about conceiving again. I am kind of in denial right now as well. I am clearly not pregnant right now. All signs point to this. Example: pregnancy test says NOT PREGNANT (I don't know why I insist on buying the pricey digital tests that spell out the results instead of using the age old method of colored lines). When I was pregnant with Liliana the digitals were great. It said PREGNANT- oooooh exciting! I took probably 5 tests just to keep seeing the results and to have the now classic X-mas gift for my parents to announce the addition of their 5th grandchild. On the flip side, seeing those words NOT PREGNANT over and over is just plain rude. I don't stare at the stick. I read the results, process the information in nanoseconds, throw test away and move on to something else. I pretend it didn't happen. I pretend that I don't care, that I am confident the next time around we will conceive, that I know this is totally normal and it is nothing to be concerned about. Uggh, who am I kidding. Like I said before, I am now obsessed. Not only does the pregnancy test prove it, I am also spotting. But here is where I am driving myself crazy. This is what goes through my head: the spotting is probably implantation bleeding b/c my period isn't due for another 2 days (timing off so really this can't be right), the test was wrong, WRONG b/c I am testing before my missed period so I really should be testing first thing in the morning instead of middle of the day so I really could still be pregnant. Seriously, I am in denial. I need to move on, enjoy a glass of wine and a soup bowl size mug full of coffee (at the same time just to give those conception fairies the middle finger) and try again next month. No, I don't really believe in conception fairies. I am a scientific minded person after all which is part of my problem. I am over analyzing everything from my hormone levels to mucous consistency (sorry about that) to uterus position. I need to RELAX. Now I am afraid this stress is going to make it even harder. I am on a slippery slope dammit.

Change of gears, I heard this story this morning on NPR about lead in children's toys. It makes me so angry that we can't trust toy manufacturers to produce toys that our safe for our children!! We are talking brands like Baby Einstein and Disney. What the hell! Don't we have enough to worry about when trying to keep our babies safe? Liliana just got a crap load of new toys for her birthday and I have no idea if they could be potentially harmful or not. Maybe she has triple the amount of lead in her blood right now, it is affecting her brain and that is why she still isn't saying mama and dada. Crap. Click HERE for the story.

Middle Age Crazy

I am suddenly feeling a new sense of pressure with my blog. It was the simple act of adding my blog address to my signature for my personal e-mail that has led me to feel a sense of responsibility to update, inform and possibly even entertain an anonymous audience. I have enjoyed writing this blog and sharing Liliana's achievements with friends and family. Lately though I am feeling a bit bored with reporting milestone successes. However, as Liliana enters this whole new world on the other side of "1" I have a feeling there will be no shortage of material when it comes to funny or scary stories. BUT, I am also having this desire to explore deeper within myself and share more of my fears, thoughts and experiences. I know a lot of people think it is crazy to put those things out there into the nebulous universe of the blogosphere. It certainly isn't for everyone but it is what I want to do. Maybe this is my skydiving "40 style". I hope you stick with me and share my blog with others if you enjoy it. Sharing comments is also encouraged if you have words of wisdom, thoughts or even criticism. I want to use this as a platform to learn more about myself and others.
Thanks for reading...
Oh, and the birthday weekend was fantastic- Liliana is DA BOMB as far as I am concerned- best baby ever...

A Mother Looks at Forty

Less than a week until my 40th birthday. I found my first gray hair last week, and then 2 more this morning. I suspect they have been there all along but due to household budget cuts I have not colored my hair in over a year so they are now clearly visible.
I remember approaching 30 and felt that I had to have a real freak out about it. I bought several books containing advice and funny anecdotes to help ease into my 4th decade. I even jumped out of an airplane to celebrate the momentous event. In reality, I didn't truly feel very affected by it. It was just another number to me but I was trying to make it a bigger deal because it seemed everyone did- Saturn returning and all that jazz. Okay, so here I am facing 40 and again I am not really experiencing the freak out. Besides, 40 is the new 30 ( or so I have heard more times than I can keep track). Except this time, it seems the significance of 40 could possibly have a more meaningful impact on my life. We are trying to have another baby (no need to keep it a secret). With Liliana, one try and boom, done. Granted we haven't been trying for #2 long but it didn't happen right away. I am not concerned or saddened but my mind does start to go to the place of internet headlines and stories of old eggs and downs syndrome etc... I have become somewhat superstitious too. Not sure if superstitious is exactly the word but having this desire to recreate my life of Fall 2007. How much coffee was I drinking then? Was wine a daily drink or weekly? I was in the best shape of my life, do I have time to go to kickboxing 3 days a week for 6 months to get that body back? Of course my life is totally different now and I could never recreate 2007 Leigh so why do I think conception will not happen for 2009 Leigh? Do my eggs know that 40 is the new 30?
Life is beautiful anyway- looking forward to the party next week and celebrating with family and friends. Hope my 40 year old mother of a 1 year old body can stay up past 10:00pm.
Stay tuned for post- party details and pictures.

Meltdown in Aisle One!

Have you ever noticed the random grocery items left in odd places at the check out line of the store? You know, the stray transformer stuffed between the candy bars or the small balloon with the cheery, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" writing on it that is meant to go in bouquet of flowers or potted plant placed conspicuously between the Grab Bag of chips? I guess I always assumed those items were left there by people trying to whittle down their items for the "10 and under" line or those having second thoughts about impulse purchases. After my last 2 grocery shopping experiences with Liliana I now know the truth.
I really used to love grocery shopping with Liliana. It wasn't that is was just tolerable, it was truly enjoyable. She would sit so proudly in the shopping cart smiling at everyone and waving at all the balloons and stuffed animals placed everywhere in the store from the bakery to the seasonal aisle. Every trip to the store made me a very proud mamma with numerous compliments on how cute and well behaved she was. She was complimented on her smile and laugh. I just beamed while I lazily strolled up and down the aisles letting Liliana take everything in.
It was always even more fun when Chris would come because I love traveling as a family. So today when he agreed to take Liliana to the grocery store with him I jumped at the chance to join them instead of staying home to fold laundry. With one pit stop to the flower nursery behind us, we pulled into the Jewel Osco parking lot with about 30 minutes to spare before Liliana's nap time. I pulled her out of the car and Chris had already wrangled a shopping cart. As first time parents we are hyper vigilant about shopping cart cleanliness so we place our very cute, green Clean Shopper on the cart and snuggle Liliana inside. Again, she sits so proudly and looks cute and sweet holding on the shopping cart as we dodge traffic through the lot and make it through the doors of the produce area of the store. Okay, I am ready to hear the compliments- "oh how cute", "what a beautiful baby", "such a sweet smile"... However, that is not the first thing I hear. Instead, I hear an eardrum rattling shriek that doesn't stop soon enough. I look around and get my first dirty look from, wait for it, another couple with a 6 month old (or so) baby sitting sweetly and quietly in her Clean Shopper lined cart. Woah, what just happened? I lean down to Liliana and whisper that she must not scream. She is looking up with arms outstretched and lips shaped in a tight "O" making jungle sounds while somehow bouncing up and down in the cart. My eyes follow hers up and there they are. Balloons everywhere. Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob Square Pants, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Oh my god what do I do what do I do? Where is Chris? Where did he go? I spy him clear on the other side of Produce heading for the butcher...hmmmph. I wheel right by a huge sunflower balloon and Liliana nearly falls out of the cart trying to grab it- luckily the Clean Shopper also has her strapped down. Okay the the Sunflower balloon is weighted down with a big clip to keep in on the floor. I pick up the balloon and clip it to the cart. Liliana is in HEAVEN smacking the balloon on each side but she is still making the jungle sounds. I can't really see where I am going because the huge sunflower is right in front of my face- I also can't see Liliana but I can sure hear her! I pass the couple with the perfect baby again just as Liliana begins her shrieks again. They look at eachother with an air of superiority as if saying "sucky mom can't even keep her baby quiet, we must be the best parents EVER". I press on. Where is Chris? There he is! There he goes yelling something about needing soap. I head off to the cold cuts when Liliana shrieks the loudest I have ever heard her. No joke, the loudest....ever. An elderly lady comes up to me and says "that is one loud baby". Her husband comes up from behind and speaks directly to Liliana and asks "did that come from you?" Liliana has been described as many things all of which make me proud and leave me beaming...this was not one of those things. Ugggh.
I find Chris again and tell him what the lady said and he laughs, then disappears...
I ditch the balloon in the cheese section and stop her protests by giving her a package of cheese. She threw that on the floor and I replaced it with a box of Gerber baby cereal bars. She chewed a hole in that box and then spied the 10 foot tall bin of rubber balls. I grab the most colorful one and meet Chris in the checkout line. Chris takes the ball and wedges it between the Fannie May chocolate cooler and the over priced flower arrangement shelf. We dodged more Dora balloons, before we finally made it out of the store. I feel that I accomplished something by not actually buying her anything but feel kind of guilty that I left things in random places. So next time you see a WebKinz stuffed animal in the ice cream freezer, feel a small bit of compassion because somewhere there is a new mom trying to figure it all out with a baby about to turn ONE.

First Blood

This post has nothing to do with Sylvester Stalone though I imagine I can make a connection somehow if I really tried. This month is a big month for us and many of our friends with babies. Lot's of first birthdays are being celebrated in the month of August. The most recent party was for Ezra who turned the big "01" on August 1st. We headed out to Ashley and Gabe's house without incidence. Feeling a little disappointed that the weather was cool, windy and rainy so the party on the beach was to be moved indoors, we were still excited to see Ashley, Gabe, Ezra and other guests. It is always so much fun to see Liliana interact with other children- she is turning into such a social baby. Just as we turned left onto Ashley's street, Liliana projectile vomitted formula and Cheerios. This is the second time this has happened in the car. I am beginning to suspect she gets car sick. 3 more weeks and we can move her seat forward. After a quick outfit change in Ezra's nursery we were ready to party! All was going well, pretty standard party excitment: first time soap bubbles, new toys borrowed from Ezra, crawling fast down the hallway toward dad's voice then...boom...faceplant onto the hardwood floor. I just stared down at her for a split second waiting to see if she was going to get back into crawling position and proceed on her way. She remained flat on the ground so I scooped her up and had to blow in her face to get her to breath- she was crying the same way she did after her first set of vaccinations. Then, from the corner of her mouth the blood came trickling out. Did she bite through her lip?? Did she bite her tongue?? Will she need stitches??? So many things went through my mind but I think I remained pretty calm. I wet a papertowel and Ashley got some ice. The bleeding stopped as quickly as it started. Her mood returned back to normal and we resumed our activities in the living room. I think I was more affected by seeing her bleed for the first time than she was. Once again, just a lesson that things are going to happen: bumps, bruises, cuts and we all move on. Resilient little buggers they are! On the way home, no afternoon nap Liliana was shaking her marraca like mad and whacked herself in the head...hard. Again she cried without breathing, I blew in her face and gave her a soft toy to play with...peaceful again.

Ms. Independent

I used to say that my dad only knew how to deal with little children and not adolescents because adolescents had their own opinions and expressed them. I no longer believe this to be true as it was my excuse for our own disharmonious relationship back in my (not so) joyous teen years. Well, I thought of that old belief of mine today as I began to realize that Liliana's own, fiercely strong sense of independence is changing the way I need to parent- and quick! I imagine it all started with the abrupt ending of our nursing relationship. Still reeling somewhat from that but it is getting easier as I talk about it and come to the realization that there is so much more to our mother-daughter bond than just the nursing. Still, as Liliana quickly approaches the phase of "toddler", I am rudely confronted with the fact that I have got to learn how to be a PARENT and not just a caregiver. Okay, how many of you are rolling your eyes right about now? But seriously, up until now it has been pretty easy. I feel I have done a good job these first 11 months by responding to Liliana's core needs. I have been a patient, unbelievably loving, sacrificing mommy to a sweet little baby. A sweet little baby that I could make smile by walking into a room. A sweet little baby that I could make laugh just by sitting down on the couch in an exaggerated fashion so that my hair would puff up into the air. But wow, I woke up this last Sunday to a different sweet little baby. This NEW sweet little baby looks at me and is thinking, I know you, I have you figured out. You are weak and easy to manipulate. Here are my fears in a nutshell: I am going to be an emotional, reactive parent that, with all the best intentions, is going to emotionally scar my sweet little baby. The books say not to tell them "NO" too often. Try different words like "hurt baby" or "dangerous" while moving them out of the harmful situation. Oh, they also tell you to remain calm while saying and doing. So when Liliana tried to pull herself up to standing using the pack and play, and it scooted on her and she fell over, I was calm, and tried to move her over to the more stable couch. My sweet little baby bucked and lurched and screamed and cried like I was giving her shots with a 3 inch needle. This, in my eyes, is a sign of what may be to come. In all honesty, she is still so good and even tempered. I am thinking worst case scenario. Inherant personality aside (I am not trying to start a nature vs nurture debate), I am so acutely aware now that the way I react, discipline and parent at this critical time and moving forward is so impactful and important to who she will be as an independent person... and it scares the shit out of me.

Breaking Up is Hard to do

Well today marks the day that Liliana has officially weaned herself. Nursing morning and night was working great for awhile. Then suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, I could not get her to show interest in the morning. No problem, I thought, night time feedings are the most intimate anyway. So we went along for a couple weeks still enjoying our night time nursings. They became shorter and shorter until night before last she was not interested at all. Last night I was out to dinner with my dad who is visiting from New Mexico so I wasn't here to put her to bed. I knew that my milk supply was almost shot completely but I made one, last desperate attempt tonight. She started to nuzzle in and nursed for a second but I just don't have enough milk left. It is over. I feel completely hollow. I am mourning this. You know that feeling when you broke up with someone and you realize that you will never talk to that person on the phone again or go to dinner with them again? That is the closest feeling I can describe to this. I wasn't prepared. There is so much more that Liliana gives me that is just pure joy but this, nursing, was OURS. When she latched on she reverted back to that little, tiny baby in a way. I miss that little one sometimes and I could experience that for 20 minutes while still enjoying all the cool, new things about 10.5 month old Liliana. Oh I am so sad.

So what are those cool, new things that 10.5 month old Liliana is doing? She pulls herself to standing all the time now and she takes little steps when holding her hands. Chris and I have guesses as to when she will walk. I say 3rd week in August and he says 2nd week in September. We will see! She is babbling like crazy. She has reached all the milestones that the doctor wanted us to look out for. Her top 2 front teeth are coming in. I was not expecting them to be so big! She also has that ligament between the 2 front teeth which I believe will cause a large gap but I am expecting that to only increase her cuteness level!

She continues to eat everything. Moving on to more and more finger foods. She especially loves blueberry pancakes and salmon.

I can't believe how fast it is all going. I am ready for number 2. Now let's just get Chris on board.

Father's Day Gift

Such perfect timing for Liliana to learn how to crawl- 2 days before Father's Day. It was a crazy, stormy day yesterday but even with trees blowing down on the block and a day that looked like night, Liliana finally figured out how to put one knee in front of the other! After describing her "style" to my funny and clever friend Justine, she coined it as "Slacker Crawling". She takes just as many steps as needed to reach the bribing toy then she flattens out to reach it. If I move the toy farther away, she has figured out she can pull the blanket to move the toy towards her. As of this morning though, she is all over the place. It is only a matter of time before she finds the electrical outlets...now where did I put that baby proofing kit? Cross another milestone off the list. Among other achievements are a vague resemblance to babbling and the progression toward eating finger foods. I should go into more detail about this but I have to get something else out there.

Chris and I are having nanny concerns. We both really like our nanny but we are being really hyper critical of her lately. I am not sure where this is coming from. She is very warm and loving to Liliana but we are starting to interpret some of her behaviors as a little careless. Not sticking to the nap schedule, not changing diapers regularly, losing important toys on walks (oh and walks that last for 2 hours which brings me back to the nap schedule thing). I feel really guilty even putting these feelings in writing but I am not sure how to resolve them. Am I being irrational? Is it unrealistic to expect someone to to something exactly as I would? I am not a harsh person and am afraid of being too firm with her for fear of offending her (surely a deep rooted upbringing thing). But this is the welfare of my child so I shouldn't be concerned about that right? So now my fears have escalated. I am beginning to have thoughts of "what ifs". Like, what if they go for a walk and never come back? How much do we really know about her? Then, yesterday, I noticed a bruise on her left forearm. Chris and I were not so concerned that she was hurting Liliana but could not understand why, if she had fallen or hurt herself, she didn't tell us about it! Well, fast forward a couple of hours after nap time. Liliana was holding Wally Kowalski, her beloved Koala in her arms and starting sucking on her left forearm- she was giving herself a hickey! See, this is where I think I have crossed the line- I am being unfair, irrational and overly protective. Maybe that is my job as a mother but it is stressing me out.
Back to more positive things- enjoy the video of Liliana crawling and recent pictures.
Next post will probably be after our trip to New Mexico next week!

Liliana officially crawled today june 19th. Video later

Just used sippy cup by herself for the first time. I think I will send her to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I think she is ready for the keys to the car.

She has learned how to go from being on her tummy to sitting! Both yesterday and today I came into her room after nap time to find her sitting and just now I saw it happen first hand. Brava Liliana! She also holds both her hands over head when we say "so big!". She also started mimicking the tone when she does it. It is like she is humming "so big". I am no longer worried at all. Changes coming fast and furious!!

Waving bye bye
Liliana has mastered waving! Who needs words when you can say hello and goodbye with your hands and just laugh in between?

Talk to me baby!

We had our 9 month check up today and were surprised and relieved to learn that there were no vaccinations. She has gained 3 pounds and grown an inch since her last check up. I guessed her weight right but I really thought she was 1 or even 2 inches longer.
Once again she is falling behind in some key milestones. She should be crawling, pulling herself to standing and, the one that concerns me the most, babbling. I know she will be crawling any day now and she actually almost pulled herself to standing tonight in her crib so I am not concerned at all about those 2. However, she never babbles or says the mamama bababa. In fact, other than her high pitched squeals and laughter she is amazingly quiet. So now I am stressing myself out that something is wrong with her. Don't get me wrong, she is amazingly healthy and happy- I guess I am going to stop speculating right now and just wait and see where we go over the next week.

Liliana has just fed herself Cheerios for the first time

(this note came from a text message). I just learned I can update the blog by texting from my phone. This means that there will be short, real time entries to document cool things as they happen!

Life as we know it

Tomorrow marks Liliana's 9 month birthday. Chris and I were talking this morning and we both said we are trying so hard to live in the moment. Not only with Liliana but with each other and ourselves. We are both very nostalgic people and I can only speak for myself but few things make me emotional like thinking of the past. I am easily affected by movies and shows that speed through the characters lives and recap the storyline through flashbacks or memories. The final episode of Six Feet Under had me holding back tears as hard as a could because I felt ridiculous crying about a television show. Still, my lips were quivering uncontrollably and I had a huge lump in my throat as I learned the fate of all the characters I had become so close to through years of faithful viewing. Then last night I had the same reaction to the movie Marley and Me (I never read the book). Not sure if it hit so close to home because we had just put Zeppo down and we are starting our own family, but I cried. This time I didn't hold it back- I don't care any longer if it is ridiculous or not- I wanted to cry so I did. I think it is one of those lessons you learn as you get older. The movie isn't deep or terribly philosophical but something about it resonates with me. In the end the oldest boy is watching video of himself as a baby with Marley. I recognized at that moment that I have my own family and together we are making memories for Liliana. I also realized we need a better video camera to start documenting her life more actively than we have been.
Okay, so on to new Liliana activities:
Her clapping is waning- I think the novelty wore off. She now likes to watch her hand open and close- very intently. She has taken raspberry noises to a new level. Two nights ago after I put her to bed, she was making raspberries loud and strong for close to 5 minutes. I almost wet my pants I was laughing so hard. It could be due to the intense teething going on. Also when she is alone in bed she laughs at Wally Kowalski (her stuffed Koala). She holds him and laughs- it is really wonderful to hear. She still is not crawling but it giving it a great effort. New prediction- 2 weeks from today she will be crawling. She is standing with support- very strong legs. She loves to stand on her changing table and look at the 2 cat pictures on her wall- that is her latest fascination- she LOVES those pictures!!
Watching her learn new stuff will never get old for me. For example, there is an elephant head on her Jumperoo. The face is turned away from her and is on a resistant spring. I turned it around for her one day and it snapped back. She tried to turn it around herself after that but was just pulling on the head so it didn't turn. The next time I put her in the jumperoo a couple of days later she turned it around with no problem- the kid is a genius. This morning I gave her a tube of blistex and a tub of lip ointment to play with (I was in bed and that is what was on my nightstand). She held one in each hand and examined both very intently. Then she started gently hitting them together. I relayed this to Chris (b/c in my mind it is something pretty cool) and he said "great! she now has a brain of a Neanderthal- making progress!" It was funny.
Finally, we spent the last couple of days with Chris' family who is in town visiting. Yesterday was cousin Maximillian's 2nd birthday. She really enjoyed being around Max. He would give her kisses. She is learning how to kiss back. She puts her lips on my face when I ask for a kiss- I love it so much!
So my long weekend with Liliana is coming to an end. She is about to wake from her morning nap. We have a Memorial Day BBQ down the street later today (weather permitting). I love being with her so much and have major nanny anxiety lately. I will save that for the next post-

Esther Williams Eat Your Heart Out!

My well traveled baby, Chris and I have just returned from a long weekend in Florida visiting Chris' parents. We left during what was looking like Spring in Chicago. We were prepared with infant sunscreen, sweet sun hats, swim diapers, cute floaty toy for the pool and tiny sunglasses. I remembered to pack a swimsuit for myself and enough underwear to get me through the weekend- boy have my priorities changed!
While in Florida Liliana showed us that she is REALLY close to crawling but failed to achieve that milestone on vacation like I had hoped. I just have a feeling I am going to miss this one- I imagine it will happen one day while I am at work- hmmph.
She loved the pool and felt at home in her new floaty toy. She seemed to really enjoy the incredible heat in Florida. She ate great, slept great and was just so much fun to be around all weekend. She claps constantly and just loves life from what I can tell.
She has mastered the art of squealing incredibly loud. This is cute but caused a little shock on the airplane. My initial reaction was to put my hand over her mouth but I quickly realized that was not going to work- she wouldn't understand what that means.

Alright, I need to start taking notes for the blog. I have so many thoughts and ideas to write about but when it comes time to update, all I can think of to say is- ah, she is great, cute, fun blah blah blah. I swear I have an inner writer in me but she hasn't been unleashed. Maybe I shouldn't be blogging while trying to watch the Real Housewives Reunion show.

Next time, detailed notes will hopefully result in a more detailed, insightful entry.

Time Flies

I don't have much to report but always feel the need to continue to update the blog. I imagine major milestones are just around the corner such as crawling, standing, walking, school, college, marriage... We are currently holding steady at sitting but she has it mastered! I am adding this part about 2 hours after initial posting- I noticed that she has learned to clap! I need to look this up and see if she is a genius or if this is normal.

Today is actually her 8 month birthday. She is now sleeping solidly through the night anywhere between 11-13 hours. She enjoys solitary play-I can plop her on the floor or in the pack n' play with some toys and she is entertained. I can only do it for a short time though b/c I don't want to be a neglectful mommie! Newest foods include pasta and cauliflower-we haven't encountered a food yet that she won't eat! (maybe avocado but I haven't tried again recently)

We have some sad news-we had to put Zeppo down on Wednesday. His health failed very rapidly over the weekend and it was time. Chris and I are heartbroken. Zeppo has been with me since 1997. He was with me in Portland, Minnesota and Chicago. I miss him dearly.

We are off to Florida in less than 2 weeks and are looking forward to the visit.

So long for now.

Let the weaning begin!

Alright, maybe not right away but there are signs pointing in that direction. Nursing this last weekend while we were in Iowa was less than pleasant. Alert- this may be TMI for those readers (if there are in fact ANY still out there) who had issues with my nursing updates last September.
I had just sent an e-mail out to my lactation consultant to inquire about weaning techniques. She gave my some advise but I wasn't ready to start any time soon because everything was still so perfect...until Friday. I am so sore right now that I can hardly nurse. Liliana has taken the position that I am just a bottle or a toy. She grabs me with both hands and pulls my boob (excuse me, breast) out of her mouth while still sucking. Remember she also has 2 very sharp teeth now. She does this over and over and it hurts so much. Nursing when she is really tired is still okay but even at night she pulls a lot. So, in any case, I think the next step is to continue pumping at work and nursing her mornings and evenings but to give her formula or pumped milk from a bottle during the days of the weekends. Eventually moving to formula only and reduce my pumping until I am only producing enough for morning and evening feedings. This will lead to nightime feedings only and then none. My goal is to complete this transition by August. However, if the pain or behavior does not improve, I may have to move this time line up. Makes me very sad...

As I mentioned, we were in Iowa over the weekend to visit Frank and Beth and Chris' grandma. It was a very short trip and staying with Liliana in a hotel is getting more difficult now that she is on sleep schedule. Basically we either have to go to bed at 7:00 with her or keep her up until a more reasonable adult bedtime which isn't really fair to her. If we are staying in a house, at least we can put her in a room and go into another room to watch a movie or have a glass of wine with company. In any case, it made the trip a little difficult. Still, she traveled great in the car again- no complaints there!

No closer to crawling though she continues to stick her butt in the air while putting her face on the ground - that won't help much with forward propulsion but she will eventually figure that out.

Her personality is really coming out and it is apparent now that we need to really watch our own behavior around her because she seems to be taking it all in. She is sassy for sure. She swipes at me a lot and likes to scratch with her fingernails. I think it feels good to her but obviously not so much for me. As I type this I realize I have to wrap it up b/c she is mad at me for ignoring her. She is yelling at me to come play with her- really she does that.

Bye for now!

Sit, Stay....

Ah, well it has been one week since we returned from New Mexico. It was such a quick trip- too quick but we did get another plane ride under our belts. This one was much different. While at 3 months she nursed quietly, was unaffected by sounds, sights and strangers, at 7 months she held fascination in everything! Getting her to nurse or sleep during our air travel (or car travel) was near impossible. The good news is that she did not fuss. She was simply happy to observe the crazy cast of characters on the flight. She smiled, laughed and persisted to touch all the ickyness of the plane and then put said ickyness into her mouth. I am sure this is what led to her eye infection which has prevented us from attending our much enjoyed monthly playgroup this weekend.
All in all, the weekend was fun- she was off her sleep schedule which led to some crankiness the first day but by the wedding, she was in perfect form and was quite popular! In fact, one guest went so far as to call her TREMENDOUS. How is that for an adjective? She was passed around the table next to us by total strangers. Well, they were strangers to me but I reasoned that since they knew the groom, they probably would not kidnap my baby.

I can say she is finally sitting- almost unassisted! I still have to stay right by her because she will fall over. It is great though to see her sitting so proud and playing with her toys. She is also doing a lot of kicking. Trying to change a diaper has become a challenge. She flails her legs all over the place and kicks my hands away- I try and make a game out of it and it seems to work- 38% of the time.

Sleep is slightly challenging right now as I believe she is starting to manipulate me. She has my number that is for sure. When I put her in the crib she cries and reaches her arms out for me. It kills me and I must pick her up! I know, I know, let her cry it out or just rub her belly but come on, my baby is REACHING OUT for me! It is getting better though and she is still sleeping pretty well through the night.

She continues to try and love new food. Yesterday I made Chicken and Brown Rice- she ate it voraciously and so did the cats!

Next trip- Car ride #2 to Iowa. I anticipate this won't go as smoothly as it did when she was 2 months old.

Till next time!

On the Road Again

Just a quick note as it has been awhile. Liliana is doing great and mom has let go of her worries. She is very expressive and happy! We finally bought a high chair and she loves to sit up high and feels very proud when she is in it. She is eating like a champ. She eats 4 Tbls of cereal at a time!
We are off to New Mexico today for Patty Romero's wedding to David Thomson. Hopefully air travel with a 7 month old is as easy as it was with a 3 month old!
Liliana is starting to show some signs of moving toward crawling. She is trying to get her knees under her and ONCE she got on her toes and stuck her butt in the air... I give it another month.
She has 2 new teeth on the bottom row and when she laughs you can see them- very cute.
Well I am off for now but I promise to give a full report after our trip to the Land of Enchantment!