We're so stinkin' tired

Lydia had a heckuva time getting to sleep tonight. It really wore on my nerves. She abuses herself when she gets overtired, thrashing around, poking her eyes with her fingers, trying to stuff both her fingers and her nuk in her mouth at the same time, and whining, lots of whining. I swear my mind flits to narcotics and large hammers. It's insane what sleep deprivation and desperation do to your mind.

It's quarter to nine, and I can't believe I'm writing this I'm so sleepy. It's my stubborn drive to do just one more thing before I go to bed. It just may kill me.

I'm signing off...thanks for letting me vent.

Our First Night Out

Tonight, David and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner at the Water Street Inn in Stillwater. We had a LOVELY time. Aunt P watched Lydia for us, which was such a blessing. The dinner and service were excellent, and we enjoyed talking about Lydia and NOT talking about Lydia for several hours. Thanks Aunt P and thank heavens for holidays.

A Budding Bookworm

Lydia is a social bird. She doesn't take much interest in objects, at least not yet anyway. The only exception is books. She really enjoys "reading" and will finger the pages as David and I read the words to her. She grabs the corners as if she's going to turn the page. I give her a hand and move the book against her fist, so it seems like she's turning the page herself.

I've loved reading for as long as I can remember. I hope she continues to enjoy books as she gets older, so we can share good stories with each other, just like I do with my Mom and Aunt P.

Flying Baby

A sure-fire way to get a smile out of Lydia is to lift her over your head. I call it "Flying Baby!" It doesn't matter if I do it while standing, sitting, or lying flat on my back. It always tickles her. I often do it after picking her up from the changing table.


This can be a tricky maneuver. She has her mouth open. I have my mouth open with a "wheeeeeee!" You do the math. Gravity is not my friend sometimes. Somehow, I've managed to catch her spit only once so far, but you can bet my reflexes are lightning fast.

Lydia Goes Bananas

David introduced Lydia to bananas this week. Just like the cereal, she didn't like it at first, but she started to figure it out...hey, this is food! Pretty soon she was opening her mouth in anticipation and grabbing at the spoon. Next week she gets to try squash. This should be interesting.

Jumpin' Mania

Lydia has figured out the Johnny Jump Up. It is definitely her favorite thing to do. She can bounce for an hour straight. It completely wears her out.

Check out her skills:

http://blip.tv/file/76421

Caution: motion sickness threat. She's really moving, and I'm not too steady with the camera. I promise to get better at this.

She rolled over!

In the top picture, Lydia had just rolled over for the very first time! David and I both missed it! He had placed her on the floor for some tummy time while he helped me get ready for work. He stepped into the kitchen while was fixing my hair. When he returned into the living room she was on her back. He put her back on her tummy while I grabbed the camera. Sure enough, she did it again! And again, and again, and again. She rolled like a pro.

And so it begins. Life just got harder.

Lower Lip

She started doing a new thing today. She discovered her lower lip, or at least that she could suck it into her mouth. She looks like a little frog! I couldn't stop laughing at her! She was doing this when I got home from work and kept at it until she went to sleep. I wonder if she'll remember to do it tomorrow.

Bath Time

These are from Lydia's bath on Saturday. She is amazingly contented during bath time. Other than her very first bath - and the time David let her water get too cold before setting her in it - she has always been peaceful. She puts up with being soaked, scrubbed, and rinsed without a complaint. I think it helps I keep a washcloth on her chest throughout the bath to keep her nice and toasty warm.

The best parts for me are washing her hair and carrying her to her towel. I love it when her hair is wet. She gets the cutest soggy comb-over. And when I carry her to her towel I get to hold her little bare bottom in my hand. There's a reason we say "smooth as a baby's bottom."

Sweet.

Trouble Sleeping

Lydia is having trouble getting to sleep lately. We put her down and she fusses for up to an hour. She loves her nuk. She hates her nuk. She loves her nuk. She hates her nuk. I think I've lost the last bit of baby weight just running back and forth plugging her nuk. Sometimes she substitutes her thumb for her nuk. Or her whole hand. Makes for a soggy hand...and face...and chest...and blanket...

Tip Over

Doesn't she look so grown up in this picture? Like she's somebody else. And so girly! Those chunky thighs are irresistible.

David took this picture. He was probably playing "Tip Over" with her. He sits her up really straight against our bed pillows then lets her flop over. She loves it! Laughs all the way down then licks the sheets when she gets there. She's an odd duck. We just sit her back up and let her flop away.

Kelty Cutie

Over the holiday weekend, we decided to take the family for a walk. Lydia is finally big enough to give the Kelty carrier a try. It was a little cool, so we put on the hat that Grandma Carol gave Lydia a couple of weeks ago. The cute-o-meter pegged, so I had to grab the camera. Even Dasha was cuter than cute!

Johnny Jump Up

Ever since I first saw a child in a Johnny Jump Up I knew I had to have one for any kids of mine. Kids love 'em, but truly they're for the parents! This is one of Lydia's first times in the Jump Up. She hadn't quite figured it out at this point. She's still working on it, actually. She mostly likes to lean and swing in large circles, spinning around and around. She's too small for the seat, so we stuff receiving blankets around her chest to keep her from flopping back and forth. You can see one of the blankets spilling out the leg hole on her right side.

Even though she doesn't yet understand how much mobility she has in this contraption, I think it's one of her favorites. It certainly keeps her happy while we get a moment to eat or read a section of the newspaper...okay, part of an article if we're lucky. : )

Solid Food

This is Lydia's first exposure to solid food - a thin mixture of rice cereal and warm breast milk. As you can see she didn't like it very much. Thankfully, I had read about this in a child development book and knew to expect her to reject it the first several attempts. She ended up wearing most of it. You can see how wet her chest is. She got a bath right after this. She liked that a whole lot better.

I've given her rice cereal four times since this day. The last two times, she began opening her mouth to receive the spoon, and I heard her swallow a few times. She even stopped making faces and thrashing around. David and I have caught her watching us intently as we bring our forks to our mouths. I think she's beginning to figure it out! I'm so impressed!

Retrospective: We're Pregnant

This is where it all started. After a lot of prayer - courage for David, healing for me - here we were standing in our bathroom with a positive pregnancy test and a major sense of disbelief and bewilderment. What do we do now? Well, I knew what I was going to do next...throw up.