A little Singing

Up and Up

Ray went out of town for five days this week, the longest amount of time that we've been single girls. We had a fun, lowkey weekend with business as usual on the weekdays. We discovered that the laundry basket is a fun and interesting toy/seat.

She's a big help with folding the laundry, pulling out anything that has a string on it and playing peekaboo with Daddy's T-shirts.

Lyla is getting all over the place now! Following me from living room to kitchen to the dining room and beyond. She also has finally figured out how to sit herself from her stomach; that was a long time coming! On Saturday morning I was getting dressed and watching the monitor; one moment she was laying down, and when I looked a few minutes later she was sitting!

She's still getting around by army crawling, though she's pretty fast now. Still working on the real crawl, but I have begun to wonder if she might skip that and move straight to standing and walking. Sometimes I can tell that she is trying to figure out how to get on her feet and straighten her legs.

She LOVES to stand and look out the window, now that she can be there by herself. I'm always close by, but she can hold her own for a long time, until she is distracted with something else and gets unsteady on her feet.

When Ray came home he was surprised by the changes he saw in Lyla in such a short time. I have to agree, there is a recognizable shift in her immature jargon, the way she addresses me.

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I received some nice feedback on my rant post, both online and off. Some advice, but more was some nice understanding that's always good to hear. It also made me realize that, while I have this list of things that we struggle with, there's a much longer list of things that we've really got down. Better to dwell on those things! Just a few off the top of my head..

1. Messy poopy diaper changes with a squirmy baby trying to turn over- Mastered.

2. Changing massive blowouts in the back of my car- Mastered. (Though having to change all her clothes seems to be a thing of the past now that her poop is more solid and comes out with less... velocity.)

3. Nursing- Mastered. The struggle it was for the first two months is a distant memory now. She has four teeth now too, so that hurdle/fear is passed.

4. Cooking dinner holding an 18-lb kid- Mastered. With or without the help of a sling.

mother-daughter portrait, September 10th

Oh yea, and those jeans? Haven't been able to fit into them since January 2010. Boo-ya!

Still would like to lose 5 lbs, but it will happen in the next few months and I feel good about where I am.

gimme the phone!

:-)

What the Hey Am I Doing?

This is a bit of a rant, but maybe it will strike a nerve with the pair of people who read this blog, maybe a few more who stumble upon it by accident. While motherhood is wonderful and I wouldn't ever trade it, there are definitely some aspects of this job that have surprised me and are very frustrating. Like the fact that most days seem like one long unanswered question.

(Yes it is a job. One with 16 hour days that often requires 24 hour surveillance and attention, as well as tasks and situations to which I don't have the right answers.) Which leads me to this post. . .

I'm a reasonably intelligent person. I'd say I'm pretty sensitive and tolerant with spending my days almost exclusively with someone who can't express their needs or have a conversation. I'm an introvert so have less need for constant adult company. With that said, I often wish I could just turn around and say, "what should I do?" Over and over and over. A thousand questions pop in my head on a daily basis and I don't have the answers to any of them. Here's a taste:

1. She stopped waking at night for a few nights but has started back up again. Should I ignore her and let her work it out? Go in? Nurse or not nurse?

2. I'm seeing the beginnings of temper, of vocal whining and willfulness. Do I ignore the unbecoming behavior? How do I address it?

3. She's trying to crawl, does some good creeping, but gets frustrated a lot (see #2). Should I be letting her always figure it out on her own, or should I pick her up and bring to the toy when she complains?

4. Still screaming fits at bedtime. This child will turn me gray on this issue alone.

5. Naps have been shorter and unpredictable lately. Is this permanent? And with the transition from two naps to one, how do I handle that? And when do I know it's the right time?

When I do ask these questions, the response I get is mostly, "It's hard. . ."

To which I think, "No #$% it's hard!! I get that, I want to know what to do!!"

It's hugely frustrating!

Thank you. . . oh and if anyone does have the answers to any of the questions above- tell me!!!!

Weekends at the Park

The past few weeks, our weekend morning routine has included a walk to the park after breakfast. Casanova Park is 3 blocks up on our street, and it's cool and deserted at 7:30am. I pack Lyla in the Ergobaby carrier (still clad in jammies) and she gets some good swing time in. She loves the swings.

When she was younger, she'd sit at the back and hold on to the bars. Now she lets her whole body go forward and rides Peter Pan-style, arms and legs flying in the wind.

It's the perfect amount of excitement for a good nap shortly thereafter. :-)

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