Angela = (allergies + cramps + icky tonsil) 3 days

Lila... finally has another tooth!!!!! The top front left one busted through today. Glory be! In case you aren't aware of the numbers, she got her first two teeth one day apart at 8 mos. of age (in april). It has now taken five more months to get another one! :o)~

Achoo!

The Scary Friend

Poor Lila got mauled by a well-meaning little kid at the library yesterday. When we got to the kids' section of the library, there was a little girl by one of the kiddie sofas, playing with her dolls. As soon as she saw me put Lila down near her, her eyes lit up and she asked, "Can I touch her?" I responded with, "Sure!" I almost wish now that I'd answered differently.

Her name is Hannah and she is five years old. Hannah's handling of Lila was very... enthusiastic. She wanted to walk her around and pick her up and read books to her. Lila was enjoying it part of the time, but I could tell she was also kind of annoyed. Hannah was not good at picking up on Lila's cues about what she did and did not want to do.

It was really kind of cute to watch, but I was very glad when Hannah's mommy came and took her away. Although, I thought we might have to pry her off of Lila with a crowbar because she did not want to leave the baby to go home. Lila even gave her a hug before she left, but Hannah wouldn't let go! Her mother had to say something along the lines of, "I think she's through hugging now." I guess Lila just got a taste of what it would be like if she had an older sibling. :)

Lila's Post

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Frustrated

Lila has entered a new and difficult phase in eating. Just a few weeks ago, I was totally exasperated because she kept throwing her food/bowl/spoon/cup onto the floor. After endless repetitions of, "No no, Lila! That is not appropriate. We do not throw our XXXXX on the floor!", she finally stopped doing it! I was quite pleasantly surprised at how quickly she learned.

Well, now she's doing it again... because she has decided to be very picky about what she'll eat. She did this to us overnight and I totally didn't see it coming! She has gone from devouring anything we put in front of her to refusing to eat most of what we put in front of her. Food is only truly acceptable if it comes from our plates. I understand why she's doing it - she wants to eat what the grownups are eating.

It's still maddening though and even worse is the fact that she is not consistent in her rejection. Yesterday evening, Doug cooked a chicken breast for her and she had a lot of it for dinner. She also had some with lunch today. I, thinking that I had found at least one thing she would consistently eat, gave her some for dinner as well. However, all she did was throw it in the floor and rudely demand that I give her more peaches. Ack!

This is particularly difficult becuase I don't know quite what to do. I can't really punish her. What do you do to keep her from throwing something in the floor? You take it away. But I can't just take all her food away and I am not okay with the idea of only offering her what I know that she will eat (because, if i did that, she would live on nothing but fruit and THAT's not okay because i'm the one who changes her diapers)!

And so I continue to say, "No no, Lila! That is not appropriate. We do not throw our food on the floor." And sometimes, if I can tell that she's getting full, I'll say, "If you throw your food on the floor again, you're going to be all done." And then I follow through. That's not really a consequence though - I think it's more like giving her what she wanted. [sigh] I know that she will get the point eventually. In the meantime, I'm trying to use a stern voice and not an angry voice. And I'm encouraging her whenever she does something appropriate, like hand me the food she does not want or puts her cup on the table rather than throwing it in the floor.

Well, Lila has been watching a Baby Einstein video while I typed this, but I think it's over now. Thank you for letting me unload on you. I think I can go in there and look at my child without developing a twitch now. Plus, Doug's home. And when Daddy is home, Mommy is second rate. Lila only wants to be held by him. Right now, I'm fine with that! :o)~

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream

How did this happen? My child has become an ice cream maniac! I didn't even want her to know what these sugary junk foods tasted like until she was older, but I made the mistake of giving her one little bite one time...

At home, I don't eat my nightly bowl of ice cream until she's in the bath or in bed, so she doesn't really know that's going on. But for the past few weeks, we've been going to the park a lot (see photo) and there's an Amy's Ice Cream right there next to it. Now, when we walk into Amy's, she knows what's coming.

As soon as she sees the little bowl of ice cream, she starts saying, "Muh! Muh! Muh!" And this girl is serious about it too! She doesn't use Cute Little Baby voice. She uses I Mean Business voice! I'll give her the tiniest of little bites and within seconds she's barking at me again. "Muh!" If I'm too slow, then she'll go and harass Doug for awhile.

[sigh] I brought this upon myself.

Aargh!

I just typed out a LONG post and then made a very stupid mistake that resulted in the loss of that post. Instead, I give you photos of my large, goofy cat.

Bubble Trauma

When Doug was running Lila's bath last night, he added some California Baby Cold & Flu bubble bath. It's supposed to help with congestion and stuffiness, which she has been dealing with off and on for a week or two now. He got it all sudsy-bubbly and I brought Lila into the room, which was warm and steamy and smelled of lovely eucalyptus. As soon as she saw the bubbles on top of the water, she gave them a very suspicious look.

We put her in the bath and -- eek! She did not like the bubbles. Doug tried valiantly to convince her that bubbles in the bath are fun, but to no avail. He finally gave up and got rid of them (i'm not sure if he scooped them out or just splashed them all away). Unfortunately, the Bubble Trauma, as it shall forever be known, spoiled the whole bath. Doug hurried her through the rest of it and she didn't stop fussing until she was out of the tub. :(

So, apparently, bubbles (in the bath) are scary. Try to remember that.

Rhythm and Lila

Well, Lila continues to be more volatile than she used to be, but we seem to have found a comfortable rhythm that allows us to peacefully coexist. I make sure I take chunks of time to pay attention solely to her - playing with toys, letting her climb all over me like a monkey, or just sitting quietly by her side as she plays. This helps eliminate any guilt I might feel when I want to spend a few minutes cleaning, an activity which often sends her into fits of utter despair.

We also get out of the house more often now. It has always been important for us to get out and do something every day. Now it's important for us to get out and do something more than once per day. Lila LOVES to go places! Anywhere - it doesn't matter! I'll ask her if she is ready to go bye-bye and she starts bouncing up and down in excitement and saying, "Bah bah! Bah bah! Bah bah!"

We still have a lot of lunch dates and once or twice per week I'll take Lila to the gym with me. Now we have also added trips to the library and the park. She might seem too young to appreciate the library, but she really likes it! There are always other kids around to watch with fascination and there is kid-sized furniture to climb on and books to pull from the shelves (yes, i do clean up after her before we leave). And now that it's not 100+ degrees outside, I actually enjoy going to the park as much as she does!

As for why her volatility continues... I don't know. I could still blame it on teething. She hasn't managed to produce any actual teeth yet (other than the two she's had for months), but her gums are clear on top and you can see that one tooth is literally just about to break the surface.

I have found, however, that it's better for my mental stability if I just accept this as another phase in her developing personality. If I expect things to stay this way indefinitely, then I'm able to be more patient with her than if I'm constantly waiting for those !@#$% teeth to come in so she'll go back to being the baby I used to know. And if those teeth come in and she happens to become more mild-mannered again - fabulous! But in the meantime, I have chosen to enjoy my crazy baby!

What's your Fortune?

Lila has gotten some amusing fortunes lately. On Tuesday, we had lunch at Pei Wei and her cookie (which she didn't get to eat) contained the following fortune:

"Be content with your lot in life. You cannot be first in everything."

I tried bringing this up later, when she wanted something she couldn't have, but she didn't seem to be interested. Oh well.

On Friday evening, she and her Daddy had dinner at Firebowl Cafe and her cookie (which she got a nibble of this time) contained this fortune:

"The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now."

Ah, such wisdom contained within a small, packaged cookie. Wisdom... and lottery numbers! :o)~

By the way, here's the photo of Lila asleep in her high chair that I mentioned a few days ago.

6 Things I'll Bet You Didn't Know About Me

1. There is a red Putt-Putt ball that lives in the floorboard of my car. His name is Cornelius.

2. I am disturbed by belly buttons and tongues.

3. I don't choose outfits based on the day or what I'm doing. I just grab what's next in line in my closet and wear it.

4. It drives me crazy when I smile at someone and they don't smile back. (How can you make eye contact with someone who's smiling at you and not return the smile?!?)

5. If Doug would allow it, I'd have more than two tattoos and more than two cats. And probably a number of other small furry animals.

6. I have a burning desire to go parasailing, despite my fear of flying and water.

Who says I'm not the boss?!?

8:15 p.m. - Lila goes to sleep.
10:45 p.m. - Mommy and Daddy go to bed.
11:30 p.m. - Mommy falls asleep.
12:30 a.m. - Lila wakes up and wants to nurse.
12:45 a.m. - Lila goes back to bed with a full tummy.
12:46 a.m. - Mommy goes back to sleep.
12:50 a.m. - Lila starts crying because she can't go back to sleep.
12:51 a.m. - Mommy and Daddy begin taking turns trying to get Lila back to sleep.
2:30 a.m. - Lila finally falls asleep.
2:35 a.m. - Mommy and Daddy finally fall asleep.
6:00 a.m. - Lila decides it's time to get up.
8:15 a.m. - Lila has gone back down for her first nap and Mommy is sitting at the computer with eyes that keep closing, but she can't take a nap because we have to be ready to leave the house in 15 minutes.

BSF

As many of you know, I have been frantically searching for some kind of childcare to use on Wednesday mornings so that I can join BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this year. I think I might have finally found something! Yipee!

I tried to find a fellow mommy who could trade babysitting with me, but we are a busy lot and everyone either already had Wednesday morning activities or just had such a busy schedule that they couldn't add another large commitment.

The answer might lie in drop-in child care. I found a center that will watch Lila for three hours every Wednesday morning for $115/month. After making a lot of phone calls yesterday, I discovered that $115/mo. is really a good price. I got a good impression from the lady that I spoke to on the phone, but no firm decision has been made yet. Lila and I will be going to the center this afternoon to meet everyone and get more information.

I'm beside myself with excitment because it is very important to me that I get back into BSF this year and I was beginning to worry that it wouldn't be possible. I was in for a year and a half before I got pregnant with Lila and was too ill and exhausted to finish. Now I'll be getting that good meaty weekly study that I love again and you can all once again listen to frequent reminders of how I think that BSF is the greatest thing in the world. Aren't you excited too? :o)~

Noodle

Well, Lila is still teething. Those teeth keep getting closer and closer to the surface (especially one of them), but they haven't broken through. Because I tend to be an impatient person, I've been checking her gums three or four times per day to see if anything exciting has happened. She's still having a rough time of it, but today was better than some days have been.

It's keeping her from sleeping very well, which is sad for everyone in the house. The poor girl keeps falling asleep in places other than her bed, which is unlike her. Last night, she fell asleep while nursing before her bath. This morning, she fell asleep in her high chair after breakfast. This evening, she fell asleep in her stroller when she and Doug went for a walk.

The high chair incident was quite pitiful and amusing. I took a few photos, but you'll have to wait to see them. Instead, you can be amused by this picture of Charlie wearing Lila's birthday hat. He is, as you can tell, very excited about it.

I don't want to talk about last night's game, so just don't bring it up.

Happy Grandparents' Day!

Excessive Cuteness

Today, my daughter has reached heretofore unheard of levels of cuteness. For starters, we got her a Longhorn cheerleader outfit for her birthday. Despite the fact that it's a little too big and has long sleeves, Doug declared last night that she had to wear it today. No arguments here! I'm all about supporting the Horns with cuteness! So, today she's a cheerleader - heehee!

Now, add to that her hairdo. I have put a little spike of hair into a "ponytail" on top of her head before and that was cute. Today, I upped the ante. I put her hair in "pigtails"! There is, apparently, something inherently adorable about pigtails. She looks slightly like Yoda or an Ewok... but it's 110% cute! The combination of the outfit and the hair is almost too cute to handle.

Even normal, everyday things that she does become painful due to the level of cuteness. The only person who does not share this opinion is Charlie. He seems to find the pigtails threatening. Doug thinks maybe they look like horns to him. Charlie: "Oh, dear God! She's got horns! I've been telling you all along that she was evil, but now she's got HORNS!" Anyway, he is steering well clear of her for now.

Back in the Game

Sorry for the long silence. I have only a limited amount of time to spend in front of the computer these days, thanks to The Short Person. Since the number of emails in my inbox was reaching absurd levels, I decided to spend a few days focusing on replying to some of them. My inbox is now under control and I can return to my other distractions - reading about child development and blogging.

Lila has been uber cranky this week. She seems to be teething in earnest and we are all paying the price for it. I could be wrong, of course, but from the appearance of her top gums... I think she's trying to produce four new teeth at once! She got her two bottom teeth in April and then stopped. I was beginning to think that she was going to go through life with just those two teeth - not a good sign for her future social life!

However, there are now four pronounced bumps on her top gums and she is spending a lot of time sucking/chewing on her finger. If this sudden change in temperament is not due to teething, then I can only assume that she has once again been possessed by Satan.

Second First Birthday Party

Look who's One!

Lila's yummy cakes

Lila eating her yummy cake

Cousin Olivia thinking, "Why does SHE get to eat cake and all I get is this baby snack?!?"

Time for presents!

Sweet Girl with Ribbons on her Tushie

Lila having a really good time with one of her new toys