Can we bruise it? YES WE CAN!

For those who were wondering (as I'm *sure* you were) whether or not it's possible to actually put a visible bruise on your bottom, I'm here to tell you that it is. I have one. It's nice and purple. It is also possible to have a knot in your tush. Ack!

For reasons that we have yet to figure out, our computer/email/internet connection has lost it's mind! We keep getting the same emails over and over again. Sometimes I'll just get one twice. Sometimes I get it 10 times! I'm not exaggerating! It's driving me mad and I don't even know who to call to try and fix it. It can't be the computer because both of them (we have two now) are doing it. Unless we have a virus. Can a virus do that?

I have a gmail account and a roadrunner account and both are doing it, so it's not the email provider. Could it be the cable internet service? If you have any wonderful insight for me, please let me know! That would be one email I'd be happy to see in my inbox 10 times!

I fell in the parking lot of PetSmart today while carrying Lila. It was very stupid, but thankfully Lila is uninjured. I was carrying her and an umbrella and my soda from lunch and it was raining, so the ground was wet. I was wearing my flip-flops with no traction on the bottoms and stepped onto a slick, painted curb. In a fraction of a second, my foot and slipped out from under me and I landed, tushie first, on the curb.

Ouch! I was able to hang onto Lila, but she got flopped backward over my arm. I really think it just scared her, but she started crying. I got us off the ground and out of the rain and could find no sign that she was injured or had even touched the ground. She calmed down pretty quickly too, so she is totally fine. My tushie, on the other hand, is bruised. I just feel dumb because I should have known better!

To those who were concerned about me because of yesterday's post - thank you. :)

Poor Dougie was working (from home) until after midnight last night! I'm not sure exactly what time he came to bed because I finally gave up and went to sleep at midnight. He'll be needing some naps this weekend!

There's really not much to report, but I haven't posted in a couple of days so I thought I should. Monday was a great, relaxing day off for Doug (and all of us). As the afternoon wore on, I started feeling my recent 'down' feeling creeping back in. I think it was just the knowledge that our long weekend of fun was about to be over and our normal week would be starting. Doug and I talked about it and prayed about it that evening.

I can't say I woke up feeling wonderful on Tuesday morning, but this week has definitely been better than the past few have been. One thing I realized is that I got out of the habit of showering and getting dressed/fixing my hair/etc. as soon as Lila goes down for her first nap. I had been doing that consistently (as a stay-at-home mom, it's easy to stay in your pajamas most of the day and never bathe) until the last time I got sick. At that point, I started sleeping during every spare moment because I was exhausted and didn't feel well.

My mistake was allowing myself to stay in the habit of going back to sleep when Lila did instead of getting ready for the day. It makes a huge difference in my mindset when I'm clean and dressed. It was SO hard not to go back to bed this morning, but I forced myself to do my morning routine instead and I'm glad I did. FlyLady would be so proud! :o)~

If you don't know what I'm talking about, see www.flylady.net.

Doug tried to blind himself today. Lila and I were both taking naps and I was awakened by an odd sound followed by Doug crying out and then running into the house, through the bedroom, and into the bathroom. He was opening a can of 6-year-old primer and it exploded into his face! We rinsed his eyes for a few minutes and then called Poison Control.

I just happened to have gotten some brochures and magnets on poisoning and Poison Control from the pediatrician last week, so I knew what to do. I never thought the first call to Poison Control would be for *Doug* though! Anyway, they said there is nothing in primer that can injure his eyes, but he needed to get in the shower and let the water rinse them out for 15 minutes. His eyes are all better now. :o)~

Lila is blowing me away with all the words she's starting to say! She doesn't say them as clearly as an adult, but we know what she's saying. The most absolutely pitiful thing she's said is, "Nigh' nigh' Lila!" This was said through her tears, while in the car near the end of our trip to Houston when she was very tired and wanted to nap in her own bed and not the carseat (thankyouverymuch) and it sounded more like, "Niiigh' niiiigh' Liii-luuuh..." It was so sad that I almost started crying! Oh, the drama.

Lila, flirting for the camera. This photo cracks me up! 

"Okay, I'm smiling. Now get this thing off my head!" 

Lila and Mommy having a good time. Such a cute girl! 

Here she is with Papa Joe. She actually learned to say "Papa" this weekend! 

Grammie, Lila, and Mommy - ready for dinner. Lila is such a movie star... 

"Look at me! I can clap!" :) 

Angela Peeler, reporting from Houston...

I have two personal movie reviews:

King Kong - We watched this on Wednesday night. I loved the first half of the movie! The suspense was great and the action on Skull Island was good. And then animals started dying and grotesque man-eating megabugs started attacking. There was way too much CG-animal death in this movie and I literally had to keep my hands over my face when the bug scenes were happening! The last ten minutes of the movie was excruciating because you know Kong is going to die and it's so sad. They drag it out forever though! One completely personal problem I had with the movie is that I simply cannot take Jack Black seriously. I did try, but he looks crazed even when he's not being goofy! And shall we talk about the plot holes...? So, great action and special effects, but overall not nearly as good as I anticipated.

But enough about that. On to my next review...

X-Men 3 - LOVED IT!!! We just got back from the theater and it was wonderful! I won't really say any more because most people will not have seen it yet, but it is so worth the price of admission. I might actually want to go and see it again before it leaves the theaters. Oh wait - that's not so easy with Lila around. Well anyway, we'll definitely be owning that one as soon as it's available. :)

There's really not much to report except that Lila is teething again and I don't like summer.

Poor girl is all cranky and now she's started saying "Mama" while she's crying, as if I don't already feel sorry for her! Earlier, she started crying in the car because she wanted my attention, so she's sitting in the back seat crying and saying "Mama" and sounding all pitiful and there was nothing I could do! Alas. I am giving her Tylenol, which will hopefully help *some*.

I have noticed before that I tend to get depressed around the beginning of summer and it's happening again. I don't know if it's because I hate the heat and the feeling of lethargy that comes with it or if it's a conditioned response from when I was in school and the summers meant endless days of trying to entertain myself. Either way, it's not fun. I've been feeling down for a few weeks now and I can't seem to shake it. :(

I did get an appointment for Lila's physical therapy evaluation. Her appointment is on June 14th. I wish it were sooner - oh well...

I have Lila's update from her 9 month check-up, but first a story...

I was feeding Lila her lunch earlier and I tried giving her a spoonful of squash. Instead of opening her mouth to eat it, she reached up and grabbed the spoon. Now, she is capable of feeding herself and near the end of every meal I'll give her spoonfuls of food and let her feed herself. Sometimes though, what she really wants is to get her hands on the spoon so that she can play with it - fling it around or scoop the food out of the spoon with her fingers and decorate the high chair with it.

I do, occasionally, let her do these things because I know it's a stage of development. But today I was not in the mood and I could tell that she did not have honorable intentions when she grabbed the spoon. So I pulled it out of her hand. Apparently I did not do it very carefully though and she was really hanging on. Well the spoon came out of her hand alright... and the squash came out of the spoon... and landed on the floor (halfway across the kitchen), on my pants, on her high chair tray (where she played with it and smeared some onto the kitchen table), and *in my hair*!!!

I knew that one day I would end up wearing my child's food, but I still wasn't prepared for it. I just took the Cat Approach to the situation though. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and then went on with the rest of the meal like I had no idea that there was squash in my hair. It was really the only way to maintain my sanity.

As for the doctor visit - there is good and not-so-good. She is a healthy girl and is still growing, though she's slowed down a lot. She's 18 lbs. 13 oz., which is what she weighed one month ago and puts her in the 50th percentile. And she's 27 inches - that's only the 30th percentile. She's short! The doctor wasn't worried though. She said that she grew a lot in the beginning and is now probably slowing down and that's fine. Given my height and Doug's, we don't expect her to be tall.

The doctor was shocked at her verbal abilities - she can already say half a dozen words (and a short sentence)! Go, baby, go! She may be short, but she's way ahead of the curve in social and verbal development! :) Now for the not-so-good: first of all, she's borderline anemic. That's not overly surprising, but it's a reminder that we need to be faithful in giving her vitamins every day. Not just when I happen to remember.

The doctor is concerned about the lack of gross motor development in her legs. She said Lila's muscle tone in the legs felt a bit decreased and she's not interested in standing up at all. It's not uncommon for a child not to be crawling at this point - some babies never crawl! However, Lila won't stand on her legs at all and most babies this age love to bounce (you support them so they don't fall, but they bear weight on their legs and bounce up and down).

I try regularly to get Lila to do this, or just to stand for a few seconds and she won't do it. I think I've gotten her to do it maybe three times ever. And even then, she didn't really stand up, she held weight on her legs, but had her upper body bent forward. Anyway, the doctor is referring her to a physical therapist for evaluation. They might just give us some exercises to do with her to help build the muscles.

Okay, now Doug is waiting on me to finish a movie we started last night. Better go...

Today is noteworthy in the Peeler household for two reasons:

1. Doug is 32 years old today.
2. Lila is 9 months old today.

Doug has had a pretty good birthday weekend, in my opinion. He got to be alone in the house for a few hours yesterday while Lila and I went shopping with some other girls. That is a rare thing these days, being in the house alone. In the evening, he got his birthday present from Lila - a valet. That is basically the Man Version of a jewelry box. It is where he can put his watches and keys and wedding rings, etc.

This morning we went to church, then had lunch with a few folks afterward at Chuy's. We tried to embarass him by telling the waitress that it was his birthday, but they didn't even sing to him! At least he got a free cup of ice cream out of the deal... After that it was time for the real birthday surprise - he and six friends got to spend a couple of hours playing networked computer games at Cyber Jocks!

We didn't do anything special for Lila today, besides wear her out. We all left the house this morning at 10:45 to go to church and she and I didn't get home until almost 5:30 this evening! She handled it *so* well though - she's SUCH an easygoing girl! Anyway, there's not a whole lot to report on her development this month. She still isn't crawling or pulling up on things, though she's close to doing both.

She is talking more though. Now she can say (when she's in the mood): Lila; Hi, Lila; Dada; Uh duh (all done); Muh (more); and, finally, Mama. What's both cute and sad about her saying Mama is that she only says it when she's crying! I think it makes Doug a little sad when she's upset and she wants me instead of him. :( Trust me, she still loves her Daddy! :)

Tomorrow she has her 9 month check-up with the pediatrician. I'll tell you more after that.

I realize that I just posted new photos of Lila a couple of days ago, but let's face it -- I'm addicted to my child!

Close-ups of Lila. Every part of her is just so perfect! :) 

Her toes are what inspired me to take these close-up photos. It was so hard though because we were chasing each other around in circles - me trying to photograph her feet and her trying to get the camera from me! 

What a sweet girl... I love her little knuckle dimples! 

I'm so glad that it's Friday...

Lila clapped her hands for the first time earlier. No prompting and no special occasion. She had just finished eating and was sitting in my lap and just... clapped her hands! Must have been good milk! We've gotten her to do it a few more times. Like when her Daddy was picking her up and dropping her on the bed. She had a huge grin on her face and kept clapping. It's just funny because it's not like we've tried to teach her that. I guess she's just seen us do it when she does something and we're excited. Smart girl!

She also had a spectacular poopsplosion earlier. I'll spare you the details of that adventure.

My legs and tushie are very sore thanks to yesterday's workout. I'm surprised my arms aren't though. By the time we left, they were so tired that I could barely carry Lila out to the car. I felt like I was about to drop her the whole time and she must have weighed about 40 lbs! Anyway...

It looks like we might get to go on a date this weekend! :)