It's a bird.. It's a plane.. It's... the ceiling?!? 

Lila and Mommy all dolled up. I didn't do this to her hair until we got home from dinner, but I'll totally do it again - maybe for church this week. 

This is what her hair looked like after we took the clip out. I like how she looks like she's been caught doing something in this shot! 

Look, it's a rare shot of Lila's teeth! She just has two, but they're really cute! :) 

Nacho Libre = The Stupidest Movie I Have Ever Seen

(That title was previously held by the movie 'Dumb and Dumber'. At least that one had half a plot!)

Lucky Me

In case I haven't mentioned it recently, I have the most awesome baby *ever*! For evidence, see the previous 10 months' worth of entries. I even feel this way on the days when I have to fish cat food out of her mouth THREE TIMES and by 7 p.m. she's lost her mind and we have to go for a walk so that Doug and I don't end up crazy too.

I just finished nursing her and we sat on the couch together for a while. Lila sat on the pillow in my lap and we played our little games. We squealed at each other, we flirted, I attacked her with wiggly fingers over her face. At one point, she cracked me up by licking my palm. Why did she do this? Who knows! That's why it was so funny.

I got hug after wonderful hug and even one precious (and slimey) kiss. I finally got up and took her to the changing table. Having her diaper changed these days is about as popular with Lila as, ohh... having her fingers bitten off. But this time I was able to keep her happy and laughing. I did things that I'm sure looked completely absurd, but they made my little girl giggle. And then -- suddenly -- I turned into the Mommy Monster! Oh no, I'm going to eat that little belly! And this earns me the most breathtaking squeals and belly laughs of all time.

Yep. I'm feeling like the most lucky mommy in the world right now... :)

Lila the Lifter

We almost shoplifted this afternoon. I was looking at some tins of chocolate at Steinmart and Lila wanted to hold one, so I let her. We were there with a friend of mine and her daughter and we wandered around for a bit longer before we left. After we walked out the front door, I looked down at Lila and saw that she still had the chocolates in her hand! Eek! I'm surprised an alarm didn't go off or something.

I just popped back inside, replaced the almost-stolen goods, and then left. How embarrassing would it have been if someone else had noticed, but I hadn't! Oh well, it was funny anyway. And I learned an important lesson: Check Lila's hands before leaving a store. I think that will be even more important once she's walking and can grab the goods for herself!

I have caught both of the cats being extremely odd with our fake cat in the past couple of days -- Wait, let me back up...

My mom recently bought us one of those fake cats that's in a curled up position and covered with rabbit fur. It's just realistic enough to make you look twice and then disturb you. Anyway, Charlie was rather aggressive with it in the beginning and then he and Cordy both started completely ignoring it. It has been on our guest bed for several weeks.

Well yesterday I turned around and caught Charlie grooming it! I know that he knows it's not a real cat. I mean, he *has* to! And if he thought it was some sort of dead animal... wouldn't he be more upset by it? And I don't think he'd be licking it so affectionately! Strange cat.

Cordy was a little less weird - she was just curled up asleep with it. I've actually found both of them doing that in the past, but not recently. I guess it's more accessible now because I moved the pillow that was next to it.

Anyway, very strange... :o)~

So many funny things to write... I'll start with what just happened. Lila and I sometimes play this game where we take turns making these horrible high-pitched squeaking noises. I may have told a story about that before. Well, we were just doing it and Cordy finally got up, made some sort of complaining noise, and left the room. I guess she just couldn't take it anymore. :o)~

I have been planning (for at least a month) on taking some photos of Lila in her Father's Day dress and I finally did it! You can see them below. In the past, when I've dressed her up for an official photo shoot, I've been able to get some great shots. That was before she became mobile. Now I have three options: Lila crawling directly at me to get the camera, Lila crawling away from me, and Lila stopping and looking at the camera just long enough for me to catch her making some sort of strange face. Oh well, it will be easier when she's walking because (even though I'll still have to chase her around) at least you'll be able to see her cute outfit better.

She and Doug and I went for a walk last night and she was *so* tired. She just flopped out in the stroller, looking either dead or drugged, for most of the walk. I don't think it helped that it was pretty warm out and she gets lethargic in the heat like any normal person. Anyway, we had her sunglasses on her because it was that point in the late afternoon when the sun seems determined to blind you. She wore them for nearly the entire trip with no complaint. The funny part came when she saw something that was interesting to her and she wanted to get a better look (we never figured out what it was that she was looking at). She pulled the shades down a bit and looked over the top of them. That was cute enough, but her true coolness shined through when she got through looking at whatever-it-was and pushed the shades back up onto her nose. She looked like she knew exactly what she was doing.

That reminded me of

this photo.

Here's Lila eating Fruit Puffs for the first time. She's so happy to get to eat anything that she can feed herself! :) 

Here's the little helper playing video games with her Daddy. I brought her into the room after a nap and she got so excited when she saw him with the controller in his hands! 

Here's the best photo of Miss Lila that I could get. It's very difficult to take pictures of a baby who can crawl! 

Well, you can see the dress well and she's looking in the general direction of the camera. She's not really smiling, but she's still cute! 

Here's Lila... umm... worshiping Cordy, I think. Hmm... 

Lila just did something she's never done before (as well as I recall, anyway). I put her down for a nap at 11:15 a.m., prior to which time she had been fussing for about an hour. So I think she was very ready. She slept for her standard 45 minutes and then woke up and started crying. I was a bit frustrated by this since I wanted to make my grocery list, but whose fault is it that I had not already done that...? Mine.

Anyway, I let her fuss for a couple of minutes to see if she would (a) go back to sleep, or (b) improve her mood before I got her out of bed. Either was a likely possiblity. However, she just continued to cry and sound more and more sad. I went in and got her out of bed, but she continued to cry - tears running down the face and everything. This is not looking good.

I tried holding her while I finished printing something on the computer, but that led to further crying. Okay, so maybe she'd rather play with toys. Nope, not the answer. Well, she'll just have to deal with it for a couple more minutes while I finish what I'm doing. She cried the whole time! By the time I picked her up and left the room with her, she was doing that whole sniffling/hiccuping thing.

Even picking her up and walking around with her - the magic baby calming technique - did nothing for her though! So I thought maybe she was hungry, even though it's too early for lunch. I pulled out her high chair to give her a snack and just the sight of the chair being moved into position inspired new wails of displeasure. Okay. Wrong again.

I couldn't figure out what to do (i'd already given her tylenol *before* her nap because i thought she might be teething)! She didn't appear to be sick or injured and as far as I know she didn't receive any bad news via the telephone. Okay, I'm desperate now, so I pop the pacifier in her mouth and sit down to rock her and see if that would at least calm her down.

I was fully expecting this to piss her off beyond reason because that's usually what happens when you try to rock her anytime other than before a nap or bedtime. However, she only wimpered for a while as she lay on me with her head on my shoulder. Could she still be tired and just wanted to go back to sleep. Maybe she woke up from her nap and sat up, but really she wanted to go back to sleep.

I don't think she's figured out how to lay back down after she sits up on her own yet. Oky-doky. I rocked her for several minutes to make sure she wasn't going to change her mind and then put her in bed. She gave one cry of protest when I left the room and then all was silent. She's been in there for about 10 minutes now and I just hear one little whine every once in a while.

My guess is that she's actually making that noise in her sleep. Poor child. I don't know what that was all about, but I hope she doesn't do it again! For my sake as well as hers. The times that I am most likely to get frustrated with her are when she is crying and I either can't figure out why or I know why, but can't reason with her to tell her why she can't have what she wants right at that moment.

What I hear her "saying" in those times is, "You are a bad Mommy! If you really loved me you'd know what is wrong and you would FIX IT!" I know, rationally, that is not what she's saying or thinking, but it's my insecurity about being a mom pushing through. I'm learning though... When I feel myself getting frustrated, I'm trying to stop and figure out what it is that I'm really upset about so that I can deal with it.

Blah blah blah.

Lila is ten months old today! We stopped by the doctor's office to get her weight and height. She weighs 19 lbs. 10 oz. and is 27.5 inches tall/long. She's growing again - yeah! :)

Sorry, I don't have anything else to say at the moment. This has not been the best week of my life, but neither has it been the worst. Maybe tomorrow I'll think of a funny story to tell.

Oh, we did get a new piece of furniture for the living room. Now there are no more dangerous aluminum shelves for Lila to bonk her head on. And a mass of CDs and DVDs are not the first thing you see when you walk into our living room! Yipee! :)

Now if we could just find a way to keep her out from under the desk in the study. I mean, I pull her out every time she goes for it and tell her "No no!", but that's only a temporary solution. Another temporary solution I've come up with - there are now blankets covering the DVD player, VCR, etc. - hee hee.

Lila helping her Daddy with some home improvement. "Here, Daddy, give me the hammer. I'll show you how to do it." 

Here's she is practicing standing up at the coffee table. It's a wonder that those chubbly legs and little bitty feet can hold up anything! :) 

Lila did this for the first time today. She's getting much more confident in her little legs! 

I decided to post today when I'm not so tired that what I'm saying barely makes sense. Lucky you! :o)~ Yesterday was a *looong* day!

Lila and I were supposed to have lunch plans, but they had to be rescheduled. With that time freed up and Lila waking up from a nap at just the right time, we were able to go to some friends' play group for the first time! We've been invited since before Lila was even born! It was at someone's apartment swimming pool. Now, the last time we had Lila in a swimming pool, the chlorine made her excema flare up terribly. But she really hasn't been having any breakouts lately so I thought we'd try again. She hated it at first because the water was cold, but once she got used to it we had lots of fun! And her skin seems to have suffered no ill effects - woohoo!

I generally don't spend a lot of time in the sun because I just don't like it, so I'd forgotten how draining it can be! Lila fell asleep on the way home and napped for two and a half hours! I should have taken a nap, but didn't. I also should have put sunscreen on my shoulders and back, but didn't. Naughty Angela! And OUCH!

Oops, I guess I'll have to fill you in on the rest of the day later. Lila just woke up from a nap...