Super fabulous pictures

I aspire to be like Sarah (http://scwphotography.blogspot.com/) ....

breakthrough!

I believe we have reached the realm of toddlerhood. The kind where meltdowns over not getting what you want are epic. The oh so glorious time of life where the boundaries are needing to be made and the baby is needing to test them....frequently.  I have been putting off buying/reading some sort of discipline book. I am still convinced I have the perfect child. The thing is, she only sees the same four people every day. She is only around Carson when it comes to other kids and a six month old, unfortunately, bears the brunt of the toddler.

I am sure that Lila is going through a growth spurt this week. She has been sleeping like a maniac (she took two, two hour naps yesterday AND slept through the night). She is eating like we starve her and her temperament is less than friendly. So, some of what's going on is because of that, but some of it is the one year old coming alive in her.

All of this being said, since I have been home this week and Katie has been working I have gotten to see how Lila treats Carson. I have mentioned before that we were working on Lila not taking things away from Carson. Well, today we had a breakthrough (and I totally forgot to tell Katie!). There is crap all over my house from emptying my learning cottage. So Sara, Carson, Lila, and I  are sitting on the floor in the kitchen this morning just hanging out and Carson grabs hold of the nearest item that is clogging up my kitchen. Lila goes over and takes it from her. She looks at me, and then she looks at Sara. Ever so slowly she hands it back to Carson. Of course, Sara and I lose our minds praising her so she does this two or three more times over the course of the day. I am so proud of her!!!

I am still going to go buy a book about how to handle a toddler (if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them). But, I have to say I am proud of Sara and I too for working towards this one teeny, tiny victory.

We are going to a cabin with my cousin and his family this weekend. They have two boys (3 and 9 months I think). I am interested to see how Lila interacts with them.  Hopefully she will follow Logan's lead and realize she can walk if she just gives it a shot :-)

ch-ch-ch-changes

I have been looking forward to this week for months.  School is out. My career as a teacher temporarily ends and my career as a SAHM begins.  I anticipated being overwhelmed by the fact that my learning cottage basically threw up in my house. I also anticipated feeling overwhelmed by things that need to be done...needless to say some things have been piling up. I even anticipated that I would want to smother my child all day with hugs and kisses.

What I did not anticipate is how this change might seem to Lila. It could be that more teeth are coming in. It could be a one year old growth spurt. It most likely is that she is truly living up to her age. Whatever it is, my sweet and happy little girl was a major grumpy pants ALL day. She would fake cry at the drop of a hat and sometimes even cry for real. I think it was really strange to her that Sara was here, Carson was here, and I was here all day. She was needy and cranky and not very happy with me at times.

I know what you're thinking. All children behave this way. The thing is, I somehow got lucky enough to have a child that rarely acts this way. So when she does I of course dissect what the issue could be. It's really a futile process because she is one. Seriously. She can't tell me why she insists on having a meltdown. She isn't sick. From there its a ridiculous guessing game.

What's worse is, I laugh. I can't help it. Baby meltdowns, for whatever reason, are hysterical to me. Sara and I recently saw the documentary Babies and there is a baby meltdown scene that was quite possibly one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Sara and I were the only people in the theater other than a couple a few rows ahead of us. I felt like a jerk because I almost couldn't control myself I was laughing so hard. I then had visions of this meltdown when Lila had some of her tantrums today and it all came rushing back. I feel like a huge jerk laughing at my cranky kid, but I guess it's better than joining her in her meltdown.

Silly post

It seems that Lila's "organization" of life has led her to be a little bit sneaky maybe. I came home yesterday and Sara proceeded to tell me that she spent much of the day looking for a missing sock that belongs to Carson. Carson has a habit, as most babies do, of pulling off socks.  By the time Katie got here to pick her up, the sock was still nowhere to be found.  Katie comes around 1pm every day and I get home anywhere from 3:30 - 4:30. Apparently, in the interim Sara located Carson's sock stashed in Lila's new tractor while cleaning up. Yep, I said tractor. Meg got it for her for her birthday and it comes complete with farm animals that fit like puzzle pieces in the back. Lila loves it. Was she purposely hiding the sock or just putting it where she thinks it should go?

Seth and Sara give me a hard time for my "organization" of life. BUT, Sara fessed up one day and admitted that it pisses her off that I move things, but she also almost always ends up thinking where I moved the things to was a better spot for them.

Lila has been a little testy with Carson lately so on the one hand I am inclined to think she meant to hide it. But, that would kind of be giving a one year old a lot of credit right? I mean, I am the child development major and all, but I can't be sure she's quite that capable yet. So, I am going with she just felt like the tractor was the best home for the sock. I mean, wouldn't you think so too? ;-)

Seriously random

When the doctor says, "surely we won't see three zebras in one week" you can be sure that your diagnosis will be less than specific.  Saturday evening my feet began to swell like crazy. That isn't entirely odd for me. However, by the time I went to bed my hands and feet were blowing up and hurting tremendously. On Sunday the swelling continued along with some seriously splotchy skin. I assumed I was having an allergic reaction and went on about my day just hoping it would go away. Well, I woke up repeatedly last night with severe tingling and pain in my hands and arms. When I officially woke up and got out of bed my knees felt like they were going to buckle. I got in the shower to find a lump on the back of my head that hurt to touch. Needless to say at this point I am convinced I am dying. I call the doctor, list my crazy symptoms, make an appointment, and seek out some sort of solace in webmd.  I get to work and just try not to lose my mind before my appointment at 3:15. Two of my students come in looking like they are really sun burned on their faces and I think nothing of it. They later tell me they have fifth's disease and they so sweetly explain what this is. I am a teacher and I have NEVER heard of this mess. So I google it. Apparently adults "catch" fifth's disease and the symptoms are very different from this childhood illness. I went to the doctor for him to tell me that he has seen two other young teachers in the past two weeks with the same symptoms. He says this is the type of question doctors answer on their boards but pretty much never see in real life and now they think they have seen it three times. So he tells me to take an obnoxious amount of ibuprofen until the swelling and pain subside. I also had blood drawn to rule out arthritis possibilities. So here I sit, laborously typing with my fat sore fingers. I just made a really long story even longer. I just can't help but find the whole thing to be super weird and I now have a new understanding of those who do have arthritis.

On a more positive note, the festivities of turning one have come to a close. The party was a huge success with the help of my wonderful friends and family. My little baby who picks up pieces of sand with her perfect pincer grasp also found it necessary to only pick off the pink icing on the massive cupcake cake. Dainty? Maybe. Not necessarily into getting dirty? More than likely. Either way, she did still get some on her as you can see.

I am so excited because I went to my fourth photography class tonight and the teacher loved my picture that is now in the header. He seems to be hard to please so I am pretty pumped. Up until tonight I have been pretty self-conscious about my picture taking abilities. Now I feel like I at least have a little more confidence. The photography field trip to the Oakland Cemetery on Sunday was supposed to help us reach some composition goals. I didn't think I had done it, but I did!  Keep in mind I left said field trip early to go watch my tennis team win city. It was such an exciting set of matches and I am so proud of them! Anyway, below are pictures to show of my randomly fabulous weekend.

Birthday!

Photography class pictures:

1) This would be my square foot vegetable garden! Here I am working on depth of field...

2) Next we have the cemetary....this composition rule shows something called leading lines...

3) More cemetery (framing)

4) And lastly, using the rule of thirds, my most important subject :-)

$24 pig

Holy crap...my child turned one and I haven't written a post about it! I haven't changed the header yet, but that was intentional. The big party is tomorrow and I plan to go camera CRAZY. That is if I can overrun my OCD and chill out long enough to enjoy the party. I have done well so far though if I can just pat myself on the back for a sec. If I'm being honest, I have had some serious help with this one. My sister single handedly cleaned my house. Patty came over and created the cupcake cake (not a bunch of cupcakes, but a giant one). Levi made the yard look spectacular. My mom, Seth's mom, Kim, and Meg are all bringing some sort of food. All that's left to do is spend the day with the birthday girl who has no clue what any of this is for :-)

I have done a lot of writing about Lila over the past 21 months. I realize it is somewhat self-indulgent and I am 100% ok with this fact.  But when your child is a year old and you are pretty sure you just brought her home from the hospital, there is no other way to be but indulgent.  Therefore, I have decided that I now want to post about what actually makes her a one year old...the good, the bad, and the fantastic:

- She no longer believes that Carson is allowed to have toys. In fact, according to Sara she hauled off and hit Carson to be sure Carson knew this. We are working on it.
- She avoids the vegetables that she once loved. Lima beans, peas, and carrots are loves of the past. Apparently she is too cool for them now.
- She turns your face rather abruptly to either look at her or get you ready for her to play with your ear.
- She cuddles. I mean, she really cuddles. It doesn't happen as often as I would like, but it is the sweetest feeling when it does. And she will look at you to make sure you know she is doing it.
- She dances. Sara gets all the credit for this one. So if you see her dance you can then pretty much tell how Sara dances :-)
- She gets very mad when she doesn't get what she wants. Usually you can distract her, but she is a persistent little thing. Cell phones and laptops are her obsession of choice.
- She has a "lovey". This new favorite could become the one that gets carried to the mall, grandmother's houses, and everywhere in between. When I was out of town last weekend Seth went to the store Anthropologie to get my mother's day gift (bravo Sethy poo). Apparently it was love at first sight between Lila and a certain $24, stuffed, corduroy, pink pig. Yep, I said all of those things at once about one item. This would be the first toy that she has hugged. She clutches it while we read before bed. She gets a gigantic smile on her face when she sees it. I tried to find a picture of it online and it does not exist. Should I go back and buy a couple more just in case this thing lives every moment with her for the next who knows how long? Well, I honestly would if it wasn't $24!!! Seth managed to find the most expensive lovey possible.
- Little does she know she already has him wrapped around her finger. Bravo Lila.

Here's to the good, the bad, and the fantastic that comes with year two. I can't wait!

Ears

Everyone has their hang ups.  Some people are fortunate enough in life to make it to adulthood without being teased about something as a kid. They don't have a feature that stands out enough for others to find it worthy of torment. Such people sail through life not having that feeling of wanting something about themselves to go away so badly that they wish for it every night before they go to bed.  I am not one of those people.

I spent a decent portion of my childhood wishing away my ears. I even had a very serious conversation with my dad about having surgery to have them pinned back. Of course he repeatedly told me that my ears were one of my very best features. But I was persistent. He told me that if I would wait a few years until high school and I still felt the same way that we would look into it. Once I reached high school they still bothered me, but the teasing was non-existent and I didn't care enough anymore to pursue it.  Smart man that dad of mine.

When I found out I was pregnant I again found myself wishing that this physical feature somehow wouldn't make an appearance. Kids are mean and I was just hoping that this one thing wouldn't be an issue. The day Lila was born I couldn't help but smile about it because I thought her ears were perfect. They didn't seem to stick out at all. As she has grown this past year I have started to realize that while her ears don't stick out as much as mine, they do to some degree. I mentioned it to Sara one day and she smiled a little smirk that let me know that she had kind of seen it all along.

What's so interesting is that Lila is obsessed with ears. She primarily prefers her own. She is a thumb sucker but while most little girls suck their thumb and twirl their hair, Lila sucks her thumb and plays her with her ear (maybe due to the lack of hair?). Sometimes, if I am holding or rocking her when this happens she will play with my ear.

I went out of town this weekend for a wedding and I missed her terribly. When I got home today it was nap time and while I was holding her she started sucking her thumb and playing with my ear for quite a while. This was suddenly the most precious mother's day gift I could have gotten. Something that used to traumatize me as a child has come full circle to become so immeasurably wonderful it made me cry. Maybe I cried because I had missed her so much. Maybe I cried because I can tell her this little story if the day comes that she is teased and it will ease the frustration a little. Or maybe I just needed this perfect little someone to come along and take that silly feeling of inadequacy away.

Happy Mother's Day ;-)

I am so damn smart

"With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information & wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy , we are enormously cultured, educated & happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, Good Grief...look how smart I am..."


I have no clue who wrote this, but I stole it from a friend's facebook status and it is now my own personal motto. I feel like eight million times a day I am comparing myself, feeling bad about myself, and all out chastising myself about my weight and/or how I look that day. I do not want this to be the example for my daughter. A lot of women say they feel badly about how they look after giving birth. I can honestly say, while it didn't help, I felt this way before. Therefore, that can't really be the excuse. 


So, I am going to embrace this hysterically perfect nugget of wisdom because at the end of the day my husband thinks I'm hot, and he's the only one that matters anyway. :-)

See the progression

I am going to try VERY hard to make this short and sweet because the bulk of this post is going to be pictures.  There are two things I want you to notice in said pictures. One, the absolutely adorable squishy tushy in the finally ready cloth diaper.  It took me all weekend to prep the diapers, but they are done and I am SO excited. It will be a bit of a process until we are fully operating without disposables (most of the time), but after all of this talking about it I am glad we are getting the ball rolling.

The next thing that is probably hard to miss is where that squishy tushy has found itself.  We have never been big proponents of Lila watching TV. I broke down and bought two Baby Einstein videos when Lila turned 6 months and she really could have cared less about them. Once Carson started coming over Sara would turn on Baby Da Vinci while she fed Carson to try to keep Lila occupied. And so began Lila's love affair with Baby Einstein. She only watches it once a day at most, but she seriously LOVES it. She claps and laughs at the puppets and just has the best time. AND, she has begun to dance. But that will be another post because my short and sweetness is getting long winded. I bought an animal Baby Einstein and today was the first time she had seen it. See for yourself...

**DISCLAIMER - I apologize for the yellowness of a lot of these pictures. I am learning.

I am fully aware that our mega TV should never have a baby that close to it. We are working on this. It was just too cute not to take pictures of.

Lastly, as with most babies/kids there are things in our house that Lila "loves" and tends to focus on. One of those things is an adirondack style chair that is in our den. She plays around it and constantly rubs her fingers on the weaving of the wood in the part you sit on. So today I thought I would give her a chance to actually sit in it. I think she enjoyed herself...

This chair is WAY cool and I am so cool in it...

...oh but that camera looks pretty fantastic too!

Don't go :-(

Hmmmm...

....and now chair time is over.