Owies and Baby Legs

Dear Luthien,

Well, it was a fun (and full) weekend.  I came home Friday to discover you had developed quite a gash on your nose.  It was your second big fall, this time into the edge of the cabinet- one of your favorite places to play.  I told dad to get a close-up shot so you can see, but I think he wanted to destroy as much evidence as possible (he was very sad when it happened).  In addition to the cut your eye has been black and blue too :( You can get an idea of the owie from this picture:

 

Now, you are probably distracted by what you are wearing (or not wearing) in the picture! We found some UV "Baby Legs" that keep off the sun/heat and look very stylish with your new diapers.  Yes, this weekend we finally started using cloth diapers.  I've been wanting to for a while, and we finally went to a class this weekend that helped us make the transition!  Pictures of the full ensemble are coming- at first you could not get over the color and all the snaps, you just kept looking and laughing... Below is one more picture with baby legs, pre-diaper since I just can't get enough:

 

After our diaper class on Saturday we went to your second cousin Liam's 1st birthday party. First you wanted to give your cousins lots of kisses.  This is a new favorite of yours, since you have learned what kisses are.  Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at the best part, but here you can see you are about to lay one on Jack:

We then went swimming, and it was the first time we put you completely under the water.  You love the water so much that you did not mind one bit!  You came up with a sort of confused look on your face the very first time, but no crying.  We are pretty sure you'll be a swimmer like dad.  

After a long day we did our usual night time routine, including my favorite part, reading together.  I have read to you every night since you were about 1 month old, so I never really get to see your face from the front.  Dad took a picture of us, and I have to say it is so sweet to see how attentive and interested in the book you are.  I think we were reading "Global Babies"- one of your favorites, and mine too right now.  I am happy to report that this was your best night ever for sleeping (and good naps the next day!). Down by 8, woke up once at 5:30 to nurse, then back to sleep until 8 (well, almost).   We are hoping for the same success tonight, however, we may have to go swimming more often to tire you out! 

Good night Luthien.  I could write all night but I'm already getting to bed too late, as usual!

Love, Mom

P.S. You can now point to your toes and you were able to sign "all done" today at lunch.  Okay, I promise I'm stopping now....

Mothers Day, Milestones and More

Dear Lufin-

Let me start out by explaining why we call you this- we always said we would never have a "nickname" or feel the need to shorten your name in any way (believe me, we got asked this a lot when I was pregnant with you and continue to now).  You see, your good friend Beckam (one of mom's best friend's son) calls you this and it sounds outrageously cute when he does, so we kind of adopted it, against our will.  We'll see how long it lasts...

Also, once again I am so sorry it has been a month since I've written you!  So many things have happened and I'm sure I'll leave something out, but I'll do my best to outline for you now.

You had your 9 month pediatrician appointment fairly close to when you turned 10 months.  Mom was so excited to take you to the scale because she was sure you had gained a few pounds since the last visit.  After all, since you had learned to pick more things up with your fingers you had been eating better.  I was holding back the tears when the scale read a whopping 15 lbs and 11 oz!  This means you had gained less than 1 pound in the past month or so and were dropping lower and lower on the charts!  Luckily we met with a new pediatrician (same office) who was very encouraging about the whole thing, and far from worried.  After discussing a variety of things we concluded together that you are simply very independent and it's okay that you do not stand for sitting in one place being spoon-fed.  I know that your strong opinions and independent spirit can and will blossom into amazing qualities as you get older.  These are characteristics that I admire in your dad, we just have our work cut out for us now!  Since the appointment you continue to eat more and more things since we are not worried about giving you primarily finger foods now.  Thank you Luthien!

We signed you and dad up for a play/learn/exercise class with other babies and of course other moms.  I was very surprised to find out that you have had a hard time adjusting.  You are slowly getting less outgoing with other people, and even babies!  It may just be the larger group setting that freaked you out, but we have noticed that even your cousin Amelie is more interested in you now than you in her- must be another sign of your increasing independence :) I'm glad we signed you up when we did, the socialization is great for both you and dad, and I think they do a lot of great activities.

Concerning your development, as of this week you have started waving!  We need to catch it on video- you have the funniest floppy-wrist wave I've ever seen!  Your receptive knowledge continues to amaze me.  When we ask you "Where's the..." you either look or point in the right direction (still working on consistently pointing).  You sometimes will shout "ma!" or do a modified version of the sign for "more."  We are currently working on body parts- your favorite is "belly button."  You still don't show us your own body parts, but rather look or point at others'.  I won't list all the words you understand because there are getting to be so many- some of the newer ones are "frog," "bird," "fish," "uh-oh," "no," "kiss," "walk," "ball," "bath," and various body part names.  In terms of your language expression, all of the sudden everything has turned into "dog" which originally was your first and only word (very common for your age).  You do make some pretty close approximations to "book" and "ball" and I can hear a difference in the vowel sound when you are naming a dog vs. a cat.

You are definitely pulling yourself up on all the furniture but have not started actually cruising, but you love when we help support you and have you walk around the room or kick a ball.  When you hear music now you sometimes start to dance (something dad and I have been so excited for- baby dancing is our favorite), especially if we start dancing too.  One thing that you love to do is crawl around and then take "resting breaks" where you all of the sudden lay completely flat on your tummy as though you are going to sleep- so cute!  You love doing this on soft surfaces, so unfortunately your favorite place to do it is on the dog beds (needless to say these are now vacuumed every day)!

Mother's Day started out great because you and daddy made me breakfast in bed and let me sleep in a bit.  Shortly after dad got really sick, but you and I tried to enjoy our time together regardless.  I will have to write a separate letter to you as a belated Mothers' Day post.  I now have so many strong feelings about motherhood that I can't wait to share with you.  For now, I will leave you with some pictures:

Your new favorite thing to do is watch us while we are in the shower.  You just love anything to do with water so you don't care if it splashes all over your face, you just squeal with delight the whole time (or cry out in frustration if the water isn't touching you every second).

Of course this is the prime age for getting into everything.  The pantry is definitely a favorite of yours, and the dog treats in particular.  This pretty much sums up a typical morning while mom/dad are fixing your breakfast:

This was from a couple months ago but I thought it was important to document your first big spill.  Luckily Roofus was there to help clean up:

Here are a couple of pictures from the train park in Scottsdale.  You loved riding around on the train and relaxing with Mom.  Also note that you just learned how to hold your cup by yourself! If we let you, you would still have us hold it, but you are definitely capable of holding it yourself.

Lastly, here are a few pictures of a little fun we had fairly recently.  If there is one thing mom learned while working with kids during graduate school, it is how to turn regular tasks/every day events into language-learning opportunities.  Often times this involves making a mess (much to your dad's dismay), but that's all part of the process- there is so much to talk about when making a mess and cleaning it up!   I especially love having you around in the kitchen, where almost everything can lead to an opportunity for learning.  Here is what happened when we learned all about the magic of flour:

Good night sweet girl, and please try to sleep well tonight!

Love, 

Mom

Easter, etc.

Luthien- Well, here are some recent pictures of you, as promised....

I was dying to take you swimming since it started warming up (actually by now it has more than warmed up- record heat, which we're not fond of/ready for).  It's a long story, but by the time we finally got to the pool the day of your first swim, it was a little chilly.  You didn't mind one bit- you are not affected by water temperature we have come to find out (hot water heater just got fixed after almost a week of being broken and you still took your bath like a good girl every night).  This picture is pre-pool, we forgot to bring our camera to document you actually in the water :(  Just know that you loved splashing around with mom and dad.  

I'm sorry but I just have to add, isn't your halter bathing suit totally adorable?!
 

The Friday before Easter we had a party at your great Uncle Tyler's house.  Here is just one picture of you during the egg hunt.  You loved crawling around and picking up all the eggs.

The next day we went to Tucson to celebrate your Grandpa Edward's birthday, Easter, and attend your great grandmother Alberta's funeral.  It was a very tiring weekend for all of us for a variety of reasons.  You definitely enjoyed the Easter egg hunt with Grandma Linda, Uncle Ben/Aunt Kristin and cousins just as equally as the previous celebration, as you can see below:

Sitting nicely with your cousin Chloe:

This is the toothy grin you've been showing off lately.  Believe it or not this version is not as exaggerated as we often get.  Notice the arch in your eyebrows- looks exactly like daddy. When you make this face you simultaneously breath very loudly out your nostrils.  Where do you come up with these things?!

One highlight of the trip was going to the top of Mount Lemon (just the three of us), where you were able to see snow for the second time.  You loved it- again, you aren't very sensitive when touching cold things, so you loved picking up chunks of ice and snow and playing with them.

Last but not least, a stop to the Bedford home (your Aunt Carlie's family)...After peeing all over yourself and Holly at church, mom stripping you naked, etc., you were happy to spend some quality time in the sunshine with Garret:

A quick developmental update before I finish this entry: You have, for the most part, developed your pincer grasp (gripping items between your thumb and forefinger) as of this week!  Mom was pretty anxious for this since you will mainly eat finger foods only at this point.  Of course, you will only use it to pick up your organic puffs at this point- fruits and vegetables still frustrate you because they tend to be more slippery and harder to grasp, so you give up pretty easily.  

Congrats on your fine-motor progress baby girl!

Love you,

Mom

Hi Luthien-

Well, it has again been a long couple of weeks, but this is about you, not me. I am writing while on my lunch break at work so again there will be no pictures. I promise to post some after our Easter adventures this weekend!

Lets re-cap: at 8 1/2 months you finally started crawling- we always said it wasn't a completely normal crawl- kind of like you had a bum leg. Well, that has officially disappeared and now I can call you a full-fledged crawler. When you see something you want (usually a cat or dog) you are very speedy, too!

Mom is starting to accept the fact that you are not really into any foods that have to be eaten from a spoon. This means all my long hours spent making deliciously fresh (mostly organic) purees are coming to an end. I'm not quite ready to let it go yet since there is an exception to this rule- you LOVE my potato leek soup. You also seem to prefer anything that is very fresh- if it was made the day before and re-heated, forget it. I'm still determined to find more purees that you like because then we could get more volume into that skinny body of yours! Although you have more teeth than most your age, you still tend to cough/choke a little with some of the finger foods, so we can only do very small amounts at a time. For some reason whenever you have to eat off of a spoon you purse your lips and take the tiniest bites I've ever seen, except with the potato leek soup! I'm starting to wonder if/why you have an aversion to the spoon- my initial thoughts are to trace it back to the NICU or the oral vaccines....of course this is just my inquisitive, research-based mind at work. We haven't been back for your 9 month check-up but I am hoping you have gained some weight according to their scale. You definitely feel heartier to me and we've been working really hard to find things you like!

Speaking of teeth, your two top teeth came in and it looks very funny, and of course cute. I have to admit it is a bit hard for me to adjust to your new "look," I'm not sure why! You also have two more teeth on both sides of the middle top two that have poked through- just not quite visible when you smile yet. You have this habit of tapping/grinding your teeth together that is like 'nails on a chalkboard' for Dad and I...seriously, how is it possible to grind your front teeth?!

No new language milestones to report just yet. We're still working on various signs, pointing, waving, and consistent/meaningful productions of 'mommy' and 'daddy.'

You've been having a hard time sleeping at night again- last night you woke up screaming 4 or 5 times. I'm thinking your teeth are bugging you and hoping we can go back to only 1 waking per night.

You continue to have an obsession with anything that is circular shaped. This is probably tied with or a close second to your obsession with other babies/kids! We recently went to a friend's 2nd birthday party and it was very obvious how much you love being around other children-sometimes more than they do- you had the best time playing with and watching all the other babies. I was able to see your age cut-off the other day at the grocery store. You were totally engrossed with a girl who looked to be about age 6. You were totally uninterested, however, in her sister, who was desperately trying to entertain you but was the unfortunate age of about 9. My crazy, picky girl!

Well, we are off to Tucson this weekend and I will report the events of the trip when we get back!

Love you,
Mom

p.s. I forgot to mention how sad you get now when I have to go to work. I'm sorry I have to leave you and I wish I didn't have to go- it really breaks my heart. I do know that you are safe with Dad, even if he doesn't always do things the way I would do them!

Milestones part II

Dear Luthien,

It has again been much too long since I have written you, however, I need to make this quick if at all possible.  This past month has been huge in terms of your development so I need to update you.  

I'll start with your eating.  When you were 7 months I brought you to the pediatrician since you were sick.  They were a bit concerned that you hadn't gained any weight since your 6 month appointment- still 14 lbs 10 oz.  So they told me to bring you back in 2 weeks.  As you know, I'm not totally excited about mainstream medicine so I waited a month and tried my best to get lots of food in you (in other words, my milk, because you weren't really into solids/baby food at this point).  So at the 8 month appointment you were a whopping 14 lbs 15 oz.  You had only gained 5 oz in 2 months and had dropped to just below the 5th percentile!  This was very stressful for me, as I did not want to give you formula (personal choice); yet I knew my body was having a hard time keeping up with your needs since I am away from you 40 hours of the week.  The doctors were also concerned as to why you were not really eating real foods yet.  I explained you just seemed bored by the whole process.  I obviously knew there was no eating or swallowing disorder, you were/are just picky and seem to have a high metabolism (big surprise- who does that sound like?).  I have to also mention that this entire time I had been making most of your foods using fresh ingredients, so it was extra frustrating when you would take one bite and then be done.  Now to the good news...about a week ago I started writing down every little thing you ate.  And it seems that since that time your appetite for real food has grown a lot!  I am happy to say that you are eating much better, feeling heavier (we'll see at the next check-up), and pooping much more (not so fun since you are digesting real food now).

On a different note, your slither/scoot maneuver has finally progressed to a crawl!  I would say you officially started crawling at 8 1/2 months.  You still tend to get lazy with this and will often revert back to using the slither.  You don't go very fast when you crawl, which also is reminiscent of me- we like to take our time- but this is perfectly fine with dad and I.  You also try to pull yourself up on things a lot but usually only make it to a kneeling position.  Most pieces of furniture are not quite the right height to do this.  Much to my dismay, however, you have discovered that the toilet is the perfect height for pulling yourself up.  Needless to say we are doing a lot of cleaning these days, and keeping you out of the bathroom as much as possible.

I want to update you on your language skills and then I will have to write another time.  You can say CV words with initial consonants /d/, /f/, /m/, /n/, /b/ and /p/.  Sorry for the speechie lingo, just ask me what this means and I'll explain.  I am almost positive you are saying "dog"- you say "dat" whenever you see Roofus or other live dogs, or even when you hear them barking. This is a pretty consistent pattern but I don't want to say for sure just yet!  (By the way this is the only CVC word you are using).  Also, although you can use these other consonants, you prefer to stick with /d/ (very typical).  Your comprehension is, as expected, much further along.  I am pretty sure you understand mommy, daddy, light, up, kitty, more, no, music, water, all done, eat, drink, and milk, and probably a few more that I am missing.  We are working on waving, pointing, and developing a few signs.  You used to always respond to your name but lately you haven't been- must be more of a choice than anything!

I knew this would be a longer one- sorry no pictures this time.  To be continued....

Love,

Mom

  

Miscellaneous

Hi Luthien-

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written to you. You see, I've been really run down lately trying to manage full-time work, our home, finances, and your often absent-minded daddy all while trying to be a good mom. I hope that I am putting the most effort into the latter item.

You and I have been sharing sicknesses- you got sick first with bronchiolitis and an ear infection but soon recovered, then I got sick (and am still sick), and now you are sick again. I used to pride myself on having a super-immune system but that has not been the case lately. Too much stress and not enough free time spent laughing, singing, dancing, eating, etc. is what I say. It is my new goal to be able to spend more time doing these things and being with you. I am hoping sometime in the near future we can move away, creating our own little organic garden and semi-farm so that we can all be happier, and help the environment in the process. Just some things that have been on my mind lately....But I digress.

What I really want to share with you is what has occurred in your life and development in the past week, so here goes:

Remember your new tummy sleeping habit? Mom thought it couldn't get any worse but I'm afraid it has....You have now taken to kneeling, banging on the side of the crib to get my attention, and then falling asleep with your face literally in the crib bumper like so:

I don't think I have mentioned this before, so I wanted to tell you that you absolutely love the guitar, and have since you were about two months old. Here is a recent picture of your fascination with the guitar (and with all music, for that matter). And thanks Rome/dad, for always playing to our girl :

Just for fun here is a picture of you when you were only three months old in a similar scenario:

This past weekend you and I went to Utah to visit your Poppa for his 90th birthday. Dad had to stay home to play a show with his band. We went with your Nana, Grandad, Uncle Rhett/Aunt Stefa and Amelie. Mom felt very sick the whole time but everyone was happy to see us there. Long drives (especially those with changing altitudes causing ear discomfort) may have to be out of the question for a little while. I took only a few pictures to document the trip:

This basically sums up your reaction with all new people, especially when mom is around. Luckily cousin Ember thinks it's hilarious that you cry with strangers- others, on the other hand, do not, and mom gets a little stressed because she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Your first experience with snow. Note that it is actually just a small patch of snow in an otherwise grassy area, and the temperature was quite warm.

Taking a bath in Great Aunt Shelly's sink in her newly remodeled kitchen. Please forgive mom's cheesy grin- she was totally out of it by that point.

Finally, re-uniting with Dad after the long and interesting (to say the least) journey.

More to follow regarding your eating habits, language, and circular obsession. I thought this was enough for one post.

Love,

Mom

Sunglasses

Luthien,

Today while out shopping with dad, you picked these sunglasses out for him.  I think you're one of the only babies that actually would want to wear something on your face- we thought you would rip them off but you just can't get enough of them.  You get excited when we put them on each time.  Just thought I'd let you know!

Love,

Mom