Growing a reader

I've been anxious about reading to Libby. Unsurprisingly, since she developed the ability to grab several months ago, she has been more interested in grabbing books than looking at or listening to them. I kind of slowed down on the reading.

But in the last week or two, she has started really listening to the stories! I've been trying to read to her as a calming cuddly moment before nap and bedtime, and she sits and enjoys the time together. She even seems to be asking for stories at other times. She still grabs the book and closes it or turns the pages back, but for the most part, she listens and looks at the pictures. It's very enjoyable.

Crawling and Conversation

We have arrived at a very fun developmental time. Libby is crawling, getting around anywhere she wants to go. She is getting pretty fast, even though she still keeps her belly on the ground. I love when she gets excited and just takes off across the room.

She is much more vocal these days. Nine months was a turning point in vocalization. She babbles, yells, squeals, and giggles. She occasionally blows raspberries. She is ticklish, which is hilarious. She thinks it's quite funny when I razz or nibble her neck. She gets bouncy when she's excited.

Libby loves daycare. She is staying in two days a week during the summer to keep her spot and so I can tutor and do other things. She gets very excited when I drop her off in the morning. One day last week, when she heard the voice of the babysitter who hadnt been there in several days, she did this cute whip-around "who's that?" thing she also does when Todd comes home from work. And she was very pumped about going back yesterday after our trip to Seattle.

She was just the best in Seattle. She adjusted quite well, waking us up before 6:30 on only the first day. We tried to let her nap, but it wasn't always possible, and she did well on less sleep. She was very sweet and loved meeting new people and seeing new things.

L is starting to play games. It's funny that our first games are pacifier games (besides peek a boo). I put the paci in my mouth and make a big show of sucking on it, saying "It's mommy's paci!" She smiles and takes it away. After a little bit of doing this, she started to offer it back to me. She'll let me put the paci back in my mouth, but she won't let go of it! Todd plays a teasing game where he puts the paci in her mouth but takes it back out again over and over. He says that if he's too slow taking the paci out, she'll spit it out at him.

The solid foods list is getting longer and longer. Libby tried pancakes in Seattle, with rave reviews. She was really upbeat afterwards, and we joked that she was all hopped up on pancakes and yogurt. Maybe so, but the pancakes were syrup-free. She tried spaghetti tonight for dinner, and she enjoyed it. To be honest, I don't think we've found anything she doesn't like, except maybe goat cheese. She didn't seem too impressed by that.

Time keeps on slippin'

It has been over a month since my last post! We have had a really busy month. I started a Tupperware business. I would like it to make it so I can stay home with Libby, but I am apprehensive about this possibility. I am going to give it a shot over the summer and see what I think.

Libby is so much fun right now. I can't imagine there are happier babies in the world. She smiles all the time, and she has FINALLY started giggling more. She first giggled a long time ago, maybe in December, but it took a lot of work and they were few and far between. But she is now ticklish and also giggles at fun games (peekaboo) and noises.

She is getting to be a strong girl. She loves to stand up (holding on to our hands), and started crawling two weeks ago and is now getting quite good. She still keeps her belly on the floor, but she will follow us around the house and will follow the big kids at daycare. Libby is also just starting to get to a sitting position on her own, and she partially pulled up to standing in her crib today. We moved her crib mattress down two notches lower.

Libby's first tooth showed up about 1.5 weeks ago, but she won't let us see it! When we open her mouth, she sticks her tongue out. When we try to push it aside, she cries. It's so funny. But it's there and quite sharp. I'm glad I'm not still breastfeeding, but wow, we would have made it at least 2 more months before teeth!

It's been fun giving her "real" solid food, not just purees. She's tried all kinds of crackers, and also pizza crust and dill pickles! She loves it all, she hasn't refused to eat anything in a really long time.

Time just flies. Of course people tell you that, and my sister was just teasing me about all of the "cherish these moments" comments I get on Facebook, but I have to say I really didn't realize how fast it would go. Babyhood comes with so much preparation and Stuff, it seems beforehand like something that will last for a long time. And when you're praying your underweight baby will finally gain, or crying because she won't let you put her down, it seems like a year is so far away.

But it's unbelievable how it has flown, and surprising now that I didn't get how fast it would go. I don't regret a thing about Libby's first eight months, and I'm excited about the ways she's growing and developing, but I'm working hard to be sure I enjoy the time we have.

Libby is just growing and learning so much. Yesterday she put a piece of food in her mouth herself for the first time. It was a Gerber Puff, which are like little pieces of cereal that pretty much disintegrate in the mouth but are good practice for picking things up. It is so cute when she feeds herself because she has to concentrate very hard, and she has to try a few times before she can get it in her mouth. Sometimes she would put her hand in her mouth but not realize she needed to let go! When she finally got one in, I clapped and cheered and almost cried. I'm such a mushy mom.

She is a very adept roller, she is figuring out how to get somewhere that's not to the left or right, but that she has to turn to get to. She still needs some strong motivation to be interested in crawling.

Libby is also quite good at sitting. She can right herself pretty well when she leans forward, and can catch herself when she starts falling back. She still falls, and I'm not sure she uses her hands yet to get herself down on the floor, or if she just falls over when she wants down.

She is still in the same size diaper she was in a little over three months ago, which is really nice. She may be moving on soon, but it was nice to stick with the same size for so long.

We feel very clever to have started changing her diaper before we go to bed. At that time, she has been down 3-4 hours, and her diaper is always wet. This way, a cloth diaper will last through the night and we don't have to resort to disposables at night. And she barely wakes up. Sometimes she doesn't even open her eyes.

One more fun thing right now is her excited mode. When she gets excited for something, either good or bad, she starts panting loudly, like "Huh, huh, huh!" She does this when I pick her up at daycare and when Todd comes home from work, but also when she is frustrated with something. It's pretty funny.

Still our surprise baby

Libby has been full of surprises since the day we found out she was joining our family. Libby was a surprise. As in "Surprise! I'm pregnant!" I've always been irregular, but I had a weird feeling about things back in January 2009. I thought it had been a long time, even in the face of the stress of starting a new semester and a new exercise regimen. I thought I should take a pregnancy test "to be sure I'm not pregnant". But I was. The blue line showed up immediately, as soon as it was wet. No wonder--I was already at least 8 weeks along!

She then surprised us by being two weeks early, but that's not what I want to talk about today.

Lately, her surprises have been to learn a new skill allofasudden. I had been fretting for 2-3 weeks about when she would start enjoying standing up (with help) and when consonant sounds would emerge. This week, she started both like she's been doing them for weeks. Old hat.

I am not kidding. Last week, when I took her to the portrait studio on Wednesday, the photographer wanted to get a pic of her standing with me just out of the shot holding her hands. She refused to keep her legs straight like a toddler in tantrum mode. This week, all she wants to do is stand. I was trying to show her how to hold onto the crib rail while standing, but she's not quite ready for that.

So far, the only consonant I have heard is "d", as in "ah-da" and "da-da-da", but I am excited for more! The cooing has been adorable, but come on, she's been doing it since Thanksgiving. I was ready for more language development. And the new babbling is really fun.

She's also started razzing like it's her job. She first started doing that back in January (figured out how to do it while nursing, yay), but it hasn't been a frequent occurrence until now.

Sigh. I love her.

It's been almost two weeks! Ugghh, teaching is such a busy job. I just don't know. I really want out. If I didn't work, our lifestyle would have to change drastically, though. Like, no cable or Internet and possibly only one car. But maybe I could get a job that didn't involve so much take-home? I just feel like nothing is ever done and I never get anywhere. I'm always doing things at the last possible minute because there is no other time. And I know that staying home wouldn't solve everything, because stay at home moms have plenty to keep them busy, but... I just think I would be a lot happier.

The last two weeks have been times of change. Libby is done breastfeeding and is taking a bottle. She's eating at least two solid "meals" a day, and has tried many different fruits and vegetables. We never swaddle her for sleep anymore, which was a somewhat rough transition until about 2 weeks ago, and now she's doing really well. And on Friday night, we said "goodbye" to the evening nap in favor of an earlier bedtime.

Libby is starting to look like an older baby. She is six months old. All of these changes are bittersweet. She is such a good girl, and so happy, and every new thing is so fun and exciting. But thinking about how much she's changed and will continue to change makes me wish she'd slow down a little bit. I try to keep Future Me in mind and be in the moment with her now, because I know I'm going to wish I could return to these moments someday.

She did really well at her six-month appointment last week. When they gave her the shots, she got a big pouty look on her face and didn't cry for several seconds, just looked at the nurses saying, "Why?" She calmed pretty quickly, though, and actually almost fell asleep in my arms while I was comforting her. Then she fell asleep on the ride home.

I have to go grade some papers or plan some lessons or something. Ugh.

PRAISE THE LORD, Libby is over this dreaded "4 month sleep regression" if there is such a thing. I think. I hope. I pray. She slept 9 pm - 6 am last night, unswaddled! She is "supposed" to sleep till 7, and I got her to go back to sleep till about 6:45, which is good enough! I hope we have a repeat performance tonight!

Then this afternoon I fed her prunes for the first time. I did not have high hopes, because up to this point, she has tried a few bites of a new food and then fussed. Today I had to go back for more two times, and she ate the WHOLE jar! She has never eaten that much at a time before. Prunes leave nasty brown drool everywhere, but she needs the fiber, especially now that she's on formula full-time (its iron is constipating).