crossrhodes

Two weeks and counting!  At 14-1/2 months, she finally started sleeping in her crib!  Now I know what proponents of co-sleeping meant when they said I will know when my Layla is ready.  She gave me subtle signs.  One night, I just got her excited about ownership of her very own bed.  I pointed to daddy’s bed, then mommy’s bed (same bed, opposite sides), then clapped and cheered when I pointed to Layla’s bed.  That seemed to do the trick!  She’s been sleeping in it every night for 2 weeks without a fight!  (I didn’t want to post it earlier and jinx myself. *hehe*)

It’s been harder on me, I think.  I miss cuddling with her in bed!  I have to fight the urge to pick her up and lay her next to me.  Her crib is still in our room.  We’re not ready for separate rooms yet =)

A couple of days ago, I started putting her in her crib for nap time, too.  I thought I’d better get her used to a new nap routine before her swing gives out, which could be any day now.  Besides, when daddy works from home, she can’t nap as long in her swing downstairs.

Today was her 15-month well-child visit.  She weighed in at 27 lbs (I swear she feels 10 lbs heavier!) and measured 33 inches tall.  Apparently, I’ve been giving her too much of the wrong kind of milk.  We’re switching back to whole milk (for the fatty layer of her expanding brain) and cutting back on the amount per serving.  I tried eliminating the bottle altogether this week since she’s great with a sippy cup, but not when it comes to milk.  I’ll try again soon.

Otherwise, she’s developmentally on track.  I was concerned about her caloric intake and size (she’s always been in the upper 90th percentile and the tallest of her peers), but her weight is still proportional to her height.

She is still perfectly content playing by herself even with other kids around.  I think it’s an only child syndrome.  She can climb the stairs, close a buckle, and cleans up her toys w/ my coaching.  I sometimes have to wrestle with her at bath time; she stands in the tub and walks around.  Her vocabulary is growing; she understands a lot more than she can speak.  She signs “I love you” when I put her down in her crib and knows all the hand motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Where is Thumbkin, etc.  She’s such a good girl!  So smart, too!  I just feel so old now that she’s becoming really active.

We were supposed to meet Don for dinner last night, but his evening got hectic and my cell phone suddenly crashed.  (I don’t know how people managed before the advent of wireless, but I was just not comfortable leaving home with the baby without a phone.)  Don is sort of away on a business trip.  He and his team are burning the midnight oil on a new government proposal.  Instead of commuting 3 hours a day round trip, coming home at midnight and leaving at the break of dawn everyday for the next 2 weeks, he towed the camper to a park near the office.  He’s not actually “camping” (or so he says *grin*); just using the bed and shower inside.  There’s no point of packing up Layla and I to join him since he’s in the office until the wee hours of the night anyway.  So, baby and mommy are flying solo for a while.

I’ve realized that I can totally do the single mom gig… if I did not have to work! LOL!  Of course, if I was a single mom, I wouldn’t be able to stay home with Layla.  So, even though we’re not spending more time with daddy than we’d like, I suppose it’s better for him to have more work than he can handle than to have no work at all.

Meanwhile, I was supposed to take out the trash and recycling which are usually Don’s chores.  But the recycling can had crickets and other unknown jumping critters all around and inside it.  Needless to say, the recycling can never made it to the curb.  I ran back inside the house as fast as I could! Sorry, honey, it just wasn’t meant to be… the bugs and me! =)

Now that she’s been watching Sesame Street regularly, I thought Layla might like to watch it in her own chair.  I forgot that sitting, like walking, is a learned skill.  She’s so entertaining and a good sport sport, too!

Just yesterday, Don predicted it won’t be long now when she’ll take off her diaper and smear poop all over the place.  Today was the day, but thank goodness there was no poop!  So, instead of going to see the penguins at the aquarium this morning, I’m cleaning a puddle of pee and hosing down everything that was swimming in it, including Layla.

{To my youngest fan who frequents my blog as a “favorite” on his Nintendo DSi: Hi, Ethan!}

After my cousin’s baby shower, I took a quick drive around my hometown.  It was quite disorienting and it’s only been 10 years since I left.  Even the corner of my street changed so much that I missed the turn.  There is now a traffic light and a large, modern middle school across the street where there used to be woods.  Behind the school is a luxury home development.  When I drove by our old house, the residents and kids were playing in the front yard.  I wanted to stop and ask if I could take a picture of Layla at the front door of the house where I used to live.  I wonder how I would react if someone did that to me.

A late night followed while we waited for my brother to come home from his mission trip to the Philippines.  Layla was such a trooper!  At 11:00, she was still running around and playing with her cousins.  My 8 y/o nephew was surfing crossrhodes.com on the tiny screen on his Nintendo DSi.  He was so proud to show me bookmarked in his favorites =)  Auntie is sooo flattered!

Anyway, we got home past midnight and crashed!  Full day of family and mixed feelings of my hometown.