Leiyah

Leiayh loves her doggies!!

1. Thank you.
2. Thank you Mommy.
3. Where de-de (binky) go?
4. Thank you Daddy.

Eating Habits:
She eats oatmeal for breakfast, I usually mix in juice, baby fruit and yogurt. For lunch she eats the Gerber Graduates ravioli and 4 Gerber Graduate meat sticks. She also eats a yogurt, raisins, and pears with something else mixed in. For dinner she has been eating macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, pancakes, and grilled cheese. Tonight she ate more than ever and had 7 chicken nuggets and 4 swedish meatballs!!
The one funny thing is that she always has to have her hands full. If she gets a snack it’s always two. 2 marshmallows, 2 pretzels. It’s just funny. I guess it’s a guarantee that there is more when she is eating the first one.
When it comes to vegetables, I still try, but with not much success. She will eat potatoes, sometimes asparagus, and that is about it.
I stopped with the cheese sticks to cut down on the dairy so she wouldn’t be so “backed-up”.

Play Time:
She still loves going outside more than anything! We set up a sand table on the front porch and a water table on the side porch. She enjoys them. I can make dinner while she plays with the water and Maximus on the side porch. Here she is playing with her sand table…

She also likes to play “ring around the rosie”, climb her daddy to touch the ceiling, and pretend she is a kitty cat. Oh, so cute. Her new thing is playing in the car. After we get home, she will flip over the side of her car seat and walk around the car for a little while. I roll down a window a bit and get her when she says, “Done”. The other day she played in there through lunch, ate hotdogs in the front seat!

Night Time:
She has dinner at 5. Bath at 6, every other day. Bed at 7. She usually sleeps through the night. She will make up once or twice because her diaper is wet or she lost her binky. Then she goes right back to sleep, our angel.

Morning time:
Half of the time I have to wake her up at 7:15, the other half she is up and playing music and singing my name to come and get her by 7. We change the diaper, get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. On a good day she will sit on the couch in the dining room and watch Elmo or something while make her oatmeal. Then she will eat her oatmeal on the couch while I make lunches. I usually have to chase her to put on her coat, but I enjoy her laughing as she runs.

Babysitters:
I get to Sarah’s house in Vineland about 8:30. I usually has to hear her cry as I left for work, but recently, she just goes right to Sarah and waves good bye as I leave. It is so nice to leave knowing she is happy. I know when she did cry she would stop by the time I got to my car. I just love that she has created a bond with Sarah and the whole family. LOL, it was funny because when Sarah’s husband comes home for lunch, his children say, “Dad”. Leiyah also says, “Dad” when she should say Dan. Oh, she makes me laugh.

Songs:
She now is trying to sing the alphabet, The Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald has a Farm and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She just loves music.

Talking:
She loves naming things. She will be on your lap and she will point to you and say, “Mommy”, then point to herself and say, “Leiyah”, then everyone and thing else in the room. Me-ma, Pop-Pop, Meka, MooMoo, ball, turtle, etc… She also says, “Thank you Mommy” and “Sorry Mommy”. When she is mad at something or someone she will say their name but with a mad noise before it. Like, “Ugh Mommy”. I don’t know if she is saying bad mommy or what, but you can definitely tell she is mad!

That is all I can think of for now, but I will be back with more updates as she grows and changes!

There are always so many adorable and funny things that Leiyah does. If she is too quiet, you know she is up to no good! Here are a few short stories.
One day, Leiyah was in the living room and I was cooking dinner. I thought she was playing with a puzzle or something, so I kept cooking. A few minutes go by and I still hear nothing, I am thinking that I forget to close the gate to the stairs and she must be upstairs, but no, this is what I found…

Another time, I was emptying the dishwasher and she was trying to “help”, so I gave her the cookie sheet and this is what she did with it…

I have this teacher cart that I use on occasion to pack my stuff up for work. It has wheels and is very convenient. Anyway, one day I was cleaning or cooking and I see that she is climbing in with her Teddy and Doggy. She was ready to go!!

Oh, she is a funny one. Keeping a smile on my face!!

As I watched Leiyah play I realized she had picked up a dirty diaper that I intended to throw away just as soon as I replaced the bag in the diaper garbage.  I took this as a teachable moment.  I took the diaper and walked over to the doaper garbage as she followed.  She already learned how to open it weeks prior to today.  She actually put a CD in it and I forgot and threw it away with the dirty diapers.  Anyway, I showed her that the diaper was supposed to go in it.  I opened it and placed it in and closed it.  Moment was over.  Or so I thought.  She proceded to pick up the clean diaper she was holding earlier while I changed her dirty one.  She walked over to the garbage and opened it, placed it in, and closed it.  I was amazed.  I know it is not the most important thing to learn to do, but I was so proud.  I just showed her once and then she did it twice after that.  I know all mothers/ parents think that their children are smarter than the others, but I really think she is.  

This moment was part of a larger moment.  I was sitting in the glider reading from her Dr. Seuss book.  She was just being adorable.  Walking around like she had things to do.  She opened her bedding drawer, took something out and left the room.  Then did the diaper thing.  After that she found her Hello Kitty purse in her closet and carried it around while she ventured into my closet to pull on my clothes.  Between these activities she would glance at me and smile while she left the room and when she came back.  She also would come over to look at the book that I was reading.  Just adorable.

Ok, I wish I was talking about the kind of shots you drink for fun, but I am not.  I brought Leiyah to her 1 yeah check-up.  She is a wonderful baby and healthy.  Just above average for height and just below for weight.  Developmentally good.  Ok, then came the shots.  I am weary about giving her shots just because you hear all of the talk.  I know there are risks when she gets a shot, but I think that the pro’s outweigh the con’s.  I am taking a chance, but what am I supposed to do.  I don’t think I am educated enough about the shots to really opt out on the administering.  

Here is my point, I get very nervous for the possible reactions she could get from these shots.  I honestly am scared she will die from some crazy side effect.  Today we went to the doctor’s at 9.  Out by 10.  HOme by 10:15.  played a little, she was happy to be home.  I put her down for a nap like usual at 11.  She woke up just before 1.  We had an alright afternoon.  She was a little cranky and not eating like normal, but I thought it must have been the shots.  So by 3:45 we took a walk, went to Acme, played in the pool, and played inside.  I decided to put her down for another nap because she was just that cranky and I would just deal with her bed time later.  She needed to sleep.  I put her down and walked out and she passed out.  I watched the screen on her monitor every 5 minutes or less.  She didn’t move.  And this is my fear, that she will not wake up due to one of the shots.  I hate this feeling.  I guess it comes with being a mom.  She finally moved and I felt much better.  All along I knew she would be ok, but there is always that slight chance it would not be that makes me worry.  She woke up at 4:44 and we ate, played, and read books.  She went down for sleep at 6:45 and I am happy.  She just went down, no crying, and she is still down.  I am so happy everything worked out.  Another 3 months until I get to do this all over again. Yay.