the creepy man that sneaks into your house at night

As opposed to last year, Lydia decided Santa is The Scary Man Extraordinaire. What a nice set of molars you have there, child!

Sputnik is . . . aptly named?

This past Friday I had an appointment for a screening test. It's basically an ultrasound and bloodwork to check for chromosomal abnormalities. No biggie, we did the same thing with Lydia mainly because, hey!, another ultrasound. Why not.

With Lydia we went downtown but now they're offering the test at our hospital so the drive's a bit easier. So in the ultrasound room we go, the tech gooks up the wand and asks, "If we're able to tell the sex of the baby, do you want to know?"

Uh, okay, sure. But at 12 weeks? Good luck with that, lady.

So off she goes to get her pictures and measurements. Sputnik is just as cooperative as Lydia was in utero. Then she says, "Okay, based on the angle of this here and yada yada yada, it's a boy. Welcome to the world of Star Wars."

A what? For real?

No fooling?

See, Steven and I have been living in the Land of Pink for about two years now, and we've just gotten used to that. So we're kinda floored, actually.

The doctor came in a few minutes later and said that was his guess as well. I asked him how sure he was and without missing a beat he replied, "95% sure." Then Sputnik proceeded to curl up in a ball like a cat while the doctor unsuccessfully tried to get a profile shot of his face for the actual screening test.

So, there you have it. I'm not about to paint the nursery yet or anything, but . . . Star Wars and Pokemon and whatever else it is boys like. God knows I have no clue right now. We have baby dolls and tea sets over here.

christmastime for tacos

At Christmas last year Lydia was not yet mobile so I had no far for all my Christmas trimmings and trappings. This year, however, I had a great anxiety about how the now-running Lydia would behave with the tree. After all, it's practically a toy-laden conifer in the eyes of a toddler.

When the tree went up this year I was very particular about which ornaments went where -- the few non-breakable ornaments went towards the bottom and everything else went higher-up, out of reach. Last year I had even labeled a box of extra-breakable ornaments "Nervous Ornaments 2008" -- they didn't even go on the tree this year.

Surprisingly, except for one backflipping-of-the-couch-into-the-tree incident, Lydia has done very well with the tree. She knows not to mess with it and she mainly gets a kick out of pointing out all the ornaments and naming them to us: 'birr,' 'durr,' 'dada,' 'ca-T,' 'FFFF,' 'OOOH!' (Translation: bird, door, Santa, cat, tree, 'It's all so pretty!')

sputnik likes oreos

I'm eating little mini Oreos this morning because Sputnik apparently likes them. I usually don't, or I at least scrape out the cream filling for disposal. If I gain 80 pounds, it's all Sputnik's fault.

I had a quick little checkup yesterday and everything's peachy. Slowly but surely I think the nausea horribilus is ebbing -- I went all the way from Monday to yesterday afternoon without taking a Pill of Awesome. Twelve pills left.

Looking forward to January and the beginning of the boring second trimester. I like the part where I'm hungry and can stomach water again.

and I thought the taco made me feel queasy

Hey . . . meet Sputnik!



This is actually from a couple of weeks ago. Been a while since I've mentioned the new one, huh? I have a very good excuse; even a doctor's note.

Right around the six-week mark, I started feeling sick, sick, SICK. It was horrendous. I never full-on barfed, but I was always at that last step right before one does. That feeling stayed with me from waking up in the morning to going to bed at night. Unconsciousness was my only defense. I even started to lose weight; I never lost a pound with Lydia.

This came up at my last doctor's appointment and, glory of glories, she prescribed me some happy happy anti-nausea medicine that has been a wonder. Dance! Unfortunately, due to an insurance prescription cap I didn't know I had, I am officially maxed out on drugs until January 1st, so what I have is what I get. Fourteen pills left. I hope I don't get really truly sick between now and January, actually.

Waiting 'till Thanksgiving to tell everybody didn't exactly pan out. The Husband talked me into telling immediate family the same weekend he found out, and so we did. After the last appointment where we got to see the heartbeat and all that jazz, we're pretty much telling everybody. I decided on Sputnik because I've decided it's a boy since it's kicking my butt so much more this time.

So here we are, two days after Thanksgiving, and I cannot wait for it to be January. Or Spring, for that matter. I'm cold.

the sign of the taco

Over the past week or so, I would notice Lydia do this seemingly random gesture where she would point into her palm. I didn't think too much of it. She's usually doing random things. I chalked it up to toddlerism and moved on.

Yesterday evening I finally caught on to when she was doing it, and it definitely is an intended gesture. I was feeding her dinner and she had finished her plate, so I asked her, "Do you want some more?" She immediately did her finger-pointing gesture -- left hand extended flat, right index finger repeatedly pointing into her left palm.

"Hmmm," I thought. They don't teach baby sign language at Lydia's daycare, but I wonder if someone there knows some and have passed it along anyway.

I told The Husband about it when he got home from work. I'm not sure he believed me until later when he was handing Lydia little pieces of pineapple for a snack. He asked her, "Lydia, do you want some more pineapple?" She pointed into her palm then opened her mouth with an "Ahh ahh ahh!" Every time he asked her, she would make that hand gesture.

It's pretty neat, I just wish I new what it meant. Does it mean 'more,' 'please,' 'yes,' 'give me that pineapple you crazy people!' -- I'd just like to know what's being communicated.

We looked up what is the official Baby Sign Language for 'more' and it's not that, so I'm clueless. Maybe she made it up herself.

no longer alone with da secret

The Husband arrived home at 1:30 this morning. I was ever so glad to see him! It was another long night, then I ended up waking early again, so I had to rely on the interwebs to amuse me. Lydia eventually got up and her commotion with breakfast and gabbing eventually got The Husband out of bed.

I listened while The Husband told me about his week and all the stuff he learned. He had a great time. Eventually Lydia's demands for the Ending of Breakfast became pretty loud so I passed along her 'note' to him. "Here," I said, "Lydia got you a card."

"Aww, how sweet," he replied, and began to read.

I watched his face as he read Lydia's words:

Daddy,

I am so glad you are home. I missed you very much.
Mommy told me a secret and to not tell anyone but you. She said I am going to be a big sister. I don't know what that means, but I think I get to be the boss.

Love, Lydia

The Husband blinked, then looked at me. "Seriously?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Oh my God. Wow, another baby." Then he grinned real big and gave me a hug.

"You want to know the funny part?" I asked. "I'm due June 23rd." Then I started laughing.

____________________

The Husband is very excited indeed. I am just glad I am not the only one that knows anymore. That is quite a big secret to carry around for five days. The initial idea is to announce to family at Thanksgiving again, though we might do it before, I dunno.

Yay, I have someone to talk to about this! Ha ha ha ha ha!

anticipation

It's the eve before The Husband gets back from his week-long trip. I am so nervous. This weekend is going to be a fun-filled shebang of birthday celebrations and a zoo visit with my sister and her flock, so I haven't yet decided if I will let him know before or after. I'm leaning towards before, mainly because I'm tired of knowing all by my lonesome. It's been a long week.

At least I've figured out how to let him know. Lydia will write him a note, with my help. She wants to know if she will be able to be the boss.

Surprisingly, I've already noticed the in-comings of that horrible pregnancy nausea feeling. I won't feel hungry forever, then I'll get that hollow-in-the-pit-of-my-stomach feeling that is quite strong and practically unbearable, but the moment I start eating food I feel full to the point of nauseated again. What gives? I thought I had a few more weeks before this started!

october surprise

The Husband is out of town this week, off to a rare conference and filling his head with all sorts of knowledge and awesomeness. Should be a quiet week here at the abode? Sure. Except something just doesn't feel right . . .

So this morning, before Lydia woke up, I conducted a little science experiment involving a few months-expired pregnancy test and, of course, pee.

The test was totally positive.

So there I am, still half-asleep (hence no picture) staring at these two lines. This is BIG NEWS, and I have no one to talk to for almost a week. There's no way I can tell The Husband this over the phone, though a brief mind experiment involving texting a picture of the test to him and imagining his reaction while sitting in a roomful of others trying to listen to the expensive speaker at the front of the room gave me a light chuckle.

I don't think it's hit me yet, this other child that is coming. I did have sense enough to pick up another, unexpired test and re-confirm the two lines.

Some quick calculations reveal that the due date is June 23rd, 2010 YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, but I will bet you right now it'll be June 14th. Write it down.

I feel fine now, but this time, I know what's coming . . . the nausea, the extreme tiredness, the HUGENESS, night feedings and crying for no reason.

But also . . .

The cooing, the first smile, the cuddling, that baby-fresh smell, the first laugh, rolling over for the first time, sitting up, crawling, walking, realizing mashed potatoes are manna from Heaven!

Two years apart. Buddy, I got it.

*point*

The other weekend we visited the zoo with our friends and their son, Syon. This was Lydia's third trip to the zoo and her most enjoyable time there yet.

The moment we arrived she began pointing out all the interesting things to us.



Now that she's walking she was much less willing to sit in her stroller -- we probably shouldn't have bothered to bring it -- and was more satisfied to wander around the area, checking out all that was worth checking out. Sometimes she forgot we were around.



Any kind of bird (except the flamingos) were her favorite. She is still a people-watcher, though, and other kids especially caught her attention. Oh, to be able to run around so fast!



Lydia even pointed out the big, scary animals, though she was glad her Daddy was there to back her up on that.



After lunch, the kids checked out the nifty water-shooting area.



Though Syon turned out to be a brave soul . . .



. . . Lydia wasn't feeling quite so daring.



After all that running around, pointing, and a big meal, both kids were starting to look tuckered out.



We packed up and made our way home -- Lydia began what was to be a three hour nap of excellence.

update: growing taco

Lydia hits the big 15-monther next week, if you can believe it. She's way past toddling now, she's practically running sometimes. She is going light-speed through time; I can't keep up mentally, physically, or with clothes that fit. Thank goodness for Grandma!



Over the past few weeks, Lydia is starting to find her voice can shape syllables, and syllables can maybe sometimes sorta refer to objects among us. When prompted, she can say "burr" (bird), "baaah" (ball), "fffff!" (off), and "daaah!" (anything positive, like 'on,' 'daddy,' or 'yay'). Now The Husband and I are REALLY having to watch our language. I completely failed at this during a round of Super Mario Bros 3 yesterday. I forget how frustrating that game is. Give me the Wii and multiple save points any day.



She is still my morning girl, always has been since she was a itty bitty thing. Once the sun is up she is ready to play and you're guaranteed giggles and some good pictures. As the evening wears on she is more apt to be ornery, especially if a nap was interrupted.



It's just nutty that a year ago Miss Lydia was three months old and we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of her cousin. Now we are just eagerly awaiting Miss Elizabeth's first birthday party. It shall be a wondrous hoot.





Earlier today Lydia reached out for my hand. I gave it to her and then she proceeded to lead me around the house. Having never done this before, she didn't seem to have an end goal in mind. I suppose she just felt ready to lead me around the same way I have led her from one room to the next. Someday Lydia will see how she has led me to so many places already.

model taco

Once when The Husband and I were just parents to two cats my mom told me when I had kids I was never going to take pictures of them because I would be too worn out from taking so many pictures of the kitties.

"Oh please," I replied back, "I'll take so many pictures of my kids you'll be able to make a flip book movie of their entire childhood."

I'm proud to say I was right. I have a camera in Lydia's face more often than I probably should. But seriously . . . how can I resist this?
















I can even do flip books, just as I promised.

toddlin' taco

A few weekends ago Lydia took the big plunge and started walking. We were at her Aunt Lisa's and Uncle Ken's house when she started to take off -- she was waiting for the right audience.

She's very proud of herself and is getting better every day. It took her a few days to master the art of changing direction while walking. Now she's working on walking fast, a.k.a. running.



___________________________________

Last weekend we took our walking child with us down to Auburn to visit her cousin and they had a blast together. They slept in the same room with Elizabeth in her crib and Lydia in a borrowed pack-n-play (Whoops! The one thing we forgot to pack!) and when they would wake up in the mornings they gabbled to each other until one of them got hungry enough to make a ruckus.

Despite there being a hundred toys on the floor, one girl would inevitably want what the other girl had. There were many fracases over THINGS that the other one HAD that they WANTED and LIFE IS NOT FAIR.



After a short scuffle or parent intervention, they would work it out.



We had the girls pouffed up in dresses on Sunday so we couldn't resist a little on-campus photo shoot. In hindsight, we made the mistake of doing this right before lunch, so there were some rumbly tummies. Lydia, who isn't very demanding about food until she sees it, was perfectly willing to ham it up for the camera,







. . . but Elizabeth knows when lunchtime is, and that time was now, and that camera does NOT look like a grilled cheese sandwich. So she cursed us.



We hightailed it off to Niffer's where Elizabeth quickly downed some milk and a baby food appetizer. Lydia chowed down on some chicken, some of The Husband's french fries, and a bit of the pasta from my pasta bowl. Elizabeth enjoyed a lemon slice because she's odd like that.



All too soon, we had to head back home, but Lydia and Elizabeth will be able to play together again soon -- Aunt Cathy's and Uncle Jason's birthday is coming up!

here's your sign

Yesterday when I went to pick up Lydia from daycare I was told she got an Oops Note that day that I had to sign. At first I thought it meant she got a boo-boo, but no . . . she gave other kids boo-boos. An Oops Note is a note that the parent has to sign when your sweet innocent daughter has BEEN BAD and has been BITING THE OTHER CHILDREN. Lydia is turning into The Biter.

In Lydia's defense, she is teething again and these unbearable chompers are bugging the stew out of her. She has been biting the others for a few days, long enough for the other kids to figure out that when she comes for them, they shove her own arm into her mouth and she ends up biting herself. This daycare is full of brilliant one year olds!

I told Lydia if this doesn't let up they're going to hang a sign around her neck as a warning to others: Warning -- Biter.

"Grasp the subject, the words will follow." -- Cato the Elder

On July 4th the three of us were heading down to The Husband's parents' house for a 4th of July shin-dig. We were ready for copious amounts of food, swimming, and fun. As I watched the trees fly past the window, I heard the tell-tale sound of a pacifier clinking down the side of a car-seat as Lydia threw it out.

"Uh-oh," I thought. I waited for the fussing to begin.

"Uh-oh," said Lydia.

I looked at The Husband, and he looked at me. "Did she just say, 'Uh-oh?'" I asked.

"I think so. Maybe," he replied.

"Lydia, did you say, 'Uh-oh?'" I asked her.

"Uh-oh," she said. She continued her 'Uh-oh's' for the rest of the trip. Of course, she didn't do it when we prompted her upon arrival to The Husband's Parents', and I wasn't even sure of 'Uh-oh' counted as a word. It's more like an extremely mild curse. I wouldn't play it on a Scrabble board, you know?

I must confess out of all the words we say repeatedly around her, I'm surprised she picked up 'Uh-oh' first. That's a VERY GOOD THING.

Throughout this past week she has continued with her Uh-ohing. She definitely connects it with dropping stuff. She will drop -- or deliberately throw -- her toys/food/things that aren't hers to the floor and say, "Uh-oh!" On the way home from daycare she works on perfecting it: "Ah-oh . . . Uh-uh . . . Uh-ohhhh . . . UH-OHHH . . ."

Everyone says it's definitely a word, so even though Hasbro wouldn't accept it, I will officially declare 'Uh-oh' Lydia's First Word (tm).

Spoken modestly, God help us (name that movie!).

twelve month old taco (1 year old taco!)

Yesterday, Lydia turned one year old. An entire twelve months has flashed on by.

This last month was a doozie.

At the very end of May we lost my mother relatively unexpectedly, and it seems with each passing day I have a greater need of her. Not two months ago I was discussing with her my vague plans for Lydia's birthday party, and now that party is just a few days away; I cannot fathom that she won't be at the very event we talked about just a few weeks previous. I remember her voice just a year ago when I called to tell her Lydia had arrived; half excited, half admonishing (for catching her by surprise) -- it seems unnatural for her not to call this year and send birthday wishes. It feels so unfair to me that Lydia will never know her Nana -- I knew my mother's mother, so why can't Lydia know hers?

Lydia, bless her soul, was a trooper during all the multi-day functions that a funeral brings. She spent the first night away from us, staying with her Grandma and Papa, and she was a sweetie for them. As long as she has her snuggle blankie, she's good for a sleep just about anywhere.

Table foods continued to become more interesting to Lydia. She quickly switched to eating straight table foods -- she was eager to try anything!



Pretty soon, she started having trouble with looser stools, then straight-up diarrhea -- as in straight up the back! It became a daily occurrence for me to pick her up from daycare and find her in a completely different outfit from what she had on that morning. Sometimes she went through two outfits a day. Daycare clothes became commonplace. The doctor said to feed her more starches (the BRAT diet) but, alas, nothing seemed to stop her up.

Then her feet started peeling. Not like sunburn peeling, we're talking huge thick chunks of skin off the bottoms of her toes and heels. Good Lord, my baby is falling apart! The doctor said to moisturize and wait since her checkup appointment was around the corner. And the diarrhea raged on.

In desperation, I switched Lydia's milk from regular cow's milk to soymilk. She liked it and, the next day, a poo came forth that stayed within its bounds! More tamer poos continued and so far things are looking better. Her peeling feet are calming down as well. The doctor is thinking she could have developed a temporary intolerance to the lactose because of a virus (Hand, Foot, and Mouth, anyone?). I'm thinking Lydia can now shed off the stigma of being The Diarrhea Kid at daycare.

Throughout the month of Skin Shedding and Poo, Lydia became very adept at Walking With Assistance (tm), a pastime that my back is not very fond of. If you hold her hands, she can walk all over the place, and Lydia always makes sure she gets her money's worth. I've had a constant backache since this new endeavor began. Now I see why all new parents get so damn excited when their kid starts to walk -- their backs can now begin to recuperate.



In the teeth department, Lydia is now up to four -- her second top tooth finally decided to join the party. Most of the month she was an Itty Bitty Snaggletooth Girlie.



The night before Lydia's birthday, she had another first -- barfing. Technically, she's accidentally gagged herself and thrown up before when she was leaning to eat table foods but hadn't gotten down the chewing part yet, but that was nothing compared to this.

She had already gone down for the night but was fussing, but when I went in her room to give Lydia her pacifier, something didn't smell too good. When I turned on the light I saw she had barfed all in her crib. A mountain of grossness. The Husband and I got her out, cleaned her and the crib up, new pajamas and new sheets and back to bed. She pretty much slept through the whole thing.

Twenty minutes later The Husband hears her on the baby monitor and says, "She threw up again." We went back in there and sure enough there was more barf all in her crib and on her. This time she was wide awake and upset. We had not dealt with this before and I wasn't sure what was wrong. I just wanted to talk to my mother so bad. After we got Lydia cleaned up this time she was still wide awake and just wanted to be held -- I was happy to oblige with some snuggling.

Thankfully, she didn't throw up again and she was a most happy girlie for her first birthday. Something just got her tummy upset. Amazingly, we were also able to clean up and salvage her musical crib bear. It will live to play another day.

I didn't trust myself to take Lydia's one year portrait, so I got a real photographer for Lydia to ham up to. We actually did the photo shoot last Saturday and the pics are totally awesome. So here you go.

I know this is the longest monthly post ever, but I told you this past month was a doozie.

June 23rd

Happy First Birthday to Miss Lydia (and her Daddy, too)!

An entire year -- wow!

open mouth, insert foot . . . and hand?

Over the weekend, Lydia broke out in what looked like a heat rash or fever rash. She also had a low-grade fever but for once I was not too worried and I'll be damned if I was going to go running to the doctor for every little thing. Lydia will sometimes run a low fever -- we're talking like 99 degrees here -- for no reason for all then it will go away. Her cousin had a similar rash and her pediatrician said it was a fever rash. Lydia was fine otherwise so off we went to daycare on Tuesday.

That afternoon the daycare was calling me about the rash; they were not amused. It apparently looked similar to Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease which the Christopher Walken kid -- little girl in Lydia's class looks JUST LIKE HIM -- got diagnosed with earlier that day.

Sigh.

So off we go to the doctor's. When he walked in I said, "Hey, at least it's something different."

And of course she had the Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, too. It sounds horrible, but you know what it is? A non-itchy rash and mouth ulcers with low-grade fever -- it's just highly contagious.

So she was out of daycare for a day and back yesterday, where she started kissing on another boy that was not her boyfriend so he came up and whacked her. Ahh, young love!

eleven month old taco

One more month till the Big One. Oh, goodness. I need to get planning!

Lydia turns 11 months old today. This past month she has enjoyed multiple visits from her cousin, Elizabeth. They have had great fun together sharing toys, secrets, and pacifiers. One time they even went grocery shopping together. Thankfully, they have not yet shared any germs.



The relationship between Lydia and Hermione has really blossomed this month. Lydia has gotten very good at 'petting' versus 'hitting' and Hermione loves the attention Lydia gives her and is a very good sport, even when Lydia just grinds her head into Hermione's body (of course, Hermione does this to us all the time). If Lydia is playing on the floor, you will find Hermione very close by.



Here is an excellent moment I caught of the two of them lounging while watching The Emperor's New Groove:



Lydia has been more finicky about food this past month so it's been a bit frustrating. She's getting fed up with the baby food and will tend to swat at it when you try to feed her but she not only doesn't really like table food, she just won't try it. You put different foods down in front of her and she plays with it but doesn't bring it to her mouth. God forbid YOU try to put it in her mouth; she will get all offended. I get lots of notes on her daycare sheet where they offered her things like ravioli or tater tots but she refused it all.



Then the other night, we brought in pasta with my parents from a nice Italian restaurant. I plopped some on her high chair and, as normal, she pushed it around the tray while making her concentrating noise. Then we forked over a bit of her Grandpa's marinara-covered fettuccine pasta. After a few minutes she took a taste . . . then ate it. Then she ate some more. Then she started shoveling it into her mouth just about as fast as we could put it onto her tray. We finally just stopped giving it to her; we were afraid she'd be sick later. She had marinara sauce all over her, but her tummy was full of yummy pasta!



The same night as the pasta night, we made a discovery that we'd been waiting on for quite some time -- her right front upper tooth was starting to poke through! The left one is not far behind.

Though I wrote a whole separate post about it -- see below -- Lydia did get tubes in her ears this past month. We all hope this will end the consistent ear infections. Even though she just got the tubes in last week, she did not have any ear infections during this last month. My theory is since her boyfriend moved over to Infant III in daycare they're not kissing on each other as much and, thus, not as many colds are passed back and forth between the two. Lydia herself moves over to Infant III next Tuesday to be with him again but hopefully with the tubes in place she will be well-armed. She would do better to just stop with the kissing, though.



Lydia is starting to look and act less like a baby and more like a kid. There are times when she's just sitting there and I can tell she's contemplating something . . . I wonder what it is. I wonder if kids ponder about the size of the universe or why chicken tastes like chicken. Most likely she's wondering when she can blow this joint and see her boyfriend again.

hole-punched taco

Lydia has had a very eventful medical month. As I posted last time, we had our consultation with an ENT at Children's Hospital. We were there for over two hours, with the majority of that time waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting a bit more. Thankfully Lydia is a pretty patient girl right now and is only squirmy in her own personal zone. I'm sure that'll change once she discovers walking.

When we were finally in the exam room and the ENT doctor walks in, he comes at us like, "Hi, I'm Dr. Hill; she needs tubes; any questions?" His talking was so NOW and IN THE MOMENT I had to ask and make sure they weren't doing it that day.

So after an initial scheduling of the procedure in mid-June, some phone calls and an additional physical appointment to placate a potentially over-cautious anesthesiologist, the procedure was scheduled for this past Tuesday, May 19th.

We had to arrive bright and early at 6:15 a.m. with a hungry baby. Thankfully she isn't incredibly demanding about food right now. She was much more amused with all the COLORS and the SEATS and the PEOPLE TO WATCH.



She was not amused the the little thing they put on her finger to take her pulse, however. The blood pressure cuff on her leg was no problem, but the thing on her finger was a horror. The nurses there were awesome -- about three of them flooded in to amuse her with words and bubbles while her vitals were taken. Everyone commented on how cute she was, and Lydia already loves a good compliment.

After they finished the vitals and took off the Finger Wrap From Hell, we got our own little hospital room, complete with little kids' hospital bed, rocking chair, sink, and television. The whole place was very nice and kid-friendly. Older kids were driving up and down the halls in little cars, which made great entertainment for Lydia.

This is where we did most of our waiting, punctuated by visits from the nurse or anesthesiologist who really was nervous about her cough. I explained to him she'd been to the doctor more than once about it, her lungs are clear, so it's either allergic rhinitis or somebody's slipping my baby cigarettes. Apparently I said that with too much of a straight face because he wasn't sure if he should laugh or not.



At 8:15 a.m. they finally came to take her for the surgery. She did cry when I handed her over to the nurse but I knew she was going to be fine. She was back there a good 30 minutes and I just chugged some coffee and watched kids and parents go by our door.

A little while later I heard a low, tired-out-from-crying-but-I've-still-gotta-cry cry that was my Lydia. A nurse was cradling her and bring her up to our room. I was ever so glad to hold my baby. The Husband gave her her pacifier and Lydia went right back to sleep. Apparently Lydia could have had her pacifier with her back in surgery but I didn't know that so I had taken it from her.



We stayed there about an hour or so to let Lydia sleep it off some then we headed on home, where Lydia played for a while then had another good long nap.



Hopefully the next cold she gets will just stay a cold. If she would just stop kissing her boyfriend at daycare she would stop getting the colds in the first place.

__________________________________

In addition to having tubes put in her ears, the other thing Dr. Hill did was remove two skin tags that have been on Lydia's right ear since she was born. I've never specifically mentioned them; they've just always been a part of her. I'd always thought of them as her nubbins.



The doctor asked us at the consultation if we would like them removed while she would be in surgery and we thought, well, how often are you in surgery, so we said sure.

Between the consultation and the surgery date I had debated on changing my mind about that. They've never bothered me, they don't bother her, so the only reason we're doing it is for aesthetic reasons -- because some day some kid will say something mean. But kids always say something mean about something. Kids said mean stuff about my red hair and freckles when I was younger but I didn't go back and shave off all my hair or dye it (though I probably threatened it a few times).

But we went ahead and let the doctor do it; I think mainly because I was caught by the IT'S OUR ONLY OPPORTUNITY feeling. Right before I handed her over to the nurse for surgery I kissed her little nubbins on her ear; I knew it would be my last chance before they'd be gone.

When she came back from surgery and I saw her nubbins were replaced by stitches and a steri-strip, I knew I regretted it. That wasn't my choice to make; it had been her's. I think it will be one of my very few regrets in life.

But what's done is done. She's still my happy, smiling, blue-eyed girlie; nubbins or no nubbins.

ten month old taco

Ten. One zero -- double digits. That's a lot of months, unless you're counting in binary, and there's only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't. But I digress.

Lydia was a busy bee of a girl this month. Crawling continues to be her main source of enjoyment because of all the things she can get to. The world is her oyster. Sometimes life is just ducky, especially on her forehead.



One of those Why Didn't We Do This Months Ago moments was Lydia's first bath in the big tub. She loved it and scooted up and down the tub while Mommy tried hard to scrub her down. A few baths later we figured out the best way to give Lydia a wash without breaking parents' backs is to sit on the side of the tub with feet in the water. So much easier on Mommy.



We visited the zoo again where Lydia participated in her favorite pasttime, people-watching. She kept a safe distance from the flamingos this time and got to meet some colorful birdies. People-watching is the best, though.



It was yet another sickly time with two more ear infections and I'm quite positive we're on the road to getting tubes in her ears. We meet with an ENT tomorrow so we shall see. Poor Lydia has gotten way too used to being attacked with medicated syringes. Every time we lay her on the changing table she cringes.

Easter came upon us this month and Lydia got to check out what the Easter Bunny dropped off for her. She enjoyed her first camera just like Mommy's and a new book. Notice the Santa jammies.



After we checked out her basket we got ready to go down to Auburn with her grandparents to visit her cousin. They had a great day of fun together playing with each others' toys. Elizabeth has some pretty spiffy stuff. We think they made a secret plan beforehand to NOT SMILE when the grown-ups tried to get nice pictures.



Right before she turned ten months old, Lydia began to perfect the fine art of pulling up. Oh, glorious day! She is oh so pleased with herself and yet frustrated because she can't seem to just walk on from there. Crawling is now old school -- walking seems to be the next goal. Eating table food is not on her List of Goals.