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.

hey waiter, there's a tube in my taco!

After the last ear infection I wrote about, Lydia's doctor figured we'd give her immune system and the impending Spring just one more time to make friends before we walked down the path of tubes.

Unfortunately, that friendship just will not be attained. After a week of snottiness, coughing, and grumpy girlie we were back at the doctor today where yet another ear infection was diagnosed. This time there was no questioning the next course of action and a consultation appointment with an ENT was set post haste.

It is just a consultation, though; getting tubes in her ears isn't a forgone conclusion yet. However, with five ear infections in three months, one would think . . .

sick taco, the sequel times [large_number]

I spoke too soon about the antibiotics thing. Poor Miss Lydia came up with a fever last Friday and I knew it was another ear infection; that just seems to be her forté. By that evening she was swigging down a NEW! TASTIER! antibiotic, though the NEW! was mainly so her infection wouldn't get immune to the regular stuff. Tubes for the ears were mentioned and an appointment was set to discuss it.

She was back to her happy self again the next day and we even ventured back out to the zoo again. This time, she had a hat.



Today, though, I got a call at work from her daycare. She was lethargic and didn't want to play; she just wasn't my happy girl. By the time I came to pick her up she was starting to run a fever again.

The doctor checked her out and her little ears are still infected. She got a huge shot and we're heading back Friday anyway for our consultation about the possibility of tubes.

My poor girlie. Will she ever know of a life without the syringe of sticky medicine? Will doctors ever quit poking her with shots? Will she ever successfully get a hold of Mommy's necklace to chew on? Stay tuned!

nine month taco

Wow, this past month has been a busy one for Miss Lydia! This is the month she became mobile and the entire family's lives have changed, including the cats'.

A few days into her ninth month we were playing on the floor when Lydia decided she'd really like to be closer to Hermione so she made an attempt. Success! The Husband, myself, and Lydia were pleased. The cats seemed worried.



And thus began my obsession with floor cleanliness. This can sometimes be difficult with the cats' penchant for barfing in hard-to-clean areas but I have been keeping up with it. It is either that or let Lydia find an errant cat claw to test for chewiness. Note to Lydia: NOT CHEWY.

A few days after the Wonderful World of Crawling opened up, we woke up one morning to find out that sometimes snow in the forecast does indeed mean snow on the ground. We had a beautiful Snowy Sunday and Mommy got a ton of pics.







Exactly a week after our Snowy Sunday it was a balmy 80 degrees when we headed to the Zoo with our friends to see all the animals. Lydia enjoyed being outside and watching all the people around her. One of the flamingos honked at her and she thought that was rather rude.



As Lydia crawled around and became more exploratory we began to realize that soft toys that just sit there don't seem to keep her interest as they once did. Now she wants her toys to DO something. One night The Husband pulled out a loud, obnoxious toy she got for Christmas -- her Aunt and Uncle picked it out because of said loudness -- and she was in heaven. We only finally stopped playing that night because she was about to fall flat asleep, much to her irritation.



It still was a sickly month -- there were two (I think) ear infections but now that it's warming up hopefully we'll all be healthier. Poor Lydia got so used to the antibiotic syringe she would just lay back and take her medicine, swallowing it back with a sour face. We are now antibiotic-free for a full five days and counting, and that can put a smile on anyone's face.



A wiggling, scooting Lydia has been the biggest, most sudden change in the household since the girlie actually arrived and we've all had to make adjustments. I actually clean the floor, The Husband is inventive with new things to amuse her plus ways to keep her away from ALL THE CORDS, Renton has had to widen his clearance pattern, and Hermione is getting used to letting herself be caught and/or poked in the eye. And just wait 'till she gets fast!

She is a girlie on the go. Below is the fruit of a lot of labor, so I hope you really really really like this picture.

I think that taco's so old it could get up and crawl away

eight month taco

Lydia turned eight months old last Monday. Now it's March, and you only have to say April, May, JUNE!!! and we've got a birthday comin'. Goodness.

For me, this past month has been a whirlwind. Everybody has just been so sick, including me. There was some serious downtime for each member of the family. Even Miss Lydia had to fight off both an ear infection and two crazy parents trying to stuff medicine down her throat. She's very good at the latter.

We changed her morning breakfast from bottle only to a mix of oatmeal and applesauce with a bit of milk to wash it all down afterwards. The first couple of days she looked at me like I was nuts but on the third day she was scarfing the oatmeal like a ravenous baby bird, though she still gets quite excited when the milk is offered up at the end. It's like a dessert. Bonus if she scores the spoon to play with once she's full.



Though not crawling yet, Lydia figured out her own way to be mobile: roll. Once she realized rolling actually got you somewhere new, rolling around seemed 'worth it.' The trick was to position herself in such a way so she would roll to what she wanted. This takes some strategy. It's like the knight piece in the game of chess.



Speaking of rolls, Lord, does this girl have 'em. All along her arms and especially her legs she is rolled like the Michelin man. Sometimes when she's chillin' with her toys on the floor I'll just massage those legs. She has such great skin. For a while I was wondering what the feeling of her skin reminded me of and one day it hit me -- warm pizza dough. Not that mix stuff; the handmade kind of dough that you lay to rise on the counter. There's a taughtness to it right before you roll or throw it out into a flat pizza shape. Wonderful.



Lydia finally had two new buddies show up in her life -- her bottom teeth. They peeked through the last week of January. At first she wasn't sure what to make of them. She would constantly push at them with her tongue as if to get them out of her way. She's used to them now and enjoys gnawing on hard stuff to see what damage she can do. The chair I'm sitting in now has little teeth scrape marks on one of the legs.



It was a very vocal month for Miss Lydia. She started off with the 'daa' sound and she was a big fan of that for quite some time. So was The Husband. After a few weeks she found 'baa' and 'maa' on the same day and from there she started mixing and matching like a mad chemist. Listening to her gabble in the car is much better than any radio station out there. Some of the best noises, though, are unintentional. For example, she can be a great snorer.



Now it's March, Spring's around the corner (though you wouldn't know it by looking out the window today), and hopefully some warmer weather will come in to dry out all this sickness that everyone's getting. I know Lydia's tired of wrestling with her crazy parents and their icky medicine syringes.

the taco's first snow

(eight month report coming soon; she's been a sick girlie)