pretty pics in pink...

The moment you've all been waiting for. Finally - more pictures! There are two key things to point out here.

One, you'll see that she's wearing pink in both. I have come to accept that I do in fact like pink clothing, but within certain constraints. I do NOT like frilly pink (I don't really like frilly anything on her). These pink yoga pants (yes, that's what they are, though I'm not sure she'll pull off a downward dog at any point) with the pink hoodie are just too cute.

Second, her hat does in fact say "Piglet" on the front. The Piglet ears hanging off of the top are just too adorable for words. However, you are all aware of my aversion to the Pooh clan (and if you don't know it, check out my "Poo Poo on Pooh" post. Of all of the critters, however, I'll admit that Piglet is a cutie. He (or she...we're still trying to figure that one out) does not have some sort of mental disfuntion or attitude. She/he simply lives among a bunch of nutballs.

Anyway - here she is. 7 months old on the 4th - can you believe it?!

what is that thing?...

In reality, we have three children...it's just that two have fur. Ripley is our 2.5 year old French Bulldog and Rambo is our 1.5 year old black Pug. Alexis came along, and no doubt it changed their doggy lives. When people ask how they're doing, I usually say that they're good, but a little mopey.

We don't love them any less - it's simply a question of having more kids to spread the love with (one of which is quite needy). They also don't understand what they can and can't do around the baby. Rambo doesn't think twice about walking on her (he really has no concept of body parts...walking on your face or legs is the same to him). It breaks my heart to push them back when they're being a bit too eager around her, but what choice do we have?

What absolutely warms my sappy heart is that Alexis actually smiles at them. She looks right at them and reaches out a hand to feel the fuzzy critters in front of her. Rambo loves to lick her hands, and she seems to hold her hand out to him and leave it there. Ripley is a bit more timid and sniffs her, trying hard not to get too close. When the baby hand comes her way, she typically backs off. Neither of them are afraid of her or aggressive toward her in any way. They're simply still trying to understand what exactly she is.

Just as they're trying to figure her out, I think she's figuring them out. I desperately want to know what goes through her head when she looks at them. She does not know the concept of "dog". So what does she associate with them? Does she see their eyes and consider them to be the same as people, with no clear distinction? Or does she see a stuffed animal that moves? What does she think they are? And what makes her think to smile at them? Is she entertained because they're fuzzy? Is she entertained because they're dogs? But she doesn't know what a dog is, right? What in the heck does she think they are?

This morning, as I was getting ready and Alexis was sitting on the floor in her little pillow palace, Rambo went over to her and sat down next to her. He was looking at her, and she at him. She then put her arm around him. She opened and closed her hand on handfuls of fur. How could that not just melt my heart?? She has a pug-buddy!

In time, she'll crawl and then walk, and as her mobility and awareness of things around her increase, she'll be able to interact with them more. They may go through a period of discontent if/when she tugs at them or pets too rough, but I have no doubt they'll all be the best of friends in time.

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." She'll learn to appreciate "critters" and discover the bond that people and dogs can have. It'll make her a better person, and I hope that love will translate to other relationships in her life. A pug-buddy and a bulldog-buddy...unconditional love...what more can a growing girl want or need!

PS - we're due for new pictures of the baby on here...stay tuned...

freeze...don't move!...

As you can tell by my recent posts, I'm amazed by the way that my little girl adds a new skill to her bag of tricks on a regular basis. Yesterday, Jamie and I undertook a massive spring cleaning (you can not imagine just how badly it was needed), and we were fretting that her presence would slow us down. Alas, all of the babysitters on our long list of family members were busy...how dare they not be at our beck and call?

I plopped the bugger down on the floor, padded her with three pillows, gave her an enormous pile of toys, turned on the TV, and that held her over for a good half hour to hour. When I moved on to the bedroom, I stuck her on the bed with her toys, turned on the ceiling fan, and again, totally content. This little transition between being stuck on her back and crawling gives me the best of both worlds. Can play with toys, but can't move anywhere. Once she can crawl, cleaning won't be quite as easy! We'll need to schedule family members way in advance.

With all of this new cuteness coming at us, we feel like we need to capture these moments, but that's easier said then done. Something happens, and you think, man I wish I had the camera. By the time you grab it, she's moved on to doing something else. Or, if you do get the camera in time, she finds the camera so interesting that she starts reaching for it. That is NOT what you wanted to snap. A few pictures with her little fingers in the way are cute, but I can't have an album full of blurry hands.

I'm jealous of shows like "John and Kate Plus 8". Let's be clear...I'm the kind of woman that thinks I'd be ok with one child and by no means wants more then 2, so 8 children is not something I'm envious of. What I mean is that they have a professional video diary of their children. The cameras capture so much and so many cute moments for them. Things they say, things they do, etc. While I would hate having cameras in my face all day (particularly when I'm in my PJs with my hair a wreck and no bra on), I'd be able to look back at a time stamped film showing me when she first walked or talked or whatever.

All I can do is make a valiant attempt at capturing the moments that I'll want to see at a later date. I keep the camera on an end table just in case I need to reach for it. For any other moments, I'll have to take it in and do my darnedest to see it in my head. I have no doubt that while many images will disappear over time, those that are truly moving will be ingrained in there forever. Of course, I'll be adding more and more...hopefully the mental graduation pictures won't crowd out the mental infant photos. I need to exercise my memory. Pass the Ginko and the Nintendo DS Brain Games...I have some mind muscle to flex!

the sword has two edges...

I look forward to each new milestone. I shared with you that she can roll. I shared with you that she's making sounds that closely resemble "dada". She's moving on to all sorts of veggies and fruit combos as meals and scaling back to only 3 to 3.5 bottles a day (compared to 6!). And now we have a new one.

Alexis had been trying to sit. You'd put her down on her butt and let go. At first, no control whatsoever. Maybe a split second of balancing, then sideways she'd keel. Slowly, we moved to her being a bit closer to success. She'd keep better balance, but we still had to make a little ring with our hands around her lest she tip over (which happened regularly). And then, suddenly, we put her down and there she was, balancing on her own with very little weebly wobbly. There are still moments where the large head pulls her to the side, or she gets excited about something and kicks, not realizing that doing so knocks her off her butt, but she's pretty steady.

So many things have improved as a result of her sitting. You can put her on the floor and let her play with toys. You have to sit with her and make sure she stays upright, but she can entertain herself much longer. When you change her clothes, you can sit her up on the changing table and get her shirts on and off easily. We don't need to wrap a blanket or towel around her in the high chair to keep her level. Though the chair is still much too roomy for her, she can sit up sans towel.

But it's a double edged sword. For example, she was in her little bouncy-rocky chair thing. Jamie and I were going about our business, and I looked over and her and she was sitting up in it! We never strap her in...where was she going to go? But now she'd utilized those tiny little wash-tub abs and pulled herself into a sitting position. With a little more forward momentum, she'd go headfirst onto the hardwood. She sits, great, but now she can topple.

Sitting brings her more frustration too. She knows what it's like to sit. She knows she can. So if she's on her back, she'll sometimes get mad, because she's seen the world from a prone position and likes it better. She also gets annoyed if she's sitting on the couch, playing, and then suddenly drops to her side, she complains. "What the hell...I was sitting and now I'm not, and I can't get myself back up, so help me will you?"

I know this is going to continue. Will be great when she crawls, but then everything is at her disposal (and the floors need to be clean). When she begins to cruise, everything needs to move up to a higher shelf lest she grab a candle and shove it in her mouth. When she starts talking, she'll be adorable until she says something embarrassing or won't shut up. I guess it all comes with the turf. You can't have one without the other. I know we'll love each and every new moment, even if there's another edge of the sword waiting to knick us!

and injustice for all...

The little one has been babbling her heart out. Just as she found her toes a month or so ago (and immediately learned to suck them in a feat of unparalleled flexibility), she suddenly found her voice. No real letters to speak of...just gibberish.

The other day, she found the letter "d". Everyone probably knows where this one's going. Apparently, when you get the "d" sound down pat, the natural letter that follows is "a". Makes absolutely no sense to me, but I guess if I go through each vowel, that one's the easiest.

I was prepared for dada to be one of the first sounds she'd make. I know that there is absolutely no person attributed to this...saying it does not reference Jamie, it's just a sound. That being said, Jamie relishes in this. She says it over and over and over again, and while I find it amusing, I think it packs much more of a punch for him. "Are you jealous?" he asks me. No - this is nature. But then I think about why this is more amusing to him then me. I wouldn't say it's jealousy, but in the end it is a little unfair.

Considering the nine (or 10, if you follow the pregnancy rules) months that I carried her, I should be thrown a little bone. Whoever that person up there is, they should have altered human speech development to make "m" the first sound baby utters. C'mon now!

However, there is a silver lining. Dad will lead to Daddy. And Daddy leads to her wrapping her Daddy around her little finger. I can hear the way it will roll off of her little tongue. Daaaaaddyyyyy...I want [insert thing here]. And when she becomes a teenager, it'll still be "But daaaaadddyyyyy...I want to [insert pass time here]. Mommy doesn't roll off the tongue the same way. That's why us moms aren't pliable enough to be wrapped around a finger. You can't whine it just right.

So while he can relish in the sound now, in time it will be his demise. "Mumumum" can wait. It'll keep me stronger for the days when I have to put my foot down. Unfortunately, that only perpetuates the Daddy-whine, since my foot going down results in "Daadddyyyyy...Mom won't let me [insert injustice here]".

I can wait.

the average life expectancy...

When your pregnant, it is socially required that you go to a baby store of some sort and register for a multitude of contraptions. Stroller, mattress, bath tub insert, etc. And then come the other things you need to (or are supposed to) register for. They're all intended to move your child in some way to keep them soothed or entertained. Swing. Bouncy. Exer-saucer. Pack-n-play complete with song and vibration. The list goes on and on. Each one gets added onto the list. You need each one, right? Otherwise it wouldn't be on everyone's registry!

Once each one is received as a gift, you get them home and try to figure out what to put where. Our living room looks like a day care. Swing (which is an enormous papsan) in one corner, Exer-saucer meets springboard in front of the couch. Sitting contraption that can either rock or cradle. All of this in the living room of a 1200 sq ft home. I can't get into drawers of the wall unit that we have, but I guess miscellaneous power cords and arts and craft materials aren't necessities. If there's a powercord panic situation, we can move something. Otherwise, you're out of luck.

The $150 swing was my favorite, and really did make a difference. Like a little padded pod, she could lay in the middle all cozy and supported. Above hang butterflies. Stars are lit up and project onto the netting that encompasses all but the front. Her own little pink paradise. It can swing side to side or front to back. Again, our limited space dictates side to side. Luckily she likes that (though doesn't really know any different...is that fair?). The tiny baby would swing away, sometimes for hours.

Now it's a bit different. At 6 months and 19 pounds, this isn't the same swing. First of all, she just about has limbs hanging off of the sides of this thing. "Keep your arms and legs in the vehicle at all times." The butterflies overhead are no longer blurs...they're tempting stuffed thingies that need to be grabbed. When it's swinging and the butterflies spin, a baby grabbing it makes a horrible clicking sound as the motor tries desperately to keep them moving. She gets excited in there and kicks around. Side to side tries to become back to front, it creaks and groans, and I wonder how in the world this thing has a 30 pound weight limit. There must be a hidden disclaimer somewhere.

This $150 swing has lasted 6 months. That's $25 a month. Sure - seems cheap. But add to that formula, diapers, etc, and I'd say that a cheapo swing with a crank, a la my brother's swing in 1989, is much more cost effective. Screw the butterflies. Screw the netting. And lights that spin...please.

The lesson I've learned? Most of these expensive plastic things don't last long (not because they're worn and torn, but because these buggers grow at an amazing rate). With kids, often the box is more entertaining then what's inside. I'm not sure she would enjoy lying on the hard floor instead of the comfy swing - there'd be no parental relief in that, but an enormous pink swing will not be on the list in 4 to 5 years (that's my estimate...Jamie claims 2, but anatomically I think I make that choice). I give it another 3 months before she outgrows the other thingies in our living room. Until then, let's put the dogs in them or even try to get in there ourselves...I want my money's worth.

all together now...

Growing up, dinner time was very traditional in my family. In 1980's suburbia, where mom stayed home and dad worked, 5:30 became the established time that dinner was ready (which coincidentally was the time he came home...interesting). 5:30 stayed the reservation time (even to this day), and at that time the whole Wieland family would sit down to a home cooked meal, thanks to Mama.

When Jeffrey and I got older, things would come up and we'd miss the designated dinner time. Sometimes only three of us dined around the table. The person's assigned seat would seem empty. If someone else came to dinner, it was hard pressed to figure out who needed to move to allow the newbie in. But all were welcome.

Then I move out. Jamie and I have RARELY sat at the dinner table to eat. Our dinner table is typically strewn with mail and the like anyway - no room to eat. We used to eat off of our coffee table, but when that was collecting too much junk, I did away with a coffee table entirely. We resorted to purchasing folding TV tray tables and eating in the living room.

Alexis came along and it didn't change anything at first. She drank from a bottle at strange times anyway - no need to clear the mail just for her. But now things are different. She sits in her little attachable "high chair" at the table (we opted for one that clips to the table since our kitchen is small enough...don't need something else sitting on the floor). She munches away (or semi-slurps) at her rice mixed with sweet potato or carrots or fruits. Typically we've been giving that to her around 5:30/6:00. Now we have a reason to clear the mail off of the table and sit with the family.

I subscribe to the idea that a family benefits from eating together. She needs assistance at the moment, so I've been making our dinner while Jamie feeds her, but in time we can all sit together at the same time for dinner. There was warmth and comfort in knowing that I'd have a delicious meal ready for me at 5:30. Even if there wasn't much said (which, with me and Jeffrey being a part of the family, was a rare occasion), we were still together on a daily basis.

My goal? To be able to say (or even have it be pleasantly known) that dinner is at 6:00. You can go out Alexis, but dinner's at 6. Sure, your friend can come over for dinner tonight - tell them 6:00. As a mom, it's one of those many things that I can do to make our family happy and healthy. Check that box off the list.

sit, paw, roll over...

Kids are amazing. One day they can't do something, the next they can. It's like a little light flicks on in their head, connecting one thought to another that says, "hey wait a second, I CAN do that!" Sometimes, lights are flicking on left and right and over the course of a week or two, new things are popping up all over. Then there are the times where you sit and wait for that next light. Maybe shake their noggin' to see if the bulb is broken? Those are the times when you go online, as your parents or friends, or look at other babies to figure out where she should be. And of course, as I said in a few other posts, that's the worst thing to do. They all develop differently. Different sized bulbs set on different timers. I almost didn't post this for fear of another mommy thinking, "wow, her daughter sucks."

Not only are those connections in her mind important, but so is muscle tone (or let's say muscle strength, as tone conotates that she's tight and svelte, and that's definitely not the case - check out her new stats on the right). What's funny is often times the head and body don't mesh. She thinks to herself, "huh, look at that, I think I can sit right here on my own." Then she tries but suddenly that huge head of hers tips to the right, the body starts to go with it, and while you can see the valiant attempt to correct it, down she goes." Same with rolling. "Wow, I can grab my toes and eat them if I'd like, and if I let myself, I can tip over to each side and maybe roll." Then suddenly an arm gets in the way or a knee doesn't tuck in and she's stuck on her side, wondering what's next.

She did roll though! A little while ago we had her on her tummy (which she detests...all the more motivation to roll to your back.) A few times we assisted...help her tuck and let her roll. And then the muscles and brain aligned, and she did it on her own! When we went to my parent's house for dinner and showed them, she really had it - my dad had grabbed the camera and before he could snap the shot, she was on her back.

However, babies are very good at making liars of you. Somehow a light went back out (or maybe it was simply the lack of practice?) and the daycare said she was tipping back and forth but not rolling. Hmmm...are they stupid and don't know what a roll l0oks like? Expensive liars. So I tested it at home. No roll (only screams of, "get me off my stomach!") So now we're back to assisted rolling and am sure that in the next day or so she'll do it again.

Practice makes perfect and, as the dogs have shown us, so does positive reinforcement. That's it! I'll take the Beggin' Strips upstairs with us! If Ripley will bow, paw, jump, lay and roll (all in the same string of tricks...she's awesome) for a meaty treat, then why not a baby? I'm waking Alexis up and grabbin' the bacon. Roll Alexis. Good girl!