Horsies Are Like Big Sydneys

Last Sunday, Mother’s Day, Ila and Ross and I went out to Grammie’s house for a bit, and Ila got very up close and personal with the horsies. She is already enthralled by Sydney, so to see an animal THAT much bigger was a lot of fun for her. Here are some pics:

iPhone Pics

I have a love- hate relationship with my iPhone. I love it because I can see who left me messages, pick the order in which I listen to them, and even fast-forward or rewind if need be with a simple swipe of the finger. I love that I can use it as my iPod when I run and still have my phone with me too. I love my weather channel app that gives me instant hourly/ 36-hour/ 10-day forecasts as well as the local radar in video format. It also feels just oh so good for some reason to double tap photos or webpages to make them zoom in or out. That was genius on apple’s part. However, I also hate my iPhone at times. I hate that it takes me forEVer to text because my fingers are too fat for the touch pad. If I didn’t go back and correct all my misspelled words people would think I am either really funny or really nuts. My texts would go something like “I poopy want to go to the storp, can shoe?” I also hate my iPhone because I sometimes accidentally call people by touching the wrong thing.

As I was going through my iPhone pics yesterday, I realized there are some awesome ones that I needed to share. They go in a progression of before Ila was born (lots of Sydney and sea creatures) to when the little babelet arrived. I hope you enjoy them!!

I can hold my cup by myself now!

Ouchies!

As my giant dumbell-shaped water bottle I had in high school put it, “no pain, no gain.” This is the essence of Ila’s last month of tooth growing and it has not been easy for any of us! Just when she was settling into a nice predictable schedule and I thought I was doing SUCh a good job, she suddenly despised her crib or anywhere outside twelve inches of her mommy. We gave her some tylenol before she went to bed on the nights she really seemed to be in pain, but if she immediately stops screaming when i simply hold her, she can’t be in all THAt much pain can she?! I guess her mommy is her favorite medicine ;) So while I inwardly am LOVING this mommy-clingy stage, it’s also exhausting! It is sooo cute bringing her in bed with us at night and having her cuddle against me, but that also means that I’m stuck in that same position for the whole night no matter what! After two weeks of that along with her taking 30-40 minute naps during the day, (as opposed to her usual 1-1 1/2 hours) we started trying to keep her in her crib at night again. It works, but it also means jumping out of bed 5-6 times per night and running to her screaming until I can get her to sleep again. I honestly don’t think I’m capable of the “cry it out” method, but fortunately I don’t really believe in it either. I’ve studied too much Freud I think. Anyway, as hard as it is to watch my little darling experience some of the “ouchies” of life, I think I am meant to cherish this period of late-night cuddling because I know it will go by before I know it. With God’s help, I hope that I can provide her with the love and comfort she needs and instill in her trust that someone will always be there in her times of “ouchies.”

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Twitter is causing quite a stir. Though it has been out for several months now, it has lately caught on with our hip technology savvy friends. (If you don’t know what Twitter is, just skip this entry or watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w). While I acknowledge the dangers in moving even further away from actual human contact in relationships, fueling the need for instant gratification of KNOWING what people are doing, and even fooling oneself into thinking one has friends, I think it can also be a lot of fun if used “properly.” Now, what do I mean by “properly” you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. From my perspective, I don’t care too much to know the mundane things my friends are doing like watching TV with their cats, (but now if Ashton Kutcher was doing that, I WOULD be interested). Celebrities are a different story. (They are obviously using Twitter for their own personal gain of promoting themselves by making thousands of people think they are actually friends with them and then telling these “friends” to watch their show or movie; however, it is still somewhat intriguing to know what they are eating for dinner. So despite feasting on the not-so-mundane information of celebrities eating spaghetti with their cats, I do think there are some great reasons to tweet). But back to my reasons to tweet. My “tweasons, if you will . . . Firstly, I think it’s really fun to use different variations of the word “twitter” while tweeting. “Don’t you twitterstand? You could become a twitterlebrity!” This “bite-sized yippity yap” can be really fun if you don’t take it too seriously and delve into the lingo. Secondly, it can keep you better connected with your friends. Sure, this would be lame if we based the entire friendship on 140-character texts, but when tweeting is used in addition to the phone, emails, facebook, texts, and oh yeah, actual human contact, it can really enhance the friendship through sarcastic banter and random comments. Thirdly, and I guess lastly, because I’m already feeling a little silly writing this much about twitter . . . tweeting is ideal for us stay at home moms (and unemployed dudes) to feel connected with humans throughout the day when there isn’t time to be on the phone or talking in person to other adults. It just makes the day a little more entertaining. Sure, it’s probably true that it’s more enticing to share with “others” what you are doing than it is to read what they are doing, which is a little narcissistic, but if one realizes this and embraces the ridiculousness of it all, I say go right ahead and tweet away. . . After all, it’s not very often one has the opportunity to talk to NO ONE and EVERYONE all at the same time. That sounds twitterific if you ask me.

What's That Fing On Her Head?

So Ila was born with what is called a “hemangioma” on her head, which is a collection of blood vessels that are temporarily clumped together. Lots of babies have them. It has already reached it’s largest point and has started shrinking, and it will eventually deconstruct on it’s own within her first year. Since “hemangioma” is a big word that I often forget, we call it “Steve.” While I don’t really notice it anymore, and when I do it actually makes me thankful that it is the biggest of our worries, the comments I receive about it from grown adults amaze me. Adults comment with polite passive aggressive attempts to inquire about it (and if we are having it removed of course), while children have no qualms about coming right out and saying what they are thinking. I prefer the honesty of kids. We were out to dinner the other week with a four year old who kept asking “What’s that fing on her head!?” This gives me the opportunity to make up something absolutely ridiculous about it being a magic button that makes her stop crying when we push it, or I just tell them “his name is Steve.” The other day a woman at church said to me “Oh I’m sure they can remove that.” Thanks lady. I would much rather her say “Hey, what’s that fing on her head?” To which I would kindly respond, “it’s attached to your rod motha licka.”

Firsts . . .

 Ila is growing so fast. We woke up two mornings ago and I swear she looked different than the day before. It makes me sad to think how fast she’s growing, (which I am constantly reminded of by almost every adult parent who has a child out of the house... yes, I understand “they grow up before you know it!”) Please stop reminding me people; I can see it before my own two eyes! BUT, it also amazes me to watch her grow and develop. SHE amazes me every day. So now that she is almost six months old, she has had several “firsts” lately. Her first time at a playground was last Wednesday when it was almost 80 degrees, so we tried out the swings for a few minutes. Now that she can sit up on her own, she no longer needs her infant bath and she can sit in the front part of the shopping cart! I can’t believe it! She had that expression on her face the entire time we were in the grocery store, just taking it all in. We also took a trip to St. Michaels last weekend with the Rathbones, and judging by this picture, I think she already has her first boyfriend! Ok, not really, that scares me, but isn’t this picture cute?!

Noah and Ila

A Day at the Aquarium

Ila and I had a nice afternoon at the Virginia Aquarium, formerly known as the Virginia Marine Science Museum, which is what I still call it... anyway, with Blair and Kate Fine! Sure, it may have been a premature effort to expose our babies to new and mind-enhancing environments, but us mommies sure did have a good time snapping pictures and watching sharks and sea turtles just inches from our faces. I was absolutely positive that the biggest scariest shark wanted to eat me. Meanwhile, Kate was more interested in sucking on her feet and Ila on her fingers, but we got some great pictures! Ila was actually interested in watching some fish swim by her here and there, but was way more interested in her fingers for sure. It was cute to see all the other mommies with their babies doing the same things... holding their babies up to look at the ginormous sea turtle right in front of them while they stare at the floor or try to devise a way to suck on their big toe. But hey, we mommies gotta get out of the house and flaunt our cool strollers at some point! Can you see Ila’s excitement in this picture?!