FYI

The other day my niece asked me if I am allergic to anything. I said no (it's probably not appropriate to talk about birth control pills with a 4 year old). I asked her if she's allergic to anything. She said yes - "bears and dinosaurs." Come to think of it, those are probably hereditary.

Maybe I should add them to my allergy list... (along with work and housecleaning).

It's not for lack of trying

I really wish Lu'au would take a bottle. It would make my life significantly easier (I can only guess that it would). We have tried numerous bottles with her, and we think she might start to take one - Tommee Tippee. Including that one, we have purchased and tried over ELEVEN different kinds of bottles. Oh goodness, let's hope this does not foreshadow pickiness to come...

Where are we now?

From the beginning of May to mid-July we have (or will have) spent time in the following places:

• Philadelphia
• South Florida
• Michigan
• Baltimore
• Charlotte
• Orlando

I'm going to need a(nother) vacation...

Bad Mommy

Hubby had a wedding to go to/be in over Memorial Day and we decided that it'd be too much for baby Lu'au and I to go along. He went to play in the Mediterranean and we went to see my family in Michigan.

We had tons of fun with my family. We went to the beach (I love Lake Michigan) I went fabric shopping. It was very relaxing and good. Until... my mom got pink eye. Yup, Lu'au's Grandma got pink eye. You know, the one who had been holding her and playing with her all the time? Great. So she washed her hands a ton and didn't hold Lu'au for 2 whole days. Then... on the day we left, Lu'au got pink eye in her right eye with a vengeance. All the while, I got a sore throat. I thought it was due to drier air or something, and focused on baby girl's poor eye.

I'm not sure what exactly happened, but Lu'au's pink eye spread to the other eye. And she got whatever congestion junk I have. And the other day she had a fever. Fabulous. So she has to have eye drops every 4 hours. And off-brand "Tylenol" (Tylenol is bad due to the recall). Her nose runs so I have to suction bulb it clean. All things she HATES. She has trouble sleeping and eating. Aside from her eye drop/Tylenol regimen, there's not much I can do.

Oh, and did I mention she's only gained about 1/2 a pound since her 4 month appointment and she's now a few weeks over 5 months old?

I have a headache, an achy ear (do I have an ear infection?), and am tired from my own sickness and staying up with her...

I tried to call Tricare to set an appointment to get her ears checked (and mine too) for ear infection, but their computers are down.

Mommyhood = fail.

Waiting and Talking

Sometimes I wish baby girl (shall I call her Lu'au?) would talk. I try to interpret her cries - "Mama, I am ti-red!", "I'm bored", "Can a girl get food around here?"... I try to fit my words into each one of her outbursts.

My neighbors joke that with their kids they could discern the cries to mean #4, #7, and #2... (Surely this cry means #3) unfortunately, they never received the manual to interpret what #4, #7, and #2 meant.

At times I wish Lu'au could tell me what she wanted, what's going on in her world. If she really thinks the cereal we've started to feed her tastes terrible. If she just wants to be held sometimes. If she's not frustrated with her tummy time, instead she feels the burn of the ab workout she's getting.

I'm so excited to know what she thinks... but then again, can you imagine what a baby would say if they could talk upon birth? That's where the fun really starts... "I hate this outfit", "Holy cow! Those are MY knees?", "I have a huge poop coming and this diaper doesn't stand a chance to contain it all"... the possibilities are endless when you add those to the basic needs of sleep, food, etc.

God must have had a plan in not letting babies speak until they are about one year old. Can you imagine all of the whining that could take place? All of the confusion... And what language would it have been?

I kind of wish that I would have a little more waiting involved when I speak. Sometimes I say really dumb, hurtful things. I say a lot of things just to not have silence. I've never been particularly eloquent - words don't come naturally for me. Perhaps I should take a cue from Lu'au and wait a while before I speak... but maybe not a whole year...

Picture time!

What's up with the weather?

So we've been having colder than normal weather here. And it has me all confused. Around Easter, we had some 90*+ days. That was unseasonably warm and left me scrambling for clothes in which to dress baby girl. I find that it's hard for me NOT to dress her in layer upon layer of clothes because that's exactly what I had to do for so long when she was born. Enter Easter weekend: It's hot Hot HOT. I'm still trying to put a onesie underneath everything. I teach myself to reject this desire.

Enter cold weather IN MAY. I no longer have those layers for baby girl. Most of the stuff she's in right now (3-6 months, 6 months, or 6-9 months) is summery. I have two longsleeved onesies that she wears every other day now, in a nice little rotation. I had to retrain myself how to layer her clothes... how to make sure she's warm at night. Everything. I look forward to taking her to Florida where I'll be able to dress her in warm clothes again!

Gosh, my life is boring. Sorry.