Stir crazy and lack of sleep

"Oh, Lia is SO easy! She just sleeps all the time!"

I knew it was going to bite me in the ass. I just knew it.

Lia has gone from being an angelic sort of baby who pretty much sleeps through the night, to being a rather bad little person who sleeps for three or four hours, and then wakes up every 1.5-2 hours after, and who decides, at 5:30am that its time to get up and start the day.

(yawn)

Her mother is not thrilled about this new development. The problem is, when I stagger into her room at 5:30am, cursing small babies everywhere who deprive their mother's of needed sleep, she is always just lying in her crib, waving her little hands around and BEAMING. I was telling Chris yesterday that she always looks like a happy, smiling duck billed platypus in the middle of the night. I've never SEEN a duck billed platypus and I've definitely never seen one smile, but if I did, it would like just like Lia. Her little round face just crinkles into a I-can-barely-contain-myself smile, and she kicks her legs in enthusiasm as I fumble to pick her up. She really is a dear, and even when I want to just let her howl in bed, I can't help but love her. She doesn't seem to have any problems taking naps during the day, its just sleeping through the night which is proving impossible for her I suppose.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of her from last night...

Sitting with Daddy

She's starting to hold her head up pretty well now.

Just hanging out. :)

Gettin' ready to go to the store!

When its 37 degrees outside, you gotta bundle up!
Click on picture for full view.

Fun with Photoshop

I *love* photoshop- the things you can do in it to pictures is just amazing. Anyhow, I was messing around with the below picture (which you've already seen) and came up with the following picture. :) Oh, and in case you didn't know, if you want to view any picture full size, just click on the picture and it should come up as the full sized picture. :)

Bathtime with Lia

Here's Lia right before her bath. She LOVES her changing table (we have no idea why) and gets really excited and starts kicking and squawking as soon as she's laid down. She's staring at the mobile right above her head here.

Look at her cute little rolls of fat :)

Just in. She always looks like she's not quite sure what to think when she's first put in.


Wet hair!


"Mom, you really have to stop with the hair sculpting..."


"Do I look like a nun?"


Yay! We're done!


All dressed and decent again!


Sorry, I just think she's so pretty and I have to post another picture. :)


Making faces in her swing.


That's all folks! :)

More Pictures

I caught Lia sleeping against her new toy...

She was NOT happy about being disturbed.

But then she decided to give me a smile!

This was her sleeping on my lap yesterday

A little while later she changed positions, giving me a good look at any boogers that might be lurking in that little nose.

Isn't she such a pretty baby?

But this is her favorite way to nap... but I don't get anything done when she naps like this!

Nicknames

Lia Bird

Button.

Lady Lovely Lock.

QP.

Lil' Miss.

Cutie McTooty.

Musha Musha.

Bootiful Baby.

Sweet One.

The sheer volume of her nicknames are incredible. I guess even Lia is a nickname since her real name is Amelia. But I don't think I've called her Amelia more than once or twice. Maybe when she is twenty-five and working in a corporate office, or married, or doing grad school she will be Amelia. But not now. Right now she is my Pretty Porker (don't worry, I'll stop calling her that when she can understand!), my Lovey Love, and my Precious (said in Golum inflected tones). She has a nickname for every moment of the day. For every mood, and for every situation. She will be Lia and her other hundred and one nicknames through her childhood. Through the first bites of real food, through the cheerios, walks, park visits, scraped knees, early birthdays, preschool and anything else that speaks of childhood. She will be my Lia Bird for as long as she can. :)

Educational

I had gone to ToysRUs to get diapers. Lia was running low on them. I knew that the store would be full of brightly colored toys and things which every mothering magazine would tell me I would need, but I was bound and determined to stalk past them, grab the huge box of diapers and head straight for the checkout line. No unscheduled stops. No buying anything else.

I made it halfway. Lia and I got to the diapers section without me touching anything but as we walked back towards the front of the store I saw something I HAD to have. The Fisher Price Ocean Aquarium Soother. I had to have it. I stared at it. They had a little hole cut out in the package so that you could test it out. I pushed it and waited expectantly. I'm sure my face looked like a two year old's on Christmas morning. Soft music began to play, lights began to dance. I barely contained myself from hopping up and down and clapping. Lia HAD to have this wonderful thing! I wasn't sure what it was for, but if Fisher Price was selling it, well, it HAD to be something every mother should have. As I clutched it ecstatically I glanced at the price. $49.99 OUCH. Fifty dollars? Would Chris understand? Would he understand the overwhelming desire I had to give our daughter this bright and beautiful piece of plastic? I hesitated. I put it in front of Lia's sleepy face and pushed the button.

"Would you like this?" I pleaded with her. Her big eyes opened a little wider and then closed. She wasn't any help. I was going to have to tackle my guilt alone. I stood there for the next five minutes. I put it back on the shelf and started to walk away. Then my ass went backwards and I had to go along with it. I HAD to have it. I grabbed it off the shelf again, feeling like I was stealing and bolted for the checkout lines. When the check out lady said the total I ALMOST felt like telling her to put it back, but not quite.

"Did you know it needs 4 C batteries?" her voice scraped my nerves.

"How much are those?" I rasped.

"$12.50."

Well, what's another twelve bucks... My conscience is a bad influence.

I walked out of the store, trying to think of a good way to justify my purchase to my hardworking husband. Chris would let me buy whatever I want, but he'd always ask if it was necessary or tell me that I had bought it on a whim (both questions which I always answer yes too...) but then once I bought it he wouldn't say anything else about it. He's a great sort of husband to have. He makes you feel the guilt but then its gone a little bit later. :)

I walked into the front door, heaving my huge bag behind me. I slowly pulled it out of the bag. The shiny Ocean Aquarium Soother looked a little bigger and more expensive than it had in the store.

"What's that?" Chris glanced up from the television.

"Its something for Lia." My opening statement. It WASN'T for me. Gawd no. I would never dream of buying something for myself. Everything was for our little girl who deserved nothing but the best.

"Oh?" His reply was noncommital. I wasn't sure what would come next.

"Yes." I pulled out the argument I had been perfecting the ten minute car ride home. "Its educational!"

Silence...

"Oh. All right." Chris smiled at me. "Get her anything that's educational! We want her to be smart!"

I felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

But now, whenever I buy Lia another toy, another onesie, another pedicure (well, okay, that really was for me...) I just mutter, "Its educational".

Bathtime!

I was washing Lia's hair and styling it in wild hairstyles and once I hit this one I stared at her for a few minutes. She looked vaguely familiar. I couldn't remember who she looked like. Where had I seen that style before? I knew I had...

And then I remembered! Cera, from The Land Before Time, which incidentally was one of my favorite movies growing up. :) Doesn't Lia look like her?

More pictures

With one of her favorite toys from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mike :)

I had just given her a bath- and look, her hair is all curly!

Flirting last night with Auntie Kate

This is the way she always sleeps in her swing, with her hand up. Sometimes she has it cushioning her face though.

This is what she looks like right when she wakes up. Her face is still all relaxed and her lips are all pursed. :)

And this was her last night laughing for the first time!

Lia laughed!

Unfortunately our camcorder doesn't hook up to the computer so I can't upload video, but Lia laughed last night for the first time! The rest of the evening was, of course, spent with Chris and I acting like total idiots as we tried to get her to laugh again. And I'm sure that from now on, I will continue acting like an idiot in an attempt to get her to laugh again... I will try to keep that to in private but if you see me jumping up and down at the mall and squawking "OOUGA!" its just because I'm trying to get her to laugh. :)

I Feel Like a Mom...

So every night Lia wakes up at some point. Be it 12:29am, or 4:37am, she always wakes up at least once to eat. I know her cry. Its an annoyed cry, as if she has been lying in her crib, waiting patiently to be fed, but finally decides that some vocal urgency is needed. I know that cry well, and whenever I hear it in the night, I get up slowly and fumble my way to her room to feed her.

Last night, as I was pleasantly slumbering, I heard a different cry than her normal one. And instantly, I knew that it was her panicked cry. I LEAPT from bed, throwing my pillows by accident at Chris and flew into her room. Once in there, I had to steady myself on her crib since in my haste I forgot that when you jump from a lying down position to a standing position, sometimes the blood doesn't return to your head as quickly as you would like. Lia was perfectly fine, she had manuevered her way out of her swaddle and kicked off her blankets, leaving her arms flailing. Lia already has made it very clear that she hates being naked or being put down without something on her stomach to give the illusion of a hand being placed on her. But as I wrapped her tightly and started to feed her I got a good feeling. I really felt like a mom. You would think that since she is 10 weeks old, that would have already happened, but last night (or early this morning rather) I really felt like a mom. :) I heard her cry, knew something was different and got in there in record time. :) I was always afraid that when I had a baby it would cry whenever I held it, that I wouldn't understand it and that the baby and I would just stare blankly at each other all day. My nerves returning to normal, I started to feed Lia, my eyes half closed as I tried to keep myself awake. I looked down, and as I did, Lia popped herself off, stared up at me for a moment with big wide eyes and then gave me a huge, bright big smile. Yup. I really felt like a mom. :)

Photo Session

Don't you love the hair?
Sittin' pretty

Now for some 'nekid' pictures!

Amelia's First Day on Earth

Here are some pictures from Lia's first day...

Right after her entrance.

Looking like a little gnome... (PS. Having your hands strapped to an operating table is no fun)

Only a few minutes old with Daddy.


Red and poufy and getting her hair washed.