Color me Happy (color = orange)

I'm on a roll today, no? Well, actually I'm on carrot cake. Not literally. I made some carrot cake from scratch and it's really delicious. Lily likes it too. :) You see, I bought a 5 pound bag of baby carrots from Sam's Club. Baby carrots are $3.98 for a 2lb bag at Whole Foods. I think it was $3 something for the bag at Sam's Club. A pretty good deal, no? So I get all the groceries home and then wonder how I'm going to eat a 5lb bag of baby carrots when I already have a 2lb bag at home. Solution = carrot cake. :) I can even make carrot cake muffins that I can freeze. Wooot! I think it's so good though, that I'll bless Pedro's coworkers with one. I'll do a better job of frosting it though. :) (And there won't be a big chunk missing - unless Pedro gets a hold of it)

I know a lot of things have happened today. Let's see, Lily's been putting things inside of other things and seeing how they fit. Awesome. She also put a big pile of books on the floor, then picked them all up and put them back. Double awesome. She likes to eat shredded cheese. Every time I've given her cheese she hasn't like it. Then I read about the shredded option. Another good source of protein and calcium. Yay! Oh there she is putting a star inside of a plastic container. Go Lily!

I got a picture of Lily looking through her new book. The illustrator, Daniel Mahoney, signed it and sent it to her. I'm a little more vigilant about letting her play with it than the others. There are a few books with chewed corners and ripped pages. What a Lilypants she is. :)

Gorgeousness

I just had to put this picture up today. I think she's beautiful. :) And older than my fat old, fart of a cat, Miss Daphne. Anyway, I need to get ready to go out and pick up something I had framed. It's needlepoint (?) that a great-grandmother of mine made. I framed it so Lily can have something that her great-great-grandmother made. :) Ahhh posterity, how it bleeds the pocketbook. :)

Happy Toes!

I do feel better since I had my toes done. Lily keeps on trying to pull the bright color off of toenails. Yes, I'm so white I do glow in the dark. I'm also in a better mood cuz I was talking with my friend who owns the salon and we were brain storming about work I could do for her. I just feel more positive and like I have some options now. :) I was feeling stuck in a rut and with the economy looking so shady, I was worried about our future. And I'm a professional worrier. I wish I could get paid for that. Sigh.

Color me Ewwwww! (color = puce?)

The FDA says it has found no safety risk in meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs and goats to be used for human consumption. I am so grossed out. The cloned food stuff wouldn't show up for 3 to 5 years in the food supply (if it hasn't already).

I try and get healthy food for my family. I always try to get "good" meat and dairy from Whole Foods, so it doesn't contain growth hormones, antibiotics, etc. This just totally gives me the heebie jeebies. UGH

Could you give that cute little baby cloned meat??? I understand that sometimes a farmer wants to clone a cow that was a really good milk producer but I also thought that a clone doesn't always turn out with the attributes you were looking for. So why clone??

In other news, I'm getting ready to go and get my pedicure. hmpf

Depressed

I've been in a funk the last week or so. I'm not sure what's going on. I know that I'm trying to break out of the shell I've been in since I've had Lily and I'm not having much success. I'm trying to shake things up in the fashion department so I bought some new jeans and they were a little big but I figured they'd shrink up in the wash. So wrong. They were falling off of my butt most of the day yesterday. I spent hours and hours (really) looking online for shoes that are a little fun and racy. I found some and just received an email that they're back ordered. As they were on clearance, I really don't think they're going to be restocked. I also bought a cheap pair of shoes that were in my size without trying them on. Got them home and boom, too tight.

It's just been that sort of time for me. I know, all these things are little but I feel like I'm being held back by the fates! I did get 2 pairs of leggings that are comfy and that actually make it all the way down my legs. I got them for walking. I wonder if there's some sort of hint in all of that??? Well, guess what fate??? You can stuff your hints cuz I may be fat but I deserve some hot shoes! HMPF

Okay, scary lady stuff aside I guess everything else is okay. I think it may be a bad moon or something. Pedro's been in a bad mood too. Lily's been okay but very accident prone. This evening she bumped her chin, not badly, don't worry. I had my leg resting on the side of the tub and that was cramping someone's style. So she pushed on my leg and I moved it but she was pushing really hard and had all of her weight on my leg so she fell forward. :( Hopefully, a valuable lesson learned.

So, I guess life goes on. Without cool shoes. I mean, I have checked EVERYTHING! From Barney's NY to Payless. Is the housing crisis affecting shoe sales??? Okay, maybe I'm a little fussy. I need a chunky heel cuz there's no way I'm balancing on a stiletto heel while holding Miss Lily. At least, not for very long. And I'm restricted by the cost. But Still! I know, there are people out there with real problems.

In Lily news, she ate twice as much as usual today. I'm guessing it's a growth spurt. I hope she's taller in the morning. :)

Scab

I dabbed a little bit of Lansinoh under Lily's nose and the scab fell off. Her wound is looking much better. :) Anyway, more later - Pedro wants me to kick his butt in a video game.

Please note the "I love Santa" pajamas. :)

Head screwed on - check!

As I was driving home this afternoon, I was thinking of all the things to write about. Of course, now I can't remember anything. argh I don't have too many new pictures of Lily. I couldn't find my camera for 2 days. Which was strange considering it was on my desk, right in front of me. Dementia, be not proud...

Anyway, ripping off John Donne was not really what I had in mind. Let's see. Lily tried unsuccessfully to climb into Pedro's computer case. It was a leftover or her head would probably not be attached to her shoulders. Pedro gets a little stressed when his computer stuff is messed with. He threw a fit when Lily ripped off the cover of his magazine. So I was relieved when Pedro saw these pictures and laughed.

Ummm Lily slept through the night last night but I think that's because I gave her some baby tylenol. She has a whopping huge molar coming in on the top. There's still a thin strip of gum holding on. blech! I've been meaning to make a video of Lily in the bath (G-rated). She is so funny and takes so much pleasure from being in the water. She pretends to swim on her belly and floats forwards and backwards in the tub. :) I tell her to enjoy it, cuz if she's a long drink of water like her daddy and I, pretty soon she's going to be stuck with sitting!

I'm trying to think if there's anything new. She still calls me daddy. She's still pretty good about eating almost everything we give her. Oh yeah! She fell asleep in the car this evening so I knew her sleeping was going to be off tonight. It took her an hour to fall asleep. She tossed and turned in her crib then she started to stand up, hanging on to the side of the crib, clutching her blanket and leaning her head back as she tried to sleep. So I got up and put my arms around her and she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep standing up while cuddling. Talk about something that could melt the grinchiest heart. So I brought her to bed and held her for the 5 minutes it took her to fall asleep. Sigh. I worry about it setting a bad precedent but as she's been falling asleep so well on her own and she had that nap, I thought I'd be flexible. I know, stop the presses, I was flexible!!!

Oh yeah! Lily's nose is doing fine. It's healing well on it's own so I'm not messing with it. :)

Well, color me embarrassed (that would be red)

Sir Edmund Hillary died today. I thought he had died ages ago. Possibly, on Mount Everest. OOPS

Onto Miss Lily. Or as I like to call her, Azteca, the Warrior Princess. It was kind of a rough day today. Lily fell and landed on her face. As far as I can tell, the pacifier in her mouth was pushed up under her nose and it lifted up a flap of skin. Yes, Lily had a bloody nose. Yes, mommy had a complete freak out. I'm not good in a crisis. If you need someone to spaz out and rip a door off of its hinges, I'm your girl.

Anyway, no I did not do her hair that way. She did have a rough day after all. Well, before we get to the gruesome nose picture, I'd like point out the monkey santa pajamas. Man, there are some good deals on Christmas stuff. 100% cotton and only $8! woot! In other news, my friend's nephew has the better kind of leukemia and instead of a bone marrow transplant, he's getting the blood transfusions and chemotherapy. So yay!



Gosh, I am really tired. I didn't get a chance to nap today. I was too wired up after the "accident" to rest. Yes, I know, Lily usually doesn't have a pacifier in her mouth unless she's sleeping, but she found it and I knew she was really really tired so.... Yes, I also feel like a bad mom. Sigh. I guess this means that the Miss Universe pageant is out for Lily. Okay, I don't really think that she broke her nose but I was sure scared.

Yes, I love it when Lily has messy hair, can you tell??? Anyway, I kind of feel like doing a Friday's Facts list now, since I have some time. I can't guarantee tomorrow!

1. We have to defrost the freezer this weekend. So it's eat all the ice cream and biscuits while you can week. :)

2. I haven't lost any weight this week.

3. I made a pedicure appointment. I'll have to pay for it with my savings but considering I can light matches off the bottom of my feet, I think it's worth it.

4. Lily bled blood and I didn't faint.

5. I love raspberry zinger tea. I drink boxes of it each month. mmmmm

6. I really want to get a dog. Lily's been quite messy lately and it would be nice to have someone else pick up for a change. :)

7. I no longer cut bananas into small pieces for Lily. I cut it into 4 chunks and she bites off her food like a real man! I mean, baby.

8. In my effort to be more organized I do the dishes every night and clean the kitchen so it won't be such a disaster when I'm not at my best. Yay me!

9. I'm about to give up sleep training Lily. It's so frustrating to put in so much effort and still get no sleep. Although, I did mean to bring a sippy cup full of water to bed with me tonight....

10. You'd think Girl Guide Thin Mint Cookie Ice Cream would taste better.

Well, boo

As in, "boo, that sucks". One of my friends has a really sick nephew at the moment. They discovered he has acute leukemia. It doesn't sound very good. I'm not in the medical field but I guess if they have to give a 3 year old 2 blood transfusions before they can talk about bone marrow transplant, things are looking a little rough.

On top of that, there are all these stories about parents killing their children. There's the man in Alabama who threw his 4 kids (one only 4 months old) off of a 80 foot bridge. The rescue efforts are trying to recover bodies.

Seriously, people. He could just have easily have driven to a fire station and said "here, I can't take care of them anymore". Granted, I read he was an addict so I'm not sure what he was thinking. Sigh. I'm not sure if these things happen because the world seems to be so crowded and stressful, or if these kinds of things have happened all along in human history but because of our bigger population and media, we hear about them more often. Wow, how was that for a run on sentence?

Oh dear, Lily walked into a door and then stormed off in disgust. I guess she's a chip off of my block too. We're all a little cranky in the Thompson household today. Lily woke me up at 1:30 and kept me awake until after 3. I dug really, REALLY, deep into my patience and tried to talk to her and calm her so she could fall asleep on her own. It didn't work. I finally broke down and took her into bed with me. I think she fell asleep right away. I know I did.

I guess I should try to add a bright spot to the day. 1) the sick nephew is at a really good children's hospital 2) I had biscuits for breakfast 3) I have an adorable healthy daughter 4) after calling "Daddy" for 2 minutes (after he left for work) Lily finally called out "Mommy!" and I got a nice hug. :)

The Great Pretender

I caught Lily doing something really amazing yesterday. She was playing pretend. :) She was pretending to pick something up (nothing was there) and put it in her mouth. Then she blabbed about how great it was. Sorry, my camera wasn't close by and I wasn't going to miss out on what she was doing to go and get it. :)

It's another warm day here today. It's just weird. I'm wearing shorts and I have the windows open. Hello? It's January. It just feels WRONG. Let's see. I'm feeling a little more perky today. I'm still sleep training Lily. Now since I don't have anything better to write about, I'll go into more detail. Lily is good at falling asleep. Lily is NOT good at staying asleep. At least, not since she got sick and every time she cried, we'd run in there to hold her and try to make her feel better.

Now Lily expects that every time she cries at night we will rush in to her. So sleep training (according to the Baby Whisperer) is to help Lily get back to sleep on her own. No cuddling, no late night snacks. Definitely, no books being read. You can let her know you're there to calm her, but it's up to her to get back to sleep on her own. So the first night I had to talk to her when she woke up. Every night since then, she wakes up and cries a little. I wait to see if she needs help but she usually flops over and falls back asleep. Yay!

I think part of the problem is that she is still in the same room as us. At some point this year, we're going to need to get her a bed. I feel bad when I go to bed at night because I'm worried that I'm disturbing her. When she has her little wake ups, she sure disturbs me! Oh yeah, and Pedro loves to sleep with her so Lily was waking up around midnight expecting someone to take her into the big bed. Every night as I get her ready for sleep, she takes off for the corner of the bed she used to sleep in. Nice try, slick!

Oh, my diet? hmpf I still feel good. When I eat something that's not on my list (of approved items) I feel it. Pedro actually eats a lot more vegetarian items now. How's that for a shocker?? (Say it "shocka") The scale says I'm not losing weight but my clothes are looser. So, who knows. I guess initially I was drawn to change my diet to lose weight. But I've felt so tired and yucky for so long that feeling good is a pretty good trade off. Now I have the energy to go for walks and do other things to lose weight. Yay me! I guess that means I have the energy to clean out the spare bedroom and paint it for Lily... boo!

Cancelled

I have to go and end my blog 365 account. Somehow I got a virus and though I don't think I got it through there, I have been told that I may not blog there anymore. Anyone who knows Pedro, knows how stubborn he can be so....

It hasn't been fun being without a computer the last day or so. :(

On the bright side, Lily's been falling asleep faster at night. She just now cried a little in her sleep and I think she settled herself. I think Pedro and I have been rescuing her a little too much. Sigh. I'm glad that I have the Baby Whisperer books.

Anyway, shoot, I knew I had something new to report.... hmmm Oh well. Oh yeah!!! It was so warm out today. I was too tired to go to the park but Lily and I walked around the driveway. She practiced climbing up our steps and she learned how much faster one can walk downhill! I think it was almost in the mid 70s today. Crazy. I wore a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops out.

PIctures

Since I'm so ding dang tired, I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Lily and I need to go in town and do some shopping so I can't take that long entertaining y'all with my whimsical prose! ha!









































I did want to note that Lily loves the beads that grandma gave her for Christmas. They are a source of daily delight. Thanks g-ma!

Ack!

I do have some new pictures to put up but I'm not sure where my camera is and I'm too tired to go and find it!!! I saw some deer hanging out in the back yard again. When you see the pics you'll be amazed that I spotted them. :)

Anyway, the word of the day is exhausted. Lily hasn't slept through the night since she was sick in December. She was so miserable that we'd lay with her and try to comfort her. Well, now of course, she expects that. Last night was the worst. Usually she's awake for an hour or two but she was up and down from 11:30 until 5. Then I woke up to her whacking me on the butt. She put her empty bottle beside me to show that she needed a drink. Smartie pants.

I've gone back to my baby books and I have a plan. I want her to sleep in her crib again, exclusively. So she is used to sleeping on her own. Cuz she's going to get her own bed this year. Daddy, or course, doesn't want to lose his snuggler. I figure, if I can get her used to sleeping on her own again, we can have special sleep with mommy-daddy nights once a week. Think happy thoughts for me!

Double Time

Isn't that when you pick up the pace in dancing? I hope so. :) I've started another blog over at 365blog thingie. It's a challenge of sorts to write every day. Yes, I know. I have a 14th month old and I'm pretty busy but this blog is all about Lily (or it's supposed to be). So this is a way for me to blab about the other stuff that I don't feel comfortable writing about here. But I won't abandon Happy Baby Blog! Sometimes, I'm #3 in Google. Yes, I'm a dork. Anyway, 365blog is a good idea for people with more time on their hands... like great-auntmas....

Today, I had to go to the podiatrist. It was our 3rd trip there and apparently, the third trip is the charm. Lily was comfortable and was therefore more difficult to handle. :) My toe got a clean bill of health although I have a growth on another toe. The word "tumor" was bandied about which is GREAT. The doc said that malignant tumors are really rare on feet so I'm okay. I just need to make an appointment to get it cut off. Okay, I think this story could have been saved for the other blog.... oops!

Today's photos were about how cute Miss Lily looks in her Elmo jeans and almost-Ugg boots. It's still scary to me, how fast they grow up. So many people told me that babies change so quickly that I really took the time to appreciate Lily in all of her babyness. :) What freaks me out is that time is going by so quickly that I know I'm getting old! Yes, it always comes down to me. :) I'm trying to think if Lily did anything outstanding today, aside from rolling a can of beans under the shelves at Food Lion. I had to get down on my knees, thank you very much, to get it back. Oh yeah. I know I've written about how well Lily eats but she's really started to test my patience. I know she needs to learn to feed herself and I know that takes time and that she wants to learn, etc. I just worry about her getting enough to eat. Look at that skinny little thing!!!

PS (Thanks auntie Nicole for the Elmo jeans - they're awesome!)

Back to Normal

Pedro had his 11 days off and thankfully he's gone back to work! I love him, but gosh he mucked with our routine. I've got Lily back to falling asleep before 8pm. Whew! I also got rid of the Christmas tree on New Year's Day so we have our hang out area back to normal. Double whew. The fireplace has been a real blessing lately. I don't think it got above freezing today. brrrrr! I know, all my Canadian homies are NOT impressed. :)

You can see where Lily stashes things in this picture. I watch her like a hawk while she eats, to prevent her from stuffing food in the sofa. I imagine 3 day old organic smoked turkey sandwich meat might stink. Oh, I should try to get a video of it - Lily is trying so hard to talk. She can say a few words but she's saying the same sounds over and over again and I'm guessing she's making a mighty effort to communicate. Although, I can't figure out what "Sho shush eno" means.

The words that Lily can say:

- No
- Mum-mum (that's me, I've upgraded from Num-num)
- Daddy!
- See!
- Hiyee! (Riley)
- Hi (she said it today when she came in the living room)

The words that Lily knows (besides the ones above):

- Don't touch!
- Cookie
- Come on
- Get out of the kitchen! (okay, maybe she just picks up on my tone of voice)
- Come here
- Bye bye
- Sit down!
- I love you (hey I have 2 witnesses to the time she said that back to me!)

I'm sure she knows other words but I probably haven't witnessed her reaction to them. Oh and in the BG picture, you're supposed to see Lily scaling the chair in the background. :) I have another appointment with the toe doc tomorrow. It's just to make sure everything is healing up okay. :) And it is. Trust me, if there was something I would have splattered the gory details all over this here blog!

Peace!