Many thanks to Kat & Josh who gave me an official Starbucks “picture” mug. In this mug you can put a picture of whatever you want so I made up a Leina collage. It was so cute JT wanted one for herself too. So I humbly submit my two creations for your mutual admiration:

For Jt…

Big day in our house. Today, Leina had her first bite of real food. Yes, that’s right, we started her on the old reliable, rice cereal.

I decided since she now has teeth, we ought to start using them. I had the spoon while my mom grabbed the camera and together we watching Leina take her first bite. Or slurp really and she did great!

I’ve been feeding her with an empty spoon for a while for she opened right up when she saw it coming. Only this time, it left something behind! She seemed a bit concerned but didn’t spit it out. No sireee, she plowed right through her first official helping of big people food. You can see the whole sequence here on Ofoto. I can hardly wait until tomorrow when we get to do it all again. I don’t think Leina can wait either because tonight, as we sat down for dinner, she watched us eating for a while and then started reaching for Tutu’s food and whining!

I’m thinking she’s going to be a great eater. Go baby!

I am so addicted to Leina’s tooth.

Every chance I get, I find myself trying to sneak my finger in her mouth to feel the little sharp tooth bud. This is getting rather difficult because Leina is constantly gnawing on things – plastic rings, toys, or her own fingers.

She’s also been horribly grumpy. Lots of fussing, whining, and crying. She’s never been a good napper but now this whole tooth thing has destroyed all semblence of a schedule and I find myself back at square one holding her through her naps.

I’d heard that after the tooth pops through the gum line it doesn’t hurt so much and the baby gets back to normal. So I thought we were free and clear on Sat when that little tooth burst all the way through. I was quite stumped, however, when my baby girl’s disposition didn’t improve. Instead, it seemed to be getting worse! Then, on one of my many tooth touching, I saw something else. Next to her first new tooth was a large, white, blister. My first thought was, “oh no, I’ve stuck my finger in her mouth so much I’ve given her a cold sore!” But after further examination, Kevin and I realized it wasn’t a cold sore but another tooth trying to poke through!

Yup, that’s right, her second tooth is on the way. Looks like she’s going to get her two bottom teeth in at the same time. No wonder she’s so miserable! It’s just begining to break through as of today so I assume we have a few more miserable days left.

To top it all of, I’ve pulled a rather empty-headed trick. Way back when in August I “organized” Leina’s room. I remember putting all the neat teething stuff people had given us together and packing it away thinking “we don’t need this yet.” Of course, now that it’s time to pull out all the cool teething supplies I have no idea where I put them! Grrrr. So I’m running to the store tonight to get my baby girl something soothing to munch on.

Man, and to think she has only two down and a dozen or so more to go. The growing up stuff sure is tough!

I have a few words of advice for all of you folk out there. It has to do with the neurosis of being a parent. Especially when you are on your first child.

I know that for me, I’m constantly worried about Leina. Is she doing ok, is she growing right, is she happy, is she healthy? This kid is the biggest responsibility I’ve ever been given and I stay up at night, biting my nails and wonder “am I doing this right?”

I think one of the hardest things to deal with are the “Yet” questions. I hate these. The worst thing you can do to a new parent is ask these dreaded questions.

“Is she turning over yet?”
“Is she teething yet?”
“Is he sleeping through the night yet?”
“Is he sitting up yet?” “First word, yet” “Walking, yet”

The truely horrible encounters are then followed up with a “Well so-and-so’s baby was already ______ (fill in action here) by two months you know.”

Please. The last thing I want to hear is that my child is slow. And, as a new parent, I have no way to deflect these “yet” questions. Instead, all I can do is smile, grit my teeth, and mutter, “no she hasn’t started turning over yet” and then listen with as much grace as I can muster to stories of what seem like every other kid in the universe doing what my child cannot.

So to all of you people out there, if you meet a mom with her first child, I beg of you to rephrase your question. Instead of asking, “is he walking yet?”, try the much for friendly approach of “my goodness, he’s really a mover. I bet he’ll be walking any day now!” If the child is walking, you’ll hear all about his first steps. If not, the very grateful parent will launch into a litinay of every almost-first-step experience the kid has gone through. And for Pete’s sake, do not, under any circumstance, launch into the story of your friend’s uncle’s newphew who was walking at 6 months. We don’t want to hear it. Trust us.

So what has launched this tyraid? Well, at Leina’s 4 month checkup, my doctor asked me a bunch of developmental questions. Is she babbling, grabing, putting things in her mouth. To each I could answer, yes.

And then she asked me… “is she turning over yet?”

“No, not yet.” I replied, with just the teensiest bit of concern. “Should she?” I ventured.

“Oh, most babies start rolling over around month 4,” the doctor replied, “but some do it a little later. So long as she’s rolling over by her 6 month visit, that’s fine. If not we’ll have to do some tests.” She went back to her chart but I was frozen in place. Test. That didn’t sound good.

So I left the office determined that Leina was going to roll over. We began the Roll Over Mission. This consisted of lots of tummy time and rolling practice. I’d put her on her side and help her over. I’d tip her, I’d push her, I’d do as little as possible to get her going. She seemed to like it but never showed any inititive. Month 4 rolled into month 5 and her 6 month doctor’s appointment was a mere 3 weeks away and still no rolling.

It was as if there was some big conspiracy because everywhere I went I was bombarded with the Yet Question. Each time I had to answer, “no, not rolling over yet” and listen with growing horror to the never ending stories about babies rolling over at two months, three months, four months. It was torturous. In desperation I pulled down my own baby book only to learn that I had rolled over at two months! Two months! Leina was already well into month 5! Was Leina ok? Were there going to be tests?

Determined, I kept on with the tummy time and the rolling practice. It seemed hopeless until this morning.

Yes, that’s right, my clearly advanced and dexterous baby girl rolled over this morning right in front of my disbelieving eyes. She was on her tummy, getting pretty mad, when she reached up to scratch her head. (She has her dad’s dry scalp so she scratches her head alot.) At just that moment, she gave a big arch and a push and voila! She turned over!

She didn’t seem too excited by this. Nowhere near as excited as I was. I swooped her up, kissed her chubba chubba cheeks and we did the My-Baby-Rolled-Over-Dance all around the living room.

So you’d think the fun would stop here, right? I mean, one big step at a time. But nooooooo, my baby girl is all over the map because after the big roll over event, I discovered yet another milestone.

Her first tooth!

Yes, that’s right, during our morning munch on mom’s finger session, I felt something sharp and hard. Sure enough, there’s a little white tooth trying to fight it’s way through. It’s the bottom left front tooth. Don’t know how I missed it before now but I did somehow.

I am completely blown away. In one mere morning, Leina has eliminated two of the dreaded “yet” questions from my life. Phew. I think I’m going to lie down for a while and try to absorb all this new stuff.

This whole mom thing, it’s overwhelming!

We finally got the Pooh page up and running. Here you can watch her grow before you very eyes. Enjoy!

The sad remains of our once noble elm.

It has one more night of freezing rain to go. It doesn’t look good.