Yes, that’s right, we’re off to Grandmother’s house! Leina and I are taking our first airplane trip down to LA to visit my parents with a trip down to SD to introduce Leina to her cousins Daniel and Sammy. I’m very excited and very nervous because I have no idea what Leina will do on an airplane. Kevin is going to join us later so I’ll be doing the flight solo. Thank goodness it’s just a short hop down to LA. I’m sure my darling daughter will rise to the occation.

Poor Kevin is so depressed tonight. All the toys have been packed, her closet houses mostly empty hangers – ever the bouncy chair that sits on the kitchen table is gone. Tonight, Kevin held and cuddled Leina way past her bedtime. He just didn’t want to let go. I think it’s going to be a very long two weeks for Kevin. He’s really going to miss his darling baby girl.

I tried to consol him by pointing out that he has Artie but he didn’t take much comfort in that fact. I have a feeling the pooch is in for some real spoiling while we are gone but he deserves it.

Wish me luck at the airport. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing…

Kevin came home late the other night and brought McDonald’s for dinner. Leina was asleep for the night and after eating, he watched me sit at the table and fondly smell my hands.

“What in the world are you doing?” he asked as he watched my face break into a goofy grin.

“I’m smelling my hands”, I replied.

“I can see that,” he said, still confused. “Why?”

“Because they smell wonderful. They smell like Leina and french fries. It’s a perfect combination,” I replied with a sigh.

“So, basically, you want to roll our daughter around in a batch of McDonald french fries?” Kevin asked in disbelief.

“Yup. That’s about right.” Kevin just shook his head and began clearing the table leaving me to sit and sniff that magical combination for a few moments longer.

I sometimes find myself wondering if Leina really is my kid or if she was switched with another sometime at the hospital. I know she was wearing an ID bracelet and all but I still have my doubts.

You see, I love to sleep. In fact, I am the queen of sleep. In high school, I could fall asleep late Friday night and wake up Sunday morning if left undisturbed. Before Leina, everyone knew that my day didn’t start until “double digits” so no one ever bothered to try and reach me before 10am because I was zonked. My ideal routine was to go to sleep around midnight and get up around ten. This worked just fine until non-Mini Me showed up.

I’m telling you, this kid is the exact opposite. Her idea of sleep is to crash for the night around 6pm and get up around 6am. Bleck. Poor Kevin, who usually gets home around 6:30, doesn’t even get to see his baby girl. I’m bleary eyed and grumpy to get pulled out of bed around 5:30am by an awake baby. No matter what we do, we can’t seem to change her sleep clock. She goes down for the night whether I want it or not. A few times, I’ve woken her up when she’s gone down too early like around 5pm but mostly there isn’t much you can do.

I know the reason she’s on this wierd schedule is that she doesn’t nap. Still. Yes, how long have I been complaining about her napping? Months? And still she won’t take naps and when she does, they only last about 40 minutes. It drives me absolutely wild. I’ve given up trying to sooth her to sleep and am just letting her cry. She’s pretty consistant on this front. She’ll cry for somewhere between 30 to 45 minutes before falling asleep.

If she falls asleep.

When she wails for over and hour, I just go get her and start another “up” cycle. She’s usually exhausted and grumpy and will only stay up for about 20 minutes before she starts fussing so it’s back to the crib where she cries for an hour, then I go get her, and the cycle starts again. Is it any wonder that by 5pm she’s dropping from exhaustion? On a bad day, she’ll cry for about 5 hours total and get about 4 hours of sleep. Definately not a winning combo.

So I’m pretty sure she’s not really my kid or, if she is, she somehow didn’t get my sleep gene. I mean, how can she not love sleep? I just don’t get it. Everyone tells me that eventually she will figure out this nap thing but I don’t believe them. I’ve just set my mind to accept the fact that she’ll scream bloody murder for 30 minutes or more before every nap and this way I’m not quite so anxious when she does. Of course, it still breaks my heart.

Sigh. Sometimes, this mom things really sucks.

OK, so my brilliant daughter continues to amaze me. As if the whole grabbing thing wasn’t enough, she’s upped the ante.

She has mastered the hand-mouth maneuver. Yes, she will grab something and now pull it into her drooly mouth. It’s amazing to watch. See, grab, eat. On top of this, she loves her tongue and will lie around with the tip hanging out of her mouth. Kevin and I both have to same reaction to this. We just have to reach over and grab it.

We’ve decided, however, that she is definately right handed. Sure, she’ll use the left but her favorite hand is totally the right.

In just one week her movements have gone from random flailing baby to purposeful grabbing girl. I’m afraid I’ll wake up tomorrow and she’ll be sitting at my computer typing away. She’s just growing too fast. I’m still enthralled with the grabbing. I’m not ready for another development yet!

Since she is officially 3 months old we took the obligatory Pooh shot. There are a bunch on Ofoto but this is my favorite.

Leina has found her hands.

Not that she ever lost them, mind you. Rather, she has recently discovered that she can control those chubby little fists. Now, she bats at anything infront of her and toys have become something more than just pretty things to look at. They’ve become something to touch.

She’s still learning how to use these things called fingers. Right now, her approach is rather primative – wild swings and random batting. She hasn’t learned how to grab or pull yet. Right now, just being able to touch fascinates her.

And me.

I love to watch her. She concentrates so hard on her toy. You can just see the determination on her little chubby face. She wills her hands to move and they jerk and dance in front of her. Then, suddenly, she’ll make contact and she’ll go still. Her little fingers rubbing the material, her eyes wide, her whole body savoring this new experience. And as soon as she gets it, her hands fly away, out of control again. But does she give up? Oh no, not my Ms. Leina Jane. She recoups, focuses, and soon enough, her chubby fist is right back on target and she’s regained contact. It’s utterly amazing to watch. We’re both mesmerized by her newfound talent.

She is also sleeping on her own. That’s right, we’ve retired the bassonett and my baby girl is sleeping in her own room. Getting her to sleep is still a major scream fest but once down, she’s very good. Kevin, the dog and I have all reclaimed our places upstairs but I have to confess I miss her. Sure, I have the baby monitor but it’s not the same. I miss her little rustling sounds, her fist sucking and random cooing. I find now that I like her early morning nursing. I enjoy seeing her and holding her for a little while at night while she nurses. Just the two of us while the whole house sleeps.

Ah, my sweet girl, how fast you are growing!

Happy Halloween!

For Leina’s first Great Pumpkin day, she’s going to go as a germ.

Yup, that’s right, my poor baby girl caught my cold. She has a big old runny nose, watery eyes, and little baby cough right now. Actually, I don’t think she minds the cold so much. I think I’m more of a bother.

Everytime she sneezes, I rush over, and vaccum out her nose with one of those blue bulb thingys. The first couple times I attacked her, she thought it was kind of funny. Now, she sees me coming and goes on the defense. She begins to wildly swing her head back and forth trying to avoid the bulb. I follow her head, forth and back, until our motions sync up and then….. in goes the bulb and out come the boogs. Leina, of course, lets our a little cry of protest but she can’t escape me so she just sits there, shooting me dirty looks, as I wipe away the offending boogers.

I must say, in the last two days, I’ve become quite adept at the plug and wipe technique. I can see, however, how this could get much tougher later on when, oh, say…. she can run away from me. Hopefully by then she’ll be able to blow her nose on her own and that horrid blue bulb can be packed away for good.

Opps, gotta run, I just heard a sneeze!