"Look Everyone. No Hands!"

Lewis finally captured a photo of NyCee standing without holding onto something. How cute is this?

She reminds me of the old Karate films as if she is taking a defensive stand. Just like a girl. She waits until she is alone with her dad to do this grand gesture so he gets all the glory of helping her stand alone. Mothers never get any credit.

What's the point?

So today, I was out and about running errands. It was a beautiful day so I had the windows down enjoying the fresh air. I needed to run into Staples and so I pulled in, jumped out of the car, and walked into the building.

After purchasing the needed items, I left the store and returned to the car. As I approached, I realized that I left all four windows down, yet the doors were locked. Out of habit, I hit the remote on my keys ring to lock the doors. Honestly, what is the point of locking the car doors when all of the windows are down? I never cease to amaze myself with these ridiculous antics.

Survived!

I have managed to survive a full 48 hours without my daughter clingy to me. And she has managed to survive a full 48 hours without me around. I haven't figured out yet if that is good or bad.

Lewis calls me several times a day to update me on their day. I have a couple of concerns with respect to naptime and lunchtime. But they seem to be doing quiet well. For whatever reason, he is not letting her take her nap around 12:00p as normal. They were out running errands yesterday and she did not have lunch or a nap until 4:30p.m. Why? Lewis' response was, "Me and my little road dog (NyCee) were out and about. The time just escaped me." Oh well, so she didn't have a nap. At least he is feeding her vegetables and not Chick-fil-a.

Too Quiet

NyCee is with Lewis tonight enjoying his favorite past time. You guessed it! Bowling. When I came home from work it was so quiet. Eerily quiet actually. Most women would jump at a chance like this. No husband or child to look after. Tonight, it's all about me. Well, the only problem is this is the first of many nights like this one. NyCee is with Lewis for the next 10 days. 10 whole days will pass before I see my little girl again.

What am I going to do for the next 10 days? Homework. Lots and Lots of homework. No party over here! I am approaching the 8th week of the 11 week semester. I miss them terribly but really need this time alone. Does that make me a bad mom and wife?

I nearly cried when they boarded the plane. But I was strong and kept my composure. I am sure they are having a blast.

P.S. So that everyone can stay abreast of NyCee's antics, including me, I taught Lewis how to use the digital camera and send me the pictures via email.

Bedtime Games

By now, one would think that NyCee has her bedtime routine down to a science. After dinner about 5:30 or 6:00p.m. she plays for about a couple of hours to release any remaining pinned up energy. At 8:00 or 8:30p.m she gets her bath and I let her play in the tub for a few more minutes to use up any energy that she did not use during play time. Then she gets a warm bottle of milk and she is off to sleeptown around 9:15p.m.

Why is that when she gets out of the tub she has more energy than before she went in? Isn't a warm bath suppose to calm her down and prepare her for sleepy town? Instead, she decides to play peek-a-boo 20 times.

And her father does not help the situation by encouraging her to play. Honestly, some days, I think I have two kids!

And then there were 4....

In 31 days, my little girl will be one year old. Can you believe how quickly the time has passed? She is constantly showing signs of how much she is growing and maturing. Notice here she has her two teeth on the top and she just loves to show them off.

Ever since she has starting cutting those teeth, she will not eat her baby food anymore. I told Lewis that once the jars she has are gone, we will just feed her table food. I think she is getting use to the idea of teeth because she has not tried to bite anyone. I am just glad that I started to wean her before those came in. The bottom ones hurt when she bit me. I can't imagine how painful it would have been if all four were involved when she clamped down.

A New Year; A New Vocabulary

Everyday my busy little blessing becomes, well--more busy. I cannot turn my back for 1 second. I am constantly saying, "NyCee come to mommy". "NyCee no-no". NyCee don't touch." "NyCee come back here." Or I am reciting some variation of the above phrases. Last night, I was unpacking a box and left the room to put something in the bathroom. I came back and she had removed the top from her baby wipes and began playing with them.

When I said, "NyCee, please stop it. Why are you playing with the wipes and how did you open that container?" She replied,

Yep, just as she always does. She smiles and laughs when she knows she is not suppose to be doing something. I am beginning to think that she really knows what she is doing behind that Chester grin. Since the beginning of the year, I feel like all I say is, "NyCee stop!" Are there any other words in the English language that I can use?

"Is this the right end?"

Somehow, I get the feeling that NyCee does not understand that she is putting the thermometer in the wrong end to check her temperature.

All buckled up and ready to go!

Lewis doesn't like to travel with NyCee's stroller as he has deemed it cumbersome, annoying, and bulky. Usually, whenever we are out, he just carries her. However, in preparation for their trip, I told him that it would be too much to try and carry her through the airport along with a diaper bag and travel bag. So he asked for the baby pouch so that he could carry her and have his hands free.

He got his wish!

How incredibly cute are they? I am still nervous about putting them on a plane without me. But from the looks of things, they will be just fine!

Gleeful Garbage Picker

Have you ever seen anyone so excited to pick through trash?


First, it was the drawers. Then, the cabinets. Now, the garbage can. Where will it end?

Fully-Rested

Last night, I enjoyed 8 full hours of uninterrupted sleep. I was so excited this morning that before I started my exams, I enjoyed a big breakfast: 2 strips of bacon, 1 pancake, and 1 egg. What happened you ask?

Well, my daughter enjoyed nearly 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep. No, I did not give her anything to aid in the process. I just took the advice of many supporters. After her bath, I gave her a bottle of milk. Instead of letting her fall completely asleep as I watched Supernanny, when she dosed off, I immediately laid her in the bed. She fussed for a few moments but went right to sleep. I am so proud of her. I should have her weaned by the end of the week.

The Tables Have Turned

Well, NyCee is approaching 11 months and it is time to start the process of weaning her off of breast milk. On average, she has been awesome with adjustments. She can be a little stubborn with some things but she's 10 months old, how stubborn am I really going to let her be? For the most part, it is involving snack time. She may want a butter cookie but I am feeding her fruit. Or she wants me to pick her up and I have decided that she needs to play with her toys. But the last few nights, it has truly been a battle of the wills. (My cousin is experiencing the same thing with a couple of her little ones.)

Normally, NyCee gets a warm bath and I nurse her to sleep. Well, last week when I was away on business she was with Lewis and he told me that she went to sleep just fine without nursing. He just gave her a bottle and she was out like a light. Wouldn't it be nice if she did the same with me? The past couple of nights have been brutal. Normally, if she wakes up, then I just give her a boobie and she goes back to sleep. Well, I have been trying not to do that. I even brought a bottle of water with the formula on the side up to the bedroom to avoid going downstairs to make the bottle. She pushes that away, turns her head, and starts nuzzling and pulling on my shirt.

I use to brag about how even as an infant she slept through the night. Now that she is getting older, getting her to sleep through the night is more challenging. Honestly, look at me. Do I look like I can take much more?

This was me at 2:30am. I finally got her to sleep but this is torture on me. Maybe she should just nurse until she goes to college. That way, I can return to getting peaceful nights of slumber.

Unpreparedness

Of all the qualities and gifts that I could have inherited from my mother, I inherited her gift of procrastination. I have a 12 page paper titled, "How U.S. Foreign Policy Impacts A Start-up Foreign Business Venture" due by 11:59p.m. on Sunday. If you just said, "What is she talking about?" to yourself, imagine how I felt when I downloaded the information from my professor. I have known about this paper for two weeks, yet I chose to wait until the night before it is due to start drafting it.

It took nearly 7 hours but I finished. Thankfully, Lewis was home to watch my little tater tot or I don't know how I would have completed the assignment. Also, I have been taking Benadryl for my cold. It's shocking that I am still awake. I have been popping those pills like gummy bears.

I voted against emailing the paper tonight as I need to proof-read it again to make sure that it makes sense. When will I ever learn to not put off until tomorrow what I can accomplish today?

Another Awesome 30 Minute Meal

I am really getting the hang of this. Tonight's menu: Chicken Stir-Fry on a bed of rice with Texas style garlic toast.
I cut up my chicken breasts, cooked them up in a pan with vegetable oil. Put a pot of water on to boil (with a chicken bouillon cube for flavor) to cook the rice. After the chicken was done, I cooked the vegetables, added the chicken back to the pan for heating and seasoning the vegetables. While all that was going on, I popped my Texas style garlic toast in the oven and TA-DAH:

I am loving my cookbooks. The recipes seem complex sometimes but when I start the process it is easy. It sounds a lot harder than it really is. Plus, I have found that once I get the hang of it, I am on a roll.

3:58 a.m.

And this is why, I do not let her go to bed at 8:00p.m. Last night, I was so beat because I have been battling a cold for a few days, that I let her go to sleep earlier than usual. Normally, she gets her bath around 8:30p.m. and then goes down for the night between 9:00-9:30p.m. But last night, I let her take her bath earlier and as a result she pooped out around 8:15p.m.

But at 3:58a.m., she was wide awake and bushy tailed. She wanted to play and sing and dance around the bed. Honestly, I can't blame her because that is nearly 8 hours of sleep. Had I not been in a drug induced state, I probably would have been awake to at that hour too.

I was scheduled to fly to Phoenix, AZ this morning but my flight was cancelled due to the weather conditions in Georgia. Around 6:30 am, she went back to sleep after I fed her breakfast. Breakfast at 6:00a.m! That is crazy!

She will not go to bed at 8:00p.m. again until she understands the phrase, "Do not get out of that bed for any reason other than Jesus' return. I don't care if you are not sleepy. Count sheep, pray, sing, meditate but do not get out of the bed." When she understands that, then she can go to bed at 8:00p.m. because I can not be up like that in the middle of the night. It was just brutal.