LBD at 9 Months: Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

(How I found her one day when the girls said they were "playing with her")

First, I feel like my adolescence is dying around me. First MJ (watching Thriller with my siblings was the first moment I felt much cooler than my parents), then John Hughes (two words: Jake Ryan), and now PSwayze ("I carried the watermelon!"). So sad.

Second, Lila B is starting to become a little person. She is so so so so so close to crawling. She does the rocking. She just can't get her other leg around. SOOOOO close. She wants SO badly to follow her sisters around everywhere.

She wants to be her sisters so badly that she refuses to eat baby food. A little here and there when I distract her, but for the most part she only eats what she can put in her mouth. And she has no teeth!!!!! Turkey, peas, edamame, spinach by the handfuls, pasta, bread, apples, berries of all kinds, broccoli, asparagus, peppers, chicken, salmon, cheese, quesadillas..... seriously. I keep forgetting she has no teeth and then feeling bad when she gags on a big chunk of something. Her hit rate, unfortunately, is low, so there is always a full meal on the floor beneath her too.

And I swear she is saying mama. Ok, so it is more of a 'mu mu mu' but it is definitely in my direction. She likes any wood toy that she can gnaw on, throw, or put in something else.

She still has the coolest little laugh. Like a gurgle. I think I have few video tapes of it. I need to post.

Oh, and she is 27.5 inches long (50th percentile), 20lb,3 oz (75th percentile) and a 90th percentile noggin. Chubawub. She gets closer to D's weight everyday (:() (And she looks more like Andrew every day I think).

Quote

Me: "Charlotte, do you have underwear on?"

C: "Yes, I have a bunch of 'em on!" (6, to be exact)

Remember this...

L
D
C
Amidst the sleep deprivation, the angst over poor parenting and/or rapidly shrinking sense of self, the frenetic pace of day to day existence, the brief spurts of work or attempts at mind-enriching activities, and the occasional moments of self-pity, one thought keeps going through my mind: "Remember this." I know, cheesy. But true. My mother tells me that when her kids were little were the best years of her lives. And I believe her. And I know that in the end I won't remember the fatigue or the frustration or the insecurities. I will remember their laughs, their smiles, the funny things they say, the way they smell after a bath. I will remember laughing with A at night about something they did or said that day. I will remember all the good stuff, and I will miss it so much it will hurt.

Tonight I went in and took pictures of each of them sleeping. Yes, they are still in cribs, and yes, C actually sleeps with that much crap in her be.

Quiz

Which one of these things haven't I done this week?

1. Bought 3 Spanish magazines (for a work project), and then mistakenly responded to a question (in Spanish) in Italian.

2. Visited an adult novelties store, and got paid for it.

3. Spent the night in the same city as my husband.

4. Hid in embarrassment as my daughters got a 'time out' for goofing off in swim class.

Who are we kidding. Need I give you the answer?

The Family Compound

Art time
Sloane (C and D's new favorite person... "Does Sloane do X?" "Does Sloane do Y?")

C takes a moment
Sameer and Sonia
Reese wondering why D is talking like she's a 50 year old man
C and Alex (only 1 year and about 18 inches separate them)
C and D

'09 Picture with LBD as the newest member (and baby boy Dholakia in belly if we are counting halvsies)

This past weekend we went to BFE central California with the Glotzbachs, Dholakias, and Weiss for our now annual family getaway. Since it was 20 miles from the nearest down of 400, we drove in and never left for the weekend. Despite a too cold pool, it was awesome. Everyone pitched in which resulted in a weekend of fun activities, great food, and (mostly) happy kids. I would write more, but let's be honest, I'm writing this about 6 weeks after it happened and so I have lost all my good stories. (What can I say, it has been a tough few months).

Here's a few pics. I know everyone, I owe pics to all of you. (in my defense--did the Dholakias even bring a camera?! : ))

All I know is I can always be myself around these guys. Looking forward to Hawaii '10.

The Dream is Always the Same

This past weekend we went to Carmel for Labor Day with the Bordens. On Sunday we helped the kids do a bake sale on Ocean Avenue by the beach. It was as much a learning experience for the adults as it was the kids. The kids helped with the baking but the parents did most of the operations. And in the end we wondered if we were 'pimping our kids out' because people kept trying to give them 'donations' and we kept having to say no. It was also interesting because a few people asked "where the money went"--we gave most of the profits to the Tsedakah box (charity) at preschool, but isn't the point of a lemonade stand to teach kids about working hard to earn money? Perhaps capitalism for its own sake doesn't play in upscale neighborhoods (understandable maybe).

The bottom line is that the girls had a lot of fun once they got into it. But maybe the funniest part was how D told her class all about it when they brought the money into the school. And I quote (and it really is better if you know D's low, gravelly voice and her hand movements): "We set up a lemonade stand. We sold a lemonade and a cookie for $1. And the policeman drove up, and we thought he was going to shut us down. But actually, he bought a lemonade and cookie!"

And how did they do?

The 3 newest members of the Young Entrepreneurs Club grossed $62 in 23 minutes.

Time of your life, huh kid?

Wish

We were throwing pennies in a fountain today and C says to me "I wished that Grandpa Michael would come down from heaven."

me too