I know I said I would quit blogging, and I don’t plan to blog regularly anymore.  But I heard from a few friends who don’t live nearby that they are going to miss getting updates about our lives.  So I will probably post monthly updates.  No attempts at wit or wisdom; just the facts.   I DO want to stay in touch with friends that live elsewhere (love you guys).  So here’s the latest news.

First of all, we survived summer school.  Whew, and praise the Lord!  It was pretty awful, to be honest - especially the second summer session.  Fox worked everyday from 6:30-10:30am, then drove an hour’s commute to a mid-day class, then either went back to work after class or stayed after class to work on homework.  It was a screenprinting class, so he couldn’t exactly do his homework at home.  Some days he never saw Ladybug at all, and I never felt more like a single parent than I did the past two months.  It was definitely the hardest stretch of his classes so far, for all of us (not the actual classwork, just the toll it took).  But it’s over now!  Yeehaw!  :)  And we are trying to resume normal life.  Ah, who am I kidding?   What’s normal?  Anyway, we have a three week break before his fall semester starts up and we are going to make the most of it.

Ladybug is now thirteen months old and cracking us up more everyday.  She walks everywhere, loves to play outside and get dirty, is getting really vocal with her babbling and adding more words all the time.  It is one of the most fun phases so far.  Unfortunately, she is also teething her first molars and I think it must be really painful; she has never had such a rough time before.  She has stopped sleeping again, and I think that has a lot to do with it.  So, I’m a pretty exhausted momma these days.  We pray for those molars to come in SOON!

In July I (along with Ladybug) traveled to Dallas to spend three days in teacher training for an early childhood music program called Musikgarten. This is the same program that Ladybug and I were part of this past spring.  Now I will be teaching a class for babies and one for toddlers, beginning in September.  I am very excited about it; it is an excellent curriculum that is developed by experts in child development as well as highly skilled musicians, and it focuses on the development of the whole child.  I hope I enjoy teaching it!  If anyone wants more info about my classes, here’s my business website.

That about covers things for now.  I’ll be back in September with another update…hopefully we’ll have two molars to report (and a lot more sleep!).

Today you are one year old!  I can’t believe that the first year of your life is already over.  You have changed and grown so much - from a helpless little babe of 7 lbs, 11 ounces, to an independent little toddler of 19 pounds, 2 ounces!  How did it happen?

You came into the world 9 days past your due date, and took your time about it.  I thought you would be born on 7-7-07, since I went into labor at 5 am on that day!  But twenty-four hours later, you finally showed up.  I was immediately struck by how beautiful you were.  Big blue eyes, a perfect little nose, rosebud lips, and two deep dimples that showed up whenever you cried.  You were never purple and squishy like some new babies; you skipped that stage and went straight for gorgeous.  You’re still beautiful; I can rarely go out without at least one person stopping to comment on my beautiful baby.

The first six months with you were the hardest time of my life.  They were pretty hard for you, too.  Reflux got a hold of you at just two weeks, and my sweet, smiley baby disappeared.  You cried all the time; you were in so much pain.  It made me incredibly sad and I felt so helpless.  We gave you medicine every twelve hours, and every time you hated it.  It had a strong peppermint flavor; I wonder how you will feel about peppermint when you’re older!  The medicine helped, but it didn’t help enough.  You nursed constantly, since it hurt you to eat.  We were attached at the hip.  Sometimes I wondered if we’d make it!

But then, miraculously, your reflux disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived!  Right before Christmas, you again transformed into a different baby - but this time, you were so happy!  I couldn’t believe it.  I finally had the happiest baby on the block!  We stopped your medication and the reflux didn’t come back.   You started sleeping a little better, and your awake time became so much fun.

Since then, you have just continued to grow and change so quickly, my girl.  You were crawling and then pulling up and cruising, and now you’re walking all over the world.  You love to laugh with us.  You love to get us to chase you and tickle you, and we love to do it.  You have the sweetest, most sensitive little heart; you cry when others are crying and you laugh when they’re laughing.  I love that about you.  You’re the most observant, curious little babe I’ve ever seen in my life; you certainly don’t miss a thing!  You’re also starting to talk a little bit; you love to say “uh-oh” and “cheese” and “da-da” and “mama.” You don’t want me to feed you anymore from a spoon; you want to feed yourself with finger foods.  And you’re just starting to understand that clothes go on our bodies; it’s hilarious to watch you pick up random pieces of clothes from my laundry pile and try to put them on your head!

Right when you were born, a wise mama at church told me that the days are long but the years are short.  She was so right.  Sometimes, during those long days, I wonder if I’m being the best mommy to you that I can be.  But this past year has gone by so quickly, and watching you grow and change and develop has been the most exciting, rewarding thing I’ve ever done - even when I’m exhausted because we’ve been up half the night teething!

I love you so much, my little Ladybug.  You are more precious to me than I could ever express.  I can’t wait to see what the coming year holds for you.  Thanks for being my girl.

Love, your mama

I’m experimenting with how to add video to the blog. Here’s a first attempt. Check out the bug eating dinner!

1.  She loves to say “hi” and “hey” to everyone we pass, everywhere.  At the grocery store she is like someone riding on a float in a parade; everyone gets a wave and a “hi,” along with a sweet dimply smile.

2.  She loves my old Curious George doll; whenever she is upset all I have to do is give her George and she is instantly happy.  She gives him kisses and combs his hair with her little comb.

3.  She loves to give kisses to me and Fox - big, happy, slobbery kisses right on the smacker.

4.  She recently added sound effects to her kisses - something like, “mmmmmmmmmm-AH!” - mimicking me, I believe.

5.  She even more recently began blowing kisses - complete with sound effects.  It’s adorable.

6.  She loves to laugh and play games and giggle and try to get us to chase her and giggle some more.

7.  She is SO OBSERVANT!  She doesn’t miss a thing - though she has always been like that.  On our morning walk, when something catches her eye, she uses her arms to lift herself up out of the stroller and cranes her neck to get a better look - be it a squirrel, a cat, another person, a bird, etc.

8.  When the phone rings, she says, “Hi!”  Sometimes even before I can answer.

9.  She loves to swing in the baby swings.   She laughs and laughs.

10.  She is learning to walk, and she is sooo proud of herself!  The smile just goes from ear to ear.  Then she gets too excited or tries to go too fast, and plop, she’s back down on all fours.

11.  The other night she was playing with her food a little bit - not really eating it - so Fox picked up a piece from her tray and pretended to eat it, to show her that SHE should eat it.  Instead, she picked up a piece, and then PRETENDED  TO EAT IT, TOO!  With a big grin on her face, I might add.  She’s a smarty pants.

Wednesday night, we had a babysitter and went out on a date - it was our third date since Ladybug was born! And it was the first time we asked a babysitter who was non-family. A real milestone!

It was such a great evening. We had already eaten dinner earlier with Ladybug, so no dinner involved, but we went to the coffeehouse where we first decided to get married, and sat on the same bench where we sat that night almost four years ago. We talked and talked, then went for a drive around our old neighborhood, where our first apartment was. I miss that neighborhood so much. Then we went and found a bench and talked some more - we stayed out until almost midnight! On a weekday! Such extravagance! It was one of the best evenings in a long time.

Fox started summer school this week, and it’s a bit rough - on both of us. The class meets five days a week, as opposed to twice a week during the regular semester, so everyday he’s gone at 6:30 am for his hour-long commute to school. It’s hard not having him home in the mornings to help me out. Then he works all afternoon and gets home around 6. Long days. It’s been a long week. Thankfully, we had the date on Wednesday night to break up the week. And today is Friday! Yay! Two whole days together…bliss.

Ladybug started walking! She’s not consistent - she still falls a lot and crawls more than she walks, but she’s definitely walking. It’s amazing! I can’t wait for her to really be good at it and give up crawling - then maybe she’ll stop eating every single little thing that she comes across on the floor!

I would just like to announce that for the past two nights, Ladybug has slept nine and a half hour stretches!

Thank you, God!

Today we took Ladybug to the swimming pool for the first time! I really wanted her to like the pool; I LOVE swimming and I hope that she’ll love it, too. We only stayed for about an hour but that was plenty of time to see that she really liked it, once she got past the initial shock of the cool water and all the loud, splashing kiddos. She was splashing right along with them after a bit! Towards the end, she started shivering so we got out then and warmed her up in the hot sun. It was in the mid-90s today… yes, summer is here. I’ll try to add a pic tomorrow. Pictures below!