Changes, Changes, and more Changes

Today, Leila spent some time on her tummy mat. I don't usually record much of it yet, because she spends a lot of the time being upset. But, today, she held her head up higher than I've seen before, so I had to grab the camera to capture it. Unfortunately, the video doesn't show very well how high she actually held her head. She lifted it up so high that she was looking at herself in the mirror in front of her. It was great! Here's the video.

I was talking to Aunt Rebecca about how Leila seemed to find her voice overnight and Rebecca jokingly mentioned how mad she would be if Leila decided to roll over this week, while she is house-sitting for someone and wouldn't be here to see it. I thought it was funny, but, after seeing Leila's growth over the last two days, I honestly wouldn't be a bit surprised if she did!

Then, she spent some time practicing her fine motor skills by laying on her back on her mat and trying to grab the toys that hang above her. She, again, did a great job. Here's that video.

After her daddy got home from work, we decided that today would be a good day for Leila to try out her swimming pool for the first time (we just got her swim diaper in the mail last week.)

She wasn't a big fan of laying on her back in the pool, even in the area where there was almost no water. I guess she doesn't exactly feel safe there, which, who can really blame her? But, she didn't seem to mind it as long as she was sitting or laying on her tummy. I wouldn't say she really enjoys it yet, but, I'm sure she'll get there!

Ella was ready to play after Ryan splashed her with water.

Wasn't it sweet of Lt. Gibbons (from Ryan's work) to give Leila her first swimsuit and baby pool?

(For those who like video, here's Leila's first swim. This one is another long one, so prepare yourselves.)

After she went swimming, it was bathtime again. Tonight, for the first time, we used the bestest baby towel ever! It matches Leila's bedding and it is huge and oh-so-warm.

We are so grateful to my former boss and good friend, Debbie, for such a beautiful gift!

When she is hungry, Leila has started rubbing her face in the chest of whomever is holding her. If she is laying on her back instead of being held, Leila has taken to rubbing the back of her head back and forth against whatever she is laying on. In doing so, she has created some knaps in the back of her hair, and has started to rub some of it off. As a result, I am paying much more attention to the back of her hair, and have recently noticed that, on top of many wonderful qualities that she inherited from her daddy, she also inherited this one...

Isn't it such a cute little rat-tail? Needless to say, Leila got her first hair cut today, at 11 weeks old. :)

(FYI: I know you don't inherit a rat-tail. It's just sounds cuter that way!)

In order to get Leila in a position to safely cut her hair, I needed her sitting and still. I put her on my knee and asked Ryan to come over and hold her still from the front. As we were getting ready to do this, we noticed she was watching TV (something she has started doing only since last week). I don't want her watching TV anyway, but really don't want her watching what we noticed was on the television...

In case you can't tell, it's Keeping Up with the Kardashian's (ugh!). We don't even watch that show, but it had come on while we were both pre-occupied. We, of course, turned it off right after this picture was taken!

Chatty Leila

Sorry. No pics today.
But, I do have several videos!
Leila decided that yesterday would be the day that she started to squeal and shriek with laughter. She also decided that she wanted to talk. A lot. So, I, of course, taped as much as I could!

Monday, May 24
(I don't know if I got any really good squeals, but I'm still working on it, and will post them when I do.)

On this video, there's a pretty good shriek. Look for it about 2 minutes, 8 seconds in,
Video 1

Settle in for this one folks. Leila is hanging out in the bouncy seat while I take a shower. (It's about 13 minutes long.) I thought it would be interesting to see what she says to her little bouncy seat friends when I'm not around. :)
Video 2

Another video with chatty Leila, trying to catch a squeal.
Video 3

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Today, Tuesday, May 25
I think I got a pretty good squeal on this one, today... She's looking at the duckies in her book.
Video 4

It's Been a While

Okay, okay. For all of you who mentioned it today, here you go... a new Leila blog!

We'll start with Wednesday. The Gap has been having a sale for the last 4 weeks where, if you had their coupons, on Wednesdays, you received 40% a single item at regular price. So, we made another trek out to the Galleria to look and see what they had that we could get at a 40% discount. This was the first opportunity she's had to where this cute little number...

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On Thursday, Rebecca spent some "auntie time" with Leila (while I got a few extra minutes of sleep). She decided Leila was ready to try out her bumbo, all on her own. We tried it out once last week, but I made sure to keep my hands by Leila's head, just in case. Rebecca, on the other hand, felt like Leila was ready for the big leagues. Here is what transpired...

Crazy Eyes!

A bit of a bobble.

A bit of a wobble.

Whoa! Crazy eyes, again!

"Hey! Get me outta here!"

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Leila woke up on Monday morning with diarrhia. She was in a bit of a cranky mood until early afternoon, when she seemed to be fine. Even thought she was all smiles, she did continue to have diarrhia through the next afternoon, so I gave the pediatrician a call. They told us to buy an over-the-counter probiotic, called Culturel, and to give her the powder once a day in a bit of milk until the diarrhia was gone. After a few days of this, I realized just how much fun feeding her solids is going to be (and just why all of those bibs are necessary items!)

And this was with a medicine dropper! Just imagine what it will be like with a spoon!

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On Friday afternoon, Grandfather came over to babysit for a while so that I could work on cakes. Ryan had mentioned that he and Leila might take a trip to the mall, so we had to make sure she was dressed for her outting. Luckily, we bought this super-cute shirt at BabyGap on Wednesday, and she had her new owl hair clippie to wear, too!

They ended up not making the trip to the mall, but she did really well. They hung out at the house and she slept off and on for Grandfather while he was here.

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Here, we have some bathtime fun. Leila has now gotten to the point where she enjoys her baths, and usually doesn't even cry while she gets dressed anymore. Here is the tail-end of a smile.

These pictures (above and below) are what we call doing the "froggie" in the tub. Even when she didn't like baths very much, she didn't seem to mind doing the "froggie". I guess she just felt more comfortable on her tummy, and I had to figure out a way to wash her back and booty without the use of an extra pair of helping hands. This seems to work really well for us.

Bathtime is over. Let's dry off!

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On Saturday afternoon, Leila was getting sleepy, so I put her in her hushamok to take a nap. She cried for about 5 minutes and then quieted down and fell asleep...on her own!! This is a first for us, and I was so proud of her. Of course, it only lasted 20-30 minutes before she woke up crying because of a burp that needed to come out, but it was still a start!

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Last night, Ryan spent some time hanging out with Leila before she went to bed. At first, she was practicing her sitting-up technique, but she eventually noticed her feet and looked like she was determined to get them into her mouth!

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Video 3

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Here's a video of Leila from this morning. I had dressed her for church, and she decided she thought her new outfit looked like it might taste yummy.

Today was a day of greeting new people. These are people that may have seen Leila before, but she probably hasn't actually met, since she used to spend so much time sleeping. :)

Here, Leila is saying hello to baby Katelyn's Grandpa, Terry. Her Grandma Connie came up just a minute later, but Leila's Nan had already stolen her off to greet some other people!

She also saw some other friends at church today: Ian and Preston Ortiz and their mommy, Tara; baby Karsyn's Aunt Staci; "Aunt" Alyssa; "Aunt" Rachel and baby Katelyn; and our Pastor Joy. Unfortunately, by the time we saw these friends, Leila was unhappy and in no mood to take pictures. I guess we'll have to try again next time!

We made a quick pit-stop to Ryan's Great-Aunt Gwen's house in Arlington on our way home. His Second-Cousin once-removed (I think?) just graduated from high school, and the family was getting together to celebrate. Below, Leila is meeting the graduate's mom, Second-Cousin Marsha.

She did happen to meet Great-Aunt Gwen and Great-Uncle Charles, Second-Cousin Ron, and Second-Cousin Leigh-Ann, but, again, she was so tired and overwhelmed by all of the people and the noise that she was in no mood for pictures. (Not, pretty ones, at least!) Her daddy ended up taking her to a back room where they were alone, and she quickly fell asleep. I'm sure we'll have another chance to get some good photos in. Leila just might be a few months older before it actually happens!

On the way home, Leila was a little fussy, so I got out her Olivia doll, which always seems to help. She was cracking me up after I noticed she seemed to be trying to play with her doll... using her feet! I got a little video. (Please forgive me if it's too bumpy. We were driving at the time.)

This evening, Leila was sleepy, and went down for a nap when we got home from the graduation party. She woke back up around 6 p.m., when I gave her her bath and fed her. She fell back asleep around 7:30 and I put her in her hushamok, where she has been ever since. It is now 1:33 a.m., and she has not yet woken up! She has fussed a little here and there, and I keep expecting her to wake up to eat, but it hasn't happened yet. I figure she probably will wake up at her usual time to eat, between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m., but I'm okay with that. She's slept for so long! I know I probably can't expect her to do this from now on, but it's wonderful to see what we're working towards! I'm so proud of her!

Quick update, Leila woke up at 2 a.m. to eat and is now back in bed asleep at 3. Yea!

A Week of New Discoveries

I came across a couple of pictures recently that I thought deserved to be posted. Here are two pictures Aunt Christina sent to me on her phone. She took them months ago when I was barely pregnant.

Nan and Poppy were already shopping to get ready for their Leila, even before we knew she was going to be a Leila!

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 This girl sure loves her Olivia doll!

Wednesday night, Ryan and I were spending time with Leila and I decided to try some funny faces/noises to see if I could get her to smile or laugh. I got the smiles, and a brand new funny noise in return!
Video

Here's a great pic of Leila during tummy time on Thursday morning. This was taken during the few minutes before she got unhappy.

Then, we had some fun with Olivia...
Video 1
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Here's a few other videos of us having fun with Leila.

For some reason, she didn't seem to want to look at her daddy. She kept turning back and forth for several minutes. We thought it was so funny, we finally grabbed the camera to record it.

Video

Here I am using the new funny faces/noises routine to try to get Leila to smile.

Video

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On Friday, Leila and I ran some quick errands, and she had her first trip to my cake supply store (Elizabeth's Cake Supplies) and to one of my other favorite stores, Hobby Lobby. In honor of the occasion, Leila wore a new outfit we had bought the day before at the Galleria.

The sandals are still a bit big, but they were too cute for her not to wear.

This was a special treat at our house - Ella and Betsy almost cuddling. Betsy has been living with us since October, but still hasn't quite learned to appreciate Ella. This is the absolute closest they've ever come to each other without Betsy hissing and Ella running away. (She did get upset just seconds after this was taken, but we figure they're making progress!)

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Lastly, here are some pics from church today...

Baby Katelyn came to see her friend Leila again. Both of them were squirmy girls, so the pics aren't great, but I had to post them anyway!

Here, "Aunt" Alyssa is trying out the funny face routine.

Success!

"Aunt" Alyssa gave Leila her first sticker today. Someone needs to tell her stickers don't go there!

Here is Leila and Grandfather. She's starting to reach for things, now, and here she is reaching for the Ralph Lauren rattle Grandfather gave her today, and her Olivia doll.