Learning to cluck

Layla loves to make mouth sounds. Each one takes her a bit to figure out, then when she gets it she does it for a few days, then moves on to the next. Most of them I don't know how to describe and we haven't caught on camera. This weekend she started clucking, and here it is.

Layla learns to walk!

Layla has been working on walking.

She's gotten really good at using her walker, which she really loves. She would probably be happy to walk around all day with her walker.



She is also really getting good at walking with our help. It's super fun!!



And tonight, she walked ALL ON HER OWN!! We caught it the second time on video. So exciting!!

The D.O. Adventure!!

Layla made a special trip to a D.O. last week (Doctor of Osteopathy) to have her neck worked on. She has a mild tightness on the left side and trouble turning her head that direction, which the chiropractor has been hassling me to do something about. Although the doctor (M.D.) was unconcerned, the chiropractor was persistent and used scare tactics like 'this will be easier to fix now than later' and 'it's going to get worse!' accompanied by a stern face and a card for a well-known pediatric D.O. in town (who my highly esteemed physical therapist AND my beloved doula recommends).

So, I made the call and set up the appointment and took Layla in last week. I was totally worried Layla would be difficult and hard to treat but it wasn't so bad. The doc spent about 20 min talking to me about her history while she played with all his toys (she was particularly excited about a plastic bear, who she gave kisses to, it was very cute). Then I worked on distracting her while the doc gently released tension that was causing a mild twist along her spine, tightness in her neck and a flat spot on the back of her head. She was actually really good and he made a lot of progress - you could immediately see more balance in the way she held her head and I noticed a couple days later she was turning more easily to the left. Wow! We will have to go back a few more times to follow up but I was so impressed I made an appointment for myself too.

And I learned a few good tricks for distracting a baby - spinning super-interesting mobiles on the ceiling (particularly helpful during the five minutes she had to lie on her back, which we can never get her to do anymore), playing 'peekaboo' with her toys, singing songs and clapping together, showing her pictures, the 'binki game' (handing her binki to her, then taking it back, which she really likes for some reason), and of course, reading books. The doc was obviously a seasoned professional and knew every kids song (and more) and even had a lovely singing voice. He kept gushing about how BIG and STRONG Layla is and told her a long story about a crab that she seemed very interested in, all of which offered helpful distraction despite my deep suspicion that she doesn't totally understand English yet. Maybe even babies are wooed by obvious shameless flattery from doctor-types.

Update

We've decided Layla is not longer a little baby anymore. In fact, I think the progression goes something like this:

0-4 months: Little-little baby (or was she ever a little-little baby?)
4-8 months: Little baby
Now (10 months): BIG baby!!!

Layla is growing like a WEED. We like to call her 'Layla bean' because she is sprouting like a bean (actually it started when we saw her for the first time on the ultrasound and she looked like a kidney bean). Now she looks like a football player. Last weekend, we went to a Superbowl party at a friend's house with a lot of even BIGGER babies (almost 2 yrs) and Layla gave them a run for their money (or toys and binkis, as the case may be). She doesn't let anyone push her around!! Also, she really liked clapping and cheering for the game.

Our house is still slow due to all the colds Layla brings home. Here are the current stats:

Layla -
Total: 17, all colds
Fevers: 2
Days home from daycare: 4

Me:
Total: 11, all colds
Fevers: 3
Days home from work: 5

Derek:
Total: 9, all colds
Fevers: 0
Days home work: 1

Derek is clearly winning. We are all very grateful that none of the germs she brings home amount to much more than a runny nose, congestion, and coughing. Unfortunately that also means a lot of waking up at night, which is hard on us, but no ER trips or antibiotics so far, thank goodness. Meanwhile all our mom-friends keep promising it will get better in a year, and when cold and flu season is over, both of which is happening soon, so I'm hoping for the best.

Even with all the colds, Layla is generally a good baby. She still likes to play with all her toys (which were recently upgraded to big-baby toys, thanks to major donations by a local friend), she is very sweet to us, eats like a champ, and when she's not sick she sleeps really great at night. We feel very lucky! Especially during the 3 days a month when we are all healthy...