1-year photos

The Studly Hubby and I, and the Studly Hubby's Studly Parents, took Baby Layla to the photographer's new studio in Belltown to get photos taken for the last of our pre-paid 1-yr photo package. Here are a few - more will be posted later when we get the full set, including much-coveted pics with the Studly Hubby's parents and another very beautiful new quilt made by the Studly Hubby's Studly Grandmother.






The last six months have been particularly rough, since we've all been sick so many times. Pictures not only preserve memories but also make you see yourself from a different perspective, which was exactly what I needed. In these pictures we all look very happy and healthy, and it was a good reminder to me that when we are well we ARE happy and healthy. Since the pictures were taken we had one more cold pass through but this weekend we seem to be doing better again, so hopefully soon we will have more healthy days than sick ones.

The D.O.

I reported earlier that Layla has been visiting a Doctor of Osteopathy that is working on her neck (so she can turn better to the left). He's doing such a wonderful job I made an appointment for myself and went in today.

Here is a picture of him from his website (I've fallen off the wagon with pictures but wanted to throw out a bone).


My totally awesome physical therapist AND my chiropractor AND our doula are all in love with this guy. They all think it is SO helpful for babies to get this kind of treatment (birth is traumatic!). At my physical therapy appointment last week, we spent a great deal of time discussing this and an equally important topic: just how old is this guy?

He looks 22. My physical therapist argued that he must be at least 45, from how long he has had his practice and how old his children are (he has a 10-year old, and by Seattle standards, that makes him at least 45). Today, he let slip an important reference date so I could solve the mystery; he is 37. I tried not to act totally surprised, but I think I did. The funny thing is, I didn't know if I should be surprised at how young he is or how old he is.

I'm happy to report that the appointment was really helpful. He found all my problem areas and worked to make them feel better. He didn't lecture me about my bad posture, instead he problem-solved on how to make my posture better. I think it was a success!

Our shy girl

As a couple more baby-colds passed through our house, I've had to duck out of everything non-essential again so I can maintain the basics - work, sleep, eat, take care of Layla. Although that sounds really boring it has given me a lot of time to watch all of Seasons 1-3 of Celebrity Rehab (and Season 1 of the follow-up, Sober House), which is AWESOME. So, it hasn't been all bad. Plus, the Studly Hubby as always has been super-supportive.

But before I get hit again with another baby-cold I wanted to report in on the latest of Layla's developments; she has gotten SUPER SHY!!!

It started a few weeks ago at a baby-group meeting - even though she knew everyone there, when one of the other moms came over to say hi to us Layla tucked her chin down and blushed... but ten minutes later she was in the other mom's arms telling her all about her day, so we were back to normal.

Then, last weekend a friend of ours stopped by to drop off a red wagon we bought from him and Layla actually CRIED... but we decided she must have been tired and our friend, a large guy with lots of facial hair, maybe looked kinda of scary from a baby's perspective. But, two days later another friend came by, Layla wasn't tired, the friend wasn't scary by any stretch of the imagination, and Layla cried, again!

Then yesterday Layla turned on the shyness full-force. All the babies in our baby group are turning a big 1 year this month so we rented out the Gymboree gym and had a big birthday party. Even though Layla knew everyone there, and there was CAKE, she sat in my lap for about an hour before she finally got up the nerve to venture out and explore. In the last 20 minutes she finally started visiting with other moms and dads so she did warm up eventually... but how weird!

Especially knowing her mother, who is NOT shy, and never was!

Clearly she got this from the other side of the family...

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...