falling out of bed

Yup. It finally happened. And I swore it never would happen to us. We hear stories all the time about "the time my baby fell off the...(insert bed, changing table, chair)." I am super-obsessive about safety in our house, too. We had locks on the cabinets before she could crawl, I repeatedly got onto Jeremy for coins falling out of his pocket before she was even born, and I NEVER leave her in the car alone for a second...literally. Too many Opera shows and scary news briefs have left me in a panic.
And we had such a great system in place. We never leave her alone on the bed without fortressing her in with mounds of tall pillows that she can't climb over. And we never leave the room with her alone on the bed anymore now that she can roll over, crawl and scoot. So, how did it happen?
Well...she decided to see what was UNDER the pillow. And I was sitting right next to her, too. I was getting ready to nurse her in the bed so she would go down for a nap and reached over to flip on the lamp. She scooted so fast it almost didn't register. And she was gone. Under the pillow and off the side of the bed. Thud. It was a horrible sound that I will hear in my head for days.
She didn't even cry. Not until I picked her up so swiftly that I scared the bejesus out of her. She had landed smack on top of her precious monkey toes...the stuffed curious George doll that we use to comfort her when she's upset. The thud was her forehead hitting the ground AFTER she landed.
That's not to say that she wasn't upset and that she doesn't have a little bump and bruise over her left eye. But, it could have been much worse, and I'm thankful that the darn toy was left on the floor.
No more pillow fortress for her. Sneaky little monkey. I will be holding her in my lap or sitting her on the floor anytime I lean over to do anything on the bed again!

teeth

Here we go again! We've been especially clingy the past 2 days and needed to nurse almost every hour on the dot. I knew something was up, so it didn't surprise me to feel a sharp ridge on the top of her mouth...and a corner poking out on the other side, too. So, it looks like we willhave not one, but TWO new teeth very soon. In the meantime, pray for my sanity, my energy, and my tender parts as she nurses away the pain...

dadadadadada

Two days ago, Kira learned how to say dada...not just dada, but dadadadadadadadadadada over and over again. She is facinated with dada. Not that she has any idea what she is saying or who it is referring to, but she loves to say it! I've been trying to repeat to her mamamamamamama, but she just looks at me and laughs hysterically. Hrmph. I don't see anything funny about learning to say mama. When she's hungry, she tries to say something, but it comes out more like nana or numnum...still no mama. I know that she loves her mama, though...just one look in her preciuos blue eyes tells me that everyday!

but I WANT to play

Daddy stayed home sick from work today, and thankfully, Kira was already going to Aunt Andrea's for the day. Daddy kept trying to go back to work, but felt so terrible that he ended up sleeping most of the day. But, since Aunt Andrea had dinner plans, sick Daddy dragged himself out of bed to go pick her up at 6:00. He picked her up without incident, but by the time they made it home, daddy was getting worse...and fast. He felt like he couldn't keep his eyes open and was worried about being able to safely care for Kira, so he made a pillow fortess and layed down in the bed with her. Kira thought this was a fun new game and wanted to play "climb on daddy" and "monkey." Daddy wasn't so happy with this game. Not knowing what he had and if it was contagious...and also not feeling up to being a climbing toy, he kept scooting her back down. Kira was not happy with this change in plans. Daddy was not happy that Kira was not happy. Mommy was speeding home as fast as she could. Mommy to the rescue. Daddy was sent back to bed. Kira had a cuddle and a good feeding. Everyone was happy again.

clumsy

It was just one of those days, I guess. Poor Kira just couldn't quite get it together. It started with a fall into the toy crate. Just to keep the toys off the floor and out of the way when we are not using them, I stashed a small crate in the room. It is just big enough to hold all her toys and still small enough that she can reach in and get her stuff out. I guess too deep for her to reach something small at the bottom, though. That's what she was trying to do, when I heard a terrified scream and a panicked cry. I looked over and realized that she had tried to get something from the bottom and tipped right in! Only, she didn't fall all the way in...she was sort of hanging over the side with her head at the bottom and her feet flailing in the air! I helped her out. Poor top heavy Kira.
A few hours later, she was playing with her Leap Frog Learning Table when the cats flew by, chasing each other. She wanted to follow them with her eyes, but the rest of her body followed and she fell over...but tried to grab onto the table to catch herself. The table did not catch her. It fell on top of her. It must not have been as traumatic as the toy chest incident, because she managed to wriggle out from under it.
She went right back to playing with the toy, which has a plastic "book" in the center. When you turn the page, the functions of the table change. She turned the page, but had her finger under the page. It scared her, so she screamed and leaned into the table...leaned right on top of the "book" which only crushed her little finger even more. Mommy to the rescue again...this time we had to take a nap to recover.
We thought it was over, but we had one more in store. Her wild explorations took her under the piano where I had some cardboard boxes stacked up. She thought they would be nice for climbing practice. The boxes were not steady and toppled. Kira toppled after them and WHACK! Right on the hardwood floor leaving a nice briuse over her eye.
Poor Kira. Four accidents. Less than 24 hours. Most days nothing at all happens!

those days...

Some days, there are such great and wonderful new things happening that I can't wait to write about them. Some days, such disasters happen that they need to be jotted down just so I can keep my sanity.
And other days, there is the sweet presence of normalcy. Nothing new to report and nothing in particular to talk about. But those days are often my favorite days. Those days we can wake up happy...and lounge around in the bed for a few minutes before getting up to face the day. Kira leaning forward to plant her version of a kiss on my cheek (which basically consists of her falling onto my cheek with her mouth open!) or cooing loudly until her dad peeks one eye open to see what is going on.
Those days we sing a little song on the way to get dressed and we spend time in the kitchen eating breakfast and making plans for the day.
Those days, Kira eats her foods and nurses well. She takes a nap in the middle of the day. I love to watch her sleeping with those fat cheeks pressed into my arm before I lay her in her crib and her lips pursed out like an angel.
Those days Kira plays with all her toys and discovers a new way to keep herself entertained. She loves to watch a video, explore the house, and dig for an old favorite (like her train).
Those days I am able to get a few things done around the house, but don't overdo the chores, either. We like to keep to our routine and still have time for fun.
Those days we wait for daddy to come home and we eat dinner together while Kira plays on the floor.
Those days, Kira is ready to hear "Pajama Time" in her rocking chair and laughs every time we "pajama to the left, pajama to the right" and giggles and giggles during baby massage time. Those days we nurse for one last sweet moment before she drifts off to sleep in my arms.
Those days are the sweetest days.

the basket

Sometimes, the things she does with such a purpose make me laugh the hardest. She is trying so hard to get around and she finds creative ways to get there faster. We had realized that we hadn't taken a long video of her in a while, so Jeremy got out the camcorder and was filming away. We were hoping to get a good shot of her "spiderman" crawl that she had gotten so good at. We did get a lot of good footage and were just getting ready to put the camera away. Instead, we kept it rolling to capture another milestone...walking!
She has a basket in the living room and the handle is at chin level to her when she is upright. It holds all her library books. She pulled up and peered into the basket, reached in, and started pulling books out. Instead of playing with the books, like she does the toys she pulls out of her toy crate, she flung them aside. When she had pulled out a sufficient number, she reached up, grabbed the handle and pushed the basket in front of her. And then, she was off! Since we have hardwood floors, the basket became a sort of "walker" and she walked about halfway across the living room.
It had been slow going, though. She reached in again, grabbed the heaviest book, flung it aside and then sped across the rest of the floor!
You can imagine our surprise. She has gone from laying there immobile to walking with a basket in just a couple weeks!
And, of course, we have the footage. You can see it by clicking here!

monkey toes

Monkey toes...first a nickname for Kira because of her cute little toes. And momma loves, to paint those cute little toes, too! Then, it became a new way of describing the funny crawl that Kira has acquired. She only crawled "like a baby" for a couple of days before it progressed to a kind of monkey walk. You can see it HERE and see just how fast she can go! Those monkey toes can really go!
Of course, monkey toes is also the name of one of her favorite toys...a curious george stuffed monkey that her grammy gave her for Valentine's Day. Her daddy uses monkey toes to help wake her up in the morning (by letting the monkey give her kisses) and props her on the monkey's back like she's riding him around when she gets cranky.