I am Momma Bear.
I've always been really creeped out by spiders. I think my fear over those furry 8 legged animals began when I was a child. However, one would think I would be fearless. For as a child growing up in the Florida swamp, you had to be on constant guard for creatures that wanted to eat, bite, sting or stab you. From swimming with water moccasins to building forts in coral snake territory to canoeing over alligators and keeping an eye out for black widows or brown recluses near the water slides to the less fearsome creatures such as scorpions, back swimmers, horseflies, fire ants and no seeums. You'd think after that kind of exposure as a kid, spiders wouldn't bother me, but they are the only ones that always have.
My point is, yesterday I spotted Lily reaching for a spider on her exersaucer and I did not hesitate for a second... I leaped over the grocery bags on the floor and smacked that spider with my bare hand. I think I may have even let out a little growl.
It's been about a month since our last post. Since then, some of Lily's new tricks include sitting up completely on her own and not falling over. She also intentionally rolls over to her stomach, though after being there for a few minutes, she still gets a little frustrated. "Grrrrrr" she says. I call her my tiger. We are trying our damnedest to teach her baby sign but she just growls instead when she wants or doesn't want something and so far, she's learning that gets the job done just fine. In addition to her growls, she really enjoys making raspberry noises, her vocabulary astounding.
Lily has finally embraced peekaboo! We recently added that to her bedtime routine. It's quite adorable. I toss the light transulcent cloth up in the air and let it gently fall over her head. Her cheeks puff the material out as she smiles. She laughs from under it as she looks quickly from side to side, anxiously waiting for the unveiling. Finally off with the cloth and a high pitched, "there she is!!", always does the trick, she's in stitches.
I wish I had her imagination. She is able to spot literally anything and recognize it as an incredibly awesome toy. Or maybe she's not at the developmental stage yet where she has much of an imagination but rather it is her always playful, happy attitude. Yes, if only I could bottle that.
Last week suddenly Lily did not want to take her naps. She has always taken very precise 30 minute naps (3 per day), it has literally been like clock work, not a minute longer. But last week she fussed so much as I tried to do my usual bouncing up and down and all around with her in the Ergo. We had proudly condensed that ritual dance down to only about 5 minutes before she would fall fast asleep and I could lay her down for each nap. But, suddenly it did not work and she fussed and cried and even screamed one day, so much to the point that I was in tears too when Jake came home.
But a few days ago we rediscovered music (I even invented a baby sign for it, and we only use like 3 signs in this house, that's how crucial it is). Lily loooves music and Pandora has made our days even more enjoyable, particularly the Elizabeth Mitchell station. It's real great. So now before every nap time, I put Lily in the Ergo and instead of mindlessly bouncing up and down and all around, we dance (which actually doesn't look all that different) to folky blue grass baby loving songs. These occurrences have no doubt been some of the most special moments with my girl. We start out humming (she smiles and coos), then her eyes soften and look directly up at me. She focuses on my eyes and mine on hers, I absolutely LOVE the look she gives just before she dozes. The heavy blinking begins and finally she tilts her head to the side and closes those big eyes. Some days I put her down in her crib to finish her nap and some days I continue to dance softly with her until she wakes up.
I wonder if mom remembers it, but I recall when I was little seeing her dance to music in our living room. She danced all crazy (or 'free' as she probably would call it) with her arms flying above her and her feet and legs moving spontaneously below her. It's actually one of my most treasured kid memories. At any rate, sometimes when Lily and I are dancing, I think about mom's moves. Man, mom was awesome. (still is) But I'm convinced she's the most creative mom to ever exist, she could make a pile of cornstarch out of this world awesome. In fact she did. We may not have had the latest gadgets or coolest toys, but mom did things with paper and scissors you couldn't comprehend but would most definitely enjoy the heck out of. She got us hamsters and named them Funshine and Moondancer. I just always remember her being so energetic and creative and fun. I also remember thinking she was so beautiful. When I found out we were having a baby girl, I quickly reminisced the fabulous tea parties mom would set up for us and it made me very anxious to buy pink and lace.
I'm sure dad recalls...some of my most favorite childhood memories are from those nights when my big strong dad would pick me up in his arms before bed and carry me all about the house. The tradition went like this: I would close my eyes super tight (I never peeked once!), dad would walk around the house for quite some time with me cradled in his arms. He'd walk up the stairs and down the stairs, he'd also huff and puff and take hard steps as he would pretend to walk up and down stairs. He would spin around in circles until we were both dizzy. He'd trick me some more and say things like "wow your brothers room looks really messy" (as I'm sure he was not passing Tim's room downstairs but rather the upstairs TV room or something). Or he'd act like he was drinking some water in the kitchen when really I'm sure there was no glass at all and he was standing in the hallway as he gulped loudly. He would flick lights on or off, depending. Finally the game ended as he lay me down on something (the basement floor, the piano bench, the living room sofa, mom and dad's bed, etc) and I would have to keep my eyes closed and guess where I was.
In some ways I feel like I am so different than my parents but in many many ways I hope I can be even half the incredible people I remember from when I was a child.
Lily is already chock full of her own favorite things of the past. She used to love sitting in her exersaucer and she'd go absolutely bonkers if you laid her on her back and did circles with her legs as you sang "Wheels on the Bus." If she was fussing, all you'd have to do is something like "blllllrrrrrreeeeep!" in a high pitched sweet voice. It's a little sad how those things no longer excite her as they used to but it's fun too because she's growing so much and changing and I'm learning all the new things that really push her giggle buttons.
Her new favorite things include jumping on my lap. I hold her arms and she just jumps and jumps and jumps forever. A friend of mine asked me the other day what we do all day and I laughed as I recounted my day to him: Lily jumped on my lap for a long time, then we laid on our backs and kicked our feet and stared at our hands (something she also loves by the way, not sure why). I know it must have sounded so lame to him but he politely raised his eyebrows as if interested and smiled. He'll understand one day.
Lily loves playing with Maddy and Maddy loves licking bananas off her hands. They make a good team. Lily also loves her sippy cup, not sure why but she goes nuts for cold water. She has eaten bananas, sweet potatos, peas, carrots and apples. I think her favorite is sweet potato and her least favorite is apples (funniest face ever) She also loves to go upside down. We got a late snow a couple weeks ago and Lily loved being out in it. She starred out the window from the living room and "Grrrrr"'d, so I bundled us up and we laid down outside in the half inch of snow and watched the wind blow the flakes off the trees. I had never seen her so peaceful, it was actually quite moving.
Lily has always loved and still goes crazy for "The Noble Duke of York" song and 'dance'. Her first giggles happened in the air during that song and belly laughs are sure to ensue now during that same tune. She also has always loved being up in the air, "waaaay up high". She loves when I say "beep!" in a super high pitched voice and touch her nose. She really really loves looking in the mirror together. I say "Hello" and we pop in front of the mirror and "goodbye" and we pop away. And it just so happens that her favorite store in the mall is my favorite store! Aritzia has a section in their store that is all mirrors, different shapes and sizes and they surround you. Lily and I go in there and dance around and she laughs harder than she ever has before. I think I've made one purchase in there since Lily was born but we still swing by somewhat often and the girls in the store are so sweet and know us by name.
One of the best things though that inevitably makes her smile is when I do. It melts my heart. Seven months have flown by, my Lily Pea but they've been the best days of mine and your daddy's life!
