Chronicles of a Crazy Mother: April 2011

Liza is such a funny little thing. She’s spirited. She doesn’t sleep through the night. She doesn’t snuggle. She isn’t patient. She does chase dogs and vacuums. We've noticed she doesn't have a well-developed sense of caution in general. She loves to unload—cabinets, clothes going into or out of the wash, toy bins, kitchens, dishwashers, the bathtub. She is the destroyer of many things. She says two words half-consistently: bir (bird) and ha (hot). I’m not sure why she doesn’t learn something practical.

One of her favorite activities is to bathe or shower. Anytime she hears the water go on she comes quickly. Most of the time, I find it convenient knowing she has had at least one, sometimes three, showers in a 24 period, but occasionally I just want to shower alone. I’m sure some of the times she has felt most unloved has been while she pounds her little baby fists on the outside of a bathroom door.

Most people wouldn’t peg her 16 lbs little body as an eater, but she loves to eat but has particular tastes. Anything she doesn’t care for she deposits on the ground, while making direct eye-contact, just to make sure nobody mistakes the gesture as being unintentional and tries to re-offer. Her favorite foods include steak, blueberries, german pancakes, and soup.

She loves her brother and sister and her dad. The other day when I was holding a fairly happy Eliza, I sat down next to Ryan. She immediately crawled off my lap onto his chest to snuggle (which is a big thing, since Liza doesn’t care for snuggling) and when she’s having a hard time falling asleep at night she only wants her dad. For months now, her sign of affection has been to put her forehead on somebody else’s forehead. There is nothing sweeter than seeing her high-tail over to touch foreheads for a few moments. Her eyes wide just a centimeter from your own. When she sees Alison and Stuart on the floor she does her quick-all-business crawl over to them and puts her head on theirs or pat them.

She’s been crawling for half a year now. There is the out-for-a-stroll crawl and then the I-mean-business crawl where she puts her head down for optimal aerodynamics and picks up speed. She easily transverses our entire house within moments, even navigating the stairs and occasionally slipping out a door (whereby she immediately becomes the destroyer of flowers and the unloader of garden pots). She shows no interest in walking—but after putting so much time into perfecting her technique, I don’t much blame her.

There are many moments that she pushes our whole family to the edge. She’s intense and we think we couldn’t possibly survive another baby like Baby E, but she also brings so much intense joy to our family. I can’t believe it has been a year since sweet little Stellaluna was born without a name and at the same time feel like she’s been part of my life forever. I love you Lizee!

Happy Birthday. She has been pushing the box with the baby around for a few weeks and was thrilled to finally get her out and love on her a bit. Alison helped me pick out the new baby—I wanted to get a baby with brown eyes but Ali insisted the baby with blue eyes was way cuter (ahem). We thought Eliza would adore a baby of her own because she is always trying to take Alison’s baby doll. We were right.

Our neighbors also brought her a gift. Liza Lulu was looking at everybody’s reaction to see if they too saw a dolphin in this box (!!!).

Not pleased that it is stuck. (She really does love these little dolphins, thanks L!)

Overseeing operation freedom with intensity.

We’ve had a cool, wet spring. It has snowed more than once this April. Our tulips in years past have always bloomed on the 14th, 15th, or 16th but this year didn’t make it for Liza’s birthday. The peach trees were in bloom though.