Alia is 8 months old

I can't believe how big my little baby is getting. A few weeks ago, I took Alia to the Pediatrician for a non-routine visit....I thought she had an ear ache but it turned out to be teething pain that had trailed along her jaw line and mimicked ear pain....anyway, at this visit to the pediatrician, Alia weighed 22.6 pounds. Yep...off the charts. My girl is big!

So if we had to pick a name for this month, it would be called Reachy-Grabby-Slappy. Alia wants everything. In her hands. In her mouth. She wants to hold things. She wants to slap things. Constantly.

At Alia's 6 month checkup, my pediatrician told me that Alia should transition to 3 meals per day by 9 months of age, and that the transition could be very gradual given that I had time to get there. Only...I was still feeding Alia about 5.5 oz. every 3 hours. I didn't know that she could hold more than that and go longer in between meals. Oh, and also, I'd give her solids in between the bottles...so it was pretty much constant grazing all day long.

So while she is now still getting about 32 ounces of formula per day (that hasn't changed), she's getting four 8 ounce bottles instead of countless tiny bottles. She seems happy with the change. The first day she got her new big bottle filled all the way up, she was euphoric...it was as if she couldn't believe her luck that this whole bottle was all for her! You woulda' thought we'd been starving her except for the chubby rolls on her legs!

Daylight savings time was great for Alia this month. Now rather than packing it in a 6:00 PM, she can stay up to 7 or 7:30. For months we tried to keep her up later, but to no avail. And you know what they say....early to bed, early to rise? Well, old Alia was ready to go at 6AM as a result of going to bed so early. Now, new Daylight Savings Time Alia sleeps til 7 or 7:30. Mommy loves this. Of course, she does wake up at 6AM for a bottle, but goes immediately back to sleep for another hour or so.

A few days ago, I had to go shopping for new spring/summer clothes for Alia. She is outgrowing all of her day-to-day outfits, and I couldn't believe that I was already buying 12 months sized clothes. It seems like yesterday that we brought our little bundle of feathers home with us, and now she's as big as a 1 year old. Crazy.

This month, Alia discovered that it's cool to have your own pool. She loves to splash in the shallow part on warm days with Daddy.

This month, Alia's personality has really begun to show itself, or rather, I should say, her personality continues to be reinforced. Alia is not a patient girl. From the day she was born and was furious about being forced to learn to breast feed, to today when she tries and tries to crawl and gets angry and shouts out at us as if to say, "HEY! A littlle @!ing help over here for the baby?"

Ohhhhh, but when she's sweet? She's sweet!

And when she's charming? She's charming!!!

New cool hotel

Since Alia enjoys walking around town in the evening, Ajay and I do this nearly every night. We head out around 5:30 or 6 PM and walk around the village in Laguna or maybe take her to her park at the top of the hill. Lately, we have been exploring other areas of Laguna: walking areas in South Laguna, the beach, and various other parks.

A few nights ago, we decided to walk along the beach heading south, and then returning to our car, we walked along PCH. Ajay spied this really cool, modern door and peaked in. It's appeared to be a new and very stylish hotel. We decided to investigate.

We opened the door and were warmly greeted by the concierge. He told us they opened in August, have 12 rooms, and were Laguna Beach's very first eco-hotel. He showed us around. He took us to standard guest rooms. He showed us the two suites the hotel offered. He showed us the common area which was open-air, but surrounded by the four external walls of the hotel. One of these walls, by the way, was the "screen" and the opposite wall contained the projector, and they played cool clips directly on the wall...very artsy feeling.

This place, called Seven4One hotel, was lovely. With so few options for hotels in town, this one really stood out. Many of the hotels in Laguna are either run-down throw-backs to the 1960s. Yes, there are really nice ones, too, like the St. Regis and the Ritz Carlton, but in the event you don't want to pay $500 per night for a room, the market here was a little lacking. So after touring this very cool, very hip, very inspired little hotel, I thought it was worth mention. You know, in the event that one of my 15 readers is planning a trip to Laguna...and is not planning to stay at our house. :)

Another Sunday morning

This morning, we brought Alia into our bed in an attempt to persuade her that it's okay to sleep in on Sunday...she won't miss a thing.

However, as usual, Alia didn't believe us. She rolled back and forth in between us, and after awhile of this, had rotated 90 degrees. Now the top of her head was at my chest, and her feet at Ajay's. 

That's when Alia realized she could kick Daddy square in the ribs, which she did repeatedly. When Ajay had had enough, he sat her up, which is when she made the face. You know, the face of total concentration...the face of "I think there's a poo-poo coming".

I told Ajay if it were anybody other than Alia, we'd probably be pretty upset if someone came into our room and kicked Ajay in the ribs, and then took a dump on the bed. Ajay replied, "upset? I'd have them arrested!"

Today's the day!

Today is the day Laguna Beach Magazine shoots in our back yard. After an early morning Dr's appointment, I came back and began wreaking havoc on all those spider webs that have been adding up over the winter.

I swept...I scrubbed. I managed to get the winter grime off our outdoor cushions and made them bright and not scary. I wiped down the outdoor table and all 10 chairs. I turned on all the water features. All set.

Now....where are they? I even managed for Alia to be asleep when they were slotted to arrive...arrgh! Even the most carefully laid plans....

exhaaaaale

Alia is currently down for a nap, and lemme tell you, it's in the nick of time. For some reason I'm so worn out today! I was actually somewhat of a passive Mom today for the first time, ever! By passive, I mean that while I made Alia's baby food, while playing peek-a-boo with her from across the room, I was only half-hearted with the peek-a-boo. So I suppose she's not suffering too much! Yaaaawn!

Alia's new go-cart...I mean, high chair

This week, we finally graduated Alia to a full blown high chair. Prior to now, Alia's been sitting in her Bumbo chair on top of the kitchen table at her mealtime. But since my wild and crazy and I might add, very strong girl loves to thrust backwards with all her might, the Bumbo no longer offered the ummm, well, restraint that a girl like Alia requires.

After doing some research, I narrowed it down to the Tripp Trapp by Stokke and the Boon Flair. My sister in law loves her Boon, and with the reports of babies being able to tip the Tripp Trapp over backwards by pushing off the table, I decided on the Boon.

I ordered the chair. It arrived. We assembled. We fell in love. You see, not only is the chair functionally great for mealtime feeding (and restraint), but it's extra wide base is equipped with very high quality coated casters that make driving Alia all through the house in her new car, oops, I mean chair, a new favorite past time. And while they don't say it, the chair is actually better than a carnival ride if you spin it round and round and round and round.

Guess what?!

So Scott, the landscape architect that we hired to re-do our back yard called the other day. Since our project was complete a long time ago, I was surprised to hear from him. He said that he got a call from Laguna Beach Magazine. They wanted to know if he could recommend any fabulous backyards in Laguna Beach that they could feature in their upcoming "Fabulous Backyards" issue. And guess what? They're going to use our yard!

So the last few days, I've been working on getting stuff that isn't in great shape pulled out and replaced with new, fresh plants. My task list before the photo shoot is long...in addition to the replanting and sprucing up of plants, my eye has turned critical to other things...like the strange calcium line that has never gone away on the side of the hot tub. And is that light bulb in the fountain burned out? Hang on...the screws that fasten the hardware to the beam that support the swing seem to be coming unscrewed...that doesn't seem safe. Oh, and while we're at it, those cushions need to be scrubbed (again). And while we're at it...shouldn't we pull the Bougan Villia vine that isn't blooming and replace it with something that looks better? And what's that? The vine on the back wall completely detached from the walls...wire mounts and all.

I told my sister the news...about the feature in the magazine. Her response was pure enthusiasm as can be expected from my sister. She went on about "what's it like to live in a magazine home?" in a half-joking trying-to-push-my-buttons way. Well, in a nutshell, as I'm cleaning up milky barf off the kitchen cabinets? It's very glamorous!

My Favorite Candle....well, my 2nd favorite candle

Long story involving a due bill that was about to expire, but I recently bought this candle. It is $38, which is on the pricey side for candles in our house (except for my prized Carolina Herrera candle, which is another story altogether).

Anyway, I got this candle, and can I just say that if you love the smell of lavender as much as I do, this candle is for you and worth every single penny.

Earthquake!!!!

Last night, I climbed into bed, grabbed my Crate and Barrel catalog, and planned to browse a little before drifting off to a niiiice, tranquil slumber. Ajay was working from 7PM to 7AM on Labor and Delivery, so I had the house to myself. Considering that I lived alone for 10 years after college, this shouldn't be a big deal...I used to relish my alone time.

However, since I've lived with Ajay for four years now, I'm used to his manly presence. I am a big fat scaredy cat when he's not here...sometimes. Other times, I spread out like a starfish in our king sized bed and sleep like the dead. 

Last night, just as I was relaxing, BOOM! The doors in our bedroom rattled like we were being invaded by pirates. I jumped out of bed before I knew what was going on. I realized quickly that we were having an earthquake, and no, there weren't any pirates invading....but my heart was already racing. I realized that I hadn't checked that the doors were locked before bed, and did so, and then went back to bed. And just as I was relaxing againg, BOOM! Pirates! I mean, ummm, aftershock! Again, heart racing, I jumped a mile high in bed, but this time didn't get up. 

When my heartbeat finally returned to normal, I decided to go to sleep...and once there, I dreamed of a home invasion which happens to be my biggest fear. In the dream, two men busted their way into my home; clearly they were going to rape and kill me. Somehow I managed to kill one of the men with a butcher knife to the neck...I had to stab him twice in the neck as the first stab only made him laugh at me. After this, I realized I had to run for it, and ran out the front door with cell phone in hand. I dialed 9-1-1 and reported that someone was chasing me and that I had just killed an intruder.  I hid in the neighbor's poorly lit back yard among the bushes and waited for the police to arrive....all the while, listening for footsteps....was I being hunted by the other guy? Or had he taken off? My heart pounded. And then I realized I had left the front door open...Pooh, my cat (who by the way, passed away five months ago) was bound to get out...and she was declawed and defenseless! What do I do? Go back and close the door? Ummm, but there was a killer on the loose.  And that's when I realized....I'm a Mom! I left my baby asleep in her crib! How could I have forgotten to grab my baby? What is wrong with me? Well, that's when the police car pulled up. Right on cue, the other would-be-killer home invader entered the street from a few doors down and walked toward the police car with his hands up. 

The end of the dream is just bits and pieces, but of it what I remember, the police interviewed me at my house, and that there was a big stain on our polished concrete floors from where I killed the first intruder. Somehow, the body had been cleared out, and the bloody mess had been cleaned up. Pooh, my deceased cat? She was fine...she hid under the bed the whole time. And Alia? Slept through the whole thing.

And the moral of the story is? Bad dreams happen after an earthquake when your husband is away! 

To the doctor's we go

The last couple of days have been good ones with regards to Alia's teething problems. Today, however, was a very bad, sad day. Alia was miserable from the time she woke up...whining, crying at the drop of a rattle, the works. When I tried to persuade her that a nap would be nice, and placed her ever so delicately into her favorite swing, I noticed something: Alia was rubbing her left ear into her left shoulder vigorously. And when she stopped that, she began pulling at her hair above her left ear. Uh oh....ear infection?

So I called the doctor, and got her an appointment for the late morning. Alia dozed on the way there, and when we got to the office, she was somewhat refreshed and happy. She wanted to interact with all the other little babies her age. And then we went in to our room, and as the nurse wheeled in the table top scale, the floodgates opened. Alia didn't want to be weighed (and by the way, our little muffin weighed in at 22.6 pounds...a two and a half pound gaine in a single month!). She didn't want to be touched. She didn't want any part of this.

And then? Dr. O comes in, who is such a nice lady and soooo good with babies. Alia got to play with her name tag. Alia got to touch her stethoscope. And then? Alia screamed bloody murder as Dr. O looked in her ears. You would have thought she was putting nails in her ears.

And the verdict? All clear. Ears clear. Chest clear. All clear. Just a really bad case of teething pain where the pain migrates along the jaw and toward the ears.