The Final Page

This blog began as a way for BA and me to keep track of my pregnancy milestones and keep our families informed about the birth of their grandchild.  It grew into a detailed account of the two plus years that changed our lives forever as we welcomed little Leah into our family, and it has been a wonderful way to document our transition into parenthood.  This blog has come to an end, but our family adventures will go on. 

Thank you for reading. 

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  The Peanut went as a strawberry this year :)  Her preschool class had a costume parade (loaded the kids into buggies and pushed them around the school into other classrooms so the "big kids" could see them) and then a class party.  Here are some pictures from Leah's Halloween festivities.  

Peanut in all her strawberry glory ...

Other costumes in the 1-year-old classroom included a peanut, two lions, Tigger, a hamburger, a dragon, two cowgirls, and various superheros.  As you would expect, it was adorable.

But this is how our day started ...

"I hate Tuesdays"

But things started to improve once we arrived at preschool and loaded up the buggies for the parade.

"Wheeeeeee, this is fun!"

And then the party started ...  (the kid in the background looks ready to get his groove on)

The kids chatted it up before the food was brought out ...

Leah: "I just heard that they are going to start limiting our goldfish intake at snack time to one handful?!?!"
Leah's Dragon Friend: "I'm stunned!"

Leah has acquired a new "activity" at her preschool mealtimes, where after she finishes her snack, she'll graze around the table trying to partake in her friends' leftovers.  For some reason, my 25th-percentile-for-weight child has the biggest appetite in her class.

Here she is having her first course (her snack) ...

Now, soliciting leftovers from her classmates ...

And .......  success. 

Happy Halloween!

All's well when Dad's here.

Footloose and Fancy Free

This past weekend, we found something that doesn't exist in California: an empty soccer field.  (Although LA has plenty of empty basketball courts - a rare find in the south).*

So we let Leah run wild.  She had the best time, and spent most of this time running away from us.  Since there weren't many people around, we didn't feel the need to chase after her, and she had a blast.  (She also slept incredibly well that night...I think we'll be finding empty soccer fields a lot more often).

As a product of preschool, she also is a bit of a social butterfly.  She has no problem walking straight up to any kid on the playground. It's fun to watch the Peanut hold her own out there.

Leah is walking really well these days.  So for those of you who haven't seen Leah in a little while, enjoy these clips.

*Editor's Correction:  L.A. does not have plenty of empty basketball courts.  They are filled with skateboarders. 

Go Ahead, Give Me Your Best Shot

BA's Corner: Where's Daddy?

AA, Nana, and I were sitting at the table tonight while I fed Leah her dinner.  Halfway through....

BA: "Leah, where's Mommy?"

Leah looks at AA and points to her.

BA: "Good job.  Now, where's Nana?"

Leah looks at Nana and smiles.

AA: "Good job."

Nana: "Where's Daddy?"

Leah shakes her head "no."

One Small Step for Peanut, One Giant Leap into Toddlerland

Leah took her first official steps on Labor Day - September 3rd, 1 week before her 14-month birthday.  She'd taken a step here and there for about a week when we tricked her into it, but on this day she began stringing them together. 

Yesterday was the first day we could get her to walk between something other than 2 people.  (The book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" seemed to do the trick...she loves sliding the little windows).  Tonight, she surprised us by suddenly walking halfway across the room to AA.  She's getting better and more confident each day.  But we tend to wear her out "practicing" - she certainly lets us know when we've hit the limit.

We're proud of our little Peanut!

Quesadilla Night

Baby Joy

First Balloon

This is Leah playing with her first balloon back on her 1st birthday. It's the only toy she has that takes weeks to wind up on the floor rather than seconds. I was actually impressed that, after she figured out that she needed to grab the string, she figured out how to hold the string.

After Dinner

Now, I know what you're thinking....how much did she actually get in her mouth?

For the Record: Let's Go!

We spent our first weekend at home in 3 weeks.  Unfortunately, BA was sick for most of it.  But we managed to hit the park for some family walking and Peanut swinging.  

Leah added a few things to her "bag of tricks" this weekend, and we got rid of the crib bumpers (which means we have pacifiers flying everywhere at night!).  She's walking pretty well with just one hand now, and can stand for a second or two if you let go.  She'll squat down, but won't attempt to stand up on her own yet.  But she's mastered the heel-to-toe technique, as long as someone is holding her hand.  It's pretty adorable. 

She is blowing kisses (even making the "kissing" sound a little).  She also copied us by saying "Let's Go" and sometimes just "Go."  She also said "big girl" again. 

She bounces balls straight at you, and she discovered that her pacifier bounces on the kitchen floor!  She enjoyed that.

And she likes to sit in her booster seat on the floor in her room.  At first we strapped her in, but then she threw her pacifier across the floor.  So we unbuckled her without her realizing it, and she still thought she couldn't move.  It was pretty funny to watch her reach so hard for her pacifier.  Now we don't strap her in, and she just sits there like a little lady.  After a while, she gets out to look around, then crawls back up to it, but she can't figure out how to get back in.  So she ends up just standing beside it until we put her back in.

While Skyping with BA's parents, BA had to leave the room to grab the laptop power cord.  After waving bye to Dad, the Peanut stayed right in front of the screen staring at Nana until BA returned.  He was so proud that she didn't wander off to climb the stairs or otherwise injure herself.  Then she commenced to show off her walking and straw cup sipping (which she has finally mastered after about 3 months of trying). 

But one of our favorite "tricks" that she's picked up the past few days has been her cuddling.  She's been awfully snuggly recently around us...hugging us and resting her head on us.  And she'll let us rock her to sleep for a few minutes.  We're not sure if this is because she hates daycare so much or is just going through a phase of wanting to be around us constantly.  Either way, we're trying to soak it up (while correcting the daycare issue, of course). 

Here's the scooter at her daycare class.  How cute are these kids in their little chairs all having breakfast together?  Notice the one kid that has to be held by the teacher?  Yep, you guessed it.  That's Princess Peanut, who was too upset to eat her Cheerios next to the other kids.  (Maybe it didn't help that Dad was taking a picture of the calamity).

Spaghetti = Immediate Sink Bath

Seen Recently

Just some recent pictures for your enjoyment.

From daycare (Leah is on the left)...

Dinner and a Show

For a couple of weeks now, this is the show we get after we feed Leah dinner every night, while she waits for us to finish eating....

For the Record: Words?

We think Leah has been trying to say some words the past couple of months.  I don't think we can count any as "first words" yet, but it's fun to watch her imitate us.  So far, here's what we think we've heard:

• Wetbar (I swear I heard it once)
• Touchdown (after we practiced with her for months)
• Thank you
• Sfoot (what a genius...making up her own words)
• Dumb (which she said emphatically about 2 inches from BA's face while staring at him and waiting for her bottle to heat up...thanks Leah)
• Big girl
• Uh-oh (well, more "uh" than "oh" but still)
• Where's Nana?
• Peek-a-Boo (ok, it's more of a grunt when she's peeking at us from around the kitchen door frame, but it's cute, so we'll take it)
• And she's been trying to sing with AA, which is pretty funny.  She's been practicing the Queen's aria from The Magic Flute.  Good luck with that, Peanut.
• We think she also tried to say "blog."

So if you've got a spare 3 minutes on a Friday and you want to see a smiley, flirty, happy, curious, clapping, tissue-pulling, diaper-wearing, just-another-day-hanging-out-at-home, grunting-when-I-concentrate Peanut, then enjoy this clip.  And listen for "blog" about halfway through.

BA's Corner: Daycare, Changes, and Family

Leah is getting ready to transition to the next daycare class.  I hope the "Tiny Tots" are ready for a big Peanut.  While she's still an "Infant 1," I thought I'd share some daycare pics we got last month (most are from "beach day").  If nothing else, this proves that she doesn't cry all day long, just when we drop her off and pick her up.  Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daycare has been a bit of a struggle - one we didn't expect.  New rules, new teachers, and new routines take some getting used to, and we're still adjusting.  For some reason, it seems like Leah has never been fully comfortable in her new daycare, and neither have we.  It's a nice facility and they do many great things with the kids.  But for some reason, we just haven't clicked.  There seem to be a lot of rules and things constantly change, so maybe that's part of it.  They are trying to push the kids from 2 naps/day to 1, and it's not going very well.  Aside from that:

• Leah has started to eat everything on the menu since she's turned 1 (which is great, and fun too)
• We continue to try the straw cup with her (unsuccessfully...although she did it once a few weeks ago)
• We are still transitioning from formula to milk (she drank full milk for a few days, but I don't think her stomach was ready for it, which resulted in some extra loads of laundry.  So we are still mixing it with formula and gradually working up to full milk again). 
• Plus she now has tennis shoes, since the "T-Tots" require them. 

 

Suffice it to say, there are many changes going on over here.  But Leah is sleeping very well at night and we are managing through the changes at a pace she can handle.  Plus, it is so wonderful to have AA back.  We feel like a family again - and a family that has control over our lives!  Monday afternoon, when we returned from our mini-vacation (thank you again Nana and Papa!), we took Leah on a wagon ride up to the pool after her nap.  We enjoyed swimming and relaxing as a family again.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is huge.  Leah had a ball splashing and kicking with both of us there, and she especially enjoyed when I would toss her up in the air.  Water splashed all in her face, and she just grinned and giggled.  

 

In our return to normalcy, we have vowed to:

1. Take some time as a family every weekend...no pictures, no blogging, just enjoying the moment
2. Salvage as much of the rest of the summer as possible, so that we don't look back at 2012 as "that awful, wasted summer when the bar controlled our lives."

 

Bar be gone.  We're a family again.

The Other Side

The Bar.  Is Over.

I made it to the other side.  And now I'm sitting on a beach-front balcony, listening to crickets, the waves, and a guitar player, and not studying for the first time in 3 years and 2 months.  BA and I are on a mini-vacation.  We went to Hilton Head to celebrate my freedom and the survival of his single-parenthood this summer.  We left the little Peanut at home with Nana and Papa and took our first vacation alone in over a year.  It is well deserved.  We are eating as much seafood as we can fit into our bellies, and I have spent the better part of the day just staring out at the ocean and feeling the breeze.  It's a good day. 

So how did I celebrate my completion of the bar exam?  Well to kick it off I contracted pink eye.  Yes, that's right.  I'm sure I picked it up at the bar exam.  My eye was red and a little irritated on Wednesday morning (the morning of the MBE exam) but luckily I didn't suspect anything during the actual test, but by Wednesday night it was apparent that I had pink eye.  Thursday morning I went to urgent care and started eye drops.  3 days later, both eyes were full blow infected with no improvement, so on our first real day at Hilton Head I was back at another urgent care clinic.  Now I have steriod eye drops and those babies are finally getting the job done. 

So how do I feel about the test?  Not great, but I think that's how I'm supposed to feel.  I felt good after both morning sessions, but at some point during both afternoon sessions I started to feel like I knew nothing and was getting every question wrong.  To be perfectly honest, I feel that, regardless of how I actually did, I deserve to pass.  I worked so hard this summer, I studied so much, and I think I deserve to pass.  Unfortunately, that's not how it works.  I'll find out in late October if I passed.  Until then, I'm going to relax and take it easy for a change.  And after 2 weeks of taking it easy, I'm sure I'll get bored and realize that it's time to start looking for a job.  But not yet.  Now it's time for vacation.  And then it's time to spend the days playing with Leah, cleaning up the house, catching up with friends and family, watching TV, and just being happy I survived.

BA's Corner: Graduation Celebration

The night before AA's graduation, we planned a celebratory dinner at Katsuya.  Unfortunately, there have been so many other "current events" recently that this post is now long-overdue.  But since AA is still recovering from the bar exam, I thought I'd share this post because we had a great time that night, and I don't want the memories to be passed by. 

Katsuya is a special place to us.  In a lot of ways to me, it represents LA.  There's nothing bad on the menu, and everytime we went, we'd end up trying several new things on the menu (and loving them).  You pay for it, but it's a wonderful place for a special occasion.  And this was certainly a special occasion.

It was also a rare event - Leah was coming out to dinner with us.  In addition to being in a hotel room at this point, her schedule was about to be thrown off for the evening.  I think we were the only people in LA to eat dinner at 5 p.m. on a Friday night, but it was necessary. 

Since we ate so early, we scored the Tom Hanks booth again!

"Wait, is that my grape juice?"

Leah did great at the restaurant...staring dreamily at our Bradley-Cooper-look-alike waiter and flirting for a little attention (as if she wasn't getting enough already).  She got some exercise crawling back and forth on the benches.

The Peanut had reached her limit, and cried almost the whole way home in typical 405 traffic for 7 p.m. on a Friday (sorry Grandma and Aunt Haley who were stuck in the back seat with her).  It was frustrating because we knew that if we could just move, she'd fall asleep.  But we sat and sat.  It was a long ride home. 

After we got Leah to bed, it was time for a celebration.  We surprised AA with a TCBY cake and champagne for starters.  AA's parents also sang a song to her that they had prepared for the occasion. 

One of my gifts to AA was a dispenser of personalized M&M's.  I was very proud of how neat the images turned out...there's a picture of AA holding Leah while she studies - I thought that was appropriate for a graduation gift.  Do you see anything odd about this picture?



Yes, the Pepperdine mascot is the "Wave"


Well, there's something you need to understand here.  As a die-hard Florida State Seminole, I make it my personal mission to not allow the colors "orange" and "blue" to be used together.  We just can't have that other Florida school represented in any way.  Heck, when possible, I just remove orange completely to make sure it doesn't happen. 

Problem: Pepperdine's colors are orange and blue.  C'mon people....has the LA smog corrupted your brains?  Who decided the most beautiful campus on Earth should be frosted with orange and blue?  Yuck.  I can't even comfortably write those two colors in the same sentence.  But as I told AA, this occasion was all about her and her achievements - not my never-ending love of fried gator tail.  So for this one day, for this one occasion, it was not about me...it was about AA.  So we rolled out the orange and blue.  Look now...you'll never see this again from us (unless Leah goes to Pepperdine). 

We ended up leaving quite a bit of cake for the housekeeper, but had a great time celebrating while Leah slept peacefully in the other room

During the visit, Leah also decided to surprise AA's family with another "first" - waving.

First Birthday Party

We enjoyed celebrating Leah's first birthday all last week.  We are fortunate to have friends and family who care about Leah so much.  Some presents started arriving during the week, and Leah loved opening them up.  See how excited she got?



First present to arrive, all the way from California from Auntie Kristen



The Peanut loves styrofoam peanuts!  She just pops them in her mouth like they are nothing...doesn't even stop to think about it.  The more we try to stop her, the more determined she is to get her baby paws on them and munch away.

And she's really learning how to tear into some gift wrap!  Check out the stance she picked for maximum gift-opening leverage as she really puts her back into pulling the wrapping paper off....

Saturday was her official first birthday party, and it was a wonderful event, full of family and "firsts."  We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.  Leah had her first cheeseburger, and ate it like it was a plate of black beans (the girl loves black beans for some reason).  We paused for a thank you to everyone for coming and their help/support during Leah's first year, especially Leah's grandparents.

We owe thanks to many folks, but we shared examples of what each grandparent has done for us this past year.  They are worth repeating:

Grandma: AA's mom was there from the beginning...I believe she arrived on day 3, while we were still trying to figure out which end was up.  She cooked for us and held Leah while we tried to get organized and adjusted.  She was up first thing every morning to take over so we could get some sleep, and she stocked our freezer before she left.  She's kind of like James Bond in the kitchen...give her a paperclip and a battery, and she'll whip up a salmon salad.  This past week, she's been watching Leah so we wouldn't have to send Leah back into the germ pool known as daycare, which would derail AA's already-behind-schedule studies. 

Granda: AA's dad was a huge help too.  I think he's been thrown up on most out of all the family members, and he took it all in stride.  He took night shifts and early morning shifts, and I know he did some grocery shopping for us too.  Early one morning, I walked out of our room and he said, "You see that burp cloth over there?  Bring it to me now.  I just changed my first diaper in 30 years."  So how does it compare to riding a bike, Wayne?

Nana Wanda: AA's stepmom cooked great southern food for us and took a few night shifts too.  She raided our fridge for Dr. Pepper, then stayed up holding Leah all night long in the dark.  I'll never know how Wayne and Wanda rocked Leah all night long in pitch darkness, but somehow they did.  And one day, Wanda told us to "get lost" so she could deep clean our apartment before they left.  When we came home, all the windows were open and she was scrubbing away like her life depended on it. 

Papa: In addition to surviving on frozen dinners and Long John Silvers while Nana stayed with us, BA's dad held Leah and entertained her while we ran errands and got things done around the house.  Most recently, he assembled all of our porch furniture while AA studied and BA slept to recover from being sick.  He also helped us transition to a home in Atlanta by watching Leah as soon as we got to Atlanta so we could house hunt, shop, and get organized. 

Nana: So that AA could return to school and BA could return to work, we needed someone to watch Leah until she was 2 months old and could attend daycare.  When we asked BA's mom if she was up for the task, the next day she said she had a 1-way plane ticket to LA.  She stayed with us for about 5 weeks, and she was amazing.  She was up, showered, with a cup of tea every day at 6 a.m.  We'd hand Leah over (because we'd been on the couch holding her all night), and head straight to bed for an hour or two.  Some days we would come home, and she'd have the dishes done, the laundry folded, the bathrooms cleaned, dinner ready, and Leah strapped onto her.  I have no idea how she does it.  Keep in mind that we couldn't put Leah down for the first 2 months...somebody had to hold her 24 hours a day.  So Nana did all of this while holding Leah.  And she just spent another 2 weeks watching Leah so that she could get healthy.  Of course, she never got healthy until she got tubes, but we were so glad to have Nana's help around the house. 

And Aunt Haley deserves a big "thank you" as well.  She has been such a trouper through all of this, learning how to feed, bathe, and put Leah down at night so we could go to dinner alone every now and then.  She's traveled all over, she's cooked, she's cleaned, she's babysat....she's done it all and never complained.  She's been as wonderful of an Aunt to Leah as she is a sister and sister-in-law.

It wasn't easy for them....it's not like we lived right down the road.  Everybody had to spend time and money (and time off of work) to fly across the country to do these chores for us.  You all may not remember all of the little things you did, but we won't forget them.  We can't thank you enough!  But back to the party....

Then it was time for Leah's first taste of cake.  AA selected a strawberry cupcake from "A Piece of Cake" and topped it with (a replica of) one of Leah's favorite bath toys - a little pink squirt ducky we call "Matilda."  Leah was equally interested in eating the cake and Matilda.

As usual, Leah made such a mess that it required two people to clean her up.  The only difference on this day is that while she was being cleaned, she had an audience to entertain.

We opted for Leah to go naked the rest of the day.  It seemed appropriate.

We asked for "No gifts please," but no one followed the rules.  So we decided to open Leah's presents while everyone was there.  Leah got many wonderful gifts...way too many to mention here.  She got clothes, money for college, toys, educational things, music, bags, books, and more.  We opened a 529 for her (which I'm sure Leah and AA were equally thrilled about), and got her some baby Converse shoes.  BA bought her a case of Kleenex tissues....4 boxes worth.  Leah loves to pull them out, one by one.  We always stop her, but he thought giving her hundreds of tissues to pull out and just letting her go to town would be a fitting first birthday present.  So she did, and we got a good laugh out of it.
 

Then we put on her Converse and topped it with a pair of "babiator" sunglasses our friend Emily got her. 

After we opened presents, Leah got another "first" -  she had her first taste of ice cream.  BA decided to get a homemade ice cream maker and make vanilla ice cream from scratch for the party.  AA's Dad had to save the day in the end by hitting the store for more ice.  It didn't turn out quite as planned, but everyone ate it up, so it must have been ok.  Leah certainly enjoyed it!

Leah's biggest toy was a red wagon from Nana and Papa.  Papa assembled it for us a week earlier, and we hid it from Leah until the "big reveal" after the other presents had been opened.  She loves this thing.  We think she just enjoys seeing all of the scenery go by, compared to when she's in her stroller.  It's kind of funny actually...80% of the time she's in her wagon, she clinches onto both sides, stays pretty quiet, and maintains a very serious look on her face.  It's like she's driving or something - "no funny business when I'm being pulled in my wagon."  The rest of the time, she's smiling like crazy, talking up a storm, pointing at things going by, and rocking back and forth when we stop (to queue us to keep going).  It's adorable. 

Ready to go.



Serious business



It's been pretty hot recently, so Leah was a little sweaty by the end of her first wagon ride with AA's family.  After all, it's tough work sitting back and letting other people pull you along like you're a princess.

Later that weekend, Grandma and Aunt Haley worked with Leah on climbing the stairs.  They've been working on this for a while now.  This time, she climbed all the way up by herself. 

About halfway up, she started saying "Ma Ma."  AA was studying upstairs with the door closed, and apparently Leah wanted to see her.  She climbed and climbed.  With one step to go, she turned and looked at us.  We encouraged her to go ahead.  She climbed the last step, and didn't stop for a millisecond....she immediately crawled at lightning speed straight to AA's door, butt bouncing in the air the whole time.  It was hilarious and very sweet.  We just happened to get it on video.  She's done it several times since.  She knows where her Ma-Ma is!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Leah's first year!