You've Had a Birthday, Shout Hoo-ray!

"Happy birthday, Mom!"

So yeah, it was my birthday last week. I'm 26. Seeing as how birthdays are not that big a deal to me anyway, and 26 is not a milestone by any stretch, my b-day was pretty low key. I cuddled with my baby in the morning. Dh had the day off, and we all lazed around all morning. I did my hair. This is noteworthy because it never happens now. Doesn't happen much in the past three years, to be frank. Every day's a ponytail day! Woo-hoo!

The cheeks in all their glory.

Baby E always tries to climb in the shower while Dh is in there. So we figured, she'll love being in there on purpose. Apparently she is drawn to the shower only when it is forbidden. She hated the shower. So, we had to give her a fauxhawk:

"Guys, my hair looks dorky. Fix it."

(And I'm noticing I always seem sheeny in recent pics. I'm not oily, I promise. I switched over to a stronger daily sunscreen (45 from 15) and my skin's still getting used to it.)

We trekked down to the south side because I got a hankerin' for a Jamba and it's 20 minutes away, but it was my birthday, dang it! so off we went. It was delicious! Plus it was fun to be out and about as a family. That isn't happening much recently with Dh taking another graduate class right now and working lots of OT besides.

Baby E was not really into the Family Adventure.

JDub came over Thursday night and we had a great time gabbing. This is what we do every time we get together and I love it. She is one of the few friends I have who is really good at listening.

Other than that, not too much going on in the Superhero home. Dh is busy and stressed and therefore snippy. Honestly, I've been trying to avoid him sometimes and be patient during the times avoidance isn't possible. Varying levels of success with that. I finished crocheting a sweater for Rainbow's baby, due around the 4th of July. I worked out twice this week which unfortunately is a record. Ha ha

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Baby E reached turned 11 months old yesterday. She cruises verrrrry fast now, and is also a speed crawler. Never does the army crawl anymore. She only nurses once a day, in the morning. She weaned herself down to this, not me, and I'm okay with it. I'm starting to get excited because as soon as Dh's graduate class is over and he can give me a break, you bet your britches I am so leaving for a day-long shopping excursion. I haven't had one of those (sans baby) since I was about seven months pregnant.

She is really horking down the food. Breakfast is mainly nursing, and most of a slice of whole wheat bread. Lunch and dinner are about the same fare (all food in pieces, of course): 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 oz cheese or 1 oz lunch meat (usually turkey), most of 1 banana and 1/2 kiwi or many grapes. Sometimes I feed her veggies in baby food form, because she just won't eat them in their true forms. I try, believe me. So, low on the veggies, and I'm trying to care, but it's just not working too well. Besides, I loooooove to be lectured by her pediatrician. (I have issues with her pediatrician, who works for an HMO and sees 1 million children per week and therefore 1) does not remember anything we discuss from one visit to the next 2) treats me like I am dumb and 3) always asks me if I am using a car seat for Baby E. WTF. Do I look like some meth addict washup? It's insulting that she even asks. Yet she asks EVERY TIME.) Anyway, I'm pretty sure Baby E is going through a growth spurt because in addition to inhaling all that food as if she is starving to death, she has been taking long naps (which I really, really heart). Two naps a day, two hours each. Bliss. I have to enjoy it while it lasts.

She "talks" really loud in dressing rooms and our bedroom because of the echo (the ceiling of our bedroom is vaulted). She loves to get into the newspaper. She wants to eat anything I am eating, look at any book I am reading, and pull herself up whilst tenuously holding onto my jeans when I am trying to clean the kitchen. She is a lot of fun. She loves to play peekaboo. Every time she gets up for the day or from a nap we head over to the window to open the curtains. She gets so excited about that. She has great hearing and knows that whenever the front door opens, Daddy's home!

Monday & Wednesday I watched Lissa's middle son Cedar. (She just had a baby two weeks ago.) Cedar is 2. I didn't really know what to do with him, as I don't know what 2-year-olds can and cannot do/understand/etc. I figured out pretty quickly that he loves trucks (he pointed out every one that drove by) and can follow simple commands. Case in point: I was doing some laundry, Cedar was watching from the hallway. Baby E was crawling around somewhere. I finished up, turned off the light and shut the door of the laundry room. I looked up and down the hallway. No Baby E. "Cedar, where's Baby E?" He got a big smile on his face and moved to open the laundry room door. "No, she's not in there," I said - but then there was Baby E, in the dark, with very wide eyes. I have no idea how I did not bump into on her on my way out of the laundry room (like I usually do) as the room is very small. I laughed and laughed. Because I was laughing, Cedar laughed and laughed too, which was so cute. It was fun to see Baby E try to keep up with Cedar, and to watch him say "NO!" when she tried to take away whatever toy he had.

Baby E is now tall enough to stretch and grab things off the kitchen table, so now we have to like pick up after ourselves completely. So inconvenient. She dances to everything now. She especially likes the "Sexy Back" ringtone, which I am kind of embarrassed about. That ringtone was Dh's request! There's a pop princess hiding inside his burly exterior. Ha ha