Music to our ears

I think sleep training is the hardest thing about being a parent so far. Nothing stresses me out more than getting my baby to take good naps without it being a traumatic experience for both of us. Elisabeth needs her naps to function properly.

There were a few months where she wouldn't go down for a nap without crying. I persisted in forcing naps upon her even though my anxiety levels were quite high through the whole process. No one likes hearing their baby cry in protest for 10-20 minutes before the little one finally drifts off into the land of nod.

Just a few weeks ago she started to go down for a nap without a fuss and with a big smile on her face. She has replaced her crying with something much more enjoyable - singing! Elisabeth sings herself to sleep for her naps. I started putting on some quiet kid's music and giving her a small doll to hold in her crib. Apparently the combination of these two things make her happy enough to sing away until she finally gives in to sleep.

How cute is that?

A little discretion, please

Today I stopped at a semi-fast food restaurant to pick up dinner as I had a church meeting to attend and wasn't able to make dinner. While I was waiting for them to make my kabobs, a very nice and slender woman kept smiling at me and looking at me with tenderness. I couldn't figure out what her problem was until this dredded question spilled out of her mouth:

"How far along are you?"

What?!?! How far along am I? Nevermind the fact that I am actually below my pre-pregnancy weight and can fit into the majority of my clothes again. Apparently, I must have always looked pregnant.

My reply was a terse "I am not pregnant."

Her face turned a wonderful shade of red and she looked as though she was going to throw up. Good. You should be embarrassed lady. Next time keep your small talk to yourself or use a little discretion. How depressing! Now I think I am going to open up one of our forbidden boxes of Girl Scout cookies and have a few - maybe the whole box.

Heck - If I look pregnant, I might as well stop depriving myself of the simple tasty things in life.

On Cloud Nine

A lot can change in nine months:

Elisabeth, Papa and Puppy - 2 days old.

Elisabeth, Papa and Puppy - Exactly 9 months old

Major nine-month milestone:  Stood up on her own after her nap on her 9 month birthday.

Another milestone:  Elisabeth waves "hi" and "bye"

• She went from being in the 95th percentile for weight to the 75th percentile.  I like this change, though she is still our Chunka Munka.

Our curious little explorer is crawling all over like a little speed demon, constantly using the "more" sign in sign-language at the dinner table (there is NOTHING this baby won't devour), saying "mama," "dada," "oh-oh," "na na" (her word for no), "Nona" (the nickname of her babysitter) as though she really knows what she is saying, and filling our home with happy giggles everyday.   She still has her non-perfect moments when have to resort to calling her by her first and middle name, but we can't help but love our little girl.  (Who will actually be 10 months this week.  I am a little behind with this post!)

Old Fashioned Girl

Here is the finished product:

I have to admit I am fairly proud of this hand-made frock. I feel like I could pluck Elisabeth off of the leather couch in our living room and place her on a settee in an antique store and she would fit right in with the other vintage goods. Someone at church suggested I make these types of dresses to sell. Sorry folks. This labor of love is way too time consuming and expensive of a hobby to make it worth the price someone would pay me. For now, Miss Elisabeth and her future siblings will be the only ones to don my hand-crafted finery. I may be willing to make a smocked article of clothing for a favorite niece or nephew, though. ;-)

Note: There was a smudge on my camera lens when I took these photos so they appear a tad blurry.

Dixie Lives

While browsing for a book on Greek mythology in the history section at a local Borders, my eyes were drawn to a bright green paperback with a black and white picture of a surly, odd-looking confederate soldier on the cover, bearing the obscure title; Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. Something about this book called to me. On an impulse, I purchased the book, curious to see what stories about humanity were captured between the two covers.

The South and their role in the Civil War has always intrigued me. I had gone to visit my penpal in Lousiana over spring break my senior year. I tagged along with my friend to her classes since my friend was *not* on spring break. When one of her teachers asked where I was from, I heard some snickers throughout her classroom and a boy shout out in disgust "So you're a Yankee!?!" I was very confused. We studied the Civil War in school but that is where us "Northerners" interests in the war ended. My friend then kindly informed me that some people in the South were still upset about loosing the war. In fact, some people were still fighting the war in their hearts.

I started reading the book yesterday and haven't been able to put it down. The author decides to tour the South and write sort of an ethnography about the people and situations he encounters - from attending a Daughters of the Confederacy birthday party for Robert E. Lee to marching in an authentic reinactment of Gettysburg, Tony Horwitz opens up a world that us "Northerners" could never understand.

Here is just a small taste:

The War of Northern Agression had little to do with slavery. Rather, it was a culture war in which Yankees imposed their imperialist and capitalist will on the agrarian South, just as the English had done wo the Irish and Scots--and as America did to the Indians...

Amazing how history changes with the eyes that view it.

Stylin'

Thanks to Auntie J, Uncle R and cousin Nick, Elisabeth is stylin' in her new Ralph Lauren dress and belt.  I couldn't resist the striped tights.  The nice thing about this dress is she can easily crawl in it as well.  Some of our friends insist that Elisabeth is going to be a girly-girl who likes girl things and loves to wear dresses.  I can only hope she takes after me because it is sure fun to dress her up!

When You're the Best of Friends

We love our Sofi Dog.

We love our Ellie Beth.

We love that they love each other.