On March 2, 2008, at 3:05 pm, our lives changed forever with the birth of our sweet daughter, Lydia. After 18 years together, Paul and I finally decided to take the plunge into parenthood. So now we share our life with our daughter.
As Lydia gets older she likes playing on her own more and more. One of her places to play is in the jumperoo. And over the last month she’s finally discovered all the toys in it. Lately she loves playing with the sun and lizard that go round and round. Here’s a video of her playing a few weeks ago. You should hear the squeels that come from her these days when she gets excited about playing. Maybe I’ll be able to catch those on video one day soon.
Our little angel is growing up. Last night after a middle of the night feeding, I put her in her crib, she played for a while, then fell asleep… all by herself. I’m so proud. And if that weren’t enough good news, she did it again today for her first morning nap. She got real quiet, sucked her thumb, and started going to sleep after playing, so I put her in bed and within minutes she’d put herself to sleep.
Our approach with Lydia has always been to follow her cues on her progress and development rather than forcing her to our wills and expectations. And, all in all, it’s working beautifully so far. Yay.
BTW, above is a pix of our sweetie sleeping in the car this weekend. She’s good at that, too. (Am I a proud mom or what!)
We went to one our favorite annual events today, the Peach State Depression Glass Show. We’ve been going for about the last ten years, and we couldn’t miss this year. It’s always fun to see the wonderful details, colors and designs in all the dishes. And Lydia did great as usual!
Lydia iMet part of our family in Ecuador on Sunday when we successfully video-chatted. It was great to see and talk to everyone, and they loved meeting Lydia. Later this week, when the rest arrive in Guayaquil, she can meet them, too. Maybe next summer she can go meet them face to face.
A large part of the family is gathering in Guayaquil for a family art exhibit, the Montesinos clan’s second family exhibit. This time 3 generations (starting with my late grandfather) will be exhibiting. One day Lydia can contribute a piece, too. I’m exhibiting a watercolor. There are about 15-20 artists total in the show. The opening is this Wednesday evening.
This past week Lydia found her toes in a big way. She’s been studying them for a while and would occasionally grab them, but this week she’s mastered the art. She grabs her feet on demand and has learned to love sucking her toes, especially the big ones. She spent most of her time this week while lying down either grabbing her toes or continuing to practice flipping over and back. She’s getting to be a master at rolling. Scooting and crawling can’t be far now.
Lydia’s also mastered the art of reaching out and grabbing… anything in front of her, so, we’ve had to learn to be more vigilant when we hold her at our desks or the table. So, this also means she loves her toys more and more every day. She’s growing up so fast! (Sniff.)
And she’s also becoming quite the wiggle worm and talker. She wiggles at all opportunities and loves “chatting” with daddy. They can have elaborate, long, and loud conversations.
A few weeks ago we went to the Dr. for Lydia’s 4 month check-up. Of course, she passed all her developmental tests with flying colors (we’re so proud), but she’s also doing well with her growth. She was at 15.5 lbs and 25.5 inches in height, which translates into 90th percentile in weight and 90+% in height. Last time she was 90% weight/80% height, so she’s on a trajectory to being like the Weltys or Peacocks: tall.
After her morning walk in her baby stroller yesterday, when she tried to pull herself out of a reclining position the entire ride, we decided Lydia was ready for a big girl stroller. It’s the kind that lets her sit up (like she tried to do earlier). Of course she can still recline completely in it if she’d rather take a rest, so that’s good. We tried it out last night, and she loved it. She’s never been able to watch the world going by from an upright position, much less looking forward. She was mesmerized.
And she did such a great job during our shopping trip, too. We even got to eat a quick bite while out. She did super on her ride there, loved everything she had to see at the store, and went to sleep on the way home. We couldn’t ask for a better outing. We’re so proud of our big girl!
We celebrated the 4th with a yummy bbq, fun outdoor activities, and a home-style fireworks display. Some of our other fun activities over the 4th weekend were the kiddie pool, badminton, and blowing bubbles.
Lydia had her first kiddie pool experience over the 4th of July weekend, and she loved it, well not at first. The first few times she touched the water she’d cry and pull her feet up. Later that day when we tried again, she decided it was ok. She ended up spending quite a bit of time in there, and her favorite thing to do was put her hand in the water then suck her fingers. She did that pretty much the whole time. I’m sure we’ll swim again this summer.
Over the 4th of July weekend Paul’s side of the family came up to visit: Grandma Becky, Uncle John, Aunt Kadi, Clay, and Sage. We had a great time together, especially the cousins. Lydia thinks Clay is the funniest person ever. He can make her giggle at the drop of a hat. And Sage is a great care giver. She’s especially good at helping Paul bathe Lydia. We hope they can visit again soon.
