Shutter Bug

A friend of mine at work told me about Olan Mills. I vaguely remember them from my childhood. They are that photo company that used to come to my elementary school and take our school pictures. Well they now have locations inside Macy's, Kmart's and a bunch of other stores nationwide. She said they have a whole package for newborns for free and then you can get discounted pics for the remainder of your child's first year so I thought we would check it out. So off to the local Kmart we went and had a whole photo shoot done today. Sophia was fussy all day today and we almost thought it wasn't going to happen but right before it was time to start clicking away, she fell asleep. We took a couple of shots of her asleep and a couple of her awake. She was so cute and so well behaved. We were in and out in a half hour and will pick up the pics in about a week. I look forward to sharing them with all of you once I get them and have them scanned in. I look forward to going back each month and getting a new set of photos done to mark each milestone month during Sophia's first year. They said I can come in as often as I want, no minimum or maximum, no limits on the number of people who take pictures with her so we can get family portraits done as well as get photos done with the grandparents and cousins and I can go to any Olan Mills location nationwide to make it convenient for me. Pretty cool deal for only $20. Now I just need 900 more picture frames and I need bigger walls. Hee, hee.

Visit With The Smith Family

It's been quite a while since I have had a chance to spend some time with my BFF Shana and her husband Grant and daughter Krystina. So we made plans to meet up at the Smith compound and hang for the evening on Wednesday. It was a blast. It started out with me leaving on time. Sophia blew a gasket only 2 blocks from our house. I pulled over and fed her, burped her and then changed her diaper. Wooh! Dude! Not just any diaper. When they say 9 to 14 pounds that's all those things will hold. Sophia managed to stuff 15 pounds in a 9 to 14 pound diaper. Red alert. We had to bag all of her clothes. She destroyed them. Once the crisis was averted, we headed out again. Traffic. Shoot. Now it will take me twice as long to get there. We finally got there and got a chance to visit, catch up and touch base. Sophia got fed again and got lots of love and T.L.C. from the gang. We packed up and then it happened. Yawning in technicolor. Yup, she barfed up all 5 oz. of her bottle all over herself, her p.j.'s, her car seat oh and me!! And not just any barf. Projectile out of her mouth and nose. Poor thing was choking looking up at me as if to say where did that just come from? I got her cleaned up, changed her back into her spare set of clothes, Krystina got Sophia's face cleaned off, Shana got the car seat cleaned and Grant stayed out of the way- the women were on it!!! LOL So once again we got packed up and headed out. So much for an uneventful day. Upon arriving home, Dan cleaned and scrubbed down the car seat, threw all of the clothes including my jacket directly into the washing machine and Sophia and I headed into the bathroom- this was one chica who was in desperate need of a bath. Pee Eww! Yucky stinky. Checking the clock it was 11:30pm by this time. Yikes. Off to bed..... well not quite. By this time Sophia was bright eyed and bushy tailed. No sleep for the weary tonight. Wish us good luck.

More Shots....

Well we were back in the Dr.'s office this week. More shots. One in each thigh. Not a happy camper. Sophia got shot in the left thigh and then as she started to cry they whipped her around and gave her a shot in her right thigh. Ouie!!!! And boy did she scream. Crocodile tears like you would not believe. Took about a half hour to calm her down. And then she passed out from exhaustion from crying. Poor thing. Just wait until we get her ears pierced. Yeowie! That one will be a disaster. Yeah! Fun things to look forward to.

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik, better known to many as Blossom from the early 90's hit sitcom series Blossom or most recently Amy Farrah Fowler from the hit sitcom series The Big Bang Theory is not only an accomplished actress but has a PhD in NeuroScience and as of 2012 a published author of a little book I picked up called Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide To Raising Confident Loving Children The Attachment Parenting Way. She recently debuted this book and one of her stops was the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. My girlfriend Nikki and I drove out and caught her appearance. She was funny, entertaining, smart, intelligent and informative. I purchased her book and stayed to meet with her personally and get it autographed. We were able to speak briefly about Sophia. She congratulated Dan and I and gave me some advice on lactose intolerance. She also warned me that many children who have lactose allergies also have Say allergies so to keep an eye on her. I was grateful for the advice and star struck by the opportunity to have the meet and greet. I am reading her book as we speak. I find it comforting. I want to raise Sophia the way I want to raise her. I know that sounds selfish or Diva-esque. I cant explain why I do what I do or why I want to raise her this way. I just know it is comfortable to me. It is refreshing to have a book that validates this and lets me know to keep going with my gut. Because it is the most natural instinctual way.

Mind Your Manners

My Mother always said for me to mind my manners. Please, Thank You, Your Welcome, Sir, Ma'am. You know, the usual. No elbows on the table at dinner and never any spitting ever, no matter what. I intend to teach my daughter these same basics. But I guess I am already too late. She is already burping and passing gas with the best fraternity brothers and now I get to add creating spit bubbles to boot. LOL Yes my daughter spits. Ha, Ha. There is no burp cloth, bib or towel for that matter, that can contain the drool produced by Sophia's over sized spit bubbles. Any bigger and the poor thing might float off. LOL I do have to admit they are adorably cute. And then she smiles mid spit and sucks the bubbles back in. Who wouldn't coo and awe at a kid this cute. What can I say. I am a proud Momma. Even if her only achievement so far has been creating a bubble. Hee, hee! 

T.G.I....... Vanessa & Kris!!!

One of my besties was in town this past weekend celebrating her 40th birthday. We had planned a big dinner at The Sky Room in Long Beach on Friday night to begin the celebratory weekend. One problem, no kids allowed. Ummmmm..... I got one and it is not so easy to get away from her. Sooooooo, Hay Auntie Vanessa do you want to come over and play??? My best friend Vanessa and her fiance Kris came over to hang for a bit and then watch Sophia while we were out for the evening. I have to tell you I was a bit nervous leaving her. Its one thing to leave her with family who know her temperament but it is another thing to leave her with someone who doesn't expect her temper tantrums. But to my surprise she was an angel and didn't even fuss. Thanks Vanessa and Kris. You guys are life savers. We had such a good time at dinner, I really appreciate it. You guys are the best.

Lactose Intolerant (better known in my house as rooty tooty booty)

Yup my daughter is lactose intolerant. Yuck! Babies can be lactose intolerant to breast milk as well as cows milk. Right now we don't know which one she is allergic to. As a result, I have stopped eating and drinking all dairy to prevent her from getting sick. We are also giving her gripe water for her colick and gas, semithicone drops for her colick and colief drops for her lactose intolerance. All herbal, non-medicated. It's really helping. She is less anxious, less gassy, less fussy. She has regular diapers and seems to cry less. She is starting to sleep 4-5 hours at a time. Thank goodness. At least we are on the right track. Hopefully this gets better quickly. Most people say she should grow out of it and be much better by 3 months old.