I Win :)

Watch the video and then the title will make sense. :)

I know, I shouldn't gloat, but even though Mira doesn't know what she's saying, I can still say that I was her first word! It is pretty cool, especially since from really early on Mark would hold her and chant "Dadadadadadadada" to her to try and "influence" her. She's really getting into this babbling thing and it is so cute! I do feel kinda bad for Mark though - he feels left out and keeps saying things like he wishes Mira loved him as much as she loves me. Mira has turned out to be such a mama's girl. When I walk into the room she gets a huge grin on her face and flaps her arms up and down, and when I walk out of the room she cries. I thought Mira would be more of a daddy's girl (and I think if we give her some more time she will be) but right now Mark isn't any more exciting to her than the next person. My mom keeps telling me to enjoy it while I can and that when Mira decides she prefers someone else over me my feelings will be hurt and I'll be jealous. I can see how that would be true, and I have to keep reminding myself to enjoy being the center of her universe and appreciate being able to solve all of a person's troubles just by being there (because that sure won't last forever), but honestly... I have times when I really wish Mira would want her dad more than me so I can have some time to myself!! I love Mira to death, don't get me wrong, and I love spending time with her and cuddling her and everything... but really, sometimes I feel like I would give my arm to have her prefer someone else for just a few hours. Is that awful? (Actually, no, it's not, because I've talked to MANY mothers who feel the same way.)

 

Well, I guess it's time for another update. Have I really not updated this all month? Holy cow. Well, I have a pretty good excuse. Mira came down with her first illness a few weeks ago. :( I should feel pretty proud of myself that I was able to go 7 1/2 months before she came down with something - and luckily, it hasn't been too bad. I think what she had was a sore throat - she had a few days where she was acting lethargic and wasn't as playful and interactive and her voice was really hoarse and raspy. Of course the PICU nurse part of me started freaking out ("Oh my gosh she has croup she has epiglottitis she has RSV she's going to obstruct her airway aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh") but of course she was fine. She was still able to eat and drink okay and had plenty of wet diapers and her fontanel never got depressed (yep, I know too much). So she was just getting back to normal and then it hit again - now she's had a runny nose for over a week but she's still acting like herself. She's playing and babbling and doing all the things she normally does, just snotty. Well, I can handle that. However, I started feeling sick a week ago and every day since then I've felt a little bit worse. Yesterday was the first day I woke up and thought, "Hey, I actually feel somewhat less crummy today!" (So of course I screw things up and go to work - not my brightest idea.) I don't know what strain of killer cold this was but it's been brutal! And it's almost impossible to take care of yourself when you have a baby that's demanding your time and attention. The silver lining is I'm sicker than she is - I would much rather take the brunt of it. It's been a challenge to try to make sure she doesn't get sicker though - I've been trying to not breathe on her and avoid getting close to her... yeah that hasn't been going so well since most of the time she's not happy unless she's attached to my torso. But fingers crossed, I've been keeping up with nursing and giving her those antibodies.

Practicing her yoga poses

Textbook Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog pose)

And in the middle of all this illness crap, Mark goes and gives himself a head injury. I keep teasing him that he's the most accident-prone person I know and here's another example I can use against him. At least once a year he ends up in the emergency room from a self-inflicted injury. We do our yard up really fancy every year for Halloween, and part of it is a fence that is only up for the month. So Mark was pounding a metal stake into the ground with a metal ... I'm not sure what it's called but its purpose is to pound metal stakes into the ground. Anyway, it came down on his head. He lost consciousness for a moment and was a little disoriented and nauseous - yes, I freaked out. His head really didn't bleed that much, surprisingly. The doctors said there was only a little bit of bleeding in his brain but not to worry, it's only a concussion and he should be fine. Yeah, like that's supposed to be reassuring to an ICU nurse who sees massive head traumas all the time. But he really is fine, just a helluva headache on the right side of his head and stiff neck and shoulders (he actually gave himself whiplash), and 10 stitches. Last year his ER visit was from a mountain biking accident, and the year before that he sliced his leg open working with sheet metal. I'm about ready to tell Mark he needs to wear a helmet and a suit made of bubble wrap before he's allowed to leave the house! He was supposed to go back into the ER or Instacare today to get the stitches removed but we both figured it was faster and easier for me to remove them myself. One of the many benefits of living with a nurse. :)

Too bad his hair will cover this up.

Being sick has not slowed Mira down at all. She's crawling like a champ now! Her arms look a bit like she's doing the goose step when she crawls because she keeps her elbows straight and lifts them way out in front of her, but she gets the job done. She kinda drags her legs behind her but that's because we have hardwood floors, and she's getting more coordinated with her legs every day. Sometimes she crawls on her hands and feet. Her food menu is really expanding too. I've been giving her some finger foods like cut up bananas and teething crackers and yogurt melts and she just loves this concept of feeding herself. I'm playing with making my own baby food, since the jarred stuff is so expensive. So far I've tried it with apples and pears and it must taste good because she ate a ton. She's learned how to control which direction she travels in her walker (usually she ends up going backwards or sideways), although usually she just likes to bounce up and down in it.

Hmm, what can I get into now before Mommy catches me...?

Ooh, a doggy nose!

I can almost reach it...

Mission accomplished!

And ... oh no! ... she's learned to pull herself up to a standing position! That really happened fast. For a week or two she would pull herself up to her knees and then she wouldn't be sure how to get her feet under her, but a few days ago I walked into her room to get her from her nap and this is what I saw:

You can tell she's so proud of herself.

Contemplating some mischief, I'm sure

The crazy thing is she doesn't seem to get stuck in a standing position - once she's decided she's done standing, she just sits down and off she goes. And she'll even stand with just one hand holding onto something too! It's so hard for me not to hover and catch her the second she starts to topple. I hate the idea of her falling and hurting herself, but she has to learn. The really hard part has been when she does fall to not rush to her and pick her up and start making a fuss over her. I try to just laugh and distract her and most of the time she just looks startled for a second, then she forgets she fell and goes back to exploring. So when she does fall and cry I figure it really did hurt - but even then she only cries for a couple seconds then she starts fussing because I'm holding her and she wants to be crawling around some more. The next thing will be cruising - and it's not far off.

Classic Mira expression

A lot of people have been asking me what Mira is going to be for Halloween. I really should have been all over this sooner - but I haven't even been able to think about what I'd like to do! I have a couple boring ideas ... I kinda feel like I don't have the time to put into creating something really awesome... but she won't even start to care about it until next year anyway. This year it's just about the photo ops. I'll have photos up in the near future, plus pics of our house once it's all done up for Halloween. It's pretty awesome. Stay tuned!