6 Months

What a milestone! Lucy is 6 months old today. I can hardly believe our little Lucybug has been with us for half a year.

Lucy continues to grow like a weed; I don’t have specific measurements yet, but I think it’s safe to say she’s around 21.5 pounds, and by my at-home measurement she is over 28 inches. I had her in the doctor last week (turned out to be no big deal) and they said she wins the “Cutest Thighs” award, because my are they chunky! (Takes after her mama, but it looks better on her). As you might expect she continues to eat well, and we are now transitioning into some Stage 2 baby foods and mashed-up home foods that have a little more texture. She's still putting anything and everything in her mouth, but really seems to be chomping down lately, with lots of drool. Maybe there are some teeth coming?

The biggest change this month is that Lucy is back on the move. She is a rolling and wiggling machine! She started rolling from her belly to back again just a few days after I wrote the 5-month recap, and shortly after that I saw her roll from back to belly for the first time. Ever since then, it’s constant movement when she’s on the floor or anywhere else. She's gotten up on her knees a couple of times, so it shouldn't be long now! She is in general more aggressive with her play, i.e. actively grabbing and reaching, and many times knocking things over – either because she’s not quite coordinated enough to manage it, or just because she enjoys the sound it makes. And oh, the sounds from her precious mouth…more shrieks and babbles, and more giggles. Love it! The dog seems to be the one thing that will make her laugh most consistently. She loves her Buddy.

Lucy is also back to sleeping through the night! WA-HOO!! Again, shortly after I wrote the last blog she just went back to sleeping through, no apparent reason why. She goes to bed around 7:30PM with no issues, and wakes around 6AM. Sometimes I have to wake her, other times I find her flipped over on her belly, looking up at me or quietly playing in her crib. She always has a big smile for whomever comes in to get her. We can’t quite figure out where she got this happy morning attitude, but I won’t complain. Those morning smiles are what make me get out of bed without hitting snooze.

We have started using a few baby signs with Lucy, mostly centered around eating. We use the signs for milk, more, and “all done.” It’s a little early yet, but I’ve read it can take months of babies observing the sign before they start to use it. Lucy seems to know what the sign for milk means, so that is some progress. She just amazes me every day with the things she can put together. She seems very curious about words and sounds now, and her big thing lately is to grab people’s faces or lips when they are talking (or consequently, singing in church). Kind of cute until she catches you with a fingernail! (Here she is with Bailey, a friend's daughter):

Lucy is becoming more expressive and has increased her arsenal of “looks” (which her father says come from me). She knows her name and will turn her head toward you when you say it – although sometimes she is also obviously ignoring us, and I can tell you it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility that a 6-month-old can deliver attitude without making a sound. She is also expressing some emotions more vocally, and although she does not cry very often, there are a few things that seem to start the waterworks. She will burst into tears at the sound of a vacuum or sometimes the blow dryer. Occasionally she will fuss or cry if I leave the room. And MY are those tears hard to handle…big crocodile tears with the quivering lip and everything. Yes, she’s learning how to work it. :) She is still sometimes apprehensive of people she doesn’t know well or see very often, but then other times she’s giving smiles to everyone in the store when we’re shopping. Overall she seems to be an incredibly content and happy baby, and we really couldn’t ask for more.

As for what we’re looking forward to in December…BRING ON CHRISTMAS!!

Thankful

Lucy had a great first Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa L's house. We are so thankful for this little one...and for the love of our supportive families that surrounds her every day. Happy Thanksgiving!

PSA on CFLs

Lastnight I walked into our bedroom and was confronted with a strong chemical-type odor. I knew it wasn't natural gas, but it still alarmed me to the point I walked into other rooms to see if it was anywhere else in the house, or in the garage which is right under our bedroom. All was clear and I returned to the bedroom to the same electrical-type smell, and after some investigation, I figured out the odor was coming from the CFL bulbs in our ceiling fan light.

The light had been on for awhile, so I switched it off and turned on the bedside lamp to let things cool down. The smell was overwhelming and there even seemed to be a slight haze in the room. I was a little concerned because I know CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, so I also opened the windows to air things out. After a bit I donned some rubber gloves took out each of the bulbs except for one I know I just replaced a couple months ago. I boxed up the used bulbs for recycling and replaced with some new ones. Shortly thereafter the odor was gone.

I did a little research today and found that this is not an unknown consequence of failing CFL bulbs. Very rarely, it can result in fire, but this has only been proven with older bulbs (generally manufactured around 2003 or earlier). Early signs of failure include flickering, a bright orange or red glow, popping sounds, an odor, or browning of the ballast enclosure (base). Obviously I had the odor, but upon further inspection, there was also some dried brown goo on the base, where the bulb meets the ballast cover. This article gives a good description of why this happens.

I am a proponent of CFLs when used correctly. They save energy and over time, save money. Read more about the 11 myths about CFLs here, and get any question you ever had about CFLs answered here.

My point is, I'm not writing this to discourage use of CFLs, but to make you aware of some things that can happen, especially if you have older bulbs in your home (pre-2003). Our house was filled with CFL bulbs when we bought it, so we're not sure of the age of some of them. I'll be checking every bulb for some of the signs listed above, and replacing with new where necessary. Please do the same!

Best Day Ever

I had the most wonderful day yesterday with my little Lucy. I took the day off, and we started off with the usual morning routine, then went to the grocery store to get items for dinner (I much prefer going to the grocery at 6:30AM than other times!) We played for awhile when we got home, then I put her down for a nap and was able to get a few things done around the house that had been long overdue. I assembled dinner in the crockpot and played for awhile longer when Lucy woke up, then we went to visit Daddy. It was so sweet to see Husband showing her off to his co-workers. I see him hold her every day, but I don't know what it was about yesterday; it just reaffirmed what a spitting image she is of her old man. Although people have said lately that they see a little more of me in her, I still think Husband's genes have reigned supreme. It was incredibly cute observing the two of them.

After lunch with Daddy, Lucy and I headed to the Minnesota Zoo. Her first and only trip to the zoo so far was at 3 months. She is so observant and curious now, and can also sit upright in her stroller, so I was really looking forward to taking her again. It was such a great trip on so many levels. I had not been there in the "cold" season before (I say that in quotes because it was a glorious 50 degrees yesterday), and it was a real treat because there were less visitors, and the animals were much more active. The wolves were walking around, moose were up and around and walking right near the fence, and a lot of the smaller animals and birds on the Tropics Trail were right up along the walkway. The first animal that caught Lucy's eye were the otters. I parked her stroller right in front of the glass at the exhibit, and an otter obliged her by circling around, top to bottom right in front of us. She wouldn't take her eyes off him and smiled the whole time.

The real treat for both of us though, was the dolphin tank. Our past few visits to the zoo there have been no dolphin shows and the tank has typically been empty. This time, however, there were three dolphins in the tank, and boy were they having fun! I once again parked the stroller right up to it, and I think the blue shimmering water would have held her attention for awhile itself, but when the dolphins started swimming past right at the front of the tank, she was amazed. I thought it was pretty darn cool myself, and I think she could tell I was excited, because she would look at one going past, then she would just stare at me, smiling. It was the best thing ever, and I think out of our 2-hour visit we spent 20 or 30 minutes just in front of that tank.

I didn't take too many photos - I kind of just wanted to be in the moment with her. She was awake and so alert at the zoo, and she was such a good, happy girl the entire day...she seemed incredibly content just to be hanging out with Mom (and Dad when we saw him). This shot is one of the few, and I think it pretty much sums up the day:


Pretty much the best day ever. Thank you, Lucy. Mama needed that.

Staging a Blog-In

Husband says I should quit blogging until some of y'all start making some comments! I know several of you are reading, because I get comments in person. I won't stop blogging; contrary to popular belief I don't do it ALL for you [gasp!]. I do it for me, and moreso now for my little Lucy. This is a great way to capture her milestones. She's growing so fast that I don't want to lose all of those cute little things she does. So yeah...a lot of my blogs lately are about the Little Lady, but this blog is called Livin' Laabs, and that's what we're livin' these days!

So in the interest of generating some comments, I'll toss out a couple of questions that are non-Lucy related. Given the impending Thanksgiving holiday next week (NEXT WEEK?! As my dear cousin so aptly put it - "holy crap!"), I'm wondering two things:

1) What are you most thankful for?
AND
2) What are you most looking forward to over the Thanksgiving holiday?

I think we all know my answer to #1, though I would add to it that I am really thankful for an incredibly helpful and supportive husband. As for #2, I am most looking forward to spending time with my family over a 4-day weekend!

How about you?

Contortionist

The Little Lady has been twisting herself into some pretty interesting positions lately, trying to move her body to get what she wants...

She is back to rolling over from belly to back, and today I saw her roll from back to belly for the first time! I am proud to say, it was to get a closer look at a book. Perhaps we have a future bookworm on our hands? :)

We Take Our Carrots Very Seriously Around Here...


...and our sweet potatoes, and green beans, and squash, and pears, and bananas, and cereal. Peas are still up for debate.

And I cannot underestimate the value of this oversized vinyl bib. Best. Purchase. Ever.

First Halloween

Lucy was a ladybug for Halloween! I got a great deal on this costume and it was SO darn cute on her. We dressed her up and took her over to Grandma Betty and Grandpa Lee's house, where she happily soaked in all the attention. All in all, a first Halloween success!