So...I hadn't planned to post today. It's been a long day. Yoga, work, baby...I'm tired, the baby's tired. She was so tired and fussy I thought maybe a bath would cheer her up. (You'll see in a minute why I changed my mind about writing today) Normally baths DO NOT cheer Laurel up. She hates them, at least until recently. She hated taking baths in her baby tub. So, silly me, I figured she'd love playing in the big tub. So the other day I fill it with rubber duckies (a whole family) and a beach ball and then put her in. She screamed and cried through the whole thing. Then I had an epiphany...the sink. I've seen others do this (on TV), so I thought, what the heck. Well as it turns out, the TV is always right. She loved it. So she and the duck family now take their baths in the kitchen sink.

Which leads me to tonight...Laurel was so fussy, I thought maybe a bath would help. I filled the sink, added the rubber ducks and put her in. As I supsected, she had a blast. So she's playing and I'm sitting on the counter next to her. Suddenly I realize the splashing has stopped, and she's giving me this strange look. After a moments pause...a loud sound comes from below and then the bubbles followed. This is a first for us...the bath poot. She looked at me with this confused expression...I laughed. That was it, once I laughed, she laughed. Then I laughed more, then she laughed more. Then she burped, which was then followed by two more poots and a lot more bubbles. Laughter again.

I can honestly say that tonight was the funniest moment in the life of my baby. (Now you understand why I had to write today)

Today Laurel learned to stand, with help from Daddy (how exciting for me). We taped the whole thing for Mommy, Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, and Uncles to see. She has been very interested in water glasses today. We have been able avoid any wet disasters, but just barely.
I added too much cereal to her sweet potatoes this morning...she made it very clear that this was unacceptable!!
Today's picture was from our fun time this afternoon. I sat her on the couch next to the shoe box from her Mommy's new running shoes. Of course, the paper crinkled and the cardboard made fun sounds. She was having so much fun, I let her sit in the box. She played like that for a while until Roger woke up and startled her. Oh well, all fun must come to an end sometime.
She took two naps in her crib, but is getting fussy tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to keep her busy until bedtime...sleeping tonight will be nice.

I'm sitting here writing at the end of a very long day. It's one of those days when you're so tired you just can't sleep. It's also been one of those days that makes you realize why you became a parent in the first place. I probably took a couple dozen pictures today. Pictures of her eating yogurt (I had to post one), pictures of her taking a bath in the sink playing with her rubby duckies. It was a good day. We've had some questionable ones of late. Between her stomach virus, cough and teething we've had a couple of days where she'd scream and scream and there was nothing we could do to fix it. That's a first for me. Nursing fixes EVERYTHING. (At least it used to.) Now I have to learn to be a little more creative.

But...as I said, today was not one of those bad days. It was great. Laurel smiled and played, she's learning to balance on her own two feet and eat more and more variety of foods. I've gotten over the hump of being sad that she's growing up. Now I can't wait to see what's next.

I (Laurel) had a good day today. I got to stay home with my daddy and play all day. First I napped on daddy's chest for a couple of hours, then I played on the floor in my room. Then daddy fed me sweet potatoes with cereal and I slept again. When mommy came home daddy and I showed her how I could put the balls in my dragon toy. Mommy was so proud of me! Then we all went shopping for shoes for daddy. But daddy still couldn't find anything he liked. (We've tried five stores now!!) When we came home I ate banana yogurt for dinner. I used to hate yogurt, and I'd make funny faces everytime mom and dad gave it to me. But now I love it, and I ate the whole yogurt myself. Yum.

Today I have picture of my tooth so that grandma and grandpa can see how big I'm getting! (Hi grandma, grandpa and great grandma...I love you!)

In the past month we've seen Laurel go from not being able to sit on her own, to being able to sit up and play without any support. In the past week she's learned to wave, and clap, and put the balls of her toy into the proper holes. To see a day-by-day transition the way you can at this age is incredible. Jon told me that she could put the balls into her toy, but until I saw it last night for myself, I guess I really didn't believe it. After she amazed me with that, I took two balls and clanged them together. She then picked up a second ball and did it herself. Then she and I, each with a ball in hand started clanging ours into eachothers. It was like comedy night. We both laughed and laughed at the punchline of our own personal joke.

The simple pleasures of parenthood.

Today is my day to stay home with Laurel while Jon goes to work. As I'm sitting on the floor playing with her, I realize how much she's changed. She's getting so big so fast, it's sad. When we first brought her home she was so small she didn't even fit into her swing. Now, her legs hang over the edge and she fights to stay in a constant sit-up position so that she can see what's going on around her. I'll miss these days. In a way I already do. She's changed so much just in the past month, everything is different. Suddenly she can sit up on her own and play by herself. She likes eating food now (she gobbles down apples and bananas like they're going out of style).

She's sleeping right now, which is good. But part of me can't help but watch and wait for her to wake up so I can play with her again. Everyone keeps telling me how this is the the perfect age, and in a few months I'll wish I could have this back. I guess people equate the baby being mobile with being miserable. But I can't wait. I can't wait to see what she has to say and I can't wait to see her crawl and walk. Of course now it sounds like I want her to hurry up and grow more...which I don't. But I guess the excitment of her growing up counteracts the sadness of her changing so quickly.

Laurel's been teething over the past few weeks, and while she's cute as ever, she's been really clingy. I called home this morning to see how she was doing, and Jon said that whenever he tried to leave the room she would raise up her arms. What's a daddy to do?

Not that either of us mind spending 24-7 with her. Though it does make you wonder whether we should be making her spend more time playing alone. I'm sure there is some study out there about the importance of independant play. But I say a happy baby who knows mommy and daddy will do anything for her is even more important.