Thursday, July 14, 2011

Small town charm

We took a trip last week to visit our future town and try to find a place to live. We were unsuccessful on the housing front, but I'm sure something will turn up. Preferably something built in the 20th century and with doors on the bathrooms. And maybe, possibly, pretty please with air conditioning. Is that really too much to ask?

Anyway, we heard some pretty funny things from those small-town folk.

For instance, a landlord trying to entice us to rent his house: "P*** (town about 20 minutes away) is growing like crazy - they're getting an Olive Garden!" (Well, if that isn't the definition of a booming metropolis, I don't know what is!)

Airport baggage personnel at the teeny airport we flew into: "We had 60 bags last week! That about did me in."

Airport rental car employee to customer on phone: "I'm sorry, we just had TWO planes land at the same time, so I'm really busy. Call back in 20-30 minutes." (There were a grand total of 3 people in line.)

Truth be told, I'm pretty excited to live in a small town. I'll take getting stuck behind a tractor on the road (which we did) over getting stuck in interstate traffic during rush hour ANY DAY.

10.5 months

Kissing herself in the mirror

Libby is changing and growing so much every day, she deserves a half-month update.

In the past 2 weeks, Libby has really gotten the hang of walking and takes so much pleasure in it, she will spend up to an hour at a time walking laps in the apartment, smiling and laughing to herself the whole time.

She's also learned to climb, which means she can access that many more forbidden places. But it's pretty fun to watch.

She's also discovered her eyelashes, which is just plain cute. While she's nursing or lying in my arms, she will bring her hand to her face (sort of in an L shape) and stroke her eyelashes with her thumb.

And, in one of her funniest developments of late, she's realized she can make noise (aka screech) while breathing IN as well as out. It's especially funny when she pairs it with her newfound ability to shrug her shoulders and pull in her belly. If only she'd do it on command so I could snap a picture of that. :)

Friday, July 1, 2011

10 months

At 10 months, Libby weighs 18.0 pounds (24th percentile). Woohoo for gaining a whole pound this past month!

I don't know when exactly it happened, but it appears that someone has stolen my baby and replaced her with a toddler. I can't believe how mobile my little lady is.

She can take about 5-7 steps on her own, though she still much prefers crawling and walking with assistance of a hand or piece of furniture.

Also, maybe it's her mouthful of teeth, but for some reason, she looks so much older when she smiles like this:
Libby is babbling all the time and using a variety of consonants (m, d, p, k, b, y). She says some things that sound like words (mama, dada, yeah yeah) but of course, only she knows if she really understands any of them. She does understand the sign for "milk" which I use when I ask her if she wants to nurse. She usually drops whatever she's doing and makes a beeline for me when she sees the sign. I can't wait till she signs back to me. Even without talking or signing, it's amazing how well babies can communicate with their expressions.

She's been trying out different laughs, which is so stinking cute. For her favorite fake laugh, she scrunches up her face and makes a long, hard K sound, which usually spews slobber and/or whatever food may be in her mouth. It's awesome.

It's been an amazing month of growing and learning. Happy 10 monthiversary to Libby!