Waking Up From a Nap

Easter 2010

Today marked the first of Lydia's second holidays. It was the first holiday in which we could remember last year and what we did, what Lydia wore, and where we were at.

We spent this Easter with friends and family, and we had a really lovely day. We went to a Sunrise service on the shores of Ladybird Johnson Lake, went to a egg hunt at cousin Cory and Rachael's house, took some pictures of Lydia in her Easter dress in a field of bluebonnets, and ended our day with dinner and wine with good friends Aaron, Jessica, and Aidan.

Our day in pictures:

So excited about the easter basket, she didn't realize a Cheerio was stuck to her face.

Lydia on the egg hunt. (She didn't do so much hunting as hitting eggs together.)

Cousins in Easter dresses!

The bluebonnets.

Dinner with Aidan. I didn't catch the final results of who won the eat-off.

Exploring

-- Post From My iPhone

Standing!

I am in love with this outfit.


-- Post From My iPhone

Lydia Updates

Lydia is:

**Sitting in her booster seat at the table.

**Loving her new facing-forward carseat in my car.

**Enjoying our new family dinner time. (Robin and I are slowly adjusting to eating at 6:30 rather than 9.)

**Standing very solidly. She can get into a standing position by herself and has also taken a few solid single steps.

**Thinking it hilarious to stand up and then fall forward into Robin or me.

**Cruising around our furniture like a crazy person.

**Walking behind her red car. (She usually looks a little happier about it than this photo indicates.)

**Pointing and grunting when she wants things. (She gets this from Uncle Markus.)

**Saying "Da-Doo!" (Daddy) and Dah!" (Dog).

**Done with bottles and on to sippy cups. (This was the case a month ago, I just forgot to mention it.)

**Having a hard time going to sleep without nursing, but that is a whole other post.

**Cutting her first molars. We can see them about to poke through at the back.

The Guilt List

I got into my first internet fight. Actually, it wasn't so much a fight as me shooting back at a comment on a blog post in a very direct way. I wasn't mean or anything, the post just struck a nerve. The blog post was about the daycare this couple has found for their child, who is due this summer. The blogger is pretty popular, and one of the comments was very derogatory, criticizing her choice of daycare, saying it was too expensive, and questioning the blogger's decision of giving so much of her paycheck to a daycare in order to "pay someone to raise your child for you" and "just stay in the rat race." Now, you go after a fellow working outside of the home mom (to-be) and I will come out swinging in their defense. Why make someone feel guilty for a choice that affects nobody but a person and their family? Maybe it's a mutual self-conscious, vulnerable thing, but seriously. Personal choices are personal. Enough said.

That, paired with another recent blog post I read on the Mommy Wars (the very competitive, weird, petty conflicts between parents on things like sleep training, breastfeeding, cosleeping, you name it) and the resulting guilt these conflicts create. Something about pregnancy and parenting brings out this weird, outspoken, competitive, critical side in people, and it seems that EVERYTHING is up for critique.

So without further ado, my guilt list: the things I have someone has told me are wrong--either to my face or in book/blog/website form. I was going to explain the choices below, but I have decided not to. Consider this me, releasing the guilt.

*We let Lydia cry herself to sleep at 4.5 months.

*We gave her rice cereal at 4 months, two months before we were supposed to.

*We gave her cow's milk at 11 months, one month before we were supposed to.

*She still uses a pacifier during the day for naps and when she is crabby.

*She is in daycare, and I work full-time. This summer, she will stay in daycare two days a week, even when I am on summer vacation.

*I tell people we make all of Lydia's food. Secretly, we keep a stash of store-bought food for outings or when we are in a pinch.

*Her crib had a bumper until she used it to try to pull herself up to sitting. (This was another subject of criticism on the blog where the woman was criticized for sending her child to daycare.)

*She moved into said crib at two weeks, thus moving out of her bedroom.

*We never considered co-sleeping.

*We never considered cloth diapers.

*I love putting Lydia in frilly, girly clothes, even though my Women's Studies degree screams at me every time I do.

And there it is. Judge away, internets.

Addendum: I remembered three big ones:

*I chose to give birth without pain medication. I wasn't so much criticized as told I was crazy.

*We chose to find out Lydia's sex before she was born.

*I weaned Lydia from breastmilk before she wanted to be weaned.

And there you have it.  Again.

Chad and Vanessa!!

Robin and I have been blessed with lots of visitors during the past month. Our month of company came to an end this weekend with Chad and Vanessa, who flew down from St. Paul. It was so much fun to show them our house, watch them play with Lydia, and introduce them to Austin. Even better, it was so much fun to spend time with people that I have known for a really long time. Chad's mother (Hi Lynn!) took care of my brother and me every school day of our elementary school years, with the exception of my sixth grade year. When she would come to our house, she brought Chad and Mitchell with her, and over the years, they became like siblings to my brother and me. Chad and I went to the same college, lived in the same dorm, and even were Orientation Leaders together at the U of M. I knew Vanessa in high school and in college through Youth Performing Arts(!) and the Appalachian Service Project, and while we were talking during their visit, I also remembered that we went to preschool together.

It was so wonderful to share our city with two people that I share so much history with. As we continue to build our history in Austin, I felt so fortunate to be able to spend time with people that have been such an integral part of my life. Thanks Chad and Vanessa for making it such a priority to visit us!!! We had a really fantastic time and hope you did, too!

Anxiously awaiting the Hot and Crunchy Cones.

Anxiously awaiting brisket and ribs.
Smiling through the hunger.