Doesn’t it always seem like bloggers are apologizing for lack of blogging or maybe they’re like me and they’re feeling guilty for the lack of quality blogging? So then you take a break and two weeks go by and you miss blogging like you miss your purse when you’ve left it behind accidentally. It’s that feeling like there’s something missing. I feel nice and carefree but I’m missing my purse. What if I need my keys or my lip gloss or my money! So you go back to your blog and you bang out a couple great posts and the blog continues year after year after year through mediocrity and the rare occasional great post…

In the meantime here are some Baby Bug achievements:

That two weeks of nothing but grunts has finally ended and now she is babbling! Lovely vowels sounds echo from one end of our house to the other. The great thing is that Toby seems to speak her language and they babble to each other will all kinds of sounds and raspberry splutters. I have a really good movie of that but again, I need to back up my photos first.

She’s also starting to play by herself. It’s the BEST. I put the exersaucer out on our patio yesterday because it’s been so nice and warm lately. She spent nearly twenty minutes talking to the palm fronds that were blowing in the breeze. She also had a long conversation with the geraniums. Her favorite toy is an empty water bottle. She’ll bat that around her exersaucer for many many minutes and then when she’s done, she’ll gum it for another round. Remember how I said the best toys are free. It’s totally true.

Finally she’s taking long naps again. Sometimes as long as two whole hours. It’s heavenly. I’m actually getting things done. But I can’t exactly plan around her long naps. Sometimes she likes to trick me and only take quick fifteen minute naps. She keeps me on my toes. Like right now as I try to type this. It’s taking me two hours longer to type an average post just because I have to stop every minute or so and put my hand in the bugaboo and calm her back down. She thinks she can’t take a nap by herself because every once in a while I take a nap with her. She’s so fun to cuddle with and I love taking naps with her but I sometimes I like to get things done. Plus, I want her to learn how to fall asleep by herself.

I struggle and struggle with all these rules I make up for myself as a parent. To nap with her or not nap with her. To put her in her crib or let her fall asleep where she drops… I am constantly at battle with myself over what my instinct tells me to do and what my brain tells me I should do to be consistent. Consistency is so important but it’s also so elusive. I’m definitely learning that it’s okay to roll with things though. You just can’t be too rigid about things. Babies love to throw unknown variables at you.

The biggest news I have is that she likes rice cereal. Boy, do I have a movie to show you about that! If you like chubby cheeks and little baby lips covered in ooey gooey messy stuff then you’re going to love this messy messy messy baby face movie. She’s so funny slobbering all over the spoon and spitting half of the cereal back out so that she can slobber it all over her fist and the exersaucer and anything else that happens to come into contact with her.

Well I better wrap this up. She still has not fallen asleep. But she’s quiet. Who knows how long that will last.

Baby Bug has a million blankets. Silly me, when I was registering for baby stuff I was so bored with all the gear that I didn’t understand that I kept gravitating to something I did understand: soft fuzzy blankets. I must have lasered way too many of them with the scan gun because I now have blankets coming out of my ears. I could probably sew them together and cover my house with them termite fumigation style. I should look into a charity that accepts blankets but it’s hard to pick which ones to get rid of because they are all so soft and fuzzy and perfectly snuggly!

HOWEVER, we never had a red blanket until this past weekend. A very special red blanket. My Aunt Janet (aka Auntie Tickle) made it for her. It’s pretty cool because the quilt squares are made of two different textures of fabric. One is soft and fuzzy and the other is silky smooth. Perfect for tummy time amusement and future cuddle time nose rubbing. The edges are lined with white eyelet and the bottom side has fuzzy fleece. What more could a baby want? Plus, it’s my most favorite color.

This is a really good timing because ever since “the age of the exersaucer” I’ve been a little lax on getting Baby Bug to spend quality time on her tummy. She’s been working her leg muscles like crazy with all the jumping and twisting in the exersaucer but her arms are just getting lazy. Now and then she’ll chuck a toy at me but nothing very pressing. Just like her mommy, she’s a little weak in the upper body.

Before the exersaucer she didn’t mind being on the floor but now she hates it. She thinks laying on the floor is for babies. She’s a big girl now. She hates being on her tummy. Her arms just fly out from under her and she ends up nose to the ground and very frustrated. So from now on we are spending at least five minutes a day on the red blanket admiring all the pretty squares and getting stronger so she can crawl. Crawling! So exciting!

Which reminds me, whatever am I going to do about those cat boxes?