Lia on the Move...

In my last post I said Lia was very close to crawling. I didn't know how right I was; she crawled across the living room later that same day. She crawled well before turning 7 months old, which is pretty early for crawling. Within two days she was a pro and has since made many daring escape attempts throughout the house. I'm not sure where's she's trying to go, or maybe "away" is the goal. She is getting so big. She's over 19 lbs at last measurement; probably over 20 by now. She doesn't eat a whole lot. It's interesting: Kira ate a ton as a baby and was always small for her age. Lia doesn't eat nearly as much and is big for her age. I guess size at this age is more of a "nature" thing than "nurture." Lia is the happiest baby ever. She is so sweet and adorable and funny. She has begun SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! It's glorious. She goes down around 8 pm and we wake her in the morning around 7 pm. She wakes up very happy. Sometimes when I go into her room in the morning or after nap she is awake, sitting up in her crib, playing and cooing.

In other big Lia news, she started at the same daycare center as Kira last week. She seems to be fine there; no tears when I leave. The teacher in her classroom seems great and Lia lights up when she sees her. There are four other babies in her room, so it's a nice size classroom. The Infant I room is only for babies up to nine months, so she'll move up to the next classroom (Infant II) in about two months. The teachers take Kira to visit her most days, which I think is awesome. I'm sure they both love it too. They are very close.

Lia is also eating lots of fresh, homemade baby food. She likes everything except green beans. (We're still working on those.) So far, she's eaten bananas, pears, apples, peaches, nectarines, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, green beans, squash, avocados, cereals (rice, oatmeal, mixed whole grain), and yogurt. When I get time this week, I'm going to be pureeing cottage cheese and tofu to add to the mix. Kira loved cottage cheese but didn't like tofu much; we'll see about Lia.

Kira is doing well too. She has really adapted well in her new classroom (Toddler II) at school. Some days she is a bit teary-eyed when I leave, but mostly she runs over to play with her friends yelling "'Bye Mom..." as she goes. It's all I can do to get a hug and kiss out of her those days. She is a hilarious kid. She says and does the funniest stuff. It's just weird sometimes to see a two year old kid act just like an adult, and the most unexpected stuff comes out of her mouth. Salient examples escape me at the moment, but trust me, it happens daily.

Kira is not a big eater. Given the low number of calories she consumes and the intense, constant energy she burns running around like a crazy person, Jason and I have no idea how she continues to get bigger. We have taken to withholding milk and juice before and during mealtimes in hopes she'll have a bigger appetite. It seems to be working somewhat, but she doesn't like it. She has access to all the water she wants, but she much prefers juice and milk. (Duh.) At least she's eating a little more of her lunch and dinner now. She's still not a big fan of veggies, which baffles me because she was a veggie hound as an early eater. We keep putting them on the table though, and sometimes she surprises us by eating a lot. She loves corn especially, mostly because "Shay Shay" (Aunt Shannon) likes them. She also insists in dressing in the clothes and shoes Shay Shay got her, which is no problem since there is a mountain of the stuff, all cute.

Recently the girls went to Grandma Sally's and Jason and I went to the Ohio State game vs. USC. We hosted a huge tailgate along with our friends Jack, Julie, and Steve. It was well attended, notably by several friends from Atlanta (Uncle John and Aunt Shellie, Travis, Pav, etc.) John got Game Day passes for himself, Pav, and Jason to go into the VIP area for the taping of Game Day. After the show, they got to meet Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, and Desmond Howard (boo - UM). They got pictures and autographs - - very cool. I got into the VIP area for a couple of minutes but left because I had friends waiting for me in the general Game Day area. Pictures from the day are here. Most notably, check out the group photo on stage - you'll see Jason directly between Fowler and Corso. (Our buddy Pav is the one almost blocking Corso. John is the one in sunglasses on the right back between Howard and Herbstreit.) Also, there are three pictures of Herbstreit signing stuff under the tent. This is the progression of photos showing Jason getting MY black OSU hat signed. (Love you, Baby... By this, I mean Jason, not Herbstreit. Though I love him too.) It was a very long day for all, but especially Jason, Steve, and the other people who left the house at 3:30AM to get the tailgate spot. They didn't get back to the house until after 2 AM, so nearly a 24 hour day of tailgating. I did about 20 hours. It was a blast, but we're getting too old to do much of that. Not again until next season...

The girls were dressed up in Buckeye gear for the home opener the week before. I have adorable pictures from that, but they are still on the camera. I'll post them next time...