Dear Livia,
Yesterday you turned three months old. Sometimes I want to squeeze you to keep you a teeny baby forever but most of the time I’m just excited to see all the new things you are learning to do. You grow and change all the time… This last month you learned that fingers taste yummy and are nice to suck on when you’re sleepy or hungry. You’ve also learned how to roll over, though you have only done it three times so far. I was on the phone when I placed you on your back and stepped away for a moment. When I turned around again you were on your tummy! Wonder of wonders, you rolled over! You’ve begun talking quite loudly when you’re content… You still coo at your mobiles and the play gym, but the most common noise you make is an “aaa” that erupts from deep in your throat. Daddy and I think you laughed today for the very first time (at Dad’s tickling and zerbert-blowing nonetheless). We do anything we can to make you smile, but most smiling occurs when you’re in a happy mood. There’s no grinning going on when you’re hungry or tired! You still sleep in your wonderfully relaxed position— arm and hands flung out to the sides and legs completely at ease. Sometimes you’ll even tuck your hands behind your head like you’re just daydreaming; it’s very cute. We love getting you from your crib in the morning… You are so thrilled to see us and do these whole body smiles where everything crinkles together in delight. One final important tidbit that happened about one week before you turned three months… You began sleeping through the night! Isn’t sleep wonderful??!
You are our delight. Even though we are watching a lot of movies this month, you are our absolute favorite thing to watch and we love you very much.
Mama
The race to watch as many Blockbuster rentals during one month as we possibly can continues! My goal in this endeavor is to walk into the 16th & Q store and pick out the first new release I’ve always wanted to see but haven’t yet. (Usually I pick one and Jeremy picks one.) Quite a few of my selections are romantic comedies. Something happened approximately six years ago when I got married: my romantic comedy movia quota dropped dramatically and I began to appreciate the finer sides of science fiction, fantasy and action films. At any rate, a lot of my movie selections this month are good for a few laughs and 1.5-2 hours of checking out of reality.
I was prepared to dislike Win a Date with Tad Hamilton based upon some review I once read. Instead I really liked it’s sweetness and cheese… Good stuff. Didn’t enjoy The Rundown. Ugh. I managed to find other things to do during the latter half of the movie—exciting things like scrubbing formula out of Livia’s bottle nipples and applying stain removal spray to the shirt I spilled ketchup on last week. Let’s see… What else did we see? We braved the heights and bitter cold along with the two mountain climbers in Touching the Void. This movie plays like a documentary accompanied by narration from the real-life climbers. Watching it is literally breathtaking and I found myself gasping, in empathy and horror, many times. Definitely worth renting. On my own I took in The Company with Neve Campbell. I heard a friend once say this movie is more like a documentary and he was right. At times I was a bit bored with the dance scenes. Though I love the stage and elements of ballet, lighting and set design, I wasn’t captivated by the exotic dances. That being said, the film reminded me that I need to get to the theater more often—for dances, for symphonies, for plays or musicals, whatever. There’s nothing like seeing performances live on a stage. I was also pleased to see James Franco (Freaks and Geeks, Spiderman movies) in this one though his role was minimal. Favorite scene? Neve’s character’s “duet” dance on an outdoor stage while a storm rolled in. Simply beautiful.
Finally, I’ve got Calendar Girls on pause downstairs (paused to attend to a screaming baby and now to blog). I am totally enjoying this flick! It’s delightfully funny—so much so that I paused it to call my mom and laugh with her since I am watching it alone. The movie stirs up a very strong desire to go explore the English countryside, though for now I must leave that duty to Bethany in Oxford. It’s also awakened the age-old discussion regarding art… What’s the difference between being naked and being nude? What is tasteful art and what is pornographic? Hmmm… Chew on that, if you will, and leave any comments. I’d like to hear what you think!
There is a rocking chair, passed down from mother to daughter, carted all over the United States during various family moves, from Georgia to Nebraska by way of California and Oregon. It’s been painted several colors, the most recent being an aqua blue, and it has an old fashioned woven seat that is falling apart in several places. This story has been told before… The chair was stolen off our front porch sometime last winter. Considering the depths of snow on our porch during that time, it’s no surprise I didn’t notice the crime for some time.
I noticed this time. The latest story goes like this. I walked over to my neighbors’ house Monday evening for a book shower in honor of Livia around 7:15 pm. While all the merriment was occurring, another thief (or perhaps the same one, who knows?) crept up my front steps and stole a 12 inch clay pot, full of soil, salmon-colored impatiens and some small white trailing flowers (I can’t recall their name). This pot is quite heavy, so I imagine a male committed the act. When I came home from the shower, our front porch light hadn’t been turned on and our blinds were still open. The thug could see right into our house and could plan his actions based on the absence of movement within the living room. I noticed that the pot was gone around 10:30 pm.
Just now, after checking our mailbox, I noticed something else was missing… Two small solar garden lights have also been taken. And my anger and frustration is once more aroused.
The sheer INJUSTICE of this is what gets to me. I can only imagine how angry I’d become if a drunk driver killed a family member, or if some other true atrocity was committed against someone I love. These fairly small incidents make me so annoyed! How dare someone simply take these items from my house? They didn’t pay for them. They didn’t spend 30 minutes at Earl May being particular about the color and size of bedding plants. They didn’t water them every other day with love. They didn’t install the lights and appreciate them night after night. They didn’t move around the country, carefully hauling a Southern rocking chair.
It’s not as though I live in a “bad” neighborhood where porch furniture needs to be chained to the floor or where bars should cover windows. Fortunately my neighbors don’t seem to be missing anything. We’ve only had to call the police a few times for fairly small incidents. Argh. No rhyme or reason to someone’s foolishness. I just pray that our thief will be convicted of the wrongness of his actions and that something will make him change his ways… Getting back my flower pot, solar lights and rocking chair, along with a note of apology and a more positive plan for his future, would be nice, too.
* The flowers in the photo are vinca. All pots of vinca are present and accounted for.
Man, showers are the best! Baby showers, that is… Jeremy took the day off today and we went to the mall (I’ve been telling him that all errands are MUCH more enjoyable with him along!). We used a gift certificate at Dillards to buy a few outfits Livia can wear now. We also figured out how to negotiate the stroller on an escalator. I can tell you that I will never attempt to go DOWN by myself—doing so would result in me, Livia and the Graco stroller in a messy pile at the bottom of the moving stairs… not good.
I can’t express how grateful I am for these baby showers. New baby clothes, especially ones from department stores and specialty shops, are expensive!! If it were up to our budget, Livia would only wear garage sale deals (which are lovely and very worthwhile when you can get nice stuff).
All in all, we’ve been really really spoiled by our friends and family. One great big humongous Zion shower and another hosted by Jeremy’s co-workers at iUniverse were enjoyed last week. Tonight is the final bit o’ fun given by my great friends Sarah and Charity. Livia will be one very blessed, well-dressed little girl for the next year, thanks to lots of generous friends.
Yesterday we had Livia baptized and it all went really smoothly! It was a special day and we were thrilled Adam & Kris and Jeremy’s folks joined us at Zion Church. Pastors Stu and Tobey did the baptism (Livia slept peacefully until the water was placed on her little noggin, but even then, no tears!). Thanks to Jason for the video. Afterward we had dinner at Lazlo’s, home to the best french fries, and apparently salmon-avocado salad, money can buy. Thanks to Charity for the picture of Jeremy and myself… I’m used to being behind the camera, so I always appreciate a nice picture of the two of us! You can tell by the beams on our faces that we are the proudest parents in the world. Livia has filled our hearts to bursting with joy. We just can’t get enough of her. This is a measure of how crazy parent-love is: last night I actually felt sad that she was asleep in her crib in a dark room because then I couldn’t watch her anymore. Crazy, but good. We sure love this little babe.
