Lately...

Lately there are days that I feel silly for ever posting this piece about high maintenance babies.  It seems that the more independent Lyla becomes, the happier she is.  Barrel rolling across the living room led to scooting around to reach her toys which led to crawling to other rooms in the house and now pulling herself up to stand and lean against furniture (or to reach off-limit items such as the remote control, DVD player, my shelf full of cookbooks...).

She pulls herself up on anything at arms height...

She giggles with delight as she crawls full speed towards an object that catches her eye across the room.  She shrieks with joy when she finally gets her sticky baby hands on said object.  She certainly keeps me on my toes, but high maintenance?  Not really... 

Playing with a bookmark she pulled out of one of my cookbooks...naughty baby.

But then come the hard times.  Naps still spent in my arms (I'm telling you--she barely touches the bed and her eyes instantly pop open) and nights spent waking every 2 hours on the dot to nurse.  Her knack at getting her way is also now reflected in her newfound independence.  She crawls (or should I say claws...) up my leg and onto my lap when she wants to be held.  Oh, and did I mention she now says "Mama"?  Gets me every time.

Oh, that face!  Who could say no to that face??

The other night Lyla was awake from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.  My frustration escalated the longer we were awake.  I finally laid her in her crib (we co-sleep, so normally she's in bed with us) and let her cry.  "We're not having any more babies" I proclaimed.  But we finally got her to sleep (snuggled next to me in bed of course) and I woke up to a smiling little lady.  It's funny how that sweet morning baby makes the evil nighttime baby seem totally worth it.

So that's how things are around here lately.

xo
Jayme