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One of Leah’s highlights of the day is when Daddy gets home. She might of been cranky for the last half hour, just wanting to be held and trying to pull herself to a stand on my pants with toys not having any appeal while I am trying to have dinner ready before Morgan gets home and then she shows the biggest smile and is suddenly overwhelming happy the second he walks through our door. Though I find this habit charming and all and I am happy she loves her daddy, I wish she could be happy or at least content in the half hour before he gets home. Leah really isn’t that fussy (most of the time anyways) though she can have her moments.

One of my highlights of the day is watching how Morgan plays with Leah. We both play with Leah differently and she responds with squeals and laughter to both of us. I love the uniqueness of ‘daddy play’ and was able to capture a few of these special moments.

Everyone loves having a dishwasher!

On our journey from our apartment to the parkade, Leah gets to fly like an airplane and duck behind doors and walls and peek through windows in a riveting episode of peek-a-boo.

She has discovered how much fun her bedroom door is as it is a french door and she can look through the window in it.

Watching Daddy put up some decorations in her room and doing other projects around the home is fun as it usually involves interesting noises.

This past weekend, Morgan and I were able to spend a lot of time together which was not unusual except for the fact it was just the two of us. After getting a few things done around the house on Saturday morning, we packed a huge amount of stuff (that all seemed absolutely necessary) and went over to my parent’s house. We went out for a nice dinner (and splurged a little) and then went to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was such a great night for Morgan and I.

On Sunday morning after indulging in too many homemade waffles my Dad made for breakfast, we left Leah again and enjoyed a trail run we signed up for at Aldergrove Lake Park. I was planning on running the first 4 km with Morgan and get ready for church while Morgan finished up the 8 km route. Much to my surprise, they apparently canceled the 4 km route which I discovered during the run as I passed a 4 km marker. I was going to stop and walk back to the car but I had no clue what part of the park we were in and figured the fastest way back would be to continue on the marked path so I wouldn’t get lost. Morgan spent most of the race a little ways in front of me which kept me motivated as I did not want to lose sight of him. I few times I did catch up to him and he graciously slowed his pace a little at the end so I could catch up to him and finish together. Actually, he let me win by a few steps.

I think Leah enjoyed the weekend as much as we did as she got lots of attention and even got rocked to sleep by Grandma when we were away. It felt a little funny sleeping over at my parent’s house but it made no sense driving out Saturday night, waking up Leah to bring her home, get her settled again and then drive back again early Sunday morning. My parents offered to do babysit and even make this a monthly event. As Leah went to bed like a champ without a bottle (I forgot it at home) and without breastfeeding, I feel more comfortable leaving her (might have something to do with the rocking). I think we will take them up on the offer more often than we have been. A movie and dinner out a little more than every four months would do Morgan and I both some good.

One day we will put some stuff up on her bedroom walls, but for now she is loving playing with the different objects I have on the floor next to the wall where it should go. Some are off limits but with her wooden letters that make up her name, I allow her to have the educational experience playing with letters provides.

Bedtime is definitely not one of the highlights of my day with Leah. It has been the most frustrating and stretching issue that parenthood has brought to me thus far (along with nap time). When I seem to have her figured out, she ups the ante. I secretly think this is God’s way of showing me humility. We were doing fine until she decided she needed fewer naps in the day. Once we got that resolved, we were doing fine until she decided sitting up in the crib was a necessity but wouldn’t lay back down. Once we got that resolved (usually going in a few times and lay her back down), she decided standing up in the crib was great. Leah would move to a crawling position and sometimes even stand up hanging on to the crib rail before I could even leave the room. So we were seeing more of this:

Leah certainly liked being Daddy’s little girl and while I thought that was cute, it was not a trend I wanted to encourage in any way. We tried letting her cry it out before laying her back down. I tried constantly going in to her room to lay her back down as soon as she stood up. I couldn’t take the crying any more so that is when I got creative. She now goes to sleep like a champ with not too many complaints. For now that is. I am not waiting with anticipation to see what her new sleep disruption is next.

We are back with the swaddle….

…which we haven’t seen since she was two weeks old.

Leah already has a few traits that other people can easily identify about her. It is so easy to get a smile out of her, over ninety percent of her wardrobe is pink and/or brown and she is known as the singer at the library. When I put on a new outfit she received recently, she got a few compliments and a few “Wow, it is not pink and brown!” When I went home and went through her clothes I learned that was so true. I have hardly purchased any clothes for her as we are still doing well off of her baby shower and Christmas presents. (Just saying, I am not totally to blame. Though it might be the same even if I was doing the shopping.) So here is proof she can actually wear something that spans a few more colors in the rainbow.

Oh, and that thing in her hair is meant to be there. It is a hair clip.

Though I have been thoroughly enjoying dressing my girl in all her cute clothes and such, I am also bothered by the amount of emphasis I put on her clothes at times. In the whole scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter. I love to have her look cute and I know she will receive compliments when I dress her up and put clips in her hair but what message am I sending to her? I know she isn’t taking any of it to heart right now but as she grows up I want her to be more concerned about the bigger issues of life than if she is looking good and what other people think of her clothing and hair style that day.

This is just one of the many issues and thoughts I have when I think about I want for my daughter. I do not desire riches, fame, or popularity for her but I want her to be known by her integrity, faithfulness, gentleness and love. I want to be intentional about what I am teaching Leah, day by day.

It has been two years since this day….

So much has changed in two short years. Our relationship has grown through the joys and challenges of interweaving our lives together and now we have added another strand to be woven into our family. Marriage is a beautiful thing, as is parenthood. A journey where you never really arrive and continually try to seek the joys around the next bend. It is not easy (though you would never believe anyone before you got married), but so worth it (no one could explain this adequately either).

Last year we went out for dinner and Morgan prearranged for the waitress to bring us some nonalcoholic wine. A few short months later we welcomed Leah. This year we will have to wait for the weekend to celebrate as that is when it works best for the drive out to our babysitters (aka Grandma and Grandpa). Though last year was special, I think we will both appreciate our movie and dinner more this year as we can not go out on a whim anymore. We are so blessed.

On Valentine’s Day, Morgan went to work while Leah and I went to my parent’s house. I know, we are so romantic. That afternoon, Leah and I enjoyed my cousin’s bridal shower at my aunt’s house. I enjoyed the visiting and food while Leah played, squealed and made other babies cry because of her excitement in thinking that they wanted to play with her.

When Leah and I got home, Morgan met us outside with some nice pink and white roses and took us out for dinner. I wanted to stay far away from restaurants as I thought they would be all crazy busy but my greater desire to not cook won out. We went to a local sushi restaurant and I dug up what food I had left for Leah in the diaper bag. She ate her apple sauce and whole baby food jar of cold green beans before they even had a chance of serving her a bowl of steamed rice that I was going to mix it with to warm it up. Leah loved the rice and just kept on eating until Morgan and I had both had our fill.

So, I know you aren’t supposed to live vicariously through your children but the other day I did just that. As a child, I always loved bead mazes, though I didn’t get the chance to play with them very often. The only place I ever saw them was in doctor’s offices. When I saw one at a dollar store, I just couldn’t resist. Leah certainly does like playing with it but it is not without its hazards. Leah has crawled over it, gets her feet and legs stuck in it (though she wiggles them out on her own) and lifts it up high though she hasn’t hit herself in the head with it yet.

Speaking of injury, Leah has been a master crawler of late but hasn’t fully embraced the concept of looking where she is going. This has caused her many crying fits varying in length from seconds to minutes long from hitting chair legs, couches and her highchair. I do believe in baby proofing for the safety of a child but where do you draw the line? We are not willing to take on Japanese custom and remove our chairs and eat on the floor. Couches are pretty comfy to sit on. We do need furniture. Maybe it would be better to invest in a helmet for Leah…. but for now I will continue to try warn her of impending danger and keep pathways clear and hopefully she will learn soon.

Leah now has five teeth, one more on the top. I guess that is why she felt the need to wake me up before five am this morning. She did fall back asleep but was a little too restless for my liking.

Halfway through this week I was feeling a little overwhelmed and then realized we have been out both morning and afternoon everyday. No wonder I wasn’t getting any work done around the house as Leah wasn’t napping at home. So, for the end of the week we planned nothing and stuck close to home. We still went out for walks and such but definitely spent more time at home which allowed me to work on this:

I had purchased a pattern when trying to find a pattern with and for a friend not too long ago. When I showed it to my mom, she pointed out I had bought the wrong size. I am still a rookie at these sorts of things. (Why do they list all the sizes on the back when only a few sizes are actually inside?) I know fabric stores aren’t too happy about returning patterns so I decided to try find some fabric to buy and brought Leah in order to help my case. They exchanged my pattern and I got to work.

The dress is a size 2 but apparently she will be able to wear it pretty soon. I didn’t want to make a dress that would fit her right now as she has so many dresses that other people have bought for her that I want her to get full use out of. This pattern has a few different sizes with a few variations as well so I could sew from this same pattern for a few years. I am sure just changing the fabric would change the look so much.

As Leah has been eating more and more I am finding it more work than it is worth to freeze her food. I can peel a potato and carrot, boil it while I am making dinner, add whatever we are having to her dinner whenever possible, and voila!

For breakfast I have decided oatmeal is a great choice. For Leah that is. The first time I made oatmeal for Leah, I tasted it and wasn’t sure where I had messed up. I mean, you measure the water, boil it, put in some oatmeal and wait ten minutes. How hard can it be? I let Morgan have a bite and he said that is how it is supposed to taste. No wonder I wouldn’t touch the stuff when I was a kid. I did eat cream of wheat with a fair share of brown sugar though. So now I make a small pot and fill her bowl up and put the leftovers in the fridge for her to eat the next day. I do add pear and avocado (adds some green color to enhance the color of the oatmeal and they are overly healthy I hear) and baby food peaches to add sweetness. She likes the stuff so I don’t feel to bad about it, actually, I love it that she loves the stuff as I am trying to raise a healthy child and all.

But for now, I like to eat the dry cereal with no milk (as it doesn’t agree with me). That is, until she notices I am eating something different that tastes a whole lot better. I am sure I will be safe for a least a few more years.