HAPPY 18 MONTHS TO BABY LISA!!

Lisa turned 18 months old on January 31^st. It almost brings tears to my eyes when I think that once she was inside me, that once she fit in my arms perfectly, and that once I was her sole source of food and nourishment. We took her to nursery today at church for the first time and I was a wreck for two hours. I like to think that all moms are like me but I know I am a little bit more over the top. First I wanted to stay with her the whole time but Mike would not let me, then I wanted to go see if she had sat down for the mini lesson and snack time but Mike again said she was fine. I found myself shaking and then crying during Sunday school, Mike thought it was hilarious. It is probably not a healthy thing that I don’t drive and so Lisa and I spend all day everyday together at home and hardly see anyone. Even though she is definitely a mama’s girl I am the one having a hard time being away from her. I also have no friends so there is no girls night out or something like that for me, and I also don’t go to play dates because I have no way to get to wherever they meet. My only outing in the Relief Society meeting every month, but I only go because I am in the committee and all I do is to make sure everything goes well with the meeting. I don’t socialize much because I am usually doing something. When we were in Utah for Thanksgiving Sherrie and Crystal offered to keep an eye on Lisa while Mike and I went on a “date”, but we didn’t even know what to do with ourselves and I was anxious to go back and see my baby. I guess it is very true when people say that there is no ME in motherhood, and yet I know that in order to be better mothers we need to take time to do things on our own.  I am trying to be better. I have renewed my learners permit once again and this time the DMV only gave me two months. I don’t really know why but I take that you cant be renewing a permit, you eventually have to get your drivers license. So I guess I need to get this done By march 20^th…I am scared.

Anyway let’s go back to my precious baby Lisa. She makes us so happy. She has been a blessing and a joy and we are infinitely grateful for having her with us. Our baby started sleeping though the night (8 hours) when she was 8 weeks old.  She was a terrible nurser, she would gum me incessantly and I was in pain for almost 4 months until somehow everything went better. She started great with solid foods when she was 6 months old, ate all the purees I made for her and continued nursing until I found out I was pregnant with our second baby. By that time she was only nursing at night though so she really didn’t miss it. She is a terrible eater lately but even with her pickiness she still manages to gain weight and she is actually in the 30% percentile for weight, which is the highest she has been. Once she started teething she would wake up once at night and I would nurse her back to sleep, but after doing it for two months I decided that I was creating a bad habit. I sent Mike one night and he picked her up, told her that it was time to sleep and not time to nurse, then he put her back in her crib and she has never woken up in the middle of the night since. She was 11 months when that happened. Our baby is now an Olympic sleeper, she takes one nap during the day, then she goes to bed at 7-7:30 and does not wake up until 7:30 – 8:00 the following day. I can’t believe I will be up again with another baby.

Our baby Lisa is a very happy baby. She loves her books more than anything. Three months ago I decided that she needed more toy because she just wanted me to read books all day long. I thought that because she didn’t have many toys she was using the books as toys. So we went to a consignment store and got three or four “new” toys for her. She did like her new toys but then she went back to her books. She has started to finish our sentences in both English and Spanish when we are reading to her, which tells us that she really understands what we are saying and also knows what is actually going to happen in the story. Even is she is playing around while I am reading Green Eggs and Ham in Spanish she always comes backs running for the part when he finally tries them. I love it.

Lisa Marielle loves queso (cheese) and avocado. She has a whole avocado sprinkled with some Costco cheese over it every day. She also loves her leche (milk) and demands to drink some in bed with mom every morning while we watch exactly two episodes of Curios George, then we go downstairs to have breakfast. She has started to use the spoon correctly and she wants to practice as much as she can. I can’t believe that small things like these give us so much joy and satisfaction. Baby Lisa has also started to let us know when she has a dirty diaper. She doesn’t do it every time though. If she has a dirty diaper when she wakes up she yells “The moma” “popo” over and over until I come and sure enough she has a dirty diaper.  POPO is the Spanish word for poop. One of my favorite things she does lately is when Mike comes home from work. Lisa doesn’t see him that much but lately she claps and yells “daddy, daddy” when he comes home and it makes me happy because I noticed that when she ignores him or just wants to be with me Mike gets a little sad. After all he is out all day to provide for us, if he had a choice I am sure he would spend more time with us.

18 months went by so fast. I miss my tiny baby, I miss the time when she would fall asleep on my chest or while nursing, I miss how adorable she looked all swaddled. I also cherish all these new things she does and I am so grateful that I am able to stay at home with her and that I can witness those little things that might be silly or super normal for some, but for a first time mom like me mean the world. I love staying with my girl at home even though sometimes I feel like I have lost part of who I am, and sometimes I feel like what I do goes unnoticed and unappreciated. I am grateful for every minute I spend with this beautiful child and I look forward to be by her side as she grows and learns more things. HAPPY 18 MONTHS TO BABY LISA!!