Superhero Leia?

Apparently I am incapable of operating the volume control on the baby monitor because, despite checking that it was turned up enough to hear Abby, it wasn't. In my stubbornness, though, I actually checked the volume in the midst of seeing the lights go off for sound as no sound was coming out.

The reason I woke up to Abby wanting a 3:45 a.m. snack was Leia's prompting. I was proud of her for getting me up, though her train of thought for actually doing so has endless possibilities.

Scenario 1 (the superhero scenario): "Hmm. I hear the child crying, but there is no movement from Mom's bedroom. I'll alert her." ::begin mewing::

Scenario 2 (the random thought scenario): "Hmm. I hear the child crying. You know ... I'm hungry." ::begin mewing::

Scenario 3 (the sinister plot scenario): "Hmm. I hear the child crying. I don't understand why she's the only one who is fed at her beck and call. I'm going to cry, too." ::begin mewing::

However the process worked in Leia's kitty brain, all worked out in the end. My inability to use a baby monitor was overcome by one swell kitty.

Who taught her this?

We were cracking up.

What is going on in Abby Land

Trying to come up with current musings as far as Abby is concerned. Not sure I have any, so I figure I'll just write a general update.

Abby
She has currently learned to stick out her tongue after much prompting from Mommy (and now Daddy). She initially wowed us with her ability to mimick our obnoxious tongue movements and now can be seen sticking her tongue out nearly all of the time. Is there a "discovered tongue" field in the baby book?

Luke
His annoying factor has reached an all-time high since Tom has returned home from the Masters. It's amazing how jealous a cat can get. It's clear he now feels he is competing for my attention with Tom and follows me around the house meowing. When I sit down, he sticks his butt in my face. It's pleasant. He's still adorable, though. All he needs is love. He also needs to chill.

Leia
Going with the flow as usual. We had run out of wet cat food and had to order more. Once the food arrived, you'd think we just served her Kobe beef. She went nuts before, during and after eating. A reminder that this cat would eat 24 hours a day if we allowed her to.

As far as interaction between the three:

Abby --> Luke and Leia: She is entertained. She sees them and smiles.

Luke --> Abby: He is apprehensive. Gets somewhat close and sniffs. Then backtracks and runs away. Considering he has a fear of tissue paper and shopping bags, this is not surprising.

Leia --> Abby: She is neither intrigued nor afraid. Sometimes she will observe, but doesn't get too close. I'm interested to see how this relationship unfolds.

Luke --> Leia: Will randomly attack, but is currently preoccupied with gaining my attention.

Leia --> Luke: Not really paying much attention. Instead can be found "lamp bathing" or on my lap.

My Kid Ate DIrt

Seriously, Abby, you can't even crawl yet and you managed to get into dirt.

We were at my parents' house and I was getting ready to feed her solid food. I was getting them ready and she was in her Bumbo on the kitchen table.

I went to get the food and turned back around and she had lunged over the side of the chair and managed to grab a stem from a potted four-leaf clover. By the time I got to her, she had already put it in her mouth and had dirt in her mouth and on her face.

A small insight into what we have to look forward to once she is mobile! Baby-proofing, here we come. Well, here Tom comes.

Peek-a-boo

I have the maturity of a 13-year-old.

Intrigue ...

We bought Abby a bunch of Berenstain Bears books awhile back and I'm having so much fun reading them to her.

At some point between my childhood and Abby's, though, Mr. and Mrs. Berenstain decided to become activists and have quoted the Bible and fought against racism (apparently Pandas moved next door? I missed this.).

Anyway, I am totally intrigued with "The Birds, The Bees and the Berenstain Bears."

I went as far as to look up the book on Barnes and Noble's website to see if they would give me a preview. They did ... until the good parts.

I will be 29 in two months, yet I'm still giggling like a school girl when I hear the word ::whispers:: sex.

We made it this far ... but our streak has ended.

Abby is sick.

She has a throat ulcer. I feel awful for her. She obviously is having pain when swallowing, so nursing, laying on her back, using a pacifier are all painful for her. We'll see how tonight goes.

I did learn one very important thing, though. Trust my "Mommy instincts."

They actually talk about that in all the classes you take before giving birth. If you feel something tugging at that instinct, act on it.

Well, I initially thought she was teething. She was drooling like crazy, tugging at her ear, struggling to nurse, and refusing the pacifier. But when there were no teeth four to five days later, we thought it might be an ear infection.

She hasn't had a fever, though, so there was no tangible proof that something was wrong. I just felt something was wrong.

As terrified as I was of getting to the after-hours care office and be wrong ("She's in perfect health ... you're just an idiot!"), we went ... Tom gave me a pep talk and told me I was an awesome mom and needed to go with it. He was awesome.

The doctor checked both her ears. "That one looks good! So does that one!"

I wasn't sure if I wanted something to be wrong. If there wasn't anything wrong, our child was simply unruly. I think I'd rather nothing be wrong.

She has a throat ulcer, which means she is struggling to swallow (hence her struggles nursing, using a pacifier and sleeping). The worst part is that it is a virus ... the only thing we can do is treat the pain.

Tom and I are hunkering down for what could be a tough night. We've already put her to bed four times and she didn't have an afternoon nap.

Happy Parenting to us!