I've been a little off all day today.

I truly think it's because I parted my hair on the left-side today.

Lila Lunes: 4.5 months old

Sock on her head, drool on her chin... "Fun" is her middle name.

Let's dig in, shall we?

Q. How's Lila doing?
A. Well, we went to the pediatrician's office for Lila's checkup. (I continue to call it the, "vet's office" thanks to Ferg. I also have a habit of calling nursing homes, "funeral homes." I know. It's bad.) That said, going to the pediatrician's office is turning out to be a high-stress situation for me.

Why?

Because I go in there with a chip on my shoulder; like a UFC fighter about to take to the octagon. (That simile was for you, husband.) If the doctor happens to offer suggestions regarding how to parent Lila, I immediately get defensive.

Is the pediatrician accusatory in any way?

Nope.

Is she rude?

Nope.

Is she merely offering suggestions?

Yep.

I just generally reject the advice of anyone in the medical field until I find adequate information that solidifies their suggestion. (Ask, C. I do this constantly. Rarely will I ever fill a prescription. Nope, I will endure discomfort so that I might research said prescription. I will then fill it if I deem it necessary. I merely go to the doctor to confirm that my diagnosis was correct.)

So anywho, if the pediatrician happens to say, "Wow! She's a big girl," I immediately think, "No. She's not. She's perfect. She's no larger than an average child her age. Are you saying she's freakishly large? Step off."

Lol.

Poor Lila. At least she will learn that Mommy always, I mean always has her back.

Q. So for real, how was the Dr.'s appointment?
A. Stupendous. It was the first time Lila didn't scream and she seems to be a little above average in terms of her cabeza size (head), her weight and her length. (They measure her using the metric system. Dear America, why-oh-why didn't you make us learn and implement the flippin' metric system? Now, when the doctor tells me my baby weighs 6.5 kilos I immediately think of cocaine and have to bust out the blackberry calculator conversion tool to see how many pounds she weighs.)

I still can't believe I have a tall baby.

We'll be doing more vaccines on Thursday. (I love that our pediatrician follows the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC's vaccination schedules, however, she lets us do them in our own time. Less shots at once. I love that.)

Q. Did Lila do anything fun this week?
A. Yes. She found her feet and rumor has it, she likes them.

Q. Anything else?
A. YES! (Gasp!) Yesterday morning, we found her in her crib sleeping.on.her.stomach.

>>Insert another audible gasp>>

(The current infant sleeping law states that children must sleep on their backs in order to reduce the risk/prevent the occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - SIDS.)

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but let's just say that I'll be watching Lila on the 'ole video monitor THAT much more closely.

Q. At this point, how's parenting going?
A. I feel like we're really in our groove. Lila's definitely out of the, "Be-careful-you're-going-to-break-her" stage and has entered the, "Well-hello-there-very-small-member-of-our-family" stage. She's a pleasure to have around.

And she smiles.
All the time.
(When she's not crying or utilizing her new and effective, "scream/cry", of course.)

Ok, here are some pictures from the week.

Lila enjoyed her laundry basket ride from the laundry room to our bedroom.

Look who's grabbing at things and stuffing them in her mouth?

A brief courtyard nap.

Big highchair. Little Lila.

Experiencing the new high chair.



Lila's new bath seat.

Honestly, I don't know how people live without these little Bumbo seats.

And here's Lila in her jumperoo. She adores it. So much so, that even when she's in a bad mood she cannot.stop.jumping.



My favorite picture of the week.
And, my favorite outfit of the week.

Yep. Look closely. Ferg is kissing her ear.

There's a conversation occuring to which I was not privy.
I clearly do not speak, "FergAndLila."

That's quite a head of hair, I know.
Don't be jealous.

For the record...

...my Christmas decor is up.

And, I bought the cute little white tree and I heart it.

(That is not my tree at left.)

Photos will be forthcoming.

**May it be noted that I really, really, really miss all of my Christmas decorations that are currently in storage in Ohio.

Trust me, Ticketmaster...I'd never want to miss him.

(click to make larger.)

Is that so, Orville?

I was cleaning out my online work spam inbox and ran across these two treasures from Bobbie Hargove and Orville Fowler, respectively.

I smiled.

Click to make larger.

Flippin' Ferg

Before Lila joined this family we NEVER fed Ferg anything other than dog food or the occasional snack when she did something outstanding... like sit.

Then, Lila was born and we were merely existing in a sleep-deprived, catatonic state struggling with taking care of the newborn, let alone ourselves and, well... Ferg.

Hence Ferg's current propensity for scrambled eggs.

We started feeding Ferg table scraps (good for her stuff!) after The Cupcake was born because, well... we felt guilty. And, nothing quells guilt better than food.

So, yesterday morning I gave Ferg some of our leftover scrambled eggs. Note, they had red pepper, green pepper, onion, sausage and tomato in them. On a good morning, I normally pick out (yes, I do) EVERYTHING but the sausage and eggs and give them to Ferg.

This particular morning I just didn't feel like it. She's a dog, right? EAT it. Beggars can't be choosers.

Actually, they can.

Ferg showed me yet again that she doesn't like green peppers, red peppers, tomatoes or onions.

Flippin' Ferg.

Yes, that would be the Ferginator proudly standing amongst her discarded vegetables.

Ferg, if you had hands, I'd make you clean up your mess.
I totally love picking up soggy, wet, unwanted dog veggies.

She's smiling.
"I hate vegetables. Duh."

That Ferg.

(That Ferg needs a haircut. I know.)

Total disappointment.

Mad Men from this past Monday was terribly boring. Disjointed and terribly boring. It was the first episode in which I thought several times, "Wow. I'm bored."

And Betty Draper, January Jones, is one of the worst actresses I've seen since Rosie-"You-are-like-wet-sand-in-my-underwear"-Perez.*

Yup. You heard it here.

*10,000 points to the person who remember the movie that Rosie's character says that unforgettable line. 'Twas one of my faves.

Product Review: Mary Kay Microdermabrasion Set

So a while back I got my hands on a Mary Kay Microdermabrasion set for half off. (A friend's sister was having a going-out-of-business sale.) It retails for $55.

I love it.

First let me say, I'm a huge fan of skin masks. I adore a good revitalizing scrub that leaves my skin feeling soft and yes, dare I say it, "supple."

(Ew. I loathe that word as much as I hate the word, "moist.")

That said - this did the trick. I'd even pay full price for it.

First, you do a gentle scrub for 2 minutes, then you put some sort of refining serum (or something) on your skin afterward. My.skin.was.so.soft. I have dry skin and this worked perfectly.

I've used it several times now and again, I love it.

Give it a whirl.

Which stocking for The Cupcake?

As it turns out I'm looking for a super-cute, personalized stocking for The Cupcake.
Which do you like?
Do you have any cuter ideas?
I'm very open to suggestions that are affordable.
I'd hate to have to cut off Lila's arm in exchange for an uber-cute stocking.

A -Make your own. $50.

B - Needlepoint Stocking. On sale for $14.99 (Reg $39.)

C - Knit Christmas Stocking. $58
(I like the middle one)

D - Quilted Snowman. $19.

E - Knit Snowman. $29.

I vote that you buy The Cupcake the following stocking:
	A
	B
	C
	D
	E
	None of the above - I'll suggest something cute for you in the comments
Free polls from Pollhost.com

If you could quit your job tomorrow...

...what would you be or what would you do?

Start up costs aside, reality aside.

The FIRST thing that comes to your mind...

UPDATE: Include what you do NOW. I'm curious.

In regards to, "It's not plural (or possessive)"

Iris Took got me thinking after her recent post...

The word, "email"...

Should it ever be plural?

Queston in point:

"I have a boatload of email to go through."

-or-

"Can you forward me all of the emails she's sent you over the past week?"

SHOULD "EMAIL" EVER BE PLURAL?!?

I tend to think not. When you receive paper mail, and a lot at that, you don't say, "Whoa... my box was FILLED TO THE BRIM with mails today."

So - that said. Stop making, "email" plural. You know who you are.

It kills me.

Besides, I think we should go back to calling email "electronic mail" and a FAX a "facsimile."

Ah, when life was simpler...

Not ok.

Story here.

I wasn't even wearing a bra at 11.

Ferg Tuesday

This is Ferg enjoying the sun today. Her hair is a kin to a dust mop, hence the leaf stuck to her face.
Sent from BlackBerry® Wireless

BRING IT.

Bring on the decking of the halls.

I washed my brand new Christmas salt & pepper shakers today and I am ready.to.go.

Yes, I'm ready to festoon my home with various holiday embellishments as I usher in my favorite season of the year.

Indeed, I'm well aware that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that Christmas occurs after Thanksgiving.

I just happen to think that Thanksgiving is best when celebrated in a home filled with ornaments, red and green decorations and twinkling lights.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS for so many reasons.

Even though I'm on a strict spending freeze, I totally have my eye on a white plastic Christmas tree at Mega. (The grocery store.)

It's just tacky enough... I believe it's screaming my name. Stay tuned.