Leah's favorite books

Just a few weeks ago I was telling Shafi that even though we have lots and lots of books for Leah (yes, I did go a bit overboard in that department), at some point she will want us to read the same ones over and over again. Little did I know it was about to start. She now has 2 favorite books. I've got them both pretty much memorized cover to cover. She brings them to me at least twice a day - and sometimes more like half a dozen times. She stands in front of me holding them out until I read them - and not just one reading each time - several readings each time. If I stop before she's done she stands there and yells at me - "ahhhhh" - until I continue.

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Oh the wonderful things Mr. Brown can do. He can sound like a cow, he can go Moo Moo.

Now this book I really like. It's full of cute pictures and sounds - I like making the Moo and the Buzz and the cork going Pop Pop.

Eeyore Has a Birthday, however, is not a favorite for me. It's an abbreviated version of that story. I do make the Pooh, Eeyore and Piglet voices - which is probably part of Leah's affinity for the book. But the story is very very lacking when it's told in 12 board book pages - for a total of about 15 sentences.

I'm sure her favorites will change soon. Hopefully. But it is awfully cute when she goes to the bookshelf and picks out these same 2 books - no matter where on the shelf they are located (as long as they're on the bottom 3 shelves of course, since those are the only ones she can reach.

Leah got out one of her favorites when her friend Ellie came to visit...she started out reading it to Ellie herself...but eventually she brought it to me to read to both of them:

While she does love her books, we don't read all the time, Leah also gets in lots of play time:

And in case anyone was wondering, no she's not walking. She has taken a step or two each day. On Thursday she took about 4 steps when her friend Ellie was here. And at the Dojo yesterday she walked several steps several times with lots of encouragement from all the other moms and babies...but still not as many steps or as many times as she did in the park a week and a half ago. We all know she's capable. But apparently Leah prefers crawling or the security of walking while holding on to something or someone. I'm sure one of these days she'll decide to really start walking...certainly by the time she's 2 or 3.

My poor baby girl has her first ear infection

We'll hope that it's her last...but that's probably wishful thinking. Leah has had on and off fever between 100 and 102 the last few days but we thought it was just a bit of a respiratory virus. But last night she just couldn't sleep. She went to bed at 7 and went right to sleep, but she woke up about 10:20. I held her for awhile and I put her down. We went back and forth between holding her and listening to her cry for a long time. Then when we realized something must be wrong because she just doesn't usually cry like that, I closed the bedroom door so that Shafi could sleep and I tried my best to get Leah to sleep.

From about midnight to 2 a.m. I tried everything - pacing, sitting down, reclining, sitting up, pacing. Nothing kept her calm for more than a few minutes other than pacing - and she gets heavy! Finally a little before 2, I put her in her stroller and rocked her back and forth - and in about 3 minutes, she fell asleep. Unfortunately that sleep was short. From then until about 5:30 a.m. she slept for between 10 and 30 minutes at a stretch in the stroller. When she would wake up and start to cry I would get back up and rock the stroller some more. Around 5:30 that no longer worked. But by then she was so exhausted that she was willing to fall asleep on me while I got to lie down in bed. Eventually I was able to shift her to next to me...and we slept until about 8:30.

We went to the doctor at 10:30 this morning. She said Leah has a respiratory infection - we should watch for bronchitis or croup - but at the moment it's neither. She seems to be breathing fine - just has a nasty cough and a runny nose. And she has an infection in her left ear. So we got an antibiotic and in about 2 days she ought to be feeling better. We're now trying Motrin to help the fever and the pain and it seems to be helping. Leah napped about an hour and a half this afternoon, so we'll see how she does tonight. She did go right to sleep when we put her down at 7. And the doctor said she'll no longer be contagious once the fever has been gone for 24 hours - so hopefully the fever will be gone tomorrow - and soon we can start getting out and about again. I think we both go a bit stir crazy being stuck at home.

On a more fun note...Leah's been saying "wee-ah wee-ah" a lot lately. And a couple days ago it struck me that she was saying it after I said "Leah." Indeed - I'm pretty sure she's trying to say her name. So now when we ask her "What's your name?" she says "wee-ah" - it's incredibly adorable. I'll see if I can catch it on video soon.

These Robeez were made for walking

This makes that earlier standing post awfully anticlimactic. This afternoon Leah started walking! We met some friends in the park to enjoy the beautiful weather today. Leah was showing off her new standing skill - and just as I was commenting on her good standing but fear of actually taking a step - she took a step! Then she took a couple more. Then I got out the camera and got some great video - and she kept getting up and kept walking. So adorable.

We're in for a whole new world. And we'll have to buy some new shoes to give her some good outdoor protection and support!

I stand alone

That's right...Leah has started standing on her own. She uses something to pull up - but then she lets go and stands - by herself. She looks up at me with a big smile and a proud face.

Won't be long now until she translates that into taking a step!

Leah loved play time at the Kids Club on Saturday...crawling through the tunnel was lots of fun: And then she had lots of fun playing with Zarin's toys: My social baby girl loves to play with her friends:Leah loved going down the slide...and immediately turned around to try to crawl back up so she could do it again:Leah loved wearing her Baba's hat while we waited for a table for dinner at Ippudo:

Mmm...Leah liked ramen but it's a challenge to eat:

And here it is - captured on digital media - Leah standing alone:
And looking around to make sure everyone sees her new skill:

Words words words

Leah is saying more and more words. Some of the things she says are totally unidentifiable - not sure if she's trying to say words or if she's just imitating the cadence of speech. It's especially cute when she points as she babbles. I just talk to her about what she's pointing at - those are the elevator buttons, we're getting off on 6 because we live on the 6th floor.

Yesterday she started saying "up." It started when we were playing airplane - where I put her on my legs while I'm on my back and I lift my legs and thus her up and down and up and down. We do it in gym class and say the words up and down. Yesterday she started saying up when she went up...without my saying it! She's not saying down yet, but maybe she will soon. And today she started lifting a toy up in the air and saying "up." She hasn't yet said it when she wants to be picked up...but I'm sure that's coming...and then I'll be less pleased that she's learned this new word.

She's also started saying "yes" with meaning. Before sometimes I thought she was saying yes but couldn't be sure that she meant it. Now I'm pretty sure she does. Sometimes when I ask her if she wants her milk or her water or something like that, a word that she recognizes but doesn't yet say, she will say "yes." And the Me, You and We song from music class also has Yes, No and Maybe (2nd verse I guess you could say). She now says me, you, we and yes. She hasn't started on no or maybe, but you never know when she'll add them. She also does the hand motions of pointing to herself for me and pointing away for you. So I am pretty sure she understands "me" but I think she's just saying the word and doing the gesture for you...I don't think she actually understands it yet. But who knows...maybe I don't give her enough credit.

After a rousing game of peek-a-boo from behind the speaker - Leah decided to come out:
She greatly enjoyed playing with my scarf:
And even tried to put it on...who knew she knew how a scarf is supposed to go?

Despite the cold weather, Leah loved spending time on the swings on a sunny day:

Demonstrating proper use of the toy phone:

A baby pile-up...Leah's the one trying to climb across the legs and being tackled by Lily...while Cooper looks up for an explanation as to what is going on here: We went to Shafi's cousin Shanta's for brunch on Sunday...Leah found it very amusing every time the cat came out to have a look around...that's what she's laughing at here:

And following a diaper change she did not want her pants back on...so she explored the apartment for awhile sans-pants...she does look awfully cute in a diaper:

Leah is 13 months old!

Today is March 7...and Leah is 13 months old. It was nice and warm today...60 degrees and partly sunny. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and met some friends for dim sum.

But more interesting than that...Leah appears to have Roseola. The doctor was convinced that she was just having a reaction to her vaccinations when she had a 103 fever this week. But it turns out that she was wrong. Leah's fever was 103 on Wednesday and Thursday and 101 on Friday. But no fever today...it was 99 when I took her temperature after her nap this morning. She started getting some little spots on her torso yesterday and I figured it was just the viral rash that the doctor said she might get. But then this morning the rash had spread...it's much denser all over her torso and it's on her face some. It's especially noticeable on her right side - cheek and forehead - even on her eyelid.

I did a little looking into it and found that it's probably not contagious after the fever breaks...and most adults have had it (including Shafi and I). But we did likely expose some of Leah's friends. Who knows where or when she got it...it often has no symptoms for several days but is contagious. Luckily the virus is totally harmless...so even if we did spread it around, no one should be too upset about a few days of fever and a rash - the only other noticeable symptoms are more restless sleep and decreased appetite. Even with 103 fever, Leah was her usual happy self most of the time.

Leah was fascinated by our friends' son Colin - he's 4:
Leah giggled while she watched Colin run around and play:

She seemed very amused by Colin's interest in Sophie:

We stopped at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - I got green tea ice cream - Leah liked it. Shafi's mango passion fruit sorbet was not a hit. Although to be fair, she might have just liked eating from the cone instead of from the spoon since Shafi's was in a cup.

Phew - fever broke

Leah had her first high fever this week. Wednesday night when I was getting her ready for bed I noticed she felt really warm. I took her temp and it was 103! I put her to bed and called the pediatrician. My first thought was that it was a reaction to her vaccinations 9 days before (MMR, varicella, pneumonococcal). But I just wanted to be sure I shouldn't be watching for anything in particular. She confirmed that was probably what it was and if Leah was acting fine then I shouldn't worry. But she said if she still had a high fever in the morning then I should bring her in.


Yesterday morning her fever was 102.7. So I made an appointment and brought her in at 1. We saw Dr. Pytlak. She was very nice. She confirmed that it was likely a reaction to the MMR vaccination. She said the fever wouldn't likely last more than a couple of days and isn't contagious.

Leah's fever then broke yesterday afternoon. I was very relieved - even though I knew it wasn't likely anything major. She's still got a bit of a decreased appetite but seems otherwise all normal.

Earlier on Wednesday Leah played happily...no sign of being sick or uncomfortable - I tried to help her figure out how to ride her riding toys...she's improving...slowly:
Seems like she likes the giraffe better for riding, but her legs barely touch the ground:

And yesterday after her fever broke we went and played in the hall...she loves climbing the stairs: This time she even went up to the 2nd set of stairs past the elevator...and looked back to make sure I was coming with her:

And we spent some time pushing baby in her stroller...back and forth and back and forth:

One nap?

This morning Leah slept until 7:30. Then we had breakfast with a friend from about 8:30 to 10. We came home for a bit, Leah had her milk, and we headed out for 11:15 music class. She was happy and quite participatory the whole time - so obviously the lack of a morning nap wasn't bothering her. She didn't eat much lunch - half a yogurt and about 2 peas - wasn't willing to try anything else I put in front of her. So then I put her down for her nap at 12:30.

She went right to sleep. But then she started making some noise around 1:25. She fussed for a bit, played for a bit, and fussed a little more. But then she was quiet by about 1:35. And made some more playing noise just before 2:00. It's now 2:30 and all is quiet. So obviously she hasn't been asleep for the entire time, but it appears that she may be ready to take a full midday nap.

I'm going to try this out a bit more and if it seems to be working, we may go to 1 nap all the time by the end of the month or so.

Leah finally got up and pushed the baby in her stroller...she's stable enough to push the very lightweight stroller as long as she stays on the carpet...not enough traction on the hardwood floor...but she's very very excited about being Mommy Leah pushing her baby around: She had a blast at Asher's birthday party on Sunday...she and Cooper played together a lot...and she gave him a big hug:
Yesterday evening she tried to steal my purse...took it right off the chair and carried it over to the carpet and put it with her toys...funniest part was that she "walked" there on her knees so she could carry it - a funny sort of sideways knee walk - so so cute:

We had a fun playdate at Avery's yesterday...and she gave him a big hug:

And very much enjoyed pushing him around in the wagon:

Straw power

I've tried many times to get Leah to drink from a straw - a regular straw and a straw sippy - all to no avail. But at a birthday party yesterday she picked up a friend's straw-style sippy cup and started drinking. Of course I took it away from her - she shouldn't drink other's sippies. But this morning I gave her a straw-style sippy cup of water - and she drank from it. She's not perfect...she tries to hold it up like her regular sippy cup...and gets very frustrated when we try to tilt it back down so that she can actually drink from the straw. But I know she'll figure it out eventually.

No pictures for now...we're off to playgroup.