Lena's Musical Prowess

Looks like Lena found a new hobby.  We might have to ask Aunt Sheryl to coach her a bit though.  In the words of the American Idol judges, she may be a bit "pitchy"...  

Do they give points for enthusiasm?

oh, and sorry it's sideways... you know, the whole rotating thing it virtually un-do-able... 

a week or so behind...

We finally got Lena a high chair... there's a story as to why we decided it was time, but it's not one that's fit for blogging... Let's just say this should prevent any additional heart attacks for Mike and I...

Anyway, here is a picture of her favorite part of said high chair... the box!

And since my last post, Lena has grown considerably.  She changes so fast these days it seems that as soon as I get used to her doing one thing she changes it and does something new.  Like climbing the stairs.  About 4 minutes after I posted that she was climbing "1 or 2 steps" she decided to take on the whole flight at once.  Why not?  (see video documentary below)  Also, her sleep patterns and nap patterns are in a constant state of change.  For awhile now she's been sleeping great at night (thank goodness) but recently she's started screaming BLOODY MURDER when we put her down for naps or bedtime.  We're talking such screams that I think she being tortured.  Is she being tortured?  You decide.  The first few times this happened I went back in her room to save her from what surely must have been unimaginable physical anguish only to find her standing up, eyes glued on the door, banging her little hand on the crib railing, erupting into all smiles the second I walked in.  Hmm. "I WILL NOT go to sleep", anyone?   I've since learned that 5-10 minutes of such screaming will result in a peaceful sleeper and an approximate hour-and-a-half nap.  Awesome.  I've also put a few books in the crib to distract her from what clearly must be nap-induced-insanity.

Anyway, on to some multimedia gold.  Stair-climbing, big jumps, and saying "Bbbbbb".  Enjoy.

until next time...

cruisin' for a bruisin'

I once heard someone utter the profundity, "Little babies are programed to self-destruct."  How true.  At under 8 months of age, Lena is a menace to herself.  Allow me to explain:

1) Her three favorite toys are, electrical wires (especially those that are plugged in to outlets), The Patch's bones (especially those he is actively chewing), and clothes hangers (especially those which Patch has chewed into sharp plastic points)

2) EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) goes into her mouth 0.0023 seconds after she gets her hands on it

3)  She tries to climb the stairs (I remove her after stair 1 or 2 but inevitably she goes right back)

4) "Baby proof" seems to not apply in her case (lids, outlets, baby gates, climbing out of the infant seat when we're paying slightly less attention than we should be...)

5)  She is mobile (crawling, cruising, climbing) so she falls all the live long day.  Yesterday she sported a slight black eye (not kidding) from an encounter with our wooden bed frame.

I could go on, but I imagine you see my point.   Lena is a maniac, albeit a cute maniac, but a maniac nonetheless.  Here are some videos and pictures of her saying things, going places, eating things, and basically just being the cute little crazy girl that she is.

Wearing Uncle Dave's cool hat

 

Lena's "alien voice"... don't really know where she picked this one up....

Just chatting and eating Cheerios

Cruisin' around

And she'll be 8 months old on the 15th!