Well, Hello Chubby!!

Leeza, Miles, Sean and I went for a walk this morning around our neighborhood. It was a gorgeous 70 degrees with a nice breeze...a wonderful morning to be out and about. One of our neighbors, an older man who always rides his bike, said Hello, then asked if he could "take a look at our new addition." I see him often, but usually I just say Hello and keep walking so I guess that is why he wanted to get a "sneak peak" at the lil girl from Kazakhstan.
He greets her and says "Well, Hello Chubby!!"



Now, as a girl myself, that comment got my dander up a little bit. I know that my daughter has some "beefy legs" (but we prefer to call her "athletic") and actually, I really do ENJOY having a daughter with some substance to her, who happily eats my cooking and gets excited at every meal, especially after having Sean, who had "chicken legs" and was really a scrawny kid until he was about 5.
However, being a girl who is constantly at battle with her own self image and always worried about her weight, I found myself resenting his comment. I know I need to just "let it go", as he is a very sweet man who I know meant nothing mean spirted about it. His next sentence was, "How old is she, about 6 months?" I told him, oh no, she is 16 months. He said, "oh, that tells you how long it's been since I've had lil kids in the house". He then said, "so, is she walking around then?" I laughed and said, "more like RUNNING around" and he said that must be how I stay so thin. :)

Obviously, he is a nice man and it bugs me that I am so sensitive about it. I guess it's just my "protective mother bear claws" coming out. :)
Sean said, "well,Mom, her legs are Huge!" Thanks Sean-you're a nice big brother.




Home 12 weeks (as of tomorrow)!



Tomorrow marks 3 months of us being home with Leeza. We have settled into a nice routine, and I'm quickly forgetting what life was like before she came along! My days of yoga are long gone, but are about to replaced with new, fun things like our first "Kindermusic" class tomorrow, and "Toddler tumbling" we want to try next week.

Leeza's newest thing is bringing us her pink potty. We think she is starting to figure out when she has to go potty. Of course, we have plenty of "false alarms", but she does go about 80% of the time, so I think those are pretty good stats for a 16 month old kiddo.

She is becoming more and more independent, and her newest thing is that she won't let me feed her anymore. She will let me feed her a couple bites, but then SHE WANTS TO DO IT. She ends up grabbing fistfuls of food and using the wrong end of the spoon, and usually half way thru she hands me back her spoon or fork for some help. She also has to have a washcloth on her tray because she stops to wipe her mouth after each bite. It's so funny-she is really "girly". :)
She continues to be a "hearty eater" and I have stepped it up and started cooking more because of her ravenous lil appetite. Sean likes very little that I cook, but Leeza LOVES IT ALL! She is a refreshing change in that aspect. :)

She is a big chatty Kathy, and talks ALL the time, and loves to get her purse, hike it up on her shoulder,and cradle her cell phone in the nook of her neck and chat away. I can't imagine where she learned that...

She also loves to wag her pointer finger and say "ne ne ne" (no no no!). It's really funny. We are a big American Idol family and Leeza was sitting next to Joe on the couch. When all the judges told some wanna be singer "No", Leeza is wagging her finger at the TV "Ne Ne Ne"


She also loves shoes..and had a hissy fit the other day because she wanted to wear 3 shoes at one time, but alas, she only has 2 feet.

Her and Miles are great buddies. He tolerates her climbing all over him, but she rewards him for his patience by sneaking him food. She goes into the pantry and carries out the wheat thins. She kept asking for them over and over. I was starting to wonder how she was eating them so fast, when I realized she was going behind the counter and feeding them to Miles. I locked Miles up in our room, but 5 minutes later, he's out again because Leeza went and let him out.






I am continually amazed at how smart lil ones are and how much they understand. Leeza LOVES the bathtub, and "swims" in the tub now. I cannot wait to start her in swimming lessons. I tell her to float on her back, and she does it. I tell her to flip over on her tubby and kick, and she does, complete with putting her face in the water. I have no idea where she learned it either...kids are so amazing!

Leeza is physically strong (she has really strong abs!), and she also has quite the strong lil personality. I would defintely describe her as sassy, but I also admire her determination. She is a lil spitfire! I think we will probably have our hands full, but that's ok. She's a joy to have around, despite the occasional tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants. :)



Leeza clearly adores Sean. When we went to get her up this morning, her whole face lil up when she saw her brother there. Usually, on weekdays, it's only boring mommy and her buddy Miles, but Sean is off today for Martin Luther King day. I will close with a video of "a shoot out"