Nola Babbling

Nola is starting to love the sound of her own voice, which does make our little video camera a great purchase, but doesn't mean that mommy will necessarily take the greatest videos. I do apologize for the bouncy camera work, but wanted to try to make eye contact with Nola while trying to catch the coos on tape.

I need an Artistic Director or something, but I guess that would mean that I would have to bleach the house after they helped out with the video, as I am a Swine Flu FREAK. I guess that's another blog entry for another day. Anyhow, happy germ-free viewing!

Nola Sits up... kind of

So, we just love our pediatrician, Dr. White, who not only told us that "Tummy Time" (which our little baby just hates) is a yuppy invention and not necessary, but also generously informed us that our [then] two-month old had the neck strength of a four-month old. I've been dropping that tidbit into just about every conversation I've had lately, so I thought I might as well post it on the blog.

Anyhow, Nola does like to be in a seated position (I suppose, she can see the TV better while seated) so we've been doing these little sit ups, of sorts, and I thought I'd share. The second video clip is another attempt at showing off her advanced neck strength: She's hobbling about in a bouncy-threshold-chair-thingy -- and not complaining (at least not on the clip I've uploaded.) Enjoy!

Camping In

Nick is trying to introduce the notion of camp outs to Nola while she is young and impressionable... or at least before she becomes high maintenance, like her mommy.

Here's a little video of Nick and Nola hanging out in the nursery in a makeshift tent. Nola is thoroughly delighted that a big person has joined her in her playtime.

Nola and Her New BFF, the Creepy Puppet

Nonnie sent Nola a "baby puppet" and it appears that the puppet makers use the same template for a baby and an old man... other than the pacifier. Anyhow, we anticipated that she might be afraid of the puppet, since it was kind of creepy looking, but lo and behold, she loves it.

I've attached two videos of Nola with the puppet for you to see just how creepy this little baby puppet is, and to see how passionate Nola is with the puppet. Nick and I realized after seeing her make out with it that we probably need to cancel cable (or mommy needs to seriously stop watching My Antonio with her.)

Our Little Pumpkin

We joined a Meetup Group (the Mountain Mamas and Papas -- and yes, we watch enough TMZ to know that the timing of anything named "Mamas and Papas" is pretty much tainted from here on out). We joined so that we can be aware of all of the family friendly events in Ventura County, and other than the fact that we aren't really the "Let's meet up with a bunch of strangers at 9:00 on Saturday morning" types, we do like receiving e-mail notifications about non-committal sorts of things, like, Pumpkin Patches.

Here we have some pictures from our trip this past Saturday to Faulkner Farms in Santa Paula.

This precious little Halloween costume was sent out by her Nonnie, and we couldn't resist the opportunity to plop her in the middle of a pumpkin patch in it.

She had to be held up, so there isn't a whole lot of Anne Geddes-like magic to the pictures (not even considering the fact that we couldn't get her to smile for the life of us) but we still think she's the cutest little pumpkin in that patch!

Nola's First Big Outings... and a Library Book to Boot!

Until very recently, Nola's journeys out of the house were an entire family affair, as I was way too anxious to be in the driver's seat and leave my little rear-facing morsel in the back just wondering what happened to her constant attendant. Nick (in the driver's seat), and Nola and I (facing each other in the back) managed to get out and about to a few destinations during the past few months.

Most of our outings tend toward the mundane: Doctor's appointments, scoping out houses much larger than ours, and of course, going to exciting destinations, like, Blockbuster. We did manage to spend one wonderful weekend in Summerland (sadly, no pictures), and we've visited family and a our friends, the Fraziers. It was the Fraziers, in fact, who emboldened me to attempt a trip or two on my own... with Nola ALONE in the backseat.

Let me clarify... she isn't exactly alone. She has all sorts of dangly things (probably choking hazards) to entertain her, along with a mirror (that the guy at the Fire Department told me to remove, but I just couldn't because it was the only way that I could have peace of mind while not being able to stare at her from the backseat), and NPR (which I logically assume is soothing to her, as she listened to it so much in utero), and one of my hands (bent in a Cirque de Soleil like fashion just to touch her head and make sure she's fine.)

So with all of these safety nets, Nola and I have begun to venture into the wilds of Camarillo, and I think we both are getting braver by the day. Our first trip was to the Bread Basket (Aunt Jaimee would be very proud) to get a cake for our friend Melissa Frazier (very wise of her to embolden me to get out of the house). After that, most of our trips have been to the library. I wish that I had some great pictures of the Camarillo Library, but when we're out, I'm usually hand sanitizing everything in our path, so I don't have much time to pause for photos.

Other than my new obsession with hand sanitizing, I've decided to commit myself to curing Nola of her blossoming TV addiction. I figured, rather than turning off the TV altogether (I can't manage all that well not knowing if Antonio Sabato, Jr. is going to end up riding off into the sunset with his mom rather than one of his floozie bachelorettes), I should counter TV time with book time. So, I picked up a book at the library, and wanted to include a little video clip of Nola with her first library book, Let's Dance Little Pookie.

I like to think that all of her sounds are signs of an incredibly accelerated knack for language, but I fear it's just her objecting to the fact that we are not watching the book on TV.

Getting Out of the House, Part Two

When we do get out of the house, we usually trek down a little trail in our neighborhood, which offers much more than a typical suburban sidewalk. We are nestled in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, so there are all types of wildlife that we've encountered - or at least - come into contact with via paw prints or neighbor accounts. (Remember, Nola and I were probably inside watching some cheesy reality TV instead of encountering wildlife.) Some of the more notable animal "encounters" include:

1. The mountain lion that two neighbors saw scoping out our garage from the driveway.
2. The bear paw prints leading from the woods (and a torn apart trash can) to Nick's truck.
3. The deer that kicked Nick. I suppose this particular scenario needs some explanation: There are deer all over the neighborhood, and we do encounter them on an almost daily basis. One evening, about a year ago, Nick and I were watching The Office, and he had to run out to park his car up the street during commercial break. It took him longer than usual to come back from parking the car, and the show had already resumed. Nick comes limping in from outside, rubbing his shin, and excitedly asking, "What did I miss?" Of course, I ask him, "What happened?" to which he replies, "Oh, I was kicked by a deer." Apparently my husband tried to sneak up behind one of the deer who graze in our neighborhood with the innocent intention of petting it. Needless to say, the deer was not interested.

Of course, my favorite animal encounter includes our family pets. Since the last trimester of the pregnancy, Nick and I would go on evening walks with our dog, Rocky, and our cat, Sid. We all continued to walk together after Nola came on the scene. I have included two pictures, both taken on the neighborhood nature trail, of our little family on a walk. We live in a neighborhood along with a lot of well-meaning retirees who all seem to enjoy commenting on our cat.

The commentary ranges from the informative, "That's some cat!" to the menacing, "You'd better watch out for coyotes!" Either way, we think Sid is pretty impressive. He scampers along with us for about a mile and a half just about every day, yet he still can't seem to lose his belly. Just like me.

Getting Out of the House, Part One

In the Lebanese culture, there is a tradition in which a baby is kept more or less underwraps for the first 40 days of his or her life. Anything that allows me to shelter my baby from a germy germy world is a tradition I am more than happy to embrace.

However, that being said, I sure did get stir crazy by day 39. So, as soon as we could, Nola and I ventured out into the world. Never fear, those of you who are all overzealous about exposing your child to the outdoors and all of the germs therein, it's not like she and I have just been sitting at home watching My Antonio. There is also a brand new season of Real Housewives of Atlanta.

I was looking back at a few pictures that we took during her first few days, and here's one taken from Nola's very first walk. We look back, and yes, we can laugh at ourselves now.

We know that she was born in July, and it was probably not necessary to wear three layers, mittens and a beanie, but we were prepared for whatever this crazy climate had in store for us. We've come a long way since then, and due to the lengthy reading commitment you'd have to make within the confines of one blog entry... I've decided to break this one up. Stay tuned for "Getting Out of the House, Part Two."