Long Weekend

I'm sitting in the den listening to Stanzi cry, make that howl, herself to sleep. She usually fusses a bit, but she's really putting her lungs into it tonight. She was in a super nasty mood by the time I gave her a bottle and, even though she's completely exhausted, she's going to torture me some more. Actually the worst part about it is knowing she'll be covered in dried snot in the morning. At this point it's not really crying, it's more yelling. Very dramatic yelling. She'll stop for a couple of minutes and then pick it up again. I keep thinking she's finally asleep and then, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! BBBBLLLLLAAAAAA BBBBBBLLLLLLAAAAA!!!! (gag, gag, cough, deep breath) AAAHHHH AAAAAHHHH AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Poor Stanzi.

I'm back to work tomorrow after a four day weekend. It was a nice weekend, too. I had a spa day (courtesy of my wonderful husband) on Friday, the Pizza Gang had a party for us on Saturday night (Jill made the adorable panda cake), a rather lazy Sunday with our very own pool party (see pictures) and a rather boring Monday since I worked some this morning and John worked this afternoon.

This weekend we did get Stanzi off of formula and onto whole milk which simplifies life a bunch. I took her in for a check-up on May 29 and Dr. Boyd (our local doctor) suggested it was time for the transition. He said that her diet is great and she's gaining weight appropriately so the formula is unnecessary at this point. I've also got her sleeping through the night again after a very long three weeks of midnight bottles. I will not be giving her late night bottles ever again! That's something else Dr. Boyd said is unnecessary. I blame myself for slipping back into it. At 3am it's easier to give her a bottle than listening to her whine for an hour. The next big step is for her to sleep in her nursery at night. That has to happen soon. It's not like we have a "family bed" but a pack-n-play next to the bed can be rather distracting if you get my drift.

The past month was huge as far as Stanzi's development goes. Not only is she walking, but she's crawling, rolling all over the place and her transition movements are outstanding. I can tell she understands a lot of what is said to her and she babbles quite a bit. She loves music and she dances and "sings" along. Ducks are still her favorite animal but she's grown fond of dogs as well. She loves giving hugs and kisses and waves goodbye. I'm a little shocked by her ability to just be quiet, content and affectionate. Considering she's 15 1/2 months old I'm surprised at her abiltiy to enjoy "happy, quiet time". What better way to decompress than with a loving baby in your arms, just content to be there?

I've also included a picture of my darling daughter having a meltdown at the dinner table last night. I know many of you think she's absolutely perfect, and she is in many ways. For instance, she saves her most dramatic fits just for her mama and dada. She's an angel in public and generally well behaved with new people, but with us she lets her hair down. We have a dozen pictures of the incident but the one I'm posting is my favorite. As John would say, it's a very "gibbon-y look".