digging my heels in, trying to slow down/ catching up

unpublished from 7/9/08:

yosi puts things "in" now- toys into the box, juice lids into can... okay, so it's not super consistent, but she's got the idea!

maybe sitting still to READ books, instead of gnawing them is just around the corner...

wednesday morning we attended the court hearing that finalized Yosi's "re-adoption" in the state of Ohio. This means she can now an official US birth certificate and social security number. we sat before the judge and answered a few official sounding questions about the responsibility of parenthood, acknowledging that this process gives her full legal rights like child who is biologically related to her parents and that we are committed to care for her in spite of the incomplete medical background, and that in case of divorce (God forbid!) we are aware that we would be responsible to pay child support to the primary custody parent.

Yosi behaved like the charmer that she is, sitting cheerfully on our attorney's lap and hamming it up with the judge and the bailiff, pounding the table and "hmming" from time to time. ("Hmming" is her talking with pacie in her mouth).

Click on the Winkflash link and email me at the address provided to get the password so you can check out the cute pics of her on that day.

and 7/27/08:

And NOW she is cruising (walking while holding on to furniture) AND crawling!

We are excited for her, but filled with trepidation and dread- a whole new phase of exhaustive monitering is upon us. No more leaving the room with a feeling of certainty that she will be exactly where we left her when we return. Nothing in arms' reach is safe any longer- our house needs an overhaul!

Concurrent with the increase in activity is a decrease in sleep. This is NOT fun for Mommy and Daddy. I guess we've been spoiled. Getting up once a night @ 3/4a to chg a diaper and give a bottle and go promptly back to bed is not a big deal- when you sleep for another2.5-3hrs after that. But knock that down to 45-90 min and have the baby wake up crying and unhappy: this is the perfect recipe for very disgruntled parents, particularly on weekend mornings. We've been putting her to bed later (8-8:30) pretty consistently, as long as she can make it. Her naps have been shorter. Naturally, we don't go to bed right after we put her down- there's our evening routine mentioned in the last post. Avg bedtime for us is 10-11p: we generally can't fall asleep before then...

finally 8/2/08:

Took her to the dr. yesterday for a spot on her arm I thought might be ringworm- turns out to just be a evil bug bite. Asked then about the sleep issues. Dr. took a look @ her ears and mouth: ears look great, mouth is erupting with new teeth, namely- another incisor and a one year molar are just below the surface. This will be dentition #8 & 9. She's quite a little mammal!

Update on books- they still get chewed on, but are finally becoming slightly entertaining for page turning and even picture viewing. YAY!

What's happening beside's Yosi

Work- Housekeeping- Book "An American Childhood" (Annie Dillard) and National Geographic reading- Trying to keep up with friends and family: Bob and Ana are "home" on furlough; my aunt, Kay, was visiting for a week and my cousin, Tim, is now living with my dad; next weekend Yosi will meet her aunt Shan and cousins, Stephan, Samuel, and Shiloh, for the first time AND go camping for the first time.

Things I'm thankful for/make me happy=filled with relief ("off the cuff")

Coffee! black

Fans

Pacifiers

Cicadias

Gel pens! black

Music

Doing "NOTHING"

Reading