My Little Ladybug at nearly 14 months ....

Looking back at previous posts I realized it was time for a little Laila update ! Where do I start with my little ladybug ~ she is just the picture of perfection and I'm seriously not sure how we got so lucky with her.

She is a mild-mannered little girl that only throws the occasional "fall on the floor" tantrum (In her defence it usually has something to do with her big brother tormenting her in some way). But let me tell you little sista' takes no crap from anyone especially her big brother. I have come into the toy room after one of these tantrums and she is more then likely the one on top delivering the smack down. When she laughs (and it's often) its one of those "deep down in your belly" laughs that is just contagious and makes you laugh.

Ladybug is an awesome sleeper ! She goes to bed at 7:30 every night - her routine is so easy...bottle, brush her two teeth, read a book (if she lets you), put her in her sleep sac (seriously all babies should be put in these from birth), place her in the crib, lights out and we don't hear from her until after 8:30 the next morning. After our failures with Hayden and sleeping I was determined that this time around would be different. I read Dr. Ferber's book before she arrived and we followed his method with fabulous results.

Because of all the sleep she gets at night and with Hayden's crazy schedule she has pretty much gone to one longer nap during the day which doesn't seem to affect her "happy go lucky" mood.

She is my little eating machine...seriously there is nothing that our little ladybug won't try. Again, with all struggles we have had with Hayden and his limited food likes I was personally determined to not have this happen with her. I tried to breast feed her but it just wasn't in the cards for us so to save mommy and baby lots of frustrations she was bottled fed until around 8 months old when we started to introduce the "real" food to her.

I purchased a book called "Baby Blender Food" and it was probably one of the best books I have ever bought. It laid out 125 different recipes that were categorized according to age and covered a variety of different food groups. I started her off simple with the basics and gradually introduced different foods. I also purchased these ice cube trays but they were designed as individual cubes that had lids attached to make it easier to freeze food. I say "Hallelujah " - this again was a great invention by I'm sure a mom frustrated with the plain old ice cube trays and food getting freezer burn on it.

Today I have to say she has developed quite a palette and will take pretty much anything and everything that is offered to her. I can not tell you what a relief this is to me as I have worried and continue to worry about Hayden's eating habits. Some of Laila's favorites are Chicken Stew, Salmon & Broccoli, Shepard's pie, Beef and Broccoli and anything with beans in it. There is not one fruit that she will not devour when given - I'm so looking forward to summertime and the abundance of fresh fruit that we can get. She loves a yummy apple sauce I make or possibly a bowl of pudding for dessert. She is a great drinker of milk but also lovers her yogurt, cottage cheese or just regular cheese. Cheerios or puff wheat are a favorite snack.

The one thing that I have done with Laila is greatly limited the amount of sugar and "bad" fats I will allow her to have. She really didn't have any sugar type food until her 1st birthday when she was given a cupcake to munch on. I think she has only had a french fry a few timesl. I really think that because Hayden was exposed at a very early age to this crap it somewhat tainted his taste buds. But I have to also say that Faruq and I have totally changed our eating habits in the past few years. We are far more open to trying new things now and our diet has been overhauled to go back to more "whole" food eating and less processed foods. I'm sure we will have battles with Laila but I'm really hoping food isn't one of them.

She still is half walking and half wounded solider crawling around the house. And you know secretly, I will miss her little crawl. It's what made her unique to me and it just means she is growing up !!

Teeth are slowing coming in. Her front two teeth came down just before Christmas and I can feel 3 or 4 on the bottom trying to make their way up. I was getting a little worried about the lack of teeth but our pediatric dentist told us not to worry until around 16 months and that that longer they stayed inside the gums the harder and stronger they are when they make their appearance. Again all in good time !!!

As second time parents we have learned to sit back and let her develop at her own pace. I think with Hayden I was so caught up in the "Well my kid is doing this" syndrome that I just didn't relax and enjoy him more. With Laila she will do things when she is ready and we don't need to push her. Honestly, I think with the first you are just so scared that you are going to screw them up you tend to make decisions and choices that you probably wouldn't make with #2.

Here's to the next 14 months !!