The Comings and Goings of Lil G

Yesterday, when I went to retrieve Lil’ G from her crib after a nap, I found her wedged into the corner and on her tummy. She had her feet pressed against the slats and was on her hands and knees rocking furiously. This is a huge step forward for her (pardon the pun). She also repeated this behavior several more times on her blanket on the floor. The most amusing part of this is when she rocks back and then lunges forward onto her face. It’s like she gathers momentum and launches! I think the total yardage is only an inch, but what a gain!

Here’s a couple more photos from our six month shoot.

Time has surely flown over the last half year. As we celebrate six months old today, I’m nothing short of astounded at how far we’ve come. A picture for each month…

And now we are six (months).

About three days ago, Geneva started lifting herself on to her knees while on her belly. It was only for a split second each time. She would push up with her arms and tentatively push her bottom in the air. This morning, she stayed on her knees for about five seconds. The only reason I think she stopped was because I yelled in excitement. This kid is going to be on the move very shortly.

I also started breakfast for Geneva on Monday. She had a little meal of prunes, oatmeal and breastmilk. She gets very excited about her solids; she’s tried just about everything out there. We’re on to more new tastes soon!

That’s it for now. We’ll be heading to the Southside sometime this week to give our Halloween costume a test flight. Plenty of pictures to follow!

If y’all wouldn’t give us clothes like this, we wouldn’t have to stage photo shoots like this! (Thanks, Aunt Kathie!)

We headed on down to the best place in town to get a pumpkin: The Georgia State Farmer’s Market in Forest Park. What better a time than this to get a little impromptu photo shoot in? We ended up with two very nice pumpkins and some even better pictures!

Hello fellow Nesties (or Bumpies??)! (For the uninitiated, thenestbaby.com is a local parenting board I belong to.) I rarely write about me on this blog, so this is a bit of a break. I’ve primarily used this to reach out to our far flung family. Not to mention, this makes one heck of a virtual baby book! 

Okay, on to the list. Here are six things about me:

1. I am a serious addict of haute couture. We used to get a HD channel on our satellite that showed nothing but fashion shows. Chanel, Dior, Prada. I ate it up. I was watching so much that it got to the point where even my husband was turning into a critic. Ha ha. I admire the artistic beauty and handiwork in each and every piece – especially the more outlandish it is. My favorite designers are John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and of course, the crazy kraut, Karl Lagerfeld! I am that person that looks at every single ad in Vogue. I don’t necessarily aspire to own the stuff, I just love to see it. 

2. I used to be an actress. I think I was on a stage every year between the ages of 8 and 23. I stopped abruptly when I graduated from college and I miss it terribly. I can honestly say I never experienced stage fright. The most people I ever performed in front of was about 1500. I convinced myself that I’d never make it as a professional actress because I couldn’t take the pressure of rejection. Maybe I’ll give it a shot again one day.

3. I also used to work in professional cycling. During my career I: worked for a US Tier III pro road team, worked for USA Cycling, managed a bike shop, put on my own bike races, directed press conferences for the Tour de Georgia, wrote a local cycling newsletter, and developed a proprietary registration/payout race software for race promoters. I’ve met Lance Armstrong and I’m sorry to say he’s not that nice of a guy. Mario Cippolini, however, is an absolute dream and a consummate professional. 

4. I’m a geek for knowing how things work. I also love repairing things. I’m sure I’m a nightmare to most repairmen that come into my house because I hover around and ask lots of questions. Recently, I’ve learned about balancing the incoming electrical load into my house, I’ve replaced the bake element in my 1961 GE wall oven, I saw the guts of and learned about the conduits on the back of a plasma tv, and I learned about how the emissions test works on my car. I can change a tire and I’ve installed my own ceiling fans. I really hope I can instill this curiosity in my daughter. The true indicator of my geekitude is the metal detector I received as a Valentine’s gift from my hubby. I adore it.

5. I like really really fast cars. Really fast. Like, Top Gear fast. I’ve had the chance to drive a BMW Z3, a six-speed brand-spanking new Camaro, and an Audi TT at ridiculously high speeds and THAT, my friends, is dangerously addictive. Alas, I shall never have that Maserati I covet. I’m pretty sure the next auto purchase in my future is a station wagon… 

6. I also have a really nutty passion for jewelry. I worked for a man who owned a pawn shop when I was in college. He incidentally owned the jewelry store next door. He had tons and tons of estate jewelry and you would not believe some of the pieces he had in his vault. Ladies, once you try on an 8-carat pear-shaped blue diamond flanked by flawless white diamond baguettes mounted in platinum…you never want to look back. I’ve even sent off to the GIA to see what it takes to become certified to grade stones. I’ve been fascinated by rocks and gems since I was a child. 

Okay, I don’t know if I can tag six people to do this too, but I’ll give a shout-out to Donna&Ed and Rara855. If y’all have already done this, just disregard.

I sound like a broken record about the sunscreen. This coming from someone who used to scream and complain anytime someone came near me with the stuff…

This was Geneva’s first day at the beach in Melbourne, FL on Sunday, September 28, 2008. Have fun with the illusion of Lil’ G holding a cup of coffee in the video.

Or rather, floating. Geneva was like a little fishing bobber in the pool. It’s hard to gauge exactly what she was feeling, but most likely it was how cold the water was. Ha ha.

After uploading the video, it appears as though the sunlight distorted the image. But you’ll get the general idea.

Well, our vacation was a mixed bag. Our beachy fun was tempered by two awful colds that knocked Geneva and I out of commission for most of the week. There were plenty of moments of cuteness, however and we have the pictures to prove it. Geneva seemed to enjoy the beach breezes in her hair, but wasn’t so sure about the surf. Whenever the water touched her toes, she would grunt sort of disapprovingly. The pool went over a little better, but I think not being able to breathe very well took some of the fun out of it. We made sure to slather her up with lots of sunscreen and only took her out early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Geneva’s first plane ride went off flawlessly. She cooed at other passengers and smiled for the flight attendants. She even slept through the night in her pack-n-play on the first night. Then came the sniffles. The next night she ended up in bed with us and then slept in her carseat for the rest of the week to help with drainage. Lil’ G’s cold was full blown by Monday and I followed suit by Tuesday. We bought saline nose drops and a multitude of snot sucking devices (the Rob-named ‘Nose Goblin’ and the battery-operated ‘Nose Goblin 3000′) to aid in the breathing.

Because Geneva couldn’t breathe through her nose, nursing was very difficult and she was also unable to suck on her pacifier. This made things doubly rough and naptimes were few and far between. We ended up putting her in the car and just hauling her up and down the coast of Florida. We saw every beach between Cocoa and St. Lucie. Geneva would get cat naps in here and there and we’d pop out of the car for a quick venture on the sand. I think this roadtripping was the best part of our trip.

Gramma J. was a party to some of the spectacle and was wholly impressed by what a trooper our little G was. We took a nature walk one afternoon and saw bunnies, crabs, birds, and lizards. Well, Gramma and I saw these critters – Geneva fell asleep in the stroller. Good times!

I would like to take a quick moment to note a loss we suffered during our trip. Rob’s wedding band went to a watery grave during a shell-hunting expedition. He was/is pretty upset about it and was ready to rent a metal detector to find it. (We didn’t have room to pack OUR metal detector – booooo!) I won’t go into all the sentimental ramifications of losing it, but the search is on for a new one. I plan on engraving this band with “Number Two.” 

And as more of a reference note for me, Geneva’s not so fond of green peas. Bananas are fine, but green peas, not so much. Up to this point, she’s had prunes, sweet potatoes, pears, green peas and bananas. I’ll be starting a second meal of oatmeal cereal in the mornings on Monday. I’ll mix it with a little fruit and breastmilk.

Apologies for the rambling nature of this post. On to the photos. I’ll post videos throughout the week…