I'm happy to say that things are going much smoother now. We have been working on getting into a daily routine and that is making everyone a little happier. I think/hope we are wrapping up with the Salmonella; although the public health nurse (did you know they have to notify the Dept. of Public Health?) said it can get worse again (and rarely lasts more than a year...what?!). For the most part Liya is back to being a happy baby most of the time. She still doesn't like going to sleep though or staying asleep. Speaking of... she went to bed at 7pm tonight and it is now 7:23pm and I can hear her talking/complaining in her crib... Two hours later...we went for a walk in the stroller, which is good for getting her to fall asleep, and I just spent an unsuccessful hour with her trying to get her to go to sleep. Now it's daddy's turn. Well, it's 10:30 and she just finally fell asleep. It's not like I had planned a productive evening writing thank-yous and a blog post or planned on going to bed early. I'm just glad that in the last week she has started taking a little bit longer naps in comparison to the one or two 15 to 30 minute naps she had been taking and had slept in until 7am the last three mornings. Does anyone have any tips for getting a newly adopted 8 month old baby to go to sleep?
Liya (aka Liyaphrata or Ephrata or Frata or Frata-poo) has surprised and amazed us since we first met her. We didn't even know if she was able to sit on her own before we met her. She could sit but would do a lot of face plants in the process and used her head to push herself back up. Fast forward three weeks and she is completely mobile. She crawls like a pro and pulls to standing on whatever is within reach. We thought we would have time to baby proof our home. Definitely not the case! She gets into EVERYTHING. She is so curious and loves exploring. This means that when she is awake momma can't do much else besides keep an eye on her Frata. This was especially challenging the first week home when there were hardly any naps taking place and Liya was waking up at 5:30 or earlier every morning (amazing because that is the time she would also awake in Ethiopia). Thank goodness she started sleeping through the night when we came back from Ethiopia!
It seems like every day she learns something new. She learned peek-a-boo in the car one day. It is so adorable when she does it. Most of the time she only covers one eye though so she can see what you are doing. Many days she will come up with some new sound to practice. Whether it's a new way to whine or talking in a high pitched voice or saying something new. The last few days the raspberry has been a favorite. I am especially fond of when she does it just as I spoon a mouthful of food into her mouth. Yesterday she practiced saying mm mmm mmmmm all day long. Today she started saying ma ma ma ma ma! Yay! She already had da da da down. It is so fun to watch her pick up new skills.
Hopefully next week I'll post about our time in Ethiopia along with pictures. Until then enjoy these photos.
Finally, a family photo
Momma and her baby
Trouble maker! She emptied the whole first shelf of her bookcase by herself.
She enjoyed her second time in the pool a little more than the first. I ended up joining her because it was so hot that day and the pool has a nice shade over the top. We had to flee when a wasp was hanging around the outside of the pool.
