Trauma for Mamma

Shaela had her first fat lip two days ago. It was probably more traumatic for me than it was for her. We were walking on a cobblestone-like surface made out of small stones. She was pretty hesitant at first, and then with my coaxing, began to walk on it. She was doing fine, but like us all because of the fear and uncertainty, she fell down face forward. Her upper lip got cut and began to swell immediately. I was horrified, having been right there next to her. As a new parent and a physician trained in trauma release work, I so wanted to prevent as much trauma as possible. She was crying on and off for several minutes and I cried right along with her. Clearing myself and her. I know sometimes I empathize too much with her, but it is all part of my process as a mom. Thank goodness Justin was there to drive us home.

On a lighter side (Shaela is healing well and has a bruise on her lip now), Shaela went to the circus for the first time yesterday. It is a very small circus that comes to Santa Fe, but she did get to ride on a pony and won a big purple balloon, which she later repeatedly threw and chased in the parking lot until it popped. She actually focused on the acrobats pretty well despite us being seated about 20 rows back. She eventually got bored and wanted to look out the side of the bleachers at the people below. The highlight was running around the grassy parking lot without holding Mommy's hand.

She likes rap music, particularly Salt and Pepper. I was a little shocked at first watching her shake her head up and down to the beat. But then I realized she started doing this with any music with a strong beat. It is also uncanny to watch her left foot tap out the beat, like she was playing a musical instrument. She must have been a musician in a past life.

Shaela is so close to talking in paragraphs. Her baby talk is getting so complex and elaborate. She desperately is trying to communicate and is learing more sign language. She can sign for "help"and "book" now.

Mini-me update: For all those of you who know my little idiosynchrosy of itching my ear by shaking a knuckle while holding my tragus over my ear opening, often eliciting a squeaky noise, you will laugh when you see Daddy itching Shaela's ears by wiggling his finger up and down near her ear. She loves it! She will grab his hand, put it to her ear and tilt her head to the side, so he can shake his finger. It is hilarious. We'll try to get a video on that one...

Overall, Shaela is getting happier and happier, it is great! I think knowing when and how to feed her really has helped. She likes a lot of food options. We usually have the standbyes of organic blueberry yougart, organic bananas and avocados, together with a hot meal of various combinations of egg, rice, zucchini, broccoli, grits, brown rice cereal, or mac and cheese (organic of course), sometimes chicken. We have all these items in front of her, and then she picks the one she wants for the moment. She likes to have several bites of one, than another and then back to the first one. She really likes variety! Prior to doing this, she would eat several bites of whatever we were feeding her and then sign "all done." Then she would point to the cookbooks on the shelves next to us, as if indicating that she wanted something else, something new or perhaps, something cooked better.

For snacks, we now keep a big tupperware with ziploc bags of pirate booty, cinnamon bunnies, cheerios, sesame crackers, banana crackers and cheese crackers, so she can choose what mood she is in. It was too hard trying to go through each one separately. Her favorites are the more savory and salty vs. sweet. She likes the one Mom likes the most, the sesame crackers. She doesn't like juice and drinks lots of fresh water.

We are applying for Shaela's passport. Justin, who has been doing all the paper work had read that we needed a "2x2" passport photo, and "both parents had to be there". So when we went to Walgreens to get our photo, we told the photographer that we all had to be in the picture. They were baffled and had never heard of such a thing. We insisted and had our teeny family photo taken, when we got home, Justin realized that they were two separate items regarding the application for her passport!

Tomorrow, we'll go in and have Shaela take a passport photo, with her scabby lip and all.....
Many blessings to you all.
Love and Light,
Debbie, Justin and Shaela