Passport patience

We've done this three times before. It isn't hard to follow directions and have everything in order when filing for a passport. The first fun thing is taking an infant's picture. From past experience we stick with the post office for that to ensure the size is just right. Birth certificate? Oops. We had to go and retrieve it and return. Of course the officer had 2 other appointments booked so we prayed she'd squeeze us in, which she did. No bother that not only did we have to return but Ale & Annah were squirmy and then I had to run out to the van for the checkbook. And THEN hand the check to her only to have it returned because I forgot to fill in a line. No amout of organization would have prevented it; that is just how it is sometimes. So we are ready to go and there is water on the floor by where Annah is standing. Armando whispers..."Did she pee?" Woudn't that be icing on the cake? Whew, just my wet shoe prints from the van run in the rain.

When animals mix

Annah: "I'm a bunny...ribbit, ribbit, ribbit", as she jumped on the floor.

Mami: "Don't you mean a froggie?"

Annah: "No, I'm a bunny ribbit"

My Mami Superpower...I make milk

I don't like bottles and I don't like to pump. Maybe it is because of my nursing experience being cut short with Samuel (another story) or maybe it is because there are so many pieces and the time and effort to keep things stored and cleaned isn't worth it. I haven't pumped at all since with the other children even when I pumped they wouldn't take a bottle. That and my milk supply increases way too quickly when I pump.

With that said Andi is now 3 months and I have never pumped. She has been left once with my mom for an hour and did okay. Next week I am going on a field trip to the pumpking patch with Ale. I did the same field trip when Samuel was in 4 year old pre-school and Annah was just 2 and 1/2 months old; also my first time venturing away from my "baby".

Last night I pulled out the pump and expresses about a 1/2 an ounce just to see. The kids watched. I opened the single bottle that has been stored in the cabinet to which Ale asked, "What is THAT?". Funny what you hear in a non-bottle household. They watched in amazement as the milk came out and we put it into the bottle. Did Andi take it? Not really. She just gnawed with the right side of her mouth and sampled but no sucking.

So I will pump a bottle for my venture out. While I don't expect her to take any while I am away it puts me at ease that she has it even though she will be like her brothers and sister and prefer to wait. I suppose we could try a little dropper too but for her it is probably more about me than the milk and vice versa. She will be fine, right?

Mami

Where the dinosaurs roam freely

Last Christmas we went to see "Walking With the Dinosaurs". It turned our household into dinosaur-mania. I thought it would phase out after a couple of months but we are coming up on a year and they are still the hot item in the house (besides Leggos). We have a full collection plus some of Imaginext. And when Annah was barely walking the boys would play keep away and she would make these aweful dinosaur sounds and chase them. Now Andi makes here little noises and it isn't uncommon for the kids to have a good laugh because they think she is trying to sound like a dinosaur.

Baby Hugs and Kisses

Babies naturally root. When Andi's three older siblings went to the hospital to meet her we told them that Andi gave kisses. They put their nose close to her mouth and she would latch on. They thought it was cute how she gave them "kisses". Even since Andi was little I also liked to hold Andi's little face up to mine. That evolved into her "face hugs". And now sometimes we play and give her big kisses on her cheeks and she opens her little mouth and latches on just for a second, her little kisses.

My 3 month old has an online friend!

Andi has an online friend at the age of 3 months! It is one of her little buddies that was born just before she was. I am in a group with his mother and Andi saw a clip of her little friend online. None of us have never "met" but everytime she sees the clip she interacts with him. It is so sweet watching her move her arms and make little noises and smiles. AJ calls him her little "virtual friend".