Another First :\

Cecily fell off the bed today, about an hour ago. She's fine, but I still feel like I'm going to die. I left her lying on her back (btw, lay vs. lie - so confusing) in the middle, but more towards the right side, of our king size bed, went to the living room to get it set up for her nap, heard a clunk, and ran back there just as she started screaming. I found her lying on face down in a frog-like position with her arms up and my cell phone on the ground at the end of the bed on the left side. ??? She was obviously after my phone (SO mad at myself for leaving it in there since it's the number one Silly-tempter), but I seriously don't know how she got there. She can't sit up on her own or crawl yet (to my knowledge anyway), so I'm guessing that she rolled to my phone, knocked it onto the floor, and then ended up sliding off the bed to the floor while lying on her stomach reaching for the phone. So maybe the fall wasn't that bad. I'm so glad our bed is fairly low and not one of those ones you need a stepladder to get on.

It was terrifying. I scooped her up immediately and held her close as I started checking all her limbs. She calmed down pretty quickly, and then she was just sort of silent and watching me for a couple minutes, which scared the CRAP out of me. I called Levi at work and put him on FaceTime so he could see her, and she started smiling and talking to him. I gently squeezed every part of her body - no problems or negative reactions from her. I got her to track my cell phone just fine. No bumps, red marks, scratches, bleeding, etc. So I guess she's fine even if I'm not!

She's napping now, and I keep psychotically checking her every 12 seconds to make sure she's breathing.

So yeah, that was probably my scariest parenting moment yet. I guess I need to start leaving her on the floor when I have to leave the room for a minute... let the babyproofing begin!

At the library

Last Tuesday morning (the 2nd), Levi and I took Cecily to the Central Library in Huntington Beach. We were trying to make it to toddler story time (even though she doesn't toddle), but we got there late and the story time room was so packed that I swear it was steamy in there.

So we had our own story time! I randomly chose a picture book off one of the shelves. The title was something about Sybil and a blue bunny or a sick day. I don't know. It was a really weird book, but I like weird things and Cecily isn't picky.

^^ pretty sure those boobs up there are trying to take over the world. sorry! ^^

If it's safe, I like to let Cecily sit on the floor when we go places (during response time at the end of church, you can almost always find Silly on the floor). Even though she isn't crawling yet, I like her to feel free to explore her immediate surroundings. I can see Levi and I naturally starting to build the "cadre" for Cecily already. It's interesting to see how our innate parenting styles are coming out as Cecily grows.

Anyway, Cecily really enjoyed sitting on the floor for a bit and pulling books off the shelves. When she's older, I'll teach her how to put them back in order. ;)

After hanging out in the children's section for awhile, we introduced Cecily to the rest of the library while I shared stories and memories from all my times there as a child, adolescent, and teenager. I really love that library. It's so beautiful. I hope they never update it. It's so midcentury and cool! I love all the fountains and water everywhere. It makes me feel peaceful.


^^ these two are so sweet together. ^^



We couldn't check out any books this time because we don't have non-resident library cards yet (I'm sorry, Long Beach, but your libraries are not the best), but I bought some old Martha Stewart Living and Whole Living magazines for a quarter each... did you know that Whole Living is no more?? I'm so sad about this. I loved that magazine.

So that was Silly's first visit to the library! The first of many. Levi and I really want to help her develop a love of books, reading, and storytelling so we will certainly be back!

To the beach!

We did one of the things on our summer list yesterday: we took Cecily to the beach in Huntington. It was... interesting.

She had woken up from her nap on the wrong side of the rocker seat. So much crankiness. But we went anyway! After driving around the parking lot looking for parking forever (this whole having to pay to park to go to the beach thing is soooo weird to me having grown up a block away), we coated ourselves in sunscreen, dragged all of our crap (blanket, towel, backpack, baby tent thingie, umbrella, etc.) out of the car, and began our trek to the water.

First stop: strips at Dwight's! Of course!

^^ reaching for the strips. smart girl. ^^

I really wanted to eat on the sand because it's more fun that way so we added two boxes of food to our haul.

After setting up our blanket and umbrella (and making an attempt at setting up the borrowed baby circus tent thingie), we ate.





Cecily really liked strips (the cheese and the sauce part anyway)! She liked them so much that she didn't really let me enjoy them because she demanded bites every two seconds! Haha! This girl loves to eat! We're working on patience right now... as much as you can with an 8-month-old anyway!

After eating, we put on Silly's Esther Williams swim cap and took her to the water. By the way, I bought this suit for her last summer while I was pregnant. I couldn't resist that swim cap. She looks like a little tomato head.










^^ she looks like a squinty old man in all the pictures. it was BRIGHT. ^^


^^ "i hate it, momma. i hate it!" ^^


^^ choose "original" under the settings for the best quality! ^^

This was her second time touching the ocean, and she still hated it. Haha! Poor girl! We tried for awhile after taking pictures and video, but she kept making these miserable little groaning sounds. She looooves water, but I guess she prefers it warm and not freezing cold/filled with sand/rushing at her.






^^ "save me, daddy!!" ^^

After our "swim," she was totally over the whole beach thing so we left. I think we were there for about 20ish minutes. Haha!




^^ she fell asleep nursing in the car. she was so tired that she didn't even wake up when i put her in her car seat. this never happens! poor sleepy babe! ^^

Oh well. We tried it! Even though we live so close, we probably won't go back to the beach until she's old enough to actually enjoy it. I'm sure she'll be a total beach girl next summer. :)

Momma

Cecily started saying "Momma" today... and then my heart exploded.

She's always been very verbal, but she has been out-of-control chatty for the last few days. Like she can't fall asleep because she's talking so much, and she's been babbling incessantly when she's exhausted. It sounds like she's speaking Dutch. So she'll be chatting away in Dutch, I'll be trying to stick her didi in her mouth, the didi just makes her babble even more, and then - bam! - she's asleep. Just like that. "Blah blah blah." Head turn. Passed out.

Nothing has really resembled a word yet until today. And I could just die of pride that the first word-like babble to come out of her mouth is "Momma." I had her in her highchair in the kitchen while I was in the living room grabbing something. She was really unhappy that I walked away and wanted me to come back, and then I heard it. "Momma." And then again tonight. She was hungry and wanting to nurse and "Momma."

So I don't know if we can count this as an actual word yet or just a new sounds she's making, but I love it.

My Little Weirdo

Cecily rolled over on Sunday! From front to back. She's been rolling over from her tummy for a little while now. Of course, I missed the big roll, and she wouldn't repeat her performance for me until a couple days later. She's been swaddled for bedtime since birth, but I've been terrified of her rolling over in her swaddle since birth too so the swaddle had to go!

We put her to bed with one arm free that night. She played in her crib for about 40 minutes then fell asleep! She kept getting herself into the weirdest position, and I finally got a picture of it yesterday.

Cecily's preferred sleeping position:

I pull her face out of the bars all the time, but she always gets herself back over to them. She is so weird. I love it. She has loved this position since the womb. Remember when we picked out our Christmas tree and the lady at the lot picked her head up for me??

Cecily is a dancer. I just know it.

First Trip to Disneyland!

We took Cecily to Disneyland for the first time on Tuesday. A friend of the family was kind enough to meet us at the park on his day off to sign us in. We're so grateful! Thank you, Frank!

When we first started thinking about going about a month ago, I wasn't sure it would be a good idea because Cecily is so young. But it was SO fun. All three of us had an amazing time. Even though Cecily is only five months old, I can honestly say that she loves Disneyland. She's definitely her mother's daughter. :)

I really want to remember everything about our trip because it was so perfect... so this blog post might be a little bit annoying to read if you aren't me or Levi. Feel free to skip it. Levi and I were seriously grinning all day and kept saying how much fun we were having. He doesn't even love Disneyland like I do; I'm not even sure he likes it all that much. He's fine with it, but I'm pretty sure he only really goes for me. Well, now he goes for me AND Cecily. And seeing how much fun Cecily was having made it really fun for him too. At one point, he said, "Disneyland is fun again!" Haha!

We got there in the afternoon and went to California Adventure first. Our first stop was the lockers. We had brought quite a bit of stuff with us for Cecily, and we didn't want to lug it around all day. We stashed our warm changes of clothes and our carrier that we planned on using in the evening. Then it was sunscreen time. We doused ourselves and decided we would head over to get fast passes for World of Color and then go on The Little Mermaid ride. Cecily promptly fell asleep in her stroller. Haha! Exhausted after only 15 minutes! I picked up a first visit button for Cecily and pinned it to her stroller:



And then we were on our way!

We got our World of Color tickets and some corn dogs (best corn dogs in the world) and walked around, waiting for Cecily to wake up. She took a really good nap, and we were able to enjoy our food and take our time getting from one place to the next. When she woke up, I found a bench on Paradise Pier to nurse her and change her diaper (I'm really good at lap changes;).





And then we were off to Ariel's Undersea Adventure!!! I was ridiculously excited to take Cecily on her very first ride. Especially since it was The Little Mermaid, my all-time favorite! Whenever we're at Target, I always hold up Disney princess dolls for her to look at. She seems to prefer Ariel and Merida. I guess she likes red hair. So I was interested to see how she felt about this ride... and rides in general. Cecily did not disappoint. She loved it SO much. She kept whipping her head back and forth to take it all in. In the beginning, you go "under water." There's lots of lights to look like bubbles. Cecily really loved that part. And then there's a part where you look up to see Ariel and Flounder swimming up to the surface. I probably wouldn't have noticed it, but Cecily looked up right away. It was so cute that she noticed! I hardly saw any of the ride because I was so busy looking down at Cecily on my lap, trying to see the faces she was making and listen to her reactions. The whole thing was really sweet. We all got off the ride feeling really happy. What is it about Disneyland that's so damn heartwarming??









Next we headed over to the Animation building to hang out in the Animation Courtyard for awhile. That place is so cool. We laid out a blanket for Cecily to play, and we all sat on the floor. Cecily really enjoyed eating her toes while she watched all the screens and lights and listened to the music. It was really fun to watch her take it all in, and it was nice to sprawl out on the floor and relax for a bit. We even changed her diaper in there!











Once she started to look sleepy (Silly still takes quite a few naps every day), we packed up and headed out. Cecily took another nap in her stroller while we headed over to Disneyland. First stop? Churros, of course. And while we were waiting in line, I spotted my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews! So funny! We really wanted to let Cecily meet some princesses (had our hearts set on Ariel or Rapunzel), but she was still snoozing so we went to the Mad Hatter by the teacups to get her her first pair of mouse ears. They're too big for her, but I couldn't resist getting her some. It was such a thrill for me and Levi to see her name embroidered on the back (Levi even recorded a video of it - hahaha!). We really love her name. :)



Next up: the hunt for some princesses. There's a new place near the castle called the Fantasy Faire where you can wait in line to meet some princesses at the Royal Hall. Cecily woke up right when we got there so we waited for about 20-30 minutes in line for our turn to meet Tiana, Snow White, and Aurora. Sadly, Ariel was getting ready for the parade. Next time! Silly got hungry in line so I nursed her as we waited and got commended by the mom behind us for nursing in public. There's so much camaraderie when you're a mom. I love it. :)


(just waking up)



We didn't know if Cecily would give a hoot with the princesses, but we wanted some photos to show her when she's older. We were SO surprised and delighted by her reaction. She loved them. LOVED THEM. Especially Snow White. She adored Snow White! She kept staring up at her with pure adoration and fascination. She was all smiles. It was such a sweet moment. Levi and I couldn't stop laughing. Funniest part of the experience: when I asked Tiana if she could hold Cecily for a photo. She said, "I cahn't" in her New Orleans accent, but I heard "I can," so I started to pass her off as Tiana backed away. I think I might have made her break character for a minute as I tossed my baby at her. Hahaha! Wooooops.

She liked Tiana just fine:



But Snow White really had her heart:







I really can't get over the look of adoration on her face. It's too much!!

Even though it feels slightly lame to stand in line to meet princesses inside a building, the Royal Hall was actually really cool. The lighting inside is really great, and they have each princess in her own little section. It feels super private. We didn't run into any other families or children so it felt like we were the only ones there. And they let you have time to take plenty of photos and to visit with the princesses. I'm sure Cecily will really love talking to them when she's older.

After princess time, we sort of wandered around for a bit, trying to decide what to do next. Everything takes a long time with a baby so we couldn't try to cram too much in, but we wanted to take advantage of Cecily's awake time. We walked down Main Street and stopped at the silhouette shop. I had my silhouette cut when I was about two, and it's so cute. Cecily's turned out really cute too. The woman hand cut it in about two minutes! Isn't that incredible?? Levi had to put a basketball video on his phone to get Silly to face forward. She just wanted to stare at the woman. My favorite part of her silhouette is her sparse hair and her chubby little chin(s).



Next we headed over to the main entrance to have our photo taken as a family. On the way, we saw that Mickey and Minnie were out signing autographs. Levi waited in line while I took Cecily into a shop to look around. She really loved the plush Disney Babies and didn't want to let go of Ariel or Rapunzel. She is seriously the best!!

Watching her meet Mickey and Minnie was another hilariously sweet moment. She loved them so much! She "kissed" them both on their noses (meaning: she tried to eat both their noses) and grabbed at Minnie's eye. Levi and I think she's pretty funny. The little boy in line behind us pretty much tried to come home with us as we were walking away from Mickey and Minnie. He was about four and wanted to ask us all kinds of questions. He just kept walking with us away from his parents, and he asked if he could touch Cecily. Haha! He was hilarious.








At this point, she was trying to get back to Minnie and Mickey's faces and really didn't see the need for a posed photo.



We had our picture taken in front of the main entrance. Cecily was being her cute self, and a few girls/women gathered around to try to get her to smile for the photographer. People can really be so sweet. I've never been as aware of this as I am now that I have a baby.


We have like three family photos. This is one of them.

After taking pictures all over the place, Cecily was ready for yet another nap. We got her all settled in her stroller and headed over to Tomorrowland for some dinner. Kids meals at Pizza Port. Oh yeah. It was really nice to sit down and eat. It was also nice to have some semi-alone time with Levi. After heading out of Tomorrowland, we sort of wandered around without a plan, got some more churros (of course), and headed over to the Winnie the Pooh ride to wait for Cecily to wake up. She woke up pretty much right when we got there and was ready to go! I felt like she was happy that we were still at Disneyland every time she woke up. Like she was saying, "It wasn't a dream?? We really are here!" Haha!


Just up from her nap and ready to go!

She really enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh ride.



Next up: time to head back to California Adventure for World of Color!! We got our stuff out of the locker, and everyone changed into warmer clothes. Silly wore a hoodie for the first time, and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever. I popped her into the carrier in the facing out mode, we got some coffee, and we headed over to World of Color! Call us crazy, but we decided that we wanted to stand right in the very front row... the "you're gonna get wet" zone. I'm pretty sure everyone around us thought we were nuts for bringing our five-month-old to the very front, but what's a little water? Cecily was pretty exhausted, but there was no way she was gonna sleep with so much to look at. As soon as the show started, she was enraptured. She quietly sucked her didi the entire time and whipped her head back and forth to see everything. She was fascinated and really loved the whole thing. I had a really thick, fluffy blanket to hold in front of her, and when the mist got a little too heavy (and the fire got too hot), I held it up over Cecily's face. I was really wet at the end, but Cecily was dry as could be. After it was over and everyone cleared out, I turned her around in the carrier, and we walked back to the lockers to get our stuff and go home.


Levi instagrammed this one with the hashtag #cecilyisgonnagetsoaked. Hahaha!

It felt like it took forever to finally get to our car. We were all exhausted, and Cecily was passed out.



We were some of the last ones to get to the deserted parking structure. As we were walking to the car, I saw some cash on the ground. I pointed it out to Levi and told him to grab it (I was still wearing Silly). I thought maybe it was $5. Nope. It was $60. SIXTY!!! So, basically, almost everything was free that day! Can you get any more perfect than that??? Levi and I were both starving by the time we started to drive away so we stopped at Jack in the Box (terrible, I know). Every freeway exit we would normally take to get home was closed down so it took us ages to get home, and, of course, Cecily didn't sleep well that night. Pretty sure she was too exhausted to sleep well. But it was all worth because it was the best time I've ever had at Disneyland and such a bonding time for our little family.

BEST DAY EVERRRRR.