Month Five - IDIC

I can play like this.....

AAAANNNND like this!!!!

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. IDIC. That pretty much sums up this month. There was plenty of exciting stuff that happened. Alexa started homemade baby food, napping in her crib, playing with her feet, and has perfected some pretty sweet crib acrobatics. Every morning I walk up the stairs to her room in excited anticipation to see what end of the bed she'll be at, whether she'll be face up or face down and whether she'll be sucking on her toes or her lovie. She's bigger, sharper and a lot more vocal. She's now 13lbs. 14 oz, 25 3/4 inches long and has a nice size pumpkin head. That puts her in the 50th percentile for weight and head growth, but the 75th percentile for height! The doctor always tells me that we have a perfectly average size beautiful little girl.

But this month, it wasn't really the new stuff that blew me away, it was the sharpening of old skills. Alexa started playing with toys a few months ago, but now she plays so differently. There has always been an inquisitive nature to our wee and boy is she super excited to have the dexterity to satisfy her thirst for knowledge and explore more things. She studies a toy. Tastes it. Looks at it again. Turns it around. Studies the other side. Shakes it to see if it makes noise. Then gives it a good licking. She ensures each toy is fully explored, then searches for a new object to explore. It's so interesting to watch her play. As you can see in the ball picture she gets completely absorbed with her "work." Each day is a chance to discover the IDIC of her world. Sometimes, you can almost see her brain synapses firing as she realizes she can do something new with a toy. Wait? This one rolls? Whoa!

What is this fabulous toy?? What can I do with it?

She loves trying new stuff. I haven't talked about her propensity to get bored easily in awhile, but rest assured, that tendency is still present. I cracked up laughing when I was talking to the doctor about Alexa's significant decrease in formula intake since starting real food. I told the doc that it seems like she has a strong preference for new food. The doc smiled and said she's probably bored with her milk after drinking it for five months straight. Well, of course she's bored! What else would my little cupcake be? She loves, loves, lovas her new food though. She hasn't tried anything she doesn't like and so far we've explored rice cereal, pumpkin, pears, applesauce, peas and carrots. We're cracking into some green beans and kiwi later this week.

There's one more reason IDIC seems so appropriate this month. This month I really had to examine the million different ways our family life could go. As you know, I've been working from home part-time since Alexa was born. This month, a full-time opportunity with the same company was presented to me. I've had my first interview already and my second interview is this Friday. By next week, I'll know for sure if I'm going to be working full-time starting in February.

When the opportunity was first presented to me I had a very visceral "No, I'm not ready to leave my little beauty yet!" response. But, the truth is, I never questioned IF I would return to work full-time, it was always WHEN I would return to work full-time. Rather than having a set answer in my mind, I've let myself feel my way to the right answer. After I got over my initial reluctance, I realized this was the perfect job, perfect opportunity and perfect timing to return to work.

That may also explain why you didn't hear from me much this past month. I was mulling. And sneaking around behind your backs looking at daycare :) Which also explains why Alexa spent the whole month with a cold - she picked it up at daycare. That, in a nutshell, became the number one reason we decided to hire a nanny. We also weren't comfortable with the idea of Alexa eating the deplorable food they serve in daycare and it seemed weird to me that she would spend her entire day on a 5x5 square of indoor/outdoor carpet. We are in the midst of a nanny job search right now and have a couple good candidates.

Alexa is such an integral part of our lives now. I don't think a second goes by that we aren't looking at her, hugging her, giving her big smooches or thinking about her. I just can't imagine our lives without her and I'm so excited at the possibility of this next chapter with me returning to work and Alexa having an opportunity to learn new things with her nanny.

Don't you dare take my green pepper! (We got this looks seconds before she actually bit off a piece and had her green pepper taken away. The kid loves to chomp on bell peppers. Isn't that weird?)

Come oooonnn! Play with me! I'm too cute to pass up!