2 months is a long time...

I just realized it's been two months since I last posted, and I'm sure there's some stuff I could write about...

In the last two months, I have cried on the phone to my mother twice (that I can recall) about things that I have no control over.  Once, when Lena just kept screaming and wouldn't go to sleep and I didn't know what to do.  And, once, when I was panicked about our financial situation.  Both worked themselves out, and things are fine now.  In fact, Lena's napping right now.  I think some of it's the hormones, and some of it's just me, but I really try not to cry about things that are out of my control, but sometimes, it just hits my like a ton of bricks and I have to let it go...

Lena's first birthday was a HUGE success!  We had 47 people at our house for a "small, family" gathering on June 12th, which was her actual birthday.  There were hot dogs, beer, cupcakes, and lots of presents.  There were aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.  There was a big tent, several tables, and lots of chairs.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  AND the new living room was finished to show off to people!  A lot has happened in the last year, and we look forward to the many many years to come.

I've had Lena back in the pool a few times, and she looooves swimming!  In fact, she has decided that she doesn't need me to swim (even though I won't let go), jumping off my legs and reaching for whatever or whomever she wants.  She 'jumps' in from the side, and puts her own face in the water, and kicks like crazy... I am so glad that she loves the water as much as I do.  Michael Phelps was on the Today Show this morning... an omen?  I think so!  Look out for the 2028 Summer Olympics... Lena will be 18 and on the team, I'm sure :)

Lena is now standing on her own (until she realizes that she's doing it), crawling all over the place, and walking with assistance.  She still only says mama and dada, but she knows what lots of other words mean (especially NO) :)

Change of subject (kind of)...
I read an article recently about parenting, written by a daddy, and I took away something that really makes me notice a lot about how I (and others) react to other people's input.  This is his stance in a nutshell: when someone compliments your child, please don't say something like "you want him?  Take him home with you for two hours... hahaha"  This author's stance is that this reaction devalues your child, often in front of the child, and devalues the job you are doing as the parent of that child.  Since I read this article, I have tried to be more conscious of how I react to other people's compliments of my child.  Now, I'm really not trying to brag at all, because I KNOW it's not my doing, but my kid is seriously one of the easiest children to have around that I have ever seen.  She is calm when other kids are crazy; she doesn't scream or cry when she's exhausted (unless she's in her own crib and doesn't want to go to sleep); she eats pretty much anything I give her... I could go on.  As I said, though, I KNOW this is not entirely the way that I parent, but I would like to take credit for some of her easy-going-ness.  Anyway, Lena and I were at a friend's pool the other day, and my friend kept complimenting me on how well Lena was doing, even though she was clearly tired and probably hungry.  I very graciously said 'thank you' and marveled myself at how well she was doing.  Before reading this daddy's opinion, I would have probably said something like 'oh, you want her to stay with you for a week?' but I refrained from saying that.  I don't want Lena to grow up thinking that I will give her away to the first person who thinks she's cute or funny or well-behaved.  So thank you, daddy with an opinion, for opening my eyes to something that many parents do without a thought.  I'm thinking more about it.