Don't worry, I won’t take you down memory lane, but good lord, my little bonita chica is getting big.

Tomorrow is her doctor's appointment. More shots, I'm sure. No more formula!!!!! No more baby food!!!! Except in those crazy, "oh my gosh I have nothing to feed her" moments. Of course she's been on regular food for awhile now. And the best one of all ... NO MORE BABY CARRIER!!! Front facing regular car seat, here we come! I'm extremely excited, can you tell?

I'm thinking of taking her to a restaurant tonight so that the waiters will sing to her but I'm afraid that my perfect photo op will turn into a cry fest after they scare the poo out of her with their clapping and singing. I may just take my chances. I also need to finish the grocery shopping for her little party we are having Saturday. Family and close friends only. Hamburgers, hotdogs and cake. Nothing big and NO CLOWNS. Mommy is scared. Clowns are evil.

Music is the big thing in our life right now. She'll dance to anything that even sounds remotely like a tune. Whistling, humming, commercials, clapping, you name it, she dances. She loves "Dancing with the Stars" because she sways with the music and when it is over, she claps and yells "YAY" with the audience. She also likes the word "Tah-dah" but hasn't exactly learned when to use it. She likes to use it when eating her Cheerios or when she is playing in the bathroom floor while I am getting ready.

Never thought I'd fall this much in love with anything in my life. Isn't it great?

So, to all the birthday babies out there sharing Miss Sydney's day……….Happy Birthday Little Ones!!!!!!

She started clapping this past weekend and now when you sing "If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands," she claps her hands. It's way too cute. And I get way too excited about it every time she does it. Even after the 10 gazillionth time. She has also started saying her mamamamamas. FINALLY! Except, she only says it when she is really mad.

Unfortunately we are now at the age where it’s very hard to go out to eat or go anywhere in public. Now I know why some parents never leave the house. It's just way too exhausting. The grocery store is a nightmare and I hate the looks I get from people when I am trying to do two things at once while trying to keep my child from climbing out of the shopping cart seat. Have some patience people. I'm trying to raise a child here and the village was unavailable to come to the grocery store with me.

Well, we leave for Africa in two days. I'm nervous. I hate leaving her. But, as a once in a lifetime chance, I can’t turn it down. She's in great hands while we are gone and I have every confidence in the world that my parenting skills are completely in tact and I'm not in any danger of having my parenting card revoked.

Yesterday, Sydney turned 9 months old. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. She has grown so much, yet not much at all. The doctor said she will be little. She got her polio shot and they pricked her finger for the anemia test. She didn't really cry on either but looked at them like, "What the hell are you doing to me?" She is only in the 10th percentile for height (at a whopping 26 inches), 40th percentile for her weight (17 pounds, 10 ounces), and 50th percentile for her head size (17 inches).

She is broadening her horizons on food choices. Finally! I am going tonight to get some finger foods for her and step 3 foods. She has one tooth that has broken through and another one on the way. I think I will start slow since when I gave her little bitty pear pieces last night, she stuck her tongue out with the piece of fruit on it and let it fall onto her bib. But, she loves those Gerber Biter Biscuits that they have. They're messy but she seems to really like them.

She started crawling on July 4 and has gotten more and more mobile since. She likes to follow you from room to room and that is great for me now that I don't have to carry her there. My back will thank her one day. She pulls up on everything and we have had to lower her bed twice. She is standing in her crib when I go get her in the mornings.

We are on the search for a new nanny. My mother-in-law got a full-time job and had to give up her Thursdays and Fridays and unfortunately, the current nanny can't go full time. So, we are back at square one. I have interviewed one woman who wanted to keep her in her home and nixed that about five minutes into the interview. Her 3-year-old was screaming for her bottle. When she looked at me all embarrassed, she tried to explain that she just "plays with it" and it's "no big deal." While filling it up, the little girl screams, "Why are you putting water in it? I hate water!" So, when she came into the living room with it, I noticed that it was COKE in the bottle and she was sucking on it like there was no tomorrow. Her daughters then proceeded to bring every toy they owned into the living room and began banging on them so loud that we couldn't hear each other talk. So, instead of politely asking them to take the toys in their room or to play quietly, she ignored them, quit talking and just stared at me since she couldn't hear what I was saying.

I guess I'll just keep looking. I have until Sept. 5. So, just minor pressure.

We bought her a new pool two days ago. We bought the Six Flags Alligator spray pool (Compare Prices). It's the perfect size for the two of us to get in and play. She has all her bath toys in it and now that she can sit up without falling over, she loves it. Mamma loves it too! I can lay out, be cool and no one sees me in my bathing suit! Score!

My parents are coming into town this weekend. Lazy weekend full of cleaning the house, doing laundry and setting up a new bed in the spare room. Joy joy. But, at least I have two extra sets of hands to help me so that I can get it done in one swoop rather than break it up into fourteen parts with baby on hip. It seems that all of a sudden, Sydney doesn't like the vacuum and I have to hold her while I vacuum. Can you say "chiropractor"?

We learned to turn from our back to our tummy a week or so ago. She now sleeps only on her tummy and if you lay her on her back, she flips over in about a nanosecond. The other night, I rocked her until she was asleep and laid her down in her crib. She started to immediately flip over so I held on to her jammies to see if in her sleepines, she would stay on her back but she eventually won the tug of war. But, the good news is that maybe now her bald spot on the back of her head will grow in.

She's rocking on all fours. We just started that on Wednesday.

No teeth. Not even a sign of teeth.

But, I'm in no hurry.

We got our passport paperwork done the other day for when we go to Africa. It looks like I will get to tour Cape Town for two days before we head North so I am excited about the shopping that will be done. We postponed the trip due to my father-in-law's knee surgery and won't be going until Aug. 18. That gives me more time to gear myself up for being away from Sydney for that long. I'm sure I will cry and I will miss her like crazy.

Friends of ours are getting married next weekend. Jason will be the best man so we are leaving Thursday night to head to Hot Springs, Ark. where the wedding will be. My parents are coming here to keep Sydney for us. My mom is having withdrawals since it has been three weeks since she has seen her.

Our new favorite toy is the Bright Lights Phone (Buy Direct). She started really liking the remote control and since I don't want her getting attached to it as she gets older, this takes the place perfectly and it lights up and sings! She loves it.

Well, we survived the first week of daycare. Barely.

Sydney went Monday and Tuesday for me to only pull her out and not take her Wednesday. When I picked her up Monday, I could see that she had been recently crying and when I looked closer, I saw that she had red spots all over her forehead. When I asked the teacher about it, she acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about. When I asked AGAIN, she reluctantly told me that when she had placed Sydney in her bouncy chair, the toy bar had fallen forward and hit her in the head and that because she had another child who was crying for his bottle, she couldn’t tend to her.

Tuesday, they got my video access set up and I watched all day from my computer at work. I saw, that at one point, they left her sitting up in her boppy pillow unattended, where she eventually fell forward onto her tummy. The teacher was changing a diaper and immediately placed Sydney somewhere else safely. I wasn’t able to watch every second, but felt like the day had gone somewhat better. So I thought. The picture is very grainy so you can’t see their face. I can not see her crib with this view but saw the teacher go lay her down on several occasions. Well, much to my surprise, when her daddy picked her up that afternoon, we were informed that she had had a “difficult” day of crying and not napping. They had laid her down, but she had fussed and not fallen asleep. NO NAP.

Later in the evening, we were feeding her and noticed two swollen knots on the back of her head. Her daddy threw a fit, I took pictures and we instantly started making a plan of action. We held her out Wednesday and took her to her grandma’s. I called the center and told them what I had found and my thoughts. I also called Sydney’s doctor to get reassurance that she would be okay. Her nurse assured me that she would be fine but that I needed to take a firm hand with the director and stand my ground on her care. She is also a mother and understands what it means to have to put your child in daycare.

I spoke with the director and asked to see the video of both days. I will be viewing that on Monday. I also told her that IF we bring Sydney back, I want another teacher or herself in the room to make sure that Sydney has the attention she needs until she is comfortable and adjusts to her environment. We’ll see. I just think that four babies is way too much for one teacher and each child can not get the attention that they need.

The good news is that my best friend, who has a private nanny, called and insists that I bring Sydney to her house for the three days that she would be in daycare. Her nanny was going to check with her sister-in-law to see if she would help her out for three days. I should know something this weekend. I’m not counting on it, but hope that this works out. This would be great for Sydney. Two adults with three children. We just can’t afford a full time nanny on our own.

This is so difficult for us. As it is for many parents. The hardest part of having children is having to be away from them and relying on someone else to care for them. Unfortunately, being a two income household, there is just no other solution.

Sydney has taken to screaming at the top of her lungs now when she is tired or hungry. No tears. Just very high pitched screaming. The thought that has ran through my mind: "Is it too soon to say, 'No no?' " Can she understand at such a young age that screaming until mommy either has a headache or produces a bottle is not the right way to communicate?

We are still sleeping 10-12 hours a night, which is awesome, so I guess I can't complain too much. She's such a good, quiet baby... except for the screaming.

Eating is going well. But, I think she is either losing weight or just getting taller. Her diapers seem a lot looser than they did last week and her clothes are fitting different. She is still in some 3-6 months clothing and a week ago, it was getting too small. She is not a big fan of fruits but loves her veggies! Her favorite is creamed spinach.

We worked in the yard this weekend. Aunt Sheri came over on Sunday so that I could pay attention to the stones that we were putting in the flowerbed. It's going slowly but hopefully, this weekend, we will finish. Sydney is going with her grandparents this weekend to Oklahoma City again. She will be gone tomorrow night through Sunday. There will be tears (from me), but it's good for both of us. She loves spending time with her grandparents and last time, when I came to pick her up, she just kind of looked at me like "oh, yeah, there you are."

Two weeks till Mother's Day! I can't wait.

Daycare starts Monday. I've noticed that she has a little bit of stranger anxiety so I hope that passes quickly, for both our sakes. I don't think I could imagine her crying for very long. I'd have to just pull her out and strap her to my back and take her everywhere. But, this will be good for her, to be with other kids and interact. She will be going three days a week and staying with grandma the other two. I had her here with me at the office yesterday and I got zilch done, but I loved having her here. She's going to a Tutor Time. It's a gorgeous facility. They have the cameras where I can watch her all day if I wanted to and they scan the thumbprint of whoever is picking her up. You have to scan your thumb to even get in the building.

Something I Want to Try:

I've noticed lately that with all the new, "all natural" bath products for kids, I have come to not like the smell of Johnson's Baby Lotion. I used to love it so much and now, it just smells weird to me. There is a new product out though that I am dying to try. It's a product line called "Noodle & Boo" (Buy Direct).

I am going to try and order some. If anyone has tried it, let me know!

Something I Love:

Her jumparoo (Buy Direct) is still my favorite toy. She has really taken to it and will jump in it up to 30 minutes. She laughs and smiles the whole time she is playing in it.

Must Have Product of the Week:

But, my MUST HAVE product of the week is her playmat. It's the Gymini Super Deluxe Light and Music Tiny Love (Buy Direct) and it is awesome! I replaced her old one with this one when grandma bought one for her house. I have never seen a child so in love with something before. She would play on it for hours if we let her.

So, I tried the Bumbo chair:

A friend of mine had one and so she pulled it out so that Sydney could sit in it. It's pretty neat. She seemed to like it and at the same time was a little confused at how such a weird object could be holding her body upright. I found one at Target for $39.99 but just couldn't see spending that kind of money for maybe three weeks of use. She'll be sitting up on her own any day now.

So, maybe next time.

Easter was nice. My parents, grandmother and sister all came over to the in-laws so that we could be together for Sydney's first Easter. We had a nice dinner, then I napped since I had plenty of sitters. The food was great, everyone got along and my grandmother seemed to enjoy herself. Being 81 years old, she doesn't really get out much anymore and she seemed to really like the company. Sydney got lots of goodies, clothes and Aunt Sheri got her a bunny card with money in it for her piggy bank.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. We are touring day cares this week so I will let you know what we find out. I just can't get over the prices!