Dear Saba (a.k.a my big two month old)

My dearest Saba, in a word you are awesome. This month has been a whirlwind of events. You had your first plane ride to Lubbock TX where we visited your Aunt Megan, your Uncle Eric and your Cousins Ana and Emery. You were kind of partial to Aunt Megan and Analise, but that's because they gushed and gushed about how cute you are and how much they love you. Ana thought you were "kinda fussy" a lot of the time, but that's a whole lot better than "real fussy" in my book!You are now grabbing at things and holding on to them. It's amazing to me to see how your little world has grown. You used to be completely unaware of the little bears above your swing but now you coo at them and have conversations with them.
I can't believe that you weigh a little over 11 pounds already! I love that you now have little rolls all over your body. It's amazing to me that all of that comes from nursing!One of your favorite things to do right now is hang out with your grandma Didi and papa Bruce. We had our first event this past month that required that you stay home with them while mommy and daddy whooped it up. You were quite pleased with the situation. You had milk that mommy had pumped and you had your grandma Didi wrapped around your little finger. A little part of you was confused as to how to fall asleep for the night without gnawing on the boob for an hour, but you figured out that your tummy was full of milk and finally decided to sleep as long as grandma Didi stayed cuddled up next to you - she was a very willing hostage. Have I mentioned that you are crazy about cuddling? You sleep at night pressed right up against me - I love it! Your Daddy loves it too! The other night you were "kinda fussy" with me about falling asleep - you insisted that you simply MUST fall asleep in your Daddy's arms - he was thrilled!
The coolest thing that you have started to do is that you now smile and laugh a little bit. It's really hard to catch on camera but you smile at us in the morning all of the time now - I think it's your way of getting us up! You know we get pretty excited about it!
This has been a fantastic month - thank you for choosing me to be your mommy.

Halloween at the Zoo!

This weekend the zoo celebrated Halloween. I couldn't quite figure out how the zoo was going to celebrate Halloween until I realized that basically it means that the zoo feeds pumpkins to the animals and lets big costumed animals roam the premises...in a word, it was awesome.
We started with a parade when we first entered the zoo
I'm not quite sure how a tomato fits into the scheme of things but he was awfully cute.
We met up with some friends of mine from prenatal yoga! It's so much fun to see how all of the yoga babies are doing! (please note that Saba is wearing a pair of legwarmers that I made for her - also notice Saba's Halloween costume...I dressed her like a preppy soccer player (kinda))!
The best part of the entire trip was our visit to our favorite exhibit...the orangutans! Saba felt right at home...Can you see the similarity???!!!!

I think that the i-phone camera kind of has a glamour shots effect

Either that or my mom's i-phone camera lens is gunky. Saba and I had a lovely lunch with grandma Didi today...As usual Saba nursed through the entire meal (she likes to eat when everyone else is eating - which is fine with me, just a bit awkward for people when they come rushing up to gush about her and then realize that she's gnawing on a boob.)

My excuse is that we've been sick!

So, yes...we're back from Lubbock - we've actually been back for quite a while, but we both have colds...which makes Saba stuffy and me coughy. Basically, we're both cranky.
Saba has figured out pretty quickly that she only likes to fall asleep two ways: on the boob, and bouncing on a big red ball. I take care of the boob department while Dereje takes care of the bouncing red ball department (well, either Dereje, grandma DiDi, or Papa Bruce are masters of the red ball):
Another new thing is that Saba can now sit in a bumbo all by herself! 7 1/2 weeks is not too shabby for some nice head control!Check out her great head control below...yes, she may look a little bit like a bobble-head, but wouldn't she look adorable placed on the dashboard of my Toyota!

At'l Do Farms

It's pumpkin picking time!
Well, it's pumpkin picking time for Analise, but Emery and Saba enjoyed going along for the ride. Especially since picking up a pumpkin for Analise involved running around a corn maze and taking a hay ride to a pumpkin patch.
The Maze was absolutely amazing - it was designed to celebrate Lubbock turning 100 years! We walked all over the maze until we finally found our way out - thankfully, all along the way there were little clues to lead us in the right direction. All you had to do to get the clue was to answer a question correctly. Megan and Eric chose to answer questions about Texas history. Luckily, I realized that if we had to answer questions about Texas history we would never get out of the maze so I chose to answer questions about famous movies and books in order to get us through the maze - we got through without much difficulty until we got stuck wandering around the "y" for about 15 minutes! There were also bridges along the way so that we could climb up on top of them and look around to get an idea of where we were - that was helpful.
Saba stayed scrunched in her sling most of the way (where she could sleep and stay away from the wind)!
But she did wake up for the hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin for AnaPicking out Ana's pumpkin was quite the feat...but eventually she was able to pick up a pumpkin that was meant just for her!
With Emery's help of course!

We ended our time at At'l Do Farms with a wild ride on the Moo Train - apparently a Moo Train is pretty common around Lubbock, but it was definitely a new experience for Saba and me!I was able to see how exciting Saba found the ride by the way she ever so gracefully sucked her tongue throughout the entire ride. Honestly, I could tell that all Saba wanted to do was nurse on the Moo Train, but I quickly told her that the only nursing that takes place on a Moo Train involves a cow and udders...she quickly forgot the nursing and focused on sucking on her tongue to take off the edge.It was a fantastic "first fall" experience! Saba was able to experience her first pumpkin patch, her first hay ride and her first corn maze all in one afternoon - it was awesome!

Windmill Museum

Today after Analise's Spanish class, her pre-school went to the windmill museum. It was...windy
Actually, it was really cool. Emery fell asleep but Ana got to experience the full joy of viewing lots and lots of different windmills with Megan.Saba was a little bit grumpy and put out with me, and I can't say that I blame her as my "quick fix" solution to her crying was to shove a pacifier in her mouth which she was not amused by (as evidenced by this picture)But she did end up calming down once I gave up and sat down to nurse her for the umpteen millionth time (in the last hour)After being fed Saba returned to her regular happy self - it might look like she's a deer in headlights to you, but that's really her "I'm so happy to be out of the womb I could dance a jig look" (believe me, I'm her mother, I've come to know her looks)!
p.s. I get so excited when I dress Saba up in Argyle - it makes my Catholic School Girl heart all warm and fuzzy inside. Besides, to me, Argyle always goes hand in hand with Fall.

She's like chocolate...only much more irresistible (and a little bit lighter in color!)

Here is Ana...
Here is Ana's object of desire...
Here's where the two meet...

Lubbock is just a little bit different than Phoenix

For one thing - Lubbock actually requires leg warmers (made by Saba's Mama bear a.k.a me). Another big difference is that Saba and I now get to play outside - with temperatures in the 80's instead of 100's we play outside a lot!Saba gets to take nice little naps in the sun while her cousins get to run crazy on the playground!
Saba spent the first month of her life only knowing air conditioning and ceiling fans...now we're expanding her horizons to wind, trees, and sun...she's a huge fan!

Sunday Activities

On Sunday we did something that Saba has never experienced before...Sunday morning church! Saba was baptized at six days old - but that only involved family and close friends. So, Sunday morning we woke up early, put on a dress, and made our way through the pouring rain to Megan and Eric's local church. Saba was actually incredibly impressed by the experience - Not so much by the sermon but more by all of the running around Megan and Eric had to do to corral Emery and Ana - Saba was incredibly entertained (and she picked up some tips on how to drive your parents crazy during church for later in life).
Of course one of the best things about Sunday morning church is the brunch that follows!
Saba slept through brunch in a sling.Emery slept through brunch on Megan.And Analise ate her weight in mac and cheese.
Nothing completes Sunday morning activities like a trip to Walmart. The whole process thoroughly exhausted Emery who was incredibly happy that Walmart not only sells pillows but they also don't seem to mind when you borrow them for a little bit.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery

I can't tell what I love more,
when Ana imitates me...
or when Ana imitates Saba...both imitations are incredibly cute!

Lubbock, the Saba has landed

Saba had her first successful plane ride! Yes, the people sitting around us looked a bit skeptical, but Saba did not disappoint - she slept the entire time (except when she woke up somewhere over Albuquerque to eat for a few minutes). All in all Saba's first plane ride was absolutely fantastic - and of course everyone just gushed all over how cute she was - I happily took all of the credit for that!
The best part of the trip was getting to meet Analise, Emery, and Aunt Megan at the airport in Lubbock! Ana is pretty entranced by her little cousin...whom she calls her "sister"- which is just fine with Megan and I! Let the commune living commence!