Tough Times for Leila

It's hard to tell by the smile on her face, but Leila's been sick these past few days. She's better now, though still not 100%. She must have caught the "back to school" cold that Michael and Emma brought home with them earlier this week.

Last night was rough... the first time I've seen her truly fussy. She was tired but couldn't rest. She wanted me to hold her, but seemed uncomfortable no matter what position I tried. She had a low-grade fever, as well as a runny nose and cough. She wasn't interested in her bottle. I was worried and hoped it wouldn't get much worse.

But she fell asleep eventually, and the sleep seemed to restore her. She awoke in the night a few times, to eat, and by morning was way better; still sniffly, but back to her old smiley self.

This weekend Jon and I introduced her to rice cereal. We made a big deal out of it, and she did seem interested, at first. But the reaction has been tepid ever since. She may not be ready... or she may not be crazy about rice cereal. She's still a few weeks shy of that six-month mark (almost six months old... can you believe it?), when they recommend you first introduce cereal, so has some time to grow into it.

Last week Jon's sister Ann came over (very early) to watch Leila while I went to the dentist. After the appointment Ann and I visited awhile, then made an excursion to Colfax; there's a little store called "The Country Shoppe" I hadn't been to yet, so I persuaded her to do a little investigatory shopping with me.

It was a really nice little shop, with all kinds of folksy home decor. The exciting part was discovering a back room of stuff marked 75% off-- and some of it was BABY STUFF (I'm still excited when I think about it). For $30 (Ann spent $15 that day, and I went back the next day and "invested" another $15) we got loads of cute baby stuff, including this clock with moving pendulum. I also got toys, window and wall hangings, and a toy box.

The shop featured an adjoining cafe. We lunched there and were surprised at the tasty sandwiches we encountered. They're served on home-made Italian flat bread and are absolutely delectable.

All in all, it was a very fun outing, despite the fact that my mouth was still partially numb from the dentist's office.

Here's some of the cute toys I got for Leila. As you can see, she NEEDED these things. Did she have a musical blue and white cow?? Or a fuzzy yellow duck?? How about a set of smiley-face bugs? No, she did NOT.


Sunday we went over to Bud and Jane's for a visit.
Jane let Leila try on a hat that she's knitting... isn't it adorable? When I first saw it I was instantly reminded of the "Lolly Pop Gang" (or were they the "Lilly Guild Girls"?)-- those little munchkin girls on the Wizard of Oz wearing flower petal hats. On second inspection, I think this photo shows Leila's resemblance to my sister Laurie, when Laurie was a little girl. Does anybody else see the resemblance?

One fun thing at Jon's parents' house is their child-size easy chair. Here's Michael stretching out next to Grandpa Bud. Where's his newspaper?

Before Leila got really sick I was able to unpack some boxes of fall decor, and do a little seasonal decorating around the new house. I'll share a few little scenes for those of you who don't make it over for a visit in the next month or two...