Leah Ciera

Leah 6/28/02 - Leah is now 8.5 months old. She loves to stand, pulling up with ease every chance she gets. One of her favorite toys these days is the Fisher Price activity center (in the picture on the left). It includes balls to drop down chutes and various dials and switches that respond with sounds and lights. Leah now crawls quickly. Everything is within her reach, which is a little scary. We plan to add more safeguards to the house as soon as possible. Leah prefers the open range of her bedroom to her playpen, but understands that she can't always get her way, especially when mom has to work.

Leah continues to broaden her menu. She's really into fruit, including kiwi, pineapple, mandarin oranges, strawberries and blueberries. She recently tried and likes sautéed bell peppers and black olives. French fries is her favorite restaurant food.

Last night, Leah slept through the night! This has only happened once or twice before, so we wonder if this trend will continue. Usually, Leah wakes once in the middle of the night to be fed. We've never forced Leah to sleep on schedule, and although she has ranges, she generally naps twice a day and goes to bed around 9:30 p.m., waking at around 6:30 a.m.

7/9/02 - Leah had her 9-month-old Well Visit with the pediatrician today. Her length and weight showed minor changes since her last visit at 6 months. Her height went from 27 to 27.75 inches while her weight increased from 17 to 19 pounds. This means she is in the 50th percentile for both of these measurements now. Her head grew another inch in circumference. At 18 inches, that puts her in the 90th percentile! We knew she was smart. Leah also had her iron tested. It was fine. A lead test will come back within a few days. The doctor said everything else looked great. Even the mosquito bites looked fine, he said. I should only worry if they turn into large lumps, which they aren't. Leah barely cried from the needles today. In fact, she was smiling moments later!

Leah takes a bath!
7/12/02 - Within the last week or so, we moved Leah out of her infant bath tub and into the big bath tub. Leah gets so excited when we turn on the faucet and say "bath time!" that she squeals with delight and crawls towards the tub as fast as she can. When she gets there, she stands up, smiles, and slaps the side of the tub as it fills with water. Thanks to the special bath accessories from Grandma Janet and Leah's existing collection of rubber duckies, bath time is a blast!

7/14/02 - We finally threw out our old black shower curtain and dingy bath mats to make way for a child's bathroom. Daddy picked out a colorful Winnie-the-Pooh theme, which includes a shower curtain, bath mat, towels, garbage pail, soap pump, tooth brush holder and wall border. This matches Leah's Winnie-the-Pooh throw pillow (a needle point by Grandma Janet), and Winnie-the-Pooh spout cover which we put in last week. Leah adores her new bathroom!

Opposite picture: Leah stands with ease. She prefers to hold on with one hand and grab stuff with the other. Occasionally and for a few moments, she'll hold a toy in each hand and not realize that she's standing without support.

Leah's First Barrette

Leah's First Barette

7/30/02 - Leah is 9.5 months old now. She easily pulls up on furniture and "cruises" across it. She frequently stands without support for moments at a time. Perhaps walking will come next! Her crawling is quick. We believe that her two top teeth are erupting, and hope to see them soon. Leah's play is highly focused. She delights in examining all of the little pieces of her toys, fitting shapes together, playing music, and reading. She's particularly fond of "Sesame Street" and the "Wiggles." She babbles a lot, most often saying "da da." She's waving more frequently now, and seems to have connected this gesture to "Good-bye" and "Hello." Her hair is coming in nicely with curls in the back, so we tried a barrette today. Doesn't it look great? It fell out five minutes later. Leah looks serious when watching t.v. (See picture on left and above), but overall she smiles, laughs and interacts a lot. Her sleep patterns have started to change. The past few days, she's taken a three-hour nap in the morning (10-1 a.m.), skipped her afternoon nap (or taken a 30-minute catnap), and skipped the middle-of-the-night wake-up! We'll see if this trend continues. Finally, Leah has become quite a t.v. critic. If she doesn't like the show that's on, she loudly protests. When we put on one of her programs, she's peaceful again.

First Father's Day 6/16/02 - Leah and daddy share their first Father's Day! Leah is now 8 months and 1 week old. These days, Leah crawls, stands, and cruises. She claps her hands and sometimes waves bye-bye. She hasn't eaten baby food for months-- just adult stuff chopped into little pieces. She likes everything so far except for mushrooms and lemons. Her favorites include mozzarella cheese sticks, Cheerios, bread, eggs, hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, deli meats, all fruits, mixed vegetables, and chocolate chips. She's been teething for several weeks (hence the hand in her mouth). Perhaps there are more teeth on the way. We'll keep you posted!
6/28/02 - Leah is now 8.5 months old. She loves to stand, pulling up with ease every chance she gets. One of her favorite toys these days is the Fisher Price activity center (in the picture on the left). It includes balls to drop down chutes and various dials and switches that respond with sounds and lights. Leah now crawls quickly. Everything is within her reach, which is a little scary. We plan to add more safeguards to the house as soon as possible. Leah prefers the open range of her bedroom to her playpen, but understands that she can't always get her way, especially when mom has to work. Leah continues to broaden her menu. She's really into fruit, including kiwi, pineapple, mandarin oranges, strawberries and blueberries. She recently tried and likes sautéed bell peppers and black olives. French fries is her favorite restaurant food. Last night, Leah slept through the night! This has only happened once or twice before, so we wonder if this trend will continue. Usually, Leah wakes once in the middle of the night to be fed. We've never forced Leah to sleep on schedule, and although she has ranges, she generally naps twice a day and goes to bed around 9:30 p.m., waking at around 6:30 a.m. 7/9/02 - Leah had her 9-month-old Well Visit with the pediatrician today. Her length and weight showed minor changes since her last visit at 6 months. Her height went from 27 to 27.75 inches while her weight increased from 17 to 19 pounds. This means she is in the 50th percentile for both of these measurements now. Her head grew another inch in circumference. At 18 inches, that puts her in the 90th percentile! We knew she was smart. Leah also had her iron tested. It was fine. A lead test will come back within a few days. The doctor said everything else looked great. Even the mosquito bites looked fine, he said. I should only worry if they turn into large lumps, which they aren't. Leah barely cried from the needles today. In fact, she was smiling moments later! 7/12/02 - Within the last week or so, we moved Leah out of her infant bath tub and into the big bath tub. Leah gets so excited when we turn on the faucet and say "bath time!" that she squeals with delight and crawls towards the tub as fast as she can. When she gets there, she stands up, smiles, and slaps the side of the tub as it fills with water. Thanks to the special bath accessories from Grandma Janet and Leah's existing collection of rubber duckies, bath time is a blast!
7/14/02 - We finally threw out our old black shower curtain and dingy bath mats to make way for a child's bathroom. Daddy picked out a colorful Winnie-the-Pooh theme, which includes a shower curtain, bath mat, towels, garbage pail, soap pump, tooth brush holder and wall border. This matches Leah's Winnie-the-Pooh throw pillow (a needle point by Grandma Janet), and Winnie-the-Pooh spout cover which we put in last week. Leah adores her new bathroom! Opposite picture: Leah stands with ease. She prefers to hold on with one hand and grab stuff with the other. Occasionally and for a few moments, she'll hold a toy in each hand and not realize that she's standing without support.
Leah's First Barrette 7/30/02 - Leah is 9.5 months old now. She easily pulls up on furniture and "cruises" across it. She frequently stands without support for moments at a time. Perhaps walking will come next! Her crawling is quick. We believe that her two top teeth are erupting, and hope to see them soon. Leah's play is highly focused. She delights in examining all of the little pieces of her toys, fitting shapes together, playing music, and reading. She's particularly fond of "Sesame Street" and the "Wiggles." She babbles a lot, most often saying "da da." She's waving more frequently now, and seems to have connected this gesture to "Good-bye" and "Hello." Her hair is coming in nicely with curls in the back, so we tried a barrette today. Doesn't it look great? It fell out five minutes later. Leah looks serious when watching t.v. (See picture on left and above), but overall she smiles, laughs and interacts a lot. Her sleep patterns have started to change. The past few days, she's taken a three-hour nap in the morning (10-1 a.m.), skipped her afternoon nap (or taken a 30-minute catnap), and skipped the middle-of-the-night wake-up! We'll see if this trend continues. Finally, Leah has become quite a t.v. critic. If she doesn't like the show that's on, she loudly protests. When we put on one of her programs, she's peaceful again.