The Best of 2004 can be summed up in one picture: my husband and my daughter. I waited through many Thanksgivings, Christmases, Easters and Mother’s Days for a child to enter my life. Livia Raine Melissa Tredway made a stunning entrance into the Lawton-Tredway world in June this last year and our world is the better for it. Jeremy and I have experienced more love and joy than we ever thought possible. The raising of a person is a daunting responsibility, made fun by the little successes of each day. We are thrilled at activities like clapping and rolling, bowled over by her baby voice saying “mama” and “dada,” and tickled by her attempts to eat Cheerios. 2004 is a year to remember.

We purchased a johnny jumper a few weeks ago to help Livia build her leg strength. Unlike another amazing child, this one has taken a wee bit longer to put weight on her legs (though, as my mom said, “Some kids are born standing!”). The Prairie Box doorways are not very jumper-friendly—the wood trim is too deep for the plastic clasp—so we had to work awhile to find a place to hang it. Two solutions were discovered: 1) a simple hook fastened a doorway where the clasp can hang temporarily, or 2) a 6′ 5″ uncle can hold it. Voila! Problem solved!

Note the red balloon affixed to the hook in the doorway. It was meant as a beacon to warn 6′ 5″ uncle against head damage, already twice incurred. Being tall comes with risks.

Dear Livia,

You’re seven months old! Somehow that age sounds so advanced to me. You’re no longer a teeny baby but now a big one.

I’m working on relaxing about your physical development since all the experts say children will grow and change at their own rates. Your favorite position, still, is lying flat on your back where you can see the world pass you by! You do roll, squiggle and scoot around by turning on your side and kicking your legs. In fact, you’re never in the same position in your crib that we placed you in when we get you in the morning; you like to kick around until your body is short-ways in the crib, head and feet butting up tight against the railings. Soon you won’t be able to fit your body in this position because you’re growing in height really quickly.

Your dad and I love watching you talk. You’re exploring new sounds all the time, and constantly experimenting with lung power and volume control! I’m actually avoiding certain more grown-up restaurants now because I’m not sure how loud you’ll get over a meal. Sometimes I feel like a big meanie because I laugh at the words you say when you’re sad… but it sounds so cute that I can’t help it. Going hand-in-hand with talking is the development of Attitude. Most of the time you continue to be really mellow and content, but every so often a screech or cry will let me know that you absolutely do not appreciate having your clothes changed or being strapped into your carseat. Ah, the emergence of the will!

Speaking of meals, this past month you began rejecting baby foods for some reason. I’m doing my best to get vegetables into your tummy, but you gag ferociously on sweet potatoes, acorn squash and green beans. (I was HOPING you wouldn’t be the sweet tooth that I am. Darn.) Yesterday you tried applesauce for the first time and, tada!, loved it! Feigning sneakiness, I mixed a portion of squash into the applesauce for dinner tonight, and though you ate most of it, you still knew yucky squash was present and gagged to show your disapproval. Sheesh. What’s a mom to do?

God is so good to us by giving you to us through adoption. He has filled our hearts with happiness at being your parents—and I believe you are the best birthday present I could have enjoyed upon turning 27. You also are quite blessed by all the love that surrounds you; Daddy, Mama, Nana & Papa, Grandma & Grandpa, Great Grandma & Great Grandpa, Uncle Adam and Uncle Andrew, Aunt Kris and Auntie Bean, your Grand Aunties and many more love you sooooo much! You are special. As I say as night when I tuck you in, Jesus loves you and so do I.

Love,
Mama

When she was about 5.5 months old we introduced Livia to solid foods. We decided to wait a little longer to start this process because 1) I wasn’t really ready for it and 2) it may prove to be a wise move when it comes to food allergies. Like I said in Livia’s sixth month letter, she loved the rice cereal and instantly was a good eater. So I mixed in a little apple/prune juice—and how could she not love that? I’ve been reading this book called Mommy-Made about making your baby’s food, so my next move was homemade sweet potato puree. (It’s so simple to do this and I’m happy knowing Livia’s eating fresh food with no preservatives.) So one night found me slaving away in the kitchen—microwaving, blending and mashing through a sieve this gigantic sweet potato. I then froze little dobs of it in an ice tray for convenient storage and packaging. And Livia? She loved the sweet potatoes… for two days. Day three saw instant rejection. What you see on her face in these photos is acorn squash. Again, a mommy-made specialty. And again, a baby-rejected mommy-made specialty. The kid gagged her little heart out with the acorn squash. So for now I’m trying to fool her by mixing the veggies in with cereal—and so far it’s working.

Motherhood is fun.

Dear Livia,

I am spurred on to write this letter by the happy squeals and laughter I hear from you right now. You are laying on the floor in the study, kicking one of Daddy’s card boxes and delighting in the cardboard echo it produces. Such pure joy lifts my heart and more than makes up for all the crankiness of the past week.

Your sixth month of life was a whammy. Filled with all sorts of “firsts,” it was a lot of fun for all of us. You attended your first Fallfest with church out on the Kerns’ farm and promptly lost your first tennis shoe (returned later fortunately). You ate your first food ever—rice cereal—and immediately caught on to the process of eating, smacking your lips between each tasty bite. The rice cereal compounded the, uh, gastrointestinal issues you had already been prone to with your iron-fortified cereal, so your second food ever was apple/prune juice! Tonight we’ll move on to sweet potatoes—mmm, mmm good. Your first attempts at using a sippy cup happened this month, too. (Until you came along, I had no clue that the introduction of the sippy was even an issue. But apparently it is. So hopefully you’ll get used to it now, making life easier on all of us later!) Just a few weeks ago your first tooth popped out and I think the second one will come along any day now. It’s the first teething experience for all of us and so far, we’re all experiencing some measure of discomfort. You experienced your first Halloween as a honey bee. The weather was warmer than we had anticipated, and your costume was quite toasty, but you bravely put up with the heat to charm the socks off of both sets of grandparents and the neighbors on our block. Finally, you are now seeing the world from an upright position on a regular basis. You can do a brief tripod sit, leaning on your hands for support, and you really like to play in this exer-saucer/play thingy-ma-jig.

If you don’t know this by now, your Dad and I are pretty much smitten by you. Each evening we look at you and say, “Isn’t she the most adorable baby EVER?”

Love,
Mama

Mom found the bee outfit at Gordman’s several weeks ago and it fit Livia perfectly tonight! She looked super cute with her little antennae and silver wings. Friday afternoon we trick or treated at iUniverse and enjoyed the the cuteness of Jeremy’s coworkers’ kids. Then, today, we drove out to both grandparents’ houses and oohed and aaahed over the honey bee together. That’s what you do when you dress your first baby up at Halloween—lots of ooohing and aaahing. Though Livia doesn’t look at all excited in these pictures, you know she’s all excited on the inside. ; )

You know those thoughts you have, the “I would NEVER…” statements? Well, I’m realizing a few I had Before Livia (B.L.) that are now being turned on their heads.

#1. “Our living room will NEVER look trashed and crowded with tons of plastic toys.”

Truth. Our living room looks trashed and crowded with tons of plastic toys. I have made some attempt to blame this mess on the fact that we have an old home with absolutely no first floor storage and that our living room is actually quite small. But the truth, oh the truth, is that we own a lot of STUFF for Livia. Bright, colorful plastic stuff to lay under, to sit on, to shake, rattle and roll, you name it. So now I’m eating my words and asking guests to please ignore the mess as their knees bump the exersaucer and they trip over plastic rings and rattles thrown passionately by Livia’s strong right arm. One misconception all cleared up; onto #2.

#2. “Because I prepare Livia’s baby formula in advance, I will NEVER be hurriedly fixing a bottle for a screaming child.”

Last night, approx. 9:20pm. The location: first floor of the Tredway home. Cue sound: baby screaming (and I mean really screaming). Dad has given up comforting screaming baby as screaming baby seems particularly unable to be comforted. Mom is winning Olympic Gold for Fastest Washing Technique Ever Used for a Baby’s Bottle and thinking back to the time when a day’s worth of bottles were all neatly lined up on the refrigerator awaiting feeding time. Dang. Idea #2? Also a huge false belief.

The moral of this story is to never say never. “When I graduate with a degree I will NEVER work as a waitress or a secretary.” “When I get married I will NEVER go to bed angry with my husband.” “When I have children I will NEVER let their noses get all snotty and crusty with boogers.” Hmmm… Just never say never.