sleeping beauty!

ruby slept from 8pm to 5.30am last night! god bless her sweet soul! this was my first full night in about 8 months!! she's only 5.5mo, but the last trimester of pregnancy i was up 3-5x per night to pee.. ive only been up with her once or twice a night for a long while now.

visitors

for the past 2 weeks we've had visitors.. first my dad then the sweeneys, and so i dont really know what to talk about. we had fun - a really nice distraction from the routine. museums, markets & restaurants. we even went got a babysitter one night and went to dinner like adults!

oh here's some news: i left ruby on the rug in the living room for 5 minutes alone. when i came back she was halfway across the room! she pushes up on her hands, and slides backwards.. she's also working hard getting her legs to cooperate.. she will crawl soon - i know it. its like a train i can hear the whistle blowing from down the track.

ruby sits up, lu sings

two days ago, ruby started really sitting up by herself! now it seems thats all she wants to do. i sat her up at the library sing-along today and she was totally getting into it,, smiling big, and bouncing around to the songs, trying to stand up in my lap.. very cute.

and lucas started singing.. "yai yai yo".. that's e-i-e-i-o, as in old macdonald.. it's his first song - awww!~

my dad came for a week to visit.. and its always such a treasure. he fixed some stuff around our house, and really enjoyed reading lucas his bedtime stories.. i also got "schooled" on how to handle a whiny kid. its like wow - this guy has some experience, and it worked! i have a reformed whiner.

city vs. suburbs -- what's your take?

in our house we;re debating the merits of having a backyard versus the evils (and expenses!) of having to own a car.

heres (roughly) the 2 sides of the debate, forum link at bottom:

"(going to the suburbs) it's like, who sucked the life out of the air, and what did they do with the people??? Yards are nice, but a playground you can walk to -- not to mention some ethnic eats and a handful of bars -- makes life more entertaining for everybody, I think."

"If you stay in the city with kids, you graduate to a different phase -- more dinner parties and kid focussed activities, punctuated with the book readings and art openings (a few times a year in my case but still the presence of the possibility makes a diffference to me) that i always enjoyed."

or

"My husband and I both grew up with back yards to play in and the relative safety of a neighborhood full of kids. I would LOVE for Jillian to have that kind of wild and free childhood and not have to rely on "playdates" and structured play areas."

"You can always drive into the city, or stay with friends there. I would sorely miss the spur of the moment ability to go see a band-- but I dream of a yard with kiddie pool, barbecues, and beer......."

http://www.babble.com/CS/forums/1/982/ShowThread.aspx

gee whiz!

i sorta guessed i would get this rating.. these posts are usually written with my family & friends in mind. that, let me tell you, is quite a range of people from all different walks of life, ages & inclinations.. quite the "general audience" if you ask me.