Addicted to Love

*cue slick haired, glossy lipped, sexy girls with guitars*

I'm sure of it now - my Lilly is completely addicted to me. I have been letting her cry a lot more which is soooo hard for me. I'm not the kind of mom who lets her babies cry it out in order to teach them to be autonomous, but Lilly is causing a big crack in my halo. If I put her down, even for a moment, she starts into a scream that can curl a dead man's toes. My mom would say that's karma coming back b/c I use to scream a lot too. *wink* If I put her into her piano exersaucer, she screams. If I sit her in the high chair with me right there in the kitchen, she screams. EVEN if I sit her down btwn my feet while I'm in the recliner, put toys in her lap...she screams. The only position that makes her happy is on my lap, normally facing me. So in an effort not to shake and scream at my child, I have to put her down in a safe place and just let her scream for awhile. I've tried wearing her in a sling/baby carrier, but she's so heavy (21 pounds) and likes to lean forward and down, that it pulls me forward too causing my back to seriously ache. It's not like I haven't tried other things...she just has to learn to be content playing while not on my lap. I have to get some freedom from her soon! I realize that she'll be eight months old next week and I've been away from her a total of maybe five hours. That's not healthy! It's not like Scott doesn't try...he does. She just doesn't like him too much and usually ends up crying/screaming, which really grates on his nerves too. I feel badly for our neighbors too b/c now that the weather is nice our windows are open all day and they have to endure the screaming too. She does like being outside some, so I slide her saucer out there and let her enjoy it or scream outside, whichever. :)

I do love that she loves me so much, but at the same time Momma needs a big break.

Some of her better attributes? She does have a smile to melt your heart! She's also learning to get around on the floor, can sort of sit up on her own and will scoot from one spot to another on her belly. She's grown two cute teeth on the bottom, can pick up and eat Cheerios, will wave on command and will babble a little, in between screaming. We're all looking forward to her getting stronger and learning to crawl. We hope that some independence will make for less screaming and crying.

*raising my cup of coffee* Here's to hoping!