Discovery

This picture is of Zara looking at a fish tank for the fist time with her Amah at a sushi restaurant.  She was so amazed at the fish swimming around and was squealing with pleasure watching these colorful fish swim.  Sweet baby Zara is blossoming into such an inquisitive, intelligent, and silly little girl.  She is 7 and a half months old and I feel like she is growing and changing faster than I can keep up with.  Maybe it is because I am home from work for the summer and I am spending more time with her but it seems like every day it is something new.  She is saying mamama, bababa, papapa, wawawa, woof woof woof, and all kinds of other sounds that have no name.  She is getting so strong, doing squats and pull ups in her own baby way, she has discovered the stairs and loves climbing them and anything else that she can.   We are having such a fun summer together.  I am having so much fun watching Zara discover the world around her not only with her eyes but also with her body, touching, crawling, and playing with new things.  She has discovered gravity and loves to try out everything she finds with a little taste.  She is teething and her two bottom teeth have come through.  She is a happy baby but sometimes lately she just starts crying for no reason then starts laughing in the same breath.  It has been hot but we are beating the heat with a little baby pool that we sit in mid day to cool down.

I do feel like it may be more work being a stay at home mom but it is so wonderful, I feel that I will be so sad when I have to go back to work in August.  I am finally relaxed and ready to start some summer projects.  Project number one is to De-clutter our little home by getting a storage space and moving out all the extras.  I am so excited to do this because it drives me crazy to have clutter around the house.  My other goal for the summer is to get back into shape.  It is hard when it is over 100 degrees day after day and when I am giving all of my energy into taking care of baby z, cleaning the house, making milk, making baby food, making grown up food, and trying to get enough sleep but I am determined. 

7 months and on her feet!!

Sweet baby Z has taken off, literally.  She is 7 months old and she is crawling, scooting, standing, and walking along furniture.   This sweet child of mine is amazing.  She is making all kinds of sounds, laughing a lot and crying just as much (just got her first tooth), and is a constant source of entertainment.  This little lady has an attitude that is going to make me laugh for the rest of my life (and maybe cry sometimes too).  She is strong willed and on a mission in this lifetime and I am excited to see where her drive will take her.  She loves to read Peek a boo books, she turns the pages and soon she will be making the animal sounds.  Zara Wheatley is such a joy to be around.  She is growing so fast all I can do is be in each moment and smile.

I am really enjoying being home for the summer with Zara.  The true gift of being a teacher is being able to spend time with your baby.  I love that I will have summers off to spend with Zara but honestly I think it may be more work being at home then going to work.  It is fun work but constant and I rarely have a chance to respond to phone calls, e mails, text messages, in addition to cleaning, doing laundry, dishes, cooking, etc.  The life of a stay at home mom is a lot of work, I guess it is even more work when you are a working mom.

I feel great.  I am feeling stronger by the day, my body is starting to feel like my own again, I have had a chance to go to yoga for the past few weeks and it feels so good, I have been running a few mornings each week and hiking many afternoons.  My hair has stopped falling out (finally) and my jeans all fit again.  It is the simple things in life that make me happy.  I have not one thing to complain about right now.  Life is good:)