Update, at last!

It's been a while, so I thought I'd just answer some questions that I have been getting...

1) Why haven't you updated lately?
- My computer's hard drive crashed and so my computer is not working. Erik is going to try to find me a new hard drive this weekend and then maybe by next week sometime I'll have a computer again! So pictures, or any update at all may be non-existent until then.

2) I've noticed that you've been putting bows in Maida's hair now. I love them! Why did you start putting them in her hair?
- I had to! Her hair is so long that it goes in her eyes unless it's up on top her head in a pony or in a bow. The bows that I got actually are really cute and do the job too!

3) How is Maida's rash?
- Maida's rash is doing great. The steroid cream that we got did wonders. Now I just monitor her skin and put the cream on again if I see the rash coming back. The only time I've noticed it is after a bath where I decided to add some bubbles to it. The bubble bath instantly caused the rash to come back. We are still using bumGenius cloth diapers and Seventh Generation disposable diapers, wipes, and detergent.

4) Is Maida doing anything new?
- Yes, she is talking more! She can say "mumum" for mom, "ta" for dad (wierd, I know), "baba" for Barkley!, "ma" for milk, "ni ni" for night, "ha" for hi, "bo" for boobs, "eye" for eye, "ya" for yes, and "nana" for Grandma (which is going to get confusing because we were originally going to call Erik's mom "nana" but Maida started calling my mom that! So, we'll just have two nanas!
- Maida is walking all the time now. She even tries to run, which is soooooo cute!
- She knows some animal sounds and loves-loves-loves animals. She knows what a dog, snake, lizzard, cow, and owl say/do.
- Her new favorite thing to do is bring me her shoes that she finds around the house and ask me to put them on. She loves to wear shoes! She usually has on two different shoes at one time because she's always finding pairless shoes, but wants it on anyway.
- She loves to read books. She will pick out a book on the shelf, bring it to you, and then crawl on your lap so you can read it to her.
- Her new favorite food: Jello!

5) How is weaning going?
- Great! She is totally weaned off of the boob now. She only gets bottles. I'm still pumping all of the milk for her, which is exactly what I had hoped to do! She also is falling asleep at night without feeding to sleep. She loves to be rocked and sometimes will go "ni ni" by herself in her crib (or in the middle of the living room floor!!!).
- She is eating a lot of new foods and refuses to eat baby food. She will only eat what she can feed herself.

Well, that's all for now! Maida has a playdate today, so we better get ready and go!
Go check out this article. Erik just emailed it to me and I thought that it was appropriate for the blog: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080415/hl_nm/plastic_bottles_dc