Xtreme baby cart pushing and dreams of Curly Locks

Eliza is officially weaned. I'm excited to have my body back... I've been "sharing" it for a good 19 months now ever since about July 2006.
I was really impressed at how well Eliza did at weaning. I was thinking I would start weaning now in order for her to be fully weaned by the time she was a year old, but I guess she was more ready than I realized.

It got to a point where Eliza would just get sooo distracted when I'd try to feed her, and she would be like pinching and scratching my neck, face, arms and back and pulling on my lip, sticking her hand in my mouth and just NOT feeding.

Eliza eating a grape.

She does SO great with solids. She eats SO much, Steve and I sometimes wonder where she puts it all. Most mornings she drinks about 5 oz of formula and then eats like a cup or more of oatmeal! That's like as much as I eat for breakfast!

She also loves eating whatever we're eating. The other day I was trying to show Eliza that I was eating the same thing as her ( an apple), and so I opened my mouth to show her that I had apple in my mouth in order to convince her that she should put apple in her mouth (I know, kinda gross, sorry). And that's when I discovered that Eliza thinks it hilarious when I show her what's in my mouth.... and I have to admit, that I do employ this technique on occasion when I'm really hurtin' for a smile from her... (but only in the privacy of our own home)!
Anywayz, since we're no longer breastfeeding, we've been trying to institute some 'cuddle-replacements' and Eliza's FAVORITE has been doing more story time-- like every half hour, it seems. But I was amazed the other day after lunch (around nap time) when Eliza and I were cuddling on the couch reading stories and Eliza's head just slowly began to bob down every once in a while. Then she totally fell asleep! In my arms reading stories! I was amazed.

Eliza admiring her valentine's card from her Grandma and Grandpa Morrison--
it was a cute bunny that had a fun fuzzy texture.

This probably is no big deal for some babies. But for Eliza this was crazy! She's a really intense kid, and lots of times we just have to let her cry herself to sleep b/c she just won't quite let herself go... even if we're rocking her (she'll just wake up as soon as we put her down). So I was lovin' this little cutie falling asleep in my arms during story time. I set her in her crib and she didn't make one peep! And she's done the same thing for the last five days! She even did it in Relief Society on Sunday even though there we're lots of distractions around!

So, I don't believe in labeling our children, but I recently checked out "A Baby Book" by Dr. Sears, et al from the library and was reading about babies' temperaments and found a paragraph that I thought epitomized Eliza's:

"She's in high gear all the time. These high-need babies put a lot of energy into what they do. They cry loudly, laugh delightedly, and are quick to protest if their "meals" are not served on time. Because they feel things more deeply and interact more forcefully these babies are capable of forming deep and lasting attachments and are disturbed if these attachments are broken. These babies are likely to become enthusiastic individuals. Of the many labels these babies receive, we have never heard them called boring!
"A Blessing or a Trial? Consider which baby gets the higher standard of care and the most out of life. The high-needs babies get held more because they demand it. The high-needs babies get taken more places because they are difficult to leave with anyone else. And who gets more touch, more hands-on comforting, more time at breast, and cozier sleeping quarters? These babies fly first-class. Which parents know their babies best? Which parent have, for survival, developed more creative parenting styles? You guessed it. Parents of high-need babies get the prize..."

Alright, Steve and I finally get a prize for Eliza's INTENSE personality!

Is Eliza upset or excited in this picture? Steve and I can't remember... Oh, Steve thinks upset.

When Eliza was a newborn, I kept trying to tell my mom how "enthusiastic" Eliza was about getting her needs met, and I don't think Mom believed me until I came to visit and she witnessed for herself the "fight" Eliza's got in her. She's sure got spunk! This description also made me excited to imagine Eliza growing up to be "an enthusiastic individual!" I can totally picture her that way.Lately, I've been reading one of Eliza's Mother Goose books during our story time and found one nursery rhyme that I had never heard of and was a little baffled by. However, when I read this rhyme after a long morning of entertaining my enthusiastic, energetic infant, I thought, How nice it would be to be Curly-Locks....

Curly-Locks
Curly-locks, Curly-locks, wilt thou be mine?

Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine'
But sit on a cushion, and sew a fine seam
And feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream.

It's probably just the promise that I'll never have to dishes. What a proposal that would be!! Steve is actually very nice about doing dishes and probably does them more than I do. I'm so grateful for what a sweet, nurturing husband and father Steve is...

I've been taking Eliza (and the dog) out in the afternoon after nap time and playing with her walking cart toy. She LOVES "walking" up and down the walkways in front of our place and screams at me when I try to stop her. Today after we'd been walking for a while, we stopped for a moment to readjust/ turn the walk'n'ride toy around, and I realized Eliza was panting! haha. Apparently she's getting quite the workout pushing that cart around.

I think that she thinks of grocery carts as a larger version of her little cart toy because now when we're in the grocery store, she tries to push the cart when I'm holding her. It's really funny because she locks her arms and WILL NOT let go and laughs when she is able (with my help) to move the cart forward. I was amazed that she was strong enough to push it! Such a good helper, right?

She also likes to hang from the bar of the cart too-- like it's the monkey bars or something. She's got quite the grip! We put on quite the show at the grocery store these days...

Here's a fun little ENTHUSIASTIC video that Steve took of Eliza before bed, after her bath.
Sorry the lighting is so dark: