A Quick Lesson in Hyperlinking...

From someone who has done it exactly one time in her life.

Don't ever let me look like this.

Use this newly acquired skill wisely, Mrs.

Lydia Marcela Continued

How cute are we? Well, not so much we, as she.

Ok, where were we? Oh yeah, Lydia had come home from the hospital & learned to be a nice girl.

So then, I went back to work, Lydia stayed with Shell's cousin's wife, Tommi, who never really learned the art of letting me be the one to report all of Lydia's miraculous "firsts".

Me: Lydia started rolling over by herself this weekend! Isn't that great?

Tommi: Oh yeah, she started that last Wednesday, didn't I tell you?

Thanks! Whatever.

So once I'd had enough of Super Nanny, we started leaving Lydia with our neighbor, Alma. Oh, how she loved Lydia. However, I don't think I have ever fully acclamated myself to all of the Mexican home remedies, despite being married to a, you know, Mexican. There was an incident where Lydia, at about 20 month old, touched a gas heater and burnt her hand. Not only did I not get a call @ work about it, but I came home that day, and found Lydia with smears of mustard in various places on her body. Apparently, mustard is a tried-and-true home remedy south of the border (along with Vicks Vap-O-Rub and eggs, but those are for another post.) You must be thinking, certainly this was some special medical-grade Mexican mustard. You would be wrong. I think it was French's.

When Lydia was 2 and a half, we moved to Minnesota. In the intervening 5 years, she has, of course, grown, matured, and is a little bit of a joy every single day. She is messy, creative, loud, talented, caring, mouthy, funny, extremely beautiful, energetic, and the 2nd to the tallest in her class (this one by her own report.) She frustrates me, she makes me cry, she makes me laugh. I didn't realize, when I gave birth to her, that I had actually signed up to raise a clone of myself. Seriously, you should see her school picture this year, it looks like I gave birth to my own twin.

Here is why I am in love with Lydia @ this moment. As you may or may not know, I've experienced a bit of a mid-life crisis involving live performances of Bon Jovi (2 concerts in as many months.)

This past Friday evening, Lydia and I were invited to attend a volunteer appreciation event for her Brownie Troop. It was a Totally 80's party, with hors d'oeurves, music, awards, and a special surprise guest. So the evening moves along, and it's getting to the end of the event, and all of a sudden the lights go down, the hard rock fog machine kicks in to high gear. Out comes this miniscule man, in torn jeans, the worst dishwater blond wig you can fathom, and a guitar. He starts strumming away, one Bon Jovi song after the other. He wasn't at all bad, and when he finished, one of the older girls went up and asked for his autograph, you know, just for fun.

So I'm gathering my purse, ready to make our exit, and here comes Lydia with a marker and one of the door prize entry slips. She wants his autograph. And a picture too, if they'll let her. And then I realize, she thinks it's really him. I can't believe I was so dense as to not realize it at first. So we headed home, Bon Jovi autograph in hand. Her only comment? The picture & autograph were better than a door prize. She's telling everyone she knows. Apparently, Bon Jovi has acheived Santa Claus status in our home. So if you talk to her, don't ruin the magic.

Bullet Points

1. It has been brought to my attention that the last post regarding Lydia's emergence into the world was so tedious, that it made it feel like time had stopped while you were reading it. I'll try to speed/spice it up.

2. Am I this annoying? I'm serious, if I am, you need to schedule an intervention for me NOW! Or at the very least, email me.

More later....

Who ARE these Little Reyes Sisters of Whom I Speak?

We'll start with the first one.

Lydia Marcela was born at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, September 12, 2000 @ 6:00 pm on the nose. Her delivery was uneventful, save for the fact that she was like, the size of a kindergartner (9 lbs, 5 oz) and experienced a bit of shoulder dystocia on her way out the door. But once they were able to pry her from my loins & do a full exam on her, she was given a clean bill of health & lain against my chest, whereupon she commenced wailing for all she was worth. I digress: have you ever heard tell of some magical period almost immediately after birth where the newborn lays calmly in the parents' arms, and it looks like they are surveying all that surrounds them? You see it sometimes on TLC's "A Baby Story". Anyway, our particular baby came without that feature.

Shell & Grandma Dude & I were really the only ones in attendance at her birth. Shell's family tried to attend, but if I remember correctly, I had barred any and all of them from our room while I was in labor, so they didn't get in. And I also recall my very good friend Monica calling at about 4:30, wondering if it would be okay if she stopped by on her way home from work to see how things were going. She was on the phone with Grandma Dude, and when Grandma Dude relayed her request to me, I shot back with a resounding "NO! Tell her not to come here!" I still feel like I have to apologize to her for that everytime I see her.

We stayed in the hospital for two days, and on Thursday, after having all of the requisite screenings, exams, shots, and general proddings, we went home. It was a wonderful time, we had our first baby and Grandma Dude had stuck around to fix me all kinds of my favorite meals and wrangle the baby when I was tired. Shell would come home from work & be so enthralled with his new little girl. Then Grandma Dude left......but before she did, she gently advised me to continue to get up everyday, shower, get dressed and plan a little outing for myself & Lydia each day. "It'll keep you feeling human!" she warned. But, just like when she told me not to climb to the top of a 100-foot tree when I was 7, I didn't listen. "It'll be so nice to have a day of relaxation, just me and new Lydia" I foolishly thought. Needless to say, when Shell got home that afternoon, I was nothing more than an unbathed, pajama-wearing tub of goo in a recliner, with big old breast-fed Lydia hanging from my left one. I've had better moments.

But once I got the hang of the breast feeding, and took Grandma Dude's advice about the outings and the bathing, I think I was really able to turn things around for the rest of my maternity leave.

Lydia, on the other hand, had a case of full-on colic that I was in denial about the entire time. I was very nervous around her until she was about 4 months old. That's when SHE was able to really turn things around, and she became delightful.

To be continued.....