Serbian Music

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Just to give everyone a taste of Serbian music, we’ll put this mp3 on our podcast.  I don’t have a clue what the song is about…I just know the artist (Goran Bregovic) is a big guy in Serbia.  While we were there several years ago, he put on a performance in the center of town that we went to see part of.  (for more on that, see our writings on the 29th of September 2006 )

Where did the last 11 months go??

DSC04444As it’s nearly Lydia’s 1st birthday, I thought I ought to go ahead and write her 11-month update.  Let’s see if I can remember the highlights…

 Lydia is crawling like a fiend and pulling up on everything.  She is super-fast!  We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas visit with my parents, aunt and uncle, and cousins.  Lydia, of course, was the star of the show.  She had a great time exploring the packages and cruising around the furniture.  

Once we got home, it was time to get serious about packing up our house.  Lydia got to play with Matt’s parents when she wasn’t “helping” us sort and box everything up.  She has been such a good sport through all of the busyness and transition of the last month!

Speaking of transition, during December Lydia started getting a couple of bottles a day.  She didn’t seem to care one way or the other and by the end of the month was down to one nursing session (in the morning) and three bottles (mid-morning, mid-afternoon, bedtime).  Right after her 11 month birthday, we “moved” in with Matt’s parents for a couple of weeks while we finished getting the house and contents squared away.  I nursed her Saturday morning, then on Sunday decided we’d try bottles only.  Lydia didn’t mind at all.  I had a couple of uncomfortable days later in the week, but both of us weathered the transition very well 🙂  It was a wonderful experience for both of us, especially in light of current formula costs, but I’m glad to be done.  I am very much enjoying having full access to dairy and eggs again (cheese, ice cream, and milk, oh my…).  It wasn’t so terrible to forgo foods with those ingredients for all those months, but it was inconvenient.  Although, I’ll have to be careful if I do’t want to undo all the weight loss 11 months of breastfeeding (and nearly that long on dairy restriction) produced.

Lydia is standing on her own from time to time and getting braver about holding onto things/balancing with just one hand.  She also talks up a storm and I really think she’s said mama and dada a few times.  She just hasn’t been consistent enough for me to conclude definitively that those are, in fact, her first words.  One of her favorite things is to “sing” to her food.  She just hums up a storm while she’s stuffing a fistful of cheerios in her mouth or enjoying a bottle.  I’ll have to take a video clip so I can embarass her when she gets older.  I do hope she outgrows this particular habit, though…what’s cute for a baby isn’t so cute for a little girl!

She’s such a funny little thing, but her personality is showing itself more boldly every day, and it’s not always pretty (but at least she’s sweet and cute more often than not).  She can be stubborn and whiny, and she can sure give you “what for” when she doesn’t get her way.  I think it would be so neat to know what she’s thinking or saying, but there are times when it’s probably just as well that I don’t 🙂

God has certainly blessed her with a resilient personality.  In spite of all the changes as we pack and travel and get ready for our big European adventure, she continues to eat, sleep, play, and travel very well indeed!

Even now, she’s jabbering contentedly at her Great Grandma and playing around in the third place she’s visited in a week.  Chairs are excellent pull bars and tables make great tunnels!!

 And in just over a week, our little one will be one 🙂  Will we have some fun stories and pictures to share!!