Author: Carrie Spritzer

We’ve had a big couple of weeks.

Here’s a quick lowdown:

• Miss Leyba has discovered her feet! She loves playing with them and today realized just how tasty baby toes can be. Now she knows why I am constantly trying to eat them. So delicious!
• Car rides have become easy. Miss Leyba plays with her hanging stuffed ladybug toy and puts her fingers through her knit blanket and voila! She’s content. We frequently talk to each other the whole trip too, though sometimes our conversations consist solely of us blowing raspberries back and forth from the front and back seats.
• Suddenly she appears to tolerate most foods in my diet! I can’t go overboard, but small quantities of the offenders (diary, soy, corn, etc.) appear to be okay.
• I’m exercising every day now and am feeling so good. On most days Miss Leyba and I now nap together… I’m too tired to make it through the day without one nowadays.
• We’ve started taking excursions just the two of us — to Mama & Baby yoga and to the library. It is so fun to go out. We both get a bit stir-crazy hanging at home.
• Miss Leyba is really getting good at sitting up with minimal support and rolling from her back to her tummy and back again.
• Today she scooted her way across our entire bed on her tummy using her legs to propel her. The girl will be crawling soon. It’s truly terrifying.
• Mother’s Day ROCKS! We went on a picnic and visited two (!) farmer’s markets, enjoyed tasty vegetarian fare at a potluck, and spent the day with some of our favorite California mamas and kids (only some of which are pictured below):

Thank you to David and our daughter for an AWESOME weekend! I am one lucky mama.

David’s parents visited us this weekend and since Miss Leyba is finally cool with her car seat, we did the grand tour around wine country. Yes, WE ACTUALLY LEFT THE HOUSE!

We headed east for an afternoon of wine tasting at our beloved Chateau St. Jean. Somehow they let us do the EXTRA SPECIAL reserve tasting for club members, so we had a phenomenal view and tasted the best the winery had to offer (including a whole bunch of wines not offered on the usual reserve tasting menu). It was amazing. We are actually considering joining their wine club so we can treat all of our visitors to this experience.


David did a full tasting and I had sips of each wine — my first alcohol consumption in over a year! I loved every single wine we tasted (even a Merlot and I DO NOT like Merlot!). I felt so relaxed and happy and, oh my, I think our daughter liked it too. She was most chill after our breastfeeding session… though that was most likely was the result of her having just CUT HER FIRST TWO TEETH! (in a funny place high up in her gums, definitely not where you’d expect to see first teeth! Who knows what’s going on up there! It looks like she’s now moving on to her bottom teeth, which typically comes in first. I cannot believe we have to go through teething over and over again for the next few years… Evolution can be cruel.)

When my daughter wasn’t busy chewing or sucking on her fists (or any of our fingers!), she was smiley and super cute and probably just as thrilled to be out of the house as we were. In fact, she was so over-stimulated that she refused to breastfeed for most of the afternoon and then she fell fast asleep on David and finally let me nurse her. Yep, David is her very favorite cozy spot. (Mine too!)

That evening we went to our favorite local sushi spot for the first time in months! I ate mostly mild sushi items, which doesn’t sound super exciting, but was still SO delicious and such a treat! I cannot wait to go back. It’s one of our favorite date spots and Miss Leyba behaved beautifully. Here’s our daughter with her Grandma — imagine lots of raspberry blowing and big smiles!


Miss Leyba is currently VERY into watching us eat and making chewing motions along with us. I am excited that she’ll be turning 6 months old and start eating solids (if she’s interested!) during the height of summer, when lots of delicious local produce is available. (Lately we’ve been buying yummy avocados at the farmer’s market! And fava beans! And strawberries! Love this aspect of living in Northern California.)

On Monday we headed west to the beach. (Such a special treat for me! It’s been months since we’ve seen the water!) We walked down along the ocean, admired local wildlife and plants, and ate tasty treats. We even saw hundreds (literally!) of seals swimming (my pictures didn’t capture it at all! they were too far away…). Amazingly, Miss Leyba slept through most of it!



It was wonderful having family here and we’re getting excited about our trip next month to New Mexico — our first family vacation of the summer! Should be a blast.


Look what I got for an early MOTHER’S DAY present from my in-laws?! Beautiful handmade earrings! (I know, they are hard to see in this photo. Sorry!) David and I don’t typically buy surprise presents or celebrate holidays in this house, but this is one event we are TOTALLY celebrating. I told David I want to go on a picnic with him and our daughter. I can’t wait.

I forgot to post these pictures with last nights post. Miss Leyba ADORES soaring through the air. Look at those giant smiles. A nice break from teething sadness. (Note that the fist is still in her mouth even when she’s flying!)

The last few days have been overshadowed by teething drama, poor baby. Lots of drooling, chewing, biting, and crying. Her gums are super swollen and we can feel the top teeth descending, so hopefully they will drop soon. David has his first teeth by 4 months, so if Miss Leyba is following in his footsteps, she’s right on track.

Instead of showing you lots of tearful, wailing moments (that we’ve never photographed), let’s focus on the quiet in-between moments.

In the car with Daddy on the way to the park. We walked all the way around the lake for the first time since last summer. I’m hoping to run around the whole thing by the fall. We can get a jogging stroller in about three months when Miss Leyba turns six months old and then I can start training. Can’t wait!

Our car rides have been going much better since we rigged a way to hang her toys for her to play with/stare at (we hung a ribbon across the back and clipped toys to it; see the ladybug stuffed toy in the photo). Between that and placing her favorite knit multicolor blanket nearby (she loves rubbing her fingers through it — what fun texture to explore!), she seems to be occupied. We haven’t tested it out for any long trips yet, but we’re hopeful.

Watching Shrek (she liked the songs). We broke down and let her briefly watch television for the first time yesterday. It distracted her from hysterically crying for a few minutes and then she fell asleep. Look how sucked in she is! Oy.

Napping in her crib. The towels are simulating mom and dad sleeping next to her (she frequently reaches out looking for me — so cute!) and everything else has our smell on it. It worked for a little while. We’ve been practicing having her sleep on her own…

Tomorrow David’s parents come to town and Miss Leyba finally gets to meet Grandpa Leyba. We’re going to attempt touring around wine country and grab some sushi. I’m (nervous and) excited! Here’s hoping all the distractions will keep Miss Leyba from dwelling on her gum pain, but no so overstimulating that she can’t be calm. I’ll let you know how it goes.