She bit me once and I was so done.

Honey, if anybody gets to feel like a bad mother over breastfeeding, it's me, OK? Kid only got 2 months worth, supplemented by formula from the first week on, and most of that was pumped and put in a bottle.

ION, I sent in my first job application today. It mostly feels good. I think.

Most of the time he's not even drinking a bottle, he'll just suck on the nipple to keep himself happy.

This is why, despite the bad reputation, I love the pacifier. Of course, Lily generally needs to suck for soothing after she's overeaten and her tummy is grumpy and the real deal would make matters worse.

her startled look of betrayal when the boobie attacks.

Can't... stop... laughing...

God, Emily is me. Only, you know, slimmer and less English.

This is why, despite the bad reputation, I love the pacifier.

O refused to take one. Not for my lack of trying, either. Babies are weird.

This is why, despite the bad reputation, I love the pacifier.

Oh Emmett had a pacifier in his puss almost incessantly through his baby years. Even after he stopped his daytime use, he was allowed to have it for bedtime until he was about 4.

It wasn't that hard to wean him off his binky. He started chewing on them, and I told him that we weren't buying anymore and when he chewed a hole in his last binky that was it.

He made half a fuss on the first night without it and that was it. Though, admittedly, he will still to this day talk about how much he loved his binky. He never transferred to thumbsucking though. Whole different vibe.

Oh, and Cashmere, we took Annabel off the bottle quite by accident when all the ones I brought to Alabama were in the chill bag with her antibiotics that I left in the Enterprise car rental pick-up lot upon arrival. We replaced the drugs, but not the bottles. Only we've been thinking of putting her temporarily back on a nighttime one, because, while she's competent with both sippy and straw cups, she's just not drinking as much from her bedtime cup as she did when it was her bedtime bottle.

I called the doctor to schedule her 15-month checkup today, and wasn't able to get in till late July. I ended up talking with the nurse for about 10 minutes about Annabel's continued non-verbal state. (She occasionally says "ma," "da" or "daddy," "yeah," and "ba" when waving bye, but not frequently enough that I can be sure she really gets it, means to communicate something, and isn't just babbling.) Nurse said not to worry, after questioning me on how she interacts and responds to the world around her. So I'm trying not to. But it's very, very hard.

Am I a terrible mother because I hope Annabel turns out smart? It's not that I'd love her any less if she weren't, just that I hope she is.

OH MY GOD SUSAN. Seriously, what kind of HEARTLESS BITCA would want her baby to be SMART?

Besides, she'll never get a good man to provide for her that way.

Totally random, theoretical question for Plei: If you could have any image, any at all, on a onesie for Lily, what might it be? 'Specially if it's Bats or Buffy-related.

Am I a terrible mother because I hope Annabel turns out smart?

Of course not.

It's not that I'd love her any less if she weren't, just that I hope she is.

I know she is. I can tell from the pictures. She's very alert, and curious and attentive. This is not going to be an issue. Trust me.

I think most smart people want smart kids, yeah? I would...hopefully not enough to start French in utero(Not French. I only know "Voulez vous coucher avec moi?" but, okay, Cathtilian.)

I think every mother wants a smart kid.