Well, crap...

I can't get my pictures to come up. The first one I uploaded showed up, but it was the wrong picture, and now I can't get my pictures to publish. A big boo-hiss for that...

Anyway, much has been going on in the Jennings household. We had the first snow of the winter... well, not just us, but the area. The pix I wanted to post were of our fun-filled romp in the snow with the faithful family pet, Zelda, but that will just have to wait. :(

Laney has also decided to grow up and become an adult overnight. She's always been a little big for her britches (literally as well as figuratively as she's about 1 size ahead of where she's "supposed" to be right now), but since Christmas, she has decided to boycott baby food and many other baby behaviors.

She started crawling 2 months earlier than Ethan, which we attributed to the fact that she's trying to catch Ethan, so she had to have some means of getting around.

Now, let me explain that I'm not saying this in a boastful manner; in fact, I'm trying to figure out how to get her to stop because my life will soon become one massive marathon as I try to corral her and her brother all at once while they go in separate directions.

Since she started crawling, she has subsequently become fascinated with all sorts of things, namely those which she should leave alone, such as cabinet doors and drawers and plugs and whatnot. With Ethan, we never worried about "baby-proofing" (although I'm sure I just gave every other parent and pediatrician a heart attack) because, although curious, he was well-behaved... well, at least in the exploration arena. He didn't get into cabinets and drawers or try to chew on plugs.

Laney, on the other hand, is all about doing what she shouldn't.

Hmm.

The onset of crawling caused her to be moved up in her nursery class because she was, instead of crawling around the other tots, crawling over them.

Yes, that's right. My daughter is the one who beats up other people's kids at daycare.

So they moved her up to the next level where the kids are mobile.

And eating real food -- like table food.

Laney decided that real food was in her best interests, too. Why eat this nasty, unseasoned mush when all of my other peeps are chowing down on nuggets and whatnot?

The problem there is that Laney has no teeth. At the time this all began, she didn't even have signs of teeth. (She has since hatched the very tip-top of one tooth, but it's not doing anything to help her chew.)

The girl does not care. Teeth are a luxury, not a requirement. (My granddad believes this, too...)

The rebellion started with spitting every time baby food was put in front of her.

I don't mean hocking saliva; I mean spraying it with her lips. Loudly. Repeatedly. Embarrassingly.

Even better, she'd take a bite and then spit it all over the feeder. Her teachers started wearing protective coverings to feed her.

When the food was taken away, she'd scream like a banshee until she located someone eating real food, and then the humming/stare down began.

HMM. HMM. HMM. (While staring at you so intently with her big cow eyes that you're afraid to break eye contact for fear she would somehow free herself from her high chair and attack you while your head is turned...)

Over and over and over... until you finally give up, and -- for your sanity's sake -- give her a small piece of something, which she gobbles down like she's never been fed and promptly resumes the humming.

Another issue is that she eats A LOT. Now, I know she probably inherited this from me, but I find it disconcerting that other children her age are content with a small container of baby food and a small bottle while, at most meals, Laney scarfs down more food than her big brother. Even when she was eating baby food, she ate two containers with cereal every night and then drank a 6 oz. bottle that was equal parts cereal and formula.

I am raising a beast.

A few nights ago, she ate an entire container of micro-ravioli.

She's not even 9 months old.

I now understand why people say it's much easier to lose the baby weight with the second child. By the time I feed her (with her food and then part of mine), I'm too tired to eat or my body is so hungry that it's started breaking down muscle tissue for energy. There are no breaks and no opportunities for me to sneak a forkful of food for myself. She watches every morsel of food like a hawk.

Honestly, she is hilarious, but Laney means business when it comes to eating.

Don't interrupt the process, don't try to multi-task while feeding, and for heaven's sake -- DON'T PUT DOWN THE SPOON!