Stranger anxiety or separation anxiety?

It has begun. If I'm out of sight for more than 15 seconds, the fire engine cry starts at an instant. As soon as the she sees me, the crying stops as quickly as it began. Fake crying, I call it. It's usually tearless, with her eyes and mouth wide open and high-pitched. Now when I do the dishes, I bring the exersaucer into the kitchen so that she can play and see me at the same time. If I'm folding laundry in the closet, I put her in the bouncer and bring that with me.

Yesterday, we went to Phoebe's house for a playdate. When Izzie got out of her car seat, she looked around and suddenly, the fake cry, except there were tears this time. Does stranger anxiety include people and PLACES? After about five minutes, Izzie settled down and enjoyed the plethora of toys that Phoebe lovingly shared.

Interestingly, Izzie is okay with my cousin Jane (mother of Caylee from video below). Could it be because Jane just had a baby and smells of milk, just like her mama?
-S

Stroll to the grocery store

Today, we walked to King Soopers and had a very good learning lesson. We studied fruits, vegetables and colors. Izzie was very attentive during the lesson and tried to reach out and touch the bright red, yellow, and green bell peppers. The weather was in the low 70's, mild for this time of the year. It's been a strange summer with cooler temperatures and lots of rain. Luckily, it did not rain today.

This is the third major walk we have done outside in the last two weeks. We walk the mall often, but haven't been outside much after she got a heat rash at a church field day. I am going to try and take Izzie out every time the weather is mild. She seems to enjoy looking at the flowers and the fresh air.

-S

Eating rice cereal

Izzie has been eating rice cereal for a couple of weeks now. Just this week, we added a little bit of baby oatmeal to her cereal. Next week, she will try barley and then she will start on the "good stuff". Izzie really enjoys eating and gets excited when she sees the spoon near her mouth. Below are pictures from grandma's visit last weekend.
-S

Video of Izzie laughing at Caylee

Funny funny stuff!

An interesting day...

Today was interesting in that we were watching Caylee while Jane was at work. When you get 2 babies under 6 months old together, it can be hard and today definitely was proof. For the most part, Izzie would start to cry if Caylee was crying. Caylee would start to cry if Izzie was crying. The couple of times they both were sleeping, one would wake up and end up waking the other. At those moments, I wished I had some really good ear plugs. Despite all that, there was a really funny moment. Sana and Jane sat the babies facing each other and Izzie couldn't help but laugh, sometimes really hard. It was by far the funniest thing I've seen Izzie do. That pretty much made my day.

-T