what's up in the world of weed?

It's been awhile since I've updated. Life has been busy the past couple of weeks. This week it has finally died down a bit. The best news of all is that except for two nights, our little one has slept through the night for about a week and a half now! Hallelujah! I had forgotten what it was like to wake up and actually feel rested, like I had slept that night. It's so nice to wake up in the morning and feel energetic. I don't think I've felt that feeling since before I got pregnant!

Today we had to go to the pediatrician because I was worried about her lack of weight gain. In two months she has only gained one pound, two ounces. I talked to the doctor about how to get her to eat more--food just doesn't seem too exciting to her. The doctor told me to go ahead and give her pretty much whatever we eat, with the exceptions of a few things babies aren't supposed to have until they're older. So tonight she was thrilled to eat pancakes with her oatmeal and pears for dinner. She loved them! And at lunch she ate a ton of yogurt--I think that's her new favorite food. The doctor said to give her that every day for lunch because it's high in calories. I had given it to her a couple of times in the last week and she liked it, so I'm sure she'll love lunch from now on!

Let's see....what else is going on....we're getting ready for Christmas. Every day she likes to sit on the floor in the living room, look at the Christmas lights on the tree, and play with this curly ribbon that we've now turned into her toy. It fascinates her for about 20 minutes a day. Today it was so warm and sunny that I took her outside and she got to swing on her new swingset for a little while. She loved looking at the shadows on the ground and watching the wind blow the tree limbs a little bit.

That's the update from our house. I probably won't write again until after Christmas.

family pics

We had family pictures taken yesterday. These are just a few of them. Enjoy!!

oh christmas tree...

Here's her first Christmas tree. We rushed through dinner last night so we could put it up while she was still awake. She loved watching us put the lights on, because they were lit up and strewn all over the floor. But when we started putting the ornaments on, she started getting sleepy and fussy. I really wanted to keep her up so we could get some pictures, so I picked her up and she started "helping" me put the ornaments up--which means she tried to grab every single one out of my hands and put them in her mouth. She didn't succeed too often. Her new "Baby's First Christmas" ornament was the first to go up, along with one we made with her handprint (I bought a kit to make it). I'm not sure what I'm laughing at in the pictures...I wish SHE was laughing too!












After we were finished we put her Santa hat on and took pictures. She tried to pull the hat off the whole time and ended up with it over her eyes.















This is one of my favorites....it looks like she's giving us attitude about having to wear this hat over her eyes.

happy thanksgiving

I just wanted to share pictures. Some are from thanksgiving and some are from this afternoon on her new swingset. Daddy just put it together this afternoon and it was such a nice day that we took her out to give it a try.

Here's a brief update on how things are going....she's been sleeping better, grunting much, much less, and smiling lots and lots. She's been a happy girl the last week or so, and was such a good girl over the holiday weekend.

a weekly update

I haven't updated because there's not much to update you on....she still has a cold, is still teething, and is still waking up multiple times at night. This, too shall pass....

During the day she's my happy, smiley girl, most of the time (except when she does her very loud, very annoying new little grunting noise to get our attention). She's discovered the joys of playing with pots and pans while Mommy cooks supper, though she doesn't quite get that you're supposed to bang the pan with the spoon to make the most effective noise, not drag the pan or the lid along the floor.

She's learning to drink from a sippy cup. I read a tip in a magazine that said to practice it in the bathtub, so if it dribbles, it doesn't matter. So that's what we've been doing. In addition to getting clean, she's also getting hydrated! She's getting better, and knows exactly what to do with the cup now when she sees it, though I have to help her hold it.

She's also begun eating Cheerios. She's getting better at picking them up with her thumb and index finger, but still needs work on getting it from the high chair tray to her mouth. She takes it up there, so she knows where it's supposed to go, but she either drops it in her lap at the last second, or it's stuck to the palm of her hand and won't go into her mouth. More Cheerios end up in the high chair seat or on the floor than in her mouth, but she's learning!

That's the update. Hopefully by next week I'll have good news that she's over her cold, sleeping better, and no longer grunting (her dad and I really don't like this new development!).

the streak really IS over...

The last two nights she's gotten up in the middle of the night. She has a cold and she's teething again, so I guess that's why. Oh well...the sleep was nice while it lasted.

Here's our precious girl...Daddy took the day off from work today. He was out raking leaves and wanted to take her pictures in the leaves. She loved them and couldn't stop trying to shove them in her mouth. Yuck!

And here she is in the "birthday chair" where we take her picture every month on the 9th, her birthday. She was seven months old yesterday.

I was wrong!!!

I've never been happier to be wrong. The streak ISN'T over! She did sleep last night. Yes, it was difficult to get her to sleep, but she slept all night long until waking up to eat this morning.

She still has a cold, but it doesn't seem as bad as it did last night when I wrote.

Hooray for being wrong!

the streak is over...

It's been a week since I last wrote. I thought I'd have good news to report, but I waited too long. She slept through the night for five nights in a row. It was a wonderful thing. Then today she got a runny nose. It ran and ran and ran some more. By the time it was bedtime, she could hardly breathe as she ate her last bottle. She went to bed a little early because she skipped her third nap (I think it's phasing out now), and went to sleep without too much fuss, but woke up coughing and then crying every hour or so. She went back to sleep each time until about 9:45. There was no going back to sleep that time. I went in to console her and she was WIDE awake. She got to come in and sit with Daddy while he watched TV while Mommy found the cold medicine. I don't know how much good it does, but I'm willing to try anything. It took me 45 minutes to get her back to sleep, after lots of coughing, sneezing, wiping her nose, suctioning out her nose, more crying, wiping her nose, whimpering, rubbing her eyes, staring at shadows on the wall from the night light in the hall, wiping her nose, fussing, coughing, spitting up, wiping her face....you get the idea. It was a long 45 minutes. Poor little girl. Now it's way past my bedtime, but I'm wide awake and waiting for her to start crying again any minute.

So the streak is over.... no more full night of sleep for Weed tonight.

Halloween

Here's another Halloween picture where she actually smiled. She "helped" pass out candy for about 30 minutes with Daddy (meaning she wore her costume, looked cute, and squirmed in Daddy's arms while he passed out candy), and then Mommy took her up and got her ready for bed--she was exhausted.

our lil' pumpkin

Happy Halloween!
(She wasn't cooperating so you can't see much of her costume....we're going to try and get a better one later today.)

surprise photo shoot

I went to Babies R Us today to get some diapers (which I didn't end up buying after all) and while I was looking around a girl from the photo place within the store stopped me and asked if she could take my baby's picture. She said she was training and needed practice, and they'd give me a free portrait if I let her practice on us. So I said yes. Sadly, I had only dressed her in a sleep and play today because I hadn't planned on going anywhere but the grocery store, so though in my opinion she always looks cute, she wasn't dressed particularly "cute" today! :(

So the girl tried and tried and tried to get her to smile, but she was stubborn. Actually, I think the girl was trying too hard--she smiles at people who smile at her, but this girl was squeezing really loud toys, talking way up high in a squeaky voice, trying to tickle her with a duster....it probably works on some babies, but not mine. Just give her a simple old smile and say hi and she'll usually smile. So she wasn't smiling much today, and the pictures didn't turn out so well. I picked the only one in which she was smiling....a little odd, but the girl wanted to try a winter picture with her winter hat on, because she had seen it sitting in our cart and thought it was so cute. Here's the picture.




The other pictures were fall pictures (I didn't get to choose the props or backgrounds). She didn't smile for a single one of them, but this one was the closest to a smile she could get. I guess beggars can't be choosers...it was free, after all!

So we were at Babies R Us much, much longer than I had planned, I didn't get the diapers I had gone for (I decided the sale wasn't that great of a sale after all!) and I didn't even make it to the grocery store! By the time we left I had a tired, fussy baby, so I had to get home, feed her, and put her to bed. The grocery store will have to wait for another day.

pretty pictures

Here are pictures from the fall foilage excursion last weekend.


This is our little family....she wouldn't smile because there was no one behind the camera getting her to laugh! (we set up the tripod and set the timer)

Here is Mommy and a happy baby girl. She loved looking at the shadows that the sun made through the trees.

This shows the beautiful trees. Of course we have WAY more tree pictures than family pictures....if you know my husband, you know this is always the case.

She loved her ride up the trail on Daddy's chest! Daddy loved watching her enjoy the outdoors with him.

a tooth and a "word"

After weeks and weeks of teething, there's finally some evidence of it all...a tiny little white speck has poked through on the bottom of her little gums. She doesn't seem too bothered by it, though she is pursing her lips a lot more and sucking on them--I don't know if that has anything to do with the tooth or not.

And today she said her first consonant-vowel combination that was at all recognizable. She said "ba ba ba." Yeah, I know, what does that mean???? Nothing....but at least it's progress from the "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" that she's been doing for months now! She also makes this "ng" kind of sound--I can't even imitate it, but it's kind of like the "ing" sound without the "i." The "ba" was quite exciting to hear. Daddy thought he heard her say "ma ma ma" this morning, but he said it hasn't been confirmed, so he's holding out hope that it wasn't and that she'll say "da da" first! :)

Yesterday we all three went on a hike up to the top of this ridge that overlooked the beautiful fall leaves. She rode in the baby bjorn on Daddy's chest, facing outward so she could see where we were going. She loved it, and babbled and squealed up a storm the whole way. Daddy was glad to be hiking and to have things to take pictures of, she was happy to be outside and having a fun ride, and I was happy to be with my happy daughter and happy husband and enjoying being a family. It was a gorgeous day here--maybe the last warm-ish, pretty fall day we'll have. Snow is on the way, I heard. :( I'm not ready for cabin fever. Anyway, I'll post pictures of our excursion in the next day or so.

back among the living

I feel like I've missed a week. Last week was spent almost entirely at home because first my little one was sick and then I caught it from her and was out of commission for a few days myself. I'm finally feeling a little more normal today and may even venture out to the grocery store this afternoon if I have time....currently there's apple pie baking in the oven (a surprise for my husband), so I can't go until that's done, but by then my little smiley girl may not be so smiley anymore and won't do well at the grocery. We'll have to see how that all goes. I may have to wait on the grocery store trip, though it will probably be postponed until Wednesday since tomorrow's outing is a trip to the pediatrician for her 6 month visit (more shots....yuck!!!!), and she'll likely need a long afternoon nap to sleep off the shots. Thus, no grocery store, in all likelyhood. But even if I don't get to go, at least I'm feeling better and have gotten some things accomplished today.

Still no teeth popping through those little gums. You'd think with all of this teething, there would be teeth, but no. She's still waking up in the middle of the night--I don't know if it's seeking comfort for the pain, seeking food, or just seeking company. Letting her cry is so hard, but last night, since I had taken cough medicine that knocked me out, I went to check on her, let her cry, closed both of our doors so I couldn't hear her very well, and fell back asleep. I had only meant to let her cry for an hour (torture when I have to listen to it--I feel like such a horrible mommy), but because I fell asleep, after an hour and fifteen minutes my husband said, "Oh my gosh, how long has she been crying like that?" I realized that I had let her go past what I had planned. Then I really felt like a horrible mommy. I went in and fed her after that, thankful that she still wanted to look at me after that!

picture day!

She turned 6 months old on Monday. SIX MONTHS!! It's hard to believe she's been with us for a whole half of a year. The time has gone fast. I'm trying to savor every minute and not let the sleepless nights and frustrating moments wish her childhood away.

So I took her to get her 6 month pictures taken today at a new place in town. It's a chain that a friend told me about in her hometown in Illinois. They didn't have one here, but they have one up where my parents live, so I was going to take her up there, but then I found out they just opened one here two weeks ago! Awesome! I was really happy with the job they did. They took tons of pictures and they let you change their outfits. It's a nice place.

So in this picture she's wearing the pinafore that my mom wore in her 6 month pictures and I wore in my 6 month picture, so now she's wearing it in her six month picture! Let's hope I can keep it nice for her daughter's 6 month picture!

I also had her in a pink and white sailor dress with lacy socks and black patent leather shoes. I loved those too, but only got it in a wallet size. When I scan it it's way too small to see, so I can't put it on here. Maybe I can work with it and try to figure out how to make it look bigger, but until I do, you'll just have to enjoy this picture. It was quite a chore to get her to smile, but we managed to get a few of her smiling.

sleep

Finally...she slept through the night again last night. Hallelujah!

I, however, couldn't fall asleep until after 2:30 AM, which is completely ridiculous. I have no idea why, because I'm totally sleep deprived and all day long that's all I want to do is sleep. So even though she slept, I'm still exhausted...but at least we're moving in the right direction and ONE of us is sleeping!

Just a picture of her on the changing table, just because.....

big girl bath!

Teething continues to take its toll on a tired Mommy, but I don't want to write about that....let's write about something happier.

Since she's sitting up now, we've moved up to the big girl bathtub! No longer will she be laying in the little baby bathtub in the sink. She has the whole big bathtub to explore now. Before this, she wasn't ever sure that she liked baths, but she has quickly changed her mind. Water to kick and splash? Toys? Sitting up? All at the same time??? Could life get any better? (Well, maybe if there was a bottle of formula involved, but you can't have everything).

Here she is wondering if this bath thing is really all it's cracked up to be....

...and then she found the toys to play with......












...and realized that big girl baths are the best things since....(I can't say sliced bread because she's never had it...) ....since sweet potatoes! (her favorite food, I think).

teething is torture

It's been a rough few days in our house. Teething has begun, and she's been one fussy girl. Today was better than yesterday, but sleeping through the night is definitely a thing of the past now that she's teething. She's up two and three times a night. I'm tired!

Baby Orajel works wonders, I've discovered. I need to thank the person that invented it. Unfortunately it doesn't last too long because she licks it all off.

That's all I have time for. She just woke up and is crabby. What happened to my happy little girl??

sitting up!

On Thursday she could sit for about a minute. But when she got to Grandma's house on Friday, she sat up all by herself for 15 or 20 minutes at a time! Now it's all she wants to do. She's pretty good at it, and doesn't fall over too often. It makes it a lot easier for her to play with toys by herself because she can hold them in her lap or have them right in front of her on the floor. She doesn't have to have Mommy always dangling them over her while she's on her back like before.

And she's pushing up much higher than before, too. I'd better watch out...she'll be figuring out how to get those knees under her pretty soon and start to MOVE! Then watch out....here comes trouble. Here she is pushing WAY up while playing with one of her favorite playmates, Grandma! If you look closely you'll see a bow in her hair--I FINALLY found some bows that stay in her hair, after a 5 1/2 month quest to find one!! I'll post one another time where you can see it better.

And this is just a recent picture that I thought was cute. She's playing in her exersaucer...another one of her favorite things to do to pass the time.

green beans

For all of you who were waiting on pins and needles to find out, the green beans seemed to be a hit last night. She made a strange face with the first couple of bites, but then she kept opening her mouth for more.

Today's adventure was a trip to JoAnn's to buy supplies to make a grocery cart cover. (So when the baby sits in a grocery cart, she's not getting another baby's yucky germs). I had the fabric already, I just needed some other odds and ends. I'm making this up myself, following a loose description of how to do it that I found on the internet. So this afternoon I made a pattern out of tissue paper and cut out the fabric. Now I'm in a dilemma about how to sew it together, because I'm trying to put batting on the inside to make it softer, but am running into problems. I think it's time for a call to Mom, the sewing expert who taught me everything I know.

Anyway, that's what's up here. My dear daughter is currently waking up from a nap--I hear her starting to stir through the monitor down here. Usually she talks to herself for awhile, stares at the blinds and so forth, and then I go get her. That's where I'll be heading in a few minutes, unless, by some stroke of luck, she decides to go back to sleep (which does happen on occasion, but sadly, not often enough).

a swallow study

Today I had to take out little girl to have a swallow study done. She's had eating issues since the very beginning, and at first it was diagnosed as reflux, but then it started looking like more of a swallowing problem, so the pediatrician wanted her to have this test done. They feed the baby barium in a bottle and then watch her swallow it on a screen that looks like an x-ray, but the picture is moving instead of still like an x-ray. They had me feed her, but she started crying right away and wouldn't eat. They then had me give her her regular bottle, which she ate fine, and then switch it really quickly with the barium bottle, but she was too smart for that. She figured that out and started crying again. At one point they let me take her out of the chair where she was strapped in, to calm her down, but then I had to put her back and try again. It wasn't very successful.

But I guess they were able to see enough of the barium go down to see that she swallows okay. Then I got her out of the chair and took her to another room and they let me feed her the regular bottle the normal way, and they watched. The occupational therapist showed me a different way to hold her head that might help some. We'll see with time, I guess.

So the whole thing was pretty inconclusive, but they didn't see any major problems, so that's good. Actually, she's been doing better in the last month, so I wasn't expecting them to find anything (it just took me this long to get in for an appointment!!!).

That was the excitment in our world today. Oh, and tonight she's trying green beans for the first time. It's the first non-sweet thing she'll be eating, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully there won't be green goo everywhere!

ready for bed

I just had to share this picture from a few nights ago. I've started putting her in sleepers again, instead of just onesies, to sleep, since it's getting cooler at night. So I pulled this one out that had been her cousin's. Then I remembered it had a hat with it, so I just had to see how it looked. I had to take a picture because it was just too funny. She didn't sleep with it on, which is probably a good thing because I would've laughed anytime I looked in on her, and would've woken her up!

Not too much going on here--her two bottom teeth are close to coming in. You can see them and kind of feel them. She's been fussing more, so I'm wondering if that's why. She's now added pears to her eating repertoire, though I'm not sure she likes them. She likes them mixed with her oatmeal, but doesn't seem to like them much by themselves. Next I think I'll try green beans. I haven't decided yet.

Two hour naps are a thing of the past....that was just a fluke, I guess. We're back to the forty five minute nap again. It's hard to get much done during the day when she's only asleep for 45 minutes a couple of times a day. Oh well. I'm trying to remember that these days go by so fast and I just want to soak it all in and not worry about getting things done. She's too precious at this stage to be worrying about those things.

two hour naps

The last two days she has taken a two hour nap in the morning. In fact, right now she's still asleep and has been for almost two and a half hours! This is GREAT, except that I'm always expecting her to wake up, so I don't do anything I'd like to get done, because I'm afraid I'll be in the middle of it when she wakes up and needs me. Maybe if this becomes more consistent I can stop this constant expecting.

She slept through the night for a week straight, but last night the streak ended. She woke up at 3:45. Oh well--I was sure it was too good to be true, anyway. I hope it's still coming close to being regular, though.

She hasn't learned any new tricks lately, though she's perfecting her jumping skills, her vocal abilities, and her turning from back to tummy. She's a happy girl.

five months old

Here's our smiley girl. She's been a good girl: sleeping through the night, eating well, happy when she's awake....we couldn't ask for much more. This is her five month old picture in the chair that we've taken it in every month. Her head got cut off a bit because in order to get her to smile I have to take my head away from the viewfinder and make my mouth really big and say, "AAAAHHHHH" and then she smiles! The things we do to make children laugh....

Today she ate a new food...bananas! I had planned on doing carrots, but a friend told me if you do all orange things at once, they turn orange! So since she's been doing sweet potatoes, and carrots is another orange food, I decided on bananas instead. She loved them.

She's busy playing peekaboo with Daddy at the moment. What a good dad he is.

she can jump!

For almost 2 months now we've been putting her in her jumpster in the doorway...and for two months she's sat there doing nothing but staring. She's always enjoyed it, probably because it's a new perspective, but she's never been interested in jumping. Somehow, today, that all changed. I put her in there while I was working in the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard a bouncing noise. I looked over and she was jumping! It started out only a few jumps at a time, but later I put her in again, and as the day went on, she jumped progressively longer and longer. She loved it!! She sat in there for about 30 minutes--longer than she'll do ANYTHING at one time, besides sleep (and that's usually only for 45!) Here's proof...though it was hard to catch her in mid-air. You'll just have to trust me, I guess.

This is my polite, well-mannered little girl, daintily eating her breakfast of oatmeal a few days ago....

sweet potatoes for our sweet pea

She's joined the ranks of the spoon-eating population again. After starting rice cereal several weeks ago, we stopped soon after because she wasn't eating it. She'd turn away, arch her back, and just generally showed her displeasure at eating rice cereal. I thought she just wasn't ready for solids. Maybe I was wrong. Yesterday I made my first of many batches of homemade baby food--sweet potatoes. I'd never bought sweet potatoes in my life. The only time I've ever had them is at thanksgiving, and then it's only one small one on my plate to TRY to like them. But I bought them, peeled and cooked them, pureed them, and froze them in ice cube trays. I had two servings leftover that wouldn't fit in the ice cube tray, so I decided to try to give her one of them, even though she wasn't eating cereal well, and all the books say to do that first before fruits or vegetables. Well, my mom reminded me that I have a mind of my own and I don't need to do just what the books say, so I made an executive mothering decision, and tried the sweet potatoes. She loved them!! She opened her mouth when she saw the spoon coming, didn't spit them out, didn't make any faces, and ate the whole entire portion!

I decided to buy baby oatmeal and try that as cereal instead of the rice. So today, since the sweet potatoes went so well, I decided to try oatmeal. More success! She loved it--she talked all through her meal--something she only does when she's happy. She opened up for every bite and ate two tablespoons full--she never even took ONE tablespoon of rice cereal. Maybe she just isn't a rice cereal lover. (Her daddy doesn't like rice chex cereal--maybe she got that gene!!)

She's sleeping better, eating better..... things are on the up and up. Now if I could just figure out what schedule she's following............because it certainly isn't mine! She's doing a good job, but just isn't very consistent.

laptops are dangerous

My mom just gave me a laptop with a wireless card........that means I can get on the internet from anywhere in the house...... Uh oh.... Very dangerous. I'm not going to ever get anything done again!! Do you know how tempting it is to sit here in the living room while my little one is playing by herself and surf around? Or when my husband is watching pre season football to check my email for the zillionth time that day? Dangerous, I tell you.... No more going upstairs away from the family to get online--now it's just too convenient!! Someone please give me some self control.

Sleeping has improved in the last couple of days for our little girl. Keeping her up longer seems to help a ton! She took a long morning nap the last two mornings and slept last night from 8 pm until 5:30 am!! That's a record, I think! Afternoon naps still need some work, but I'll take baby steps....she is a baby, afterall.

Sorry there are no pictures lately. I was going to take some today, but when I brought the camera bag downstairs, the camera wasn't in it, and I didn't feel like going back upstairs to find the camera. So I used the video camera instead, which WAS in the camera bag. She was talking up a storm anyway, so it was nice to get it on camera. She's making more sounds now--kind of a "g" sound, as she blows saliva bubbles and tries to contort her mouth into new and interesting positions. She's so funny to watch.

I just realized that I haven't told you all how smart my daughter is. Whenever we pick her up and carry her anywhere NEAR the stairs, she starts to cry, because she's learned that going upstairs equals going to bed. Today, Grandma, who was here visiting, was going to take her for a walk, so she went out to the front door to go outside. Well, the front door is right by the stairs, so she immediately started fussing. I started laughing, because I knew she would do that, and it's just so funny that she has already made that association. My mom, who's been skeptical since I've told her about her doing this, said, "I can't believe she's figured that out." Just goes to show you....she's genius material! :)

Well, my laptop must be put away for the night, or I'll never go to bed!

odds and ends

Not too much going on in the world of Weed these days.... just taking care of everything around here. The little one has had a cold for the last several days, and that has made things a little harder than usual. She hasn't been sleeping very well during the day, I'm guessing because she can't breathe so well. It's getting better, and her mood has been good most of the time, but she's still not sleeping!! That makes life more difficult for Mommy. I've been reading on the babywhisper.com to try and figure out how to stop these 45 minute naps that keep happening. It suggested to keep her up longer, so I've been doing that. Sometimes it's helped, sometimes not. We'll see if any of the other things work on a regular basis, too.

Today we FINALLY got her nursery done!!! Yeah, I know what you're thinking: she's almost 5 months old, and her nursery is just getting finished?? The answer is yes. It's a long story that most of you probably know, about how we had to wait and wait and wait for her crib to come in, and then it never did, so nothing else got done, because the stain color all depended on the crib color, so then we had to buy a new crib, but she was already born by then, so there was no time to get the other things finished.... Anyway, blah blah blah....enough excuses. It's finally done. We'll take some pictures and I'll put them on here (well, except the wall that has her name on it in wooden letters, since I don't want her name on here!!--you can just imagine that wall. I'll show you the other ones). It'll have to be another day though, because we haven't taken any yet, and she's sleeping right now, and I'm not about to interrupt that..........

no news is good news

I really don't have any news...but I know people check here and hope to see something new, so I thought I'd satisfy you by writing at least a little something.

She's had a cold the last few days. One day was particularly bad, when she just sounded horrible, like she couldn't breathe at all. She's still congested, but it's much better, and thankfully she's remained in a pretty good mood throughout the sickness, except for a few hours in the evenings, but who knows if that's caused by the cold or just her normal fussiness.

Grandma came for a few days, so that was lots of fun. We're sad that she just left, but now it's nap time--always a happy time for Mommy, anyway! Let's hope this is a longer one than she's been taking lately!

Is it really August?

Sorry, no pictures or funny stories about the little one today.... I'm feeling reflective....

I was in the store today watching families shop for school supplies and it dawned on me that it's the end of August. School starts this week. Every August for the last 27 years of my life I've been busy getting ready to go back to school, first as a student and then as a teacher. This year, it's August, but I'm not getting ready to go back. It's a very odd feeling. Usually I'm busy reading teaching magazines and scouring websites for new ideas about activities to do the first week of school. I'm going to the teacher stores and stocking up on posters, bulletin board borders, name tags, and other sorts of classroom necessities. I'm having nightmares about my students being out of control or not being able to find my classroom. I'm tired from moving desks in my classroom, trying to decide how to arrange it to be functional, yet different than what I've done before.

This year I'm not doing any of those things.

Instead I'm busy reading parenting magazines and scouring websites for new ideas about how to get an infant to sleep through the night and eat her cereal. I'm going to baby stores and stocking up on formula, diapers, wipes, and other sorts of baby necessities. I'm having nightmares about my daughter being kidnapped or not being able to find her. I'm tired from doing laundry, washing bottles, changing diapers, and cleaning up drool and spit-up.

And I wouldn't change a single thing.

Yes, it's strange to not be getting ready for school to start, but I have very little desire to be there, as much as I've loved it. I know I'll miss my old students. I know I'll miss my wonderful colleagues. I know I'll miss interacting with different people on a daily basis. But oh, the things I would miss if I did go back.......

...Wide-eyed, full-faced grins that couldn't get any bigger when I kiss her little tummy
...Loud squeals of delight when I put her underneath a mirror where she can smile as she looks up at herself
...More loud squeals as she watches her mobile go 'round and 'round
...Cute little smiles and chubby kicking legs when she sees me come into her room to get her up after a nap
...and more and more and more and more and more

Sometimes I'm envious of my friends who work and get to be out in the world, having adult conversation, getting a break from their little ones, making a contribution to the world, but more often than not, I'm sad for them and what they're missing. I know they wish with all of their hearts that they could be at home, too. So when I sometimes get sad about what I might be missing by teaching, or get frustrated that she's fussy or won't sleep and I just need a break, I remember how thankful I am to have this chance to be at home to raise our little girl. No school, or Fortune 500 company, for that matter, could pay me enough to miss this. I'm so very grateful.

growing up

My baby girl is growing up....she's now eating from a spoon like a grown up. Well, not quite. She's chewing on a spoon while rice cereal flows down her chin, not really like a grown up at all! But she's on her way to eating like a grown up.

We just tried the cereal for the first time this weekend. She seemed to like the experience, except she got tired of sitting in the high chair about halfway through her meal and decided to fuss, arch her back, and try to grab the spoon with every bite. This resulted in the cereal spilling off the spoon before it even made it to her mouth. We decided to stop and try again another time. At least she got a little practice and it wasn't a horrible experience. She didn't smile at the taste, but she didn't make any bad faces, either, so it must've been tolerable.

And another momentous occasion occurred this weekend; she discovered her feet! She's now reaching down and grabbing her feet, sticking them up in the air and staring at them, and moving them every which way, just because she can.

She's growing up. I'm happy everytime she does something new, but already nostalgic about my sweet, little, helpless newborn who is now definitely an infant, slowly learning about the world around her. She's infinitely happier and more content now, which is much easier on Mom and Dad, but I already miss those first days.

sleep, blessed sleep!

Yesterday's doctor's appointment was painful (for both of us). She got 4 shots in the legs. I was watching her play happily with a toy while laying on the exam table, while she was oblivious to the fact that the nurse was preparing the needles right next to her. As the first needle went in, her face went from relaxed and happy to beet red and a trembling lower lip, while her throat tried to let out a scream, but it was such a loud scream that she couldn't even get it out right away. She screamed and screamed while the remaining needles went in and as I scooped her up and shushed her in her ear, patting her back and bouncing her up and down on my shoulder. Eventually she calmed down and I fed her, which also helped calm her, but boy, was it a traumatic few minutes.

But on to the good news....last night, as a result of the shots, she slept from 9 pm until 6:45 this morning!!! She has NEVER slept that long. I woke up once, at 3 something, and checked on her, but otherwise I slept all night long...what joy!

The moral of the story: seeing your child get shots is a difficult process, but the results are priceless--

big smiles!

Pictures...as promised.......

For four months we've tried to get a good picture of her smiling. She always turns the smiles off as soon as the camera comes out. But today when I started taking her four month pictures in the "birthday chair" where we've been taking her picture every month so far, she turned the smiles on and kept them on. Of course the drool machine was on in full force too, but it just adds to the charm of the pictures. It's how she always looks anyway!!

This was taken a few days ago--the first time we sat her in her high chair. We'll be starting cereal next week, most likely (provided the doctor okays it tomorrow at her appointment), so we wanted to get her used to it, so she's been sitting in it when we eat dinner. She looks bored out of her mind, but at least she stays quiet when she's in it!

a new trick

Today I went in to get her and as she smiled at me she showed me how she could roll over from her back to her tummy--almost. This is a new development. If she can learn to do it completely, that will mean she can roll back over to her tummy to sleep instead of staying awake when she does it, like it is now. Awesome news for Mommy and Daddy!

Later in the morning we were playing on the blanket on the floor. She looked over to the side and saw a toy she wanted, so she rolled over and got it! Very exciting!

She's slept through the night the last two nights....also very exciting! She's very inconsistent with how much she sleeps, but hopefully this is starting a trend.

Tomorrow she'll be four months old! Sometimes it seems like it's been four years since she joined our family, and other times it's more like four days. I can't imagine life without her, though. I'm going to try and post some pictures tomorrow--I know I've been slacking lately.

the staredown

When my friend goes back to teaching at the end of the month, I'll be watching her son two days a week. (He's the one pictured a couple of weeks ago holding hands with my little one). He's here today on a practice run, so he can get used to it here and I can get used to having two four month olds in the house.

When he arrived this morning she was sleeping. He played and played--he's such a happy guy, content wherever you put him. After awhile she woke up (MUCH too early!). I got her up and put her in her jumpster, while he was in the exersaucer. They're right next to each other in the dining room. Well, she stared and stared at him, as if to say, "Who are you and what are you doing in my exersaucer?" She didn't smile, didn't cry...just very seriously checked him out. He stared at her for awhile, too, but then continued laughing and playing in the exersaucer (I'm hoping that his genial attitude rubs off on her! She's way too serious most of the time and though she's laughing and smiling more often, it still takes some coersion to get her going, especially when she's tired like she is today).

She was a stinker the whole time she was up--she was sleppy because she hadn't slept long enough, and nothing would satisfy her. He played for over an hour and then started yawning. I put him to bed just as he starting fussing the tiniest little bit and he went right to sleep. She continued to make my life difficult. I finally fed her early and put her back to bed, which is exactly what she wanted. She gobbled down her bottle and went right to sleep. Let's hope this nap is more successful.

So right now they're both asleep....amazing. I never expected this to happen! Who knew I could be on the computer with two babies in the house? My kitchen is clean, my laundry is done, the bottles are made....I can't believe I got it all done this morning! I know this is probably just beginner's luck (or more likely it's God blessing me with an easy start so I don't give up right away!!).

I'll keep you posted on how this adventure goes.............

what a surprise!

This morning Daddy went in to check on our little girl. She was laying on her back, as she often is at the end of a nap because she's turned herself over and is talking to the animals hanging from her mobile, but this time she was asleep...ON HER BACK!!!! She hasn't slept on her back since she was less than a week old, when we tried and tried to get her to sleep on her back and she would only cooperate for 20 minutes or so at a time. Crazy!! I couldn't believe it. I don't know how long she had been asleep that way, but she slept another 30 minutes or so after we found her before she woke up and started talking, as usual, to her mobile.

a good girl

She's turning into such a sweetie!! (Not that she always hasn't been, but she's giving up some of her fussy ways, making her even sweeter.) Twice in the last week we've gone out in public and she's been quiet and well behaved the whole time. I couldn't be happier. She's even been good in her car seat, since I put a mirror on the back of the seat for her to look at (and for me to see her through the rear view mirror). She loves looking at and talking to herself.

Still no new tricks to report. She continues to try sticking as many fingers as possible into her mouth, succeeding in gagging herself sometimes if she puts them in too far. She's smiling even more, talking even louder (I think she likes the sound of her own voice), and laughing at her Mommy from time to time.

I haven't updated because I don't have any new pictures of her to show, and there's no exciting news to report, and I'm just plain tired. While she's quite good at getting up in the middle of the night to eat, and then going right back down 15 or 20 minutes later, I am then up for an hour or more because I can't fall back asleep. Last night I was up from 2 AM until almost 6. That's not normal, but that's the world of Weed....

our week in review

It's been awhile since I've written--our schedule has been a little off this week since Daddy's been gone and we've been with Grandma and Grandpa, so I haven't been able to update, but here it goes...

Sunday Daddy left and baby and Mommy spent the morning getting ready to leave for Grandma's. They came in the afternoon and drove us up to their house (since Daddy had the only vehicle in which her car seat fits!). She wasn't too bad in the car, though she cried some until she fell asleep. That night she slept well, even in a pack 'n play. Grandma got up with her so Mommy could get a full night's sleep. Like heaven!!!

Monday Grandma and I took her shopping. She didn't last long--lots of fussing, and a HUGE scream-fest on the way home. I sat next to her in the back because I was trying to feed her, but she was so mad she wouldn't take much. She looked up with me with huge tears rolling down her bright red face, as if saying, "Mommy, why are you doing this to me???" I so wanted to take her out and hold her. I wish the car seat didn't make her so, so mad. I spent the evening on the computer researching convertible car seats! I ended up ordering one the next day. After it arrives we'll see if it makes a difference from her infant carrier (that is, if we can figure out how to install it!!)

Tuesday we didn't do much. She didn't sleep well AT ALL that day. I had forgotten to take the stroller with me, so Grandma bought an umbrella stroller to have around anyway, so we took her for lots of walks in the driveway in that, trying to keep her quiet when nothing else would satisfy her.

Wednesday we came back home. She wasn't too bad in the car, though she screamed again for 10 or 15 minutes at one point. 10 or 15 minutes isn't long, unless you're sitting right next to your screaming daughter and can't do anything about it, and then it's an eternity. It's been much easier to take care of her here, with all of her equipment (swing, exersaucer, jumpster, etc) to keep her quiet, though it was nice to relax at Grandma and Grandpa's house, too.

Today, Thursday, Grandma kept baby much of the day while Mommy went to appointments and ran errands. She was a good girl, and it was nice to get out a little bit on my own.

That's about it! No new tricks to report... she's still very into putting her hands together and then pulling them up to her mouth. She's laughing more, especially at Grandma's antics, and she's been full of smiles all week.

Daddy comes home tomorrow night. Hooray! We miss him, and I know he'll be excited to see his little girl and see how much she's grown.

well THAT'S new!!

I just peeked in on my little sweet pea and found her asleep on her side! That's definitely a new development. She's been turning over when she wakes up for a couple of weeks now, but apparently she now turns over part way in her sleep. It's fine with me....as long as she stays asleep! I sleep on my side, so I can't blame her for wanting to try it!

Another new development is bringing her hands together. She just learned this yesterday, and did it over and over and over (and over and over and over). After she brings them together she tries to bring both hands to her mouth, usually unsuccessfully. She's gotten quite talented at bringing one hand to her mouth and sucking on four or even all five fingers at a time, but she still needs some work in order to fit all ten in her mouth (though I wouldn't put it past her!).

And one more trick she's learned is to prop herself up on her forearms when she's on her tummy. I was a little worried about her tummy skills, because everytime she's on her tummy she thinks she's supposed to go to sleep. She lays her head down if she's tired or fusses if she's not. She doesn't understand that sometimes it's playtime on her tummy. But yesterday I propped her up and she stayed there and looked around for awhile. I was pleased to see that she's capable. Hopefully she'll start doing it on her own soon.

This is one strong little girl! She's almost sitting up on her own. And last night Daddy was holding her while she stood up in front of him and he let go for a second (much to my dismay!!!!!) and she stood for a second on her own. Her legs are strong and she loves to stand when you're holding her. That's why she loves her jumpster so much--she's standing. She hasn't figured out the jumping part, but it keeps her happy to stand, so I'm satisfied with that.

Daddy left early this morning and won't be back until Friday. Grandma and Grandpa will be here in a few hours to take us to their house for a few days. I'm looking forward to it (for many reasons...not the least of which is because my mom often gets up with the baby in the middle of the night and I get to take a Tylenol PM and sleep ALL NIGHT!!!!) I should mention, though, that she slept through the night last night, again, so I can't complain!!!

Side sleeping must be over.....I hear her talking. I'd better go...............

ticklish?

Last night as I was giving her a bath, I lifted up her double chin (or is it a triple chin? It's hard to tell...there are several layers!) to clean underneath. As I did that, she laughed. She hardly ever laughs! So I tried it again, and she laughed again. My thinking was that she's becoming ticklish! It was so cute. Daddy came over and tried to get her to laugh again when he did it. It didn't work. She only did it those two times, so maybe it was just a coincidence that the laughs occured when I touched her chin(s). I guess time will tell.

Daddy leaves tomorrow for West Virginia, taking the middle schoolers from our church on a mission trip. That would leave Mommy and baby to fend for ourselves, but thankfully Grandma and Grandpa are going to take care of us!! They're coming tomorrow to get us and take us up to their house for a few days, and then they're bringing us back later in the week and staying so Mommy can go to a bunch of appointments and not have to take baby! Daddy comes back next Friday. I know he'll miss his girls, and we'll miss him, too.

Here's a picture of Daddy and his girl.

arranged marriage?

So are marriages appropriate to arrange at 3 1/2 months of age? Here she is with her intended........

This is the son of my dearest friend. He's 2 1/2 weeks older than she is, and already trying to grab her hand (of course, he was also flailing his arms and slapped her in the head, so who knows if his intentions are honorable!)!! We took them to "baby laptime" at the library today, where they sing songs and read stories to infants up to 18 months.

What a precious pair.

playing dress up

Okay, I admit it, I love seeing how my sweet girl looks in different clothes (even though I know she'll look cute--she looks cute in everything, but then, I'm rather biased!!!). It's like I'm a little girl again playing dress up with my dolls, but she's my real live baby doll! (There, I've confessed my guilty pleasure....) :)

So this morning I found an outfit I forgot she had--it had been her cousin's (she has a lot of her cousin's clothes, which is such a blessing!). I tried it on to see if it still fit, because it's 0-3 months and she's almost outgrown most of those. But it fit, and then I remembered that it had a matching hat, and I tried that on as well. The result was so laughably adorable that I had to take pictures. It just makes me smile every time I look at it. Enjoy!!!

three months old

Last Sunday she was three months old. People always ask how old she is, and I never know if I should say "fourteen weeks" or "three months." She's a week older than three months, but fourteen weeks is so confusing, and it only gets worse as she gets older. When she's 6 and a half years old should I go around saying she's seventy-eight months old? We were discussing today at what point do you stop saying "X weeks" and just refer to months and eventually years. Puzzling.......

So speaking of three months, each month on her "birthday" we've taken a picture in the same chair, and will continue to do that every month this year, and then we'll probably start doing it every year on her birthday after that. So look at the pictures from the first three months. Isn't it amazing how much she's grown??? (The top two pictures are months 1 and 3, and the bottom picture is two months) Notice that her facial expression hasn't changed much......

growth spurt?

I'm wondering if she's going through a growth spurt. I just read they're common at three months. She's waking up WAY before she's scheduled to, and nothing will satisfy her except a bottle. Consequently she's eating at least one extra bottle per day.

This would be fine, except that eating is a chore for both of us. She struggles with back arching, sputtering, and problems getting her mouth attached to the bottle the right way. I struggle with keeping the bottle in her mouth as she constantly moves her head and hands around, often knocking the bottle out of her mouth, just when she's finally starting sucking on it well. I thought feeding time was supposed to be a special "bonding" time between mother and child?? Well, our feeding times are more like wrestling matches than cuddly bonding time. And adding one extra "match" into my day as she goes through a growth spurt isn't much fun. Lucky for her she makes up for it in smiles and coos at other times during the day! I still think I'll keep her, as frustrating as eating time can be sometimes!

Here's her newest toy: a jumpster--you know, those things that hang from the doorway and they jump up and down in them. She's not quite sure what to think of it yet. I think she likes it, probably because she gets to be upright, but she's still too small for it, so she doesn't last long in it without fussing, and she doesn't understand the jumping concept yet. But she turns herself around with her feet and enjoys chewing on the side of it. If nothing else, it keeps her happy for 10 or 15 minutes.

quite a gymnast

At three months old our little girl is already a gymnastic prodigy. This morning I fed her at 6 AM, put her back to bed, and went back to sleep myself. An hour or so later I woke up to the sounds of her "talking" in her crib. I went in and found her on her back again, but this time instead of crying, she was talking to her mobile. And yesterday evening I went in and found her turned completely around with her head at the opposite end of the crib from where I had placed it. No wonder I could constantly feel her moving around inside me while I was pregnant--this girl never stops!

She gave us quite a speech last night. She was in a great mood before bedtime last night, and was just jabbering away. We were able to catch a lot of it on video, without her seeing the camera. As soon as Daddy moved closer to her, though, and she saw the camera, she stopped talking. She must be camera shy, but she's certainly not shy around us.

an interruption

We came home from lunch out with some teachers I used to work with, and I put her right to bed because she hadn't slept much while we were out. She went right to sleep and slept for the first 45 minutes. Often she'll wake up a little bit after 45 minutes, fuss, and go back to sleep. However, this time I didn't hear the usual fussing, but instead some very loud crying. Unusual. I went upstairs to check on her, and found her on her back, screaming.

Wait... Let me back up... have I mentioned that she'll only sleep on her stomach? So of course when I put her to bed it was on her stomach. But I found her on her back! She flipped herself over! No wonder she woke up--what an interruption to one's sleep...flipping over for the first time in your sleep! I was excited to see that she had achieved this milestone, but she was less than thrilled, and had no qualms about telling me so. She was inconsolable for at least 15-20 minutes. Finally I found that she would sit on my lap and watch Headline News with me. While I usually don't use TV as a calming device (well, except sometimes Baby Einstein, in a fit of frustration), this really was the only thing that would work. Before too long, though, that didn't work either! I ended up having to feed her, much earlier than she was scheduled. That calmed her down for good, and she was all smiles after that, the flipping incident completely forgotten.

blowing bubbles

This is her new trick. She likes to purse her lips and blow saliva bubbles. I don't know if she's doing it on purpose because it's fun or if it's just a natural baby instinct...but it's messy! The bubbles turn into drool, which runs down her chin and into the creases of her neck! Yuck! Here's our little drooly girl. You can't really see it here, but it's there, running down the side of her face!

Speaking of bubbles, at the wedding the other day we were given a little bottle of bubbles to blow. I was holding her, so I didn't blow any, and Brian was taking a picture, so he didn't blow any, which left us with a bottle of bubbles to bring home. Yesterday I blew some for her. It was funny watching her reaction. She just stared at first, and when one landed on her face, she sucked her breath in, like she was scared, and closed her eyes really tightly. The next time I blew them, she watched them intently, and when they had all fallen and disappeared, she started kicking and waving her arms excitedly, as if shouting, "More, Mommy, more!" I blew more, and again when they were gone, she got excited. This went on for quite awhile, until I decided I had enough sticky bubble solution on my legs. I put them away for another day.