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....