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.