9 months

Well baby girl, you are now 9 months old.  I thought I was going to have to say that we're still waiting for you to do real crawling, but you finally did it today!  You got up on your hands, one knee and then used your foot on the other leg to push.  It was really cute and I got so excited that I just about threw you a party.  You were quite proud of yourself and so was I.  Of course I don't know when you'll do it again, but hey, you did it!

Your other big accomplishment over the past month was learning how to go from laying on your stomach to sitting up all by yourself.  You are a pro at that now and do it all the time.  Although you did have a few face plants during the learning process, you managed to keep trying and figured it out.

You love to talk and have so many sounds now that it seems like you have your own baby language.  You can say mama and dada and you know what they mean.  Dada is a happy word for you; I guess you think he's the fun one.  You usually say mama in a distressed voice when you want to be picked up or rescued from whatever horrible thing is going on that you think you need rescuing from.  I still like hearing it though.

You love to eat just about any kind of pureed baby food, but you don't like anything thicker or textured.  You stick your tongue out and gag, so we need to work on that.  You can pick things up and put them in your mouth, you just don't like to eat anything firm enough to pick up.  Unless it's paper!  Also, you have two teeth now, so you should put them to use.  By the way, it's almost impossible to get pictures of those teeth.  This is what we resorted to in trying:

And it still didn't really turn out.

You love taking baths and have been playing with your washcloths, so we decided it was time to get you some bath toys.  I picked out a really cool fish toy for the bath that I thought you would like and I was right.  You did not want to let go of that toy even after your bath was finished.

You are such a happy girl and I love that I get to spend my days with you.  Happy 9 months baby girl, I can't wait to see what the next month brings.

8 months

Mommy is so behind.  You have been 8 months since the 22nd and I am just now getting around to writing your update.  You are so close to crawling that we keep expecting you to do it any day now.  You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth like you're winding up to go.  However, when you do go, you just flop forward and crawl around on your stomach.

One of your favorite activities right now is to tip over the recycling box and go through all the papers and cardboard.  You love paper and there's always something new in that box every time you tip it over.  I let you play until you start eating the paper, then I have to take it away.  I'm sorry, but you really can't eat paper.

Your favorite toys are the rubber beaded teethers.  You have three different ones and love them all.  You almost always have one in your hand and you take them everywhere with you.  You hold on tight to them and won't let go.  When trying to change your clothes, I have learned to get you to switch hands because it is almost impossible to pry one from your hand.

Right now your favorite food seems to be pears.  You also like sweet potatoes and peaches.  You did not like squash!  You also love to drink water from mommy's cups.

You had your first trip to the pumpkin patch and you had so much fun.  You were looking all over the place at the people and the pumpkins.  It was so fun to see you enjoying it all.

We moved you into your own room and you are sleeping much better now.  I only have to nurse you once or twice instead of 5 times!  I miss having you in the room with me, but I do enjoy the extra sleep.

I love you so much baby girl and will try to do better at keeping up with documenting all your achievements.

*I forgot to mention that you have your first tooth now =)

My monster baby

I just had to share this video because it is way too funny to keep to myself.

7 months

Baby girl, you are 7 months old.  The more time goes by, the faster you seem to change.  You are so mobile now.  You don't crawl on hands and knees yet, but you can get all over the place.  You do a version of the army crawl, but you don't pull yourself with one arm at a time.  You put them down one at a time and then you hold your hands together and pull with both arms.  Your legs started out doing this funny swim kick thing, but now you are using them much more effectively.

There were a few days recently when you decided that you would just roll everywhere you wanted to go instead of scooting.  But you are very good at scooting now and I know real crawling is coming any day.

You say dada and are working on mama, but haven't connected what you're saying to the people it represents.  You do love to talk though.  It is absolutely adorable and I love your sweet little voice; however, I really don't need to hear you talking at 3 am!

You are generally a very happy little girl and you just started waving to people when they say hi and wave to you.  It is the cutest thing ever and was quite entertaining for mommy and your auntie Sara.

You were not too sure about food when we started solids.  You looked at me like I was crazy and let the food fall right back out.  Each time we tried though, you got more used to it.  We tried sweet potatoes, green beans, and peaches.  When we got to peaches, you finally started to think maybe this food thing was ok.  Then we tried sweet potatoes again and you ate almost the entire jar.  I think we will try carrots next.

Your days of being the newest and youngest cousin are over.  Your new baby cousin was born on September 20.  You haven't met her yet because mommy is still working on getting rid of this horrible cold, but I'm sure you two will be great friends.

I love you baby girl and can't wait to see what new accomplishments you will have over the next month.

Oh, and your hair has grown so I can stick it up and make you look silly =)  You still look beautiful, even when I give you crazy hair!

Time Flies

Baby girl, you have been 7 months old for two whole days and mommy didn't do your monthly update.  I caught a very bad cold and haven't been doing much of anything.  You have changed so much in a month and I will get that post done this week, but right now I need to sleep so I can continue to get better.  I have so much to share, so stay tuned...

6 months old

Baby girl, you are now 6 months old.  You have become quite active.  You can't sit still for a second!  You learned how to roll over from your back to your tummy shortly after turning 5 months old and haven't stopped since.  You started figuring out how to scoot over at Uncle Jeff and Auntie Jessica's house and Grandma bought you a big rug so you can practice at home.  You like to roll back and forth from your tummy to your back to your tummy etc., but since you can only go in one direction for each and they are opposite directions, you don't really get far.  You can sit by propping yourself with your arms, but you'd much rather be on your tummy so you can try to go somewhere.

You love to talk and will babble away, mostly saying bababababa.  When I try to teach you to say mamamamama or dadadadada, you look at me and smile.  Or you move your mouth but no sound comes out.  You also learned to blow spit bubbles, but you tuck your bottom lip under your top lip when you do it.

You don't laugh very often, but when you do, it is the most infectious giggle and I do just about anything to hear it.  I'll do something that you find hilarious and when I try it again you are so over it.  Keep it fresh mom!

It's late, so I'm going to end this post.  I'll do a part 2 if I think of anything else to add.  I love you baby girl, more and more everyday!

Being a mom is a messy job

When I said I would have a more interesting post, this was not quite what I had in mind.  I guess the universe took that last post as a sign that I needed a challenge.

So, Wednesday I go to get my daughter out of her car seat to go to Baby & Me and I smell poop.  I cautiously remove her and see that it has already started leaking through the side if her outfit.  It had been a whole week since she last pooped, so this would be a fun one!  I now carry her awkwardly into the building and up to the 2nd floor because I don't want it getting on me.  I have clothes for her, but I don't have any for me.

I get to the group and tell the facilitator that my baby who only poops once a week decided the ride over would be a good time to go.  She offers to hold her while I get everything ready.  I don't know that I would be offering to hold her, but I definitely appreciate the help.

I get everything ready, lay her down and prepare to open the diaper.  Another mom at the group said she had never seen such a full diaper.  I didn't really even know where to begin.  It was everywhere!  I didn't want her hands in it, but I couldn't hold her hands and feet and wipe at the same time.  That other mom very nicely held her hands for me so I could try to conquer my messy job.

The facilitator then asks if I just want to give her a bath in the sink.  Yes!!!!  That is a great idea.  I was afraid I was going to run out of wipes and still not have her clean.  I had been wiping away and was nearing the end of the pack!  So my baby got a bath in the sink at Baby & Me with the help of the facilitator.  We used paper towels as wash cloths and baby blankets to dry her off, but we got her all cleaned up.

Who knew a diaper change could turn out to be a three person job!  At first I was a little upset to have to deal with such a mess at Baby & Me, but then I was actually thankful to have the help.  If she had done it at home, I would have been on my own.

So there you have it, just another day in the life of a mom.  I'm going to think twice before ever saying there's nothing too exciting going on again!

Nothing too exciting going on

I thought I would get in a quick post since it has been awhile.  I left off saying we were going to try solids and I did give her a little rice cereal with a lot of breast milk.  She seemed to think this was a crazy idea.  I don't think she actually swallowed any of it, she just let it drip out of her mouth with this funny look on her face.  That was a week ago and I haven't tried again.  I have to try something else though, because apparently when your baby only poops once a week, rice cereal is not the way to go.

Of course now I'm thinking that I really don't know why she wants to eat at night.  I have lots of theories, but of course she can't tell me if I'm right or wrong. So I guess there just has to be a lot of trial and error.  I don't know if she needs solids or not, but since she will be 6 months next week, it will be time to start anyway.  However, I am now thinking that she isn't eating enough during the day because she is so distracted and she is making up for it at night when things aren't quite as interesting.

I have no idea how to solve that problem other than waiting for it to pass.  In the meantime I am just trying to get used to this more demanding nighttime schedule.

Okay, that's enough for now.  It's time for bed.  I'll try to think of something more interesting for my next post if there is another one before I do my daughter's 6 month post on the 22nd.

So many changes

My little girl is going through so many changes right now.  She is starting to sit by herself for a little while, using her arms to prop herself up.  She rolls from her back to her tummy.  She has been so close to doing this for awhile now, but finally made it all the way over on Sunday, July 31.  Ever since then she doesn't really want to be on her back.  Only problem is that she's not satisfied to just stay there on her tummy, she wants to go places.  She gets frustrated that she isn't mobile yet.

Last night my husband and I left her at my brother and sister-in-law's house and while we were gone, she started her first real efforts at scooting.  They have carpet at their house and we don't, so she hasn't really gotten the chance to try at home because she can't get any traction on the hardwood floors.  Lucky for her, today grandma bought her a big rug to practice scooting around on.  Now we need to buy some baby gates so she doesn't scoot right down the stairs!

I also think we're going to start solids very soon because she is eating every 2-3 hours night and day.  Sometimes doing a little cluster feeding every hour a couple times before bed.  She used to sleep 11-12 hours a night waking only once to eat after 8-9 hours.  Now she's waking up all night long to eat.  I try other things to get her back to sleep and when that doesn't work, I feed her.  She doesn't just comfort suck for a minute and fall right back asleep, she gulps like she's starving and she eats just like she does during the day.  I think she's really hungry and is starting to need something more than just breast milk.

So that's where I'm at right now.  Trying to figure out how to handle my baby who needs lots of activity, stimulation and frequent feeding night and day.  I am one exhausted mama.  I look forward to the day when I get to sleep again!

I'm looking for the baby

So I thought I'd share a funny story.  A few nights ago, in the middle of the night, my poor husband woke up to me searching through his blankets and feeling around him.  "What are you doing?" he asked.  "I'm looking for the baby" I replied.  I continued to look for her and he asked me again.  By this point I woke up to a bewildered husband, looked over to see my baby asleep in her bed where she should be, and realized I had been asleep the whole time.  It was a dream that my husband had been made an unwilling participant in.  I started laughing hysterically at the absurdity of it all.  I don't know if he was quite as amused.

Before I had my daughter, I used to have very vivid dreams of spiders in my bed and would wake my husband up looking for them.  I wouldn't fully wake up until I turned the lights on.  It was really crazy because I would be so convinced that it was real and would have no idea that I was still asleep until I turned the lights on and would finally realize it was just a dream.  Now I look for my daughter in my bed and I have no idea what ends up waking me up because I don't turn the light on.

Luckily I have never left the bedroom, but it is still a little scary to know that I dream so actively.  It runs in the family though.  My mom talks in her sleep.  She would sit up in bed and have conversations with my dad while she was still asleep and then would ask him why he woke her up when he responded to her.  She had no idea she was talking to him.  My sister and her kids sleep walk.  My sister actually left the house once when she was younger and my dad found her outside our neighbor's house.  My husband is worried about our daughter being like me because she already "talks" in her sleep.  I just hope she doesn't sleep walk because that can be dangerous.

Sooooo tired

I wish my baby would stop waking up so much at night.  She used to sleep 8-9 hours and then another 2-3 hours.  I felt great.  Now she wakes after 3-4 hours to eat, 3-4 hours to eat, 2-3 hours.  And that doesn't count the fussing for her pacifier or sometimes her tossing around that can wake me.  I feel like a zombie.  I want my old baby back.  I don't know what's going on with this new one.  Gotta go, she's napping which means I have about 30 min. to rest my eyes.

5 months old

My baby girl, you are 5 months old today.  I know everyone says it, but I can't believe how fast the time is going by.  I remember the day we brought you home from the hospital and you looked so tiny in your carseat.  Now I find my self astonished everyday at how big you are getting.

You love to shriek, squeal, and babble away.  If we go to a restaurant, you want to make sure your voice is heard.  The lady at baby and me nicknamed you the opera singer because your cry reaches quite the loud volume when you are upset.  Although you really are a pretty good baby and that doesn't happen too often.

I think it was last month that you found your feet and you love to hold onto them.  You love to hold onto anything you can get your little hands on.  Mommy's dinner plate, mommy's cup, mommy's hair, etc.  When you're in your carseat, you hold onto the side.  When you're nursing, you pull on mommy's shirt.  You like to be holding something when you sleep, so we started giving you a blanky to hold during your naps.  Here's a picture of you holding your panda toy while taking a nap.

You like scooting around in a circle when on your back and you do it a little bit while on your tummy.  You roll onto your sides, but won't quite make it all the way over.  You can roll from your tummy to your back, but only choose to do so on very rare occasions.  You started rolling from tummy to back when you were 3 months old, but you just don't want to do it.  I think if we had carpet instead of hardwood floors you would move a lot more, you just can't get any traction.  You can sit very briefly unassisted before you fold over and then protest.

You get bored at home and need to go new places.  You let mommy know we've been at home too long by getting very fussy.  You love getting outside and going for walks, especially when mommy puts you in the moby wrap facing out.  You kick your legs with excitement and are very quiet while taking everything in.  You like to go to Trader Joe's and you draw lots of attention, making friends and exchanging smiles.  You also love bath time, you recently learned how to splash.  And you love your kitties.  It's a good thing they love you too because I think it's gonna take awhile for you to learn how to be gentle.

Daddy seems to be the only one who can make you laugh.  You love to play with daddy and you think he is so funny.  Mommy is more of the comforter and source of food. =)

Your sleeping habits seem to be a bit of an issue these days.  You used to take good naps and at night you would sleep 8-9 hours straight, wake up to eat and go back to sleep another 2-3 hours.  Now you usually take 30 minute naps either in the swing or on me and in the early evening I can sometimes get you to take a 1-1 1/2 hour nap on me by rocking or nursing you back to sleep when you wake up.  (Funny side note, you shake your head side to side to rock yourself to sleep when I'm not holding you.)  And night time has gotten out of  control.  You will do a 5-6 hour stretch, eat, sleep 3 hours, eat, sleep 2-3 hours and then wake up for the day.  This is very tiring for mommy because it takes such a long time for me to fall asleep, so I do much better with one feeding instead of two.  I don't know what has been going on with you these past couple of weeks.  But that's my only complaint.  Please, please, please baby go back to your old sleep schedule.

I have to say that my very favorite moments are when you wake up in the morning and are full of smiles for me.  You are so happy to see me and it just melts my heart.  Also when you fall asleep nursing, it is just the sweetest thing.

Well, this has been a very long post, so I will wrap it up.  I love you so much baby girl, and I am so happy I get to be your mom.

Reaching to high?

So I told my mom about my new blog yesterday and she said my goal to blog everyday was a little too ambitious.  She could be right.  Maybe I should be more realistic.  I will definitely have a post every month on the 22nd dedicated to my daughter since she was born February 22nd and she's the whole reason I'm starting this blog.  Beyond that, maybe I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I don't really know how to organize my thoughts when it comes to this blogging business, so there might be a lot of rambling going on.  Anyway, I'm here to blog about being a mom.  Hopefully more than that, but mostly that's why I'm here.

My daughter will be 5 months old tomorrow and while I feel like I'm doing  a pretty good job of caring for her, that's all I'm doing.  Other than that, I feel like I can barely take care of myself let alone keep the house clean or cook dinner.  I get a shower every other day, which was an upgrade from every three days the first couple of months after she was born, and I get laundry done when I run out of clean clothes. A girl has got to have clean underwear!

I feel like I should have this figured out by now; however, any moment I get to myself I just want to relax because there aren't many of those moments to be had.  I'm tired and I don't know how to find the time or energy to get anything done.  I know a happy baby is better than a clean house, but it's easier to say than actually feel it is true when you are sitting in the messy house.

Well, I have to go get ready for my baby and me group.  Tomorrow's post will be about my daughter and what a true joy it is to be her mother.

Yes, I'm new

I love to read blogs, but never put much thought into having one of my own.  That is until I realized my baby would be 5 months old this week and other than photos and a few videos, I haven't done much to document her many milestones.  Not to mention my part in this crazy new journey I signed myself up for.

So here I am, typing one handed while my baby takes a much needed nap on my lap, hoping this will be a valuable tool in preserving the moments that seem to be passing far  to quickly.

And maybe even a good place to work through the new challenges I face as a first time mom.

I'm not the best when it comes to technology, so this may not be the fanciest blog on the block, but hopefully someone can get some enjoyment out of it.

My goal is to try to blog something everyday, but I will make no promises.

Baby is awake, so I guess that concludes my very first post. =)