All Good Things Must Come To An End

When I went to pick up Chloe at the sitter’s house last night she dropped a bomb on me.  She’s pregnant.  Due in September.  She pretty much came out and said that she didn’t think it would be fair to continue watching Chloe once the baby is here, that by adding another baby into the mix she didn’t think she could give her as much attention as she should.  My first thought was, three kids is fine with me!  Take a guess at how many kids are at the typical daycare?   But I totally understand where she is coming from and I’m not mad at her at all.   Well maybe a little that she got knocked up again so soon.  No, I kid.  I’m just sad that the great thing we have going isn’t going to last much longer.  She is more than willing to watch Chloe up until she gives birth assuming all goes well, so at most we have 6 months to get a new plan.   She kind of wavered on maybe picking back up with her after a maternity leave for herself, but then she mentioned we would have to find a temporary replacement and basically didn’t know how that would work.  She said I’m as new at this as you are so neither of us really knows what to do, but more than likely, Chloe will not be with her after she has her baby. 

Well shit, so now what?  There are so many things to think about here.  First of all, to me the first year was the most important.  She was/is such a fragile little being that first year, I wanted to know she was in the best care, not getting beat up by bigger kids, and was getting a lot of attention from the sitter.  By September she will just be a year old, and at that point maybe she I will be more ready to be around kids her own age.  A friend of mine was in a similar daycare situation with her son.  After about his first year with a SAHM, she sent him to a regular daycare and noticed a big change in him.  She liked the structure of naps, meals, and activities, and him socializing more with kids.  Before going to the daycare, he wasn’t quite walking, but picked it up right away after seeing others do it.  Same with vocabulary.  So maybe going to a bigger daycare isn’t such a bad thing?  I still see us doing an in-home daycare only though. 

When I told JJ his first thought was, before we send her somewhere else I’d rather take her to the restaurant with me. Now, obviously this won’t work.  She will be walking, or on the verge of walking, and a restaurant is not a safe place for a  little girl.  Not to mention JJ wouldn’t get anything done with her there.  Still I think it’s pretty cute how protective he is of her, and will NOT just let anyone watch her. 

The other option is finding another SAHM nearby and doing the same thing we’ve been doing, only with her.  One person came to mind that I used to work with.  She had a daughter a few months older than Chloe and quit her job to stay at home.  She lives in our town so that could be an option.  I have no idea if she’d accept or not though.  I’ll have to start asking around and see if friends of mine have friends of their own who are SAHM’s and willing to earn a little extra cash by watching Chloe. 

The biggest thing to deal with is JJ’s schedule with the railroad, or lack thereof.  If it were only the restaurant we had to deal with, we would be looking for daycare options 1 or 2 days a week only.  But with the railroad, we almost need someone on standby should he get called into work during the week when I’m at work too.  Now THAT is going to be hard to find!  And then there is still that rumor in the back of my head that JJ’s job might be eliminated and he would have to go back to working full time at the railroad.  We just don’t know. 

But it has got me thinking, is a daycare with several kids such a bad thing?   I definitely see pros and cons.  Kids seem to be more social when they are around others their own age, they don’t keep to themselves as much.  They are a little more advanced when it comes to walking, talking, etc.  But what about all the kids that get to stay at home with their parents?  I mean Chloe is one of them for the most part.  I wouldn’t choose to send her to a daycare just to get her to socialize.  There has to be other options.  I still want her to get lots of attention though and not be “just another kid.”  I want her sitter to love her as much as our current sitter does and think enough to send me pictures of videos every once in a while if she does something cute.  Maybe an in-home nanny a few days a week?  That still doesn’t get her around other kids though…I don’t know, what are your thoughts? 

Hang On Grandma!

I didn’t intend to write another post so soon, but felt like I needed to get this out there.  As soon as I got to work today and started my normal routine of checking Fa.cebook and Blo.gger (what, doesn’t everyone do that :)) my chat popped up on FB from my cousin asking if I had talked to my dad about my grandma.  That never is a good thing so I said no and asked if everything was OK.  Apparently my grandma had gone to the doctor on Monday for something and happened to mention she had been short of breath lately.  The doctor did an EKG and listened to her lungs.  My grandma had a few stints put in a few years ago, and we just found out she hasn’t been back to her cardiologist since.  The doctor on Monday diagnosed her with congestive heart failure.  He prescribed her a diuretic to help with the fluid, but she hadn’t gotten the script filled yet.  I guess Monday night she woke up in a panic unable to catch her breath and called my uncle to go get her the meds.  She has said numerous times that she will not undergo anymore procedures to prolong her life.  She’s lived a good life, she’s almost 92, and she’s ready to go when it’s her time.  But…I’m not ready to let her go.     

After talking to my dad this morning I got a few more details.  She could live three weeks or three years.  I think a lot of it has to do with her attitude, and when she was pretty sick about four years ago, her attitude was not good.  She had basically given up.  But JJ and I told her of our recent engagement and that she had to stick around for that.  Then the next thing to look forward to was a baby, and most recently she said she wants to see my brother graduate, which will be next May.  I told my dad I was worried that my grandma lives by herself, and it kills me to think something might happen and there will not be anyone to help her.  He brought up a good point that even if she was living with my aunt and uncle, she could still pass and there not be anything they could do to help.  My grandma was aware enough Monday night to call 911 and she chose not to.   That scares me, and makes me sad.  She has the DNR note by her bed, so her wishes are known.  The thing that worries the family is she says she’s ready to go until something happens and she panics in the moment.  That makes me wonder does she really mean she doesn’t want us to do anything or does she? 

Either way, I want to spend as much time with her as I can.  For being 92, when she’s feeling good, she still has a lot of life left in her.  She absolutely LOVES Chloe and I can’t stand the thought of her not being around to see Chloe grow up.  I mean, why can’t she just live to be 143?  I always try and take pictures of the two of them together so we have the memories and can talk to Chloe about her when she's older.  It makes her day whenever I send her pictures of Chloe on her e-pad (haha).  I feel like I need to send one every day to keep her spirits up.  I am going to do that now that the thought just popped into my head.  I guess what I’m getting at is, if you are the praying kind, please say a little prayer for my grandma.  And positive thoughts and vibes are much appreciated too.  

 My grandma at her 90th birthday party - August 2010

 Me, my brother, and my grandma at her party

Chloe and my grandma just hours after she was born - August 2011

 Me, Chloe and my grandma - Thanksgiving 2011 

Christmas 2011

 My dad's wedding - December 2011

February 2012

 Please don't let this be the last picture of these two sweet ladies together...

A Whole New World

Chloe has FINALLY learned how to roll over!  Front to back, back to front, the girl is all over the place.  And I think this is just a sign that the days of putting her down in one place are coming to an end.  It started Sunday.  She was laying on her back on the living room floor and was rolling onto her sides.  The next thing I knew, she slowly flipped over to her belly!  I was such a proud mama.  It's funny how something so little that most babies start around three or four months had JJ and I so giddy. 

Her other new thing is when she's sitting up, she will slowly lean forward, kick her legs out from under her, and end up on her belly.  This is on purpose versus when she rolls back or sideways and flops on the ground which is definitely not on purpose.  She used to hate tummy time, but when she does this now on her own, especially when she's sleepy, she seems to not mind being on her belly.  She did this Sunday night shortly before bedtime so she was sleepy and just laid on her belly.  I thought she was going to fall asleep on her belly which has never happened before, but she ended up starting to fuss so I just picked her up.

Yesterday the sitter sent me a text asking if Chloe had been rolling over for us.  I told her that she had done it once the night before, but it seemed like she was starting to get the concept down.  She said yay and that she had done it about six times already that day.  That's huge for Chloe!  Then about an hour later she sends me this picture and caption.

LOL, Well I definitely put her to sleep on her back!

That little stinker rolled over to her belly while she was taking a nap!  She had never done that before!!  Last night she rolled a few times for me at home, and then today she's done it several times with JJ.  It's like she's an old pro now.  It's so amazing to me to have watched her struggle with it for so long, get so close to doing it, but just not able to get that hip around, or that arm out from underneath her, and then one day she just GETS it!  It's also nice to see if she doesn't want to be on her belly anymore, she can flip herself over so she's happy again.  Before we would have to reposition her.  But this allows her to be much more independent.  I can't believe how far she can get just by rolling around.  So not only is she rolling around now, she'll scoot on her back across the floor, and now even scoots back a little bit on her belly.  So proud of my big girl! :)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

So we didn't see tigers or bears, but we did see lions and a whole lot more!  We went to the zoo this past weekend and had so much fun.  JJ and I went together about 6 years ago, and I'm sorry to say we hadn't been back since.  The zoo in KC is great, and they always seem to find ways to make it better.  When we went that one day years ago, it was during the week on a day when it was like 90 degrees so the zoo was not busy at all.  Let's just say it wasn't the same this past weekend.  I think everyone in KC had the same idea we did - go to the zoo and enjoy the beautiful day!  The line to get in was insane, but luckily people kind of went their own way after getting through the gates and it wasn't too bad the rest of the time.  

The back of Chloe's sweet head while she looks at the polar bear

Being silly on the tram (definitely worth the extra money with a baby!)

The rhinos

By this point she was getting a little sleepy

Annnnd she's out!

Poor girl had to wake up to get out of her stroller once we got on the tram to head back, so we had to get a few more pictures.  Too bad she has marks on her face from the way she was sleeping (see pic above).

Starting to crack a smile.

Chloe and daddy

Chloe did great!  We were there for about four hours, and we could have stayed longer if we had been able to, but they were closing for the day.  We had her loaded up with sun screen, bought her a cute new hat, and the shade was down on her stroller whenever she was in it.  We didn't want to take any chances of her getting sunburned.  JJ and I on the other hand were a different story.  Can we say yay for first farmer's tan of the season?! We have a whole list of places we want to take her while the weather is so nice and before it gets too hot.  This was just the first place we were able to check off the list and it was a success!

Daddy Daycare

This is the kind of fun JJ gets to have with Chloe during the week when I'm at work.  He teaches her cool tricks like this.

I feel like I've posted a lot of videos lately, but this one is too cute.  I'm sure we think everything our kids do is adorable and everyone else is thinking big whoop!  So she's making noise with her mouth!  But it's the sweetest sound to this mama's ears. :)

I Can't Do It

What is it about kids that makes us soft?  I was never a crier, but since I’ve had Chloe, I feel like I can cry at the drop of a hat on certain things – and I don’t think I can blame it on the hormones anymore.  I had a friend who watched Gr.ey’s An.atomy.  Every Friday we would email each other about the previous night’s show and what we thought. Then she had a baby.  And she couldn’t watch it anymore.  Something about the storylines with kids and it was all just too much and too sad for her.  I didn’t get it. 

Every year the local radio station that I listen to does a radiothon for the local children’s hospitals.  I was always drawn to listen those two days they were broadcasting from the hospitals, to listen to the stories of those families whose lives have been affected by the hospitals.  Sure some of the stories were sad, and maybe my eyes welled up on occasion, but I was tough.

Now present day…I can hardly watch Grey’s either!  I can’t even watch my damn soap opera some days because a child was taken away from her mother.  I just picture all these stories through Chloe’s eyes. This little, innocent child who should not have to know one bad thing in this world.  This morning I was sobbing at my desk as I listened to the radio online once I got to work.  I missed the first part of the story but it was a dad (cue tears) talking about his son.  I believe he had some kind of medical background b/c he said he went into his son’s room, something felt off, and he grabbed his stethoscope to listen to his heart.  There was the faintest heartbeat.  He put him on the floor to administer CPR and called 911.  Once the EMT’s got there, they did nothing and he knew he was gone.  I was already crying by this point but what really got me was this next part.  Here I go again, dammit!  The house filled with family and friends who wanted to say goodbye to this young boy.  The women decided to wash his hair one last time, so they all (shit I can’t finish this…) they all took him into the kitchen and washed his hair.  And as sad as that moment should have been, the dad said it was one of the most peaceful things he has ever witnessed.  Once the story was over, the deejays came back on air to say as much as they like to share the positive stories, not all stories do end positively.  Story after story has played yesterday and continues through today.  The children’s hospital is such an amazing place, and yet I hope I never have to step foot in there again for my own child.  Chloe had a heart murmur when she was a month old so she had to get tested at the hospital, and as amazing as it was, I never want to have to go back. 

I watch her try to figure out a new toy and I want to cry.  Why, I have no idea.  Maybe it’s because I don’t understand how I can possibly love a tiny person so much and she’s growing up right before my eyes.  I see these crazy pictures on FB of children who need donations in order to get their heart transplant and I just can’t deal!  I used to read all of these blogs (way before I was pregnant) about children with serious diseases, life-threatening illnesses, and I can’t even click on the link to those blogs anymore.  Watching the news at night has become next to impossible.  I think of all these stories and wonder what if that were to happen to Chloe?  I love my husband dearly, but hardly any hypothetical situation revolving around him can make me cry on cue the way situations surrounding Chloe do.  Same with my family, I love them too, but…no tears.  I’d like to say I think it will get better as Chloe gets older, but I’m not so sure.  This part of motherhood I was not prepared for.

Wordless Wednesday

What I love about being a mom at this stage

I love, in no particular order...

• The way you wrap your tiny fingers around mine
• The way you smile all the time
• How you light up when your daddy walks in the room
• How you love to reach out and pet your puppies
• How you laugh when I blow on your belly
• To watch you learn new things
• To watch you dance when you hear music
• How you seem so shy when meeting new people, but sneak in a smile or a glance to let us know you are comfortable with them
• How you sigh after a big yawn
• How you reach up for me now when I put my arms out
• How soft your hair feels after a bath
• Rubbing your back the way my mom rubbed mine
• That you make me feel whole
• That you taught me how to love completely unconditionally
• The soft noises you make in your sleep
• How happy you are in the morning when we come in to get you up for the day
• When you are sleepy and doze off in my arms
• The way I feel when I look at you and know daddy and I made you
• To watch your extended family members with you
• To hear you try and say "mama"
• To hear you talk in the back seat of the car
• To watch your daddy love on you and show you off
• How you rub your blanket on your face when you get sleepy
• How proud you are of yourself when you rock back and forth
• How you stick your bottom lip out when you cry - it's so sad, but so cute
• The smile you flash when I get home from work
• That your daddy "swoops and scoops" you out of your crib just so he can kiss you goodnight after he's been at work all day
• Your big gummy smile when we play airplane
• To make new memories with you
• To rub your tootsies while you eat
• The sound of your giggle
• To tickle you on your neck
• To think about your future and all the things we will get to do together
• All your rolls, and especially your yummy, kissable cheeks
• To watch you sleep
• 1,000 and 1 more things about being your mom but the #1 thing is that I am your mom!

Dog Park

We got a surprise email at work today that we were getting off early.  Our main campus is on spring break so the president let us leave a few hours early and enjoy the beautiful weather.  We decided to use that time and go to the dog park.  We got some great pictures of Chloe and the dogs enjoyed running around making friends with other dogs, and taking a few dips in the lake.  Since the weather has been so nice lately, we've been doing things we haven't done since last summer - when I was pregnant - and it's so weird to do all these things with Chloe in tow now.  Just another crazy reminder what can happen in a year.

Show Us Your Life - Infertility

*I totally didn't read the directions on Kelly's Korner and posted even though we are not currently going through infertility. Feel free to skip this post...so sorry! :)

It's been a while since I've participated in this series with Kelly's Korner, but this topic hits close to home so I thought I would share my story.  My husband and I got married in the summer of 2008 and decided we wanted to expand our family in the spring of 2009.  I (like many women who go through infertility it seems) had a feeling it would be difficult for me to get pregnant.  I just had this hunch, and I think the fact that my cycles were never regular had something to do with putting that thought in my head.  That is when my blog came to be.  I needed a place to write down all of my feelings because at this time, no one knew what we were going through, and I wanted to keep it private. Little did I know the community of women I would find who have been a lifeline during this entire process for me. 

After charting my BBT and not having regular cycles from May 2009 through November 2009, probably only a total of three, I decided to ask my OB for some help.  She prescribed me Prov.era to jump start my cycle.  It worked and then I went on to take 50 mg of Clo.mid.  For a breakdown of all my cycles, see the right sidebar.  I knew I could only take Clo.mid for so long, and after four rounds of it with no luck, I decided to take the next step.

I had made an appointment with a local RE and I think it took about 3 weeks to get in. When I made the appointment they said to block off four hours and they weren't kidding.  JJ and I were there every bit of 4 hours.  It was overwhelming, surreal, kind of scary, very helpful, full of information, and I felt like my head was spinning as we walked out of the office.  We were really having to get help to get pregnant.  I couldn't believe it had actually come to this.  My husband had been tested and was fine (although I think his count was a little low, the doctor seemed fine with it) and I had been diagnosed with PCOS.  Since we had been struggling for over a year at this point, I had done research of my own and basically diagnosed myself with PCOS so that didn't come as a shock to me.

The RE decided to change my meds from Clo.mid to Fe.mara and I liked it much better.  Clo.mid and I didn't get along too well with the hot flashes, mood swings, not to mention it wasn't working.  I also changed from taking it days 5-9 to 3-7 so it bumped up my ovulation day.  I'll mention here that even on the 50 mg of Clo.mid I always ovulated while on the meds, so I thought that was a great sign considering I didn't seem to be able to without them. 

In August of 2010 I had an HSG done and got the all clear, and a week later we had our first IUI.  I had it in my head this was going to work for us, so when the test came back with a BFN I was devastated.  I couldn't believe how hard it hit me, like if this didn't work this must mean my body is really jacked up.  We didn't have a whole lot of money to put towards trying to get pregnant and I just saw our chances of ever having children fading away.  We did another IUI in September and got the same results - BFN.

In October we decided to take the month off (I was still on Fe.mara though) and reassess what we wanted to do.  We did the same thing in November and I had a health fair at work one day.  A chiropractor came in and I signed up for a free consult in his office b/c I've heard that can sometimes help with infertility.  After his workup in the office he had my husband come back for a follow up with me and he was trying to sell us on some crazy several thousand dollar nutrition plan to help with infertility.  He said he could help me, but it could take many many months, even over a year.  I think this was really the turning point in getting us the help we needed to actually get pregnant.

I wasn't willing to wait that long.  Through some of the blogs that I had been following, I'd heard acupuncture mentioned several times.  I hate needles so the thought of acupuncture just creeped me out, but at this point, I was willing to try anything.  I scheduled an appointment with an acupuncturist the first part of December and fell in love with her.  The atmosphere of the office was so calming and relaxing, her voice was sweet, and we just clicked.  She said something along the same lines as the chiropractor, that she could help me, but it might take some time.

After seeing her three times in just three weeks, I got my BFP!!  I want to point out though that she had only treated me once before I actually ovulated that cycle, plus I was still on Fe.mara.  It was like my body just needed one little tweak and things started working the way they were supposed to.  I was so surprised when I called to tell her the news and she told me she thought I might have been at my last appointment and actually wrote it down in my file, I think something to do with my heartbeat.  I continued seeing her through the first four months or so but that was it.

I had a wonderful pregnancy and we welcomed our beautiful daughter into this world in August of 2011.  All the early morning temperatures, the OPKs, the needles into the belly, the blood draws, the BFN's month after month led us to our daughter and honestly I don't think I would have changed anything.  Infertility is a double edged sword - it is so horrible while you are going through it, but if you are lucky enough to come out on the other side I think it makes you appreciate things so much more.  Not just your kids, but everything.  The women I've met in the blogging community who have also struggled to get pregnant have been such an inspiration and a great support, I've even had the opportunity to meet a few of them IRL.  And I hope by sharing my story, I too can be an inspiration for someone and just say hang in there.  I wish for all of us longing to be parents to be able to share our success stories one day!

Grandparents don't always know best

6:15 pm

Today JJ had to go to the restaurant and my dad's wife had agreed to watch Chloe.  We knew she had an appointment at 6 so JJ planned to be back to get her by then, but if he got caught up with things, my dad was free to watch Chloe past 6.  JJ just called me to let me know they were on their way home.  Then just kind of in casual conversation he said that Chloe was sitting on the hardwood floors in the kitchen when he walked in, and when he picked her up, he noticed a knot on her forehead.  He asked my dad if she had fallen and he said yes.

Ok, this gets me for a few reason:

1)  Whenever Chloe has been at their house, they put down this big soft comforter for her to lay on in the kitchen.  Why they didn't do that today, I don't know.

2)  They don't see Chloe all that often and the last several times have been out at a restaurant so someone is constantly holding her.  Through conversations they knew that she was sitting up on her own, but they had never seen it firsthand.  Then WHY did they not put down the blanket just in case??

3)  Nina's grandson is 11 months old so I'm sure they are used to what he is capable of doing which is probably sitting up on his own without even the thought of him falling over.  But Chloe is ONLY 7 MONTHS OLD!!

So JJ's telling me this story and tears start welling up in my eyes.  We have had Chloe for seven months now and watch her so carefully.  She's never fallen, gotten a bump, nothing.  She's at my dad's house for five fucking minutes alone with him and she bashes her head into the hardwood floors!  (Let me clarify, she was sitting on the floor and just fell forward but hit head first- she topples over still every once in a while).  And I'm sure he doesn't even really think much of it.  "Oh yeah, she fell and she cried."  That's it, no "I'm sorry" or "the poor baby girl."  I am so pissed and sad right now.  I know she was bound to get her first knot sooner or later, and honestly I don't know if I'd rather it happen on my watch or not.  But the thought of her sweet face being hurt, and her crying in pain and me not being there to comfort her kills me.  JJ had just left when he told me this so now I have an hour and a half before they get home before I can see the damage myself, and probably work myself up imagining it being much worse than it really is.  I feel like I'm being melodramatic and a drama queen (should rename my last post) but dammit, I want to be able to trust my dad to watch my kid every once in a while and now I can't.  I was so excited that he and Nina would get to spend some time alone with her today and this just ruined it.

8:00 pm

Well she's home, and I have to admit at first I couldn't even see anything.  After taking her in different light I do see a red mark and there is definitely a small knot.  I'm feeling better now that she's here though, I've seen the damage, and she's her smiley happy self.  Just gotta give her lots of hugs and kisses tonight.

I feel kinda silly even posting this picture because it's so hard to see, but I gotta document her first owie, don't I?

Drama Queen

Miss Chloe sometimes likes to be a drama queen.  We call it her fake cough.  Lately she has been doing it so hard it sounds like she's gagging herself.  She did it the whole way home from the sitters house today (a whopping 5 minutes) and she's done it several times since we've been home.  She gets a kick out of watching our reaction so when we look at her and laugh (because we think it's funny) she does it even louder.  You'd think her throat would hurt after a while!  Of course as soon as I got my phone out to record her she toned it down, but you still get the idea.  Does your kid do this?

The Countdown Is On

I think the 70-80 degree weather forecast this week has made me realize summer is just around the corner.  OK, so I might be jumping the gun on summer, but summer = bathing suit season.  Bathing suit season = holy shit I haven't worked out since I've had my baby!  And bathing suit season will be here in approximately 4 weeks because we have signed Chloe up for swim lessons!

I'm so excited for these lessons.  A girl I work with who has a 5 month old, and Rachel whose daughter is the same age as Chloe will also be taking lessons with us.  I figure we might as well start her early and get her used to water.  I don't want Chloe to be afraid, and she seems to enjoy baths, so I hope she does well.  I expect it to be 30 minutes of me walking around the pool with her to get her comfortable, and if we think she's ready, I've heard you can dunk the baby under water to get them used to that as well.  We'll see, one step at a time here.

So back to the bathing suit dilemma.  First of all, I need a ball bustin work out that will give me a six pack in 30 days!  Anyone?  Anyone?  Yeah, too bad that doesn't exist.  I'm kidding myself if I think I'm going to be at the gym 7 days a week, hell even 1 day a week is not likely at all.  But I could be doing sit ups at home.  I used to have a tape, yes a VHS tape that was an awesome 7 minute ab workout.  Too bad I don't have a VCR anymore.  I think I remember most of the exercises so now I have to commit to doing them at least every other day, if not every single day. 

And I will continue to look at the VS website for inspiration.  Yes, this is the bathing suit I am preparing to buy (if I can pull the trigger and hit purchase thinking that I might have a shot of looking like that this summer). 

And for those of you who have done parent and child swim lessons, what type of bathing suit is appropriate for mom?  All I have are two pieces and as much as I don't look like the above picture right now, I don't really want to go out and buy a one piece - talk about no motivation to exercise if I know I have a bathing suit that will cover up the problem area. 

P.S.  I squealed a little bit when I was at the store yesterday and saw the bathing suits for little girls.  My sweet Chloe is going to look adorable in a frilly bathing suit, sunglasses, and hat!  Oh I can't wait for summer!

7 Months

Whenever I would read a post on someone's 7th month old I would think that sounded so old, and here I am writing a post on my own 7 month old.  I think this has been the fastest month yet!  Every month seems to go by quickly, but I seriously feel like I just was writing your 6 month post.  I don’t think I say this enough, but you are the best thing to ever happen to us baby girl.  Your daddy and I can’t get enough of you.  You are the best medicine for any situation; if we are feeling tired, had a hard day at work, are feeling under the weather, whatever it may be, a flash of your sweet smile and everything is instantly better.  We can’t wait to try new things with you and take you places.  A recent trip to the park was so fun.  Your daddy and I said to each other while swinging that day that we’d never do anything like this without a baby, but having you has opened up the door to so many fun things, and we are so excited to watch you discover it all.  Knowing that you know I’m your mom is indescribable.  The way you snuggle down in my lap when you get sleepy, or you reach for my face when I’m changing you, the smile I get when you wake up in the morning, how proud you get when you see me smile back at you, the way you strain your neck just to get a glimpse of me in the other room, I could go on and on, but it’s nothing short of amazing and it makes my heart melt every single time.  At home you love to talk and even yell sometimes, but whenever we go out somewhere you hardly make a peep.  I'm not sure if you are just shy (I think you are) or maybe it's that you are just taking it all in.

Sleep: This has been a bit of a trick this month.  You are still doing great going down between 9:30 and 10 for the night and getting up between 9 and 10 the next morning.  However, we are working on doing away with the swaddle.  A few weeks ago you broke out of the swaddle so we tried putting you down without it and you weren’t ready.  Over the last week or so I don’t think we’ve swaddled you once!  I think you just needed some time to realize you actually like having your arms loose, so you can grab the pacifier and put it in your mouth whenever you want.  And let me tell you, it is the cutest thing to click on the monitor one minute and the pacifier be lying next to you, and 5 minutes later it’s in your mouth.  It’s like you do it in your sleep.  This has also cut down on the number of times you wake up during the night when before we might have to come in and put the pacifier back in your mouth for you.  So unless we put you down and you are just really restless, I think we might be done with the swaddle!

Daily Routine: Our daily routine hasn’t changed much.  You start your day between 9 and 10, eat play, go back down for a nap.  After the nap you eat, play some more and usually take another nap before mommy gets home from work.  When I get home it’s time to eat again and usually go down for one more quick nap around 7.  Once you wake up from that, we try and not get you too worked up because we know we have to feed you again and then it’s time to go down for the night.  You seem to really be enjoying your time with the sitter and are starting to interact more with her son.

Feed: Again, this routine hasn’t changed much.  Your first and last bottle of the day are 7 ounces, but most of the other bottles are still 6 ounces.  Daddy sometimes goes ahead and gives you 7 ounces all day long, and one day at the sitter’s you were so hungry she fed you 8 ounces!!  We are trying to get more consistent with feeding you solids, but so far you are usually only getting solids at night.  We need to be giving you fruit in the morning and veggies at night.  That is our goal to focus on this month.  You tried Pu,ffs this past month and choked a few times, you weren’t quite sure what to do with it.  We also got you Yo.gurt Me.lts, and when we bite them in half and give them to you, you do great.  Your sippy cup was another new thing this month.  We’re not sure if you have it down yet or not, it seems like you take a sip and then forget to close your mouth, so it ends up down the front of you.

Weight: guessing 16 pounds

Length: guessing 25 1/2 inches

Diaper Size: Size 2 diaper (but after this box I think we’ll probably move to size 3 already!)  We’ve been battling a diaper rash for a while now, but at this very moment I’m happy to say your tushy is no longer red!  Let’s keep it that way now, shall we?

Clothes Size: Someone forgot to tell me you are 7 months old and that 6 month clothes actually fit you!  I still have it in my head that 6 month clothes are too big, but most of your jammies are 6 months now.  You have a few pair that are 3-6 month that still fit but that’s it.  Your clothes range from a few 3 month things, to mostly 6 months, and one pair of 6-9 pants.

Hair Color:
At birth: blonde
7 months: Still blonde.  I don’t think this is going to change anytime soon.

Eye color:
At birth: blue/gray
7 months: bright blue (really hoping they stick!)

Funniest moment: You rocking back and forth always brings a smile to our faces because you get so proud of yourself and get the biggest grin.  But this month in particular, I’d have to say a funny moment was when we tried naked time for the first time, and right as we were wrapping up, you decided to poop!  Your daddy couldn’t stand to be in the room, and mommy even about gagged.  But you were just happy as ever, laying in your poop…nice. Ha!

Milestone: I feel like every day is a milestone for you lately.  You learn and do something new every day and have had several firsts this month.  You sit up unassisted now all the time.  You even stand while holding on to something for short periods of time!  When sitting, sometimes you’ll lean so far forward, you end up on your belly.   You are starting to do things for a reaction now it seems like.  If you know we laugh if you do a certain thing, it’s like you’ll do it over and over again.  You do this thing with your feet now that looks like "the wing" in tap dancing, it's pretty cute.

Your favorite toy: Your new found loves are your feet; they are always in your hands and even in your mouth!  You are still amused with laying on your back on the playmat, and swinging toys around, you will sit in your bouncy seat for a while, the jumperoo is still a favorite, but I think you are on the verge of getting bored with those things and want more activity-style toys.  We pulled out some shapes for you to play with this week and you seemed to like those.  At our play date you liked a laughing doll, and a ball that lit up and made noise.  You love our faces, and the dogs are always close by.  You do so well for the most part not pulling their fur, but just reaching for them and touching.  "Flying" is one of your favorite things to do with daddy.  Whether you are in the bouncy seat being flown around or free-flying, you get the biggest smile on your face as daddy runs through the house with you flying through the air.

Firsts:
First time going to the park
First time swinging
First time in the big stroller
First time eating Pu.ffs and Yo.gurt Me.lts
First time drinking out of a sippy cup

Yeah...so pictures are getting harder and harder to take.  See for yourself :)

 "Nanny nanny boo boo"

 "Ok, it's all out of my system now mom, I'll sit real pretty"

 

"Just kidding, back to being silly again!"