Looky
No, not crawling. Just rocking back and forth before falling over. But still. Progress.
What was I saying again?
I think I use this blog as my written memory. I have the crappiest memory EVER. Except when it’s something Tony did wrong. Then I remember it forever. And yes, I will hold it against him. Am mean wife.
When Eliana was first born (and maybe even before that), I always assumed I’d remember all of her firsts. I was wrong. Which is why this blog is wonderful. I can jot it down and keep it forever (or until I transfer it to a baby book). And with so many “firsts”, it’s nice to know nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
So because of that, I’m adding to the memory.
Eliana’s 3rd tooth came in this morning (or last night). It wasn’t there yesterday and today it was. So top, right (her left) tooth popped through on 1/30/08. I’m glad it did since her sleep has been crappy lately. It didn’t even occur to me that she could be teething since the last 2 came up with almost no notice. I think the 4th one (right next to #3) is on it’s way up too. If so, I hope it comes up fast and easy.
On 1/29/08 we moved up from size 2 (and 3’s at night) to all size 3 diapers full time. She seemed to grow out of the 2’s faster than the 1’s. We had been using size 3 at night for a few days before we made the big switch because she started leaking. Not what I want to deal with first thing in the morning. But it’s done now and I’m sad. I can’t believe she’s growing up so fast.
While I don’t think we’re at all close to crawling, I did put her in the position today (1/30/08) for the first time (ok, I tried yesterday and she fell immediately). Today she managed to stay up on her own and rock back and forth a few times before falling. Crawling is probably the one milestone I’m most looking forward to. I’m sure I’ll come to regret that in a few months, but how great would it be for her to get whatever toy she wants herself. I think it must be so frustrating to have to rely on someone else to do everything for you, especially for such an independent baby.
Wonder what new thing she’s gonna do tomorrow?
*Sorry for the dates. That’s what I get for writing a blog after midnight.
Die, throat bug
I feel like I swallowed a baseball. My throat hurts so much. The pain is spreading to my ears and tongue. It’s been going on for about a week (I think). I’ve been taking ibuprofen and it sometimes works (not tonight). I never noticed how often I swallow throughout the day. Why do people swallow so damn much? It even hurts when I stick out my tongue. I know I could stop doing it, but I can’t. I feel the need to stretch it out. At least it’s stayed in my throat and hasn’t developed into anything worse. But really. I’m done.
Photo set entitled “You are my trained monkey” or “Fun with junk mail”
Hehe
Forgot to mention
So while my hair looks fabulous straight, it looks shitty with the curls. I hate it. A lot. It’s just poofy and I have an afro. This doesn’t look good on me (or most people for that matter). So I’m going to straighten it. Or relaxerify it or whatever the hell you call it. I have never done this before and I’m worried it won’t work or it’ll jack up my hair even more. Not that messing it up more would be an easy feat. Cuz for real. It’s THAT bad. No, I’m not showing you a picture.
In all fairness, I did use some crappy hair product on it (haven’t been to the store)(Ok, I have, but I forgot, ok?). So maybe that’s to blame for the very badness of my head. Since the straight has been gone, I have left it in a ponytail. The entire time. When I wake up, Eliana laughs at me. She thinks I have dumb hair. I can’t have my daughter thinking I have dumb hair. So next weekend. Relaxerify. Woot (I hate this word, but for whatever reason, I’m addicted to saying it…cracks me up).
Just thought you’d like to know
1. I’m sick again. My throat hurts when I swallow. Yesterday my head felt fuzzy and I was sure it was going to get worse, but it didn’t. For someone who never gets sick, I sure am sick a lot. Eliana has, so far, not caught it. I’m hoping it stays that way.
2. Don’t laugh. We do this thing after Eliana’s bath called “Shiny Happy Family Time”. Basically we stand in front of the mirror together and smile as though someone were going to take our picture and then we munch on baby cheeks. Eliana has started to smile when we do. It’s like she gets it.
3. After a million years of begging, pleading, bribing, and yelling, Tony finally cleaned off the desk (he’s the only one who uses it). I told him if he did it, I would clean both living rooms (or living room and family room, whatever) and dust. I don’t know why that excited him so much. Not like I never clean. Shut up I do too clean.
4. I had some bloodwork done since I’ve been feeling a little off and found out I have super high cholesterol. As in they started me on meds and everything. That scares the crap outta me. Even though my thyroid levels are in the normal range, they started me on stuff for that too. Something about increasing my thyroid number would increase my metabolism which would help me lose weight and lower my cholesterol. Uh. Ok. I’m also back on my metformin (for my borderline insulin resistance that no longer exists apparently, but they want to keep me on it anyway). I think my doc may be kinda nutty, but what do I know?
5. I love sales.
The end. Here, have a baby.
Call the zoo!
Eliana went to the zoo for the very first time on Sunday. It was so much fun! She stayed in a good mood almost the whole time. In fact, the only time she fussed was in the car (and after a 2 hour trip, I was fussy too), and that was only because she was hungry.
She took a nice, long nap while we were there. Tony was worried she would miss everything, but I wanted her to sleep. She’s not going to remember it anyway. And a sleepy baby is a cranky baby. No fun for anyone. I thought she looked cute sleeping in the stroller.
I think she had fun when she woke up. I think she wanted to pet the animals (especially the prairie dogs). She also LOVED the otter and fish. For the most part, the animals were lounging around. If they weren’t moving much, she didn’t even notice them.
Having a bottle with Mommy
Visiting the big fish
Looking at the prairie dogs with Daddy
Little monkey
Riding the komodo dragon
Smaller than an eagle
Looking at the koi fish with Daddy
We LOVED the koi fish!
Riding on the lions
After the zoo, we went on a train ride. It was about 20 minutes long and it took us over the San Antonio River twice, through some woods, through a tunnel, past a couple museums, and past a driving range. Good stuff. Eliana was less than amused. I think the most exciting part for her was seeing a kitty in the woods. She wanted to pet it and squish it.
Ready to go
Bored baby
Going through the tunnel
Are we done yet?
Yeah
So the train wasn’t a huge success. But by that time we were all pretty tired, so it was time to make the 2 hour trek home. Eliana slept for the first half of the trip and fussed for the second half. Especially once it got dark. She’s not a fan of the dark (must remember to buy a book light for car seat). But we made it back to town and decided to get some dinner. There was no way I was going to cook dinner after being out all day. So we stopped at an Italian place for some yummy pasta. Eliana had green beans.
She’d rather have pasta
After dinner we all went home and crashed. I can not believe how tired we were. I don’t think Eliana moved at all after she fell asleep. And I was ready for bed when we put her down. Too bad mommy duties don’t end at bedtime. We had bottles to wash and laundry to fold. (I am full of crap. While we DID have all that stuff to do, it did not get done until today. I needed to read blogs and check email and all that. I’m all about priorities.) We did go to bed about an hour and a half earlier than usual and slept so good.
All in all, a great day. I love doing family stuff like that. I think we’ll wait awhile before we do all that again, but I’m looking forward to it.
Post-zoo nap with Mommy today
Baby genuis
I think she’s brilliant. I mean a tiny baby genius. I don’t know where she gets it.
Tony was sitting on the floor and Eliana was sitting in front of him playing with some plastic ring thing. She threw it and it landed on the playmat. Tony told her that since she threw it, she would have to get it herself. Yes, my husband is a hard ass. He figured she would just lunge forward and fall on her face (like babies do). Instead, she looked at it, grabbed hold of a loop on the playmat (since it was much closer), pulled it to her and grabbed the toy off of it. Brilliant. I don’t know why this strikes me as pure genius, but it does. It seems like she shouldn’t have problem solving skills like that yet.
Already smarter than mommy
Whaddya think?
My hair has been the same for years. I had it cut when I was 5 weeks pregnant and it didn’t grow until after I had Eliana. It finally grew out after she was born and I got it down to almost the middle of my back. I have wanted something different for a while, but I’ve been a little scared. I’ve only gone someplace to get my hair cut once. And that was when I was pregnant. Mostly I’ve always had family (even Tony) trim it for me. Since it’s curly, it never mattered if it was perfectly straight.
But gah! I’ve been so bored with it lately. I’ve started to really hate it. So I talked to Tony about going somewhere and having it cut. I didn’t even care if they screwed it up. It’s just hair. It’ll grow back. I guess it’s pretty common for new moms to completely change their hair and today, I joined the ranks.
Before: (I don’t have a lot of pics of me, but you get the idea)
After: (Pics aren’t important unless the baby’s in them)
I love it. Tony loves it. He’s been complimenting me all day long. It’s so soft and doesn’t frizz when I touch it. Granted the curl will come back as soon as I wash it, but today I LOVE my hair. I have a straight iron and I can try to copy it, but I doubt I’ll be able to. Oh well. I have the lady’s number since she’s moving to a new location and she will always be the one cutting my hair. At least until we have to move. And then I might just bring her with me.
PS. All I told her was to make it different, make it easy to do in the morning, and make it long enough to put up.
I don’t think I’m qualified for this position
I’m in a weird parenting place right now. I feel like I can’t find my footing. My head keeps going in circles and I don’t know how to define myself. It sounds so silly and unimportant and I don’t even know why I keep thinking about it.
There are a million “types” of mothers and a million different viewpoints on different issues. I feel like I’m a little of everything which just confuses me more. I keep thinking there are things I should be doing. Eliana should be sleeping in her crib, we shouldn’t bring her into our bed, she’s supposed to be <fill in the blank with whatever>. I know everyone says do whatever works for your family and I know what’s best for my daughter and ugh. I know. Ok? I get it. But it feels so empty.
Am I taking the easy way out by letting her sleep with us when she won’t sleep in her PNP? Does this mean I’m incapable of making the “right” decisions because they’re harder? Why does part of me feel like I’m doing everything wrong and another part feels like there’s no harm in her sleeping with me? I keep going back and forth. She’s 6 months old. She is perfectly capable of sleeping in her own room. But it’s not like she’s going to be sleeping in my room through college. What does it hurt if we do it now?
She’s so itty. I’m her mother and I’m supposed to protect her and sit right next to her and stop her from falling over. But shouldn’t I let her fall down once in a while? Isn’t it supposed to be good for her? Some kinda learning blah blah blah. Am I turning her into a wimp? Or am I protecting her from potential brain injuries?
I don’t know what I’m doing over here. What if I’m doing it wrong?
6 months
First off, OMG my baby is half a year old!! When did this happen?!? She can’t be so old yet! I feel like I just had her yesterday!! Where did my tiny baby go? Boohoohoo woe is me sad sad tear.
Yeah, I’m done now.
2 months old
3 months old
4 months old
5 months old
6 months old
We had her 6 month well baby check-up today. Everything looks good. Shots sucked as usual, but she didn’t cry for too long. She’s developed some lovely stranger anxiety and cried anytime someone looked at her. I was really surprised by that since she rarely cries. Ever. Also, I told the nurse she wouldn’t cry and the little stinker made a liar out of me. Now the nurse thinks I don’t even know my kid. (I’m sure that’s not true and in my defense, Eliana is not around strangers often. Unless you count the greeter at Walmart.) So stats are:
weight: 14.59lbs (25-50%) (no, she did not double her birth weight. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I have a itty baby and there’s nothing I can do about it)
height: 26.5″ (50-75%)
head circumference: 43cm (50-75%)
So she’s staying at her curve which is good. I’m still a little disappointed in the weight. I was bound and determined to get her to double her birth weight, but she, apparently, had other plans. Little turd.
Dr. G wants us to go to 3 meals of solids a day. I think that’s nutty. She barely eats one mean a day as it is. I think I’ll do breakfast and dinner and work in a lunch a little later. I’m sure it won’t hurt her. I’m still going to give her the same amount of formula. All in all, not a bad appointment. We don’t have shots again until 12 months and her next well baby is at 9 months.
This last month has been the most fun yet. She so much more aware and curious. It’s so much fun to see her discover new things and figure stuff out. She still “inspects” everything, but now she reaches out and tries to grab things. Everything. Especially the phone, the computer mouse, and any cup of liquid she can get her hands on. So far we haven’t had any spills, but I’m sure it’s coming. A few days ago there were hanging toys on her exersaucer that she couldn’t quite get. Now she can reach the middle one and pull on it so it plays a song.
She still sleeps in the pack-n-play in our room. We’ll be transitioning to the crib soon (for real this time). But sometimes I put her in the crib so I can get a few things done (rocking in the chair with my eyes closed). She has a crib toy that plays music. I turned it on for her, then used her foot to turn it off and turn it back on. It played through the rotation and shut off. The phone rang so I jumped up to answer it. When I got back the music was playing again. She used her foot to turn it back on. Then she turned it off and on for the next 10 minutes.
Eliana’s favorite color is yellow. It’s always the yellow toys she wants to put in her mouth or shake around. She also loves ducks, but I think it’s only because they’re yellow. I didn’t expect her to show a preference this soon. Although I don’t suppose I gave any thought to when she would.
She loves to put any and every thing in her mouth. I thinks it’s her way of discovering. Sometimes she chews on stuff, but mostly it seems she just “feels” with her mouth and tongue. She absolutely loves tags. Tags on pillows, toys, sheets, any tag she can get a hold of goes into her mouth. Sometimes she ignores the toy in favor of the tag. Maybe this is the baby version of playing with the box?
Munchin’ on the camera case
Yummy Tag
She started rolling both ways months ago, but it seemed after she learned how, she had no interest in doing it anymore. She would still roll belly to back a few times, but never rolled back to belly. Now she’s started rolling like crazy. Both ways, all the time. I’ll place her on her playmat on her back and when I look up, she’ll be on her belly. Then I look again and she’s on her back. Then belly, and so on. I won’t be surprised when she’s rolling all the way across the living room.
She started sitting up this month and is just getting better and better. She’s not as wobbly as she used to be, but she still falls over. She sitting for longer periods of time. When I think she might fall, she catches herself and keeps her balance. She can even sit in the shopping cart without me holding her up! She pulls herself from a reclined position to sitting all the time. Especially when she’s in the bathtub which always makes me so nervous. She’s never fallen in the tub though.
Speaking of the tub, she’s a lot more active than she used to be. Always kicking and splashing and reaching for her toys. Santa brought some bath toys for Christmas and she loves putting them in her mouth. She always tries to reach for the ones furthest from her. She shows no interest in the ones closest.
This month we started solids every day. Eliana seems to tolerate everything so far and isn’t shy about trying something new. We’ve been doing veggies and will move on to fruit soon. So far sweet peas are the least favorite, though she does eat them. Squash has been a big hit. Green beans seem to be going well too if only because they’re a little thicker. She’s also had carrots. Her very favorite so far is sweet potatoes. She loves them so much. It’s the only thing she’ll eat a whole container of in one sitting. We tried a little avocado that I smushed up myself. She hated it the first day. There was actual gagging. It was adorable. I managed to get it extra smushed the second day and it went down much easier. Not loving it, but tolerating. She insists on feeding herself and I know soon I’ll be out of a job. She doesn’t eat much yet and right now we’re doing one meal a day. I know she’s very very interested in our food. She stares at us when we eat and has recently started grabbing for our food. She’s ended up with a handful of spaghetti sauce that had to be cleaned off her before it made it’s way into her mouth. I don’t think she’s quite ready for that yet.
First avocado 1/15/08
First sweet potatoes 1/12/08
First green beans 1/9/08
First squash 1/6/08
First sweet peas 1/2/08
First carrots 12/30/07
She’s also been increasing her bottle feedings. She increased her feedings from 4oz per bottle to 5 oz per bottle. Sometimes she’ll surprise us and want more. So far the most she’s taken is 8oz! We had a growth spurt about a week or so ago. It was very noticeable and I’m hoping things even out for a while. All at once she grew out of her 3-6 month jammies. We had 3 foam tiles under her jumperoo so she could reach the floor and we had to take off 2 at once. I think the last one will be coming off soon.
This month, Eliana has started noticing the cats. She so very badly wants to play with them and pet them and squish their fur in her hands. They, unfortunately, do not want to have anything to do with her. When she’s in her exersaucer and she sees one, she jumps frantically trying to get their attention. They ignore her since they seem to know she can’t get to them…yet.
We’re not crawling yet, but it does seem like she’s gearing up toward maybe possibly trying to start thinking about crawling. Kinda. Granted, I have no experience to gauge this, but she does kinda do a little crawly thing on the bed. I think we’re going to have to think about baby-proofing very soon. That makes me nervous since there are lots of possible instruments of death all around the house. I’ll have to look at everything as though it will be stuck in a mouth or nose or light socket. Really, I don’t even know where to start.
I know this is crazy long, and if you got through it all, then I love you even more now. It’s really for her. I want her to look back later on and have something from her babyhood. And maybe it’ll help me along when we have baby#2. Since I’m sure I will have forgotten everything by then.
Maybe a week old
6 months old
Holy crap.
