And Baby B Makes Three!

Turning off the lights

2007-09-30T22:35:00.000-04:00

For a few reasons, including the desire for a new look, I've decided to switch this blog over to Wordpress.

You will be re-directed automatically to the new site within 10 seconds, but if you're impatient or if the re-direct doesn't work correctly, click here to go to the new site at http://andbabybmakesthree.wordpress.com.

Be sure to update all of your blogrolls and bookmarks with the new address!

Buying stock in tissues

2007-09-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

I am sick. Yes, again. And I'm really getting tired of this. This time it's a fairly minor (overall) head cold that has some pretty major sinus pain at times, which all began last night after dinner. I'm hoping it runs its course quickly and I can move on. It stinks to be sick on the weekend, but at least that makes it less likely I'll have to miss work because of it; I have plenty of sick time saved up, but I just hate using it all at once since after a while it starts to make me look bad.

But that's not all. Baby B also showed signs of a minor cold yesterday and today, though hers might be from teething. (I know most pediatricians say that cold-like symptoms are NOT related to teething, but with as many anecdotes as I've seen to support the possible connection, I'm not ruling it out personally.) She was also extremely fussy at dinnertime today, and I can see a bottom tooth very close to the surface, so I'm sure the pain is bothering her quite a bit. She woke up twice during the night last night, and she's already woken up once tonight--all very unusual for her. She has a new, different, and very distinct cry (it sounds like a cat that's being tortured) that we think we've identified as the teething pain cry, so that's helped us take the appropriate steps to alleviate her pain.

Despite our colds, we went to a local farm this afternoon for AutumnFest with some friends and had fun doing things like a hay ride, a corn maze, several farm animal exhibits, and a spooky farmhouse. The weather was perfect--sunny and mid- to upper 70s--if not very autumn-like. I'm definitely looking forward to enjoying the nice weather that the fall usually brings us, especially after such a hot and dry summer here.

When all else fails, shovel it

2007-09-28T21:27:00.000-04:00

The other day, we gave Baby B some cut-up pieces of banana as her first real finger food, just to try it out and see how she did. She's got a real good pincer grasp, but since her fingers get wet from putting them in her mouth and because the bananas are slippery to start with, she sometimes has trouble picking it up. (Yes, I know about the trick of rolling the pieces in ground-up Cheerios or graham crackers, but we had neither at the time.) Rather quickly, Baby B figured out on her own that all she had to do was get her face down near her tray and push the piece of banana directly into her mouth without needing to pick it up. The Husband and I looked at each other in amazement as she did this not just once (which could have been a fluke), but two or three times in a row.

Is she very advanced, or what? ;)

We also recently gave her one of those mesh infant teething feeders, in which you put baby-appropriate foods (we used banana first and did papaya next) and they can eat them without fear of choking on big pieces. That went over very well, even though it is a pain in the rump to clean well.

Waiting no more

2007-09-27T15:04:00.000-04:00

I went home for lunch today and on the answering machine was a message from that first (and original favorite) daycare we'd looked at--nearly 11 months ago--letting us know there's a spot in their infant room opening up soon and it's ours if we want it. We have to call back by tomorrow morning or else they're calling the next person. (Geez, thanks for giving us a little time; what if we'd been out of town? Apparently we were supposed to be waiting by the phone non-stop for their call.)

The big advantage to this other daycare is that we can see it from our back deck (which is fixed now, by the way), though our current daycare is about that same distance from my office (both of which are about 2 miles from our house). Also, the other daycare has not only a playground but a decent-sized indoor gym to allow for playtime during cold or other inclement weather.

However, I think we're going to stay where we are. We like the teachers and the director, and Baby B seems to like it there...and this other daycare is kind of an unknown at this point other than what we saw on our tour. Plus, I think the teachers at our current place would kill us if we took Baby B out, because they really like her a lot. When I recently told one of her teachers that my schedule was going to be changing, she panicked at first because she thought I was telling her that we didn't need to bring her there anymore, when in fact I was telling her that I'd be bringing her an additional day. She was outwardly relieved. If our current daycare were farther away or if we had any problems with it, I think we'd be more inclined to switch, but neither is the case for us.

Mostly I'm just amazed at how long we were on the waiting list--just short of a full year. It's a good thing we found out about our current daycare when we did and were able to get in there because I really don't know what we would have done otherwise. Things ended up working out just fine, despite the stress of not knowing if we'd have a daycare spot until right before I returned to work. I'd always heard about long waiting lists for daycares, but I always figured that was just in bigger metropolitan cities, not in my city. Boy was I wrong!

(Happy 8 months old, Baby B! I love you, my little Itty Bitty!)

Wordless Wednesday: A few of our (many) silly moments

2007-09-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

To see more Wordless Wednesday participants, click here.

Stay away, bug!

2007-09-25T23:18:00.000-04:00

I took Baby B to the pediatrician today for a follow-up appointment to check on her pneumonia and ear infections. I knew the pneumonia had cleared up within a couple of days (well, at least based on the visible symptoms), but I wasn't as sure about the ear infections since she's not really shown any signs of them besides a fever. However, the doctor said that everything looks clear and perfect with both her lungs and her ears, so that was nice to hear. Hopefully we've gotten this icky bug out of our house and we can finally enjoy some illness-free days.

While at the doctor's office, we went ahead and gave Baby B her first flu shot since they had them in the office already and it would save me an additional trip (and more time off work). The timing works out well because she'll be due for her booster next month at her nine-month appointment.

Oh, and I asked to have Baby B weighed while we were there, and she came in at 15 pounds, 6 1/2 ounces (with clothes on).

It goes both ways

2007-09-24T21:10:00.000-04:00

Thus far in our child-rearing adventures, we've taken Baby B's lead on most things and develop our plan of action around her needs instead of what suits us best. As she's gotten older, it's become a lot easier to tell if what we're doing is satifactory to her; a big smile follows a fun splash in the bath, and a fast, happy grunt comes from her when she sees me lifting my shirt to feed her. I look to her for her approval to know that I'm doing things right and satifsying her various needs.

But it's interesting because it also goes the other way. When she's in the bath and clinks two toys together, she looks up at me to see if I've approved of her little noise experiment. When she crawls across the living room away from me, she steals a quick glance back at me to see if I'm watching her. When she takes a Puff from my hand and feeds herself, then chews it up, she looks up at me with her big eyes that ask eagerly, "Did I do it right, Mommy?"

We're caught up in an endless circle of looking for approval from each other to know if we're performing our respective jobs correctly. But at some point she will look for my approval, not find it because she is wanting to do something we do not find acceptable, but she'll still go about her actions anyway based on decisions she makes and reasons she will try to justify. My approval won't rate nearly as high as it does now...at least outwardly. And at some point I will look to her for approval, but she won't give it as freely because she'll be more concerned about the approval of her peers than the approval of her parents as she becomes her own person.

So much of parenting is outright fun, but so much of it is downright bittersweet.

Miss Independent

2007-09-23T21:34:00.000-04:00

I like to (jokingly) ask Baby B when she's going to start pitching in around here: "When are you going to start making your own bottles?" "When are you going to get a job and pay for your own diapers?" "When are you going to drive yourself home from daycare?" Obviously the humor in all of it is that it's so ridiculous to expect such things from an itty-bitty baby.

But, she's on the verge of being able to feed herself, so we got her some Gerber Puffs to test out, since she can practice her pincer grip and chewing, but the Puffs melt in her mouth, so they dissolve if she can't quite figure it out. We started giving them to her a few days ago, and already she's made a big improvement. Her grip, while clumsy at times, is right on at other times. If she has the Puff between her thumb and forefinger, she can get it in her mouth pretty easily. However she's hilarious when she gets it in the middle of her hand and puts her whole hand in her mouth trying to get the Puff--yet somehow the Puff stays outside her mouth. Once she gets it in her mouth, she usually does attempt to chew it, so that makes me feel a little better about introducing real table food at some point (we're still undecided when we're going to do that, but probably when we introduce meat after going through the major fruits and veggies).

Who is this child who's starting to feed herself and who is crawling all over my house trying to explore every nook and cranny?

Post-fever musings

2007-09-22T21:13:00.000-04:00

*I'm feeling much, much better today, with just a hint of soreness to my throat being my only current symptom. However, having a high-grade fever for three days has taken a toll on my milk supply and it's quite a bit lower than it was before. I'm trying to drink as much as I can to keep hydrated and help it rebound, but I'm not sure if it's going to help. My freezer supply is still excellent at this point, so Baby B will be getting milk for a while, but a big part of what I like about breastfeeding is getting to feed her myself, and it seems like those days may be more limited than I realized. Or, maybe not and I'm just being paranoid. I think I'm just trying to prepare myself for that inevitable day, whether it happens sooner or later.

*Speaking of milk, I recently found out that I'm going to be losing my locked room where I pump twice a day at work when that interview and testing room is turned into someone's office. My HR person assures me she's looking into other options, but I honestly don't know what she'll come up with that offers privacy besides the one-person bathroom in the basement. If I have to do that, I guess I could, but I'd rather switch to pumping just once during the day and just do it at home on my lunch break. I'm not going to be telling her that, though. I'm also not going to tell her that I'll need a place to pump for just four more months or so (at the most...it may not be worth it to pump much longer at work if this supply thing continues). If I tell her that, I'm afraid she won't take it as seriously and won't work to find me a spot.

*Since we were all feeling pretty well today, we loaded up in the car and made a shopping trip with the goal of buying fall/winter coats and shoes for Baby B. Our favorite gal had no shoes for a couple of reasons. One, I don't really see the point of shoes on babies before they're able to walk, especially in the summertime. Two, she's such a kicker that she takes socks off her feet within seconds of us putting them on, so there was really no point to shoes, either. She was happier without shoes, and there was no real point to have them, so we skipped them. But, we're coming upon cooler weather soon, and she can't go barefoot when she shovels our snow. Wait, I mean when she goes to school.

Our shopping trip was successful, and we found a cute brown coat appropriate for fall, an adorable hooded brown coat appropriate for winter, two pair of brown shoes, and one pair of pink shoes. With the exception of the pink shoes, everything we got was neutral on purpose just so it would go with pretty much anything. (Not that I'm overly concerned about "matching" with a baby, but I just thought it was going to look better.) We also picked up a few new toys, including a Taggies Clickety Twist rattle because she adores tags on everything and a DiscoverSounds universal remote control because she's so interested in our remotes (I like this one because it teaches numbers and phrases in three different languages).

*I recently realized that we had a fleecy sleep sack I'd picked up last winter, but we never used it because Baby B was too tiny. With it being cooler in the evenings now (well, for the most part), we've needed a way to keep Baby B warmer because she'd been waking up with cold tootsies. We tried this Carter's sleep sack and she loved it immediately. You should see the huge smile on her face every time we put her in it. (I like to call her a Sack o' Baby when she's wearing it.) A couple days ago, I found an auction on eBay for a set of five of these sleepers, and I had the winning (and only) bid of $10, so hopefully those will be on the way to us next week. A couple of them are "boy" colors (blues), but I seriously don't care about that. Sleep sacks that I got for $2 each compared to the $13 they charge at the store? Yeah, it can be whatever color!

Her new bud and her new bud

2007-09-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

I'm, once again, reminded how quickly Baby B is growing up--and right before my very eyes. Until recently, Baby B's daycare class of eight infants had just one boy in it, but he's a bit of a bump on a log (oh, did I just say that? I meant to say he's quite a delightful, active, young fella). But some recent infant-room graduates made space for some newcomers, a couple of whom have a Y chromosome in their genetic makeup. One of them is ten or eleven months old, so he won't be in the room that much longer, but another, who is a mere four months old (but is the size of and moves around nearly as well as Baby B), will be sticking around for longer.

The teachers regale us with stories of Baby B and the boy we will call Squealy D. Apparently the two of them like to climb over each other and play. Apparently they like to "kiss" on each other. Apparently they like to squeal back and forth to each other, sometimes the lone ones awake when the rest of the babies are trying to nap.

Ah, young love.

I haven't seen them fully engaged in serious playtime yet, but when I picked up Baby B a few days ago, one of the teachers had Squealy D in her lap and Baby B was playing on the floor at her feet. Squealy D was making it quite clear with his excited grin and emphatic gestures toward the floor that he'd rather be down there with Baby B, and they were able to play tug o' war with a book before we needed to leave.

*******

Pretty much every day, I feel Baby B's gums, checking for signs of chompers aching to make an appearance. But nearly every day, my finger felt the gummy, slimy smoothness of a tooth-free jaw. Sometimes I've been convinced I might have felt something, but upon closer inspection, I realized it probably wasn't really anything more than just my hopeful imagination.

Until this morning.

I ran my finger across her gums this morning, expecting to feel the usual nothingness, when I cut my finger on something sharp and it started bleeding. Okay, just kidding. But my finger did catch on something it hadn't previously felt before. Doing my usual "get her to open her mouth without getting too annoyed with me" maneuver, I peered into her mouth to find the hint of a tooth to come shortly. Now, I know it's possible we'll stay at this stage for another month, or she could have a tooth pop through by the end of the weekend, but either way, it's exciting to have some progress. Look out, Squealy D...your new girlfriend's got a new weapon on the way!

Recovering

2007-09-20T21:55:00.001-04:00

My fever broke for good earlier this morning, just after I got home from the doctor's office. (Wow, they must be really good!) They tested me for strep, but that came back negative. However, she said that probably 40% of initial tests come up with a false negative, so they're going to culture the sample overnight and let me know tomorrow if it turned out positive. The doctor was about 95% sure I have strep based on symptoms and my yucky-looking throat, so she gave me some medicine and sent me on my way. I'm still pretty drained and my throat is killing me, but I feel a lot better without that pesky fever. Assuming I feel like I do now, I'll be returning to work tomorrow.

My turn

2007-09-19T21:22:00.000-04:00

Looks like it's my turn to be sick. I've had a fever since Tuesday morning (or Monday night, I can't remember), often going over 103. Also general achiness, chills and sweating (related to the fever, I'm sure), a mild sore throat that feels swollen, and some dizziness. I stayed home from work today, and if it's not gone by tomorrow morning, I'll give the doctor a call and go in. Going to bed now.

The invisible cord

2007-09-18T11:56:00.000-04:00

We're very quickly coming upon the time in child-rearing where there's a shift from just caregiving and simple playing to bigger things like teaching right from wrong. We're moving toward a time where we can't laugh at every cute little thing that Baby B does, otherwise she'll take that as positive reinforcement and continue such behaviors. I'm not talking about major things like "say no to drugs"--not yet...she's not even eight months old, people!--but more along the lines of when she does things like throw toys from her highchair and grab the remote control or The Husband's glasses. It is endlessly adorable to me when I see her stretching her whole body in an effort to reach the remote that sits on the table, and I want to laugh each time she tosses a toy with conviction, knowing that I'll pick it up. However, she's now at the point that we need to start seting limits, telling her "no" when she does something that's not right, and then re-direct her behaviors to more positive ones so that she does something that's more acceptable.

But...but...I don't want to be the bad guy! I fully recognize that there needs to be a separation in the parent-child relationship, and I have to be seen by her as an authority figure worthy of her trust instead of as her playmate or best friend. But it makes me sad to think about that divide that needs to exist, because my instinct is to want to wrap her tightly with my arms and keep her close to me forever. With each new milestone--rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, etc.--she pulls a little farther from me, stretching the invisible umbilical cord of baby bonding that we've been so fortunate to share, until she finally snaps free from its grasp and becomes the independent woman she was destined to be all along. My ultimate job is not to protect her from the world, much as I'd like to, but to prepare her for it as best I can. Setting limits, which we need to start doing regularly, is like taking snips at that invisible cord, encouraging and aiding that inevitable divide.

It's not easy being clean

2007-09-17T08:23:00.000-04:00

We've had pretty good luck with removing various stains--from diaper blowouts to spitup to fresh food--from Baby B's clothes by pre-treating with Shout gel. However, we recently met our match in the war on stains when we learned that fresh bananas are nearly impossible to remove from clothes, even with our beloved Shout. At the recommendation of a parent from one of my message boards, I tried Oxiclean (though a little skeptically).

There are several ways you can use OxiClean, and I started by adding a scoop to the stained laundry, but that didn't seem to remove the ick. Yesterday I tried method 2, which was soaking the clothes in a bowl with hot water and OxiClean, then running them through the washing machine again. I transferred the laundry from the bowl to the washing machine after a three-hour soak, and I was still a little skeptical because some of the stains still appeared to be hanging around. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the stains had disappeared when I pulled them out of the dryer! I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Baby B wouldn't be able to wear these clothes out anymore, but I'm very glad to have them back again.

Momma called the doctor and the doctor said, "What is it NOW?!"

2007-09-16T19:52:00.000-04:00

Last week I spent a good portion of my week tending to doctor-related tasks. On Monday I had to meet with the geneticist during my (extended) lunch break. On Tuesday afternoon I had to take Baby B to the pediatrician for her pneumonia and ear infection. On Thursday morning I had to take The Husband to our family doctor because he became sick with the same thing Baby B had (though his symptoms ended up being different than hers). Tomorrow afternoon I'm scheduled for my repeat pap test (the doctor didn't get enough cells the first time around...grrr!), but because my period unexpectedly showed up on Friday, I may have to reschedule that appointment. I also have to take Baby B for a follow-up appointment for her pneumonia in just over a week.

With all these trips to the doctor, I was joking that The Dog must be feeling left out because we hadn't made a trip to the veterinarian. Well, guess what. It looks like I'm going to have to call the vet tomorrow and take him in because it appears as though he's got an infection at the base of the toenails on his back right paw, and he keeps trying to lick and chew at it, which is only making it worse. Naturally we noticed this about 10 minutes after the office closed on Saturday. So, it'll actually work out well if I need to cancel my ob/gyn appointment tomorrow in order to get him in to see the vet without having to take too much time off work (which I feel bad about since I had to work half-days for much of last week) or rush between appointments.

I know there are some people who have to go to the doctor more often and for more serious ailments than we've had to go for, but I'm ready for some time away.

Head of the class

2007-09-15T23:12:00.000-04:00

We got a note on Friday from Baby B's daycare that she's been chosen as the Student of the Week for the week of September 24. This is something new they've recently started, and I was so excited at first because I thought, "Oh, wow, they must really love her if they picked her among the first." It was a little later that I laughed at myself and realized that they're probably just going in alphabetical order (the student chosen first has a last name beginning with A, and ours starts with B).

Anyway, on the morning of the 24th (the beginning of "her" week), we're supposed to bring in "a poster board filled with pictures of [Baby B] and everyone (and/or everything) that they love." The poster will be displayed in her classroom for her week, then they'll be displayed in the hallway for another week. I wouldn't really consider myself a creative person in general, but I'm actually excited about tackling this project. When I ran errands tonight, I picked up some scrapbooking stickers and cardstock to use along with our pictures. If it turns out okay, I'll try taking a picture of it to post here.

Periodically annoying

2007-09-14T22:47:00.000-04:00

I figured something was up when my face started to break out earlier this week. During pregnancy and then after I had Baby B, my skin had been in great shape and I had thankfully avoided monthly breakouts. But a little breakout this week made me suspicious, and it turns out I was right. I had what amounted to a little bit of spotting last night, then earlier today it appears as though my period made its (undesired) return after a 16-month absence.

I realize I'm very fortunate that it stayed away this long, especially since I haven't nursed overnight in probably five months (at least), but I was hoping I wouldn't have to deal with it the entire time I was breastfeeding. I'll admit that I became spoiled on not having my period for so long that I'm kind of whiny about the fact that it looks like it's returned. So far it's very light, so it's possible it's just a spotting episode, but I'm guessing it's the real thing, especially considering my milk supply lately has been about half of what it used to be in the beginning.

****

Baby B returned to daycare today and was her usual, happy self. Unfortunately, The Husband ended up getting the same bacteria, though it's giving him different symptoms, and he's felt pretty miserable for about three days now. I'm glad Baby B made such a quick recovery, but I hope The Husband starts feeling better soon, too.

Let's take a stroll

2007-09-13T20:50:00.000-04:00

I was thinking the other day that I'm very glad we made the decision not to get a travel system with a bulky stroller (well, bulkier than we knew we wanted) that goes along with the car seat. Not once in the past 7 1/2 months have I wished we could have plopped the car seat into a stroller; in fact, so far we don't really use our lightweight stroller all that much except sometimes on walks around the neighborhood. We've gotten much more use out of our Baby Bjorn, which definitely was money well-spent for us.

I know we'll start using the stroller more once Baby B outgrows her car seat but is too heavy for us to carry around all the time, but my point is that I'm glad we skipped the big stroller.

I'm sure I'll change my tune at some point, but I'm not a big fan of strollers in general. I don't know what it is, but something about a stroller makes people turn completely oblivious to their surroundings; I can't tell you how many times I've been run into with a stroller (when I was not in the way at all), yet then got a dirty look from the parent as though it were my fault. When we are around other people with our stroller, I try to make sure I'm very aware of everything around me and do my best not to hit anyone. It's funny how much of parenting is "let's not do what they did."

A pneu and better day

2007-09-12T20:32:00.001-04:00

Baby B is doing well in her recovery from pneumonia and a double ear infection. Her breathing was much better today, and she didn't seem hampered by her illnesses. She even did some hands-and-knees crawling all over the living room, and she sat up from a horizontal position for the first time. She did have a couple meltdowns where she'd cry and cry and cry without any chance of being consoled--it's been a while since we've had to deal with that--but once it passed she was fine. The Husband and I again are doing a split schedule tomorrow and will keep her home from daycare, then we're hoping she'll be okay to go back on Friday (but don't worry, we'll keep her home if we need to). I called her daycare teacher this morning to let her know what the diagnosis was and to thank her for calling us yesterday afternoon when those symptoms came on so suddenly (which, I've now read, is typical of bacterial pneumonia).

Pneu ailment

2007-09-11T20:18:00.001-04:00

Baby B had a slight cough this morning, but I didn't think much about it. Around 2:15 p.m., her daycare called me and said she was having trouble breathing, that it was shallow, labored, and congested. She also still had her cough and had a slight fever. I figured she was just getting another cold since she's exposed to so many germs at school, but I called the doctor and they were able to get us in at 4. I picked up Baby B and she definitely wasn't herself; she was still overall happy, but not normal and she looked sick in her eyes. I was a little annoyed to be going to the doctor, to be honest, since usually it turns out to be nothing and they just send us on our way, but ever since she had an ear infection, I've wanted to make sure we're careful since I know those can be chronic. No sense in taking any chances.

We went over her symptoms, they took her temperature (100.5), and the doctor listened to her chest and determined that she has pneumonia on her right side--on top of a double ear infection. Poor girl! No wonder she was making these awful wimpers all the way to the doctor's office. They gave us an antibiotic that should treat both ailments, and we'll keep her home from school at least for tomorrow for sure, maybe longer. They said we should call back if her fever reaches 105 or if she's taking 60 breaths or more per minute (she was doing 45 when they measured today). Before leaving the office, we did an oxygen test to make sure that was okay; if not, she would have been hospitalized. Thankfully that turned out fine.

This isn't the easiest week to be taking time off since two of my readers are out of the office, but basically it comes down to the fact that work just isn't as important as my pneumonia-stricken baby; The Husband and I will find a way to split the time off and make it work.

We stopped at the pharmacy, then I brought Baby B home and she was in fairly good spirits considering how rotten she feels. (Amazing how quickly she went downhill. I'm glad her teacher called us; she said she always likes to call when there's breathing problems like that since it could be pneumonia. Looks like she was right. I will definitely be thanking her.) I gave her a bath before feeding her one last time, then put her to bed, which went fairly well. Hopefully she'll sleep soundly tonight, which will help heal her.

************

Funny thing happened, though. Baby B and I were played before her bath, and she pulled herself to standing for the first time! Maybe she's just faking this whole pneumonia thing. ;)

Dormant geyser

2007-09-10T20:50:00.000-04:00

I must say how nice it's been lately with Baby B having virtually no reflux issues. At one point, it was hard to imagine there'd ever be a time when we'd let Baby B go bibless during the day, but she pretty much just wears them to eat now. The pediatrician wants us to continue the Zantac until her nine-month appointment, but we've cut the dose in half and she seems to be doing well so far.

Baby B loved the peaches we gave her last week (actually, *I* loved the peaches, too), and we had our first night of carrots tonight and that went well, too. I had to add a little extra milk when I was blending the carrots, but I got it to a good consistency that Baby B was able to handle. We'll do a few more nights of carrots before tackling pears late in the week. We're really chugging right along on the food front.

Real weekends!

2007-09-09T12:20:00.000-04:00

This is a big weekend for me because, well, I get real weekends for the first time in more than six years. When I first started at my current employer, I was hired part time as a Sunday proofreader, then I picked up four days during the week working on other projects. I moved to a different--full-time--position in the company within six months, which changed my hours to a Sunday through Thursday second-shift schedule. I got two days off in a row, which was good, but my days off did not coincide with anyone else I knew, and doing things during the week was impossible since I worked from 2 p.m. until at least 11 p.m. or midnight.

When I was promoted to chief copy editor in May 2005, I experienced another change in my schedule, working days Tuesday through Friday and on Sundays from noon until usually 10 p.m. (give or take). That was nice because I was back to first shift again, but having that Sunday in there really threw things off. Weekend trips were basically out because the only common day The Husband and I had off was Saturday, and taking off Sundays was nearly impossible. My weeks felt like they never ended because I got only one day off at a time, at least until I got a holiday off--I did not take vacation time because I was saving it for maternity leave--so I felt like I was in a continuous work cycle with no real break.

Without boring you with the details, the gist of it is that about a month and a half ago, my supervisors approached me and said they wanted to change my schedule to a Monday through Friday schedule (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in order to focus on different projects. This was a dream come true--and a dream that I never thought would happen in a million years at this job since the magazine is published on Sunday nights and I had to be there for that. I was thrilled because that meant a return to real weekends, but I had to put up with a lot of crap from my proofreaders who had to pull together to take over my Sunday hours. On the heels of them covering for me during my three-month maternity leave, this did not go over well. In fact, they're still not happy about it, but it was made clear by my supervisors that this plan was going forward with or without them.

Now, the big drawback will be that I have to work Mondays, which I'd loved having off since it was a good time to run errands, schedule appointments, spend alone time, and spend time with Baby B without The Husband around--just us girls. Baby B will be going to daycare an extra day now, which kind of stinks, but she really does love it there, and now we'll be getting our money's worth there since we have to pay for five days a week whether we're there that much or not. I'm not really used to working five days in a row, either, so I'm sure at first my weeks are going to seem very looooooooong. I think I'll manage fine. :)

So this is my first weekend experiencing a real weekend! I barely know what to do with myself! I'm excited because a local bookstore does a baby storytime at 11:30 on Sunday mornings, which I couldn't attend before, but now that'll be an option. I'd like to do that maybe once a month or so. We chose not to go this weekend, but we'll definitely start soon. I'm just glad to have some extra time to spend with my family and to have the opportunity to take little weekend trips once again if we so choose.

Chunkers...Baby Chunkers

2007-09-07T20:37:00.000-04:00

In Baby B's daycare class, there's another baby there--we'll call her Baby Chunkers--who is just four days younger than Baby B. It's amazing to see all the differences between the two of them and realize just how unique each baby is, even when they're very close in age. I call Baby Chunkers that because she has got to be twice the size of Baby B, who is pretty long and narrow. Okay, she's not really twice her size by weight, but she looks like she ate Baby B (and one or two of the other babies in the class). She's quite similar to the Weebles (remember them? They wobble, but they don't fall down) and as a result is very good at sitting up on her own because she's quite Yoda-like. Baby Chunkers cries every time someone else is getting a bottle because she wants it, and she isn't very active despite the teachers' efforts. Baby B is quite the opposite and is very active most of the day, always kicking, always laughing, always trying to crawl around--yet she's still a little wobbly when sitting up on her own (at least compared to Baby Chunkers), which Baby Chunkers has mastered. Each baby has certain things that they excel at, and it's fantastic to have a kid so close to Baby B's age to help remind us of that, but without letting ourselves get too much into the whole "my baby is better than your baby" thing (even if she is!).

Hug-a-bug

2007-09-06T20:45:00.000-04:00

We were enjoying some nice post-dinner family time at the kitchen table earlier tonight, and I had Baby B in my lap, facing me, while The Husband finished eating. (Baby B tried peaches for the first time tonight, and they went over pretty well, just like most everything else she's tried.) All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she thrust her upper body toward my upper body and put her arms around my neck.

Wait, what was that? A hug? A real hug?

At first I thought it must have been just because she was tired and she was flinging herself in whatever direction was easier and that her arms just happened to end up around my neck. So I pulled her back and asked her if she would hug me. And she did the same thing: leaned forward into my upper body and put her arms around my neck. I pulled her back again. Again she did the same thing. We repeated this probably eight or ten times, with the result being the same each time.

I immediately felt a warm river of emotion rush through my body, reaching from toes to fingertips to the top of my head--but most of all to my heart. My baby was hugging me back! All of the affection I've shown her over the past 7+ months and now I'm going to get it in return?! Yes, sign me up, please! As if I wasn't already in love with her enough, it's reached completely new heights now.

Sway it is

2007-09-05T20:37:00.000-04:00

One of the things we've done since the beginning to help soothe Baby B has been to hold her and sway back and forth since she likes the movement. After more than seven months of doing this, however, the swaying has begun to take over my non-baby time, too! I can't tell you how many times during the day I'll catch myself swaying at weird times--without Baby B--like in the shower, while blow-drying my hair, or while waiting in line at a store. It's become such a natural movement lately that it makes me wonder how long I've been doing it whenever I catch myself. I dan only guess what other people must think when I do this out in public. Of course, all those other parents out there probably get it!

Conventional fun

2007-09-04T20:45:00.000-04:00

Our trip to Atlanta for Dragon*Con over the weekend was a complete success! Baby B did SO GOOD--much better than we ever anticipated! The large crowds didn't bother her, nor did any of the many people in costumes--in fact, she seemed quite drawn toward Stormtroopers. LOL

I've got a ton of thoughts in my head about the weekend, and I'm too tired to organize them into any kind of coherent post, so I'm just going to go over some random bullet points so I can change subjects quickly and easily.

*Baby B did great on the car ride down and back. The normally 6- to 7-hour drive took closer to 8 or 9 hours, but we took it slowly on purpose. We could have made it there faster if we'd tried, but we wanted plenty of breaks.

*I was amazed at how much Baby B was the center of attention when we were in a given location (especially elevators). Everyone said how cute she was, how she looked like a doll, how well-behaved she was, etc. I'm normally one to really shy away from attention, but part of me secretly loved this. It made me feel like a celebrity. In fact, many other convention-goers were even taking our picture! Look for us on the cover of People magazine! ;)

*One of the first events we attended was a musical performance by the Celtic band Emerald Rose, which Baby B loved. All through the show, she bounced and smiled, and make a tiny little spectacle of what a good time she was having.

*Baby B got fussy only once during the weekend when we were out at the convention, and only because she'd not napped during her normal morning naptime. An afternoon nap cured her just fine. We were able to keep her on a fairly consistent routine similar to what she has at home, so I'm sure that helped.

*Even though Baby B is a very good baby, she's still going to have some times when she cries. I found it very stressful to deal with crying in a hotel room, where you know that everyone in the adjoining rooms can hear it and is probably annoyed by it. She actually didn't cry all that much, but I was tense trying to get it to stop quickly so as not to bother our neighbors.

[The Husband would like to interject that he was very impressed by how quickly & quietly Baby B fell asleep, and how well she slept through the night. We were afraid the Pack 'n Play would be a poor substitute for the crib at home, but it seemed to do the trick!]

*I'm definitely glad we took the Baby Bjorn for the convention; it was so packed that there's no way we would've been happy with a stroller. We saw many families with strollers, but I honestly don't see how they did it without tearing out their hair.

*We got a picture with my favorite musician, Voltaire, which turned out to be a funny picture because I've got her in the Baby Bjorn standing next to him, and I didn't realize she'd grabbed his necklace, so there I am just cheesing away obliviously while she's trying to get his necklace in her mouth. He was a good sport and at least acted like he thought it was funny.

Hit the road, Baby B!

2007-08-29T21:32:00.000-04:00

In about 11 hours, we're packing up the car and heading six hours south to Atlanta to attend Dragon*Con, which runs from Friday through Monday. This is actually the first overnight trip we're taking with Baby B; it was hard to do that before because we don't travel much in the wintertime anyway, so we didn't do much when I was on maternity leave, then I returned to work with a negative vacation balance, in addition to the fact that it's hard to schedule out-of-town trips when I did not have consecutive days off work.

We've attended this convention for the past four or five years, but obviously this year is going to be a little more complicated with a baby in tow. But we'll do the best we can and I'm sure we'll still have plenty of fun. We don't have a laptop, so I won't be able to post until Monday night at the earliest, and probably more realistically it'll be Tuesday evening since we'll have a lot to do after we get home later on Monday. Hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend!

Sushi baby

2007-08-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

There are certain people out there--you may be one of them, which is a good thing because then perhaps you'll better understand what I'm trying to say here--who experience some things in life a little differently than the average person. The people I'm talking about are the ones who seem to experience a spiritual high--almost a higher level of existence--when indulging in such things as chocolate, yoga, sushi, and, for some people, even pregnancy. People who like yoga typically don't just like it a lot--they love it, almost to the point of obsession. Same with sushi buffs. Then there's the people who say they must have some form of chocolate every day, otherwise they cannot function. And then there's the people who find pregnancy to be this utopian human state.

I've never really understood that feeling of a "higher experience" before. I didn't doubt that it existed, but I could never really come up with anything that I felt that strongly about in my life. Cheesecake? Sure, slice me up a piece, but I never found myself lifted to another dimension with each yummy bit. Cooking? Yes, I have fun with it, but it never took me to another level.

I recently realized, however, that is exactly how I feel about Baby B.

I get it now. Not necessarily in relation to yoga or chocolate, but I get it.

I love her. But I don't just love her. I love her. I love her with every cell in my body. When I watch her sleeping in her crib, I ache because I can't pick her up--even though she's less than a foot in front of me and I was holding her not that long ago. My whole day at work is spent anticipating that moment when I'll get to pick her up at daycare. I can't stop kissing her when she's within kissing distance. I become drunk upon inhaling her sweet baby smell.

She's better than chocolate. Or yoga. Or sushi. Or pregnancy. She's my baby.

As expected

2007-08-28T23:33:00.000-04:00

I didn't have any specific images of what Baby B would look like before she was born; I didn't know what color hair she'd have (if any), I didn't know what color eyes she'd have, and I didn't know what her facial features would look like...yet now that I see her, it's exactly like what I envisioned my child to look like! I know that doesn't make much sense, but I can't explain it any better than that.

From which tree did this acorn fall?

2007-08-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

Baby B is seven months old today (where did the time go?), and I thought it'd be fun to do a picture comparison of the three of us when we were approximately the same age. (Notice the three of us were bald babies?)

The Husband (check out the stylin' mid-'70s outfit):

Baby B:

Me:

Guest Post: Bully baby

2007-08-26T22:49:00.000-04:00

Along with Baby B's new expertise in rolling around comes an awkward extra mobility in the lap. After finishing her bottle, she used to fall asleep on our chests; now she twists around to look at us and coo and smile and play. Which is wonderful! Except that the little doll has also recently discovered that Daddy wears glasses, and glasses are really fun to play with. I constantly have to stop her from yanking them off my face, especially when she's flipped over to play after a meal.

Tonight she devised an aggressive strategy to get the glasses: swing a little baby fist and sock Daddy right on the nose; while he's stunned for a second, snag the specs! Actually, she was probably just reaching for the bridge of the glasses first, missed, and try again, but the long and short of it is she punched me in nose and stole my glasses. What a little bully! I guess I need to warn the daycare.

Command o' crawling

2007-08-25T23:22:00.000-04:00

Life as we know it is going to become way more complicated; Baby B figured out how to crawl today! Well, it's not a traditional hands-and-knees crawl like you might think but instead more of an army crawl/scoot on her belly. She'll start on her hands and knees at first, then soon go to her belly and grunt with every forward move she makes. We were cracking up because what caused her to crawl forward in the first place was going after The Dog's toy that was nearby. This is probably one of the most exciting milestones so far!

Judgment day

2007-08-24T10:39:00.000-04:00

I felt so bad on Wednesday night that I went to bed at 8:45 p.m., pretty much as soon as I took care of a few things after Baby B went to bed at 8. I slept horribly that night and put in a half-day at work before heading home for the afternoon. I don't really feel better today, but I don't feel worse, either.

But poor Baby B! She wasn't herself yesterday after coming home from daycare; in fact, the two of us sickies slept on the couch for half an hour after she came home. We put her to bed a little early, and she woke up about every two hours just because she was sick and not feeling well. This morning she was worse--she woke up with her head and chest congestion, but she had labored, wheezing breathing on top of it. We decided to keep her home today, and The Husband took her to the doctor this morning. As expected, there's not really anything they can do for us, though her ears did look fine, so that was good (I was afraid of an ear infection since those often recur).

I have a job where certain things have to get done each week, because we're a weekly magazine that is published no matter what. (In the 100+ years the magazine has existed, only ONE issue has been missed, back in 2002 when we had a major ice storm that essentially paralyzed the city and knocked out power for a week in our buiding.) So on certain days, it's hard for me to call in sick, and I can't work from home, so I have to go in and get these things done. I know my co-workers hate it, but it's not like I want to come in. That's just how it is.

But what I love on top of having to deal with working while sick (mostly against my will) is all the judgments I get when they find out I mostly likely got sick from Baby B. "That's the problem with daycare...the kids are sick all the time." "I could never send my kid to daycare for that reason." It goes on and on. Thank you for the support, people. I know this happens. It's a drawback. Get over it. The way they look at me and say such things, you'd think I'd rolled her around in a vat of botulism before sprinkling on some malaria for good measure, then came into the office and licked all the keyboards.

She's my brown-eyed girl

2007-08-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

Figured I'd share a few pics since I'm not feeling well at all with my cold and don't feel up to writing a post tonight.

I love her little open-mouthed smile:

She loves grabbing the tags on EVERYTHING, especially the Boppy after she's done eating. The look of wonderment here cracks me up:

One of my recent favorites:

Getting herself to her feet while attempting to crawl:

Pass the tissues!

2007-08-22T17:47:00.000-04:00

One of the hazards of having a child in daycare, of course, is passing various illnesses among each other--not just the kids, but the parents and teachers, too. Prior to getting a cold back in mid-April (right before Baby B started daycare, so that wasn't the culprit then), it'd been almost two years since my last cold. My last cold before that was two years earlier. However, I'm at the beginning of my third cold since returning to work just four months ago, not coincidentally after Baby B started with a runny nose on Sunday night.

Thankfully she has no further symptoms this time, though I'm sure I won't be as lucky. I'm sure part of it is because my immune system is a bit compromised because I'm still nursing, so my body can't fight off these colds like usual. And part of it is because of the daycare exposure and the fact that even though I kiss Baby B less when either of us is sick, it's impossible not to exchange germs at some point. The kind of good thing about me being sick and nursing her is that it boosts her immunity to what I have, so I try to keep that in mind as I reach for the tissues to blow my nose yet again.

A mover and a shaker

2007-08-21T21:35:00.000-04:00

Baby B's making strides (lame semi-word play intended) in the crawling department this week, utilizing a modified crawl/lunge/scoot to make her way in a general forward direction. She also started taking an interest in the cabinet handles on the bottom of the armoire that holds the TV and other electronics in the living room, so it looks like it's time to install some of the cabinet locks and strap the big furniture to the walls. We got the new outlet covers installed a few days ago, so we're slowly getting the house ready for Mobile Baby B.

******

Baby B has this funny thing that she does when she takes a bite of something she really likes or when she's doing something else she really seems to be enjoying...her whole upper body will shiver as though she just felt a cold draft, and then she'll give a quick smile. Makes me laugh every time.

Almost human

2007-08-21T18:17:00.000-04:00

Um. Well. Without getting too graphic, Baby B's dirty diapers have finally turned a little too human-like, if you get my drift, in the past few days. Ewww.

That's it...we're going back to feeding her only milk from now on! :D

Got milk?

2007-08-20T19:41:00.000-04:00

(Okay, it's a super-simple, easy title for this post, but one I couldn't resist.)

I've noticed a decent-sized drop in my milk supply over the past month or so. Baby B seems to be getting enough when I nurse her, but when I pump, I'm getting about half (sometimes less) of what I used to get. I've tried some of the home remedies to increase milk supply, including oatmeal (which I eat every morning now) and fenugreek (which smells a little like toffee). I know my body's just adjusting to what she needs, but I still should be better about drinking water throughout the day; most of my water consumption is at night because I hate drinking a lot at work and having to go pee every hour.

I'm still getting a decent(ish) amount of milk when I pump, and I've still got a fantastic milk supply in the freezer that should last for months even if my milk completely dried up today, but the idea of my supply being lower makes me a little sad because it reminds me that my time nursing is finite. Much to my surprise, I've really enjoyed nursing, and part of me dreads when it's time to wean, which I still plan to do around a year old; for many reasons, I am not comfortable nursing much longer than that.

Coming to a living room near you!

2007-08-19T13:39:00.001-04:00

I cannot describe how fantastic it is to get out of the shower and catch The Husband and Baby B, the two loves of my life, dancing around the living room and singing to songs on the XM Kids channel. It melts my heart.

Nesting dolls

2007-08-17T22:38:00.000-04:00

This is an excerpt from Luscious Lemon, by Heather Swain. The "you" referred to below is a ten-week-old embryo that's growing inside the main character.

You are a girl, as your mother has suspected. Not that anyone can tell yet. But deep inside it's been determined, and you already carry the eggs of another generation, making your mother a temporary nesting doll, carrying her future grandchildren. Your grandmother carried half of your genetic material for a short time. Do you remember? Your mother is bookended by the two of you. Mother, daughter. She is forever both now.

*********

I love this passage and wish I'd read it when I was still pregnant with Baby B. The thought of me carrying both my child and half of my future grandchildren is a concept that's so simple, yet it's quite profound. It nearly gives me chills.

Mom genes

2007-08-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

I have a very strong, close history of female cancers in my family. My mom is a cervical and breast cancer survivor. My maternal grandmother died of ovarian cancer. My paternal grandmother died of uterine cancer. My maternal great-aunt died of breast cancer. I believe another of my mom's relatives was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, as well.

My annual ob/gyn appointment was this past Monday, and he wants to be a little more proactive with my care as it relates to the cancer history. He still thinks a mammogram wouldn't be beneficial for me for a few more years unless something alerts us to needing one. (Younger breast tissue doesn't show abnormalities as well as older breast tissue that is more fatty.) He does want me to start coming in twice a year, though, once for my pelvic and breast exams, and another time just for a breast exam. And yes, he knows I do this monthly, but again, he wants to be more proactive with this.

He also wants me to meet with a geneticist to see if I'm a candidate for blood work that would determine if I'm a carrier of any breast cancer genes. Carrying such a gene would not guarantee I would get cancer, but it would increase my chances. With such a strong family history of these cancers, I have always assumed that I carry some sort of gene that would increase my risk more than the typical woman, so I think I'd be emotionally prepared for such information. I've got an appointment set up for September 10 to go over a family history with the geneticist, but I'm in the process of doing some research and may cancel the appointment after thinking about it some more.

For one thing, this testing can cost thousands of dollars. If this is something my insurance company decided not to pay for--and they often do not pay for this kind of elective testing--this is not something we could afford out of pocket right now with a deck that needs to be fixed and a refrigerator on the fritz--oh yeah, and a baby.

But what concerns me more right now is the possible implications it has for health care and life insurance coverage in the future. Despite national, state, and local health care privacy and discrimination laws, they do not necessarily include things like genetic testing within their scope. An insurance company has a right to drop or deny me coverage based on a positive result if they wish because I'd be too much of a risk for them. I looked at my current policy, and they do specifically say that they do not consider a positive result on a genetics test to be a pre-existing condition that could deny coverage; denial of coverage must be based on an actual diagnosis. However, that's not a guarantee that other health insurance companies would have that same policy (and it's unlikely I'll have this current policy for the rest of my life, so at some point I'll be forced to switch). And who's to say that in the future, changes wouldn't be made that specifically allow an insurance company to deny coverage based on carrying a defective gene? It's scary territory, especially since a lot of this is so new, and just thinking about this issue alone makes me lean toward canceling my appointment.

And the kicker is that there's virtually no one to ask and get an honest answer from. It's doubtful that an insurance company would come out and admit that they'd discriminate against me if I got a positive result. Of course the geneticist is going to want to perform her services, so she's unlikely to tell me all the negative ramifications such a test could have. (Or, more likely, she may acknowledge it, but instead downplay it.) And again, no one can possibly tell me what consequences this revelation could have in the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years.

I may ask my mom if she's ever considered being tested for the gene, because if she doesn't have it, then it looks better for me. However, I'm not sure how willing her insurance would be to cover such a costly test when it doesn't directly benefit her health but rather the health of her descendants.

The big advantage to doing the test is then performing more frequent screenings, and that's pretty important considering cancer survival often depends on early detection. At this point I'm torn. I want to be proactive and cautious of my future health, but I also don't want to be naive about the potential major drawbacks. And to think that I possibly passed along a gene--not just a breast cancer gene but any defective gene--to Baby B that could negatively impact her just breaks my heart.

Gravity spot

2007-08-15T21:11:00.000-04:00

Baby B has finally figured out that she can drop objects on purpose now when she's sitting in her highchair and we'll go after it and pick it up for her. She doesn't laugh (yet) when she does this, but you can just tell she's very pleased with herself with the smug look on her face. She kept doing this over and over and over again with her baby car keys, and we couldn't help but crack up every single time. I'm sure this will get real old real fast, but I'm just amazed that she's pieced all this knowledge together to be able to do this.

Clean? Check. Safe? Check.

2007-08-14T23:52:00.000-04:00

We were pleased to find out today that Baby B's daycare received a 100--the highest possible score--on its recent inspection by the health department. That definitely gives us even more confidence in the place where she spends her time away from us.

Can we have an update, peas?

2007-08-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

The visit with The In-Laws went well (except for the broken deck), though it went by too quickly. The were of course smitten with Baby B (but did we really expect it any other way?), as she was completely entertaining for everyone. She came close to crawling several times, but she still hasn't quite figured out how to move her arms forward. Once she does that, I think she'll start to take off!

We're looking at our options with the deck, and it looks like it might be easiest to fix it without making a homeowner's insurance claim. A friend of my family has built many decks over the years, and he's offered to come over and look at it to see if it can be repaired, then help with fixing it, and all we'll be responsible for is the cost of the supplies. He's probably not going to charge us for his labor, but of course we'll give him something to show our appreciation if he's able to help. Hopefully we'll know something more this weekend.

It looks like it collapsed because the bolts that secured it into the house were way shorter than they should have been. I have my suspicions that the previous owner of the house (who built the deck when he lived here) did the job on his own and did not hire a contractor or anything. I also suspect he did not get it inspected, but I have nothing really to prove that. We've tried to contact him to find out more, but have yet to hear anything back.

Anyway, back to Baby B news. We had her try peas for the first time today, and I was expecting it to taste more bitter to her, thus more funny faces. The camera was at the ready. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find out that she loved the peas and didn't once contort her face!

It's funny because with every batch of baby food we've made, I've found myself taking a bite of it before giving it to her, just to see how it tastes. I realized today that it's probably a good way of deciding what foods to give her...I shouldn't give her anything that I wouldn't eat myself. Seems kind of obvious in a way, but I hadn't really thought about it in those terms.

Mom-inflicted pain

2007-08-11T11:39:00.001-04:00

Do you ever get that feeling when something bad has happened, then you try to go about other tasks, but there's still that sense that something bad has happened that lingers deep in your bones, even if you're not thinking specifically about what happened? That feeling gnaws at you, taunting you to make you feel worse.

Okay, I've built it up bigger than it really is, but I definitely have that uneasy feeling inside from something that happened earlier. Baby B was tired, so we were trying to get her to nap. She is not a good napper, so this is not an easy task generally, then it was even more difficult with The In-Laws here. I tried putting her in her crib, but she thrashed and cried and I knew she wasn't going to sleep there, so I decided to try the swing.

I put her in it, and we have to attach the tray all the time now because she likes to lean forward and could easily fall out, even with her safety belt. I was careful not to pinch her little thighs when I snapped on the tray, but apparently I forgot to make sure her legs were positioned okay. She started crying immediately, then got even more insistent and red-faced about it, but I thought she was still just fighting the nap so I just rubbed her head at first. Soon I realized I'd wedged her toe under the tray and it was hurting her. I immediately felt sick on the inside and took off the tray and comforted her. From the time I put her in the swing to the time I picked her up was less than a minute at the most, but I couldn't help but feel bad. I know things like this happen, but I hate that I'm the one who caused her to cry so desperately. And for right now, I just can't shake that feeling of dread.

This comes on the heels of an incident last night where we adults were sitting on our deck chatting while enjoying a nice sunset when out of the blue our deck collapsed. No one was standing up; no one was even moving at all. It was only 2 to 3 feet off the ground, and no one was hurt, but it was very scary at first, and I can't get out of my head how bad it could've been, especially because The Great-Grammy was on the corner of the deck that collapsed. Thankfully Baby B was already in bed at the time and was nowhere nearby.

Guest Post: Midget rasslin'

2007-08-10T23:41:00.000-04:00

Most days, when Baby B arrives at her daycare, one of her "baby friends" is also one of the early arrivals. "Baby M" is slightly older than Baby B, to the point that she is crawling around, but not yet walking. We joke that they're best friends, but now that Baby M is mobile she's showing plenty of real interest in Baby B.

When Baby B gets down on the play mat, Baby M quickly crawls over to her and touches her toes or hair, or tries to steal away a toy, and Baby B just loves the attention. She smiles and coos and laughs, and grabs back at Baby M. Sometimes they get so tangled up, it looks like a baby wrestling match! It's really sweet seeing them interact, without any grown-up encouragement or interference. It's a small step, but one more that highlights how fast Baby B is growing up.

And who knows? Maybe Baby M will get her up and crawling sooner!

(Expect more contributions from Baby B's dad in the future!)

How do ya like them apples?

2007-08-09T23:26:00.000-04:00

Last night was the first night of apples, and it was amusing, to say the least. With nearly each bite, she'd make a funny face as though she were eating something sour and then would make a fake gagging face. We were using red delicious apples, so I'm sure they were a little sour compared to, say, squash, but it's not like we were using genuinely sour apples. Pretty funny to watch, though I personally love sour things so much that I proclaimed that she must not really be my child.

We tried apples again tonight, and it went perfectly! She leaned in to each bite, as usual, and was ready for the next bite before I could get the spoon back to the bowl. So far we've had quite a bit of fun with this new adventure.

Thumbody looks tired

2007-08-08T13:40:00.000-04:00

There's so much I love about this picture! First, I love that Baby B is starting to figure out how to get her knees under her, which is key in being able to crawl. She still requires a lot of effort to get on her knees, but she's at least figured out this is a good thing to do. But I love that doing this took up so much of her energy that she had to take a break in the middle to lean down and suck her thumb! This girl cracks me up.

(And I love the fact that the turtle beside her looks like it's going to start crawling, too!)

Sticking out

2007-08-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

I had a couple of comments/questions about Baby B sticking her arms and legs through her crib slats on a previous post, so I figured I'd answer that since I don't have much energy to write a real post, as the past two nights have been spent cleaning the house after Baby B went to bed in preparation for The In-Laws' visit this weekend (this is The Husband's dad, stepmom, and grandmother).

So, appendages through the slats. She did this several times, mostly with her legs (though her upper thighs are big, so they could only go so far), and got them wedged in there at an angle that made it impossible for her to get it out by herself. I don't think she was ever in any genuine pain from it, but each time she did it, she had a different cry that made me know what she'd done before I even entered the room. I was correct every time I suspected it, just based on this altered cry. So far the bumpers seem to be doing their job and we haven't had any cries of "Hey, mom, I got my leg stuck again!" in the past few days.

Signs you know you're really a mom

2007-08-06T22:41:00.000-04:00

*You start referring to yourself in the third person and don't think twice about it.

*You make silly faces at the dog and wonder why he doesn't respond with a giggle.

*You begin to give people a very wide range of time of when to expect you because you're now on Baby Time: "We'll be there between noon and Tuesday!"

*You start to forget your own first name because you're so used to being referred to as "(Baby)'s mom."

*You grab your boobs, but not in any sensual kind of way--you're just trying to see how full of milk they are.

*You don't mind when someone asks how the baby's doing first rather than how you're doing; your state of well-being is usually directly tied to the baby's anyway.

Bumpers and knees and gourds

2007-08-04T23:59:00.000-04:00

We decided not to buy a bedding set when putting together the nursery because we didn't want to use the traditional bumpers since we did not want to worry about the SIDS and suffocation risks associated with them. We decided we'd wait and see if a bumper became necessary, and if so, then we'd get one of the breathable bumpers. In the past couple weeks, Baby B has managed to wedge her little legs and arms (but mostly her legs) in between the slats of the crib to where she couldn't get them unstuck, so the time came to get a breathable bumper, which we did today.

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Several times today Baby B managed to get her knees underneath her when she was on her tummy. She can also lurch forward a few inches at a time, but so far she hasn't put those two actions together yet. Once she figures that out, then it's Crawl City for this baby. We bought many babyproofing supplies while we were out today, so we'll start putting those around the house in the coming weeks (or sooner if necessary).

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Tonight was the first night of yellow summer squash, and it went really well. In fact, she finished a whole squash all by herself (it was a pretty small one, though).

Just wait until...

2007-08-03T20:40:00.000-04:00

One of the things that bugged me when I was pregnant was when I would mention something about my pregnancy, and the instant response I often got was, "Just wait until..." or "You think that's bad? It'll be much worse later." I did understand that people just want to share their stories, but at the time it felt like the experiences I was going through at that particular time were being minimized or brushed aside when someone would say that.

Then a couple days ago, I caught myself about to do the "just wait until..." thing I used to dislike so much. Thankfully this happened in an IM conversation and I realized what I was doing before I sent the message, but it still annoyed me a little that I did this. I'm definitely going to have to keep an eye on that; my intentions, of course, are good, but I don't want what I say to be misinterpreted as brushing off another person's current experience.

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Avocado was a HIT tonight! She fussed a few times, but went right back after the spoon--and actually finished the whole thing! A whole (though very small) avocado, all by herself!

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Also, she was really pushing herself up a lot earlier tonight. Not all that much forward movement tonight, but she was quickly proving that she has way more arm strength than me!

On the move

2007-08-02T20:05:00.001-04:00

Looks like Baby B is even closer to crawling than I realized. This evening when she was on the floor, she had her arms in front of her, lifted up her hips several inches, and thrust her body forward by pushing against the floor with her feet. It was definitely more of a deliberate move than the previous inching forward mentioned yesterday. I know it's still probably going to be a while before she's wheeling around the living room for real, but seeing her progress is so exciting!

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Nights two and three of avocado went better than the first night. She still isn't overly crazy about the taste, but she's very eager to take the next bite. One more night of that tomorrow and then over the weekend we'll move on to some squash that we picked up at the farmer's market this week.

My little inchworm

2007-08-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

Baby B is still a ways from real crawling, of course, but she's definitely making moves in that direction. She's been able to spin herself around on the floor pretty easily for a while, but now she's able to lurch forward about two or three inches at a time, especially when she pushes off something with her feet. It's so hard to fathom the fact that she was just a helpless creature who only slept, ate, and pooped not all that long ago. How is this the same person?!

Avocad-no

2007-07-31T23:09:00.000-04:00

Avocado didn't go over so well tonight. She'd still open her mouth to eat it, but with each successive bite, the contorted faces became funnier and funnier. We finally gave up after less than ten bites, and we'll give it another try tomorrow night. I think part of the problem tonight was that she was pretty tired, so just not in a mood to try something new. We ended up giving her two cubes of sweet potatoes, and she enjoyed that just fine.

A dash of hodge and a pinch of podge

2007-07-30T13:35:00.000-04:00

*Baby B had her six-month checkup this morning, and it went well despite some crying when the doctor was checking for teeth (none ready to pop anytime soon) and when she got her shots. She didn't quite laugh at the nurse after her shots this time, but she calmed down fairly quickly.

*I had to answer a series of questions at the doctor's office about Baby B's development, most of which I could answer easily ("Can your baby roll over both ways?"), but there were a couple that threw me for a loop. My favorite was, "Can your baby see items that are as small as a crumb?" Holy crap, I have no idea!

*Yes, we sometimes do really call her Baby B...it's not just a blog moniker.

*The dirty diapers have started to change now that we're feeding her real foods. Let's just say the sweet potatoes look exactly the same as they did going in. Everyone warned me that the consistency would change, but people neglected the smell would change, too. Not that it was rose scented before, but ewww.

*Baby B loves the sweet potatoes. She's very eager to take each bite and always seems disappointed that it's gone when she's done.

*Next up: avocados beginning Tuesday night.

*Appointment details:
Height: 25 3/4 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 14 pounds, 15 ounces (25th to 50th percentile)
Head circumference: 16 5/8 inches (25th to 50th percentile)

"Baby B's parents are so cool!"

2007-07-29T21:48:00.000-04:00

The above sentence was said by one of Baby B's daycare teachers over the weekend, and it pretty much made my day (well, that and Serenity's good news). Her daycare had a rummage and bake sale, and we made chex mix for them to sell (in addition to donating a bunch of items for the rummage sale). When The Husband packed up the chex mix, he put cute little animal stickers on the containers, as well as decorated labels that said "Baby B's Chex Mix." The teachers were tickled to death about our efforts, and that's why one of them said to us, "Baby B's parents are so cool!" They really seem to adore Baby B there (I truly suspect she's their favorite kid in the class right now because she's so happy and content all the time, and her fussy moments really aren't all that fussy...I know I'm biased, but I really do think they think this), and they also seem to like us a lot, too! Yay! :)

The other day it hit me that there's going to come a time in the not-too-distant future when she has to move to the next room around the time she turns a year old, and she won't have these same teachers, and that makes me a little sad to think about. We still haven't been called back by that #1 daycare choice that's a block from our house (we've been on the waiting list since early or mid-November), which we were going to switch to once there was an opening. At this point, I'm not sure if I want to switch even if we do get into the other center.

Good people deserve good things

2007-07-28T16:43:00.000-04:00

I am ecstatic to announce that Serenity at Serenity Now! received good news from her doctor's office today when she found out the beta following her second complete fresh IVF cycle was POSITIVE!!!!! Check out her blog to offer support as she embarks on this new, sometimes scary (but ultimately worth it) journey.

A very merry unbirthday to you

2007-07-27T01:09:00.000-04:00

Happy six months, Baby B! You have turned our lives upside-down in the half a year that we've come to know you, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We love you so much and can't imagine our lives without you. We are so fortunate to have such a happy baby, and we can't wait to see what the next six months--and beyond--brings!

Love you!
~The Mommy and The Daddy

Minutes old:

One month:

Two months:

Three months:

Four months:

Five months:

Six months:

Mission: Mommy Milk

2007-07-26T16:54:00.000-04:00

When I decided to breastfeed, I went into it with an open mind, saying that I would give it a fair shot and if it didn't work out, then I wouldn't beat myself up for having to switch to formula. In reality, it doesn't quite work that way, and there's a lot of guilt associated with even thinking about having to switch to formula, let alone actually doing it. We struggled with nursing in the first week--more than I let on here--because it was very painful as we were both learning what to do and how to do it correctly and efficiently. I would scream and cry in pain each time she latched on, only to have to break her latch with a quick, sharp head pull that made it feel like I had razor blades inside my nipples. Add to that her desire to feed every hour or two in the beginning, and it was not a scene I would like to repeat anytime soon. I am, however, stubborn, so I kept up with it because I didn't want to see myself as a "failure" even though I rationally knew that wouldn't have been the case.

In order to get through that time, I set a series of breastfeeding goals for myself. In the beginning, just nursing for one more day was a feat worthy of celebration. I made myself look no further in time than that current day. I kept reminding myself that each additional day I could offer my milk was better than not having that day. Once we got better at it and the pain went away, I started looking at a little more long-term goals. My first goal was to nurse for the three months I was home on maternity leave. Check. My next goal to was continue for three more months until Baby B was six months old. As of tomorrow, I will have completed that goal, as well, and I'm very proud of myself for that, as it is not an easy task to complete, especially with working full time.

So, as long as my supply cooperates, my next and ultimate goal is to continue nursing for the first full year. I can tell my supply has dropped since I started working--I now get about half of what I used to pump during the day--but I have a very good freezer stash, so I think even if my milk dried up completely today, I'd still be set for most of the next six months. I am thankful each day I was able to persevere through the beginning difficulties and have stuck with this. I like nursing more than I imagined I would, and part of me really dreads the time I'll have to wean. (I know I could nurse beyond a year, as many moms do, but for a variety of reasons, I don't think I want to do that. I officially reserve the right to change my mind about that at any given time.)

Book learnin'

2007-07-25T21:40:00.000-04:00

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, since I have a journalism degree and I read for a living, but we didn't start reading books to Baby B until a couple months ago. I'm the kind of person who likes to know that someone is paying attention when I'm talking. (My nightmare job would probably be a high school teacher that has to still teach lessons despite kids falling asleep and talking in class. I would go nuts.) Unfortunately, I would just get too frustrated with reading before she could sit still and would do it maybe once a week at best. But now that Baby B has been able to pay attention to the books and my reading, I'm enjoying it a lot more, and we do it at least once a day, sometimes more.

I think I might be at the beginning stages of a serious book addiction, however. Because children's books are so short, we typically read two or three books in one sitting. I know kids like the repetition of the same books and end up with favorites because of this, but momma needs at least a little variety. I started an Amazon.com wish list in Baby B's name in order to keep track of the books she doesn't have yet. And that'll be great to have ready for when people ask what they should get her for Christmas or her birthday. Of course, that's if I don't end up buying all the books myself before then!

The mom un-haircut

2007-07-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

It happens all the time...a woman has a baby, then soon after heads to the salon to get her "mom haircut" to signify the beginning of a new era; it almost seems like it's a required task in order to get your mom license. (It's that and buy mom jeans, I think.)

But is there such thing as a mom un-haircut?

I last got my hair cut two weeks before Baby B was born. At first, I didn't go get it cut again because I didn't have a lot of time to spare. Then it just became a matter of my hair not really bugging me all that much, as that tends to be when I know it's time to get it cut...when it starts to annoy me and starts misbehaving. So far it just hasn't reached that point. Either that, or I just have too many other things to deal with right now to notice that my hair is bugging me.

In either case, the point is that my hair is getting long--the longest it's been in years (I generally keep it just above my chin in a bob style, and it's well below my shoulders now). I think I'm close to getting it cut, though. I've had several people comment on my hair being long recently...but it's not really been followed by "I like it" or "you should keep it like that" or anything like that. The Husband likes it when my hair is longer, so he was of course disappointed to hear that I'm thinking about getting it cut soon. However, getting it cut does not mean a special mom cut for me...just the usual chin-length bob. There's no rush on the mom haircut, anyway, since I don't have any mom jeans in my closet.

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UPDATE: Night 2 of rice cereal went even better than the first. I'd say I ended up making about twice as much, just a little thicker than last night's concoction, and she finished every bit of it. She's funny because in between bites, she'll make this low grunting sound that you might think means she isn't enjoying herself, but it's only because she wants us to give her the next bite faster! Once the spoon reaches her mouth, she loves it, then she gets a little frustrated again that her next bite isn't at the ready. It's so funny to see this new side of her through this experience. Hopefully she tones down the grunting eventually because otherwise restaurant experiences are going to be quite attention-grabbing. I can already tell that bath night will be an every night event very soon. Right now we do it just every other night, but with food ending up in places you'd never imagine, I think a bath will be incorporated into the nightly routine.

You'll love the new menu at Restaurant Mommy

2007-07-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

Tonight was another one of those milestones that make you realize just how much time has passed. We gave Baby B her first solids tonight. Well, I guess "solids" should be in quotes since it's not like she was gnawing on a carrot stick or popping Cheerios like candy. (That's what I always think of when I hear solids.)

Things did not start out on the smoothest note. I decided to heat up the first batch of rice cereal to take the chill off the milk that had been in the fridge. I walked away and heated it too much, and it would've taken too long to cool down. That batch went into the trash.

Take two. I mixed it up, a little thicker than the first time since that was a bit too runny, and got it to just the temperature I wanted. I set the bowl on the dining table, and The Husband made a comment about needing to move it farther from Baby B so she didn't knock it over. He pushed it out of her reach, but we forgot that she has super-extender monkey arms, and she still managed to knock it over, spilling it on her and on the carpet, much to The Dog's delight. ("Rice cereal? Yes, please," he exclaimed.)

Okay, take three, then. We got it right on the third try. Good consistency, good temperature, and this time it stayed in the bowl until it was time to put it on the spoon.

After all that, I was a little nervous about her actually eating the rice cereal. But from the very first bite, she was very into it. She'd reach out for the spoon and pull it closer to her. She'd open her very mouth wide. We didn't have any problems with her not knowing how to swallow the food. (Maybe all these months of Zantac have helped teach her that? Have I mentioned before that she loves Zantac time?) So, all in all a success (well, once her incompetent, fumbling parents got started). We'll do rice cereal all this week, then this weekend I think we're going to dive into sweet potatoes. We'll definitely have the camera at the ready for that and many more adventures to come!

Weigh more time left

2007-07-21T15:13:00.000-04:00

I perused the Pack N Play user's manual again last night to confirm the weight limits, and I was very pleased to see that I was wrong about the changing table. The weight limit for that is 25 pounds, so we still have a while to go (she's still just under 15). It turns out I was thinking of the bassinet part, which has a weight limit of 15 pounds, but we don't really use that anyway except to hold the diapering supplies caddy.

Welcome to the world!

2007-07-20T20:54:00.000-04:00

Congrats go out to Alli, who delivered a healthy baby girl on Monday. Be sure and send her some extra encouraging words, as her husband was deployed to Iraq in June and will not get to meet his daughter for a while. Your family is in my thoughts, Alli. Enjoy that sweet gal of yours.

Pass the baby

2007-07-19T21:39:00.000-04:00

When we're around acquaintances and they're playing with Baby B when she's with me, I'm never quite sure whether to offer to let them hold her. I personally don't mind if they hold her, but I hesitate to ask in case they really don't want to. I realize that some people aren't completely comfortable holding babies, and that's fine. I just don't want to make them feel pressured to do it, and I'm afraid they'll feel obligated if I mentioned it. Yet I know some people don't want to ask to hold a baby in case the mother does have an issue with it. Still, I tend to err on the side of caution and don't want to force her on others. But seriously, how can they resist? ;)

Diaper direction

2007-07-18T20:04:00.000-04:00

I have to confess something a little funny here, which I may have mentioned briefly before, but I'll go into it more now.

I have trouble changing Baby B's diapers and clothes when she's facing left to right (or right to left) horizontally in front of me. For optimum changing conditions, she needs to be facing me vertically, with her head at the top and her feet near my legs.

I'm sure if I practiced changing her sideways, I'd get the hang of it in no time, but we decided not to get a standard changing table for a couple of reasons, the biggest one being that her nursery is pretty small, and I preferred to keep our futon in there instead of putting in a changing table. So far I have not missed having a regular changing table, as we've used the changing table attachment on the Pack N Play--on which you place the baby vertically. She's about to reach the weight limit of that, and we'll start using a contoured changing pad on the futon in her room once it's time to switch.

Anyway, this whole thing is relevant because when I have to change Baby B in public, all of the bathroom changing tables are (understandably because of space constraints) the kind where you place the baby horizontally instead of vertically. I'm already a little self-conscious changing diapers in public because I want be quick about it--what stranger really wants to share in our dirty-diaper extravaganza?--but then I end up fumbling around, and having to contort myself to change her makes me look and feel even sillier! Some of these changing tables are positioned so you can stand on one end or the other and solve this dilemma, but many of them are not.

So, no real point to this other than to laugh at myself a bit. I figure no one can get through this new-mother thing sane without having a good sense of humor, and I definitely have that!

Get your updates "ear"

2007-07-17T09:21:00.000-04:00

Baby B is doing much better today. She was a lot more like herself last night, and the same goes for today. She doesn't seem to be bothered when I lie her down, which made her cry before, probably because of the ear infection, so I'm guessing that's on the upswing. Her chest is still congested, but not nearly as much as before. She probably could have gone to daycare today, but we felt better keeping her home one more day so she doesn't infect the other kids (and thus end up with a slightly different strain and go through this all over again). I just hope other parents are as considerate of our child as we are of theirs when it comes to keeping other kids from getting sick. So, The Husband and I are taking shifts today so neither one of us has to miss a whole day of work. I'm taking the morning shift since I have to attend an afternoon meeting, then he'll come home at lunch and take over baby duty during the second half of the day.

I had to take a rectal temperature for the first time yesterday. I was a little squeamish about it at first, but we have a five-second digital thermometer, so it really wasn't that bad. Not a big deal at all, especially when I was so impatient that the under-arm temperature was taking too long. It was easy, but certainly did result in a dirty diaper within half an hour, which I heard was often the case.

Contrary to the norm lately, Baby B woke up during the night for the first time in a long time. Around 12:30 a.m., she woke up, flipped herself over, then couldn't get back to sleep because she had upset herself. We tried everything else first, then I fed her and that calmed her at first, but she still didn't want to go to sleep in her crib. We figured she was having a lot of drainage, from both her chest and her ear, so she may have been uncomfortable from that. She went to sleep within minutes of being put in the swing, and she slept there fine the rest of the night (all the more reason I think she was having drainage issues). I looked back at my feeding/diapers log (yes, I'm still keeping track), and it looks like the last time I had to feed her during the night was April 11--when she was 2 1/2 months old.

That was three months ago.

Yes, we are extremely fortunate, so I cannot complain about her waking up one time during the night when she's sick.

Ear all about it

2007-07-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

Sunday wasn't any better for Baby B; in fact, it was probably her worst day so far. She threw up again in the morning before I went to work (again after taking some medicine, this time Tylenol), and she continued with an off-and-on fever, constant chest congestion, cough, and an occasional runny nose. But most of all, she definitely didn't seem like her usual happy-go-lucky self...she had a nearly constant whimper that made it obvious that she didn't feel well, and she wasn't smiley at all. In fact, it took a lot of effort just to get a half-smile out of her. I had to work, so The Husband was in charge of taking care of her all day trying to alleviate her symptoms and make her as comfortable as possible. Thankfully she's still been sleeping like normal during the night and she's been eating just fine.

We got up early this morning and I got ready in case we needed to see the doctor. Baby B was still congested, though her spirits seemed a little better, she seemed a little more playful, and she didn't have a fever. Still, I figured I should call the doctor to get her in just in case it was something more serious, plus I was off today and might as well do it while I don't have to take time off work. I called the office when they opened at 7:30 this morning and they could get us in at 8:30, so off we went.

The doctor said it sounds like she has a chest cold, but there's not much we can do about that other than what we've been doing. He did say she has an ear infection in her left ear, probably the cause of the fever, so she's started amoxicillin for that. He said if she doesn't show improvement by Thursday to call back. I kind of hate that we have to put her on antibiotics at such a young age since I know they're often overprescribed, but an ear infection isn't something you want to mess with because of the potential for serious complications, so she'll get "the pink medicine" (as we always called it growing up) as directed by her doctor. I just hope this isn't the start of a constant battle with ear infections.

Just for the record, she weighed 14 pounds, 10.5 ounces today.

Oh yeah, and happy 2nd anniversary to The Husband!

How she tricked us into two baths in one night

2007-07-14T21:42:00.000-04:00

Poor Baby B! She started with a slight cough late on Thursday night, which continued into Friday. She was still acting normal, so we were hoping it would just go away. During her bath on Friday night, I noticed some slight congestion in her chest, but she still didn't seem bothered by it. I cranked up her humidifier and gave her some medicine to take care of the cough before bedtime on Friday night.

Unfortunately, she woke up today with a very congested chest, a cough, and an occasional fever. She had a runny nose a couple times during the day (literally I had to use just two tissues), but most of it seems to be in her chest. She wasn't acting like she was miserable, but you could just tell she wasn't feeling like her usual self. We did the 6 p.m. nursing session just fine, and she got her last bottle of the night with combined milk and formula. However, that bottle (and more!) came up when she was on the changing table for what was supposed to be the last time of the night, right after she'd gotten a dose of the cold medicine, which I guess didn't sit well on her tummy. She threw up all over herself, repeatedly, so we had to give her a second bath to get her cleaned up.

Since she had nothing on her tummy anymore, I went ahead and nursed her again, and we finally got her to bed just after 9, about an hour late. She went to sleep immediately. She seems to be sleeping okay so far, so I hope that'll keep up through the night. I've been trying to wake her up at her usual time on the weekends so we keep a consistent schedule, but I'll probably let her sleep as long as she needs to tomorrow so she hopefully feels better. I'll call the doctor on Monday if she's not improving, but keep your fingers crossed that she kicks this quickly.

Reaching out

2007-07-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

In the past week or so, I've noticed a significant increase in the number of things that Baby B is actively reaching out for. She just recently started reaching up for the fish that "swim" in a circle above her swing, and I was pouring water over her for fun during her bath tonight and she reached up for the cup in my hand. She always wants to grab the book during storytime, she reaches out to touch The Dog, and she tried reaching for my water bottle tonight when I was feeding her (probably thinking it was one of her own bottles).

But you know what I'm so eager for her to do? I can't wait for her to reach up with her arms to indicate that she wants me to hold her. Sure, after a while, that may become tiring for me, especially when she gets to the point of wanting to be picked up all the time, but right now my heart warms when I think about it.

Along those same lines, I cannot wait for Baby B to kiss me back. I smother her with kisses daily, and she puts up with it quite well, but I can't wait for her to understand what it is I'm doing--and for her to do it back to me!

Family renovations

2007-07-12T13:21:00.000-04:00

Warning: I know some people who read this blog are still struggling to bring home their first child, so if you're sensitive to the subject of trying for an additional child, then it's probably best to skip this post. I won't be offended.

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I started writing this post almost two months ago, but I never felt very good about it. The gist of it was trying to justify the idea of possibly stopping with just one child, despite wanting two for as long as I could remember. If you'd asked me then about wanting another child, I'd probably have said, "No way in hell." Two months later and I'm still not fully swayed in the other direction, but I'm coming around to at least being receptive to the idea in the future. Not anytime soon, but sometime in the future. I've got a mess of thoughts in my head, plenty on each side, so I'm going to use this post to sort them out as best I can right now.

As I said, I've always wanted two children; I grew up with one sibling, which I loved, and the world seems to be made for a family of four. But several things make me hesitate about trying for another one. One, of course, is the knowledge that trying for a baby doesn't automatically equal a baby nine months later. Possibly going through another miscarriage is a daunting thought to me, especially now that I really know what I'd be missing with that child since I do have one of my own now.

Going through another pregnancy is a mental block at this point, too, for a couple of reasons. I know each pregnancy is different, but it's hard for me to imagine enduring the constant, severe morning sickness I dealt with before--but with having to take care of a young child on top of it. So many days I was completely incapacitated and it was all I could do to drag myself to work, so it's exhausting to think about going through that again with more responsibilities on my plate. Looking back, I think my gallstone attacks during pregnancy were worse than the great labor and delivery experience I had (no epidurals are available for gallstone attacks!), so the increased risk of such attacks makes me nervous. However, the second half of my pregnancy experience, as well as my labor and delivery, were very easy compared to what they could have been. I never got any swelling. I didn't get huge. I didn't tear or have an episiotomy. I didn't require a c-section. I had to push for only 30 minutes. Nursing, while difficult in the first two weeks, turned out to be a successful venture. However, there's no guarantee that I'll have it that easy next time around.

Baby B has been a dream baby so far; she's so happy it's almost unbelievable, and we've been so fortunate with how good of a sleeper she is. But what if the next one is a "terror" (again, on top of having to deal with Baby B)? What if the next one doesn't sleep as well as Baby B has since the beginning? Would Baby #2 always be measured up to Baby B and never quite be able to fill her big shoes? All very valid questions without answers.

Then there's the idea of two children, especially if they're close in age. Would I be able to devote enough of my time to both of my children, especially since I have to work and already have just a few hours with Baby B each night as it is? I wouldn't want to neglect Baby B, of course--that's not fair to her--yet a newborn requires so much attention. And the thought of two kids in diapers at the same time is a little intimidating. And could we afford daycare for two?

But I can't help but feel uneasy at a decision to not have another child. If it turns out this is the only baby we're able to have, I would eventually be 100% okay with that, as I do not take Baby B for granted and thank the universe every single day that I have her. But something deep inside tells me I'm not done, that things are not yet as complete as I'd like. Growing up with a sibling teaches you so many things that you just cannot learn elsewhere, not even from a daycare or school environment. I think I'm better for having grown up with a sister (especially one so close in age; we are 18 months apart), and I know Baby B would be, too. And you know what? Sure, having two young children would be a challenge, but I've always embraced the thrill of a challenge in other areas of my life, so the fear of the challenge shouldn't be enough to keep me from trying to take that path.

Of course I know that no decisions need to be made right now. The Husband and I will probably re-visit the subject periodically so we can make sure that whenever we do reach a decision to try to add to our family, we're on the same page about it. As of right now, having kids approximately three years apart sounds ideal, but give it another month, six months, or another year, and that opinion will likely change (likely several times...and probably in both directions). In the meantime, I really try to make the most of my time with Baby B, taking in all the little joys of being around a young infant, just in case this ends up being my only child, either by choice or by circumstance.

She's not just the president, she's also a client

2007-07-10T20:21:00.000-04:00

Ever since Baby B was born, she has been a genuine, card-carrying member of The No-Hair Club for Baby Girls. Well, okay, she was born with the tiniest bit of dark brown hair, and then that all pretty much fell out over her first month of life, leaving just the barest of fine sprouts that have passed for hair the rest of the time. Just recently, though, she has started growing a little bit of hair--this time it seems to be light brown like my hair, unlike the dark brown she had before like The Husband--though let's just say it's far from pigtails. Actually, I have to admit it's been kind of nice because we haven't had to worry about tangling her hair during her baths yet, though we have to be extra careful that her poor bare head doesn't get sunburned when we're out.

On a semi-related note, it looks like she's most definitely going to have dark brown eyes. They were fairly dark (definitely not blue) when she was born, but they would look different colors in different kinds of light, so we thought there might have been a chance (thought not a good one) that they'd change. They've indeed changed, but only to get even darker brown. It's funny how light she makes my own brown eyes appear when I look at the two of us in a picture or mirror.

We'll take "Flying with Babies" for $800, Alex

2007-07-09T10:32:00.000-04:00

Because I used up all of my paid time off during my maternity leave and because my HR screwed up my hours and I returned to work with a negative vacation balance, that's left traveling with Baby B not much of an option lately. And of course that's complicated by the fact that I do not have consecutive days off, getting Saturdays and Mondays away from the office, and requesting Sundays off is a difficult task because that's the day our magazine goes to press.

Now that I'm barely--just technically--above a zero vacation balance and will start earning time again soon, we started to look ahead at times we might be able to travel to New England (east-central Connecticut, specifically) to visit The Husband's family, many of whom cannot make the trip down here to meet Baby B. Driving that far (from Kentucky to Connecticut), while possible, isn't realistic since it would take at least two days of driving; we did it in one day each way a few Thanksgivings ago, but it was exhausting for just the two of us, and that was without Baby B in the picture. So, we decided we'd have to fly, though recent searches of flights were not very encouraging, especially since we'd prefer to purchase a seat for Baby B instead of holding her in our laps even though both options are available. Call me cheap if you want, but I refuse to pay $800 per seat on a flight that keeps me in the same hemisphere, but that's what flight prices were looking like (at least for the times that would possibly work for us) until recently.

Because of my work issues, bumping up a trip against a holiday makes the most sense, because that would give me an extra free day to work with. Labor Day weekend wasn't possible because The In-Laws weren't going to be in town (and we already have plans that weekend, though we could've canceled if that were the only weekend that might've worked). I tried to get flights for Thanksgiving weekend, as we've spent a few Thanksgivings up there with them before, but I still can't get those prices and/or flight times to work out at all. I don't really want to go up there for Christmas because that would mean flying back on Christmas Dayt this year since I have to work on the 26th.

Looking at New Year's weekend, however, it seemed like it might be a viable option, so I searched a little further and found a GREAT deal flying out of our own city, as opposed to driving an hour and a half to one of the two bigger airports, and into the city that's closest to The In-Laws. I should mention that flying out of our city is always, always, always much more expenseive than driving to one of the other major airports, so to find this deal was huge. The next step was to make sure The In-Laws were going to be in town and up for visitors (check) and that I could get someone to cover for me on Sunday, December 30 (check).

So, we've got tickets purchased to fly up there on Friday, December 28 and return on Tuesday, January 1, giving us three full days of visiting time. I'm pretty excited, as I love to travel but we haven't been able to do it much lately because we haven't had the flexibility to do so, both because of my work stuff and because The Husband doesn't have a ton of vacation time available since he's still relatively new at his job. It's hard to believe what a different person Baby B will be by then...she'll have just turned 11 months old when we go up there, so it's quite possible that she'll be learning to walk and maybe saying a few words. She'll be twice the age she is now! How in the world is that possible?

I have to admit, though, that I'm a little nervous at the idea of traveling with an infant. I just don't want to be that parent with a kid that screams for the duration of the flight without the hint of calming down. But, you know, if it happens, it happens. I'm sure things will go much better than I think, though, and obviously it's not enough of a fear to make me hesitate making the trip, but it's just one of those things that makes me a bit anxious. I'm so excited go, though, and I just wish it weren't six months away!

Waterbug

2007-07-08T22:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here, so we decided to take Baby B to the pool--a real pool--for the first time. Naturally she had quite the dirty diaper that I had to clean up when we got there, though thankfully it was before we made our way into the pool, so I was able to rest easy knowing it was unlikely she'd have another dirty diaper while in the water. After cleaning up (while she giggled) in the bathroom, we headed to the water ready for fun. We first went to the huge shallow (at most, about three feet deep) kids' pool, complete with a huge pirate ship with spewing water in the middle. (This is certainly not the kids' pool of my generation! We just had a small 10-foot-square pool with stagnant, pee-laden water to swim in. And we walked uphill both ways in the snow to get there. And we liked it.)

This pool has a gradual, sloped, beach-style entry, so there's shallow water that laps up onto the "shoreline" of the pool. We sat down with Baby B in the inches-deep water and let her get used to everything around her. She was very curious about all the people around, and the most fun she seemed to have was when other people, especially kids, would come up to her and talk or make funny faces. We walked her around this pool, closer to the pirate ship, for a while, then sat back down at the "shore" and splashed around. She wasn't quite her normal giggly self, but she also wasn't crying like I saw several babies her age doing when they'd get in the water.

We decided to move to one of the adult pools where we could more easily do things like let her float and jump up and down with her in our arms at chest level. She was still really intent on looking around at everything and everyone, and so many people made comments about how cute she was. We got out after a while and dried off, having spent about two hours there. I thought we'd be lucky to last a full hour, so I'm very happy with how her first pool trip went.

It was fun to look around at all the kids that seemed to be about the age Baby B will be next summer and see that there's even more pool fun in store for us. I'd like to make maybe one or two more pool trips this year (hey, might as well while she's free!), and in the meantime, she's still enjoying her little baby pool at home.

On the outside looking in

2007-07-06T16:04:00.001-04:00

There's something about playgroups that's always bothered me a little, but I haven't ever been able to put my finger on what it is that bugs me. Maybe part of it is that I don't consider myself an outgoing person among a group of strangers--though I'm fine once I get to know people--so the thought of being comfortable in a group of people I don't know is a little laughable.

However, I've started to realize that my interests and priorities are a lot more different now than they used to be, so maybe it's time I make some additional friends who can relate better to what I'm going through. I've gotten good support in this arena with a couple of my online message boards, but it's just not quite the same as personal, in-the-flesh interaction.

However, after searching online for some playgroups in my area, I've come to the realization that nearly all of them are 1) religion-based through a church (no thanks) and/or targeted toward stay-at-home moms (which does not include me). So far I've not found a single playgroup that meets at a time other than when I'm at work, so that leaves me shut out of the exclusive club.

Our libraries even have storytimes for young children, and I thought that might be fun to attend from time to time, but those groups meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Naturally there are no programs for infants on Mondays when I'm actually off work and could go during the day. I understand it's probably easier for the library to schedule these storytimes during the day for a variety of reasons, but I wish they had perhaps a Saturday morning program that rotated throughout the month (infants on the first Saturday of the month, 1- to 2-year olds on the second Saturday, etc.) to give those of us who work a chance to participate in such activities and make connections with others in our local community.

I'm glad that at least Baby B is getting some good social interaction from being at daycare--probably more than I could realistically expose her to if I did stay at home--but makes me a little sad that it means that I miss out on that social interaction with other moms myself.

Swimming in smiles

2007-07-05T22:11:00.000-04:00

We wanted to take Baby B to the swimming pool for the first time yesterday on our day off, but the weather didn't really cooperate for us. It wasn't actually raining during the day, but the wind was blowing and the leaves were turning over, so it looked like it might rain at any minute, and I didn't want to pack up all of our stuff, get there, then have to turn around and come home. So, we decided to take a raincheck on that plan and instead got out the little inflatable baby pool I picked up for her earlier this week and let her play in that. She can't quite sit up reliably on her own, especially in a slippery pool, but we just took turns helping support her while she played with some of the new bath toys we brought out.

Can you tell from this picture that she might have had a little bit of fun?

Also, because it's one of my favorite recent pictures, I wanted to post this one, taken on Tuesday night. I can't believe how much her personality seems to come out in her pictures. This girl has the biggest smile, and as her daycare teacher said today, "She's even happy when she's fussy. It takes a lot to really get her upset." We are very fortunate.

Thumb therapy

2007-07-04T20:42:00.000-04:00

Baby B has really taken to sucking her thumb when she gets upset and/or when she gets tired and needs to go to sleep, and it's been a very effective way of calming herself down. I know a lot of people have issues with babies sucking their thumbs or fingers, especially once they start cutting teeth (no updates on that front, by the way), but I think I'd rather her lean more toward her thumb than a pacifier if I have a preference. It is thought that this behavior is at least partially hereditary; I was a thumb-sucker, and The Husband was a finger-sucker. If she hadn't ended up with this behavior, I would have been very surprised. And, I have to admit, it's awfully cute when she does it.

Think fast

2007-07-03T23:37:00.000-04:00

I realized recently that I spend a lot of time regularly calculating in my head exactly how old Baby B is, because there's nothing like feeling like a bad mom when someone asks you how old your child is and you hesitate, stammer a bit, and have to think for a while about the answer. Sheesh, I mean, the next thing you know, people will expect me to remember what day she was born on!

Tummy time, nighttime version

2007-07-02T08:08:00.000-04:00

So it looks like Baby B has discovered the joys of sleeping on her tummy. I've found her sleeping on her stomach when I woke her up the past two mornings, and I've had to flip her a couple times before I've gone to bed. I know most experts say that stomach sleeping is okay if they flip themselves to that position because that usually means they're able to turn themselves if there's a problem. Still, I can't help but be a little nervous about it since all the research points to sleeping on the back as being the most safe. I can't blame the girl, though; I can't stand sleeping on my back and find myself much more comfortable on my side or stomach.

She's too sexy for her clothes

2007-06-29T23:34:00.000-04:00

My baby's a stripper at the age of five months. Okay, she doesn't take off her own clothes (yet)--and it's certainly not for money--but she's clearly much happier when she's completely, 100% buck naked. Clothes just don't cut it for her, I guess; she prefers to flaunt what she's got to anyone within sight of her changing table. She's going to be that four-year-old who runs out into the front yard without a thread of clothing on, isn't she?

Anyway, this latest amusement of hers cracks me up even more because she'll almost always reach down and pinch the fat on her inner thighs, which seems to make her even happier. I lean down and tell her that it's possible it's just baby fat and will go away eventually, but there's a very good chance she's inherited her mother's unslim thighs, and I apologize profusely for both that and the wide hips that it's almost certain I've passed along. Hopefully I've passed along a few good traits to make up for ones like these.

Rubber ducky, you're the one

2007-06-28T23:13:00.000-04:00

Baby B is so fun to watch in the bath now. We still have her in her infant tub, but we've got it in our regular bathtub now so she can splash as much as she wants without getting the kitchen counter soaked. We've got a rubber duck that tells us whether her bath water is too hot, and it also works well as a bath toy. (Note to self: Must buy more bath toys now that she's taking an interest in them.) I place it in the water at Baby B's feet and she kicks her feet wildly to draw the duck near, batting at it until she's got it within reach, then she grabs it with her hands (and of course puts it in her mouth). The first couple times she did this, I thought it was a fluke that she was making it look like she was purposely kicking at the duck to bring it closer but it was really just a coincidence. However, after doing it several times in a row and on different days, it's clear that's exactly what she's doing. It's actually kind of amazing to watch her and see that she's figured out how this works.

A different world view

2007-06-26T20:26:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of days, Baby B has been rolling around like she's been doing it for years! She's better at moving from her back to her stomach, but she's started to master the stomach-to-back roll a little better over the past couple days. Of course, this has made bedtime a little more difficult because now she rolls onto her stomach in her crib and gets upset if her arm gets in the way and she can't roll back on her own. I suspect she's also finally figured out that if she cries enough, we'll come back into her room. We're going to have to start discussing a plan of action for these moments in the future.

But the big news is that Baby B sat unassisted for the first time yesterday, for about a full minute, and I was able to get a picture of it. Looking at that picture makes her seem so much older than she is in my head; to me, she's still the delicate, tiny baby I held back in January. She's not to the point of doing it on her own all the time yet, as she still has some balance issues, but she'll be doing it before we know it. We're going to have to take a serious look at things we need to do to childproof the house soon. Thankfully we have a dog and two cats, so the house is at least pet-proof. That's a good start, but there's still much more to do.

(Oh yeah, in this picture you can see the bib that I was talking about the other day, the one that says, "More like Mommy everyday.")

Things I could sit and stare at for hours

2007-06-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

*A warm, crackling fire

*A gorgeous sunset that paints the sky in hues of purple, pink, orange, and red

*Ocean waves gently lapping on the sandy shore

*The jellyfish tank at the aquarium

*Snowflakes falling gently on the frozen grass

*Baby B sleeping peacefully in her crib

Baby babble

2007-06-23T10:41:00.000-04:00

There are some days that I swear I'm never going to know when Baby B's first word is spoken, because there are so many times now when it sounds like she's already saying a few real words among her nearly-constant babbling. (Now, I know she's advanced [*wink*], but not quite that advanced!)

I am making a prediction that her first word is going to be "hi," as both The Husband and I say it to her all the time. It doesn't require any complex mouth/tongue positions to say, so I'd say there's a good chance that might be it. Incidentally, though, that's one of the words I'm sometimes convinced she says right now, so who knows if I'll recognize it if she actually says it for real at some point.

This is the kind of publicity—your name in print—that makes people!

2007-06-22T20:29:00.000-04:00

Back in January, we agreed to let our newspaper print Baby B's birth announcement so we could put it in her baby book. When there was a notice in our company newsletter a few months later to send in birth annoucements to be published, I submitted Baby B's information, and it was printed along with a picture of the two of us in the June edition.

But look out, folks, because Baby B has made the big-time now. I copy-edit a 1,000-page almanac every year, and her birth was announced and she was mentioned by name in the foreword, which was written by our editorial director to thank everyone who worked hard on the almanac. Of course, I'm convinced that there are only about three readers of our almanac (and I'm one of them because I have to be), but hey, it's a real book that's in real bookstores! Fame and glory before she's five months old. If only riches came along with it!

Oh yeah, and speaking of copy editing and babies, that reminds me of something I've been meaning to mention here. One of the great bibs we have says, "More like Mommy everyday." I've come close to stashing the bib in the back of the drawer because "everyday" in this case should actually be two words: every day. Not everyday. A small point, yes, but for a copy editor, it's quite annoying. Anyone else get the irony of a baby wearing a grammatically incorrect bib that says she's more like Mommy every day when her mom is a copy editor?

Show me those pearly whites

2007-06-21T20:30:00.000-04:00

I have a suspicion that Baby B may be starting to teethe. Yesterday I decided to feel her gums and think I might have felt a place on the bottom where a bud might be approaching the surface. But, it's hard to tell because I can't keep my finger in there very long before she gets upset from it, and I certainly can't keep her mouth open long enough to get a good look for red, puffy gums that might indicate impending activity.

But there were several other possible clues today. Her daycare teacher said she was a little irritible today--not super-fussy, but fussy for her normal, happy self--and hardly slept at all. She doesn't sleep that much at daycare but usually will take at least a couple short (less than an hour) naps. I brought her home after work, and she just seemed "off" all night. Minor things would upset her--very out of character--and her cries just seemed different than normal.

In testing out different things to make her happy again, I gave her a cool teething ring, and she went to town on it. She'll usually put things in her mouth for a few minutes, but she rarely keeps them in her mouth longer than that. But she held a tight grip on the teething ring and gummed at it for well over an hour tonight, which helped take her fussiness down a couple notches, and then eventually it passed.

I tried looking for other signs, which have included increased drooling over the past couple weeks (could just be her salivary glands kicking into gear), a slightly runny nose today (though, The Husband and I were both sick this week, so maybe it's just that, though she hasn't shown any other signs of having a cold), and sometimes grabbing at her ear (but I think that's just where her hand ended up when I was observing...I'm not reading too much into that right now).

One thing is certain: we'll find out whether or not it's teething before long.

Missing kissing

2007-06-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

I ended up feeling the beginnings of a head cold on Sunday night, started feeling it more on Monday, then it hit full force on early on Tuesday morning. The sinus pressure, sneezing, and general icky feeling were bad enough that I probably would have stayed home from work (a rare thing for me), but unfortunately I had to be in the office to finish a project by deadline...on just one hour of sleep (if that), it turned out. I was told by a couple different people that I looked like crap (no offense taken...I really did!), and I felt horrible. Tuesday night at home is kind of a blur because I was so out of it; it's a good thing we have a regular evening routine, because all I was doing was going through the motions between blowing my nose. I got much better sleep last night and still feel kind of crummy today, but much better in comparison to yesterday. The Husband woke up this morning with a head cold, as well, and ended up taking the day off work so he didn't infect co-workers. Hopefully his symptoms will be less miserable tomorrow. I figure as long as Baby B doesn't end up getting sick, then I'll put up with a quick cold.

But you know what's really sucked about having a cold? I can't kiss my sweet girl nearly as much as I want to. I kiss her all the time, but I've had to be more conservative with it over the past couple days. I've been thinking recently that I cannot wait until the time comes when she kisses me back on her own. I'll be completely wrapped around her little finger when that day comes.

Sketchy gift

2007-06-18T13:52:00.001-04:00

As promised, here is The Husband's Father's Day gift, a pencil sketch of Baby B done from a photo of her after her first bath. (And no, I don't have the talent to do this. I paid to have it done.)

The "trouble" with having the happiest baby on the block

2007-06-17T23:50:00.000-04:00

First of all, this post is not a complaint; we realize we're very fortunate to have such a happy baby. It's just sort of a funny observation that I realized recently.

So, yeah, the trouble with having a happy baby? When she does start to fuss, it sort of makes you wonder if something is seriously wrong with her since it's so out of character. We're used to getting smiles and laughs and coos all the time, so when she doesn't display those behaviors, it just seems like it must be something big causing her to act like that. I know that's not likely to be the case, but I also can't help but think it.

******

Happy Father's Day to The Husband. I'll try to get a picture posted of Baby B's gift to him tomorrow. (She earns an allowance, don't you know. For every smile, she gets $1. For every genuine laugh, she gets $3. For every night she sleeps through the night, she gets $10. But, for every dirty diaper, she gets 50 cents taken away. With being as happy a baby as she is, she has accumulated quite a bit of money and was easily able to buy a Father's Day gift and card.)

Back soon

2007-06-14T22:35:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to mention that all is well, but things are crazy busy at work right now, so the last thing I want to do is get on the computer for the spare hour I have at the end of the night right before bed. Translation: I don't have time to make full posts right now. I'll get back to it this weekend, I hope.

Three decades in the making

2007-06-12T16:24:00.000-04:00

Today, at the stroke of 3:15 p.m., I turned 30 years old. I can hear my bones creaking as I type this. I'm kidding, of course; I actually have had an easy time with this milestone age, and I know I can chalk it up to the fact that I am about where I expected/hoped to be in my life at this point. If I weren't married, for example, I might have having a more difficult time of it.

But this birthday is an interesting one, because it's my first since giving birth myself. And having gone through that, I now see things so much more different than I did before. Previously, birthdays were about the person born. But this birthday, I have so much more of an appreciation for my own mom (and I've told her this very thing), and it's really her who should be celebrating instead of me. Me? I didn't do anything. She's the one who gave me life. All I did was go through a birth canal and cried at the end.

I am the firstborn child, and my parents tried for ten years (with one known miscarriage in the mix) to have me. Now, infertility now is certainly different from infertility 30 to 40 years ago because options to remedy the problems weren't nearly as prevalent back then. However, ten childless years is still ten childless years, and I know it must have been hard for my parents to want a family so badly for that long but not be able to achieve it. However, with the news of my impending arrival came some difficult news for my mother: She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 29.

Again, medical advances weren't as good back then, and she was strongly encouraged to abort the baby that would become me, as I was a severe risk to her health. But she did not give up on me; she refused an abortion and said she would take the chance. Three days past the due date, on June 12, 1977, at 3:15 p.m., yours truly was born. This must have been quite a fantastic moment for my parents; I have always appreciated knowing all they went through to have me, as I can't tell you how loved and wanted it has made me feel all these years. They were able to remove my mom's cervical cancer after I was born, though she had another flare-up when she found out she was (accidentally) pregnant with my sister, who is 18 months younger than I am. This time, she had to have a full hysterectomy so the cancer wouldn't return. Like it or not, she was done with her child-bearing years, though she did have two daughters to show for it.

After all she went through to have me, it's really my mom that should be lighting the candles on a fantastic birthday cake today, not me. As for me, my true celebrating will come on January 27, the anniversary of Baby B's entrance into this world.

Zoinks! The case of the phantom dirty diaper

2007-06-11T13:37:00.000-04:00

Here's a case that not even Shaggy and Scooby would be able to solve.

Picture it: You're sitting in the recliner with your adorable infant, either letting her relax or doing something to entertain her (it doesn't matter which). All of a sudden, the airflow shifts just enough that you catch the scent of something foul, and you quickly remember all of the butt sounds you'd recently heard. The smell is faint at first, but then becomes unmistakeable in nature--something that rancid could come only from a baby's butt. All activity (or non-activity) ceases, and a quick break is made for the changing table to remedy the situation. The baby kicks happily as you detach the diaper tabs and prepare for the horror that awaits down below. You pull the front of the diaper down and there it is...

Nothing.

It's another case of THE PHANTOM DIAPER!

There's not a bit of dirtiness in the vicinity of the diaper. The smell sometimes lingers, but not always. You start to question why you even thought there could possibly be a dirty diaper in the first place, yet you were so sure of it at the time. There is no explanation, so you must chalk it up to yet another case of the phantom dirty diaper!

Baby raspberries

2007-06-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

I'm sure it'll be very rewarding when we teach Baby B her ABCs. I'm sure we'll be so proud when we teach her how to count. And it'll be a big day when we teach her all the colors. Those milestones are still a while down the road, so I have to take pride in what she's learning now: funny sounds.

The latest funny sound I've taught Baby B is similiar to blowing a raspberry, except usually she doesn't stick her tongue out when she does it. Oh yes, my babe can make butt sounds with her mouth, imitating the sound that I directed at her first. Leonardo da Vinci, look out. Albert Einstein, move over. William Shakespeare, make room. This girl has real talent!

The small things

2007-06-08T23:58:00.000-04:00

It's amazing the small things you get excited about as a parent...things that you'd never come close to getting excited about before the short, milk-drinking person entered your life. I was insanely eager to receive the ExerSaucer we'd ordered and couldn't wait for Baby B to try it out. The Husband put it together last night after she went to bed, and we tried it out for the first time today after work. She seemed a little overwhelmed by some of the options at first, but I think once she gets used to sitting in it, she's going to love it and it'll be good entertainment for her.

Off to bed for me. For the second night in a row, I'm up way later than I should be (however, this is the second night in a row that we've had friends visiting, so that puts me behind in getting other things done), so I need to hit the sack. I briefly fell asleep when pumping a few minutes ago, so I suspect that my path to DreamLand will be a short one.

Baby B continues to do well and doesn't seem to be spitting up or vomiting nearly as much as earlier in the week.

This is where a creative title would be if I had one

2007-06-07T23:56:00.001-04:00

I'm tired and up much later than I should be, but I had company tonight and am just now getting around to computer stuff. Just a brief update before I head to bed...Baby B seemed to be doing better today and wasn't spitting up nearly as much. Hopefully the Zantac is helping, plus we changed her feeding schedule at daycare, so that may have helped, too.

Her daycare had a picture day two weeks ago, and the photos were ready for purchase today. They had three poses to choose from, and I ended up getting the whole package because they turned out really good! We didn't end up getting professional pics done at 3 months like a lot of people do, so that's why I ended up getting all the pics because this was when she was four months old. Maybe we'll do four months, eight months, and a year instead of the usual three months, six months, nine months, and one year.

Reflux redux

2007-06-06T22:28:00.000-04:00

Baby B's daycare teacher called me this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. and said that she wasn't acting like herself and that she'd spit up and vomited four times in half an hour after waking up from a long nap (and it's unusual that she actually takes long naps there). They recommended that we take her to the doctor, so I gave the pediatrician a call and they said they could get us in at 1:30. So, despite being pretty busy at work, I packed up and headed out to pick up Baby B for our second doctor's visit in three days.

As expected, they don't really know what's wrong. She had lost 4 1/2 ounces since Monday, but the doctor wasn't really concerned by it. They're just guessing that it's her reflux acting up again, so they doubled the strength of her Zantac. She's not acting like she's distressed by this spitting up/vomiting, so that's good at least. She woke up at 4:30 this morning and had some trouble getting back to sleep, which is very unusual. She's had a slight fever at times for a couple days, but that could be related to the shots. That's another guess from the doctor on what's wrong, that she's still a little bit off from the shots. Or he said it could be because we recently increased the size of her daytime bottles from 6 ounces to 8 ounces. He said to give the stronger Zantac and play around with the amounts that we're feeding her and see what that does. Even though the doctor says it's too early, both of Baby B's teachers mentioned that a lot of her "symptoms" right now are teething symptoms and that she could be in the early stages of that. It's not likely at 4 1/2 months, but it's not out of the question.

She and I went home and I got some work done that I'd brought home with me while she napped in the swing for a couple hours. She was fairly fussy this evening, including one spell for about 20 minutes where she couldn't be consoled at all, but she still had plenty of happy moments this evening, too. She seemed mostly better after getting her bath and her last feeding, so hopefully this will pass soon. I can't imagine that her teachers like having to change her clothes three times in half an hour.

Capture the flag

2007-06-05T21:13:00.000-04:00

We play a fun game each night that we call "baby capture the flag." Like the traditional version of the game, this one involves trying to, well, capture the flag--but the "flag" in our case is Baby B's bib.

See, we put a bib on her after she's dressed for bed because, even though her reflux has been a lot better lately, she does tend to spit up if she lies down too soon after eating. We've been putting her to bed about half an hour after her last feeding of the day, so the spit-up risk is still there. Instead of worrying about having to change her whole outfit and risk waking her up, we just put on a bib. However, with her able to use her hands to move the bib, we can't leave it on her all night because it's too much of a suffocation risk. (I'm very paranoid about that; we've opted not to use bumpers in her crib unless it looks like it's going to be truly necessary.) So, we wait until she's in a deep enough sleep, then the game begins.

The goal, of course, is to capture the "flag" without waking her up. I've learned that the best way to do this is in two or three different stages. First we unfasten the velco closure and she stirs just a bit. We take a step away from the crib and wait for her to settle down, then make the move to remove the bib from around her neck, again with the goal of not waking her up. It's actually really easy to do, but it sometimes feel so risky!

Speaking of bibs, I'm happy to report that I've finally found some that are perfect for our needs. They're the Carter's dribblehappy bibs (pictured above) that have a waterproof lining on the inside (but are soft cloth on the front and back) to prevent wetness from getting to the baby's clothes. I really like that the closure is on the side instead of the back, especially since Baby B still spends most of her time on her back. With the bibs that have the velcro closure in the back, it sometimes doesn't lay right when she's laying down and can bother her sometimes. Plus this side closure makes it a lot easier to remove the bib at night.

Stick it to me (well, to her)

2007-06-04T11:02:00.000-04:00

Baby B had her four-month check-up today, and it went really well. We answered a questionnaire about milestones (she'd met all the ones listed) and the nurse got her measurements (see below). The doctor came in to examine her and asked about her feeding and sleeping schedules, how her reflux was, milestones, and other miscellaneous things. Naturally, she picked during this visit to spit up all over both herself and me, so I was a mess (and stinky) by the time the doctor came in. He gave us a feeding guide and said we could start solids anytime we wanted, though I still think we're going to wait until closer to six months to give her digestive system more time to develop. The doctor kept commenting on how pretty she was (I'm sure he says that to everyone) and what a happy baby she seemed like. You know, she really is a happy baby.

Then the nurse came back in and it was time for the dreaded shots.

She took the oral rotavirus vaccine fine, though she made a funny face from the taste of it. The nurse did the next three shots in her upper thighs in quick succession, and poor Baby B was red-faced and crying during this time. The Band-Aids were applied and I was able to pick her up to comfort her, and the funniest thing happened. Like flipping a switch, she stopped her crying, looked around at us with a neutral look, then started BEAMING AND LAUGHING when looking at the nurse! I started dying laughing myself. The nurse said, "I wish all of my patients were that good with their shots! I claim dibs on being the one to give her six-month shots!" She got a little fussy when I was checking out and on the drive home, but the last half of the drive she fell asleep and has been asleep in her carseat for the last hour (I don't want to wake her up since she missed her morning nap). She was sleepy throughout the day after her two-month shots, so I suspect the same thing may happen today.

Height: 24 7/8 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 14 pounds, 1.5 ounces (50th to 75th percentile)
Head circumference: 16 inches (25th to 50th percentile)

The p word

2007-06-04T07:18:00.000-04:00

I know a lot of people are fond of calling their daughter a "princess," but that is strictly a forbidden word in the House o' Baby B. There's just something about it that really rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps it's the implication that she gets whatever she wants without having to really ever earn it. Maybe it's the idea that whenever she's in distress, she'll always have someone magically come to her rescue and get her out of trouble. Or maybe it's the unreal expectation of a perfect fairy-tale life ahead of her, complete with a handsome Prince Charming awaiting her just around the corner. It seems a bit out there and too much of a fantasy for my taste, so I'm always careful not to call her my little princess, whether when we're alone or around other people. And you know, it's a shame because it seems like half of the cute onesies out there have some cutesy saying like "Daddy's little princess" or "High maintenance" on them. Call me crazy, but it's just not the image I want my daughter to be conveying to others.