I didn't give Avonlea solids until 6 months. It wasn't some kind of weird stance or anything--it was mostly because I was (let's face it) lazy. It was just easier to cart Avonlea around without a bunch of other food and equipment, and with how my brain is working lately, I would forget half the time, anyways.
At 6 months, we started giving her solids. Purees, mostly--apples, peaches, pears, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes (of which she is now allergic). I would also give her slices of apples and carrots to gnaw on, which worked well.
She took to purees pretty well. She wouldn't eat a lot at one sitting, but she was still being breastfed, so I wasn't worried about the calories.
She figured out how to use the pouches at 9 months, sucking the food out on her own, which was nice and helpful. Again, she still wasn't eating a lot, but she was trying out new foods, and seemed to enjoy whatever we would give her (well, except peas. She hated eating peas by themselves.). She did show signs of stubbornness--if I gave her a spoonful of something she didn't like, she wasn't eager to try anything else from a spoon that meal. It was like she didn't trust me or something.
About a month ago, she really hit her stride. She figured out how to hold the pouches, and could eat everything in it (or almost everything). I was excited because we were finally to the point where we weren't throwing food away! She would be quirky, and one week not eat from a spoon at all, and only eat from a pouch, and the following week, it would reverse--but she was still eating. I continued to give her bits of "real" food, too--a stalk of steamed broccoli, apples, some rice puffs, a bit of pancake, a cracker, some goldfish, some Cheerios. She would gnaw on them, but she wouldn't swallow anything solid. If it was too big, she would just work it with her tongue until she could spit it back out.
Well, about 3 weeks ago, she decided she no longer wanted food. Nothing. No purees, no solids, no finger foods. She won't let me feed her, and she won't take purees from a pouch herself. I will put some "real" food in front of her, and she will play with it, but next to nothing goes in her mouth (the dogs have learned to sit by her high chair, because she will often drop the food off the side). If I try to put something in her mouth, she turns her head away quickly, or spits it out immediately--she doesn't even taste it.
Around 9 months, when she got on the food kick, I slowed down her breastfeeding during the day--but as a result, she was waking up every couple of hours at night to eat. Since she's been on the food strike, I am breastfeeding her more during the day, and she's letting me sleep 5 hour stretches at night. Yes, I know she should be sleeping all night. I KNOW. I was hoping that by bumping up her calories during the day, she would sleep better--but that is blowing up in my face.
I am just really frustrated. I try new foods, she won't eat them. I try "favorite" foods, and nothing. I try purees from a spoon and from a pouch, and I may get her to eat one bite or one sip from the pouch, then she won't eat any more. She won't eat ANYTHING chunky. I have been a successful getting her to eat Greek yogurt--but if she gets any fruit bits, she works and spits them out.
We're on a strict budget, so I HATE buying food that she ends up not eating, and then I have to throw out.
Did any of you experience this problem? Should I just ride it out, or should I worry that I'll be serving my baby a pureed 1-year cake?
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Before I had a kid, I was an idiot.
Before I had a kid, I was an idiot.
I wasn't stupid. After all, I got a decent score on my ACTs. I graduated with an acceptable GPA from my high school and college. I graduated from grad school with a 4.0. I have fun impressing people with my Jeopardy! knowledge. I'm a smart girl.
But I was an idiot.
That's the only way I can figure how I would think I had any reasonable idea as to what to expect when I had my own living, breathing human being to take care of day in and day out. "I'm not going to do that." "My kid won't do that." "My baby will be doing this." Blah, blah, blah, fishcakes.
I wrote recently about how I don't feel like I will ever really have the parenting thing down. I get one thing together, and something else inevitably falls apart.
But these days, I feel like every. single. thing. I am doing is screwed up in some way...and it is my fault.
See, I thought that in order to be a "good mom", I had to do it all. Well, maybe not do it all, but try to do it all right. Keep the house clean, keep the kid clean, breastfeed exclusively, get her on a schedule, make sure she sleeps in her own bed, don't worry about giving her solid foods until she's 6 months, get dinner on the table every night, yadda, yadda, yadda. Every single thing I was doing I was doing it as well as I could, but also simultaneously feeling like I was doing it wrong.
We have 2 dogs, and one saying that we tried to maintain throughout the puppy years was, "If you don't want the dog doing _____ when they're 150 pounds, don't let them do it when they're 15 pounds." So, Waldo and Gus don't get on the couch. They get in and out of the car and the bathtub without help. They sit when they come in the house if it's raining, so that I can wipe off their paws.
I feel like with Avonlea, I've screwed up so much, and I've made things so hard on myself. She's a figurative 150lb dog that I didn't train right when she was 15lbs.
I worked so hard on breastfeeding that now, she will only eat from me. She spits out anything with texture, so she doesn't get any nutrients from "real food", and I am wasting tons of money on baby food that she eats one or two bites from. I also feed her before putting her down for a nap, or down for bed at night, so now she will scream if she doesn't get fed before bed. Know who that messes up? Definitely not the little munchkin happily fed and sleeping in her bed.
I was lazy in the beginning, and once I found out she wasn't going to take a bottle anymore, I didn't press the issue. I didn't work with her to take a bottle. So now she doesn't take one. She does do a sippy cup and a cup with a straw, but I have never tried feeding her with that before putting her to bed. I never tried to have Nick feed her before putting her to bed. So now I am the one who has to put her to bed every night.
Avonlea still only sleeps in 2-3 hour stretches at night. I know I should sleep train her. I do. I have all of this guilt that she's keeping Nick up and he has to work and I get mad because I just want to stinking sleep already, but my boobs hurt if she goes really long between feedings because she eats every 2 hours at night that I just get up and feed her and she goes right back to sleep. And if I don't feed her then she screams for 1.5 hours, or maybe more but I don't know because by that time I lose my mind and just get up and feed her. So now I have a 10.5 month old who gets up at least 3 times every night and so I can't go do anything past 10pm because my kid will wake up and want to eat. Nick and I have tickets to see my favorite musical group on Sunday, and it's going to be a train wreck (pretty sure I can't convince them to only have the concert between 7 and 10pm).
My baby is a sweet, adorable, snuggly pair of handcuffs, and it is all my fault.
I'm already saying, "Oh, I'm going to do things so differently with the next kid," and then I stop myself and think, "Next kid? Oh, #*#& no!"
I wasn't stupid. After all, I got a decent score on my ACTs. I graduated with an acceptable GPA from my high school and college. I graduated from grad school with a 4.0. I have fun impressing people with my Jeopardy! knowledge. I'm a smart girl.
But I was an idiot.
That's the only way I can figure how I would think I had any reasonable idea as to what to expect when I had my own living, breathing human being to take care of day in and day out. "I'm not going to do that." "My kid won't do that." "My baby will be doing this." Blah, blah, blah, fishcakes.
I wrote recently about how I don't feel like I will ever really have the parenting thing down. I get one thing together, and something else inevitably falls apart.
But these days, I feel like every. single. thing. I am doing is screwed up in some way...and it is my fault.
See, I thought that in order to be a "good mom", I had to do it all. Well, maybe not do it all, but try to do it all right. Keep the house clean, keep the kid clean, breastfeed exclusively, get her on a schedule, make sure she sleeps in her own bed, don't worry about giving her solid foods until she's 6 months, get dinner on the table every night, yadda, yadda, yadda. Every single thing I was doing I was doing it as well as I could, but also simultaneously feeling like I was doing it wrong.
We have 2 dogs, and one saying that we tried to maintain throughout the puppy years was, "If you don't want the dog doing _____ when they're 150 pounds, don't let them do it when they're 15 pounds." So, Waldo and Gus don't get on the couch. They get in and out of the car and the bathtub without help. They sit when they come in the house if it's raining, so that I can wipe off their paws.
I feel like with Avonlea, I've screwed up so much, and I've made things so hard on myself. She's a figurative 150lb dog that I didn't train right when she was 15lbs.
I worked so hard on breastfeeding that now, she will only eat from me. She spits out anything with texture, so she doesn't get any nutrients from "real food", and I am wasting tons of money on baby food that she eats one or two bites from. I also feed her before putting her down for a nap, or down for bed at night, so now she will scream if she doesn't get fed before bed. Know who that messes up? Definitely not the little munchkin happily fed and sleeping in her bed.
I was lazy in the beginning, and once I found out she wasn't going to take a bottle anymore, I didn't press the issue. I didn't work with her to take a bottle. So now she doesn't take one. She does do a sippy cup and a cup with a straw, but I have never tried feeding her with that before putting her to bed. I never tried to have Nick feed her before putting her to bed. So now I am the one who has to put her to bed every night.
Avonlea still only sleeps in 2-3 hour stretches at night. I know I should sleep train her. I do. I have all of this guilt that she's keeping Nick up and he has to work and I get mad because I just want to stinking sleep already, but my boobs hurt if she goes really long between feedings because she eats every 2 hours at night that I just get up and feed her and she goes right back to sleep. And if I don't feed her then she screams for 1.5 hours, or maybe more but I don't know because by that time I lose my mind and just get up and feed her. So now I have a 10.5 month old who gets up at least 3 times every night and so I can't go do anything past 10pm because my kid will wake up and want to eat. Nick and I have tickets to see my favorite musical group on Sunday, and it's going to be a train wreck (pretty sure I can't convince them to only have the concert between 7 and 10pm).
My baby is a sweet, adorable, snuggly pair of handcuffs, and it is all my fault.
I'm already saying, "Oh, I'm going to do things so differently with the next kid," and then I stop myself and think, "Next kid? Oh, #*#& no!"
Saturday, February 8, 2014
A Typical Day
My New Year's Resolution was to write more often, and here it is the beginning of February, and I think I have written less.
Part of the reason is that I am enjoying my girl. This week she has napped much less than normal, so I have been spending more time with her during the day. This is great, because with as much as she usually naps, I don't feel like I get enough time with her. Isn't that crazy? I see her all day, but I still feel like I don't see her enough.
Another reason is that to be honest, a lot of our days are kind of similar. Here's a typical day:
7:30am - Avonlea is up for the day. I bring her into our bed with a couple of toys (or a box of tissues or a water bottle will suffice, too). She'll hang out in bed with us while I either read my Facebook feed or Instagram for a few minutes, or try to catch a few more zz's.
8:15am - By this time (at the latest), I am up for the day, making breakfast for she and I. I have also started making lunches for Nick, since we're on a budget and he can't go out to eat every day anymore. Avonlea eats solids at her high chair in the doorway to the kitchen while I make food.
9:00am - Avonlea is usually ready for her morning nap. I breastfeed her, then she goes down for anywhere between an hour and two-and-a-half hours (if I'm lucky).
While Avonlea is napping - do laundry, dishes, clean family room, check emails/FB, watch a couple of YouTube vids. I am trying not to be on the phone or on the computer while Avonlea is awake.
Whenever she gets up (usually 11:00am) - Playtime! She has a basket of toys that we get out, and she sits on the floor playing with me. These days, it is a little bit of playing, and a whole lot of crawling around the living room, exploring new areas she has only been able to look at for 9.5 months.
12:00pm - Usually in the afternoon we'll go to the park, or go to the library and the park. I pack a lunch while Avonlea is napping, and we'll go sit there for an hour or so. Avonlea loves the library already, which makes me so happy. On non-library days, we'll run errands during the afternoon. I feed Avonlea solids at the park, or while we're out.
1:30 or 2:00pm - Avonlea is ready for her afternoon nap. I breastfeed her, then she goes down again for an hour or two. Though, this week, she has taken either the morning OR the afternoon nap, not both. Hopefully this is just temporary--I'm not ready for her to give up her two nap schedule yet!!
Whenever she gets up (usually 4:00pm) - Playtime! Usually at this point of the day, she is tired of her toys, so we play games together. She LOVES to dance and sing, so we'll do that for a while. She also loves to be tickled and she loves to play with my face, so we'll sit eye-to-eye for a while and just chat. After a little while, we're just in survive-until-Daddy-gets-home mode. :) I'll feed Avonlea solids again around 5 while I'm getting dinner ready.
6:00pm - Bathtime when Daddy gets home, or just hang out with Daddy while Mommy finishes dinner.
6:30pm - Depending on how her afternoon nap went, she'll either be ready for bed now or at 7, so I do bedtime routine. I breastfeed her before she goes to sleep.
10 or 11pm - Avonlea gets up to breastfeed.
2:00am - Breastfeed
5:30am - Breastfeed
7:30am - Start the next day!
Pretty much this is what every day looks like, which is why blogging is kind of a last-on-my-mind thing. Other than detailing her developmental changes (of which there are a lot), I don't have a lot to say. Or, I do have a lot to say, but I don't think about writing it down. *sigh* New mommy problems.
Scheduling note: Yes, she is still getting up several times at night to eat (last night, it was every 2 hours). I think I need to breastfeed her more during the day, so she's getting more daytime calories, but if I feed her more during the day, I feel like I'm feeding her all. the. time (either solids or breast milk). Hmm...
Part of the reason is that I am enjoying my girl. This week she has napped much less than normal, so I have been spending more time with her during the day. This is great, because with as much as she usually naps, I don't feel like I get enough time with her. Isn't that crazy? I see her all day, but I still feel like I don't see her enough.
Another reason is that to be honest, a lot of our days are kind of similar. Here's a typical day:
7:30am - Avonlea is up for the day. I bring her into our bed with a couple of toys (or a box of tissues or a water bottle will suffice, too). She'll hang out in bed with us while I either read my Facebook feed or Instagram for a few minutes, or try to catch a few more zz's.
8:15am - By this time (at the latest), I am up for the day, making breakfast for she and I. I have also started making lunches for Nick, since we're on a budget and he can't go out to eat every day anymore. Avonlea eats solids at her high chair in the doorway to the kitchen while I make food.
9:00am - Avonlea is usually ready for her morning nap. I breastfeed her, then she goes down for anywhere between an hour and two-and-a-half hours (if I'm lucky).
While Avonlea is napping - do laundry, dishes, clean family room, check emails/FB, watch a couple of YouTube vids. I am trying not to be on the phone or on the computer while Avonlea is awake.
Whenever she gets up (usually 11:00am) - Playtime! She has a basket of toys that we get out, and she sits on the floor playing with me. These days, it is a little bit of playing, and a whole lot of crawling around the living room, exploring new areas she has only been able to look at for 9.5 months.
12:00pm - Usually in the afternoon we'll go to the park, or go to the library and the park. I pack a lunch while Avonlea is napping, and we'll go sit there for an hour or so. Avonlea loves the library already, which makes me so happy. On non-library days, we'll run errands during the afternoon. I feed Avonlea solids at the park, or while we're out.
1:30 or 2:00pm - Avonlea is ready for her afternoon nap. I breastfeed her, then she goes down again for an hour or two. Though, this week, she has taken either the morning OR the afternoon nap, not both. Hopefully this is just temporary--I'm not ready for her to give up her two nap schedule yet!!
Whenever she gets up (usually 4:00pm) - Playtime! Usually at this point of the day, she is tired of her toys, so we play games together. She LOVES to dance and sing, so we'll do that for a while. She also loves to be tickled and she loves to play with my face, so we'll sit eye-to-eye for a while and just chat. After a little while, we're just in survive-until-Daddy-gets-home mode. :) I'll feed Avonlea solids again around 5 while I'm getting dinner ready.
6:00pm - Bathtime when Daddy gets home, or just hang out with Daddy while Mommy finishes dinner.
6:30pm - Depending on how her afternoon nap went, she'll either be ready for bed now or at 7, so I do bedtime routine. I breastfeed her before she goes to sleep.
10 or 11pm - Avonlea gets up to breastfeed.
2:00am - Breastfeed
5:30am - Breastfeed
7:30am - Start the next day!
Pretty much this is what every day looks like, which is why blogging is kind of a last-on-my-mind thing. Other than detailing her developmental changes (of which there are a lot), I don't have a lot to say. Or, I do have a lot to say, but I don't think about writing it down. *sigh* New mommy problems.
Scheduling note: Yes, she is still getting up several times at night to eat (last night, it was every 2 hours). I think I need to breastfeed her more during the day, so she's getting more daytime calories, but if I feed her more during the day, I feel like I'm feeding her all. the. time (either solids or breast milk). Hmm...
Monday, January 6, 2014
It's the Little Things (Letter to Baby)
Dear Avonlea,
It's midnight. I should probably go to bed, because the night is short, and you'll be raring to go in a few short hours. But I just fed you, and now I can't sleep.
I can't sleep, my girl, because I am in awe of you.
As I was looking at you while you nursed, I just had an overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness. And I just had to come and write it down, because sometime in the near future, I am going to have a very specific moment of UNhappiness. And I am going to wish for peace with every fiber of my being. And before that happens, I want to make sure I write this down so that I can return to it and remind myself of the wonder that is you.
Little girl, I love every single little thing about you.
The way your hair gets crazy on both sides after you nap because you sleep on your tummy.
The way you cross your feet when you sit, and it makes you look like a little lady.
The way you stick your tongue out when you encounter something new, and your little brain is just working, working, working to figure it out.
Your soft skin. Often, I will just "pet" your arms and legs while you nurse just to feel the softness.
Your eyelashes, and how sometimes, I wonder how they don't get tangled in your eyebrows, they're so long.
That little pointer finger that is always the first to explore something new, and how you just pick, pick, pick at that something. Just the other day, you worked on a sticker for 20 minutes, stick, unstick, stick, unstick.
How, when you're laying on the floor, and you can't hold yourself up on all fours anymore, you flop onto your belly, arch your back, put your arms and legs in Superman pose, and then pump them back and forth, like an upside down turtle. You'll crawl soon, little girl.
Your little giggle, usually reserved, but released at full strength when you're being thrown in the air, "thrown up on", or "stepped on". You're going to be a daredevil.
The way your little tongue is working so hard to form new sounds, and how you are fascinated with my teeth.
How, even though you can't crawl, you can still manage to get from one side of the room to the other with your cute little roll.
And how you get stuck under the coffee table and cry for me to rescue you.
Your little tooth that has popped in, and how I hear it scraping on all your toys as you figure out what this new invader in your mouth is.
The cute little "inny" belly button you have that always looks a little bit dirty (just like mommy's).
The way you wipe your entire face when you want to itch your nose--the way that mommy and Aunt Ashley do that drives Daddy crazy.
The way your little cheeks get super-pink if it's too windy, or you eat something new, or you get too hot--you always look like a little cherub.
I even love the things about you that can be kind of irritating, like how scratchy your nails seem to be *all the time*, or how you always seem to have sock fuzz between your toes, no matter how well I wash.
For these reasons, and so many more, I praise God for the wonder that He has given me. You are my treasure, little one. But more importantly, you are God's treasure. You were created in His image, and He made you just the way He wanted you to be. I want you to know how much I adore you. You may not always like everything about yourself. You may hate your hair, or your nose, or your eyelashes, or the way you do something--I remember feeling that way about myself many times. But, little girl, today I want to tell you that you are perfect just the way you are.
I'm so glad I get to be your Momma.
It's midnight. I should probably go to bed, because the night is short, and you'll be raring to go in a few short hours. But I just fed you, and now I can't sleep.
I can't sleep, my girl, because I am in awe of you.
As I was looking at you while you nursed, I just had an overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness. And I just had to come and write it down, because sometime in the near future, I am going to have a very specific moment of UNhappiness. And I am going to wish for peace with every fiber of my being. And before that happens, I want to make sure I write this down so that I can return to it and remind myself of the wonder that is you.
Little girl, I love every single little thing about you.
The way your hair gets crazy on both sides after you nap because you sleep on your tummy.
The way you cross your feet when you sit, and it makes you look like a little lady.
The way you stick your tongue out when you encounter something new, and your little brain is just working, working, working to figure it out.
Your soft skin. Often, I will just "pet" your arms and legs while you nurse just to feel the softness.
Your eyelashes, and how sometimes, I wonder how they don't get tangled in your eyebrows, they're so long.
That little pointer finger that is always the first to explore something new, and how you just pick, pick, pick at that something. Just the other day, you worked on a sticker for 20 minutes, stick, unstick, stick, unstick.
How, when you're laying on the floor, and you can't hold yourself up on all fours anymore, you flop onto your belly, arch your back, put your arms and legs in Superman pose, and then pump them back and forth, like an upside down turtle. You'll crawl soon, little girl.
Your little giggle, usually reserved, but released at full strength when you're being thrown in the air, "thrown up on", or "stepped on". You're going to be a daredevil.
The way your little tongue is working so hard to form new sounds, and how you are fascinated with my teeth.
How, even though you can't crawl, you can still manage to get from one side of the room to the other with your cute little roll.
And how you get stuck under the coffee table and cry for me to rescue you.
Your little tooth that has popped in, and how I hear it scraping on all your toys as you figure out what this new invader in your mouth is.
The cute little "inny" belly button you have that always looks a little bit dirty (just like mommy's).
The way you wipe your entire face when you want to itch your nose--the way that mommy and Aunt Ashley do that drives Daddy crazy.
The way your little cheeks get super-pink if it's too windy, or you eat something new, or you get too hot--you always look like a little cherub.
I even love the things about you that can be kind of irritating, like how scratchy your nails seem to be *all the time*, or how you always seem to have sock fuzz between your toes, no matter how well I wash.
For these reasons, and so many more, I praise God for the wonder that He has given me. You are my treasure, little one. But more importantly, you are God's treasure. You were created in His image, and He made you just the way He wanted you to be. I want you to know how much I adore you. You may not always like everything about yourself. You may hate your hair, or your nose, or your eyelashes, or the way you do something--I remember feeling that way about myself many times. But, little girl, today I want to tell you that you are perfect just the way you are.
I'm so glad I get to be your Momma.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. I think it is my favorite time. We moved away from the ice and snow that could typically accompany this winter season--but since that is my least favorite part, it's okay with me. :)
Christmas was always my mom's favorite time of year, too. Her house would be decorated to the nines--she had 5 trees of various sizes around the house, plus garland around all the doorways and handrails through the house. She loved nativity sets, as well. She had a nativity set that she would put out, one piece every day--with baby Jesus arriving on Christmas morning. Her Christmas dishes were a beautiful highlight, too. Every time we went on a vacation, we would look for a Christmas ornament for our trip, and mom would find a shop that sold dishes to look for a Christmas place setting. I think she has about 20 settings overall, all different, all beautiful.
It was hard for me to get into the holiday spirit in the Christmas after mom passed away. It took me several days to put the tree up, because it would make me sad to think of the tree being up and getting into that celebratory spirit without her. But as the years have passed, it has slowly gotten easier. This year, the joy returned, as I thought about decorating the tree and sharing the beauty of the season with Avonlea.
It was so fun seeing this time of year through her eyes. She's not old enough to "get" any of it yet, but watching her eyes light up when she saw the tree and the ornaments was so heartwarming.
We spent the week before Christmas in Ohio, celebrating with Nick's family and my family two subsequent weekends. Avonlea did such a great job. She figured out how to unwrap presents, and she especially loved playing with the tissue paper. Most especially I enjoyed "sharing" her with all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas and grandpas. She won't get to grow up with them close by, so I was so glad we were able to go back to see them while she is still young. There will come a time when she might think that gifts are the most important thing, but I hope that Avonlea truly values the time that we get to spend with family, and celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Mom had a tradition that she got from my Aunt Barb: she would give us a new Christmas book each year. I loved getting the books out of the box and sharing them with Avonlea. She's still too young for most of them, but I look forward to sharing them with her in the future:
I started that tradition this year with Avonlea. I got her the book "The Smallest Gift of Christmas", and inside I wrote her first note:
(I also got her a Christmas "touch and feel" book that she could actually "read" this year.)
I also got out a little bit of mom: I used her Christmas dishes for breakfast at the Hume family get-together. The table wasn't as pretty as Mom would have made it, but it was a little bit of her, and I think she would have appreciated that her dishes were still being used.
To prove that I am not Debbie, take a look at the strawberry/banana "candy canes". Saw them in a Taste of Home magazine, but they proved an epic fail in the execution. Oh, well. Makes for a silly story.
I am so glad Avonlea was able to spend time with her great-grandma and her great-Papaw, as well as her Grandpa (PawPaw, as we call him), Grampy and Grammy, and Aunt Ashley.
Christmas was always my mom's favorite time of year, too. Her house would be decorated to the nines--she had 5 trees of various sizes around the house, plus garland around all the doorways and handrails through the house. She loved nativity sets, as well. She had a nativity set that she would put out, one piece every day--with baby Jesus arriving on Christmas morning. Her Christmas dishes were a beautiful highlight, too. Every time we went on a vacation, we would look for a Christmas ornament for our trip, and mom would find a shop that sold dishes to look for a Christmas place setting. I think she has about 20 settings overall, all different, all beautiful.
It was hard for me to get into the holiday spirit in the Christmas after mom passed away. It took me several days to put the tree up, because it would make me sad to think of the tree being up and getting into that celebratory spirit without her. But as the years have passed, it has slowly gotten easier. This year, the joy returned, as I thought about decorating the tree and sharing the beauty of the season with Avonlea.
It was so fun seeing this time of year through her eyes. She's not old enough to "get" any of it yet, but watching her eyes light up when she saw the tree and the ornaments was so heartwarming.
We spent the week before Christmas in Ohio, celebrating with Nick's family and my family two subsequent weekends. Avonlea did such a great job. She figured out how to unwrap presents, and she especially loved playing with the tissue paper. Most especially I enjoyed "sharing" her with all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas and grandpas. She won't get to grow up with them close by, so I was so glad we were able to go back to see them while she is still young. There will come a time when she might think that gifts are the most important thing, but I hope that Avonlea truly values the time that we get to spend with family, and celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Mom had a tradition that she got from my Aunt Barb: she would give us a new Christmas book each year. I loved getting the books out of the box and sharing them with Avonlea. She's still too young for most of them, but I look forward to sharing them with her in the future:
I started that tradition this year with Avonlea. I got her the book "The Smallest Gift of Christmas", and inside I wrote her first note:
(I also got her a Christmas "touch and feel" book that she could actually "read" this year.)
I also got out a little bit of mom: I used her Christmas dishes for breakfast at the Hume family get-together. The table wasn't as pretty as Mom would have made it, but it was a little bit of her, and I think she would have appreciated that her dishes were still being used.
To prove that I am not Debbie, take a look at the strawberry/banana "candy canes". Saw them in a Taste of Home magazine, but they proved an epic fail in the execution. Oh, well. Makes for a silly story.
I am so glad Avonlea was able to spend time with her great-grandma and her great-Papaw, as well as her Grandpa (PawPaw, as we call him), Grampy and Grammy, and Aunt Ashley.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Short Update on Life
I haven't written in a while. The holidays are here, which means busy, busy, busy. Every year, I seem to tell myself that I'll slow down and enjoy myself more the next year, but the next year comes around, and I seem to be behind the 8-ball again. It doesn't help that we shorten the season by 10 days by traveling to Ohio and Indiana. My determination to not decorate until Thanksgiving might have to come to an end if we travel again next Christmas. I don't get enough time to enjoy the decorations!
Avonlea is 8 months now, and changing every day. It is amazing the new things she is learning to do. She is currently cutting her first tooth. She is using her index finger to explore every new thing she sees, and she's already at the point where her toys are not as interesting as electrical cords. She's not really interested in crawling yet--mostly because she likes to be lazy and just lay on her back. Hopefully she'll start to move soon!
What a sweet girl she is turning out to be. She is smiles all the time. We go to the grocery store, or the mall, or Target, and everyone just oohs and aahs over her. I always tell her to say hi and be friendly, and she flashes her cute grin. She is good about going to people, too. Her initial separation anxiety has pretty much gone away, and she will now go to anyone. She always looks back at me as if to ask, "is this okay?" but then enjoys her time visiting with others.
I recently turned down a job offer. It was an amazing opportunity, one I would like to have come back to me again sometime in the future, but I am just not quite ready to leave Avonlea full-time yet. I understand how many families depend on a 2-income household, and believe me, we are a family that could certainly use it. But both Nick and I just didn't feel like it was time yet, so we are willing to make the sacrifices we need to make in order for me to be able to stay home.
I am still enjoying my "Baby Mamas" group that meets once a week. We recently added a new mom to the group, and we also added a new baby, too! Sweet Dianna had her baby girl, Evie, taking our girl total up to 3--Evie, Ava, and Avonlea. They are still sorely outnumbered by the boys, though, with Samuel, Levi, Noah, Wyatt, Quinn, Fletcher, Joshua, and two incubating boys keeping the testosterone levels high. At least our girls will learn to be rough-and-tumble--Avonlea is already used to being poked in the eyes and climbed over. :)
Avonlea had her first major sickness. She had a fever of 102 for a couple of days, though with no other real symptoms. We took her to the doctor because of the impending airline flight, to rule out an ear infection. They had to do a urinalysis. Have you ever thought about how a baby gives a urine sample? They basically taped a pee bag to her private parts, then I had to wait around until she peed, and then peel off the bag and put it into a pee cup. It was one of the weirdest things I have ever done. Thankfully, the sample came back negative for an infection. She just had a weird virus--the doctor thinks it was probably roseola.
I did a body-after-baby bootcamp, and was doing really well before Thanksgiving. I've kind of "fallen off the wagon" a bit, which is going to be rough, considering I have a half-marathon coming up. With traveling and the baby being sick, I just haven't had the time. I hope to get back into the swing of things when I get back to California.
I have a few other things to post about, so I will have to do so again soon. Right now, I'm headed to bed--I have a lively 8-month old to chase after tomorrow!
Avonlea is 8 months now, and changing every day. It is amazing the new things she is learning to do. She is currently cutting her first tooth. She is using her index finger to explore every new thing she sees, and she's already at the point where her toys are not as interesting as electrical cords. She's not really interested in crawling yet--mostly because she likes to be lazy and just lay on her back. Hopefully she'll start to move soon!
What a sweet girl she is turning out to be. She is smiles all the time. We go to the grocery store, or the mall, or Target, and everyone just oohs and aahs over her. I always tell her to say hi and be friendly, and she flashes her cute grin. She is good about going to people, too. Her initial separation anxiety has pretty much gone away, and she will now go to anyone. She always looks back at me as if to ask, "is this okay?" but then enjoys her time visiting with others.
I recently turned down a job offer. It was an amazing opportunity, one I would like to have come back to me again sometime in the future, but I am just not quite ready to leave Avonlea full-time yet. I understand how many families depend on a 2-income household, and believe me, we are a family that could certainly use it. But both Nick and I just didn't feel like it was time yet, so we are willing to make the sacrifices we need to make in order for me to be able to stay home.
I am still enjoying my "Baby Mamas" group that meets once a week. We recently added a new mom to the group, and we also added a new baby, too! Sweet Dianna had her baby girl, Evie, taking our girl total up to 3--Evie, Ava, and Avonlea. They are still sorely outnumbered by the boys, though, with Samuel, Levi, Noah, Wyatt, Quinn, Fletcher, Joshua, and two incubating boys keeping the testosterone levels high. At least our girls will learn to be rough-and-tumble--Avonlea is already used to being poked in the eyes and climbed over. :)
Avonlea had her first major sickness. She had a fever of 102 for a couple of days, though with no other real symptoms. We took her to the doctor because of the impending airline flight, to rule out an ear infection. They had to do a urinalysis. Have you ever thought about how a baby gives a urine sample? They basically taped a pee bag to her private parts, then I had to wait around until she peed, and then peel off the bag and put it into a pee cup. It was one of the weirdest things I have ever done. Thankfully, the sample came back negative for an infection. She just had a weird virus--the doctor thinks it was probably roseola.
I did a body-after-baby bootcamp, and was doing really well before Thanksgiving. I've kind of "fallen off the wagon" a bit, which is going to be rough, considering I have a half-marathon coming up. With traveling and the baby being sick, I just haven't had the time. I hope to get back into the swing of things when I get back to California.
I have a few other things to post about, so I will have to do so again soon. Right now, I'm headed to bed--I have a lively 8-month old to chase after tomorrow!
Monday, November 25, 2013
Letter to Baby
Dear Avonlea,
So, I totally missed your 6-month letter. You know why that is? Because we have been SO BUSY! You have changed your naps, so you now sleep about an hour in the morning around 9, and then take a longer, 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon around 1 or 1:30. This means I'm not able to get as much done during the day, but it also means that we have a lot more time together during the day, too.
Your little personality is really starting to come out. You love to smile and giggle. You play independently really well. You have been starting to manipulate smaller objects. If I give you something that has a zipper or a buckle, you'll sit and play with it for 20 minutes or so. This was actually a huge help when we flew to Philadelphia for Girls' Weekend--you played with your diaper changing station for a long time.
We're still working with you on a few things. You go down for naps really well, but your sleep at night isn't going all that well. You sleep 3-4 hours at a time. Occasionally you'll sleep for 5, but not often. You very consistently get up between 10 and 11pm. We're also working on eating solid foods. You do not like to eat off of a spoon! You will clamp your lips together and refuse to open them! Thankfully, you will eat out of the food pouches, so we've been doing it that way, which helps. You like apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, mangoes, peaches, plums, and water. You DO NOT like squash, green beans, or peas. We'll keep working on it. :)
You are finally rolling over consistently. You can jet yourself around on the blanket--one day this week, I found you halfway under the couch! You roll around like crazy in your crib, too. You often end up perpendicular to how I put you in the crib initially. Sometimes I'll hear you in the monitor with a frustrated cry and go in to your room to find you snuggled up against the solid side of your crib, unable to move.
You love to be outside. I have been taking you out for daily walks in your stroller, and you are content to ride along with me for an hour or more. Sometimes I am able to extend your awake time a little bit that way. Daylight Saving Time really messed up your bedtime routine--you used to go to bed at 7, but now we're pretty set at 6:30. Occasionally I can keep you up a little bit later, but usually you're pretty fussy.
Speaking of fussy, you really don't fuss very often anymore. You're growing and maturing so much. You really only fuss when you're ready for bed. Because you don't fuss often anymore, we really can take you just about anywhere. You're able to sit in high chairs, so we will take a few toys in the diaper bag, and you can sit in a restaurant with us and behave so nicely. You also do really well when you're with Daddy. You love him so much!
You're so chatty. You still sing yourself to sleep--usually in the car. You have the short a and short o sounds down pat. You use the consonants m, b, and d when you're talking. I swear you say maamaamaa when I'm around, and daadaadaa when Daddy is around, but he isn't convinced. Sunni thinks so, too! You love blowing raspberries now, and when I blow them back at you, you giggle. You also sing along to the music that I play in the house or in the car. It's fun to watch you bounce on your butt to the music. There is one song in particular on Daddy's phone that makes you bounce, and it makes us laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nloSwFDPJAY
You are super ticklish on your thighs and on your ribcage. I love making you giggle and bend over with laughter. Your smile and your laugh makes my heart sing. You giggle a few times, and then make an "aak" noise, and then squeal like a little piglet. It's so funny! http://instagram.com/p/g9YAqmMqnn/ http://instagram.com/p/g-6YFjsqmE/
You love going to Baby Mamas group on Tuesday. Joshua, Ava, Fletcher and Wyatt have become such good friends. You and Joshua tend to tackle each other often.
Everyone talks about how cute you are, everywhere we go. I've got to work on making sure you say thank you, but stay humble about it. Hopefully people will recognize how smart you are, too! :)
You still don't show any signs of getting any teeth. You chew on everything, but you have since you figured out how to put stuff in your mouth, so I don't consider that a sign.
I love you more than you'll ever know, my chunky monkey, my little nugget.
Mommy :)
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