Time Flies

I don't have much to report but always feel the need to continue to update the blog. I imagine major milestones are just around the corner such as crawling, standing, walking, school, college, marriage... We are currently holding steady at sitting but she has it mastered! I am adding this part about 2 hours after initial posting- I noticed that she has learned to clap! I need to look this up and see if she is a genius or if this is normal.

Today is actually her 8 month birthday. She is now sleeping solidly through the night anywhere between 11-13 hours. She enjoys solitary play-I can plop her on the floor or in the pack n' play with some toys and she is entertained. I can only do it for a short time though b/c I don't want to be a neglectful mommie! Newest foods include pasta and cauliflower-we haven't encountered a food yet that she won't eat! (maybe avocado but I haven't tried again recently)

We have some sad news-we had to put Zeppo down on Wednesday. His health failed very rapidly over the weekend and it was time. Chris and I are heartbroken. Zeppo has been with me since 1997. He was with me in Portland, Minnesota and Chicago. I miss him dearly.

We are off to Florida in less than 2 weeks and are looking forward to the visit.

So long for now.

Let the weaning begin!

Alright, maybe not right away but there are signs pointing in that direction. Nursing this last weekend while we were in Iowa was less than pleasant. Alert- this may be TMI for those readers (if there are in fact ANY still out there) who had issues with my nursing updates last September.
I had just sent an e-mail out to my lactation consultant to inquire about weaning techniques. She gave my some advise but I wasn't ready to start any time soon because everything was still so perfect...until Friday. I am so sore right now that I can hardly nurse. Liliana has taken the position that I am just a bottle or a toy. She grabs me with both hands and pulls my boob (excuse me, breast) out of her mouth while still sucking. Remember she also has 2 very sharp teeth now. She does this over and over and it hurts so much. Nursing when she is really tired is still okay but even at night she pulls a lot. So, in any case, I think the next step is to continue pumping at work and nursing her mornings and evenings but to give her formula or pumped milk from a bottle during the days of the weekends. Eventually moving to formula only and reduce my pumping until I am only producing enough for morning and evening feedings. This will lead to nightime feedings only and then none. My goal is to complete this transition by August. However, if the pain or behavior does not improve, I may have to move this time line up. Makes me very sad...

As I mentioned, we were in Iowa over the weekend to visit Frank and Beth and Chris' grandma. It was a very short trip and staying with Liliana in a hotel is getting more difficult now that she is on sleep schedule. Basically we either have to go to bed at 7:00 with her or keep her up until a more reasonable adult bedtime which isn't really fair to her. If we are staying in a house, at least we can put her in a room and go into another room to watch a movie or have a glass of wine with company. In any case, it made the trip a little difficult. Still, she traveled great in the car again- no complaints there!

No closer to crawling though she continues to stick her butt in the air while putting her face on the ground - that won't help much with forward propulsion but she will eventually figure that out.

Her personality is really coming out and it is apparent now that we need to really watch our own behavior around her because she seems to be taking it all in. She is sassy for sure. She swipes at me a lot and likes to scratch with her fingernails. I think it feels good to her but obviously not so much for me. As I type this I realize I have to wrap it up b/c she is mad at me for ignoring her. She is yelling at me to come play with her- really she does that.

Bye for now!

Sit, Stay....

Ah, well it has been one week since we returned from New Mexico. It was such a quick trip- too quick but we did get another plane ride under our belts. This one was much different. While at 3 months she nursed quietly, was unaffected by sounds, sights and strangers, at 7 months she held fascination in everything! Getting her to nurse or sleep during our air travel (or car travel) was near impossible. The good news is that she did not fuss. She was simply happy to observe the crazy cast of characters on the flight. She smiled, laughed and persisted to touch all the ickyness of the plane and then put said ickyness into her mouth. I am sure this is what led to her eye infection which has prevented us from attending our much enjoyed monthly playgroup this weekend.
All in all, the weekend was fun- she was off her sleep schedule which led to some crankiness the first day but by the wedding, she was in perfect form and was quite popular! In fact, one guest went so far as to call her TREMENDOUS. How is that for an adjective? She was passed around the table next to us by total strangers. Well, they were strangers to me but I reasoned that since they knew the groom, they probably would not kidnap my baby.

I can say she is finally sitting- almost unassisted! I still have to stay right by her because she will fall over. It is great though to see her sitting so proud and playing with her toys. She is also doing a lot of kicking. Trying to change a diaper has become a challenge. She flails her legs all over the place and kicks my hands away- I try and make a game out of it and it seems to work- 38% of the time.

Sleep is slightly challenging right now as I believe she is starting to manipulate me. She has my number that is for sure. When I put her in the crib she cries and reaches her arms out for me. It kills me and I must pick her up! I know, I know, let her cry it out or just rub her belly but come on, my baby is REACHING OUT for me! It is getting better though and she is still sleeping pretty well through the night.

She continues to try and love new food. Yesterday I made Chicken and Brown Rice- she ate it voraciously and so did the cats!

Next trip- Car ride #2 to Iowa. I anticipate this won't go as smoothly as it did when she was 2 months old.

Till next time!