6th Month Checkup

Quick list of my concerns as I leave my 6 month check up. She has a benign heart murmur which could be part of a growth spurt. The doctor noted some developmental milestones that they check for have not been reached yet. She is absolutely not concerned but she should be rolling over from her tummy to back and she should also be rocking up on her knees. I pointed out that one of her eyes is squintier than the other so we have to schedule an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist. It could be a lazy muscle and it can be strengthened. Anyway, like I said, doctor really not concerned but she does want to see her in another 6 weeks to follow up. Other than that, she is growing well and everything else is great.
This appointment was particularly tough because she is getting a tooth, has a cold and then had her shots- poor baby.

Trying to keep up

Okay, every time Liliana does something new, cute or reaches another milestone I make a mental note that I need to blog about it. I plan on blogging on Sundays so by the time I sit down, I have forgotten the long list of notes. Either that, or the changes that are happening are occurring so quickly that what seemed new and novel on Monday is old hat by the following weekend! So from memory I will quickly mention some of the things I wanted to share in no particular order: Her tooth is, in fact, coming in. I can see and feel it and so can she! She has certainly been feeling the pain and it is causing her to wake throughout the night but she does put herself back to sleep. She is also sleeping more on her tummy and still hasn't found a way to roll back over. I am not concerned but Chris wakes me up throughout the night fearing that she is suffocating- it is getting a little tiring I tell you!

I hosted my playgroup yesterday. It was great fun and I am really grateful for these moms and friends. I love sharing stories, fears and all experiences with them. They are all unique in their parenting styles and are just a great group of women. I am so thrilled to have found them.

Liliana is starting to sit up a little. I can plop her down and let go and she sits for 30 seconds or so. I imagine by the time we go to New Mexico in 3 weeks she will be sitting on her own and have her first tooth clearly visible.

I feel like I am in a great place right now. Of course the economy stinks and we are feeling the effects from it but despite that I am really happy. Liliana just makes things so wonderful. I look forward to every moment I am with her. I love my new job-I haven't said that for a long time. All and all I feel at peace.

My parting story comes from a moment I had in the middle of the night last night. I went to Liliana because she kept waking up from her teeth and tummy sleeping. I intended to just roll her over but when I picked her up she reached out and hugged me-she started to do that recently. When I went to put her down she got very upset so I decided to nurse her. She nursed for awhile and was awake just starting up at me. She then fell into a deep sleep and the light from the moon (or streetlamp) was coming through the crack between the blinds and illuminating her face. She looked absolutely amazing...just perfect. She was so peacefully sleeping and her lips, nose, eyes, cheeks and eyelashes were highlighted. She looked angelic. I couldn't stop staring and wanted to cry from the purest love I have ever felt. I still can't believe she is mine. Everyone who knows me knows I am not a religious person but I know that I am truly blessed.

How Deep is Your Love?

My last post I left with the promise of feeding broccoli to baby. I must say she loved it but it ended up in the trash because it caused such horrible, miserable gas. She woke up every 2 hours screaming. It was a tough night. We will be sticking with sweet potatoes and pear for now. We have had a rough few days in fact. Last Monday I didn't have enough pumped milk so I made up a couple bottles of formula. She hasn't had formula since that short stint in September. Chris gave her the bottle and she eagerly downed 6 oz! When I came home from work, I nursed her and then put her in her crib while I sat on the floor of the nursery folding laundry. She started fussing a little and then began vomiting profusely! She must have done it 5 times-it was really scary. Just to summarize quickly, we went to the ER, never got seen by a doc but did have her vitals taken. She was fine. We determined it was the formula- not sure if it is just too rich or if she is lactose intolerant or it was just simply too much. Anyway, she is fine now.
She turns 6 months on Thursday and her changes are coming so quickly! So smiley (no longer serious baby), vocal and rolling like crazy. She just started rolling from back to tummy in the last 24 hours. It is really cool but has also been tough getting her to sleep tonight. She keeps waking herself up and then becomes very upset. If only she could learn to roll back over! Speaking of sleep, her schedule has changed. She used to sleep from 7:00am-5:00am or so. Now she wakes up around midnight, then 5:00 then up for the day at 7:00am. I guess this is normal so other than feeling more tired than I have been in the last couple of months, I am accepting it as just another phase.
Right now seems like the best stage yet. I love to make her laugh. I love the way she just stares at me and then smiles. The love has moved to yet another level- how deep can it go?

So many boogers, so little time

Well Liliana caught her first cold. A real cold, not a little sniffle or fussiness like she has had in the past. This one is full out snot coming out of the nose, consistent cough, watery eyes and general misery (for her and for us because she feels bad). She is actually in pretty good spirits considering- it just further highlights her easy going personality. Sleep has eluded her for the last couple of nights. She is waking up every 3 hours or so (thankfully it is the weekend). I am able to nurse her back to sleep but her congestion and coughing wake her up. I am debating about taking her in to the doctor tomorrow or waiting for a week until her 6 month check up. I suppose if she doesn't seem better or even worse we will go earlier. I have learned how much she HATES people messing with her face. Trying to wipe her nose is a challenge and trying to use the bulb syringe to clear out the snot is nearly impossible. When I do succeed with the syringe, she cries so hard and I feel horrible. I can't explain that I am doing it to help her- I do anyway but it doesn't seem to matter.

She also was suffering from constipation yesterday. I attribute it to the bananas as I read they are a common cause. She was pushing so hard yesterday that her face was turning red. I started to make and freeze baby food yesterday so I made some pear and prune puree. Not only did she love the taste, it seemed to work immediately in clearing her out. VERY successful concoction last night and the cure carried over to this morning...yes, I couldn't keep away from poop talk for too long. Today I am going to make broccoli and sweet potatoes. It is really easy to make the purees and I feel really good knowing that the food I feed her is all natural and organic.

I hope she feels better tomorrow because it will be hard to be away from her knowing she is sick.
As an update to the last post, I think I was wrong about the tooth. However, everyday she is more active and fascinating.

I got all my girlfriends (and boyfriends) and me!

Quick list here- time seems to be more and more precious.
We had a playdate yesterday with other August babies (and one October baby).
All the mommies work in my industry- it was fun!
Liliana is growing up so fast- instead of embracing it, I feel sad, but also excited- such a strange dichotomy of emotions.
I think she is getting a tooth- I feel something and I think I see something.
She just rolled from back to tummy- yeah!
Her poop is getting more poopish which makes me sad.
She is more smiley and interactive as ever.
She is in 6-9 month clothing and about to graduate to size 3 diaper.

That is all for now...

I Like Rice Cereal and I Cannot Lie

I really tried to hold out until the 6 month mark to introduce solids to Liliana (and by the way, I think Liliana is going to stick and Lily won't happen). But tonight, we ended up sort of unceremoniously giving her rice cereal. She was downing 21oz of milk between the hours of 9-5 and in addition to that, I was nursing her 3 times. She really seems fascinated when I would eat something so I decided that all signs pointed to her being ready...even if I wasn't. Okay, I know it is crazy, but it is just one of those things that marks her growing up. I am so excited to see what will happen next but it was a little sad at the same time. Even Chris felt a little sad. However, solids are only twice a day and we will still nurse at night during the week and all other feedings on weekends. So, it went really well. She really enjoyed the cereal and downed the whole bowl. She did seem to suffer gas about 45 min after but hopefully her system will acclimate quickly.

That is all I had to report at this time- video below!

The more things change...

A memory popped into my head the other day- more of a remembered feeling that I had on the way to the hospital the morning of August 26th. I was actually feeling GUILTY about removing Liliana from the security of the womb. I kept thinking, she isn't ready to come out yet- how unfair to cut me open and PULL her out! It is not that I am the type of person that thinks this is a cold, cruel world or anything- it just was a feeling I had. Now, as I see her experiencing the world around her, finding fascination in every little detail of a piece of fabric, I feel so amazing. She is a part of me, a part of Chris, but is Liliana. A tiny little person learning so much- one day she will be walking, going to school, going to work- kind of freaks me out b/c she is so little and, well, she is just a precious baby!

Work has been going well- the nanny situation is working out great too but we can barely afford it- not even sure if we can at all but we are making it work for now! Two things are a bit of a challenge for me since returning to work: The first involves pumping and trying to get enough milk for her to feed the following day. I won't go into detail but it is a challenge for me! The second is my insecurity about Liliana forgetting me when I am away. When I come home she wants to be held by me but is very serious. I guess I just expect her to smile and laugh when I walk in the door. I am also realizing that she seems to be a more serious, introspective little person. She certainly has her moments of smiling and laughing but often she is just absorbing the world around her with this thoughtful look. So, I am trying to get over that feeling and it goes away quickly once the weekend comes.

A couple of changes to note- she has found her feet! Also, she has taken a serious interest in reading- I mean it. When I read to her (part of our bedtime ritual) she looks at the pictures and then looks at my face intently- she really seems to enjoy it- I love it! Still not rolling over but I am not worried. She is going to be 5 months old on Monday. One more month and we will start rice cereal! My gosh she is just growing and changing so much. It is thrilling but also sad. I look at the picture on the top of the blog and see that sweet newborn face and I melt. I miss that but I love everyday and every change.

Stream of Consciousness

New year, new post-sorry for the lapse. At first, not much new was occurring and then too much was going on- I hope I can report all. To start, I did get a new job that I started yesterday. After several back and forth decisions, I chose to leave the rep group I worked for last year. There were many changes occurring, most important of which was my position becoming 100% commission. Though the potential to earn "bank" as the kids say ;-) was great, I just couldn't risk it in this economy. I was extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunity to interview with a company called Izzy. New friends I made through being pregnant with, and then having, Liliana work for this company. I am so excited to be a part of the small Chicago team because they are great people, it is a great product and it will be a lot of fun. Check it out at www.izzydesign.com.
Okay, so with this new job, it became imperative to find a nanny. I found a fantastic woman named Gaby who is from Peru. She is only available full days Tuesday and Thursday and half days Wednesday. I also found a terrific woman through Tammy named Sugey. She is Columbian and is available 1/2 days everyday. I can't give her the amount of hours she needs but she is being so great to fill in this week until Gaby starts next week. It is too bad she can't work just a couple of 1/2 days to cover where Gaby can't. In any case, at least we have something. It is hard getting out the door but it will get easier once I have a system down. Today I woke up at 5:00 and fed her back to sleep. I processed all of Chris' year end tax forms and before I knew it, I had to get going but wanted to feed Liliana one more time-she had an explosive poo etc etc...
Trying to pump at work isn't so bad b/c there are 2 of us pumping. Also, the company is so cool that the VP who is in town to get me up to speed remembers to take time for our "technical breaks" as he calls it.
After a full day away, it is so great to come home and see her but I only have 2 hours with her until she goes to bed...it is so hard. I am also feeling insecure that she will forget me. On a positive note, Chris and baby are bonding really well. He watched her 1/2 day yesterday and today and they are just really happy together- she turned that corner with him that we knew she would.

Alright, so going backwards in time now: New Years Eve was fun- we had a couple neighbors over and Liliana slept through the night from 7:00pm. The next day Doug, Jen and the girls came in town and we had so much fun. Rebecca and Emily were great with Liliana and kept her entertained. We went to the Frank Lloyd Wright studio and home, the Art Institute and Millenium Park. At the Art Institute and Frank Lloyd Wright I put her in the Baby Bjorn facing front for the first time- for the baby that loves to watch the world, this was the best thing ever! She loved every minute of it. I only wish I could see her face because apparently she was being awfully cute!
We had dinner at Gino's and also did a fun dinner at our house. It was so great to see them and makes me sad that they aren't closer. Having a baby with family to share the experience with is wonderful.

Reading back over this entry, I realize that I am less focused on Liliana things and more on my things. I guess part of that is going back to work but also because she has just been so good. I just am amazed everytime I look at her- so beautiful, sweet and wonderful. She now doesn't have to be nursed to sleep at bed time. She can put herself to sleep and I woke up a couple mornings ago to hear her just entertaining herself in her crib- I can't explain how amazing this whole experience is- I have never been happier...

On the 10th day of X-mas Weissbluth gave to me 11 hours of sleep!

Wow- Liliana will be 4 months old on Friday! She has her 4 month check up tomorrow which includes vaccinations- not looking forward to that but am curious to see how much she has grown!

She has been fighting a cold the last couple of days and hasn't quite been "herself" (whatever that means for a 17 week old). She isn't as smiley and vocal as she normally is but is still sweet and not super fussy. She is sleeping great through the night still and we are now starting a nap schedule. I try and get her to nap mid morning, early afternoon and possibly late afternoon if she seems tired. I was concerned how this would affect her night time sleep but, as Dr Weissbluth says, Sleep Begets Sleep...so true- she slept from 8:00pm to 7:30 am last night! Wow- and is currently down for a nap which she did on her own! I plunked her in her crib while I set up my "station" with my boppy, cell phone, coffee, water and laptop. When I went to get her, she was sound asleep at 9:30- perfect!

I took her last week to see Santa and she was great- she loved the mall- I think because the ceiling is so high and there was cool stuff up there for her to look at. She was laughing in line as I held her-it was cracking me up.

She is becoming so interactive-it is great but can also pose issues with feeding. Gone are the days of the sweet, calm nursing moments (well they are fewer and farther between). Now she is so interested in everything and she gets so easily distracted- when Chris walks in the room she whips her head around (ouch is all I can say). She is constantly doing that to look and smile at me, to watch her fingers move, to stare at the folds in my shirt, to stare at the cat etc, etc... I love it but it makes feeding difficult- I am not sure she is eating enough and it is a bit painful too!

I am starting to feel pressure to engage with her more- just not sure if I am doing enough to stimulate that brain of hers! I read to her, give her pictures to look at, tummy time (and back time) on her mat...I don't know why I am concerned that she is bored! Oh, by the way, she is no longer rolling over...I read this is normal but, of course, I am concerned... So, anyway, I am so excited to see all these changes but I just want to make sure I am doing my part to have a happy, fulfilled child without over stimulating- oh the pressure ;) Maybe it is time for me to get back to full time work..



I am waiting for an offer to come through for a new job- I should hear today...Once I do, I will have a better idea about what we can afford for childcare. I have many leads for nannies and a couple in home childcare options. I am anxious to get that put to bed so that I can start my new job without complications. I am very excited for this opportunity!! More details to follow once it is official.

Party Animal

Liliana was the hit of the party last night. She chose to break into full on laughter for the first time in front of an audience! Then she slept from 10pm until noon today (with a brief waking at 5:00am to feed...she rocks!

It's all in the Genes baby!

Okay, I totally stole this idea from a much more clever and funny blog managed by my friend Ashley and her fiance Gabe...
Some people say Liliana is a "spitting image" of me and others say Chris.
Above are baby pictures of me and Chris. Chris is the black and white one in case you couldn't figure it out by the smirk.
There is a poll to the left-
Have fun!

Learning Curve

Alright, the first 2 days at the office went pretty well. Granted I wasn't gone the full day but it is a start. I did forget my pump both days but have learned that the handicapped stall in the restrooms at the mart have an electrical outlet so I guess that is where I will be doin' my biz a couple times a day.
Day one: Plan was for Chris to watch the little one. I woke up at 6:00am to her cries. I nursed her back to sleep and put her back in the crib. It is now almost 7:00am-she nursed a LONG time! So far so good- I was able to pump, shower, dress and ALMOST get out the door. She woke up screaming as I was preparing to leave. Very odd- normally she doesn't do that. It is around 8:30 I think at this point. So I decide to nurse her again before I go- it is approaching 9:00am- good thing I don't punch a clock! Okay, now she is changed, fed and rested so I leave. All is great- chris calls around noon b/c she is being really cute and vocal. She takes 2 bottles while I am gone. I leave for home around 2:30 after Chris calls again because he thinks she is on the verge of a meltdown. By the time I get home after 3:00 they are happily enjoying each others company again. False alarm but I was glad to be home all the same. She was excessively fussy throughout the evening and slept a lot in my arms. I learned that Chris didn't squeeze the air out of the Playtex bottle and that he re-used the same liner after the first one sat out all morning with old milk! Rookie mistake I guess-I let it go but chalked up the fussiness to that. This morning all was fine.

Day 2: We took our neighbor Julia up on her offer to watch Lili. She watched her for about 3.5 hours until Chris got back from his job. They did great together. She took 2 bottles and I came home to feed her mid afternoon. She was sleeping on Chris' shoulder when I got back. We have been playing since then and now she is sleeping again. I am so pleased it worked with Julia b/c it would be great to have her as a consistent caretaker. We need to figure out a schedule so that we aren't winging it day to day. I guess I am just not quite prepared yet to be back at work. I am getting there though!

Speaking of work, I met with the "boys" today and have learned (confirmed) that come Jan 1 I will be on a commission only basis. I will become an equal player in the rep group but am giving up a lot in terms of car allowance, parking paid, entertainment expenses etc. But with great risk comes great reward right? It is scary but is really the only way I will ever get ahead financially. I can also bring on new lines to build my own business- I have high hopes it will all work out. Hopefully with the news of lower interest rates Chris' business will pick up too. Already we see signs- 3 jobs tomorrow and 2 on Monday!
I feel very optimistic and hopeful for the future.

Jetset

It was a successful trip out to santa fe. Traveling with Lili was a piece of cake. We were able to secure a 3rd seat for her car seat on the way there and back though she wasn't in the seat too often. She mostly nursed, slept and looked around curiously. On the way there she cried briefly after an uncomfortable stint on the airplane lavatory changing table.

We ended up staying in Santa Fe 4 days longer than originally anticipated because we wanted to spend more time with friends and family. She met her Uncle Garry , Aunt Brittany , cousins Zoe and Nate, Great Aunt Barbara and Great Grandpa Kaufman. I should have been blogging all along to capture all that happened because as I sit here trying to reflect on the week it is one big blur. I came away from the visit with one main feeling: our baby is awesome! Seriously...hardly fusses, is truly cute and did great in all social situations. She was passed around at parties, had a photo shoot, was oggled over at the retirement home and was the coolest kid the whole time. Which makes it even sadder that I am back at work.
Tomorrow I am leaving the comfort of "working remotely" and venturing into the showroom and making client calls. Considering we still don't have any care options set up, this is tough. Chris will be watching her. I have 2 feedings pumped and Chris asked me tonight "what angle do I feed her at 45?" Oh God what have I done? My bad for ALWAYS nursing her. We are so ill prepared for this.
I imagine there is a better post coming after tomorrow.

Raspberries!

Unfortunately we ran out of battery and didn't capture the real hearty giggles but here is a taste of her first laugh!!

Little Milestones

When I see a little glimmer of advancement I run to the computer to document it. I am so aware of every minute change in her behavior. What I am realizing though is that I am just seeing a glimpse of an even more acutely developed behavior. For example, she is REALLY engaging now with her dangly toys on her play gym. She is batting at them and gets excited when she sees something new. I imagine this is only going to become even more obvious in the weeks to come. It is so exciting but at the same time very sad for me because I am returning to work in a couple of weeks. I don't want to miss ANYTHING. I am so afraid I will miss her sit up for the first time, crawl, speak...I am actually very fortunate that my job does not require me to be away from her 9 hours a day, every day, but I am still already mourning the loss of spending every moment with her. Even as I type this, she is on her play mat and I can't stop looking at her.
She is getting so big too! She is in her 3-6 month clothes now. Not sure her weight but we need to pop over to the doctor next week to get some note for the airline- hopefully a quick weigh in will be done.
She has a pretty obvious case of cradle cap which I am trying to stay on top of but it just keeps re-appearing. It will go away soon I imagine.
Chris and I say every day that we don't want her to change from how she is presently but then she smiles at me so big and bright, and she didn't do it yesterday, and then I realize that all the changes make me love her even more- even when I didn't think that was possible...

Roll Over Liliana

The Laws of Physics

First of all, I want to express how excited, hopeful and relieved we are here in the Kminek household that Obama was overwhelmingly elected president!!
We voted early so election day was very relaxed. The weather here was beautiful- 72 degrees and sunny. We met our new friends Ashley and her baby Ezra for lunch here in Oak Park. We ate lunch in the park and strolled for a little bit. It was a really wonderful afternoon that was capped off with an explosive poo- yes, I mentioned Poo again, did you expect anything less? Just to get it all out, my world now consists of spit up, poo, sticking my nose right up to baby butt to sniff for poo...and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Okay, back to the explosive poo. It basically determined that it was bath time. Most times I get in the bath with Liliana and she sits in her bath seat. I didn't feel like getting in the bath so I sat on the outside of the tub while bathing her. She LOVES the bath by the way- just like mom! Chris came in the bathroom and decided he wanted to get in the tub with her which I thought was a great idea. What I didn't think about was the effects of a 200+ lb person getting in a full tub of water...yes, the water came up so high and Liliana went under for a millisecond. I was so completely freaked out! She started crying and Chris felt horrible. I was worried she would hate baths from here on out. Chris promptly got out and she stopped crying and went back to enjoying her bath...thankfully! I felt so horrible though. I had my hand on her the whole time but I felt guilty because I am supposed to watch her and keep her safe. She is so helpless and 100% reliant on us and we were so stupid that we put her in a harmful situation. Luckily no harm done though...
On the developmental front, she seems to be reaching mini milestones. She is smiling a lot more and has become aware of her hands. Beth mentioned that it is so funny when it happens. Suddenly her hand goes by her face and her eyes follow it like- "whoa, look at that". She is also grasping more and batting at objects. We have put the toy part on her bouncy seat which lights up and makes noise when she bats at the animals. It teaches her cause and effect. Not sure if she has made that connection yet but when she is in the zone she bats at the animals a lot. We are reading to her more now too. I read the Hungry Caterpillar and How Much Do I Love You. She likes the pictures in Hungry Caterpillar. I also bought a few Baby Faces books and she is enthralled. Her attention span for them is short but those first few baby faces make her smile so much and she is glued to the pictures.
Her sleeping has been really pretty good the last few days. Lots of napping and no problem going down at night. She will sleep 4-5 hours the first stretch before waking up. Then it is 2.5-3 hour stretches after that. What I have realized is what is true today may not be true tomorrow. When I complain about her sleeping then the next few days she is a sleeping rock star. Then I brag about that and she goes to being a sleep deprived zombie for a couple of days. I think the net total though is that we have a really great baby- no major crying issues, no major sleep issues. We are so deeply in love with her-more everyday. I can't wait for her to meet family in 3 weeks!

Road Warrior

Well we successfully made our first car trip to Iowa this last weekend-more about that in a moment.
First things first-she had her 2 month appointment yesterday which was quite traumatic for us. It was the fateful vaccination day. She was double teamed by the nurses-one on each leg in order to give 2 shots at the same time. I was standing next to her with my hand on her but couldn't look. When they were done, I looked at her face and it crumpled, turned bright red and out came a cry that I have never heard before. After the initial cry, her mouth was wide open but she couldn't breath in. The nurse told me to blow on her to get her to breath in- AWFUL I tell you! I asked if I could stay in the exam room to nurse her and they let me. It calmed her down for the time being. We brought her home and she seemed fine-I left her with Chris around 5:30 to go to a kickboxing class. When I returned at 7:30 the downstairs was completely dark. I took in the evidence: the bottle I left was empty, her medicines were side by side on a tray in the den (mylicon and Zantac), there was a broken glass on the kitchen floor. I went upstairs and found Chris and baby in her nursery on the couch. She was peaceful and sleeping on his shoulder but Chris had this battered look about him. Apparently she started crying hysterically as soon as I left and never stopped. We tried to put her down in the crib but she started crying in her sleep. I tried to nurse her but was crying while trying to eat- she has never done that before- nursing has always calmed her down. We eventually got to the point where she was sleeping and only waking every 20 min or so with a cry and then going back to sleep. We called the doctor at 10:00pm and she confirmed it was most likely the shots. She suggested Tylenol so Chris was sent out to a 24 hour Walgreens. It seemed to work! She is fine now but WOW that was awful.
Here are her stats: Weight- 11.4 oz!!!
Length- 22.5 in (I think, I need to confirm)- bottom line- she is thriving!
I brought up my poop concern with the doc and she recently read an article that basically said- TREAT THE INFANT, NOT THE POOP. With that said, she is healthy so I could care less what color her poop is.

Back to the trip to Iowa...She was perfect! She slept most of drive there and back. We only stopped 1 time at the DeKalb Oasis to feed her and change her. She got to meet Gobbie (Chris' grandmother) Frank and Beth (Chris' Brother and sister in Law) and her cousins. She hardly fussed all weekend- a real trooper. It was kind of a pain being out of our routine for me though. Hotel room living, especially a Comfort Inn that has gone downhill, sucks. I didn't want her touching the bedspread or blanket because I am so creeped out by hotel linens- thanks a lot Dateline NBC.
Oskaloosa, IA is, however, the place of the purchase of her first stuffed animal that we have creatively named Lambie (as he is a Lamb). I hope she is as good when we fly to New Mexico next month!

POOP!

Arrrgh- green slimy poo again!
I will ask the doctor on Monday about it.
We are going to Iowa to see Chris' Grandmother and Brother (and family). We leave on Friday morning.
Should be an interesting trek in the car...
Will post after the journey- stay tuned!

Status Quo

Not really much to report because everything is going great.
We are getting out quite a bit to meet other moms/babies for lunches. We also made a 90 minute trek out to a party this last weekend. She was really well behaved and actually was content in her new Weego carrier. She slept the entire party but we did have one issue to contend with... people touching her without asking or washing their hands. Maybe I am being overly protective but I don't want strangers who have been outside all afternoon eating and drinking coming up and touching her head. I appreciate that they think she is beautiful and want to admire her but we ended up in the bathtub at 10:30pm washing cigarette stink off her noggin. How do you politely tell people to keep hands off?

She is also loving her swing finally- she hated it at first but now it is a guaranteed sleep inducer- plus it plays classical music that actually sounds pretty decent...she will be a well rested, cultured baby. She really is starting to notice objects like the bear mobile above the swing. She stared at them until she fell asleep.

The GERD is under control but not totally gone- it is manageable though. Nursing is almost perfect (who woulda thought that was possible).
Poop is great though she grunts like a grown man when she is trying to go!

We are gearing up to travel to Santa Fe next month and to get back to work. I have to say that I am not ready to return to work. That is all I will say at this point b/c I don't want to think too much about it right now but I need to get on the ball and figure out what we are doing for childcare!

This entire experience is so wonderful- I am so IN LOVE with my baby it is truly inexplicable (except to other moms who smell what i'm cookin'!)