Monday, June 30 :::
 
+ Eyes +
You have another eye infection. :-( Your first one was when you were just a few days old, caused by a clogged tear duct, and this looks just the same. Only your eyes are bigger and even more beatiful now, so it's sadder-looking. It developed FAST, too, in about 1/2 a day yesterday. Thankfully we still had the medicine left from last time (expecting a recurrence someday), and it's already looking much better.

::: posted by Kerry at 8:49 AM


 
+ Long time, no post +
I'm sorry I left a big, gaping hole in this blog. Last week at work involved just barely treading water, and I definitely didn't have time to post. I really still don't, but I feel I must since you're growing so darned fast!

Dr.'s Appointment, last Monday 6/23: You are doing great! You weighed 12 pounds 2.5 ounces, which is about the 25th percentile. Your doctor was very happy with that and wants me to keep exclusively bf'ing you until 6 months if possible. You were 24.5 inches long, 50th percentile. Good growing, baby girl! You're such a healthy, beautiful baby. And so happy!

You laugh constantly and for about a week and a half now you wake up every morning and talk to "the baby in the mirror" for about 1/2 hour. I wake up to your babbling each morning, and it just makes me giggle every time.

You are sitting really well, still with support, of course. And the doctor confirmed that you're teething. Duh. Who knows when they'll really break through, but they're right there. You are such a roller, I can't leave you alone anymore on a couch or anywhere raised. You like to sit in your high chair, recently assembled, and watch me cook or clean the kitchen. Yesterday you were having a field day, smacking the toys on your stroller over and over and over.

You're a charmer; you smile at most anyone (if you're in a good mood). Then you do this cute shy smile dodge, ducking your head off to the side as you giggle. Very adorable. You love to be held... by anyone. You're still painfully social, hating to be left alone at all. But you have a pretty long attention span when you want to. And you LOVE TV. Moreso all the time. Fabulous.

So, in all, we're doing great. I'm proud of myself for making it 18.5 weeks of breastfeeding you, 10 of those while working full-time. I'm proud of you for growing and learning so much so fast. I'm proud of daddy for the wonderful daddy he is. And I'm proud of all the grandparents for being so endlessly supportive and loving. I'm grateful every day for my wonderful family. And you are only making it richer. I love you, baby girl!

::: posted by Kerry at 8:37 AM



Friday, June 20 :::
 
+ Amusing +
You crack me up, you know that? First of all, your little laugh is horribly contagious. Second, you have officially and completely found your thumb. You routinely stick it in, fingers flared and suck away. Good job! It's so cute daycare snapped pictures of you the other day. Third, this morning you grabbed onto your foot and hung on for the first time. I don't think you ever really did this before because of the harness. I know lots of young babies grab their feet, but this is the first time I've seen you deliberately reach for, and grab onto it. Too cute.

You're not spitting up much anymore, thank God. I was really looking forward to the end of that stage. Now if we could just get you to actually sleep through the night, that would be fabulous.

::: posted by Kerry at 9:24 AM



Thursday, June 19 :::
 
+ Happy Fourth Monthday +
Geez, you're officially four months old. I can't believe it. You are growing so fast and turning into a little girl before our very eyes. You're an active little grunt, that's for sure. And for the most part, you're a very happy baby. Yes, you have your moments, and last night was not one of our better nights. But in general, I don't think I have any room to complain. They simply adore you at daycare, too, which eases my worries a lot.

We have the pumping thing down, I guess. Even on days when I have only pumped 7.5 oz., I never panic. I know that I can get it in the evening/night/morning and we'll be fine. And I know that if you get a couple of oz. less one day, it's not the end of the world. Generally I'm pumping a little more all the time so that helps.

I washed all your adorable 3-6 month outfits, since I think you'll need them soon. It's hard for me to imagine, since you've only been wearing your 0-3's for such a short time. You just have been growing and learning so fast, I feel like I can't keep up! You love to "sit" with someone holding you, and you're fascinated by television. Furthermore, this morning I KNOW I felt teeth in there. What's confusing is I think your top ones might be coming in first, and that's not the right order. I guess we'll see. With our luck, you'll pop all of them on top and bottom at once. I'm sure you're teething, though, because you just love to gnaw on your own hands. Poor thing.

::: posted by Kerry at 10:45 AM



Monday, June 16 :::
 
+ Nice weekend +
We had a lovely weekend, and you enjoyed your first Father's Day. Yesterday you got to visit Grandpa John and Grandpa Dan, both of whom were very happy to see you. They kissed you and held you and made silly faces at you to make you laugh. Someday you'll think it's really cool they did that, I promise.

You slept perfectly last night. You can do that any night, as far as I'm concerned. You went to bed around 9:15 and slept until 3:15. Nursed you (actually you got a bit cranky here, must've swallowed some air or something, and it took a while to get you back down), then sleep until 5:45. You played quietly in your crib until about 6:15, and then up for the day. You'd rolled back to front and turned 180 degrees in your crib by the time I got in there. Such a strong girl! You're getting to the point where changing your diaper is a real challenge. Sometimes you get so squirmy, you scooch your butt and move from one end of the changing table to the other end in seconds, bonking your head on the end rail. Silly goose.

In all, it was a busy but nice weekend. Grandma Laurie is out of town for two weeks, so we'll definitely miss her.

::: posted by Kerry at 8:31 AM



Thursday, June 12 :::
 
+ Grumble, grumble +
Up. every. two. hours.

This will end, soon, right? I really hope it's just a growth spurt. Or a runny-nose spurt. I'm not enjoying it. My eyes are so bloodshot I look like I have conjunctivitis.

::: posted by Kerry at 10:47 AM



Wednesday, June 11 :::
 
+ Hump day +
By the way, you laughed again on Monday. That was awesome. I forgot to note it here. You also discovered that you can hold a silver baby rattle for 10 minutes at a time and smack it into your legs to make noise. Cute.

Last night was better, I suppose, but not completely. You slept well right off the bat, and woke up at about 12:45. Then you woke up HOURLY the next 2 hours. The last time you slept through until 6 a.m. I fed you the first and third time, and the second time just rocked you (which is probably why you didn't sleep). Your nose was still a bit stuffy, but you don't have a temperature so I don't know what's wrong. I'm hoping it's just allergies (thanks, Daddy for those genes!).

Hopefully you'll be feeling better today. We're working on a bedtime routine now, which actually worked out very very well yesterday evening. We'll see how it does in the long run!

::: posted by Kerry at 1:49 PM



Tuesday, June 10 :::
 
+ Autopilot +
Last night was not a good night. You were cranky when I picked you up from Grandma Laurie's. Then we discovered you'd only had 3 bottles at daycare! No wonder you were cranky! I fed you a couple of times and you fell asleep at 7. Worried about your tummy, I woke you up to feed you at 9. I shouldn't have. It took a while to get you down, and then you woke up repeatedly all night. When I got up to feed you at 2 a.m., you wouldn't go back down. If I put you down or even stopped patting your back, you'd cry. Finally, I realized you sounded congested (though maybe just from all the crying), and we worked to empty your nose with the nose squeegee. You didn't like that one bit, and your screaming brought Daddy in the room.

Two hours, another nursing and lots of rocking later, you were down restlessly for another hour or so. Then you were up for the day, and so was I.

It was a long night.

::: posted by Kerry at 10:19 AM



Monday, June 9 :::
 
+ LMP +
When you're pregnant, everyone dates off of your last menstrual period, or "LMP." Everything you do, everything they tell you, it's all based off of your LMP. Technically, when I was pregnant with you, my real LMP was 5/31/02. But I had a long cycle, so it was officially 6/7/02. That was a year ago on Saturday. This time last year, I was in the first of the 2 weeks before you're pregnant that technically count in the 40 weeks of pregnancy.

In other words, the egg that was to meet up with the sperm and become you was getting into position to make that magic dance happen. And what a good little egg and happy little sperm those were. They did a darned good job, if I may say so.

::: posted by Kerry at 12:00 PM


 
+ Weekend happenings +
First, let me just say I love our new mother's room. It's a nondescript storage room with a chair and a table. And I'm very happy.

You had an eventful weekend. On Friday night, we went to dinner with Grandma and then went out to Glendale to meet some of my old friends. They thought you were cute, but you decided to get grumpy and fill 2 poopy diapers. That was quite a way to make a first impression. Saturday you (and I and Daddy and Grandma Laurie) went to your first Diamondbacks baseball game! Yay! You were so good. They were giving away Baxter the Bobcat bobblehead dolls, and Daddy won one. So that's your souvenir from your first baseball game. We passed you around the whole time, and it was really quite nice. Saturday night, you went to your first cocktail party. It was at Uncle C.R. and Aunt Chelsie's house. Again, you were pretty good, until you fell asleep and then you were perfect. ;-) Such an angel you are when you're sleeping.

Yesterday, we both recovered while Daddy went off to help "Uncle" Thomas with some irrigation projects. You slept a lot yesterday morning and even afternoon when Uncle Chris stopped by to work on our computer. Even still, you fell asleep at 8 and slept until 3! That's seven hours again, which you've been working your way back to after weeks of being off-schedule. I really hope the 7 hour stretches are back for good. I think you're starting to get used to having your harness off at night. I always find you in a completely different position than I left you, and you are almost always on your side. You are definitely a side-sleeper now. That's how Daddy and I both are, so it's not surprising.

Anyway, it was a fun, eventful weekend. Now you're back at school and I hope you're enjoying yourself. I feel every day like our life is getting into an enjoyable groove. It's still endless work and moments of frustration, but when you smile at me at the end of the day? It's totally all worth it.

::: posted by Kerry at 11:36 AM



Friday, June 6 :::
 
+ Confusion +
How can you smile and cry at the same time? Yesterday you were so tired, you were crying, but when I smiled at you you'd stop crying long enough to flash a smile. And then you'd resume crying. Very weird. You also seem to love being changed lately. I don't know if it's a naked thing, or an undivided mommy-attention thing, but you just start laughing and kicking your hands and feet. In fact, this morning you *laughed*. It was brief but oh-so cute. I can't wait until you do it more often. Your little giggles will be the highlight of my day, I just know it.

You didn't sleep so great last night. I think it will be an adjustment for both of us to have you out of your harness when you're sleeping. It's so cute to wake up and find you rolling around in your crib. You always get so excited when I catch you mid-roll. I get some winning smiles that way.

The girl who sort of kick-started our Mothers' Room issue (which, by the way, will actually not be ready until this afternoon, so one more day of bathroom pumping - Oh well!), has decided to take on child care. They told us when they hired us, and when 1/4 of the company relocated here, that we would have an on-site child care center (and fitness center), which didn't come to pass. Now she is working to make that happen too. So of course I'm involved in that now.

On top of being very busy with work, which DOES take precedence. Ugh.

::: posted by Kerry at 10:57 AM



Thursday, June 5 :::
 
+ HOORAY!!! +
You went to the Dr. today with Daddy and guess what?! You will never have to wear your harness again. I am beside myself with happiness. He did an x-ray of your hips and everything looks great. You'll go back to see him when you're 7 months old (in September) and 13 months (next March) just to make sure everything's developing okay. Other than that, you are free!!! Tonight you will be able to fall asleep in my arms and stay asleep as I put you down. No more waking you up to strap you in that awful contraption. Thank God it worked, too! I've read so many horror stories about using this harness for months without it working and still needing surgery. Seriously, I thank God you're okay. You'll be running and jumping with every other toddler out there soon enough. YAY!

Meanwhile, today should be the last day I have to pump in the bathroom. Tomorrow our room should be ready to go, and I'll be relieved of that annoyance. What a happy day this is!

::: posted by Kerry at 9:10 AM



Wednesday, June 4 :::
 
+ Tours +
I just got a tour of the 2 choices we have for a Mothers' Room location. I was the only one on this tour, with the HR person and the building coordinator guy. Neither option is perfect, but since when have I demanded perfection? The choices were:

Option One: A large storage room on the first floor, behind the elevators and next to the HR office. Pros: Large room (could be used by more than one person at a time if needed), electrical outlet already present, semi-private location behind the elevator, key readily accessible from HR office for entry. Cons: It's still a storage room, and two walls will still be lined with boxes all the time. It's not right next to a bathroom (running water), and HR will know every single time a person comes and goes.

Option Two: A small storage room on the fourth floor, next to the break room. Pros: Small and private, convenient (I work on the fourth floor), nearly empty and would be completely emptied if we chose to use it. Cons: We would have to go to security on 1st floor for the key (a/k/a Goodbye, "convenience"), no existing electrical outlet (would need to be installed), not big enough for more than one user if needed, not very close to a bathroom, right next to break room so co-workers see you coming and going from a "mystery room."

I opted for Option One, voting for all the other nursing women out here. Heh. The HR woman was concerned that we would think they were "sticking us in a closet," and I can see her concern about that. On the other hand, it's the better choice, and it will definitely work. She is procuring 2 chairs and a table and having the boxes moved around and we will have the room by Friday. Yippee!

Meanwhile, I ordered 2 bags of Medela Anti-Bacterial Wipes to wipe down my pump parts after each use so it won't be the end of the world to be far from the bathroom. That ought to help that problem.

::: posted by Kerry at 3:40 PM


 
+ I love you, baby girl +
There are just moments when I want to freeze time, capture the moment and all of my emotions for just that second for me to remember forever. This morning was a rough morning, but I was rocking you back to sleep, and my heart just melted. The light was dimmed low, but the sun was just barely starting to come up outside. I was holding you against my shoulder and your head was tilted back, face up towards me with the sweetest 1/2 smile, 1/2 pout on your lips. You were just drifting off to sleep, and your arm was wrapped around mine. It was beautiful, and I just got to watch you like that for several quiet moments. So special.

You are a good baby. Fussy sometimes, ear-piercingly loud sometimes, and frustrating at moments. But overall, you are happy and cheerful. And you like "talking" to your daddy. I think you were trying to tell him all about your week so far this morning. It was very cute. They tell me at daycare your hair will go into ponytails, but I think they're making it up. I keep trying and it's not *quite* long enough. Soon though.

Tomorrow you go back to the orthopedic surgeon for what we hope will be the last time. Daddy's taking you in the morning, since he's off of work during the day. I can't wait to hear the full report. Sleeping will be interesting for you. I let you sleep this morning without your brace on for a little while, and you were roaming the entire crib on your belly. Yikes! You were scooching, and bouncing your butt in the air (that one had me laughing), and trying to roll over into the sides of the crib. It was all very entertaining, actually. I just wonder what it will be like to put you to bed without your harness. You have not gone to bed at night without a brace on since you were 3 weeks old. Today you are 16 weeks old. That's a LONG time.

::: posted by Kerry at 3:03 PM



Monday, June 2 :::
 
+ Coolness +
We scored this weekend. We decided to drop by KMart so Grandma Laurie could get you some toys, and I had a few things I wanted to look at too. I'd been thinking about getting you another toy for the living room, but couldn't decide. Finally, I decided on a "gym" toy, and there were 2 to choose from. Daddy insisted on this one, which happened to be marked with a sale price of $28.00. We took it to the register when we were ready to leave, and I told the clerk I wanted to make sure it rang up at the sale price. He ran it through and said, "It comes up as $5.00." My jaw nearly hit the floor. Obviously, we took it. I thought about going back and buying the other 3 or 4 that were back there for your Grandparents' houses or even to sell on eBay, but I refrained. Someone else will get the great deal too.

Furthermore, you LOVE it.

::: posted by Kerry at 9:14 AM