Adaptation

We are making some changes to Miss C's night routine. Recently we did away with her "cluster feedings" and now give her a bottle 4 times a day instead of 5 and added an additional solid feeding. We also moved her bed time back to have her in bed earlier.

Overall, the impact with regards to the changes wasn't major. But there were some issues we had to address. Primarily that it was not working to try and take our nightly walk, give her a bath, feed her a solid and give her a bottle without some form of a meltdown. The meltdown typically happened on the changing table when trying to get her dressed for bed or in her high chair doing that last feeding. She was so freaking tired and hungry that her meltdowns were understandable...and frustrating.

So, we are making some adjustments to our routine and tonight I felt like I was going from the time I walked in the door. Yes, that isn't much different from other nights but bumping back when we did everything and reordering things required more effort on the front end to have this time on the backend.

It went like this...

Walked in the door. Kissed Miss C and talked to her for a bit. Kissed husband. Put Miss C in exerciser and changed clothes. Make dinner and cereal for Miss C. This is the first change to give her cereal and no bottle. Ate dinner and fed Miss C. Cleaned up and she played with her Dad. Got bath stuff ready. I have moved back to giving her a bath in the sink because my back has been bothering me and it works well with her sitting in the sink. Giving her a bath at this time is also a change. After she played for awhile and then had her bath she got into her PJs. We then took our nightly walk and she took a cat nap. Once home she had her last bottle of the day and was in bed and asleep by 8:15.

The changes aren't major. Start everything earlier. Rearrange a feeding. Move up bath time because she likes it so much and can have time to play. Get her ready for bed before our walk. I think this will work out better. We shall see.

Crawling

Miss C Crawling Sept 2008 from M Farfsing on Vimeo.

It's a little dark and I sound like a hillbilly but it's funny to watch her try and crawl.

Army crawl

It's official! Miss C now moves FORWARD in her pursuit of all things tagged, tennis shoed, or remote control related. She usually has one arm tucked under her but she is definitely moving forward. She is also now fulling getting up on all fours so I foresee her fully crawling soon. For now she is content to do her army crawl across the living room floor.

One of her other new talents is to shake her head back and forth in opposition to whatever it is we want her to do that she doesn't want to do. For example, if she is done eating and no longer wants to eat she will hold her lips closed tight and move her head back and forth. I am trying to work on sign language with her so she'll tell me she is done instead of the head thing, though it is pretty clear what she is saying when she does it.

We also heard her cry this weekend in a way we haven't heard before. She was hurt. Truly hurt after smacking her face on a plastic measuring cup that she was playing with. Yes, we have high tech toys around here...measuring cups. We couldn't tell exactly where she hit but I think it was her mouth.

That was just one of many crying spurts this weekend. I am attributing it to a couple of things that had Miss C fussing more than usual. She was jolted awake not once, but twice, while napping by the dog. Then there was a slight mix up where she ate two new veggies in one day and puked up the carrots. Along with the crawling she also did a lot of falling backward which she thinks is funny until she misses the pillows around her and whacks her head on the floor. I think she just did feel good trying to deal with all that.

Tomorrow will be a new day for her and I am sure it will be much better.

7 Month Observations of Miss C

Dear Baby Girl,

Can you believe that you are now 7 months old? I can't. I am not sure where the time has gone but you seem to have been plowing right along whether I wanted the time to pass or not.

This really is an amazing time for you and I enjoy nothing more than to watch you as you explore the world for the first time. You want to touch everything. Everything. My face and hair. Trees. Toys. Remotes. Dog bones. Tags. Oh my god, you love tags. You will knock anything and everything in your way over to get to a tag. You are fascinated with them and love rubbing them between your little fingers.

Right now you are sitting on your own and will play like that forever. We surround you with pillows for a couple of reasons. One is because of the tile and hardwood floors, the other, is that you think it's hilarious to just collapse backwards. Among your favorite toys is your very own remote that repeatedly gives you the weather forecast, a bunch of soft colored blocks, a D*ra teething towel and the bongos that your Dad bought you.

When we put you on the floor with your toys you will sit and play forever. Then you will get on your belly and roll around to get everything you want. Just today I watched as you pushed forward more than once to get a toy out of your reach. You grunted the entire time with determination and dug those toes in to push toward the toy. We celebrated when you got it and you laughed outloud.

We laugh a lot around here. You seem to have a sunny disposition 99% of the time and it's a clear indication that something is wrong if you aren't smiling and laughing. The spots that are sure to get you laughing are when we tickle your inner thighs or your belly. You love it when I hold your belly up against my face and tickle you with my nose. Squeals of delight make my day.

Other things we do are read books, look at ourselves in the mirror and laugh, talk, blow bubbles, sing, dance, and take long walks. You still love baths and we have these stackable bath cups that you play with whenever you are in the tub.

We recently changed your schedule a little bit and eliminated your 7 PM "cluster feeding" that we had been doing for quite some time. With the incorporation of solids you are now eating 30 ounces of formula, rice cereal, a veggie and a fruit every day. For the most part, you like everything that we have tried, with the exception of peas. Mom doesn't like peas either so I am ok with you not eating them.

We were worried that the elimination of a feeding, even though it wasn't much, would totally screw up your sleep. But, so far, it hasn't. We are even putting you to bed earlier. Tonight you were in bed and asleep before 9 and if all goes well, you will sleep until almost 8 AM. I have been pretty strict about your routine but I honestly think you thrive on the routine. It works so we are sticking to it.

There is just so much that I want to capture right now. Your laughter. Your sweetness. Your true love of me and the excitement that you exude with arms flying and legs kicking when I enter the room. I want to tuck my nose in the sweet softness of your cubby neck and freeze time. I want to burn in my brain that look in your eyes that tells me I am all you need.

I love you sweet baby girl. You are the most amazing thing I have done in my life and I look forward you growing into the strong, intelligent woman that I know you can be.

Love,

Your Mom

Power-Less Round 2

Which do you think is worse, losing power for 4 days and losing all the food in your fridge or freezer OR losing power for 4 days, losing all the food in your fridge and freezer then having the power restored for 3 days only to lose power again and lose all the new food in your fridge and freezer.

I must tell you, the latter sucks pretty bad.

We are again without power and have been since Saturday. It seems that "jokers" as my elderly neighbor, who is way proper calls them, taking down my neighbors tree across the street hit a breaker and knocked out power for 10 people on our street. We are one of the 10.

What followed was the husband of the elderly neighbor call the tree removing neighbor so many times to complain that the tree removing neighbor took their phone off the hook. The husband of the elderly neighbor, who we believe was a lawyer in an earlier life, then went off on the tree jokers. And all the rest of us endure the sweaty weekend while watching the tree jokers take down a tree over the course of 2 days speculating on whether or not they were going to hit any houses in the process.

We were supposed to have power back last night. But there are still people in the city who haven't had power since last Sunday when the original storm went through. So, we are not priority. SP and I managed to be pretty calm about the whole thing, until last night. Last night, in the thick mugginess that was the inside of our house we began to crack a little. By this morning, after sweating through the night and being congested by allergens, we were pissed.

Cross your fingers that we have power back today.

When the lights are out

My camera still worked when the power was out so here are some pictures of Miss C during the power outage.

Granny, Dawn and Mia

We had house guests this past weekend when the wind began to twitch, the house to pitch...ok, I couldn't resist a little Wizard of Oz reference. Thankfully, my house didn't land on any witches though those red shoes would have been nice.

Mom, Dawn and Mia came to visit this weekend. We had a nice time and turned my house upside down, but in a good way. We worked on our scrapbooks and laughed until I almost peed in my pants.

It was fun to watch Mia and Miss C interact in their baby ways now that they actually aware of each other. I always expect that they will look alike, but they really don't. Their daddy's sure have strong genes.

It's also interesting to see how similar they are in certain behaviors and how different they are in others. Mia talks a lot with mamamamama dadadadada where Miss C grunts and shrieks and makes noises but nothing that sounds remotely like talking yet. Miss C likes to be on her belly scooting around and working on crawling and actually did move forward while they were here. Mia doesn't spend as much time on her belly like Miss C but she is a lot more stable when sitting and I wouldn't be surprised if she just walks instead of crawls.

Here are some pics of their visit.

Power-Full

Our power is back on! Thankfully. There are still many here without any and they are starting to wear down. I can't blame them, it's difficult when you have no power. Here are some things that we experienced...

• Realized that we were more prepared that I would have thought. We had water, flashlights, candles, matches, baby food, dog and cat food and people food.
• Saw more kids out playing than I have seen all summer. Remember when that used to be the norm, not the exception?
• Took showers by flashlight and dressed in the dark.
• Listened to TV on the radio and read books.
• Took walks.
• Sat in line at the gas station for overpriced gas.
• Threw out everything in our refridgerator and freezer.
• Walked up and down empty aisles at the grocery store because they too had to throw everything out.
• Watched our power come back on while people only a street over still have no power.
• Enjoyed the sounds of nature that come with the lack of ACs units.

Power-Less

We have been without power since about 3 yesterday due to hurricane force winds. About 700,000 people in the city are also without power. One of the "perks" of working at a hospital is that we have generators and are usually among the first to get power restored. So, here I am at work. Good times.

Pink Ribbons

This weekend Dawn, Mia and Mom will be coming up to visit. Weather permitting, because it's totally supposed to rain, we will be taking Mia and Miss C to their first breast cancer event as participants in the local Komen Walk.

I feel completely and utterly blessed that my Mom is a survivor and that Miss C has the opportunity to love her as much as I do. That is a true gift. It is important to me that Miss C be involved in helping to rid this world of such a devastating disease starting now so that she has awareness and a sense of giving back to the world around her as she grows up.

You can go here if you would like to make a donation.

Save the ta-tas!

Hi!

SMILE! Someone in Cincinnati loves you!

Yes...you.

And she misses you, and you, and you...

All of you!

Pictures of Miss C

For whatever reason this photo will not rotate to horizontal, sorry. If you look closely you will see Miss C's two new teeth.


Just a happy day hanging out.


And chewing on Mom's bra.


This is after spending time with Granny and Grampy while Mom and Dad were in Boston.

Brusha Brusha Brusha

I am not sure what the norm is for when to start good oral hygiene is for babies, but since Miss C has two teeth I am starting now. This morning I got out her new tooth brush while I was brushing my teeth and told her all about how great it is to brush your teeth while she chewed on her tooth brush. Then I lightly brushed her teeth and gums. Hopefully, her tolerance will continue.

It's all good

It is such a wonderful thing to walk into Miss C's room in the morning and she is playing happily in her crib. It's even better to see her face light up with a smile when she sees me and then her her squeak with delight.

Those two teeth are still pushing their way through the gums and are now clearly visible both in her mouth and in the gnawing on anything she can get her hands on. I found this great homeopathic teething drops I am sure are laced with something stronger than chamomile because she opens her mouth when she seems me coming with the dropper and is almost immediately over whatever was ailing her before she got the drops.

Yesterday she tried bananas for the first time and they were a hit. Today, we'll see if she still feels the same way. Her pattern seems to be that she could like something one day and not like it the next. She also consumed 10 ounces of formula for breakfast today. I guess she was doing a lot of partying overnight and burned a lot of calories.

She continues to sit by herself and rolls to get where she wants to go. We're also working on strengthening those legs but she isn't standing while holding onto anything yet. Amy has taught her to wave which sometimes she does, and other times she doesn't. Some times she actually just does it for now reason, like when I put her to bed and she extends her arm up and starts waving. Maybe she's telling me goodnight, but I doubt it. She's smart, but not sure she's there yet.

We are now fulling bathing in the big bathtub with our bath tub insert thingy that I registered for and thought I would never use because it seemed so HUGE. It is actually perfect because first she was laying in it and it has this piece that sticks up that helped keep her form sliding into the water and now that she is sitting it helps keep her from falling forward though she did try to drink the water last night.

This weekend we are taking her to the zoo for the first time. With her recent discovery of our animals I think she will actually enjoy the animals. And I'll enjoy the time outside.