March 30, 2011

Wednesday:

I swear, as soon as you think you have it figured out, babies will turn everything around. It's like they know or something. I tend to believe that consciously think, 'oh, this isn't supposed to be this easy for you, let me make it more difficult and decide to (fill in the blank)'. At least, I believe my daughter does. She's a pretty easy baby, I hope she doesn't read this and decide to make things more difficult, but for the most part, we've figured everything out, until she changes it. Yesterday with nap was pretty out of the ordinary, which things haven't changed by the way, and I refuse to have her sleep only in her swing, but I dare not put that in writing as I may leave that train of thought in the future, but let's talk talk feeding. So, she'd had issues since birth. She had some weird gland 'salivary duct' is what I think they called it that was clogged and caused her not to feed effectively so that landed us back in the hospital. Breastfeeding was a nightmare, then once we bottle fed the homemade formula, we thought we were golden. We even have this 'every 4 hour routine' that is 'recommended'. Now, she's decided, 'I want you to hold me for the first 4 or 5 ounces, then please put me down so I can finish the rest.' Yup. She will cuddle and eat just fine for about half the bottle, then squirm, I'll burp her, when I try to put the bottle back in, she arches her back, flails her arms, hits the bottle (which usually at this point is flying out of my hands dripping all over everything near) fusses, and tries to roll off my lap. So, I put a pillow on the floor in front of me, lay her on it, hand her her bottle, and she eats. Peacefully, still, calmly. Weird. But ok. I think Le Leche League would be on my case for stopping pumping first off, now I'm abandoning their concrete rule of 'feeding is social, you should always hold your baby'. Yeah, well, you do that, and see how that works out, and if you can figure it out, please tell me. Thanks! Until then, I'll snuggle, talk to, cuddle her till she starts to flail, and then put her down and let her independence have it's way.

March 29, 2011

Tuesday:

Let's talk about nap time. Today was the hardest time I have ever had with Annabelle. My beautifully peaceful napper is now non-existent. I tried everything. Rocking, laying down with her, teething tablets, glow worm, singing, swaying, BOTH binkies, swaddle with arms in, arms out, on tummy, etc. She always would wake up seconds after I laid her down. I was trying to do my workout video during nap time today and had to obviously keep stopping over and over and over to go try something new. Each time I would pick her up, her eyes would roll back under her eye lids and she'd be as squishy as a cooked noodle. She'd even be so asleep that she'd stop sucking on her binky. But, never the less, I'd lay her down, walk out, turn the video back on, do a few moves, then she'd cry. 'Maybe she'll just figure it out'...so I left her for a few minutes. Nope, she'd just get louder. So finally, I resorted to the infant swing that had been lurking off to the side of her bedroom. I put her in it, swaddled and binkied, and then she was out. Now this was well over a half hour, maybe forty-five minutes of going back and forth, and when I knew she was finally down, I sat on the couch and had a snack instead. I'll workout another day.

March 28, 2011

Monday:

We were all in for a long ride today with a trip to Georgetown to visit with a Midwife and a prenatal visit with a mama in North Austin. Annabelle got a little cranky on the way up. I think she was tired, but didn't quite feel comfortable falling asleep in her car seat. It was long till we got there and she calmed down when I got her out and into the wrap and she fell into a soothing sleep till it was time to go again. When we got to the prenatal, she ate amongst the distraction of the mama's 3 year old and Liam playing, and then fell back asleep. She didn't nap well then since it was so short, but did get a catch up nap after we got home. Dad watched the kids in the evening and I think had a rough time with all the napping, or lack there of. When I walked in the door, Annabelle was sitting on the floor with pillows around her and a binky in her mouth, turned to me, saw me, spit it out and cried. I felt so bad. I picked her up and gave her some lovin' and Liam too. Tomorrow, we don't have anything going on, so I think we'll just hang out together, the three of us.

March 27, 2011

Sunday:

Gigi and Papa left today, just before nap time hit. I went to Annabelle's room to rock her to get her to finish her bottle, which is proving to be a challenge at times, and to get her to nap. Liam followed and watched quietly as he laid in Gigi and Papa's bed. I love the squishy, sweating, snugly, sleepy baby syndrome that she gets when she is really tired. Her whole body gets like a cooked noodle and her little cheeks become clammy, and she begins to just form to your body and sleeps soundly. I don't think one's life is complete till they have had a baby fall asleep on their chest. It's the sweetest thing in the world. I think it's one of those things that God gives us parents to enjoy, one of those things that makes all the waking up at night, diapers, feeding, crying all worth it. It's so sweet to me, because she doesn't do that with just anyone. She has to be comfortable with you and you have to be trusting for her and snugly, lovey back. I wish I had a way of bottling it up so that I can go back when she is older and just re-savor these moments. I think that's just part of the parental growing pains though. They must grow at some point.

March 26, 2011

Saturday:

We went back to Zilker today, again during Annabelle's nap time except this time, on the way back around on the train, she woke up in the wrap. She was a little sleepy eyed at first, but she quickly lived up and popped her head out of the wrap to get a good view of everything. Very cute. I don't know what she thought of this new sight seeing in motion experience. I think she liked most that when she woke, she got to see her Gigi right there. When we got home, we were able to snap some good pictures of the two of them. I'm glad we did. She's only going to be this small for a little while longer.

March 25, 2011

Friday:

Today was Annabelle's first day at Zilker Park. We met a few other mommy friends there, and I don't think she cared much. We went around the time she took her morning nap, so she was happy to just sleep snuggled up in the wrap. We also rode the Zilker Zephyr, that she missed as well due to napping. At her age, I doubt she would even remember, so that's okay. We went to lunch at Shady Grove after and she sat in a high chair the whole time, except for a bit when I was trying to get her to finish her bottle. She was great. After the friends we met there for lunch left, it was just us three, me, Liam and Annabelle, waiting for Liam to finish his PBJ. She and Liam made laughing/screeching noises back and forth. It was cute. I'm so surprised she is such a well behaved baby, and very thankful.

March 24, 2011

Thursday:

This morning, Violet came over for a visit. Violet really loves Annabelle. A LOT. Every time she sees her, she asks 'Please hold her!' She loves to help feed her, bring her toys, play with her. She gently strokes her head, and they smile back and forth at each other. It's a sweet relationship. I think Annabelle is very fond of Violet as well.

I laid Annabelle down on the chair to go the back real quick, and when I came out, Violet had laid down next to her and covered them both up with a blanket and was cuddling with her. Oh so, SO sweet. I'm super glad I got to snap a picture.

March 23, 2011

Wednesday:

Something is going on with Annabelle, and I don't know what it is, but I'm wanting it to be over. I want my peaceful sleeper back. Yesterday, she put up a fit when I tried to put her back down at 4:30 in the morning, and fought me for over an hour on this. Very tiring. Then, the same thing come morning nap, and afternoon nap. In the evening, Phillip and I finally gave up and just toughed out the crankiness of her being up and grouchy. Phillip did say she went to bed fine. Same thing this morning, around the same 4:30am mark. Then for her morning nap, Bonnie was sitting her and said she gave her a little trouble, but finally, Annabelle fell asleep as she held her on the couch. Afternoon nap was alright, a little bit of fight, but she went down after 2:00. It's tough trying to get them to nap at the same time when she naps this late. Today Liam was so tired he wanted to just be difficult going down for nap since it was so late. I don't know. I think things will smooth out hopefully. I think her evening nap is about to disappear, which is fine, or I think we should start with some more solids. I think I'm going to make some baby food come the next couple days, just so I'll have some in stock.

March 22, 2011

Tuesday:

When I was gone tonight, Phillip said that Liam and Annabelle blew bubbles together. Well, not really together, but more Liam blowing bubbles at Annabelle, in her face to be exact. Phillip was a little concerned at first, and I think Annabelle was too, and after the initial flinch and shock of a cool bubble popping on her face, Phillip said she let out a huge laugh. She really enjoys Liam. At dinner, since she sits at the table with us, she is constantly watching him, and trying to play with him by smacking her hands on the table. I'm glad they are bonding.

March 21, 2011

Monday:

Annabelle turns SIX MONTHS old today! I can't believe she's so big already! We had her well check at the pediatrician which our new 'part time nanny/help' came with us to. Annabelle checked out great. 18lbs 12oz and 27 inches long! He asked about what she was eating. I told him the homemade formula still and she has had a few bits of banana and last night the squash. I said she looked great, asked about the recipe again, and called us 'his little pioneer family' in his practice. I laughed and said we're not that hippie! He said no, but we do research and figure out what is best and make our decision from there, which is good, we'd be successful in anything we did. I hope we can pass that on to our kids. But, back to Annabelle. She's great, smiles, sits up very well, interactive, grabs stuff like crazy, chews on everything, and thankfully no teeth yet. I know that's just a matter of time though. She's never been sick, only a runny nose once, maybe twice. I'm so thankful and glad that she's a healthy baby. We are truly blessed.

March 20, 2011

Sunday:

We went to church today, and Annabelle had her first Sunday morning in the nursery. Midway through the service (which is only an hour or so) I had to go check on her and peek through the window to see what she was up to. She was having her diaper changed at that time, so that's a good sign that the worker was cognizant of that. I think she did fine though. She was the only baby in there, and the nursery worker has been just itching to keep Annabelle so she can hold her the entire time. She said Annabelle napped about half an hour, which I didn't really even expect that.

For dinner that night, Annabelle had butternut squash for the first time. At first I just put it on the table infront of her and she smashed it between her fingers, squished it in her hand and was just amazed and curious of the texture for a while. Then she moved it to her mouth. I think total, all that got in her mouth and ingested was about a quarter of a smalls squash, but, adding all that was on the floor, was about a full half a squash, maybe more. I finally wised up and put her high chair tray on for her to finish. After that, she drank 7 or 8 ounces of milk and hit the hay without a peep. I definitely think she is on the solids now. I forgot how much of a clean up it is, and am not looking forward to that, but excited for her to be growing and discovering new things.

When we got home, I finally was reminded to tell Phillip to take a picture of us, since there are so few pictures of me and the kids since I'm the one usually doing the picture taking...or Liam, now that I think about it, he does on occasion sneak the camera all to himself a click a few pictures of me and Annabelle. If you look closely, you will see she still have some butternut squash-smear in her little nose still.

March 19, 2011

Saturday:

When 8:00 rolled around, we were ready for bed. Annabelle needed a bath as she was accumulating some strange black yuck between her fingers and toes. After that, she was ready for a bottle and jammies and bed. Phillip dressed her in her footy PJs which were kitten printed and as she got cranky, said, "Are you ready for bed? You and your little Kitty Feet?" I think that's the cutest thing Phillip has ever said in a grown man voice.

March 18, 2011

Friday:

Annabelle was fairly quiet this afternoon, I think some teeth may be coming in, because she tries to eat everything. At dinner tonight I made a hat out of a napkin and Ruth took a picture. Annabelle was not incredibly impressed, but she was not all that unhappy about it either.

March 17, 2011

Thursday:

Annabelle is starting to reach out and try to grab everything in her sight and put it in her mouth. At the dinner table, she smacks her hand on the table repeatedly and takes turns gazing for a few moments at each one of us, sometimes smiling, sometimes watching. After dinner, before bed and between bottles, she became fussy again and I was flipping channels. I came across the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King concert on PBS and left it playing. She sat on the floor and stopped crying; just watched and listened. She began moving jerkily like she was dancing. I think she likes Stevie Ray Vaughan, but then, that is not very surprising.

March 16, 2011

Wednesday:

Annabelle has started to say 'da da da da' quite a bit. Like Liam (I am sure to Ruth's chagrin), Annabelle may say da-da before mama. In any case, the day was overall uneventful.

March 15, 2011

Tuesday:

We had a sitter over, as Ruth attended a birth. I worked as I listened to the sitter try to put Annabelle to sleep, it was more of an analysis to see if she became frustrated. She didn't know the tricks, like the tight swaddle, the box fan, or that sometimes you have to hold Annabelle for a few minutes for her to fall asleep. She did pretty well, although it took her the better part of 45 minutes to do the job. Overall Annabelle responded well to her while she was awake. It is quite different, however, to have a person for hire to watch your children who is not emotionally connected to them. Going forward, I would prefer to reserve the on-demand babysitter / care option for times that we don't have alternatives.

March 14, 2011

Monday:

Tonight we had dinner at Romeos as a farewell to Rayne as she leaves for the Navy tomorrow. It was the last time she will see Annabelle for a while, and at this age, Annabelle is going to be growing so much, that by the time 9 weeks go by, she's going to be a whole new baby. Annabelle started to get kinda fussy, so Rayne stood with her and it wasn't long till she was fast asleep in Rayne's arms. She slept through dinner and then woke up as we finished to get some more cuddles and say good-bye. It was a sweet evening.

March 13, 2011

Sunday:

Last night I was called to a birth, so Phillip was in charge of bed time. He caught a video of her jamin' out to some Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King. She sat on the floor while they played and waved her arms, rocked back and forth, smiled and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Once she got cranky doing that, it was bed time. He said he didn't sleep well, worried that the kids would wake up and him not hear them, and he wasn't used to me being gone for that long of a time. I really missed Annabelle. I was got home just as she was waking in the morning, and was pleased to see her sweet smile. I think I form a closer connection with them as I see other babies be brought into the world.

March 12, 2011

Saturday:

After nap today we headed out to the park in a bigger neighborhood down the street. We call it the Circle C playground. It has a lot of soccer fields and a very big park for kids of toddler age and older. It also has a hike and bike trail that I decided to walk. I had Annabelle wrapped and pushed Liam in the stroller and I think a few people had to take a second look when I passed by. One mom said, "Now that's a work out." Of course it would take another mom to notice. I agreed, it was. Annabelle mainly napped while I walked, she really can't resist falling asleep with the bouncing motion and all snuggled close. I didn't mind, I'd rather her sleep than throw a fit.

March 11, 2011

Friday:

Rayne leaves for the Navy on Tuesday so she came over today to spend some time with us and the kiddos before she headed out. Marlene also joined us and I think Annabelle kinda became smitten with her and her with Annabelle. Rayne brought over some early Easter presents for the kids. She got Annabelle some little pick crock shoes since she's not going to be here for her first steps. They are oh so darling. I bet it won't be long till they fit her.

We also decided to let Annabelle try some banana. We chopped up little pieces of them and put them on her high chair. I'm pretty sure she knew what to do with them, but just couldn't get her hands to make those maneuvers very well. She only had few bites and made some of the funniest faces doing so. I'm glad Rayne was here for that milestone at least, and I know she was too.

March 10, 2011

Thursday:

Dad stayed home today after working a long stretch from last Monday all the way through yesterday. I think Annabelle missed him a lot and was excited to see him first thing in the morning. Phillip and I decided to do some yard work while the kids napped. In the middle of moving rocks around from the flower bed, Annabelle woke up and joined us outside in her exersaucer. After a little while she started getting cranky so Phillip headed inside with her while I finished up the last few rocks with the help of her big brother. By the time we were done, it was time for her to eat and dinner to get ready. I think she enjoyed the solo dad time during the afternoon.

March 9, 2011

Wednesday:

I think Annabelle baby talks in her sleep. I know she rolls over in her sleep and I think she wakes up and tries to figure out how she got on her tummy from her back by verbally retracing her movements; like we adults do when we loose our keys. I wonder what goes through her head, maybe things like, 'I had a binky...now where is it?' Or 'How did I get here? I was all snuggled and swaddled tightly in a burrito, now I'm on all fours.' 'Who moved me, what's going on here?' Maybe this is the mile stone she was working on and now she'll sleep better. Well, if she can figure out that she's doing it, and stop waking herself up that is. If it is that, then it's bound to be something next week or tomorrow even that she's trying to master. Babies really do grow so much in the first year that they are always working on something.

March 8, 2011

Tuesday:

Liam was on the floor today building towers with his lego blocks and then I sat Annabelle down next to him. She loved it. All the colors, shapes, sizes, tall and short stacks, etc. She was in heaven. Liam, not so much. He first threw a fit that she was down on the floor, then I told him that she could sit by him. They were fine until Annabelle turned into Babyzilla and began grabbing, knocking down and tearing apart Liam's city. Liam had gotten up to go get her a toy and when he came back, Annabelle was chewing on remnants of on of the buildings. "You not play that tower Annebelle!" He was furious, she was oblivious. I helped them work out to where she had a few toys and a few blocks, and Liam had the rest.

March 7, 2011

Monday:

This evening, I took pictures of Annabelle and Liam at the kitchen table as Liam was eating. Annabelle seems very content sitting in her high chair and just watches us all eat. It's nice to have her sitting up, our dinner feels more complete with everyone at the table. Later this evening, however, it was a bit different about an hour after she woke up from her nap. Around 7:30, she made it very clear that she was ready to eat. She gulped down 7 ounces in less than 5 minutes and I promptly put her to bed (she was fading as she finished off her bottle).

March 6, 2011

Sunday:

After church today, Grandpa and Grandma Linda came over the watch the kids while I went to an orientation for a Doula group here in Austin. When I was gone, I was expecting Annabelle to nap for a bit. I got home around 4, around the time I would think she was just be getting up and I asked if she was sleeping. Grandpa said no, so I went in and check on her and she was on her tummy, playing with her binky making all sorts of noises. I said, "Are you still awake?" She looked up, smiled, and gave a nice little chuckle. I swaddled her, turned her fan on and binkied her and she was out within seconds. I told them that I forgot to mention to align the Annabelle stars before you put her down in order for her to fall asleep. Oh how quickly they get used to a routine.

March 5, 2011

Saturday:

Annabelle was such a trooper today. At the ICAN meeting, she usually naps, but this time she didn't. Surprisingly, she was in a good mood too. She got to also not only see Brielle, but also Christy, who was our Midwife. Christy was blown away at how big she was. She asked if we were still making the homemade formula and I said we were and she said she always heard good things about it, and obviously, they were true. Not only is she thriving quite well, especially compared to when we were trying to breastfeed, but she is hitting all her milestones early. Sitting up, rolling over, making crawling movements, signing, laughing, smiling, etc. She's such a smart little girl.

March 4, 2011

Friday:

I'm pretty sure Annabelle has started signing 'Milk'. I've been trying to consistently sign it every time I feed her, now when I do feed her, she makes the same mnilking motion with her hand. I'm pretty sure that's what she's doing. If I remember correctly we weren't very consistent signing it with Liam at the beginning and he started signing right at 6 months, which for Annabelle will only be in a few weeks. I can't believe she's so big already. I'm really hoping she is signing now because we are starting potty training at 9 months and it would be very handy if she had a few signs down to understand the concept of communication. Phillip and I were talking about it and it's so unbelievable that 9 months is only 3 months away. It really seem like only a few weeks ago she was born. I know many say that, but living the reality of having that time pass by is more than a shocker, almost heart breaking. I want to find a way to bottle up all the babiness and put it in a jar, so when she is older and starting school, graduating, dating, moving out, college, marriage, I can always go back to it and be back in these moments.

March 3, 2011

Thursday:

Today we met with Rayne after nap at the hike and bike trail around Town Lake. Annabelle rode in the wrap the whole time without a fuss. I'm not surprised at all. I am surprised that even though it was time for her to eat again, she showed little interest in her bottle and only wanted to look around at everything. Which, I get, but come evening time I knew she'd be hungry. I got plenty of looks from people who smiled, pointed and giggled when they saw a little baby head bobbing up and down as we walked. She did lots of dozing in between admiring the new environment. I think we are going to have to make this at least a weekly thing.

March 2, 2011

Wednesday:

Annabelle is really on the verge of crawling. She can almost get on her hands and knees herself. She can get on her knees and elbows, but needs some help getting from elbows to hands. She really does try. Once she is on her hands and knees, she starting to bounce and rock back and forth. It's funny, I used to bounce her and go 'Boing, Boing' and now when I make the noise, she automatically bounces. It's cute. She's started to move her hands in front of her to reach for something. It won't be long till she can figure out all she has to do is move her knees up and then she'll be off! Two little kids to keep up with!

March 1, 2011

Tuesday:

Annabelle looked so cute today in her overall dress. Very photogenic. Nothing exciting went on, but I figured since she's so cute, we might was well take some pictures. Liam enjoyed this too and was very proud when he took his own picture of Annabelle (the one on the bottom). I think he's getting the photography thing down, and Annabelle is a great model.