you will be 17-months-old on the 21st and i wish i could stop time and keep you this age forever!!...this is seriously the best stage yet! you are like a tiny little person. you sit and try to chat with us. it sounds like a bunch of marbles are in your mouth. mornings are the best. you wake so rested and happy. i noticed last night that you no longer cry when i get out of bed in the middle of the night. you woke up to nurse and i quietly told you that i would be right back; that i needed to potty. you used to start crying and try to follow me off the bed, but this time you patiently waited and snuggled up with me when i climbed back in bed.
you played outside with Dada in the garden while i was cooking last night. it was so cute. i came out to check on yall and Dad had given you your own little tomato plant to plant. when you saw me you got really excited and started rambling off what you were doing. at least that is what i think you were talking about. then you guys came inside and washed your hands for dinner.
i just love summer time with you. the days are longer; you get to do fun things with your grandmothers during the day. you've already been to the zoo, and the pool, and of course the beach.
you surprise me all the time with new words, or answering a question i've asked. you will say "whats dat?"or "what?" you know exactly what you want, and you will let whoever know. you say the cutest "no" when you don't want to do something. and last week you said Christine's name, instead of just 'Tine.
you love shoes. any and all shoes. you will come to me with two different pairs and then sit down and go back and forth over which pair you are going to wear.
you laugh during tv shows and movies. you're interacting with shows. you sing and dance and twirl. you love the song twinkle, twinkle and happy birthday. anytime you see birthday related stuff (cards, cake) you say happy. it is one of the cutest things you do.
you are the best sunggler and sleep so well snuggled between Dad and me.
you are obsessed with James and Christine is obsessed with you.
Dada and I are thinking about taking you to a movie in the next couple months.
to think at one time, i panicked over whether I'd be able to prepare dinner without interruption, or do any of my chores without needing to hold you too seems like its becoming a distant memory.
watching you grow this past year has been the most rewarding challenge of my entire life. it has been the best year of my life so far. you are an amazing little human. you are one-of-a-kind for sure.
i love with you my whole heart that it hurts. thinking about you makes me want to be the absolute best Momma in the world.
i miss my baby so much, but i am so excited to watch you grow up. one of the most amazing things is getting to watch you experience all this, and i'm so happy i get to be right there next to you helping you along the way.
Dada better watch out because we might need to add to our little family soon!!
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
ear tubies
Mamie, i'm so behind in writing to you!! i'm so sorry, life is moving so fast and it's sometimes hard to keep up with what we/you are doing....
a couple months back (March 17th to be exact) we scheduled you to have tubes put in your ears. not a huge deal, but still kind of scary for me, as a first time Mom. it was a quick and simple operation. you were gone from my arms less than 10 minutes. it's made the biggest difference in all aspects of our life (mostly yours).
you had three back-to-back ear infections. you hated the antibiotics. i was literally having to strait jacket you, then wrangling you down all the while trying to squeeze a syringe of yucky medicine into your mouth, and hope that you swallowed more than you spit out. it was difficult, and i was afraid that you were going to choke on the meds.
it wasn't fun for either of us. the pain from the ear infection made you fussy, irritable, affected your appetite, sleeping; caused you to get high fevers. so when we took you to the Doctor's and were told you were on your third infection, we discussed having the tubes put in...and i wish i had done it sooner! your personality did a full 180. you were happy again and not fussy. you enjoyed dinner time. i wasn't terrified of getting water in your ear and it turning into an infection. you would fall right to sleep at night; overall just a happy baby :)
a couple months back (March 17th to be exact) we scheduled you to have tubes put in your ears. not a huge deal, but still kind of scary for me, as a first time Mom. it was a quick and simple operation. you were gone from my arms less than 10 minutes. it's made the biggest difference in all aspects of our life (mostly yours).
you had three back-to-back ear infections. you hated the antibiotics. i was literally having to strait jacket you, then wrangling you down all the while trying to squeeze a syringe of yucky medicine into your mouth, and hope that you swallowed more than you spit out. it was difficult, and i was afraid that you were going to choke on the meds.
it wasn't fun for either of us. the pain from the ear infection made you fussy, irritable, affected your appetite, sleeping; caused you to get high fevers. so when we took you to the Doctor's and were told you were on your third infection, we discussed having the tubes put in...and i wish i had done it sooner! your personality did a full 180. you were happy again and not fussy. you enjoyed dinner time. i wasn't terrified of getting water in your ear and it turning into an infection. you would fall right to sleep at night; overall just a happy baby :)
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
liquid gold: crying over [un-spilt] milk?
So a couple weeks ago it was "World Breastfeeding Week", and that's when i had planned to write this post, but of course, life got in the way.
Here I go: We are officially done with nursing...and I cannot believe I [we] made it that long! It was a looong 17 months. There were so many times that I went back and forth on when to quit and essentially it happened pretty naturally. There were a quite a few tears and a night or two that you woke up crying for it, but I knew it was time. I could tell i was turning into a pacifier for you. And to be honest, we probably could have stopped way sooner, but you were sucking the calories out of me and I liked being skinny.
Will i nurse my next baby? You betcha!! I miss it, and I cannot wait until i get to experience that oxytocin rush associated with nursing. Plus like I said before, eating whatever i want and having the excess calories go towards milk production, is a win/win if you ask me. Although I doubt next baby gets the luxury nursing sessions you received (I'm talking about how you somehow managed to wiggle your way into our bed). Dada is going to have to buy you a TemperPedic mattress to get you to sleep in your own bed! lol, jokes on him ;)
So, where do i start...
From day one i planned to breastfeed. i read every article about it on the Internet and watch tons of YouTube videos of moms nursing their babies. To say I did my research is an understatement. I knew the minute you were born we needed to do skin-to-skin and try to get you to latch and start nursing asap. we did it, you immediately latched and you were a champ at nursing.
Breastfeeding has so many health benefits for babies and moms, but I'm not going to get into any of that...
I've probably written about most of my memories nursing you, but here are some of the times that stood out the most to me:
i thought i had the flu the second week of your life. Dada literally took care of you that first week, so once i was feeling better the second week Dada took a much-deserved day off and went fishing. later that afternoon i started having chills and an all-over not feeling very well. i took my temperature and it was around 101 F. i started panicking, insisting i had the flu. called the pediatrician to see if i needed to quarantine myself (oh wait the baby still needs to eat!!!). i was so upset and crying. i had Joanie buy me a face mask so i could still feed you. i googled what to do, because of course i needed a second opinion regarding what the Pediatrician told me...it's best to nurse through the sickness. Essentially a person has the virus in their system before symptoms show, so by the time you realize you have a cold the baby has already received antibodies from the breast milk to keep them well. liquid gold right there if you ask me. plus, i read that it's very hard for a newborn to catch a cold because their bodies have so many antibodies that are built up in the womb. but that;s beyond the point.
pumping at work. it sounded like an oil rig. I would lock myself into a small office with bright pink computer paper taped to the glass window and crank up the machine. i hated having to ask my employer if i could go pump and I'm sure they were happy to take the hot pink paper down and turn the lactation room back into an office. plus the breast milk in the fridge; it had to gross someone out.
you wanted to nurse ALL. THE. TIME. and i hated being tied down. or having to excuse myself at family functions to go feed the baby.
Dada started calling me the Milk Maid. He walked into the bedroom one time when you were about 14 months old and said, "she looks way to big to still be nursing." But he and I both knew that we were giving you the best of the best!
You didn't cut a tooth until around 9, maybe 10ish months, so I'm pretty sure that had a lot to do with how long we nursed. People would ask if you would bite me, and you never really did. When you cut your top teeth you would bite every now and then, but you were also at an age to understand that if you bit me, no more boob. so I think that if you were younger when you started cutting teeth it might have been a different story.
I'm sure there are so many more stories that i could write about nursing and such, but I've had this post in draft-form since the beginning of this blog, so I'm going to wrap it up and call it done!
Now, to start thinking about getting you out of our bed! Just kidding...i love snuggling with you :)
xoxo,
Mommy
Here I go: We are officially done with nursing...and I cannot believe I [we] made it that long! It was a looong 17 months. There were so many times that I went back and forth on when to quit and essentially it happened pretty naturally. There were a quite a few tears and a night or two that you woke up crying for it, but I knew it was time. I could tell i was turning into a pacifier for you. And to be honest, we probably could have stopped way sooner, but you were sucking the calories out of me and I liked being skinny.
Will i nurse my next baby? You betcha!! I miss it, and I cannot wait until i get to experience that oxytocin rush associated with nursing. Plus like I said before, eating whatever i want and having the excess calories go towards milk production, is a win/win if you ask me. Although I doubt next baby gets the luxury nursing sessions you received (I'm talking about how you somehow managed to wiggle your way into our bed). Dada is going to have to buy you a TemperPedic mattress to get you to sleep in your own bed! lol, jokes on him ;)
So, where do i start...
From day one i planned to breastfeed. i read every article about it on the Internet and watch tons of YouTube videos of moms nursing their babies. To say I did my research is an understatement. I knew the minute you were born we needed to do skin-to-skin and try to get you to latch and start nursing asap. we did it, you immediately latched and you were a champ at nursing.
Breastfeeding has so many health benefits for babies and moms, but I'm not going to get into any of that...
I've probably written about most of my memories nursing you, but here are some of the times that stood out the most to me:
i thought i had the flu the second week of your life. Dada literally took care of you that first week, so once i was feeling better the second week Dada took a much-deserved day off and went fishing. later that afternoon i started having chills and an all-over not feeling very well. i took my temperature and it was around 101 F. i started panicking, insisting i had the flu. called the pediatrician to see if i needed to quarantine myself (oh wait the baby still needs to eat!!!). i was so upset and crying. i had Joanie buy me a face mask so i could still feed you. i googled what to do, because of course i needed a second opinion regarding what the Pediatrician told me...it's best to nurse through the sickness. Essentially a person has the virus in their system before symptoms show, so by the time you realize you have a cold the baby has already received antibodies from the breast milk to keep them well. liquid gold right there if you ask me. plus, i read that it's very hard for a newborn to catch a cold because their bodies have so many antibodies that are built up in the womb. but that;s beyond the point.
pumping at work. it sounded like an oil rig. I would lock myself into a small office with bright pink computer paper taped to the glass window and crank up the machine. i hated having to ask my employer if i could go pump and I'm sure they were happy to take the hot pink paper down and turn the lactation room back into an office. plus the breast milk in the fridge; it had to gross someone out.
you wanted to nurse ALL. THE. TIME. and i hated being tied down. or having to excuse myself at family functions to go feed the baby.
Dada started calling me the Milk Maid. He walked into the bedroom one time when you were about 14 months old and said, "she looks way to big to still be nursing." But he and I both knew that we were giving you the best of the best!
You didn't cut a tooth until around 9, maybe 10ish months, so I'm pretty sure that had a lot to do with how long we nursed. People would ask if you would bite me, and you never really did. When you cut your top teeth you would bite every now and then, but you were also at an age to understand that if you bit me, no more boob. so I think that if you were younger when you started cutting teeth it might have been a different story.
I'm sure there are so many more stories that i could write about nursing and such, but I've had this post in draft-form since the beginning of this blog, so I'm going to wrap it up and call it done!
Now, to start thinking about getting you out of our bed! Just kidding...i love snuggling with you :)
xoxo,
Mommy
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
tantrums...are we there yet?
i don't know if we are at the "tantrum stage" yet, but you are certainly throwing hissy-fits when you don't get your way. it's pretty comical, and most of the time its due to me not wanting to hold you, or holding you and putting you down. you do this body contort thing where you monkey-hold and then won't put your feet down on the ground. i end up slowly laying your whole body down on the ground and you lay there whining.
anyways...i want to remember all of this; the highs & lows, ups & downs.
[excerpt from my iPhone notes] i'm snuggling with you right now. it's late, but Dada and i have the day off tomorrow. i'm pretty sure you threw your first temper tantrum during bath time tonight. maybe not by definition, but you definitely threw some sass at me.while i was giving you a bath you threw the washcloth out of the tub a couple times. it was saturated with water and i kept telling you "no no", however you continued to do it. on the third time i took the washcloth away. you then picked up the bath cup, filled with water and preceded to toss it out, over the side of the tub, water went everywhere! i did not yell, i quickly pulled you out of the tub, told you "NO NO!" while i showed you the mess and took you to your room to get dressed for night-night. i think you understood what you did wrong, because when we went back to drain the tub you kept saying "no no no".
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
crib story
i got super frustrated with repeatedly laying you back down to go to sleep one evening; saying "time for bed", "close your eyes" "it's night-night time" so I put you in your crib. it took you less than 5 minutes to figure out how to get enough leverage to hoist your upper body onto the side rail, enough to get the tip of your big toe hooked on the edge (i was watching through the cracked door) and i pretty much ran in as you laid across the rail lengthwise with your body straddling to hold on. i brought you back into my bed; held you tightly as your breathing slowed (your tiny heart was pounding in your chest) and you fell asleep. that's how much you hate the crib, and I don't blame you one bit.
lately...
These are some of the things i have jotted (or typed) in my iPhone's notes the past couple weeks. i figured i better go ahead and post them here sooner rather than later!!
you are giving the best kisses right now. you've transitioned from an open mouth slobbery kiss to tiny puckered lips that make a pop at the end. you will come up to my leg or while i'm holding you, on my arm and give me the sweetest little smooch. you also are starting to realize how much I love these kisses, and you are using them to your advantage. tonight (i "noted" this a week or so ago) as I laid with you putting you to bed, you sat up, grabbed my face with two hands, each tenderly holding a cheek and you have me a big "muah " on the lips. then you turned my face to the side and planted one right on my cheek. My heart literally melted and then grew so big it burst. after giving you a bunch of kisses back, you buried your face...OK I have to stop really quick...
right now you are giving my leg kisses and waving and telling me "bye". i know you don't literally mean "walk out of this room" bye, you clearly just don't want to go to sleep.
...Continued from above:
you buried your face in the crook of my neck and kept giving me tiny tickley smooches that made me laugh to the point of crying tears, which only made you belly laugh. i love hearing you laugh like that!! i'm the only one who can make you do it; the super giggly belly laugh where you know you've been amusing or something is really funny to you.
i really don't know how to do any of this [raising a child]; it's all trial and error. i'm terrified i might screw you up. i pray that as long as you know i love you and would do anything for you to feel safe and be happy and stay healthy that you will turn out fine.
Lately you have been saying these words:
Mama - holds monitor and repeatedly says "Mama"
Mommy
--- Sometimes you call me Maggie, i hate when you do it, but Dad thinks its hilarious and perpetuates it, so I've started calling him T (which you say from time to time ;)
Mommy
--- Sometimes you call me Maggie, i hate when you do it, but Dad thinks its hilarious and perpetuates it, so I've started calling him T (which you say from time to time ;)
Dada
Bye
Woof
Bow
Chief
Tries to say Dooley
Ma for Noma (you call her MoMa)
Moo
Baa
Milo - but more like Me-low
You just started saying "Yeah" when you are answering yes, i now correct you and say Yes Ma'am or Yes Sir
You call Christine, "Tine"
You pretty much say anything we ask you to; it's just in your own language.
We politely ask you to quit speaking Chinese when you get on your babble rants.
You babble all the time! its so cute, and i know you are talking to us and you know exactly what you are saying. You will stop and wait for us to respond too.
You just started saying "Yeah" when you are answering yes, i now correct you and say Yes Ma'am or Yes Sir
You call Christine, "Tine"
You pretty much say anything we ask you to; it's just in your own language.
We politely ask you to quit speaking Chinese when you get on your babble rants.
You babble all the time! its so cute, and i know you are talking to us and you know exactly what you are saying. You will stop and wait for us to respond too.
I'm sorry for losing my patience (lately it's been too often and I feel like a bad mommy)
This morning I stopped my foot at you to come to me. I had asked you a couple times and then I let my frustration take over and I yelled "come here!" And stomped my foot.
You will hold things behind your back (like it can't be seen there) trying to be sneaky.
we were outside and i was doing the laundry and i looked over and saw a lizard.I called you over and pointed for you to look at the lizard. you couldn't figure out where i was pointing. when you finally noticed the lizard right next to you, you got this biggest surprise look on your face (your eyes grew so big) and you you slowly backed up and looked very unsure.
Joanie said you did the same thing when she showed you a lizard. it's funny and cute, but i can only imagine what you are thinking.
Joanie said you did the same thing when she showed you a lizard. it's funny and cute, but i can only imagine what you are thinking.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
easter weekend | 2016
this past Easter weekend was full of fun and celebrating with both family & friends. i'm just now realizing how much fun having a child during the holidays really is! last year you were around 2-3 months old, you mostly slept and ate; this year i chased you all over the place!!
our weekend started out with dinner at the yacht club with the Rosenblooms. we put you and Christine's highchairs next to each other, and i've never seen you eat so much in your entire life! by the time dinner ended i was scared to give you anymore food in fear you'd puke when we got home. i might have mentioned before, but C is a good eater and i think it's good for you to eat with her because it motives you. i'm beginning to think you might be a binge eater (j/k, kinda)...you will gorge yourself one day and then go a couple days eating like a bird. sometimes i wonder how you stay alive. but you could also be filling yourself up on da liquid gold every night ;) we really need to nix this habit. Dadda said you look too big to still be nursing; i attribute your fixation to how a crackhead loves cocaine...the addiction is real. lol. we will work on it.
Saturday afternoon we went over to the Bromberg's house for an egg hunt. Christy's house is impeccably decorated, but not very child-appropriate. she had bowls beyond bowls everywhere you turned filled with jellybeans, m&ms, malted eggs. i would be 20 lbs heavier if i lived at her house. Every time i saw James, his hand was dipping into a bowl of candy :) and you, little missy, got your hands on a malted egg and was able to nibble a bite off the top before i pried it from our hands. it was a tiny bite, so i left you enjoy the wonderfulness that is the malted candy egg.
my favorite part of the day was seeing all your little friends dressed up in their Easter outfits (of course, saving the best for the following day :)) little man and robin were in town with baby zoë. shes about 3 months older than you and C. and then there's Ann Fleming, who's about 5 months older. i cannot wait to watch all you of grow up together!!
that night we went to Joanie's. aunt meme put pictures of Facebook so you can check that out there :) and of course Joanie got you a bunch of nonsense toys, but nevertheless you enjoyed them.
i forgot to put your Easter basket out Sunday morning...#momfail. and even bigger #momfail if you read this before you know #imtheEasterBunny. but at least you little. i ended up giving you your toys that evening after bath time. plus you liked the flip-flops Joanie game you most of all. Dadda and i got you new white summer sandals, a big pool/beach towel; a big girl cup with matching plastic straw; some socks with bunnies on them; and plastic animals toys.
on Sunday I talked Dadda into going to church with Joanie and me. we put you in the nursery, which is your classroom for Playschool. we celebrated Jesus's life and sacrifice; which i realize will probably be hard to explain in the coming years. James didn't really get it this year; he is 3.5. but one day :) afterward Dadda and i took you to Gommy's house for a big family Easter lunch. as always it was delicious. everyone there fawned over your dress. which i do have to say was beautiful (thank you Joanie :)) you didn't nap the whole day and fell asleep that night at 6;30 pm. Dadda went to Uncle Lock's to play video games and I got to be lazy on the couch. it was close to a perfect weekend celebrating all that Jesus did for us here on earth.
love you baby girl!! I cannot wait to spend all the holidays with you. you make them so special. i love that i'm your very best friend and that you want to be with me always, preferably being held. i know one day i will miss all these "firsts" with you. you are the best thing that has ever happen to you Dadda and me!!!!
xoxo.
Mama
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)