2009

Wow, another year is behind us, can you believe it? And what a year it was. I learned quite a few things this year...in no particular order.

-Emptying the diaper box is the source of endless joy to an 8 month old. Especially if I try to keep the diapers IN the box as she takes them out.

-My skin can stretch to the maximum and not explode! I really thought it might burst towards the end of my pregnancy with Kaelyn.

-Heartburn is an awful awful thing. Especially when you're pregnant and exhausted and it keeps you awake.

-Kaelyn loves to pound on anything and everything. But for some reason she only uses her thumb. I want to find out why that is in 2010!

-People can run on very little sleep. Though things may be fuzzy and you may not remember what all you did by the end of the day, it IS possible!

-Babies are the hardest job and the biggest joy. I can go from SO frustrated and frazzled to feeling SUCH huge amounts of love, it's amazing.

-There's nothing like watching the peaceful sleeping face of your baby. There's just nothing like it.

-I learned how to do numerous things one handed. Some of them even pretty well! Cooking, baking, cleaning, you name it and I've probably tried it. Anything safe, that is. I never let her help me with the oven or the grill or anything!

-How toys can go from organized in a basket to a complete toy explosion in 5 minutes flat. You should see the living room right now. Not only toys but bits of cut up pictures EVERYWHERE. I was working on cutting some pictures for Kaelyn's book and to distract her from the pictures I gave her the clippings. She enjoyed that a little too much.

-How heartbreaking it is to hear your baby cry and not know what to do to fix it.

-How fulfilling it is to hear your baby cry and be ABLE to fix it.

-I learned what unconditional love is. I always thought I knew but I don't think I ever really experienced it until now. Kaelyn can do a lot of things to make me want to scream, but there's nothing she could do to make me stop loving her.

-Wearing sleep pants for days on end is actually pretty comfortable. Even if I did start getting looks from the neighbors. And my husband!

-Motherhood can be really isolating. Sure, you're never really alone, but without someone to respond to you (other than babbles and yelling) you can feel really lonely.

-You can really get NOTHING done and feel like you've done TONS in a day. Take today, I had all sorts of projects I needed to get done. I wanted to get some mail items taken care of. I needed to do some baking. I would have liked to get those pictures in KAelyn's book. We had some errands to run. We did one errand and cut up some pictures for the book and that was that. We played and played and played. It's hard to say that we did much of anything, but I sure feel like it was a long day!

-Silly games are the best kind. Yesterday I made up a new game. Sort of. Kaelyn helped. I put a burp cloth on the couch. She rips it off and throws it to the floor, then looks at me all mischevious. "What did you do?!" I say in a silly voice and she just squeals. Repeat. For an hour. It was still fun later that evening, believe it or not. For her anyways. And anytime she squeals I'm happy too.

-I learned so much this year but the most important thing was I learned how to be a mom. I think that's something I'll be saying again in 2010 and the years to come. It's not something I'll ever STOP learning, but I feel like I'm a passable mom now. Kaelyn is surviving, maybe even thriving.

-I learned I can't wait to see the next stages in Kaelyn's life. She's standing and trying oh so hard to take steps when holding on to things. I've learned how amazing little lives are. The way they take everything in and observe and are so curious. I can't wait to play make believe with her. She's got quite an imagination, I can tell.

There is so much more to 2009. It's been the biggest life-changing year in my existence. I think anyone who has a child would agree. Getting married is huge but having a baby is HUGER. :) My life is no longer my own because I've dedicated it to Kaelyn. My husband can take care of himself if he has to. Someday Kaelyn will too. But for now, my life is in her hands to monopolize as she wishes! Someday it'll be returned to me and I know at that time I won't regret giving her what I am giving her now. In the year 2009, 2010, and beyond.

Christmas at the in-laws

We were supposed to have our third and final Christmas this past long weekend. It didn't happen as planned. We had been hearing about a big storm coming this way and we were planning to head to Sean's parents house on Christmas Eve, but to beat the storm we left a day early and made it there before the ice and snow began. Sean's parents live in a remote area and I remember stories about them losing power quite a bit when Sean was growing up. I was worried about that and how to cope with an 8 month old in such conditions. They have wood burning stoves so we wouldn't have been cold at least. But they had just put some new power lines up in the area so the power worked just fine the whole time we were there. Sean's brothers were supposed to come over too and the one that lives the closest made it but the other one that planned to come didn't. He lives 3 1/2 hours away and wasn't able to leave until after the storm began. At which time they closed down the interstates and highways leading to Sean's parents house so travel was impossible and treacherous.

As you can see from the picture, though, Kaelyn still had a good time. She's too little to understand presents just yet so she didn't notice them sitting under the tree nor did she care that we weren't opening them. She DID get to open one, though. Socks! Yeah! :) They went with her Christmas outfit and kept her toes toasty on Christmas Day.

Kaelyn's newest trick is to take off during diaper changes. I take the diaper off, she rolls over, sits up, and takes off. In this picture I at least had gotten the diaper back ON, but no buttons have been buttoned and no pants in place. I think it was a good 15 minutes before I was able to do the pants. She just has way too much to do. Normally empty the diaper box. One diaper at a time. They just go shooting over her shoulder one by one as she grins with glee. At least it's a harmless thing to do and doesn't make TOO much of a mess. Who would have thought, of all the toys I brought, she'd want to play with her diaper box! Tis the season to be a baby.

Kaelyn also MAJORLY worked on standing up over the Christmas at the in-laws. Or non-Christmas, as the case may be. She constantly pulled herself up on things, the table, the couch, the diaper box, my leg, my hand, my face...yes she used my nose and lip at one time, ouch! And then once standing, she'll sway back and forth, wobble around a bit, sometimes test things out and let go of whatever she's holding. So far her record is standing alone for 5 seconds with no assistance before dropping to her butt. I'm just glad for that diaper, her little butt bone would be broken by now! :) She's getting better and better and I'm afraid she'll be walking, no, running, in no time! She wants to practice standing continuously. I was just thinking the other day that on occasion, she'll play alone with things and I can read or open the mail unassisted. But now that she's always pulling herself up on things and falling over, the danger for head banging is always there so I have to put anything I want to do aside and make sure both of my hands are either on her or close and available in case I need to shield her from any edges, floors, corners, toys, or anything else that gets in the way as she goes down!

The snow at Sean's parents house was very pretty. They have some huge pine and evergreen trees that were weighed down with all of the snow and very festive. However, the guys that had to dig THROUGH the snow, were NOT very pretty. This is actually Sean. And believe it or not, Kaelyn wasn't afraid of him like that! Though she didn't grin at him either. Sean's parents has a 12 foot drift at the end of their drive. The wind was blowing JUST the right way. Or wrong way as the case may be. They pulled Sean's brother's truck up to the drift and shoveled snow into the back of it and moved it elsewhere. It took three guys three hours to make any headway. And two of the three guys put in more like ten hours to dig a hole big enough to get a car through. Their main goal was to get a car out so they could go buy a HUGE snowblower to finish the job, which they did. Though when Sean and I left, it was still like driving through a tunnel of snow. The snow was completely surrounding the car on both sides, up much taller than the car. I've never seen or driven through a drift like that and dreaded getting home to see our own driveway! For Sean's sake, of course, because I knew I'd be inside playing with Kaelyn. And I certainly didn't mind that over the alternative!

We spent the 5 days at Sean's parents house playing pool, cards, watching Christmas movies (I think we watched about every one ever made!) and eating, of course. Kaelyn's appetite for real food seems to have increased. Right after we got home she actually ate a WHOLE container of carrots in one sitting, I couldn't believe it! Her record before was one container in a day, but spread out over three meals. She just kept opening her mouth and I kept shoveling it in! She never did push my hand away like she does when she's getting full. Not even once!

Our last evening of the visit, Kaelyn was giving me major trouble when I was trying to put her pjs on. She was completely naked and just took off and wouldn't stay put no matter how many times I laid her back down and attempted to diaper her. Sean finally came to see what was going on and ended up just taking her back out to the family room as a nude-y baby. We played our last few hands of cards with her alternating between Sean and I and the table. I only hoped she didn't tinkle on the table. Or me, actually. Sean? That would have been okay! :) hehe

So since we didn't get to celebrate Christmas this time around, the plans have all been re-arranged for next weekend. Sean's brothers and parents will gather on New Year's eve and day to open presents and have the big meal etc. The full extended family gathering will be over the weekend. All of the uncles and aunts and cousins etc. It always seems like chaos to me. We're talking about like 40 people here! They're a tight, close family and it's wonderful. I only have 2 uncles and 5 cousins and they're never all in the same room so I'm used to smaller gatherings. Hopefully Kaelyn will enjoy the commotion, I guess we'll find out!

As for sleeping, that hasn't gotten any better. We were only home one night between my parents and Sean's parents and she did GREAT that night, only getting up once at 3am to eat and going right back to sleep. But at Sean's parents she started crying for long periods of time again and I didn't want to make her scream too long at someone else's house so I gave in and went back to the old ways. So she went back to her old ways. Getting up at 10:30 or 11, then again at 1, 3, 5, and 6. It's like clockwork. We're back home and I'm anxious to see how tonight goes. She's been a happy little screamer ever since we got home and she took a nice long hour nap (that's long for her!) so we shall see. If things don't go well we'll have to regroup after our NEXT Christmas/new year's celebration and go from there. There's probably no use messing with it much now since we'll only be home a few days and then off again for a couple of more days away. I'd probably just get it worked out only to mess it up again by being in someone else's house again. I hope she works it out herself because I just HATE hearing her cry. But I also hate getting up 4-5 times a night when I know she doesn't need to eat more than MAYBE once.

It's good to be home. I'm looking forward to our nice big king mattress. Even if it is on the floor (we ordered a new bed but it's not here yet). Both of our parents have full sized mattresses so I feel like a sardine sleeping. I'm not a cuddly sleeper, I like my space, and in those small beds, Sean has nowhere to go but my face, it seems. As in, he's always in my face! I don't like being breathed on. I sound crabby about sleep, don't I! :)

One good thing about the non-Christmas is that now we have another Christmas to look forward to. Next Christmas isn't 11+ months away, it's less than a week away!!

Christmas at my parents

We traveled to my parents house for a long weekend to celebrate Christmas with them and my sister, her husband, and two kids Nicole and Tyler. We gathered on Friday night for a fish fry (I ate ham!) and as soon as my niece Nicole arrived she started in. " When can we open the stockings, Nana?" she asked. "As soon as everyone is available." Nana replied. 5 minutes later Nicole announces, "Everyone's available!" However, everyone was not even yet THERE so we had to put off the stocking opening for a little while longer. Kaelyn enjoyed her first stocking, tough I must admit, Nicole and Tyler did most of the opening FOR her. She got a way cool snowman straw which she promptly stuck her finger into. A little baby doll, a snow globe, a few other cool things.


The next day we got up, some of us were able to get ready, and opened presents. Kaelyn liked pounding on the boxes after the wrapping paper was taken off. She enjoyed a toy or two here and there as well, but the box pounding seemed to give her the most pleasure. Since we got home she's been playing with her new "camera" quite a bit. She also got a new Elmo book and a way cool puzzle that makes sounds. All from Aunt Heather and Uncle Paul. The puzzle is neat, she'll take a piece out and turn it over and over in her hands. Then toss it aside and grab another piece. I guess it's fun for me to put it back together. I think I've gotten the hand of it by now and know where all the pieces go! :) As you can see from the picture, the wiffle ball is still in play. It has to be close at all times! :)



Kaelyn also got a crawling baby doll. This doll crawls, coos, babbles, farts (why is has to fart, I don't know, but it IS kind of funny!) My mom said the baby has been cooing and farting under the tree for a month now. And I now understand why. Any time you make a small noise, turn on a light, enter the room, that doll goes off! Cooing, crawling, farting, legs in the air, legs on the ground, on her side, it doesn't matter. She just goes and goes! We did put new batteries in her so I guess it's our own fault. Kaelyn just looks at her and grins and grins. Or ignores her completely, depending on her mood.

Kaelyn also got her very own rocking horse, painted white with blue accents by her Nana. A bag with her name embroidered on it that we'll probably take to the library and places like that. A car toy that plays music and speaks in Spanish AND English (she's starting her bilingualism early...not sure that's a word, but whatever). And assorted clothes among other things.

Christmas was a success because we were stuffed silly the whole time we were there. Turkey, ham, the works. And then leftovers galore. My mom kept offering to make something new but the original meal was so good we just kept eating the leftovers! Whatever works, huh!

I always thought Christmas with a child would be more fun. I think someday it will be. To see the look of joy in their eyes, to see them rip through the presents, the anticipation. This year, however, it was just a lot more work! We had to work around nap times. I had to enjoy family while trying to please a tired cranky baby. I had to care for that tired cranky baby in someone else's home. They have a GREAT set up there, but still, I couldn't take ALL of our stuff with us! Just most of it! I left the kitchen sink at home. But then again I had a lot of help so it's not like I was alone. Maybe I just feel that way because of the sleeping issue, which you'll read about in the previous post.

I have to mention that Kaelyn took a particular strange attitude towards my brother-in-law Paul. He's the sweetest, gentlest guy. He loves kids, has two, and is great with them. She would look and look at Paul, her face VERY serious and somber. No matter what he would do, play peek-a-bo, ignore her completely, make funny faces, etc. After a few minutes of VERY serious expressions she would BURST out in tears, just screaming her little head off! She used to have that reaction to her Gramps but she has since gotten used to him. Perhaps with a little time Uncle Paul will be more fun for her. But for now it was somewhat funny for the rest of us to see her react to him like that! Though maybe not so much for him!!

Another highlight of the CHristmas celebration was trips to Chick-Fil-A. There is no Chick-Fil-A close to where we live so we have to go visit my parents to eat it. I worked there all through high school and part of college and I became a bit addicted. Most of the time when people work at a fast food place they will NEVER eat there again. But in my case, I can't get enough of it! On our last day visiting we went to the mall and had Chick-Fil-A (visit three of our stay there) and after eating I was standing there with Kaelyn and she got real cuddly and just laid her head on my chest. SHe's the type of kid that likes to go go go so she doesn't cuddle down that often. After a few minutes I looked down and she was asleep. She'd been napping around 9 and then 2 and it was only noon. Just a little power nap, I guess. But it was a great reminder to me of how precious of a gift she is and how sweet she is, no matter what issues we may have here and there with crankiness, tiredness, sleeping at night. She's a gift and at Christmas time there is no greater gift I could ask for.

Two Christmases down, one to go...however, with ice and snow on the way, who knows when that Christmas may end up being celebrated!!

Sleep Training

Kaelyn is almost 8 months old. She will officially turn 8 months on Decembrer 24th, Christmas Eve. Around 3 months of age she started sleeping great, getting up only once a night to eat and going right back to sleep. But around 4 months of age, she started getting up ALL the time again. We're talking 4-5 times a night. I would only let her eat twice, the other times I would just rock her or calm her and get her back to sleep.

Every night I kept telling myself, she'll sleep through the night soon, I can get through this, it won't last forever. All of which I am still sure is true, but I was getting more and more unsure of the idea that I could continue to do this with no particular end in sight.

I sought advice. Friends, relatives, strangers in the store. Everyone had a theory. She's teething (probably true, but would teeth get her up at the SAME times every night, every 1-2 hours?) She's got a belly ache (maybe sometimes, but again, EVERY night?) And on and on the theories went.

Sean and I went to Des Moines to celebrate Christmas with my family the week before Christmas. The first night Kaelyn did great and only got up twice. Each night after that was increasingly worse. A few nights before we went home she was up SEVEN times BEFORE 1am. And every hour and a half to two hours after 1am. The next day I was SO frustrated and SO tired. I wasn't being a good mom. I was crabby and tired and overwhelmed and burned out. What am I going to do, I thought, when we get home and have nights like this and there's no one there all day to help me or distract me? I HAVE to do something.

Everyone says it's okay to let babies cry. That just breaks me HEART. One little whimper from Kaelyn and I want to fix it. But I felt like her getting up was starting to be more of a habit than a necessity. I put her in bed at 8:30, she gets up at 10. And 11:30. And 1. And 2. And 4. And 5:30. There was a definite pattern. And I could never just pat her back to sleep. Sometimes Sean could get away with that but when I try she just pushes my hand away and screams louder. Her crying ALWAYS kills me but I was starting to not mind it more and more because there's just nothing more I can do for her. And I knew I could NOT keep this pace up all night and also be a good mom all day. It was time.

But I wasn't willing to just leave her in a room and let her throw a fit until she wore herself out. Maybe it's fine to do that but I worry that she would feel abandoned and stop trusting me. So my husband and I worked out a compromise. We'd let her cry for a few minutes and then he'd go pat her until she calmed down. No picking her up. No relenting.

Last night was pretty horrible. I put her in bed at 8:30. She started screaming at 10. She screamed on and off until midnight. At 10:05 Sean started patting her and comforting her. She screamed louder. And then she calmed down, took a deep breath, and screamed some more. It was so awful to hear her sniffling and sobbing when I KNEW what she wanted. She just wanted to be picked up and cuddled and rocked. But I knew she would want it again in another hour and she's just GOT to learn how to sleep on her own, I just can't DO this anymore.

After 2 hours of sniffling and grunting and screaming and protesting she finally went back to sleep and didn't get up again until 4am. I let her eat then and she went right back to sleep and didn't get up again until 6:15. She's been happy and smiley all morning long. I dread another night of screaming, but we made it through 2 hours and with any luck she'll be a fast learner. I'm not abandoning her, I'm still RIGHT here for her every need. But now what she needs is to learn that she's okay without me. She CAN sooth herself. She CAN sleep alone. She CAN survive a night without constant cuddles and rocks. As hard as it is, I know it would be harder if we waited longer and I don't know what else to try. Stay tuned for details, I sure hope to report soon that she sleeps alone happily all night long. Until then, I still won't!!

Christmas at home

Today was icy and cold...but we made it out anyways! We desperately wanted to get out after being cooped up for 4 days last week and we had a playdate all arranged with my friend Andrea who has a son, Logan, who is just over a year older than Kaelyn. We braved the weather and made it and had a great time. The two kids even appeared to play together for awhile instead of just co-existing! And Andrea and I got to chat which makes the time go SO much faster. It was a great day.

Speaking of great days, Sean and I (and Kaelyn) had our Christmas at home this weekend. We're heading to my parents house to celebrate with them and my sister and her husband and kids the weekend before Christmas. And we're going to Sean's parents house the weekend of Christmas. Two weekends before Christmas was free so we thought we better open our own gifts and have some time to ourselves for the first Christmas.

Sean took lots of pictures of Kaelyn in the middle of presents and by the tree etc. We took some video too. Cameras often seem to distract Kaelyn. You get the video camera out and she stops doing what she was doing that was SO cute and just stares at you.

I thought Kaelyn would just love the tissue paper and boxes involved in unwrapping presents but she didn't really seem to care too terribly much. She did really like her gifts, though. Sean gave her a dog that you pet and it starts barking and raises his paw. The box says its name is Coco, but I have dubbed him Caramel. Kaelyn can rename him (or her) when she's old enough if she wants. Coco is the name of my cat growing up and I just couldn't name a dog the same way! When Kaelyn opened Caramel the dog she stuck her tongue out and grinned. They have since become friends. I think she's teaching him how to sit. Or maybe he's teaching her how to crawl, I'm not sure.

As cool as all her toys are, I think Kaelyn's favorite gift in the whole wide world are the package of whiffle balls her daddy brought her. These balls have HOLES in them! Lots and lots of HOLES! As you may remember from the earlier post about hand-eye coordination, Kaelyn LOVES putting her fingers in things. Most kids put everything in their mouths, Kaelyn doesn't. Instead she puts her finger in everything. Don't worry I have all the light sockets covered! Since the gift of the whiffle balls she has not been without one for long. I find the come in especially handy during diaper changes. Since Kaelyn started crawling it seems as soon as I take her diaper off she rolls over and takes off. Well, now I give her one of these holey balls and she is too busy sticking as many fingers in them as possible to think about going anywhere so I can change her diaper in peace!

We also gave her a ABC apple toy. It's really for 3 years and older, but it has lots of pretty lights and music so Kaelyn has been enjoying it plenty. It helps kids learn the alphabet, learn about animals, that sort of thing. She pretty much just bangs on it and watches the lights but someday it will help her to become very smart. The other toy from both Sean and I was a farm animal contraption of some sort. It has a bunch of animals on it and a little keyboard and some lights. It sings and lights up and you can move the little animals back and forth. It tells you what the animals are and what noises they make. The cow and pig actually sound quite rude and are much more funny than they are realistic. I think Sean and I have had more fun with that toy than Kaelyn has so far, but she's liked it a little too! :)

I got Kaelyn a ride and push toy. She can scoot around on it or it can be converted into a toy she can push. We tried to help her push it around and she just kind of slumped over. Not quite ready for that yet! But she loves the riding part! She can't scoot it herself just yet but she loves being pushed back and forth on it. Again, she sticks her tongue out and just grins and grins.

A friend of mine originally from South Dakota, now hailing from Tennessee recently drove through and brought this teddy bear. It had some REALLY good-smelling lotion and body soap attached. Once I took that part off Kaelyn has enjoyed bumping foreheads with the bear. I get it out and show it to her and she just leans right over to rub foreheads with the bear. Sean thinks he taught that to her. She does it with lots of various toys on occasion. It's pretty cute. Her way of shaking hands, maybe?

Overall our Christmas at home was a great success. Kaelyn had a great time playing with her new toys and reveled in all of the attention. We pretty much played with her ALL day. However, after an hour or two she was back to playing with her old favorites, the car horn thing that beeps and beeps as she beats on it, the pink diaper pin that she puts her finger in, the jello box, those sorts of things! Oh well, at least we have new toys for Sean and I to play with when we get bored of all her old ones!

Working Girl

I work in radio so you can understand the importance of quiet in the background. Usually my mom will come watch Kaelyn so I can work here and there but this past week there was a large snow storm. There are still 14 inches stacked on our deck. In fact, a train even derailed blocking the entrance to our neighborhood! Don't worry, there's another way out. It's a far way around on dirt and gravel roads (all covered with snow) but there IS a way out. However, I sent my 4 wheel drive car with my husband so he could get around and that REALLY stranded me and Kaelyn. Which was okay because who wants to take a baby out in a snow storm!

Anyways, since my mom was unable to make it, Kaelyn and I decided to attempt work on our own on Friday. We ventured out Thursday, finally, our first outing since church Sunday, really. Since we survived the errand run Thursday we drove all the way to west Omaha Friday to work. I wasn't really sure how it was going to work out. I took Kaelyn's umbrella stroller because sometimes at home when I do laundry or whatever I'll put her in that so she can play and I can drag her around. I put a bunch of toys in the basket beneath and off we went. I also took the tummy pack just in case.

When we arrived at work I decided to take the elevator to the second floor instead of my normal stair route due to all of the gear we had packed! We ran into a co-worker of mine and she rode up with us. She just barely LOOKED at Kaelyn and Kaelyn started screaming. I was like oh no, this is NOT going to go well! But in her defense, we were in a new place, Kaelyn had JUST woken up from a nice car ride, she wasn't sure what was going on.

When I got into the studio I set Kaelyn up in the umbrella stroller and she was rather scared. She sat there and didn't MOVE for like 20 minutes. Which was good for me because I got a lot of work done! She just stared at me. I tried to talk to her and reassure her. She wasn't crying, just staring me down! After awhile she started showing interest in the toys I put on her little tray. And after she discovered those she started beating them on the wall. And throwing them to the ground for me to pick up. Nice of her. So I picked them up and she threw them and I picked them up and she threw them and so on. Believe it or not I was actually getting some work done in the meantime!

About halfway through what I REALLY needed to get done Kaelyn got restless and no longer liked the confines of the stroller. I thought maybe if I held her I could get a little farther. That worked...somewhat. Because she decided it was fun to try and grab the keyboard...the microphone...the pretty buttons on the board...whatever else was handy and NOT a good thing for a baby to touch when a mama is trying to work! Despite the added help I somehow managed to get done what I had to get done.

Then the fun part began and we walked around visiting with people and handing out Christmas cards. Kaelyn was more used to her surroundings by then and though she was still very cuddly with me, she was much more charming and happy. She helped me hand out the cards, though I must admit, she didn't really want to give them up once we got to the right person. She was having way too much fun flinging them around herself. Everyone had a good time seeing her and commented on her big blue eyes. I guess I'm used to them so I don't notice so much, but they are rather big and rather blue!

I don't think Kaelyn will come to work with me every time. IT was definitely more of a challenge than just the normal workload. But at least I know when the snow falls, it CAN be done. Despite the extra help I had on hand, the work did get done!

Changes

Kaelyn has hit the part in life where she is changing constantly. It seems like she has a new thing everyday.

Lately her expressions have been pretty funny. She'll stick her tongue out as far as it will go and curl it up over her top lip, as close to her nose as she can get it. It's an expression she gives when she thinks something is funny or is having a good time. Sometimes a little giggle will accompany it.

Shortly after Thanksgiving her two bottom teeth popped through. They're just nubs, but they're definitely teeth, you can feel them in there. Not that I recommend you stick your hand in her mouth, of course. :)

When we're playing she is in constant motion. She likes to sit on her knees and play. It's kind of a semi-standing position. She always just sat on her bottom before but now that she can get on her knees she does so frequently!

Last week Kaelyn was definitely getting around. She'd be sitting and then roll over onto all fours and then sit back up the other way so she could move across the room in that fashion. I don't think she really meant to go anywhere, she just was practicing going from all fours to sitting. But she DID go somewhere! This week she has continued to do that but she also can crawl a good distance as well. She started crawling a few weeks ago but only one or two shaky little "steps". Now if she really wants something, she'll go for it! It's still shaky but she's starting to figure out she's not limited to whatever area she's plopped. She can go wherever she pleases!

She takes advantage of this new mobility the most during diaper changes. Why is that? She'll stay still for the unveiling of the diaper but as soon as it's off she rolls over, gets up onto all fours, and takes off! I took a picture of that view the other day and emailed it out to some people just to get even with her. So far we haven't had too many tinkle incidents, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I usually just let her go and play for awhile because when I try to pull her back she yells at me. Who doesn't prefer their butt to be bare over having a diaper on, I guess!

Kaelyn also loves to stand now. I have to help her balance a bit but she's always lunging for the footstool, the couch, my knee, whatever is handy that she can grab and get herself up on. She also stands when playing with something short. She'll have the wipe box in front of her and she'll be banging on it and them all of the sudden her butt's in the air. Her hands are still on the wipe box but she's now standing up bent over the box. This is dangerous because it's only a matter of time before she gets off balance or the box tips and she face plants. Normally she doesn't even seem to mind those tumbles, but if another toy gets in the way and she catches that, watch out! I try my best to help her balance but if I look away for a second, that's ALWAYS when it happens, you know?! What do you do.

She's also started to enjoy eating at the table more. The last few days she's really been chowing down the baby food as fast as I can shovel it in. It's hard to eat myself when I'm feeding her because she just wants it so fast! I try to give her a bite, then take a bite myself. That doesn't always work when she's sitting there like a little birdie with her mouth open. More please, mama! We're also working on the sippy cup thing. She doesn't really drink from it, but she LOVES to chew on it and in the meantime water comes pouring out all over her face, bib, chin, clothes under the bib, etc. I had to completely change her after supper last night she was so wet from that game! But I figure it's good practice and she's probably getting a little water just from so much of it being in her mouth. Though most of it comes right back out. Hence the clothes change.

Today was Kaelyn's first day in a winter coat. I put her in a full body suit thing and she couldn't even move it was so puffy. She fell over from the sitting positions, her arms straight out from her sides, and just cried. It was really funny. That thing was SO big I couldn't get her in the carseat with it on so I switched to just a regular winter coat. It was still really puffy and she still couldn't move but she didn't complain so off we went on our first COLD winter outing of errand running, yippee.

Kaelyn still loves sticking her fingers in things. Mostly her pink diaper pin toy and any straw that slows down, but she's also taken to turning things over and over in her hands to inspect them. Like the little travel sized lotion bottle I got out the other day to keep handy. And her new thing this week is she just LOVES when toys attack her. We have this little turtle on wheels that plays songs and I would roll it across the floor last night and run it into her and she would just SQUEAL. We must have done that for a good 30 minutes before she got tired of it. I haven't gotten the turtle out today but other toys have attacked her with similar results.

For some reason, these last couple of weeks, Kaelyn's favorite books are Halloween books. We've had them since Halloween and she never really cared much but lately she's in love with them. She helps me turn the pages and just giggles and carefully looks over every character on the page. Sometimes she turns the pages too fast to look very closely, I must admit, but when she's under control she enjoys looking! One of the books is a lift the flap book and we got stuck on one page today for a good 15 minutes. Under the flap were three balloon jack-o-lanterns that said "one two three". Every time I would lift it and say "one two three" there was a giggle explosion from this kid! I have NO idea why that was funny but I kept doing it until she stopped giggling!

Naps have also become a changing thing. Kaelyn has been notorious for her 30 minute naps. She was taking them pretty regularly 3 times a day. Well, lately she's sometimes slept 30 minutes, sometimes an hour and a half! And one of the three naps a day is a real fight. She's not crabby with me, she just won't close her eyes. Or if she does, she's up like 5 minutes later ready to go again. I'm trying to switch her over to 2 naps a day but I haven't quite figured out the best way to do that just yet. Today she napped at 10 for 30 minutes and then not again until 4. That was a LONG time awake for her. But she was happy the whole time, so it worked for me!

I'm hoping with all of these changes another thing that will change is her stranger anxiety. A stranger being pretty much anyone but me. We spend SO much time together that anytime anyone else is holding her she's just LUNGING for me like she's going to DIE if I don't take her back. That's really hard because I don't want to take her from others but I don't want her to be scared or unhappy either. With these other changes, perhaps that will be shifting too?

I tell you, just when you think you have a kid figured out, they change on you. We had a good little pattern going and now I'm trying my hardest to figure out and establish a new one according to the cues she's giving me. Can't she just say, "hey mom, I only need 2 naps and I would like them at this time and that time." "Mama, I don't need to eat as often, so cut my schedule back to every 4 hours and amp up the REAL food, please." "I'm on the move now so get out of my way and quit trying to tie me down to a diaper!"

If babies could talk...what a wonderful world we would live in. I'm still in favor of them coming with some kind of manual or instruction book, but so far I haven't figured out how to get that passed through congress.

I imagine the changes in Kaelyn have just begun, but it's really fun to see them happening on a daily basis now. She's really becoming my little buddy. I enjoyed her before but interacting with her now and seeing her thrilled expression by our silly games really makes my day. Let's face it, it's the little things that matter in life and there's nothing smaller or larger than a baby's laugh.

Ollie the cat

Kids and pets can be an interesting thing to balance.

Shortly after my husband and I got married I got a hankering for a cat. I had pets all throughout my childhood and I was lonely for a kitty! I knew I didn't want a dog because my husband and I both worked full time and we didn't have the time to devote to a dog. Training it, letting it out, etc. Cats are more independent and don't usually really care if you're around or not most of the time.

My mom knew I wanted a cat but that I didn't want to ask Sean because he's kind of anti-pet. It's not that he has anything against animals he just prefers that they stay outside and keep their hair off of him. I always liked them in the house and on the couch! :) Anyways, being newly married, my mom asked Sean if she could get me a cat for Christmas and since she was his new mother-in-law, he couldn't say no, I guess! My parents and sister found a little tiny tom cat at the animal rescue shelter. In fact, he was so little they didn't want to adopt him out. They weren't sure he was going to make it. But my mom talked them into it. She'd had cats all her life and felt she could care for him. He was even bottle fed for awhile.

Ollie came to me in a small glass measuring cup at Christmas. He was just a little gray and white puff ball...SO adorable, as all kittens are. And SO small he fit in the palm of my hand. He was off the bottle and eating regular cat food by then. Even litter trained and all. The perfect pet! He grew happily and healthily, though. I would no longer call him anything NEAR tiny. In fact, he weighs 15 pounds and his belly sways a bit when he walks. It's not that he's overweight, he's just stocky! All he ever eats is dry cat food and he really doesn't eat much of that. He just lays around all day, though, so I guess he stores everything he eats.

Ollie has been a GREAT cat. The only big problem I've had with him is he doesn't particularly like the color orange. We had orange carpet in the basement of our old house and he took to marking that carpet repeatedly. Once we tore the carpet up, painted the floor, and put down new carpet he was fine. When we moved to our current house we had a carpet remnant (different carpet) in the color orange laid in basement. Again he had a grudge against the color and kept marking it. I cut the soiled part away and we blocked him from that part of the basement and all was well with Ollie the cat yet again. He must have some story to tell about something traumatic revolving around the color orange from his kittenhood. Not sure! He's sitting there looking at me right now like, whatever! :)

Ollie enjoyed my pregnancy quite a bit because I laid around a lot and he got to lay around with me. I would lay on my side on the couch and he'd curl up right by my belly...until my belly got so big that he was ousted and had to move down by my legs instead.

Ollie turned 7 in October and I wondered how he would react to a little one being around all day everyday. He didn't really seem to care for Kaelyn much at first. Actually, he didn't pay any attention to her at all. He didn't seem all that curious or get that close. However, when she was really little and would have one of those crying for no reason episodes, I would walk around the house with her trying to calm her and Ollie would bite at my legs! I guess he was trying to protect the little baby from the mean lady! He would just howl and howl and bite my legs as I went. Very helpful. I was already dealing with a screaming baby, a howling cat biting me did not make me feel better. But I told myself he was trying to protect her and therefore it was sweet.

Ollie gradually got used to Kaelyn and started getting closer and closer to her. He'll come lay next to me on the floor when we're playing and likes to keep an eye on what she's doing. He seems very gentle and protective over her. She recently discovered him and decided it would be fun to reach out and pet him. Her version of petting was to grab a handful of hair and pull...HARD. She pulled so hard he fell over onto his side. Poor cat, he was just trying to walk through the room and he got pulled off his feet! But he didn't hiss or react or yowl or anything. He just took it! He laid on his side until she let go and then looked at me like, whatever, and got up and left the room.

And at night, when I go into Kaelyn's room to feed her or help her go back to sleep he's often laying by her door. He's probably waiting for me, but I like to think he's keeping an eye on her. Checking up on her at night to make sure all is well in the world of Kaelyn.

I think Kaelyn and Ollie are going to be great buddies in a few years. I think Kaelyn may just help Ollie lose a little of that belly weight. Not that he needs it, but with all the chasing she'll surely do, I'm sure he'll run a bit off! In fact, I think he's already lost a little since we're home all the time and he doesn't sleep as much. Too much action, too much to watch, too much to do! Though he still gets plenty of sleep, don't get me wrong. We see more of his curled up figure than of his eyeballs.

Someday Kaelyn will be bigger than Ollie. She already outweighs him. And then maybe he'll enjoy having her lap to sit on. Until then, he's keeping an eye on her progress...and they're getting closer and closer.

Baby Babbles

A baby babbling has to be one of the cutest sounds in the world. Kaelyn has gotten to the point where her ramblings are starting to sound like real words. She says mamamama a lot! I like that quite a bit. Her other favorite is blah blah blah. That makes me wonder...is that what she's hearing all day when she listens to me talk? Blah blah blah? And now she's trying to repeat what I'm saying?! :) One time recently she saw me come into the room, reached her arms up to me and said mamamama. I don't imagine that she MEANT it that way but I sure melted at the thought that she knew I was mama and wanted me!

I have to admit, as a first time mom, I really have no idea what I'm doing. But it seems logical and reasonably and even smart to me to continuously talk to my baby. And talk I do! Whether it's out of loneliness, to break the silence, or just for something to do, we talk all day long. When Kaelyn first gets up in the morning I tell her what we're going to do after she eats. When she's done eating I tell her what we're going to do that day. While she's taking a bath I tell her about the weekend plans. Whatever comes to mind, really. I'm sure to anyone overhearing it may sound strange. Actually, I HAVE gotten a few weird looks in the grocery store for talking to a kid who so obviously can't talk back. But what do I care? She's my buddy and we're going to chat, even if I have to do all of the chatting! For all the weird looks I get I probably get just as many endearing looks. I just don't notice that!

Someday Kaelyn will know exactly what laundry is and where the bathroom is and what color the blocks we play with are. All because I tell her constantly. All because I talk to her all the time. Well, there will probably be more to it than that, but it makes me feel like I'm participating in her learning process!

Her first baby babble wasn't even really a babble, it was a fun motor boat sound she made with her lips. CONSTANTLY. I knew I would have trouble getting her back to sleep at night when I could hear her making that noise in her crib through the monitor. Uh oh, Kaelyn's awake and she's having a great time with her lips! Then, sometimes when we would play "where's the baby" (otherwise known as peak-a-boo) as soon as I would cover her with the blanket, the motor boat noise would begin. The second I took the blanket off of her, the noise would stop. I guess she was trying to direct me to where she was.

When she started making noises that sounded more like words, dada seemed to be prevalent. I was like, hey, no fair! I spend all day everyday with you, the least you can do is say mama for me! And she since has. Like I said, mama and blah blah are her favorites at the moment. Not that she most likely means anything by them. Though I have to admit, I DO refer to myself in the third person as I rant to her all day long. "After Mama brushes her teeth, we'll go take a bath." "Mama's going to make you some cereal now." and so on. Lucky kid! hehe ;)

Another thing I've done with Kaelyn pretty much since she was born was read to her. And I didn't start with the typical board books either. No, Kaelyn and I read novels and People magazine. Sometimes Guideposts, whatever I felt like reading. Since at that point I knew she didn't care, it was more just the sound of my voice, I figured I may as well read what I wanted to read! We have since graduated from full blown novels to board books like the classic "Bubbles Bubbles" and so forth. She now enjoys looking at the pictures and pounding on the book. I have to keep my magazines out of her reach or they meet an unfortunate end. I give her junk mail to rip and wrinkle and she enjoys that but she still seems to want MY magazines!! Figures.

I can't wait for the day when Kaelyn looks at me and says mama and means it. I pretend like she does now. Though sometimes she says it continuously for an entire day no matter what she's doing. I'm still not sure where she got blah blah but it sure is cute.

Colds

Colds should be illegal. They should be banned. They should at the very least just not exist.

I'm sure there is some big beyond my understanding reason for the common cold. Maybe it's a way of reminding us we're human. Maybe it's our body's way of telling us to slow down. Whatever it is, I don't like it.

Now, getting a cold as an adult is bad enough, but being a baby who doesn't understand what's wrong? That's just not right.

Poor Kaelyn got her first cold at 4 months of age. I guess we were lucky to shield her from germs that long. It was a mild cold, I'll have to admit. When she sneezed, things flew out, if you know what I mean. And she breathed through her mouth quite a bit. The first night I felt like she was getting sick she got up many many times so the following night I made a little bed in her room. I hauled the couch cushions from the basement through the main floor up to her room on the second floor. I put a sleeping bag and a few other blankets on that and it was quite cushy, thank you very much! Not that I noticed much that night. She got up every 15-30 minutes. Well, get up is an overstatement. She was just uncomfortable. She never really opened her eyes. She'd just roll around and cry for awhile and I'd get up from my makeshift bed onto my knees and pat her back to sleep. Nights after that one got increasingly better until she was back to her old pattern.

And what is it about kleenex and nose wiping that kids just HATE? It's not like I'm trying to kill her, I'm trying to get the snot off her face!!! Apparently she thinks for former and does not appreciate any attempt at cleaning her up.

Kaelyn's second cold made for a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that she didn't have it the week before and I'm thankful that it won't last forever. But thanksgiving was rough. This cold seems to have settled in her eye. Every time she sleeps her eye crusts shut and then I have to wipe it off. See paragraph above about the kleenex and repeat that thought about a warm washcloth and her eye. It's MAJOR screaming. I'm sure her eye is tender but I'm not wiping hard. I'm just trying to allow her to see! Excuse me! :)

This cold was even worse sleep wise. She was so stuffed up she refused to sleep in her crib. We were at my parents house in a double bed, which already feels small compared to our queen at home. But after several attempts at getting Kaelyn to stay in her crib I propped her up on a pillow in the bed and eased myself in beside her. She may only be 7 months old but she's quite a little bed hog! I was BARELY in the bed on my side and VERY uncomfortable. And since I had to pat her every 5-10 minutes I wasn't getting any sleep anyways. Occasionally she would cry so hard I couldn't just pat her so I would nurse her and then we'd rock in the chair for an hour...or two...or three. I'm guessing I slept a total of one hour that night in 5 minute increments. Not fun. Not thankful.

We went home the next day but the next two nights were no better. IT was a little easier because I took her to the guest room and had a WHOLE queen bed for just the two of us. I propped her up and was able to semi-pat and semi-snooze at the same time. My husband took a few of the rocking shifts so I slept an hour or two during those periods. It's just so heartbreaking. She's just not herself. She would cry and cry. She never does that in the middle of the night. She cries when she needs me and I go to her and that's that. With this cold, I go to her and she continues to cry. IT's pretty awful.

However, her eye wasn't crusted shut this morning so I was sure hoping the cold was on its way out. The mouth breathing continues and she's been a little crab bucket all day long. We'll be sitting there playing and all the sudden she'll just start screaming. Okay, you didn't fall over, nothing hit you, nothing bit you, what's the deal? She's doing the same to my husband now. Welcome to my day, dear! :)

So, as I mentioned at the beginning, I'm all for making colds illegal. I guess I'm not sure how that would be enforced so let's just ban them completely. There can't be a reason SO important to have them exist that we can't rid of them, can there? For the sake of babies and parents' sleep, please! :)

Baby Weight

I am simply amazed. That's all there is to it. When thinking about getting pregnant and through growing measurably in size during pregnancy I figured I would never look this way again. Well, I'm amazed.

Before even getting pregnant I began gaining weight. I wanted to be prepared, you know! :) Just in case! So I probably weighed 2-5 pounds over my normal weight when I found out I was pregnant. During the pregnancy I steadily gained about a pound a week. I really didn't feel like I ate a TON more than I usually did but I did snack on crackers and other things between meals a little more. And, now that I think of it, I would keep crackers by the bed and even eat them in the middle of the night when I woke up starving to death. By the end of the pregnancy I had gained pobably at least 35-40 pounds. though, to tell you the truth, I lost track of exactly how much I weighed and gained towards the end.

Kaelyn weighed 8lbs 6 ounces when she was born so I knew I lost at least that much! Plus all the water weight etc that comes off in the days after. I should have kept track of what I lost on what days but I was probably a little bit busy in those days. You know, feed the baby, burp the baby, change the baby, repeat! There were days when would lose 5 pounds in a DAY, though, back right after she was born. Other days were just 1 pound or 2.

Let me just say, before Kaelyn was born I used to run 5 miles a day on my elliptical machine. It helped wake me up in the morning and I enjoyed watching movies while doing that. Since Kaelyn was born I have taken a few walks here and there but I haven't run a single step! She's 7 months old now. I can't imagine how out of breath I'll be when I finally do get back into it. I'm pretty sure I'll feel like I'm dying but so far I haven't figured out how to make the time for it so I won't worry about it just yet.

Anyways, a few months after Kaelyn was born the fast weight loss stopped. I would only lose a pound every week or every couple of weeks. When I reached about 10 pounds over my norm it all just stopped completely. I figured, well, this is what I'm going to weigh now. At least until I could figure out how/when to work out again. Oh well, what do you do.

I resigned myself a little too early, however, because in later months more came off. Slowly, but still! I can't believe that I am able to say after having a baby, gaining probably 40 pounds, doing nothing, not working out, eating constantly, I now weight 15 pounds less than is normal for me. Less than I've ever weighed in my life. Except for maybe in 6th grade. ;)

So, I sit around and eat and lost all the weight and then some? Not fair! How did that happen? Well, I bounce and play with Kaelyn all day. I get up several times a night with her. And I breastfeed. That's really the only thing I can attribute it to. Because I eat a ton. I always say she just sucks it out of me cause where else does it go? Most people eat three meals a day, right? I eat probably 6-7 times a day. Not full meals necessarily, but still more than average for me. Kaelyn, at 7 months, eats ever 3-3 1/2 hours, right? Well, so do I! :)

My mom has decided I no longer have a butt and she needs to bulk me up a bit. I'm over at her house visiting for a week around Thanksgiving and I've taken her up on that challenge. I've eaten everything offered and then some. Though I have to admit it's not any more than I would have eaten at home. I don't have a scale here but my skinny jeans (you know, the jeans you bought that you always WANTED to fit in but never did...the ones that I could never wear before being pregnant) still fit.

So thank you Kaelyn from sucking it out of me! I didn't need to deal with all the baby stuff, being tired, worrying if I'm doing things right, trying to keep her baby, etc, AND feeling huge at the same time. However, I do have to wonder...once she becomes a big girl and eats REAL food, will I be able to stop eating so much? Will the magic of her sucking it all out of me stop and will it all pile back on? I don't mind going back to my normal weight, but I certainly enjoy where I am! Especially since I don't have to run 5 miles a day to get there!! And can eat anything and everything I want!

The moral of the story...my story, at least, I know it doesn't work that way for everyone...want to lose weight? Have a baby. Then eat whatever you want. And breastfeed. Don't worry about the diet pills and the magic formulas. Just have a baby! :) Just breastfeed! Of course, you have to give up quite a bit of your life in the meantime. Not only just having a kid around, which is lifechanging in itself, but tying yourself down to breastfeeding is a big deal. Forget about going very far alone cause you can't leave a hungry baby with people that can't feed her! Well, you can, but that's just mean.

There's always pumping and all that good stuff but I haven't messed with that. I figured she'd only do it for a year or so and I didn't want to mess with sterilizing bottles and keeping the milk fresh in the freezer or whatever. It seemed complicated to me. Though now I wish I had because perhaps when Kaelyn is done with me I could continue pumping and keep these weight results?? :)

To be continued, only time will tell what Kaelyn's upcoming independence will to do me! But at least for now I can wear these jeans!!

Being Alone with a Baby

When you're of baby-having age, you tend to hear a lot of advice from people. When you actually get pregnant, watch out! It comes at you left and right, wanted and unwanted! Everyone tells you how your life will change and how nothing will ever be the same. They were all correct, that's for sure! However, I don't remember anyone ever telling me how lonely I would be!

Now, I've been alone before. Most of my job required me sitting alone in a room talking to myself all day. Or writing or creating commercials etc. Nonetheless, I was alone for the majority of the day. Sometimes my husband would get home from work late and I would be alone in the evening for awhile. Sometimes he would have things going on on the weekends and I would be home alone. I never really minded that. In fact, I actually kind of LIKED being alone.

So, now that I have a baby, why am I so lonely? I'm never TRULY alone. I have human contact all day everyday. She's never far away from me. And it's not like it's complete silence in the house all day. I talk to Kaelyn pretty continuously. And sometimes she talks back! Nothing I can yet distiguish, but plenty of various babbles and motor boat type noises.

I still work a few hours a week but for the most part, I'm at home...alone...with Kaelyn. Don't get me wrong, I love spending all of my time with her. When I'm away it's all I can do to get back to her as FAST as possible. But when I've been alone with her for 10-12 hours straight, things start to go a little crazy in my head!

Is it strange that I start to gaze out the front door for my husband's car around 5 even though I know he won't be home until at least 6? Is it a bad thing that the highlight of our day is often a trip to the mailbox? Do I get a little TOO friendly with the check out people at the grocery store?

Case in point...the other day we were checking out. It was our one and only outing for the day (other than the mailbox). The check out person says, "Did you find everything okay?" as they usually do. "Sure did!" I say and then I make a comment about how cold and windy it is outside or something to those effects. In return the check out person nodded and that was that. I left the store just crushed. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I was certainly disappointed. Couldn't they have told me about their day? Couldn't they have asked about mine? Couldn't they have been one of those people who decides to tell me their life story for no particular reason?

When we got home we read the book Bubbles Bubbles for the eleventh time that day. Kaelyn lit up and giggled up a storm at Bert on the first page, as always. I don't know what it is about Bert but she just loves him. My best human interaction for the day.

And I can live with that. It's great to see her grin at me when she's thumping around in her crib after a nap. It's the best to see her eyes light up when I do something that delights her like sing a silly song or bounce her next to the back door. Sometimes I like to hear stories from check out people, so sue me! :) But if all I get is a smile or two from my baby, I'll be just fine.

Warning to my husband, though...he's a quiet sort of fellow. But when I have a day of isolation from the adult world, he needs to come home prepared. Chat me up a bit! So what if I only have stories about diaper explosions and spit up, ask about it anyways! :) And pretend to enjoy what you hear! It's all I have to look forward to after a long day of the Bubbles Bubbles book!!

Hand Eye Coordination

When I was growing up we had the original Nintendo. I was the QUEEN of the game Dr. Mario. It's kind of like Tetris. There are little colored viruses on the screen and you line up the right color pill to make them disappear. You could play against someone and my dad and I would always play. We played for a dime a game and kept a tally for a few months until I finally made him pay up. It was rare that he had more than a couple of hash marks on HIS side of the paper! In fact, he probably hasn't yet retired because of all the money he gave away in those days. Ha! :)

Because of that game I feel like I had pretty good hand eye coordination back in those days. I think Kaelyn is taking after me. Maybe someday she'll beat ME in Dr. Mario! If anyone has an old fashioned Nintendo these days!

Here's what leads me to believe Kaelyn has such good hand eye coordination at the age of 6 1/2 months. For the last month or so she has been fascinated with sticking her finger in things. Small things that her finger JUST fits in. I first noticed this when she began concentrating on my hospital mug. It's a big insulated mug with a straw and lid that they kept full of water when I was in the hospital for her birth. Since then I have continued to keep it full of ice and water and pretty much take it with me wherever I go. Kaelyn has always liked the mug since she became aware of things like that, but lately the interest has intensified. She'll grab the straw and I think 'oo, she's going to try and suck on it like she always sees me doing' but no, that's not her intention. She gets this look of serious concentration on her face. Sometimes she'll even stick her lip out and furrow her brow. One hand steadies the straw, the other hand sticks out the index finger and goes for it! Once she has her finger firmly placed in the straw she pops it back out and looks at me like, look what I did! Then the look of concentration returns and the process repeats. Occasionally she'll bore of one hand and let the OTHER hand have a go at the straw. This can last for quite sometime.

Whenever we run out of games to play I think, huh, we haven't gotten out my hospital mug in awhile... Whenever I'm thirsty and TRY to take a drink I often get the straw yanked out of my mouth so she can stick her finger in it. I've created a monster! Since this seems so entertaining to her I've watched for other things with holes that she can stick her finger in! I got a small My Little Pony in a Happy meal the other day (yes I eat happy meals, what do you do!) and it has the perfect sized holes in the bottom of its feet. She could care less about the pony. You're supposed to comb its hair. All she wants to do is stick her finger in the hole of the feet.

And I've also discovered that most toys with batteries have screws in them and that means a screw sized hold. Once I showed her that, oh boy, who cares that the toy makes noise and lights up, let me put my finger in that screw hole!!

At church on Sunday my husband had to count the offering money after so Kaelyn and I had some extra time to kill. She didn't seem to be into playing with the few toys I brought so I sat her on the floor by her carseat...and then I saw it! The side of the carseat has a hole that shows either green or red depending on whether the handle is up or down. But the hole was JUST the right size! Once I put MY finger in it, Kaelyn was happily entertained for the next 20 minutes. Cheap and easy entertainment, I might add.

The most amusing hole she has found happens to have been at 4:45 in the morning. She was having a good night and it was her FIRST time up. She was starving so she ate like gangbusters and that must have given her a second wind because she got that cute look on her face and would NOT close her eyes again. When she's awake and happy and nursing she'll often reach up and play with my face. Touch my hair, grab my cheek, that sort of thing. However, at 4:45 that morning after she was done eating, she had other intentions. Oo, a hole! She thought as she looked up at me. And yes, you guessed it, inserted her finger into my nostril. What am I to do about that? It's 4:45am, I'm rocking the chair, trying not to interact when her too much because I desperately want her to go back to sleep so I can go back to bed myself and she sticks her finger in my nose! Intentionally! And repeatedly! I just kept turning my head away but I could see her out of the corner of my eye...that look of concentration, the lip out, the furrowed brow. She wasn't done. She had a goal in sight and the goal was my nose and her finger, joined as one. Ugh.

She did eventually go back to sleep an hour later. She hasn't paid any attention to my nose since. I guess I've been trying to keep other perfect sized holes in her view so she won't!

I think it's a good sign that she has such good hand eye coordination and can be so easily entertained at times. I just hope she doesn't soon discover her OWN nose and REALLY enjoy herself!

How to entertain a 6 month old

I have spent the last 6 months attempting to entertain Kaelyn for her wakeful hours. She doesn't like to nap for very long at a time so this means MOST of the day we are playing. Or eating. And she eats fast, so we mostly play! Here are some things I have found helpful in entertaining her. And let me just say, toys are overrated. We haven't spent much money on them because my sister has two kids and we got a bunch from them and have gotten others as gifts. Otherwise, random household items seem to be the most fun.

-The ever present plastic bag. Now, I know is says right ON plastic bags that they aren't a toy and are not to be played with by children. But they're SO much fun! And it's not like I hand Kaelyn a bag, sit her in a chair and leave the room or anything. Actually, I play with the bag more than she does, she just enjoys watching. I throw the bag up in the air and we watch it float back down at which point I hit it back up again. It's a little like playing volleyball with yourself only slower. And a lot less fun, however a lot MORE entertaining for a baby, apparently. If I let the bag come completely down and hit Kaelyn in the face, boy that REALLY gets her going. Once we've thrown it up in the air a few times I let it hit her face then grab it and rustle it against her belly real fast and noisily. It can be quite entertaining for her for a good 10 minutes!

-Tissue paper from the millions of baby bags we received with gifts. Again, I know you're not really supposed to play with paper, but if you saw the look of joy and heard the loud screams of delight from Kaelyn, you'd play with it too! This is another item that I play with and she watches. After she eats some cereal or veggies or something at meal time I clean her face off (which she does not appreciate) then get out the tissue paper. Simply rustling it high up in the air above her gets a huge scream and giggles. Only the first rustle gets a big reaction. The rest of the time she smiles and enjoys it but she is no longer delightfully surprised. Also shaking it right in her face gets a big grin along with a lot of blinking and some nose wrinkling, which is quite cute!

-The household cereal box. We visited my parents a few weeks ago and my mom brought out a cereal box. Apparently it's like gold to a baby because that cereal box has been pounded on and opened and closed and pounded on and pushed and pounded on...you get the picture. It's not something Kaelyn laughs about but she's quite serious about pounding on it and making sure it's as flat as possible. Though I think I helped with that the other day when I sat on it, oops. I have to start eating more cereal so I can get her a new box one of these days!

-The ever present wipe box. Oh yes, the plastic tub that the wipes go on has to be her all time favorite toy. We take it with us whenever we travel. For obvious reasons, but more so just to play with it. The fact that it has a little door on the top that opens amazes her. She just pushes it back down and watches it pop back up over and over again. When she tires of that she simply turns the box over and pounds on the bottom. It's her wipe box, her drum, her practical toy!

-Magazines, mostly mine. Sometimes when Kaelyn seems to be playing well on her own I get out a magazine and sit and read while she plays. She doesn't like it when I leave the room so I have to sit close, but at least I get to read a few articles from time to time...until she notices. She'll work her way over my leg and around the corner just to get to that magazine. The magazine I THINK I have out of sight and out of reach! Rip! There goes the page I was reading. Hey! I wasn't done with that yet! I gave Kaelyn her own magazine, some junk mail ordering catalog we get all the time. She thoroughly enjoys that, however, whatever I'M looking at always seems more entertaining, of course. I spend many afternoons picking up shreds of paper from the floor after a magazine ripping session. Maybe she's just trying to help in the recycling process. At least she doesn't put it in her mouth, she just rips and drops, rips and drops. Fun for the whole family. :)

So if you feel like you've played with every toy in the house today...twice, as I feel many many days, get out some of the random household items. It's a nice change of pace. Hugely entertaining, and very cheap! Most days I can't believe we're surrounded with all these neat toys and all she wants is the plastic bag I brought home from the store.

Babies and Sleep

Kaelyn is an excellent sleeper...always has been...IF you hold her.

Perhaps that is my fault. She was just so little when she was born. And I am a first time mom so I had nothing at ALL better to do than sit around and hold her! When she was first born I held her pretty much all night long in the hospital. She was eating about every hour so it was just easier to snooze myself in between feedings. When we got home I spent many nights in the chair in her room, sleeping when she slept and watching her eat between naps. I set up an old lap top computer in her room next to the chair so I could watch movies when we were awake. I put headphones on the computer so she wouldn't hear the noise.

I sometimes did put her in her bed and then I would sleep on the floor of her room. And occasionally I would put her in the pack and play in our master bedroom and sleep in our REAL bed. But that always wore me out more because I would just have to get up again shortly.

It was wonderful that my mom stayed with me for the first two weeks of Kaelyn's life. I got to nap often and try to recover from her birth and from staying up most of the night. I realized after my mom left that this new little baby would NOT sleep alone during the day. I would get her to sleep and then try try TRY to put her down and she'd just wake right back up and yell at me. I tried everything and everywhere. The car seat, the swing, the crib, the pack and play, even my own bed. She just would NOT stay asleep unless I held her. And her waking up meant many things. She would be crabby. I wouldn't get to rest either so I would be crabby. It was a vicious cycle.

So being a first time mom that felt like I really had no idea what I was doing, I gave in. I held her. For months. I could only get her to go to sleep in the first place if I held her upright against my chest and bounced around the house. We had quite a little routine. We'd bounce through the kitchen, into the dining room, past the back door, over by the bathroom, across the entry way, through the playroom, repeat. Sometimes she would fall asleep in minutes. Sometimes more like 20 of them. Or even an hour. But it always got to her EVENTUALLY!

Once she would drift off I would walk by the mirrors to make sure her eyes stayed closed. Then finally venture into the family room and try sitting down in the reclining rocking chair. If there was success and no yelling ensued, I would rock for 5-10 minutes and then attempt to put the leg of the chair up and recline. Finally, a break for us both! I would grab the pillow I kept nearby and take a nap myself, with Kaelyn on her stomach against my chest, snoozing away.

It wasn't the most convenient way to nap, but it worked for us. We both got to sleep for awhile and were much more fun when we awoke! I kind of felt like all I ever did was sit around all day, but I also felt like I was doing what I had to do. I tried everything and she just would not sleep alone during the day.

Nighttime was a different story. She was just fine in her pack and play once she got over having to eat EVERY hour. Though she did have some issues with her legs. She seemed to like to stick them up as high as she could in the air and SLAM them down as HARD as possible. Repeatedly. Sometimes after she ate I would have to stand there and pat her for an hour to get her to go back to sleep. I heard lots of suggestions...swaddle her (she would scream at me), duct tape her down (I figured that would probably be a little severe), etc. FInally I got so tired of hearing her wiggle all night long we moved her from the pack and play into her own room. At the age of three months. The first night she slept in her own room we BOTH slept better. It was amazing. I felt human the next day! She started only getting up maybe once or twice a night.

We still had daytime napping issues though. And I really didn't mind holding her. It was quite sweet how she was lay her head on my shoulder and go to sleep. But I didn't want to have to hold her for every nap through her napping years. I didn't want to have to go to college with her just so she could get some sleep after studying late into the night! :) Okay, so maybe I WOULD want that, but after she started sleeping pretty well at night and I didn't NEED to nap as much during the day I got kind of tired of sitting around all the time while she slept. I had to start trying to put her down.

Easier said than done and I prepared myself for some rough times. Around the 3 1/2 month mark Kaelyn could hold her head up SO well that she no longer needed to rest it on my shoulder and therefore didn't fall asleep nearly as easily when I bounced her around the house. I then switched tactics. I laid her back in my arms and cradled her and bounced. She couldn't hold her head up that way!

Once I decided to try to lay her down I would get her to go to sleep then slip her in the swing. This would occasionally work for a good 5-10 minutes. I felt like that was a success. Sadly enough! After trying that for a couple of weeks I decided it was kind of a dumb idea because I'd get her all used to that and then want to switch and get her to nap in her crib instead. So I should really just go directly to the crib.

I got out the Baby Einstein lullaby CD (which is great but I complain about it a lot because I feel like I hear it 40 times a day!) and played that in her room while cradling and bouncing her. Let me just say that yes, I HAVE tried to just lay her down and let her sleep on her own. If she's not mostly asleep when I put her in her crib she seems to think it's play time and her feet thumping and cooing begins. I don't want her to think her crib is a place to play so let the bouncing continue. I'm also not able to do the whole "cry it out" thing. If others want to do that with their kids, fine, I'm not one to tell you what's right or wrong! But I simply can NOT let my baby cry. Someday, when she's old enough to understand what I'm doing I may very well have to. But for now, sometimes she doesn't even know why she's crying, just that she needs something, and I'm always there for her.

Anyways, after a rough couple of days of a lot of yelling (on KAelyn's part, not mine!) I started to succeed a few times here and there with getting her to sleep and dumping her in the crib. Sometimes I would have to try several times before it would work and sometimes I would try for an hour and it would NOT work. But I knew the one thing I could NOT do was let her win.

Kaelyn is 6 1/2 months old and we're still doing the cradle and bounce to the Baby Einstein CD. I still occasionally try to lay her down and just pat her or let her fall asleep on her own, but that's when she looks at me like 'what's up with this?!' or just starts yelling. And so we bounce... :)

But it is working for longer periods of time. At first she would only stay in her crib for maybe 30 minutes tops. And sometimes that's all the longer her naps are now as well. But occasionally she'll sleep for a whole hour, very rarely even two hours! Of course, I never get anything done during those times because I expect her to only sleep for 30 minutes!

At around 3 months of age, when we moved Kaelyn to her own room, she started sleeping really well at night, only getting up once MAYBE twice a night. She even slept through the night twice! But when she got to the 4 1/2 month mark she did some major backsliding. Not only did she get up a ton but when she would get up I would have trouble getting her back to sleep. She wouldn't be upset, she'd cry, I'd come in, feed her, and then she's be all happy and bug eyed looking like 'time to play mama!!' Um, no, I don't THINK so! :) An hour or an hour and a half later I would finally win and get to go back to bed. Only to have her screaming for me 5 minutes later. I don't know what the deal is or what I'm doing wrong, or if there is such a thing, but the next morning, when I feel like death warmed over, it's the hardest part of the day. I'm not much fun for her. SHe's got to be tired too because she was up as much as I was. But what do you do! For the last couple of months she's been going through phases. SHe'll have a bad week where she'll be up 5-6 times a night and not want to go back to sleep. And then the next week will be awesome and she'll just get up once, eat, and drift right back off. This happens to be a good week. Perhaps we've reached a turning point? Maybe next week will be good too? We shall see.

My mom keeps telling me to hang in there, it'll pass. The pediatrician says that no matter what she does sleep-wise now, she WILL grow up to be a teenager and then I'll have to PRY her out of bed. I know they're both right. It's just hard to think about that at 3am when she's all bug eyed and ready to go!! But after a night of decent sleep like last night, it's easy for me to say it's worth it! Talk to me after a bad night and I might have a different opinion. But all it takes it one smile or giggle on Kaelyn's part and I would say it's worth it again. Cause that's what kids do to a mom. Frustrate us, push us, make us think we're at our wits end, and then make us love them more than we ever thought possible.

I look forward to the day when I can post something along the lines of "Kaelyn sleeps through the night now!" But until then, at least we have plenty of time together and don't miss each other too much overnight. Something like that.... ;)