Don't it always seem to go

I cut Libby's hair tonight. Ten minutes later, I missed it. She has had incredibly long hair since birth. In the last month or two, it has become clear that it is just these little wings at the sides of the back that are super long, not the back in general. She also has some hair on top of her head that is quite long. I decided to even these areas up a little bit with the rest of her hair. I did this between bath time and bedtime, and as I nursed her before bed, I missed playing with that super long lock of hair. I put the cut hair in a little ziploc. Some of the pieces are two inches long, and I left at least that much in some places!

I wanted to blog about diapers and advice I'd give new moms (and myself next time), but it's going to have to wait till later.

Catching up

Well, working full time has moved the ol' blog down on the to-do list. But there is so much going on!

Libby is a solids-eating champ. At least, she loves cereal. She has also tried carrots, pears, and sweet potatoes. The carrots were a hit, the pears a no-go, and the sweet potatoes received mixed reviews. I'm going to buy some more baby food this weekend (we've been working through what she got from Nana for Christmas), and maybe make some of our own. I would like to point out that Nana did not buy any green vegetables. That is her right as a grandma. I'm also somewhat apprehensive about apples and bananas, since Todd used to be allergic to them, and you're supposed to wait to introduce foods your family is allergic to in order to try to prevent allergy in the baby.

Libby weighed in at 17 pounds yesterday, which I think means she's gained 1-1.5 pounds in two weeks, which is right on target. It is getting very hard for me to heft up into her car seat base in the van because the seat is so high, so I think we're going to buy her a "big girl" car seat next weekend. The car seat we're planning on buying is actually for 8-50 pounds, so she could have been in it already, but I'm glad we started with an infant seat that we could carry her around in. I know I'm going to miss being able to put her down anywhere, but I decided I'm ready to make that sacrifice.

Libby is sitting up on her own, or nearly, just not for very long. She will either fall sideways or face first. The other day, I had her sitting on the changing table, and she fell forward and clunked her head on the window! She was totally unfazed, but I felt pretty bad. Libby spends a lot of time at daycare in the Bumbo seat and the Exersaucer (stationary walker), and I think this is building up her core muscles and helping her get ready to sit.

She's also becoming more mobile as she's wiggling around to get toys, and rolling back to front (new this week). It's fun to see what position she'll arrive in next, and we talk about her "escaping the jungle" since that's what we call her baby play gym.

Starting 3-4 weeks ago, just after I started back at work, Libby stopped sleeping 6-7 hours, which she had been doing for over a month. She was up every two to three hours, and I was going crazy. So I decided the swaddle had to go, and we started putting her down without it last week. She is getting the hang of it, and slept 6.5 hours Tuesday, 6.5 Wednesday, and 7.5 last night. Starting Wednesday, I started trying not to feed her in the night, and was successful, so I'm hoping knowing she's not getting fed will stop her waking up at 4-5 am and she'll start sleeping all the way till 7, when I get her up and feed her.

Last night when she woke up at 5, I went in to check on her, and she had grabbed her swaddle blanket off of the crib rail and had it snuggled up next to her. It was so cute! It makes me nervous having her sleep with a blanket that big just loose, so I cut a receiving blanket down for her to sleep with tonight. I'm going to make her a blanket that is furry fleece on one side and satin on the other for her blankie.

Getting Stronger

Libby is really getting ready to sit. I will sit her up facing me in my lap and barely hold onto her so she can practice. I have to be careful, though, because sometimes she decides to throw herself backwards all of a sudden. She's also had some practice sessions sitting up with the Boppy around her to cushion her when she falls over. I've been trying to get her to use her arms to hold herself up, but she ends up leaning too far forward and falling on her face! The couple of times this has happened, it hasn't been very hard, and she hasn't cared at all.

I have to make sure I react appropriately to things. Besides starting to fall as she learns to sit (and eventually stand!), Libby has gagged herself a few times sticking her hands in her mouth too far, and I have to make sure I don't act concerned. She's just checking things out, and this is a necessary step in desensitizing her mouth a little bit so she can get ready to eat solids.

She's waking up from her evening nap, time to go see how she's doing!

Cereal, Take Two

We tried cereal again yesterday, and Libby was much more enthusiastic! I couldn't believe the change. She got impatient and whiny between bites. I don't think she's figured out how to swallow it yet, because a lot got on her bib, but since she was so excited, I'm willing to try again every day or every few days. We'll try this afternoon and see what she thinks.

Next weekend, Libby will be baptized. I'm really excited for this special day, excited for what it means for her, and for Todd and I. And I'm looking forward to having all of the family visiting!

Cereal, Day One

Today, Libby tried rice cereal for the first time. She was not really impressed. I don't know if any actually got swallowed. Oh well, she's pretty young for starting solids. We'll try again next week. I was surprised that our pediatrician was so gung-ho about starting right at four months, but I figured we'd give it a shot. From what I've read, I've decided that starting this early doesn't necessarily get you ahead, it mostly just gets you two months of buying/making well-strained food. Or just feeding rice cereal.

Better luck next time, Libbs.

Life as a working mom

Well, today was Day Three of daycare. Libby and I are both surviving just fine. I did not cry at all on the first day, and I only teared up a little yesterday when a coworker (who is a mom and a grandma) asked how things were going and said something very supportive. People being nice makes me cry more than people being mean.

Since I am still breastfeeding Libby and I'm away from her for eight hours while at school, I have to pump. So far it's going okay. I found a good place to do it--the cooks have a desk in their pantry, which is the only room in the school without a window into the hallway. They very graciously let me use it.

Okay, time to put Libby to bed. More later, I guess!

Lullaby and good night

When I was little, lullabies were an important part of my bedtime routine. My parents both like to sing, and I think they enjoyed the special quiet moments we shared. My dad even went so far as to copy down the lyrics from "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins. I'm pretty sure he watched the movie, pausing after each phrase or stanza and writing it down. "You're not sleepy as you seem, stay awake, don't nod and dream..."

I sing lullabies to Libby, too, and even though I know plenty of my own quiet, sweet, slow songs, I find I sing our old standbys almost exclusively. I sing Mom's favorites: "Edelweiss", "May the Lord" (to the same tune), "Bind us Together", and "Hush Little Baby". And I sing a family favorite from Tom Chapin CD, "Grow in Your Own Sweet Way":

May you grow in your own sweet way,
And blossom more every day,
And follow the music in your soul.
May there be time for you to grow.

I couldn't sing it without crying when Libby was first born, but it's getting better. Libby has taken to crying sometimes when I sing to her, I wonder if she's starting to realize that it means I'm going to put her down for a nap?