Growing a reader

I've been anxious about reading to Libby. Unsurprisingly, since she developed the ability to grab several months ago, she has been more interested in grabbing books than looking at or listening to them. I kind of slowed down on the reading.

But in the last week or two, she has started really listening to the stories! I've been trying to read to her as a calming cuddly moment before nap and bedtime, and she sits and enjoys the time together. She even seems to be asking for stories at other times. She still grabs the book and closes it or turns the pages back, but for the most part, she listens and looks at the pictures. It's very enjoyable.

Crawling and Conversation

We have arrived at a very fun developmental time. Libby is crawling, getting around anywhere she wants to go. She is getting pretty fast, even though she still keeps her belly on the ground. I love when she gets excited and just takes off across the room.

She is much more vocal these days. Nine months was a turning point in vocalization. She babbles, yells, squeals, and giggles. She occasionally blows raspberries. She is ticklish, which is hilarious. She thinks it's quite funny when I razz or nibble her neck. She gets bouncy when she's excited.

Libby loves daycare. She is staying in two days a week during the summer to keep her spot and so I can tutor and do other things. She gets very excited when I drop her off in the morning. One day last week, when she heard the voice of the babysitter who hadnt been there in several days, she did this cute whip-around "who's that?" thing she also does when Todd comes home from work. And she was very pumped about going back yesterday after our trip to Seattle.

She was just the best in Seattle. She adjusted quite well, waking us up before 6:30 on only the first day. We tried to let her nap, but it wasn't always possible, and she did well on less sleep. She was very sweet and loved meeting new people and seeing new things.

L is starting to play games. It's funny that our first games are pacifier games (besides peek a boo). I put the paci in my mouth and make a big show of sucking on it, saying "It's mommy's paci!" She smiles and takes it away. After a little bit of doing this, she started to offer it back to me. She'll let me put the paci back in my mouth, but she won't let go of it! Todd plays a teasing game where he puts the paci in her mouth but takes it back out again over and over. He says that if he's too slow taking the paci out, she'll spit it out at him.

The solid foods list is getting longer and longer. Libby tried pancakes in Seattle, with rave reviews. She was really upbeat afterwards, and we joked that she was all hopped up on pancakes and yogurt. Maybe so, but the pancakes were syrup-free. She tried spaghetti tonight for dinner, and she enjoyed it. To be honest, I don't think we've found anything she doesn't like, except maybe goat cheese. She didn't seem too impressed by that.

Time keeps on slippin'

It has been over a month since my last post! We have had a really busy month. I started a Tupperware business. I would like it to make it so I can stay home with Libby, but I am apprehensive about this possibility. I am going to give it a shot over the summer and see what I think.

Libby is so much fun right now. I can't imagine there are happier babies in the world. She smiles all the time, and she has FINALLY started giggling more. She first giggled a long time ago, maybe in December, but it took a lot of work and they were few and far between. But she is now ticklish and also giggles at fun games (peekaboo) and noises.

She is getting to be a strong girl. She loves to stand up (holding on to our hands), and started crawling two weeks ago and is now getting quite good. She still keeps her belly on the floor, but she will follow us around the house and will follow the big kids at daycare. Libby is also just starting to get to a sitting position on her own, and she partially pulled up to standing in her crib today. We moved her crib mattress down two notches lower.

Libby's first tooth showed up about 1.5 weeks ago, but she won't let us see it! When we open her mouth, she sticks her tongue out. When we try to push it aside, she cries. It's so funny. But it's there and quite sharp. I'm glad I'm not still breastfeeding, but wow, we would have made it at least 2 more months before teeth!

It's been fun giving her "real" solid food, not just purees. She's tried all kinds of crackers, and also pizza crust and dill pickles! She loves it all, she hasn't refused to eat anything in a really long time.

Time just flies. Of course people tell you that, and my sister was just teasing me about all of the "cherish these moments" comments I get on Facebook, but I have to say I really didn't realize how fast it would go. Babyhood comes with so much preparation and Stuff, it seems beforehand like something that will last for a long time. And when you're praying your underweight baby will finally gain, or crying because she won't let you put her down, it seems like a year is so far away.

But it's unbelievable how it has flown, and surprising now that I didn't get how fast it would go. I don't regret a thing about Libby's first eight months, and I'm excited about the ways she's growing and developing, but I'm working hard to be sure I enjoy the time we have.

Libby is just growing and learning so much. Yesterday she put a piece of food in her mouth herself for the first time. It was a Gerber Puff, which are like little pieces of cereal that pretty much disintegrate in the mouth but are good practice for picking things up. It is so cute when she feeds herself because she has to concentrate very hard, and she has to try a few times before she can get it in her mouth. Sometimes she would put her hand in her mouth but not realize she needed to let go! When she finally got one in, I clapped and cheered and almost cried. I'm such a mushy mom.

She is a very adept roller, she is figuring out how to get somewhere that's not to the left or right, but that she has to turn to get to. She still needs some strong motivation to be interested in crawling.

Libby is also quite good at sitting. She can right herself pretty well when she leans forward, and can catch herself when she starts falling back. She still falls, and I'm not sure she uses her hands yet to get herself down on the floor, or if she just falls over when she wants down.

She is still in the same size diaper she was in a little over three months ago, which is really nice. She may be moving on soon, but it was nice to stick with the same size for so long.

We feel very clever to have started changing her diaper before we go to bed. At that time, she has been down 3-4 hours, and her diaper is always wet. This way, a cloth diaper will last through the night and we don't have to resort to disposables at night. And she barely wakes up. Sometimes she doesn't even open her eyes.

One more fun thing right now is her excited mode. When she gets excited for something, either good or bad, she starts panting loudly, like "Huh, huh, huh!" She does this when I pick her up at daycare and when Todd comes home from work, but also when she is frustrated with something. It's pretty funny.

Still our surprise baby

Libby has been full of surprises since the day we found out she was joining our family. Libby was a surprise. As in "Surprise! I'm pregnant!" I've always been irregular, but I had a weird feeling about things back in January 2009. I thought it had been a long time, even in the face of the stress of starting a new semester and a new exercise regimen. I thought I should take a pregnancy test "to be sure I'm not pregnant". But I was. The blue line showed up immediately, as soon as it was wet. No wonder--I was already at least 8 weeks along!

She then surprised us by being two weeks early, but that's not what I want to talk about today.

Lately, her surprises have been to learn a new skill allofasudden. I had been fretting for 2-3 weeks about when she would start enjoying standing up (with help) and when consonant sounds would emerge. This week, she started both like she's been doing them for weeks. Old hat.

I am not kidding. Last week, when I took her to the portrait studio on Wednesday, the photographer wanted to get a pic of her standing with me just out of the shot holding her hands. She refused to keep her legs straight like a toddler in tantrum mode. This week, all she wants to do is stand. I was trying to show her how to hold onto the crib rail while standing, but she's not quite ready for that.

So far, the only consonant I have heard is "d", as in "ah-da" and "da-da-da", but I am excited for more! The cooing has been adorable, but come on, she's been doing it since Thanksgiving. I was ready for more language development. And the new babbling is really fun.

She's also started razzing like it's her job. She first started doing that back in January (figured out how to do it while nursing, yay), but it hasn't been a frequent occurrence until now.

Sigh. I love her.

It's been almost two weeks! Ugghh, teaching is such a busy job. I just don't know. I really want out. If I didn't work, our lifestyle would have to change drastically, though. Like, no cable or Internet and possibly only one car. But maybe I could get a job that didn't involve so much take-home? I just feel like nothing is ever done and I never get anywhere. I'm always doing things at the last possible minute because there is no other time. And I know that staying home wouldn't solve everything, because stay at home moms have plenty to keep them busy, but... I just think I would be a lot happier.

The last two weeks have been times of change. Libby is done breastfeeding and is taking a bottle. She's eating at least two solid "meals" a day, and has tried many different fruits and vegetables. We never swaddle her for sleep anymore, which was a somewhat rough transition until about 2 weeks ago, and now she's doing really well. And on Friday night, we said "goodbye" to the evening nap in favor of an earlier bedtime.

Libby is starting to look like an older baby. She is six months old. All of these changes are bittersweet. She is such a good girl, and so happy, and every new thing is so fun and exciting. But thinking about how much she's changed and will continue to change makes me wish she'd slow down a little bit. I try to keep Future Me in mind and be in the moment with her now, because I know I'm going to wish I could return to these moments someday.

She did really well at her six-month appointment last week. When they gave her the shots, she got a big pouty look on her face and didn't cry for several seconds, just looked at the nurses saying, "Why?" She calmed pretty quickly, though, and actually almost fell asleep in my arms while I was comforting her. Then she fell asleep on the ride home.

I have to go grade some papers or plan some lessons or something. Ugh.

PRAISE THE LORD, Libby is over this dreaded "4 month sleep regression" if there is such a thing. I think. I hope. I pray. She slept 9 pm - 6 am last night, unswaddled! She is "supposed" to sleep till 7, and I got her to go back to sleep till about 6:45, which is good enough! I hope we have a repeat performance tonight!

Then this afternoon I fed her prunes for the first time. I did not have high hopes, because up to this point, she has tried a few bites of a new food and then fussed. Today I had to go back for more two times, and she ate the WHOLE jar! She has never eaten that much at a time before. Prunes leave nasty brown drool everywhere, but she needs the fiber, especially now that she's on formula full-time (its iron is constipating).

The End

Well, we have come to the end of our breastfeeding relationship. On Friday the 12th, Libby was diagnosed with a respiratory virus and double ear infection. She lost her appetite and nursed poorly for a couple of days. When her appetite came back late this week, I couldn't keep up. My supply tanked from lack of demand. I realized on Thursday or Friday that she wasn't getting enough and started offering a bottle after each time she nursed, and today she is still sucking them dry. I'm worried that she's sometimes still not getting enough with the bottle because I'm only making 4 oz, and my supply doesn't seem to be improving (since she's still taking 4 oz of formula after nursing), so I think it's time to quit and go to bottles.

I'm kind of sad about it, but we had a really good six months. It was rough in the beginning, and I think a lot of women would have given up, but I persevered. I am so glad I did. It really helped us bond, and was such a rewarding part of our relationship. Plus, breastfeeding is so much easier than taking formula and bottles everywhere, not to mention cleaning the bottles! Libby going to formula may expedite our getting a dishwasher. :)

Bump in the night

Okay, so this is not related to Libby, but I have to share. Something pushed hard on the bottom of my foot last night, and it scared me so much I sat straight up in bed and almost yelled. For a minute, I sat there, before realizing what it was. Unbeknown to me, Todd's foot had been below mine (not under, closer to the foot of the bed), and he flexed his foot in his sleep, which gave me that little push. Creepy.

My last entry was about cloth diapering, but it was very diaper-oriented and did not share my feelings on the whole thing. I love cloth diapering (or cd'ing, as it's known in the online community). Let me count the ways:

1. Good for the environment. Everyone has heard this one. I was horrified to discover that we threw away a plastic grocery bag full of dirty diapers EVERY DAY when Libby was a newborn. I was glad to know we would soon be using cloth. Then there are the chemicals in the disposables. Ick. I hate the smell, walking down the diaper aisle at the grocery store always makes me frown. People say cloth is no better because you do so much more laundry and use all that water. True, but disposables take a lot of water to make, we just don't see how much. And I think keeping stuff out of landfills is more important.

2. Good for the baby. Libby has had very few very minor diaper rashes that have all disappeared in a number of hours. Her lil booty is very happy in cotton diapers.

3. Good for me. We have never had a poop blowout in a cloth diaper. I have heard that this is often a once-daily occurrence in disposables, and I can believe it's true since we've had 3-4 of them and almost always have L in cloth.

4. Good for the family. I have already mentioned how cheap cloth diapers are. As I said before, we have probably spent around $300 on cloth all together, and I'm hoping to only need to spend $25-50 more before she's potty trained. That's two years away, folks. That brings me to:

5. Good for all. (sorry, I'm running out of individuals. This is probably actually "good for mommy and daddy") Cloth diapered babies are potty trained earlier because they are better able to tell when they are wet, and they don't like it.

So, cloth diapers. Check 'em out.

Diapers

We are a cloth diapering family. A friend of mine cloth diapers her son, who is about 18 mos older than Libby, and seeing her go through it made me interested. I started researching, and found out there is a TON of info and support on the Internet.

Because Libby was such a tiny baby (under 7 lb for the first 3 wks of life), we used disposables for the first two weeks till her umbilical cord stump fell off. She swam in Pampers Swaddlers Newborn, prompting us to unsuccessfully search for preemie diapers. I think she was wearing newborn size diapers for the first two months, certainly for the first 6 weeks.

When Libby was 2 weeks old or so (I think it was when my mom was visiting approx Sept 17th), we started using the Thirsties wraps I had bought before she was born. Someone online had recommended using washcloths as diapers under a cover instead of actual diapers, so we bought two 18-packs at Walmart and used two in each diaper. We also bought newborn size prefolds, about 12 of them. We had about 6 Thirsties. These worked until she was about two months old.

When Libby was two months old (early November), we bought size Small Thirsties (we had been using extra small) and started using the prefolds we had bought before she was born, which we had about 24 of.

At the end of December, we were getting ready for daycare. We bought 9 or so BumGenius pocket diapers, which are probably the most popular cloth diaper nationwide. We already owned 3, which we had used at night since Libby was a month old or so, probably. BumGenius are so popular because of their ease of use, and I knew daycare would be cool with them because baby W. (the aforementioned friend's baby) had worn them at the same daycare. We also bought four Thirsties Duos Size 2, which are size M/L, and 12 "red-edge GMD" prefold diapers to use at home, because Libby was already too big for the size small.

We now have about 14 Bumgenius, which is enough to have 5 per day at daycare, one at night, wash every other day, and not get nervous about running out. We have one of every color they make, and two of both shades of pink, both shades of yellow, and neon green. I love the colors!

Libby wore Size 1 disposables for only about a month, Size 2 the same. She was wearing Size 1 in November, maybe part of December, and wore Size 2 until about the 1st-2nd week of January. We bought a pack of Size 2 on January 1st in case the new BumGenius didn't arrive in time to start daycare, but they did, and she only used about 5-10 of those diapers before needing to go to Size 3. She should be in Size 3 for quite some time, since they're 18-28 lb. By the way, she was only 14 or 15 lb when she started wearing Size 3.

Okay, this was a really boring post, but I've been wanting to get it down so I have something to refer to "next time". Also for the record, we've spent about $250-300 on cloth diapering, which is the cost of 25-30 packs of disposables, which would have lasted 15 weeks at most. I don't foresee spending more money on cloth for at least a month, at which time I think $25-50 should fix us for another spell.

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?