Well even just the last few weeks Aurora's grown up! She out of nowhere last week started pointing all over the place, now she points at everything. We are still working on blowing kisses (she gets the kiss on the hand but hasn't quite grasped the blowing it away), and trying for bump it. Still hates brushing her teeth (or rather hates us doing it) but LOVES putting on a little chapstick afterward. And still that tooth has NOT come in! Its like taking forever!!!
But the BIGGEST news of the week was Aurora said her first (what I'm calling official) first word, and it was Dada. We got up this morning and she pointed at Ryan and said, clear as day, "Dada". Ryan was beaming and so excited. "Yes, I'm your Dada!" he told her. I love it!
We Skyped with my Mom last night and it was fun. Aurora didnt really know what to think but Im sure she'll get the hang of it after a few more times. And it will be great to Skype with her the week that my Mom is watching her in August for us. We will miss her but boy will it be nice to have a whole "Adult Week" to ourselves! Dinner out, stay up late, watch tv, go to a movie, we are going to be such rebels! lol. I think we will have to make it an annual event with Mopsey (My Mom).
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Summer is Here, and Life Goes On...
Life is good! Though busy, that’s for sure. Aurora is still working on that 6th tooth up top. She got a fever last weekend, along with the runny nose and cough that are always present about a week before the tooth comes through. In addition to her being super winey, lethargic and cuddly, and wanting her pacifier 24-7. It all magically went away this weekend, but still no tooth so I’m sure its coming soon.
Last weekend we went up to see Venissa, Joe and their new baby girl Addison. Andrew and Aurora were both more interested in playing with each other than checking out the new baby, but that allowed me time to hold the tiny sweetheart. I forget how small newborns are, and it shows me how much Aurora has grown, even though she is small for her age. I think Addie looks like her mama, but we will see; it’s always hard to tell this young! We also went to go hang out at Harb with my family, and Rory had fun with everyone, especially playing on top of the pool table with all the balls. I got a cute video of her dancing.
She’s really trying to talk now; she babbles in long “sentences” that have the same ebb and flow that conversation does, but it of course doesn’t make any sense. She will try to copy a word if you say it, and repeat it back to her. You wouldn’t be able to tell just hearing what she said, but hearing it with what you say it is clear she is trying to copy the word. Last night she was playing with her cousin Keira (2 ½ years old) and Keira was saying “daddy” and Aurora was saying “daddy” back to her and Keira was getting such a huge kick out of it, like she’s been waiting for this day forever. I love it.
She is getting much better at using a fork and spoon for things, although still needs a little guidance getting the food on it, she can put it in her mouth from there pretty easily. Makes a huge mess, but that’s the nature of the beast! We let her have at whatever food we eat, then when she’s done, we feed her her baby food (she doesn’t get enough of the big people food in her mouth to really fill her up before she gets bored feeding herself).
Watched Food Inc. recently and it made me sooo grossed out by how the food industry has developed to feed us. It makes me even more committed to eating and providing healthy food for my family, and buying as much organic, local, in season and natural food as possible. We will spend $50 on a pair of jeans for ourselves or a video game but not on healthier food for our families? We just have to re-prioritize.
Finally caught up around the house (for the most part) although I need the housecleaner to come again!
Last weekend we went up to see Venissa, Joe and their new baby girl Addison. Andrew and Aurora were both more interested in playing with each other than checking out the new baby, but that allowed me time to hold the tiny sweetheart. I forget how small newborns are, and it shows me how much Aurora has grown, even though she is small for her age. I think Addie looks like her mama, but we will see; it’s always hard to tell this young! We also went to go hang out at Harb with my family, and Rory had fun with everyone, especially playing on top of the pool table with all the balls. I got a cute video of her dancing.
She’s really trying to talk now; she babbles in long “sentences” that have the same ebb and flow that conversation does, but it of course doesn’t make any sense. She will try to copy a word if you say it, and repeat it back to her. You wouldn’t be able to tell just hearing what she said, but hearing it with what you say it is clear she is trying to copy the word. Last night she was playing with her cousin Keira (2 ½ years old) and Keira was saying “daddy” and Aurora was saying “daddy” back to her and Keira was getting such a huge kick out of it, like she’s been waiting for this day forever. I love it.
She is getting much better at using a fork and spoon for things, although still needs a little guidance getting the food on it, she can put it in her mouth from there pretty easily. Makes a huge mess, but that’s the nature of the beast! We let her have at whatever food we eat, then when she’s done, we feed her her baby food (she doesn’t get enough of the big people food in her mouth to really fill her up before she gets bored feeding herself).
Watched Food Inc. recently and it made me sooo grossed out by how the food industry has developed to feed us. It makes me even more committed to eating and providing healthy food for my family, and buying as much organic, local, in season and natural food as possible. We will spend $50 on a pair of jeans for ourselves or a video game but not on healthier food for our families? We just have to re-prioritize.
Finally caught up around the house (for the most part) although I need the housecleaner to come again!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Will I Ever Get Caught Up?
Memorial day weekend was amazing. We went to the Kings River with a large group of people. It started out as the Stoops (Ryan’s Aunt and Uncle) and a few of their rafting buddies and their families. Then everyone started inviting other friends and family over the years (us included) and the group has grown from 30-40 people the first 3 years we went to this year it was close to 70. That was a little bit much in my opinion; it felt really disjointed and I didn’t get to spend as much time with everyone I wanted to since we were so spread out. And there were a lot of people we didn’t know. BUT we had our own little baby brigade going, and that was awesome.
We had Aurora, then there was Laura & Marshall’s baby girl Hazel (who is 3 days younger than Aurora), and Marshall’s brother Marco & his wife Destiny with their son Cullen. We spent most of our time trying to keep them clean “enough” and keep them out of trouble, which is easy to find when you are camping. Hazel and Aurora finally got to meet each other which was great, since Laura and I had gotten so close over email the last 2 years as we were pregnant with the girls, delivered them and then this year leading up to the weekend. We threw them a mini bday party even though their 1yr old birthdays had already happened and both of us had thrown parties in our own hometowns for them.
Aurora didn’t eat enough, got too many snacks and junk food, but hey, that’s what special occasions are for right? Thanks daddy for her first Oreo, which she is now OBSESSED with.
Speaking of obsessions, Aurora is obsessed with any kind of water play. Im so glad that summer is near, and it will be hot enough for her to play out on our patio in the wonderful water table that Ashley’s mom got for her birthday. Its nice too cause I can watch her while in the kitchen cooking or cleaning and she can play out there. Still have yet to check out the kiddie pool in our complex but looking forward to it.
On to teeth; the other top middle tooth broke weeks ago, and the other side tooth is ready to break. Which sucks cause when she is teething she is restless and whines a lot at night. She gets a runny nose then a bad cough with it, and needs her pacifier all the time. Cant wait till those crazy molars break through (NOT) which I have heard are beasts. But we are brushing her teeth now, although I have to say its hard to remember to brush her teeth before putting her to bed cause it just has not been part of the routine. Im an old dog and its hard to learn new tricks! Lol. She doesn’t mind too much; just gets really frustrated for the 15 seconds I make her let me brush her teeth then is fine after I hand it over to her. She LOVES the vibration of the electronic toothbrush on her mouth.
Her communication abilities are pretty amazing now. She totally understands what we say, and can follow simple directions, loves helping. Every morning she enjoys taking her diaper and opening the diaper pail and putting her diaper in then closing it. Last night she was helping me pluck grapes off its vine and putting them in Tupperware. When she got bored with that she started feeding them to me one by one. Which actually was a faster process cause I could pluck them way faster than she could feed them to me. This morning she didn’t drink all of her bottle and I always reoffer her her bottle to make sure she isn’t just taking a break . So I asked her “Are you all done with your bottle? Do you want any more?” And she shook her head. But then a few minutes later she was dressed, time to go down stairs and I again offered her the bottle but this time the question was “Can you hold the bottle for Mommy while we walk down the stairs?” and she totally took it and held it. So shes not just interpreting the gestures and inferring the rest; because the gesture was the same, but the only thing different was the words, and she reacted differently.
She’s also walking all over the place now that she came back from camping, where everything was uneven and off road terrain. Back her with flat carpets and unmoving things on it, she can really book it! Its fun to have her run back and forth between two people.
She is using her fork better still needs help stabbing food. We got her her very own spoon and fork from Crate & Barrel. They are so cute! She loves them, even when shes not eating.
Here is the tired part though; she won’t sit still for 2 seconds!!! When she is awake, she is going non stop, and you better be ready to run after her. It’s exhausting and I don’t know how she has the energy to keep it up all day; its not like she eats enough to expend that much. She wont even sit still to watch tv. Other kids are mesmerized by tv shows and movies, but not her. She could care less and they don’t hold her attention for longer than a large bang sound.
So those are the updates on her. Im still trying to get caught up from the weekend at the river. Its tough! Finally downloaded all the photos and videos, but have not yet uploaded them all to my sites (FB, Picasa, etc). The house is a wreck and desperately needs a cleaning and this weekend we will be gone all weekend; Saturday we are celebrating my brother’s birthday at my Mom’s house, and on Sunday we get to see Venissa’s new baby girl Addison, who was born on May 31st. But, as a “seasoned mom” now, I realize that a clean house and getting all your chores done and your to-do-list under 30 items is WAY over rated.
We had Aurora, then there was Laura & Marshall’s baby girl Hazel (who is 3 days younger than Aurora), and Marshall’s brother Marco & his wife Destiny with their son Cullen. We spent most of our time trying to keep them clean “enough” and keep them out of trouble, which is easy to find when you are camping. Hazel and Aurora finally got to meet each other which was great, since Laura and I had gotten so close over email the last 2 years as we were pregnant with the girls, delivered them and then this year leading up to the weekend. We threw them a mini bday party even though their 1yr old birthdays had already happened and both of us had thrown parties in our own hometowns for them.
Aurora didn’t eat enough, got too many snacks and junk food, but hey, that’s what special occasions are for right? Thanks daddy for her first Oreo, which she is now OBSESSED with.
Speaking of obsessions, Aurora is obsessed with any kind of water play. Im so glad that summer is near, and it will be hot enough for her to play out on our patio in the wonderful water table that Ashley’s mom got for her birthday. Its nice too cause I can watch her while in the kitchen cooking or cleaning and she can play out there. Still have yet to check out the kiddie pool in our complex but looking forward to it.
On to teeth; the other top middle tooth broke weeks ago, and the other side tooth is ready to break. Which sucks cause when she is teething she is restless and whines a lot at night. She gets a runny nose then a bad cough with it, and needs her pacifier all the time. Cant wait till those crazy molars break through (NOT) which I have heard are beasts. But we are brushing her teeth now, although I have to say its hard to remember to brush her teeth before putting her to bed cause it just has not been part of the routine. Im an old dog and its hard to learn new tricks! Lol. She doesn’t mind too much; just gets really frustrated for the 15 seconds I make her let me brush her teeth then is fine after I hand it over to her. She LOVES the vibration of the electronic toothbrush on her mouth.
Her communication abilities are pretty amazing now. She totally understands what we say, and can follow simple directions, loves helping. Every morning she enjoys taking her diaper and opening the diaper pail and putting her diaper in then closing it. Last night she was helping me pluck grapes off its vine and putting them in Tupperware. When she got bored with that she started feeding them to me one by one. Which actually was a faster process cause I could pluck them way faster than she could feed them to me. This morning she didn’t drink all of her bottle and I always reoffer her her bottle to make sure she isn’t just taking a break . So I asked her “Are you all done with your bottle? Do you want any more?” And she shook her head. But then a few minutes later she was dressed, time to go down stairs and I again offered her the bottle but this time the question was “Can you hold the bottle for Mommy while we walk down the stairs?” and she totally took it and held it. So shes not just interpreting the gestures and inferring the rest; because the gesture was the same, but the only thing different was the words, and she reacted differently.
She’s also walking all over the place now that she came back from camping, where everything was uneven and off road terrain. Back her with flat carpets and unmoving things on it, she can really book it! Its fun to have her run back and forth between two people.
She is using her fork better still needs help stabbing food. We got her her very own spoon and fork from Crate & Barrel. They are so cute! She loves them, even when shes not eating.
Here is the tired part though; she won’t sit still for 2 seconds!!! When she is awake, she is going non stop, and you better be ready to run after her. It’s exhausting and I don’t know how she has the energy to keep it up all day; its not like she eats enough to expend that much. She wont even sit still to watch tv. Other kids are mesmerized by tv shows and movies, but not her. She could care less and they don’t hold her attention for longer than a large bang sound.
So those are the updates on her. Im still trying to get caught up from the weekend at the river. Its tough! Finally downloaded all the photos and videos, but have not yet uploaded them all to my sites (FB, Picasa, etc). The house is a wreck and desperately needs a cleaning and this weekend we will be gone all weekend; Saturday we are celebrating my brother’s birthday at my Mom’s house, and on Sunday we get to see Venissa’s new baby girl Addison, who was born on May 31st. But, as a “seasoned mom” now, I realize that a clean house and getting all your chores done and your to-do-list under 30 items is WAY over rated.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Our Little Peanut
Our little peanut, while growing slowly in size, is none-the-less growing up. It's really amazing that so much has happened and changed in our lives in the last year. I feel like the last year has been the most important and exciting of my life. I know my life is richer and more meaningful than ever before, thats for sure.
Aurora had her 1 yr old apt on Friday. I brought my Mom along for company, and she was going crazy and just about had a panic attack when they wanted to give Rory 6 shots that day. I opted to hold off on one of them for her next apt. My Mom said she would never have given us ANY shots if she could do it over. I just shook my head. Not even going to go there with her! Rory screamed this sad terrified and painful cry the whole time they were shooting her up, as tears streamed down her face and the sobs kept getting stuck in her throat. Poor girl all I wanted to do was cuddle her and tell her it would be ok. She did calm down ok and was fine after that. Besides a very slight fever and wanting to sleep ALOT the next few days she was fine.
She has gained about 2lbs since the 9 month old apt, which is something! Here is how she ranks now:
They said she is doing just fine and they are not worried about her growth at all, since she is tracking on the growth curve as she should.
Shes getting much better at walking now, though its still slow going. She loves walking about 5 steps to you and is so proud when she finally gets to you!
She is wanting to feed herself now, and we let her practice with her own spoon and fork. Shes not great at it yet, but for sure gets the jist of the movements, just not quite fine tuned enough to really get there. Mostly she dips the spoon in things then sucks on it, and with the fork, she picks up a piece of food with one hand, and then stabs it with the fork in the other, then either bites the food off the fork, or takes it back off and eats it with her hand. Its hilarious.
She is playing so much with everything now, its so much fun. And its great that shes more interactive with the other kids now too. We spent almost all day with Ashley, Dylan and Boston on Saturday, and it was a blast. We went to the Tierrastanta Parade, and saw most everyone else we knew in the complex there too, then Ashley and I went to the fair to hang out while the boys took the kids home, we grilled dogs for lunch, hung out in our back yard with the kids playing with the water table Boston's Gma Mimi got her for her b-day, and then that night went to see Rain the Beatles Tribute downtown. It was one of the best days Ive had in a long time. Then yesterday we went to hang with friends we have not seen in a long time and it was awesome.
Her 4th tooth finally broke about a week ago; it was the canine next to the top tooth she already has. But the other top middle and canine are on their way too, so she wont be lopsided for long. Its so nice to have teeth for her, going without them for so long you realize how much teeth really help them eat big people food. Although we have to get her used to brushing now. Good thing she loves the toothbrush, bad thing she only wants to suck on it and not actually brush with it. lol.
She loves all stuffed animals. Skye and Althea got her a super soft pillow that also velcros up into a stuffed ladybug, and she LOVES it. She will give "loves" to just about anything, but is especially happy to oblige for anything soft.
Oh goodness shes just the best! I cant wait for memorial day weekend, its going to be good times with friends and family, and just rest and relaxation. Ahhhhhh long overdue.
Aurora had her 1 yr old apt on Friday. I brought my Mom along for company, and she was going crazy and just about had a panic attack when they wanted to give Rory 6 shots that day. I opted to hold off on one of them for her next apt. My Mom said she would never have given us ANY shots if she could do it over. I just shook my head. Not even going to go there with her! Rory screamed this sad terrified and painful cry the whole time they were shooting her up, as tears streamed down her face and the sobs kept getting stuck in her throat. Poor girl all I wanted to do was cuddle her and tell her it would be ok. She did calm down ok and was fine after that. Besides a very slight fever and wanting to sleep ALOT the next few days she was fine.
She has gained about 2lbs since the 9 month old apt, which is something! Here is how she ranks now:
They said she is doing just fine and they are not worried about her growth at all, since she is tracking on the growth curve as she should.Shes getting much better at walking now, though its still slow going. She loves walking about 5 steps to you and is so proud when she finally gets to you!
She is wanting to feed herself now, and we let her practice with her own spoon and fork. Shes not great at it yet, but for sure gets the jist of the movements, just not quite fine tuned enough to really get there. Mostly she dips the spoon in things then sucks on it, and with the fork, she picks up a piece of food with one hand, and then stabs it with the fork in the other, then either bites the food off the fork, or takes it back off and eats it with her hand. Its hilarious.
She is playing so much with everything now, its so much fun. And its great that shes more interactive with the other kids now too. We spent almost all day with Ashley, Dylan and Boston on Saturday, and it was a blast. We went to the Tierrastanta Parade, and saw most everyone else we knew in the complex there too, then Ashley and I went to the fair to hang out while the boys took the kids home, we grilled dogs for lunch, hung out in our back yard with the kids playing with the water table Boston's Gma Mimi got her for her b-day, and then that night went to see Rain the Beatles Tribute downtown. It was one of the best days Ive had in a long time. Then yesterday we went to hang with friends we have not seen in a long time and it was awesome.
Her 4th tooth finally broke about a week ago; it was the canine next to the top tooth she already has. But the other top middle and canine are on their way too, so she wont be lopsided for long. Its so nice to have teeth for her, going without them for so long you realize how much teeth really help them eat big people food. Although we have to get her used to brushing now. Good thing she loves the toothbrush, bad thing she only wants to suck on it and not actually brush with it. lol.
She loves all stuffed animals. Skye and Althea got her a super soft pillow that also velcros up into a stuffed ladybug, and she LOVES it. She will give "loves" to just about anything, but is especially happy to oblige for anything soft.
Oh goodness shes just the best! I cant wait for memorial day weekend, its going to be good times with friends and family, and just rest and relaxation. Ahhhhhh long overdue.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Aurora's 1st Birthday
Click on the Picture for the Picasa Folder of all the pictures from Aurora's 1st Bday.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Super Cute Clothes
Oh yeah and I forgot to mention all the adorable clothes she got for her birthday. Added to all the ones she got from her showers and this girl is going to be one well dressed sista! Shes in 6 month stuff now, but I cant wait till she's in her 9 and 12 month old stuff, cause there is too much cute stuff!
Oh yeah, and slight rant here, why the heck is it that the CUTEST stuff starts at 12 month? Like all the cute jeans and shorts mostly. It is so annoying. At this rate, Aurora will be 2 before she is in any of that.
Oh yeah, and slight rant here, why the heck is it that the CUTEST stuff starts at 12 month? Like all the cute jeans and shorts mostly. It is so annoying. At this rate, Aurora will be 2 before she is in any of that.
Aurora is One!
Today Aurora is one! Wow, crazy. Hard to believe that a year ago right now I was just getting into the craziest part of labor and in just a few short hours I would be holding my precious baby girl in my arms for the first time ever. Its been an amazing journey, and I am sooo looking forward to the rest of our life!
Aurora is finally walking like a big girl. She is still really shakey (hello Frankenstein), takes little steps staggering from side to side, and falls often. But she is getting better, and Im sure will be running across the room before we know it!
We started milk too. :0) No more formula, she seems to like milk just fine, and will drink the full 4 oz if you heat it up (that much cold milk is too much for her all at once), and she does like to sip cold milk from her sippy cup. We have decided to buy organic milk for her. After reading what the experts are saying, if you are going to buy organic, meat and milk are your best place to spend the money because of all the awful pesticides in the food the cows eat, compounded with the hormones that they are given, etc. You can really tell the difference too; the meat tastes way better, and the milk crisper and creamier. It really breaks the bank, but you cant put a price on the health and well being of your children. And to be honest, I think that in the years to come, they are going to find that things like Autism has more do do with pesticides and hormones in our food than vaccinations do.
Hopefully we can get her to drink the recommended 16-24 oz of milk a day, because she was only taking 8 oz total of formula a day, plus another 6 oz in her morning cereal.
Aurora is finally walking like a big girl. She is still really shakey (hello Frankenstein), takes little steps staggering from side to side, and falls often. But she is getting better, and Im sure will be running across the room before we know it!
We started milk too. :0) No more formula, she seems to like milk just fine, and will drink the full 4 oz if you heat it up (that much cold milk is too much for her all at once), and she does like to sip cold milk from her sippy cup. We have decided to buy organic milk for her. After reading what the experts are saying, if you are going to buy organic, meat and milk are your best place to spend the money because of all the awful pesticides in the food the cows eat, compounded with the hormones that they are given, etc. You can really tell the difference too; the meat tastes way better, and the milk crisper and creamier. It really breaks the bank, but you cant put a price on the health and well being of your children. And to be honest, I think that in the years to come, they are going to find that things like Autism has more do do with pesticides and hormones in our food than vaccinations do.
Hopefully we can get her to drink the recommended 16-24 oz of milk a day, because she was only taking 8 oz total of formula a day, plus another 6 oz in her morning cereal.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Wow, Big Girl is Almost 1!
Well it's been a while and our life is crazier than ever.
Aurora is still not walking full on; shes really taking her time with this. After her first steps a month ago, she still is only taking up to about 5 steps at a time, in areas she feels comfortable. Which means her shoes are getting all torn up going between walking and crawling all the time. *Sigh*. Thank goodness for Walmart $8 shoes.
We now have 3 teeth total, both bottom and one middle on top. The other 3 up top are bulging and ready to join the others soon. Its so nice she can actually take "bites" of food now with teeth. Its really helped what food she can eat, and that we can share with her now she can take bites of our food. She is good eating off of spoon and fork of ours, but sometimes really would like to do it herself, even though she doesnt have the dexterity to.
She has been a total champ though the teething process though, and besides just being a little fussy and drooly chewing on stuff, shes been good. We have been giving her the Tylenol, orajel and (due to the post nasel drip at night) expectorant for that bad cough. We will see what the doc says at her 1 yr apt on the 14th if she still has that cough. We felt awful on Sat at at work event one of our female pharmacists could feel the congestion in her chest just from holding her.
She is so interactive now though, shes a blast. She loves peek-a-boo, and likes to do the hiding and the peeking herself. She will hold up a sheet, paper towel, etc then back down with a big grin. Another favorite is peeking around corners of furniture or walls.
She has so much fun with her high fives, low fives, head butts, waving, clapping and dancing. She is such a big girl! Still not a ton of talking (just the same babbles) but if you spend anytime with her you do notice she tries to copy what you say every once in a while. You will say something, then are startled when it sounds like she said the exact same thing you just did!
We were lucky to get some of Ryan's old toys and books from when he was a little kid, as Cheryl recently cleaned out her attic, which was mostly full of all Blake and Ryan's childhood stuff. Shes having a blast with all her fun stuff. In the house, we finished putting in the new flooring, and the baseboards, and got some new shelving units for the new "play room". I cant tell you how nice it is to have real floors, and have clear defined spaces and things put away in their place, instead of a constant construction zone with everything out and everywhere. We still have a lot to do but at least we are making headway and each week our house is more organized than it was the previous week. A little at a time is what you gotta do to make it happen!
This weekend was a HUGE weekend. Saturday was Venissa's shower up in Temecula area (shes having a little girl, who will be named Addison!) Thanks to my Mom who joined me for the long drive up (long drives with no one to talk to + Loralyn = asleep at the wheel) and to help me take care of Aurora so I could visit with that group that I hardly ever get to see anymore. Then we had to book it back down to SD after a few hours up there to get set up for a big work event at my Dean's house that he has every year for some of the staff, the faculty, 3rd & 4th year students and alumni. This was my first year planning and attending the event. It turned out great, but it was a long day for all of us, esp Aurora, considering her birthday party was the next day!
So then the big day was yesterday, and it was great! Our best friends and family came out to celebrate with us, everyone pitched in and helped out a ton, and it was just wonderful. I cant wait to see the pictures that Pam took for the event. Aurora looked so cute in her little sunflower dress, and had too much fun with her cake, esp when all her friends joined in. (Kiera was first, then Boston then Luke. We had all the kids up there sharing this pink Sleeping Beauty cake!!!) But my favorite moment of the day was when Luke had his bottle out, and he left it to go play on the other side of the blanket with something else. Aurora reached down, got the bottle and walked it all the way over to where he was and gave it to him! What a sweet little helper. It doesnt surprise me though; our wonderful sitter Diane has 2 infant babies as well as Aurora and apparently Aurora helps with them all the time; gives them their pacifiers, rocks them in their infant seats, etc. Soooo cute! Boy is she going to come in handy with the next kid.
Anyway, by the end of the day, packing everything up for a huge picnic to the park then packing back up and to our house, plus all the gifts (that we still have yet to open!), our house is a mess, and we are exhausted but so happy and blessed. Now on to Mother's Day events, and after that Memorial Day weekend at the King's River. Cant wait for that, its going to be so much fun!!!
Aurora is still not walking full on; shes really taking her time with this. After her first steps a month ago, she still is only taking up to about 5 steps at a time, in areas she feels comfortable. Which means her shoes are getting all torn up going between walking and crawling all the time. *Sigh*. Thank goodness for Walmart $8 shoes.
We now have 3 teeth total, both bottom and one middle on top. The other 3 up top are bulging and ready to join the others soon. Its so nice she can actually take "bites" of food now with teeth. Its really helped what food she can eat, and that we can share with her now she can take bites of our food. She is good eating off of spoon and fork of ours, but sometimes really would like to do it herself, even though she doesnt have the dexterity to.
She has been a total champ though the teething process though, and besides just being a little fussy and drooly chewing on stuff, shes been good. We have been giving her the Tylenol, orajel and (due to the post nasel drip at night) expectorant for that bad cough. We will see what the doc says at her 1 yr apt on the 14th if she still has that cough. We felt awful on Sat at at work event one of our female pharmacists could feel the congestion in her chest just from holding her.
She is so interactive now though, shes a blast. She loves peek-a-boo, and likes to do the hiding and the peeking herself. She will hold up a sheet, paper towel, etc then back down with a big grin. Another favorite is peeking around corners of furniture or walls.
She has so much fun with her high fives, low fives, head butts, waving, clapping and dancing. She is such a big girl! Still not a ton of talking (just the same babbles) but if you spend anytime with her you do notice she tries to copy what you say every once in a while. You will say something, then are startled when it sounds like she said the exact same thing you just did!
We were lucky to get some of Ryan's old toys and books from when he was a little kid, as Cheryl recently cleaned out her attic, which was mostly full of all Blake and Ryan's childhood stuff. Shes having a blast with all her fun stuff. In the house, we finished putting in the new flooring, and the baseboards, and got some new shelving units for the new "play room". I cant tell you how nice it is to have real floors, and have clear defined spaces and things put away in their place, instead of a constant construction zone with everything out and everywhere. We still have a lot to do but at least we are making headway and each week our house is more organized than it was the previous week. A little at a time is what you gotta do to make it happen!
This weekend was a HUGE weekend. Saturday was Venissa's shower up in Temecula area (shes having a little girl, who will be named Addison!) Thanks to my Mom who joined me for the long drive up (long drives with no one to talk to + Loralyn = asleep at the wheel) and to help me take care of Aurora so I could visit with that group that I hardly ever get to see anymore. Then we had to book it back down to SD after a few hours up there to get set up for a big work event at my Dean's house that he has every year for some of the staff, the faculty, 3rd & 4th year students and alumni. This was my first year planning and attending the event. It turned out great, but it was a long day for all of us, esp Aurora, considering her birthday party was the next day!
So then the big day was yesterday, and it was great! Our best friends and family came out to celebrate with us, everyone pitched in and helped out a ton, and it was just wonderful. I cant wait to see the pictures that Pam took for the event. Aurora looked so cute in her little sunflower dress, and had too much fun with her cake, esp when all her friends joined in. (Kiera was first, then Boston then Luke. We had all the kids up there sharing this pink Sleeping Beauty cake!!!) But my favorite moment of the day was when Luke had his bottle out, and he left it to go play on the other side of the blanket with something else. Aurora reached down, got the bottle and walked it all the way over to where he was and gave it to him! What a sweet little helper. It doesnt surprise me though; our wonderful sitter Diane has 2 infant babies as well as Aurora and apparently Aurora helps with them all the time; gives them their pacifiers, rocks them in their infant seats, etc. Soooo cute! Boy is she going to come in handy with the next kid.
Anyway, by the end of the day, packing everything up for a huge picnic to the park then packing back up and to our house, plus all the gifts (that we still have yet to open!), our house is a mess, and we are exhausted but so happy and blessed. Now on to Mother's Day events, and after that Memorial Day weekend at the King's River. Cant wait for that, its going to be so much fun!!!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
We Have Teeth!!!
What a week! Tuesday Rory cut her first tooth. So after that fever she got last week and her first steps, what a surprise! I’m wondering now if the fever was a pre-curser to the tooth. Cheryl said that Ryan got a high fever each time before his teeth. So we will watch for that fever again and it might indicate another tooth is on the way. Anyway, so Tuesday morning Aurora woke up fussier than I have ever seen her – for no apparent reason. Normally she is so happy to wake up and we do stretches and change her diaper, get into her clothes, and off to Diane’s. But this particular morning she was crying and fussy and was very unhappy. She was still winy if you held her and watch out if you set her down for a second.
Well Diane said she was a little grumpy that day too, and we picked her up, and Ryan fed her dinner. Melinda was over because Nathan was out of town this week for work, and just as Ryan finished feeding Aurora dinner and was cleaning her up in her high chair, he started jumping all around the kitchen yelling “I found a tooth, I found a tooth!” I was like, what? Are you serious? Get out! But no, there it was, the middle-right tooth on the bottom poking through! She was much happier after it cut through her gums and has been a happy camper since then. Although, she does bite too hard once in a while on something and I think hurts her gums up top or her cheeks on the side.
Ryan put in the pull up bar in the living room last night so I’m excited to soon start my new program.
Well Diane said she was a little grumpy that day too, and we picked her up, and Ryan fed her dinner. Melinda was over because Nathan was out of town this week for work, and just as Ryan finished feeding Aurora dinner and was cleaning her up in her high chair, he started jumping all around the kitchen yelling “I found a tooth, I found a tooth!” I was like, what? Are you serious? Get out! But no, there it was, the middle-right tooth on the bottom poking through! She was much happier after it cut through her gums and has been a happy camper since then. Although, she does bite too hard once in a while on something and I think hurts her gums up top or her cheeks on the side.
Ryan put in the pull up bar in the living room last night so I’m excited to soon start my new program.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Family Updates...
Aurora is almost 11 months old! And 4 days before turning 11 months old (yesterday to be exact), she took her first steps! YOU GO GIRL! It was so cute. She was so tentative about it, like she was thinking “Im going to try something, but Im not quite sure how this is going to end up…” my friend Alyssa was there to witness it, and so was Ryan. We even got a few of the after steps on video. Now this is no where near walking, that will probably come in the upcoming weeks, but its so exciting none the less. So she stood on her own for the first time at exactly 10 months, and now walking at 11. :0)
Other than that, she can wear all 6 month old clothing now. All of her smaller sized shirts and dresses though still fit her small frame. (It’s mostly her jammies that she grows out of quickly since she is of average height she gets too tall for things with feet on them). Some of my favorite shirts to go with jeans were actually little dress/shirts that went with little bloomers and are newborn size! But they look so darn cute as shirts with her little jeans. I’m so excited to dress her for the upcoming events of Easter, her birthday then Mother’s Day. I’m actually stoked that she is standing and will be walking for them, since it makes the dresses all the cuter when she is standing like a little lady in them.
She loves eating the same food as us, and as long as we have food on our plates and are eating, she will take bites from us. STILL NO TEETH! I’m so annoyed because she soo wants to be eating more grown up food but doesn’t have any teeth to assist her. And there are none in sight either. I am beginning to wonder if she even has any teeth under those gums! Lol. She did get a fever this week though. Monday I went to pick her up from Diane’s and she had a fever of 102. I stayed home with her in the morning since Ryan had an inspection and then he came back after noon and took over. She was such a sweetie; didn’t whine or cry at all, just slept a lot and wanted to cuddle. It finally broke on Wed and she went back to Diane’s on Thursday. But she now has a cough and a really congested nose. Poor dear. Hope she is fully better for Sunday. So she has had a total of 3 colds and this one fever by her 11th month birthday.
Her desire to communicate is growing too. There have been many times that I swear she says something. I’m sure it is just a coincidence but one thing is for sure; she is babbling like crazy and she thinks she is saying something important. Her sounds are so cute too. She does a “deedle deedle” where she sticks her tongue in and out, and of course her “bobble bobble” where she does a sound like an Indian but with the back of her hand, she claps, she does high five, and she does a “dance dance dance” where she shimmies her shoulders up and down alternating them, and its so freaking cute. We have a few instances of it on video and I really want Ryan to put them into a video montage of it. I might get desperate enough to learn the editing software for myself.
Today my step-dad, mom and Ryan are all home putting in our new wood flooring in the living room, hall and den. Im soooo excited to finally have this project done! I didn’t mind the concrete for a long time but at a certain point, you just want real flooring! More for Aurora than anything else. I cant wait to get it in and pick out some nice area rugs. I love you honey, you are the best! And special thanks to Wayne and my mom, who we couldn’t have done any of it without your help!
And I ordered the P90X program… I’m committed to get ripped in 90 days. And it coincides with the biggest loser challenge that me and some other co-workers are doing. Im going to do a separate blog about it and do nasty muffin top photos in my pair of skinny jeans (as in jeans that I used to be able to fit in when I was skinny, NOT the new style of jeans with tapered legs that make everyone look like a cow), the whole bit. If I fail, I will do it in front of all my friends and family. Good motivation, I think.
OH and my bestest friend from college, Venissa is having a girl! Her shower is the day before Aurora’s bday party and Im so stoked. Little girl stuff is too much fun! She’s scheduled for a C-section at the end of May so our little girls will both be May babies together. AWWWWWW.
Ok that’s it for now! Sorry I’m so MIA on here, life happens…
Other than that, she can wear all 6 month old clothing now. All of her smaller sized shirts and dresses though still fit her small frame. (It’s mostly her jammies that she grows out of quickly since she is of average height she gets too tall for things with feet on them). Some of my favorite shirts to go with jeans were actually little dress/shirts that went with little bloomers and are newborn size! But they look so darn cute as shirts with her little jeans. I’m so excited to dress her for the upcoming events of Easter, her birthday then Mother’s Day. I’m actually stoked that she is standing and will be walking for them, since it makes the dresses all the cuter when she is standing like a little lady in them.
She loves eating the same food as us, and as long as we have food on our plates and are eating, she will take bites from us. STILL NO TEETH! I’m so annoyed because she soo wants to be eating more grown up food but doesn’t have any teeth to assist her. And there are none in sight either. I am beginning to wonder if she even has any teeth under those gums! Lol. She did get a fever this week though. Monday I went to pick her up from Diane’s and she had a fever of 102. I stayed home with her in the morning since Ryan had an inspection and then he came back after noon and took over. She was such a sweetie; didn’t whine or cry at all, just slept a lot and wanted to cuddle. It finally broke on Wed and she went back to Diane’s on Thursday. But she now has a cough and a really congested nose. Poor dear. Hope she is fully better for Sunday. So she has had a total of 3 colds and this one fever by her 11th month birthday.
Her desire to communicate is growing too. There have been many times that I swear she says something. I’m sure it is just a coincidence but one thing is for sure; she is babbling like crazy and she thinks she is saying something important. Her sounds are so cute too. She does a “deedle deedle” where she sticks her tongue in and out, and of course her “bobble bobble” where she does a sound like an Indian but with the back of her hand, she claps, she does high five, and she does a “dance dance dance” where she shimmies her shoulders up and down alternating them, and its so freaking cute. We have a few instances of it on video and I really want Ryan to put them into a video montage of it. I might get desperate enough to learn the editing software for myself.
Today my step-dad, mom and Ryan are all home putting in our new wood flooring in the living room, hall and den. Im soooo excited to finally have this project done! I didn’t mind the concrete for a long time but at a certain point, you just want real flooring! More for Aurora than anything else. I cant wait to get it in and pick out some nice area rugs. I love you honey, you are the best! And special thanks to Wayne and my mom, who we couldn’t have done any of it without your help!
And I ordered the P90X program… I’m committed to get ripped in 90 days. And it coincides with the biggest loser challenge that me and some other co-workers are doing. Im going to do a separate blog about it and do nasty muffin top photos in my pair of skinny jeans (as in jeans that I used to be able to fit in when I was skinny, NOT the new style of jeans with tapered legs that make everyone look like a cow), the whole bit. If I fail, I will do it in front of all my friends and family. Good motivation, I think.
OH and my bestest friend from college, Venissa is having a girl! Her shower is the day before Aurora’s bday party and Im so stoked. Little girl stuff is too much fun! She’s scheduled for a C-section at the end of May so our little girls will both be May babies together. AWWWWWW.
Ok that’s it for now! Sorry I’m so MIA on here, life happens…
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wow, New Stuff Already?
Aurora is now waving... at everything. Including the plants, windows, pretty much everything. And when she really gets into it, she does it with both arms. Like special things need a special super duper double wave.
She stood unassisted all by her self for a few seconds (multiple times) last night. Funny part is, she seems a little unsure about it, like "Im not so sure I should be doing this, what is going on here???" Funny because she doesnt seem to have those same thoughts about chewing on the freezer electrical cord, or eating Guinness's dog food.
Maybe its just my mother's ear, but it really seems like when I talk to her, and try to work on words with her, she *tries* to repeat them back to me. Could just be my imagination though. Last night I was dreaming about doing work... and was sad when I got to work and realized it wasnt actually done.
I think Im going to have to get Skype for my Mom. Yes, the same Mom who only lives 30 min away. Why might you ask? Because every day I currently have to listen to, "do you think she is even going to remember who I am???" since we only see my Mom once a week. And if we can't see her one week.... well from her reaction you would think that she lived across the US and had missed every important milestone that Aurora has reached from birth to 2 years old. It's all in good fun though - I love you Mom - it shows how much you care.
She stood unassisted all by her self for a few seconds (multiple times) last night. Funny part is, she seems a little unsure about it, like "Im not so sure I should be doing this, what is going on here???" Funny because she doesnt seem to have those same thoughts about chewing on the freezer electrical cord, or eating Guinness's dog food.
Maybe its just my mother's ear, but it really seems like when I talk to her, and try to work on words with her, she *tries* to repeat them back to me. Could just be my imagination though. Last night I was dreaming about doing work... and was sad when I got to work and realized it wasnt actually done.
I think Im going to have to get Skype for my Mom. Yes, the same Mom who only lives 30 min away. Why might you ask? Because every day I currently have to listen to, "do you think she is even going to remember who I am???" since we only see my Mom once a week. And if we can't see her one week.... well from her reaction you would think that she lived across the US and had missed every important milestone that Aurora has reached from birth to 2 years old. It's all in good fun though - I love you Mom - it shows how much you care.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Family Changes...
Well getting my period today coincides nicely with going back on birth control, which I got in the mail this week. Since I am done breastfeeding and we wont be trying to get pregnant again until the summer/fall, I wanted to go back on birth control – my periods are WAY heavier now post baby and off of bc then they used to be. So Im hoping they will be a little more manageable now when I start bc again. (Although I cant complain, my “heavy” is still most women’s light days. Some of you may want to shoot me for calling 4 tampons a day heavy.)
Speaking of heavy, a not so fun side effect of not breastfeeding anymore; gaining weight! I was doing really well and was back down to 142 at the tail end of breastfeeding, then when I stopped I crept back up to a high of 147 again. I’ve been watching it the last week or so and am down to 144 but clearly I need to be more careful. Besides, I want to get down again for the summer, and stay there before I get pregnant again. Its not really ok with me to be heavier starting this pregnancy than I was the last one; it would be way to easy to just keep gaining a few pounds here and there between these things and never really loose it before the next event, and before you know it, Im 175 lbs! I do exercise when I can (Ryan and I take walks and I try to go jogging once a week), but it’s so hard when all you want to do is spend time with your little one!
So the reason that we decided to try again this summer/fall is a long story. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Well, originally we wanted to have as many kids as we could afford. Hopefully 3. Stretch goal of 4. Minimum of 2. And we had thought that 3 years apart was just about right; not too much time between them that they couldn’t relate to each other, and that my eggs dried up, but any less time between them they might compete and might not be enough recoup time for us between kids. Well then we realized we would be spitting kids out for the better part of a decade. That’s a little overwhelming. Then we realized that the limiting factor for getting on to the next stage in our lives (after the whole child having stage) to be able to actually do stuff with them was when we had the final kid, and that kid finally was in school. (Finances freed up from childcare, expected career development and raises on our part, etc.) sooooooooo we finally came to the conclusion that it would be better to space them out more like 2 years apart. All the advantages of having them closer together but still far enough apart that it wouldn’t be overwhelming.
Then came the discussion of how many to have. We have known for some time time that if we had more than 2 kids it would be a serious financial strain, and the biggest factor was housing. Our current place really only comfortably can fit a family with two kids, and preferably of the same sex so they can share the 2nd bedroom comfortably. (The 3rd bedroom downstairs really isn’t a viable bedroom). And we knew that we couldn’t afford a bigger house anytime in the next decade. We realized that we would rather be able to do all (or most) of the amazing things we wanted with our kids (travel, etc.) if we just stopped at two, and were able to stay in our current house. Since we have come to terms with this, we both feel better and more comfortable with the future of our family. YEA!
Sooooo, back to the storyline, we will be trying again this fall, to get them spaced out about 2 years.
Aurora is having tons of fun playing with more things, “talking” up a storm and has turned into a one woman band with all the fun noises she makes. She loves to run the back of her hand over her mouth and make the “bibble bobble” sound as we call it, run her “motorboat” mouth, and cluck like a chicken. Recently she started sharing her pacifier with me too; if I ask her to share it and open my mouth, she’ll take it out of hers and put it in mine… for like a second before popping it back out and back to her – patience isn’t a strong suit for kids that young. She has traded in her favorite word of “daddy” for all these sounds, but we are working on some basic baby sign language and some words too. (Like “again” to repeat a fun game or movement that she likes). She hasn’t quite mastered the wave for hello and goodbye but we are working on that too! We also need to work on “kisses” since she thinks that means open your mouth as wide as you can and see what flavors you can suck off of the other person’s mouth. It would be gross coming from anyone but Aurora. lol
She has one cupboard that she is allowed in, with all the plastic and metal kitchen stuff, and she loves taking everything out and playing with it while I’m cooking and cleaning. Still no walking yet; she’s great at crawling and cruising and seems to be very content at this stage. (Compared to her friend Luke who just came up, literally, out of nowhere and is now walking!)
At nearly 10 months, still no teeth! I’m beginning to doubt she even has any of them underneath those deliciously pink gums. But I still practice brushing my teeth with her. She gets to suck on and hold her toothbrush while I do mine, and I let her have a little taste of the minty freshness, which she loves.
She is finally fitting well in all of her 6 month old clothing. (Although many clothes that don’t have a height limitation - like her jammies - still fit; she still has shirts that are newborn size that fit her perfect with jeans now.) We just bought her easter dress, so cute; white with little sunflowers all over it!
Speaking of heavy, a not so fun side effect of not breastfeeding anymore; gaining weight! I was doing really well and was back down to 142 at the tail end of breastfeeding, then when I stopped I crept back up to a high of 147 again. I’ve been watching it the last week or so and am down to 144 but clearly I need to be more careful. Besides, I want to get down again for the summer, and stay there before I get pregnant again. Its not really ok with me to be heavier starting this pregnancy than I was the last one; it would be way to easy to just keep gaining a few pounds here and there between these things and never really loose it before the next event, and before you know it, Im 175 lbs! I do exercise when I can (Ryan and I take walks and I try to go jogging once a week), but it’s so hard when all you want to do is spend time with your little one!
So the reason that we decided to try again this summer/fall is a long story. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Well, originally we wanted to have as many kids as we could afford. Hopefully 3. Stretch goal of 4. Minimum of 2. And we had thought that 3 years apart was just about right; not too much time between them that they couldn’t relate to each other, and that my eggs dried up, but any less time between them they might compete and might not be enough recoup time for us between kids. Well then we realized we would be spitting kids out for the better part of a decade. That’s a little overwhelming. Then we realized that the limiting factor for getting on to the next stage in our lives (after the whole child having stage) to be able to actually do stuff with them was when we had the final kid, and that kid finally was in school. (Finances freed up from childcare, expected career development and raises on our part, etc.) sooooooooo we finally came to the conclusion that it would be better to space them out more like 2 years apart. All the advantages of having them closer together but still far enough apart that it wouldn’t be overwhelming.
Then came the discussion of how many to have. We have known for some time time that if we had more than 2 kids it would be a serious financial strain, and the biggest factor was housing. Our current place really only comfortably can fit a family with two kids, and preferably of the same sex so they can share the 2nd bedroom comfortably. (The 3rd bedroom downstairs really isn’t a viable bedroom). And we knew that we couldn’t afford a bigger house anytime in the next decade. We realized that we would rather be able to do all (or most) of the amazing things we wanted with our kids (travel, etc.) if we just stopped at two, and were able to stay in our current house. Since we have come to terms with this, we both feel better and more comfortable with the future of our family. YEA!
Sooooo, back to the storyline, we will be trying again this fall, to get them spaced out about 2 years.
Aurora is having tons of fun playing with more things, “talking” up a storm and has turned into a one woman band with all the fun noises she makes. She loves to run the back of her hand over her mouth and make the “bibble bobble” sound as we call it, run her “motorboat” mouth, and cluck like a chicken. Recently she started sharing her pacifier with me too; if I ask her to share it and open my mouth, she’ll take it out of hers and put it in mine… for like a second before popping it back out and back to her – patience isn’t a strong suit for kids that young. She has traded in her favorite word of “daddy” for all these sounds, but we are working on some basic baby sign language and some words too. (Like “again” to repeat a fun game or movement that she likes). She hasn’t quite mastered the wave for hello and goodbye but we are working on that too! We also need to work on “kisses” since she thinks that means open your mouth as wide as you can and see what flavors you can suck off of the other person’s mouth. It would be gross coming from anyone but Aurora. lol
She has one cupboard that she is allowed in, with all the plastic and metal kitchen stuff, and she loves taking everything out and playing with it while I’m cooking and cleaning. Still no walking yet; she’s great at crawling and cruising and seems to be very content at this stage. (Compared to her friend Luke who just came up, literally, out of nowhere and is now walking!)
At nearly 10 months, still no teeth! I’m beginning to doubt she even has any of them underneath those deliciously pink gums. But I still practice brushing my teeth with her. She gets to suck on and hold her toothbrush while I do mine, and I let her have a little taste of the minty freshness, which she loves.
She is finally fitting well in all of her 6 month old clothing. (Although many clothes that don’t have a height limitation - like her jammies - still fit; she still has shirts that are newborn size that fit her perfect with jeans now.) We just bought her easter dress, so cute; white with little sunflowers all over it!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Beginning of the End
1/19/10: I didn’t have enough milk for Aurora’s early morning feeding, and had to go get her 2oz of formula to top her off. So I skipped the pumping that night, in hopes that I would build up enough milk for the next morning.
1/20/10: I had enough milk for Aurora, but was sad that it took over 14 hours to build it up. Did NOT take my pump to work, since I knew at this level of production I wouldn’t need to pump. Decided to try to breast feed Aurora for her bedtime feeding, which is normally a bottle. (She is best about breastfeeding when A. I have enough milk, B. When its time to sleep; night and early morning, and C. When I do it in her room, with the lights out in the rocking chair.) Wasn’t as through of a feeding as I would have liked, but at least she did it. Didn’t pump afterward.
1/21/10: Seemed to have enough this morning too. So my new schedule is no pumping, breastfeed for the early morning feeding, formula (and all her yummy food) during the day, and a breastfeeding at night to send her to sleepyland. We will see how long she is good about feeding for those two times, and how well my production holds up for that.
On a related note, she LOVES food! My favorite so far is fish with carrot and cheese sauce. It is so good I would eat it, and she really enjoys it. It has been great to get all these awesome ideas and recipes from Top 100 Baby Purees (Thanks Lisa!!!) because I would never think of all of them on my own. She is also a huge sweet potato fan, and of course her old classic stand by, cereal with fruit. She is really good with her finger foods, (Cheerios, crusty bread, etc.) She has a strange upset tummy with random things though. She ate a cracker over the holidays and threw it up later, then this last weekend we were out to dinner and they had fresh made flour tortillas (not whole grain but I thought it would be fine, just flour and water, right?) WRONG, she threw up exorcist style. I had a fun time trying to clean her and her chair up in the women’s restroom of the restaurant at the same time. She is now eating a full 3 times a day, or 4-5 if they are small meals. A full meal is normally 3 cubes of food, 2 heaping tablespoons of cereal mixed with 2 oz of formula and about 3oz of milk or formula to wash it down. Wow! I have a good video of eating but it needs some “super soldier” editing first. ;0)
She is also loving cruising around, and wants to walk. She isn’t trying to walk on her own yet; realizes that to get from point A to B she will still go back to the floor to crawl, but she has a blast pulling herself up on everything she can to make herself a big tall girl. After seeing how much she loved a rolling walker that Boston let her try out at the park a week back, we bought one of our own. It’s so cute; a Disney princess “car” that also has a nice handle on the back, so she can use it as a walker or sit on it and have us push her which she loves too. I don’t think she is going to make my prediction of walking by 9 months (which is in 2 weeks) but I do think she will be right on track for what I was; sometime in the 10th month.
She tries to get into everything now, plays with everything, but knows the word “no” and does listen to us when we say it seriously with force. Sometimes she gets sensitive and starts to cry, but usually she just takes it with a grain of salt and finds something else to do. We are so lucky!
She also got her first taste of cake. Boy oh boy does she love it. We got to go to an AWESOME 1st B-day party of Mr. Boston Bruce, and Ashley put the cake down on the ground outside for easy access to all the kids (what a great idea!). We held Aurora back for a little bit but she REALLY wanted to be a part of the action, so we let her go for it. This is what transpired:
The other kids just can't hold back
Evidence of the crime scene.... the tracks that the criminal left.
1/20/10: I had enough milk for Aurora, but was sad that it took over 14 hours to build it up. Did NOT take my pump to work, since I knew at this level of production I wouldn’t need to pump. Decided to try to breast feed Aurora for her bedtime feeding, which is normally a bottle. (She is best about breastfeeding when A. I have enough milk, B. When its time to sleep; night and early morning, and C. When I do it in her room, with the lights out in the rocking chair.) Wasn’t as through of a feeding as I would have liked, but at least she did it. Didn’t pump afterward.
1/21/10: Seemed to have enough this morning too. So my new schedule is no pumping, breastfeed for the early morning feeding, formula (and all her yummy food) during the day, and a breastfeeding at night to send her to sleepyland. We will see how long she is good about feeding for those two times, and how well my production holds up for that.
On a related note, she LOVES food! My favorite so far is fish with carrot and cheese sauce. It is so good I would eat it, and she really enjoys it. It has been great to get all these awesome ideas and recipes from Top 100 Baby Purees (Thanks Lisa!!!) because I would never think of all of them on my own. She is also a huge sweet potato fan, and of course her old classic stand by, cereal with fruit. She is really good with her finger foods, (Cheerios, crusty bread, etc.) She has a strange upset tummy with random things though. She ate a cracker over the holidays and threw it up later, then this last weekend we were out to dinner and they had fresh made flour tortillas (not whole grain but I thought it would be fine, just flour and water, right?) WRONG, she threw up exorcist style. I had a fun time trying to clean her and her chair up in the women’s restroom of the restaurant at the same time. She is now eating a full 3 times a day, or 4-5 if they are small meals. A full meal is normally 3 cubes of food, 2 heaping tablespoons of cereal mixed with 2 oz of formula and about 3oz of milk or formula to wash it down. Wow! I have a good video of eating but it needs some “super soldier” editing first. ;0)
She is also loving cruising around, and wants to walk. She isn’t trying to walk on her own yet; realizes that to get from point A to B she will still go back to the floor to crawl, but she has a blast pulling herself up on everything she can to make herself a big tall girl. After seeing how much she loved a rolling walker that Boston let her try out at the park a week back, we bought one of our own. It’s so cute; a Disney princess “car” that also has a nice handle on the back, so she can use it as a walker or sit on it and have us push her which she loves too. I don’t think she is going to make my prediction of walking by 9 months (which is in 2 weeks) but I do think she will be right on track for what I was; sometime in the 10th month.
She tries to get into everything now, plays with everything, but knows the word “no” and does listen to us when we say it seriously with force. Sometimes she gets sensitive and starts to cry, but usually she just takes it with a grain of salt and finds something else to do. We are so lucky!
She also got her first taste of cake. Boy oh boy does she love it. We got to go to an AWESOME 1st B-day party of Mr. Boston Bruce, and Ashley put the cake down on the ground outside for easy access to all the kids (what a great idea!). We held Aurora back for a little bit but she REALLY wanted to be a part of the action, so we let her go for it. This is what transpired:
Boston digs in...
The other kids just can't hold back
Look at the cake, mom!
Look at this mess, seriously!
Evidence of the crime scene.... the tracks that the criminal left.Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Into EVERYTHING
Well, our days of cute cuddly little Aurora are done. Welcome to the days of "No!" and "Not for you!", bumps, bruises, and frustrated babies. If we were not sure before, Aurora is officially my baby. She wants to be a part of everything, has the patience of... well an 8 month old (and if she takes after me that number will not grow with her age), and is so easily frustrated at everything that she CANT do that her squeals of dissatisfaction have prompted calls from the neighbors to CPS – well no, not quite, but that is a growing fear of mine.
She is not a happy camper when:
- She can’t walk
- She can’t be at your level
- She can’t chew Guinness’s chew toys
- You won’t give her your pretties (jewelry)
- We don’t have her food ready the second she decides she is hungry
- We don’t feed her fast enough
- I don’t have as much milk in my jugs as she wants (yea formula)
- Her legs get stuck up in her sleepers since her legs are so skinny they don’t stay down in the legs
- She has to stay still to get dressed
She is happy when:
- She is sleeping
- She is nursing (well) or drinking her bottle or eating
- She is playing with her favorite toy while sucking her favorite passy
- You are playing peek-a-boo with her
- You are tickling her
She is moving all over the place and won’t sit still for one single second. She is either up and moving, or down and sleeping. Nothing in between. No happy content baby to just sit and play quietly. She tries to commit suicide every other minute in a myriad of ways; chewing on electrical cords, diving off chairs and couches, jumping out of your arms, trying to walk even though she clearly doesn’t have the balance or dexterity for it yet… Every time she does one of these things, Ryan gives me the look. The look says, “that is your daughter, and she is acting just like you.” I’m waiting for the busted lips and black eyes. At least the damage is limited, for the time being, seeing as how she is so short; hence close to the ground. *Sigh* We are in for it.
She is not a happy camper when:
- She can’t walk
- She can’t be at your level
- She can’t chew Guinness’s chew toys
- You won’t give her your pretties (jewelry)
- We don’t have her food ready the second she decides she is hungry
- We don’t feed her fast enough
- I don’t have as much milk in my jugs as she wants (yea formula)
- Her legs get stuck up in her sleepers since her legs are so skinny they don’t stay down in the legs
- She has to stay still to get dressed
She is happy when:
- She is sleeping
- She is nursing (well) or drinking her bottle or eating
- She is playing with her favorite toy while sucking her favorite passy
- You are playing peek-a-boo with her
- You are tickling her
She is moving all over the place and won’t sit still for one single second. She is either up and moving, or down and sleeping. Nothing in between. No happy content baby to just sit and play quietly. She tries to commit suicide every other minute in a myriad of ways; chewing on electrical cords, diving off chairs and couches, jumping out of your arms, trying to walk even though she clearly doesn’t have the balance or dexterity for it yet… Every time she does one of these things, Ryan gives me the look. The look says, “that is your daughter, and she is acting just like you.” I’m waiting for the busted lips and black eyes. At least the damage is limited, for the time being, seeing as how she is so short; hence close to the ground. *Sigh* We are in for it.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Nearly 8 Months!!!
Christmas wrap-up; Wednesday was my last day of work for the week, and we got home and went over to the Rubin’s for a cocktail party for our cousins Meg and Justin, who had just come in town for the holidays. It was great to see them again, and to get the holiday festivities started. I was a little worried about how Aurora would do with the first of 3 evenings out, when she usually goes to bed so early (between 6-8pm) but she did fine.
Christmas Eve day I spent at home, trying to get ready for the upcoming days. Ryan had to go in to work, but came home early to catch a nap, since both of us had come down with a bad cold, just in time for the holidays! Luckily Aurora didn’t get sick at all, probably because of the antibodies in my breastmilk for the same sickness we were fighting – Go breastfeeding!!! My Mom came over to help clean up, make my potluck dishes and hang out, then later that afternoon we headed up to Ramona to spend Christmas Eve with Cheryl’s side of the family. Aurora did great, and had no problem with her first Santa encounter.
The next day was crazy; Christmas morning till 10:30 at Cheryl’s house, then over to my Mom’s house till 3pm and over to the Rubin’s for the rest of the day.
Then over to the Stoops on Saturday for after Christmas brunch and to meet Kimmy’s new beau, (who is a TOTAL doll).
We were planning on driving up to Huntington Beach on Sunday to visit my Aunt Tina and her family but she got pretty sick so we decided to put it off till sometime next month. Good thing too, because we were exhausted and the house was an absolute disaster! My Mom came over to help with Aurora and clean up and finally the house is back in order.
I’m pretty sure that Aurora is teething. She has been randomly fussy for no reason, (SCREAMING her head off, like she has never done before) then a while later is fine. She didn’t want to go to bed last night, even though she was clearly exhausted for hours. Finally I just took her into our room and let her hang out on the bed with me and Ryan while he read a book and she and I just laid there until we both got sleepy and I put her to bed. She woke up at midnight and again at 5am crying and wanting to nurse. We will see how today goes. Quick Happy Birthday to Keira, who is 2 today.
She eats a ton and LOVES her food. I am making more interesting foods and she is a fan. Her fav is sweet potatoes and onion with cumin. I have to admit it tastes pretty good! I made a creamy pea batch with mango and garlic and she likes that too. Old standby is cooked apples with banana and cinnamon. Can’t wait till she gets her teeth and she can eat more finger foods, because she is wanting to, just cant yet. (I can wait for the fussiness that goes with teething though). It’s crazy because her friend Hazel already has 4 teeth.
Other than that she is an active baby, getting into everything and pulling herself up on anything she can grasp. She is very much like Ryan though; when you get mad and tell her “no” she gets very upset and starts crying. I feel awful so I don’t do that often. Luckily she is really good and doesn’t get into bad stuff very much – yet.
Some stuff she is already mastering for her age: pulling herself up to stand and cruising, picking things up with her thumb and finger, banging things together, coordinated crawling, wanting to drink from a sippy cup… but hasn’t gotten other things yet like waving goodbye or pointing to things. Saying “mama” and “dada” much more, which makes us happy, but still doesn’t realize what she is saying.
Now on to breastfeeding. I will first say that before having Aurora, I considered breastfeeding to be a simple choice, (to borrow a phrase from a friend), like disposable vs. cloth diapers. After being a working mom now for 5 months, and pumping up to 8 times a day, taking fenugreek and trying to breastfeed whenever possible to keep up production, I can attest that its not that simple. I do still believe that anyone who wants to breastfeed (or provide breastmilk) can. The question is how dedicated you are, and how much time and effort you have in you to put into making it happen. At some point, the cost is not worth the benefits of providing that to your child. And that cost/benefit ratio is different for every mom, and every mom has their breaking point.
I was lucky that Aurora breastfed really well from the beginning, and that I didn’t have any issues in those first 3 months where breastfeeding was getting established. When I went back to work it got a little more complicated. Aurora got used to the bottle and didn’t want to bf if I didn’t have plenty of milk. When I went back to work, the only time that I could bf her was in the morning and at night. The night time one was a problem, since that was the feeding we had chosen to get her used to the bottle before I went back to work, since Ryan could do it and bond with her too. So when I did go back, suddenly I wanted to breastfeed her at night again, and for most of her life she was used to Daddy doing a bottle feeding instead. So basically I was left only being able to do one breastfeeding a day (in the morning) and having to pump throughout the day and evening for the rest of it. THANK God I have an amazing and supportive boss who gave me a place to pump and the flexibility in my schedule to do it when I need to.
Anyway, anyone who has done the research will tell you that pumping does not stimulate your milk production the same way that a baby does, and without the baby to jump start your production on the turn of a dime, you have to rely on pumping every 2 hours and fenugreek to bring it back up. It is hard work. And sometimes you just cant pump every 2 hours! Its all of the work and then some of the bottles and storage, and none of the convenience of breastfeeding. And eventually, if you don’t have any baby stimulation, your body will probably decrease production and it will dwindle away. And forget unexpected things that decrease your production; stress, getting sick, not being able to pump consistently for a day or two due to whatever, etc.
Well I made it this far (almost 8 months). I was hoping to make it to a full year, but that is not going to happen. We have needed to supplement with formula here and there when my production goes down anyway and there is now more of that. I’m still hoping to produce until a year, but we will see. Recently my production dropped, and I tried to get it back up with no avail. And with all the holiday stuff going on it was impossible to pump every 2 hours, so I just decided I was done with it! THEN Aurora was really good about feeding and brought some of my production back up. So Im providing about 10-14 oz a day of breastmilk for her, and she drinks about 18-24 oz a day, so she is still getting over half of her intake as breastmilk. My decision for here on out is to NOT stress about it. I will try to breastfeed when I can, pump when I can, produce as much as my body does, but I will not obsess about taking the fenugreek and pumping every 2 hours, monitoring my daily production like a dairy farmer. Since I decided this, I have been so much happier! A weight has been lifted from my shoulders! And I have to say that I have the most wonderful and supportive husband, who is behind me 100%.
I have learned A LOT on this first go, and hopefully things will be easier and I will be more successful with our next child. But if I am not, that will be ok too, because Aurora has taught me to be easier on myself. I’m a good and loving mom, and my children will be raised well, with the best that Ryan and I have to offer.
Christmas Eve day I spent at home, trying to get ready for the upcoming days. Ryan had to go in to work, but came home early to catch a nap, since both of us had come down with a bad cold, just in time for the holidays! Luckily Aurora didn’t get sick at all, probably because of the antibodies in my breastmilk for the same sickness we were fighting – Go breastfeeding!!! My Mom came over to help clean up, make my potluck dishes and hang out, then later that afternoon we headed up to Ramona to spend Christmas Eve with Cheryl’s side of the family. Aurora did great, and had no problem with her first Santa encounter.
The next day was crazy; Christmas morning till 10:30 at Cheryl’s house, then over to my Mom’s house till 3pm and over to the Rubin’s for the rest of the day.
Then over to the Stoops on Saturday for after Christmas brunch and to meet Kimmy’s new beau, (who is a TOTAL doll).
We were planning on driving up to Huntington Beach on Sunday to visit my Aunt Tina and her family but she got pretty sick so we decided to put it off till sometime next month. Good thing too, because we were exhausted and the house was an absolute disaster! My Mom came over to help with Aurora and clean up and finally the house is back in order.
I’m pretty sure that Aurora is teething. She has been randomly fussy for no reason, (SCREAMING her head off, like she has never done before) then a while later is fine. She didn’t want to go to bed last night, even though she was clearly exhausted for hours. Finally I just took her into our room and let her hang out on the bed with me and Ryan while he read a book and she and I just laid there until we both got sleepy and I put her to bed. She woke up at midnight and again at 5am crying and wanting to nurse. We will see how today goes. Quick Happy Birthday to Keira, who is 2 today.
She eats a ton and LOVES her food. I am making more interesting foods and she is a fan. Her fav is sweet potatoes and onion with cumin. I have to admit it tastes pretty good! I made a creamy pea batch with mango and garlic and she likes that too. Old standby is cooked apples with banana and cinnamon. Can’t wait till she gets her teeth and she can eat more finger foods, because she is wanting to, just cant yet. (I can wait for the fussiness that goes with teething though). It’s crazy because her friend Hazel already has 4 teeth.
Other than that she is an active baby, getting into everything and pulling herself up on anything she can grasp. She is very much like Ryan though; when you get mad and tell her “no” she gets very upset and starts crying. I feel awful so I don’t do that often. Luckily she is really good and doesn’t get into bad stuff very much – yet.
Some stuff she is already mastering for her age: pulling herself up to stand and cruising, picking things up with her thumb and finger, banging things together, coordinated crawling, wanting to drink from a sippy cup… but hasn’t gotten other things yet like waving goodbye or pointing to things. Saying “mama” and “dada” much more, which makes us happy, but still doesn’t realize what she is saying.
Now on to breastfeeding. I will first say that before having Aurora, I considered breastfeeding to be a simple choice, (to borrow a phrase from a friend), like disposable vs. cloth diapers. After being a working mom now for 5 months, and pumping up to 8 times a day, taking fenugreek and trying to breastfeed whenever possible to keep up production, I can attest that its not that simple. I do still believe that anyone who wants to breastfeed (or provide breastmilk) can. The question is how dedicated you are, and how much time and effort you have in you to put into making it happen. At some point, the cost is not worth the benefits of providing that to your child. And that cost/benefit ratio is different for every mom, and every mom has their breaking point.
I was lucky that Aurora breastfed really well from the beginning, and that I didn’t have any issues in those first 3 months where breastfeeding was getting established. When I went back to work it got a little more complicated. Aurora got used to the bottle and didn’t want to bf if I didn’t have plenty of milk. When I went back to work, the only time that I could bf her was in the morning and at night. The night time one was a problem, since that was the feeding we had chosen to get her used to the bottle before I went back to work, since Ryan could do it and bond with her too. So when I did go back, suddenly I wanted to breastfeed her at night again, and for most of her life she was used to Daddy doing a bottle feeding instead. So basically I was left only being able to do one breastfeeding a day (in the morning) and having to pump throughout the day and evening for the rest of it. THANK God I have an amazing and supportive boss who gave me a place to pump and the flexibility in my schedule to do it when I need to.
Anyway, anyone who has done the research will tell you that pumping does not stimulate your milk production the same way that a baby does, and without the baby to jump start your production on the turn of a dime, you have to rely on pumping every 2 hours and fenugreek to bring it back up. It is hard work. And sometimes you just cant pump every 2 hours! Its all of the work and then some of the bottles and storage, and none of the convenience of breastfeeding. And eventually, if you don’t have any baby stimulation, your body will probably decrease production and it will dwindle away. And forget unexpected things that decrease your production; stress, getting sick, not being able to pump consistently for a day or two due to whatever, etc.
Well I made it this far (almost 8 months). I was hoping to make it to a full year, but that is not going to happen. We have needed to supplement with formula here and there when my production goes down anyway and there is now more of that. I’m still hoping to produce until a year, but we will see. Recently my production dropped, and I tried to get it back up with no avail. And with all the holiday stuff going on it was impossible to pump every 2 hours, so I just decided I was done with it! THEN Aurora was really good about feeding and brought some of my production back up. So Im providing about 10-14 oz a day of breastmilk for her, and she drinks about 18-24 oz a day, so she is still getting over half of her intake as breastmilk. My decision for here on out is to NOT stress about it. I will try to breastfeed when I can, pump when I can, produce as much as my body does, but I will not obsess about taking the fenugreek and pumping every 2 hours, monitoring my daily production like a dairy farmer. Since I decided this, I have been so much happier! A weight has been lifted from my shoulders! And I have to say that I have the most wonderful and supportive husband, who is behind me 100%.
I have learned A LOT on this first go, and hopefully things will be easier and I will be more successful with our next child. But if I am not, that will be ok too, because Aurora has taught me to be easier on myself. I’m a good and loving mom, and my children will be raised well, with the best that Ryan and I have to offer.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
7 Months Old... and Counting!!!
I don’t know how Aurora manages to develop so quickly but I feel like every time I turn around she is doing something new. Less than 2 months ago she couldn’t get around much by herself… then we propped her up and she was able to sit up on her own. Then she began to catch herself when she would start to fall instead of falling face first into the ground. From that position she learned to fall forward into a crawling position, and began to (with great effort) crawl forward a few feet. After getting the crawling down in a more coordinated movement, she surprised us by pushing back into a sitting position. And now, just this week, can pull herself up along something sturdy to standing position! I think we are in trouble and she’s going to be walking within the next 2 months for sure, maybe less. At least she will still be too short to reach most things.
We are finally growing out of some of the 3-6 month old stuff, and going into the straight 6 month stuff (which is just a little too big for her) and trying to find as much cold weather clothes for her since she is her daddy’s girl; cold all the time and needs to bundle up like she’s camping in Patagonia! Fleece sleepers, socks or tights, pants and long sleeve onsies are our best friends these days. She is for sure taller than she is wide so the length of her clothes is what she grows out of first.
She generally seems to be a bigger fan of the airy/breathy sounds your mouth can make than the sounds that your lips make. She is finally “talking” a little more though, thank goodness. This whole time she has mostly just made cooing noises, no “mama”, “baba” or “gaga” sounds for her. So she is finally exploring with some of those other sounds.
Very excited about her first Christmas. We got our tree up 2 weekends ago, and it’s sooo pretty! I love all the decorations and already have some gifts wrapped under the tree. We have already learned the “no” word; thankfully she is impressionable and heeds our requests instead of ignoring them. Although she can’t touch, she LOVES the lights, ornaments, and the wrapped presents. She loves paper and so I give her a piece of the wrapping paper to play with. I think she likes the crinkle noises it makes.
We got our Xmas letter out this week, YEA, right on time. We decided to do a huge 4 page letter since this was such a momentous year, and used lots of pics instead of just doing one photo card and a 1 page letter. So any of you who don’t get one by Monday and want to get added to our distribution list, send me your address!
Oh yea and one more thing! She is finally truly sleeping all the way through the night. From 7pm to 6am the next morning, Ryan and I have uninterrupted “us” time. We normally go on a double duty cleaning frenzy, catch up with our shows/movies, or do a project together (like Xmas cards) in those precious hours after she goes to bed and before we do.
We are finally growing out of some of the 3-6 month old stuff, and going into the straight 6 month stuff (which is just a little too big for her) and trying to find as much cold weather clothes for her since she is her daddy’s girl; cold all the time and needs to bundle up like she’s camping in Patagonia! Fleece sleepers, socks or tights, pants and long sleeve onsies are our best friends these days. She is for sure taller than she is wide so the length of her clothes is what she grows out of first.
She generally seems to be a bigger fan of the airy/breathy sounds your mouth can make than the sounds that your lips make. She is finally “talking” a little more though, thank goodness. This whole time she has mostly just made cooing noises, no “mama”, “baba” or “gaga” sounds for her. So she is finally exploring with some of those other sounds.
Very excited about her first Christmas. We got our tree up 2 weekends ago, and it’s sooo pretty! I love all the decorations and already have some gifts wrapped under the tree. We have already learned the “no” word; thankfully she is impressionable and heeds our requests instead of ignoring them. Although she can’t touch, she LOVES the lights, ornaments, and the wrapped presents. She loves paper and so I give her a piece of the wrapping paper to play with. I think she likes the crinkle noises it makes.
We got our Xmas letter out this week, YEA, right on time. We decided to do a huge 4 page letter since this was such a momentous year, and used lots of pics instead of just doing one photo card and a 1 page letter. So any of you who don’t get one by Monday and want to get added to our distribution list, send me your address!
Oh yea and one more thing! She is finally truly sleeping all the way through the night. From 7pm to 6am the next morning, Ryan and I have uninterrupted “us” time. We normally go on a double duty cleaning frenzy, catch up with our shows/movies, or do a project together (like Xmas cards) in those precious hours after she goes to bed and before we do.
Monday, November 9, 2009
6th Month Appointment
Well Aurora had her 6 month appointment. It went well, and she is a happy healthy girl, if not super tiny! She is still in the <3 percentile (hovering just off of the bottom of the charts) for weight, and is 10-25th percentile for head circumference and height. They are not very concerned, since she is maintaining the same arc and is gaining at a consist ant rate. Ryan said they said, "Slow but steady" and that reminded him of me.... turtle, turtle! They gave her her vaccinations, and the regular flu shot, but only were giving the H1N1 to high risk - high risk groups. (So being a baby wasnt enough, you had to be a baby with heart disease or leukemia, etc.) So we will just have to forgo and hope that it doesnt come around to our part of town!
She is getting so good at sitting up on her own now. She can sit up on her own for minutes at a time, back straight - until something causes her to loose her balance then she still falls over, not being able to catch herself yet. She can even sit up without the aid of her hands for stability for short periods of time.
She loves to eat but we still struggle to make sure she drinks enough milk to stay hydrated! At least I'm producing enough at this point. We have not had to give her formula for a few weeks now.
On another note, I am almost back down to pre-baby weight! A bad weekend really sets me back, but somehow I am managing to get back ahead of it during the work week by eating healthy and running twice a week. Just in time too, because I have had some events at work that required a nice suit, which I have not fit for about a year now!
Well, thats all I can think of for now...
She is getting so good at sitting up on her own now. She can sit up on her own for minutes at a time, back straight - until something causes her to loose her balance then she still falls over, not being able to catch herself yet. She can even sit up without the aid of her hands for stability for short periods of time.
She loves to eat but we still struggle to make sure she drinks enough milk to stay hydrated! At least I'm producing enough at this point. We have not had to give her formula for a few weeks now.
On another note, I am almost back down to pre-baby weight! A bad weekend really sets me back, but somehow I am managing to get back ahead of it during the work week by eating healthy and running twice a week. Just in time too, because I have had some events at work that required a nice suit, which I have not fit for about a year now!
Well, thats all I can think of for now...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
6 months already? What's next... sweet 16???
Where does time go? I just realized its been over a month since my last blog entry, and after reading it, WOW has so much changed!!!
Well I’m still pumping away. I had a little stressful period a few weeks ago and my production decreased by 50% - that was really bad. But I got it back up. We have had to supplement with a bottle of formula here and there, mostly depending on how much she is drinking, since my production is pretty much consistent. She is only waking up once now, between 3:30 and 5, for a feeding and sometimes takes both sides, sometimes only one, and tops off at 6 before I pump. Same work pumping schedule (9, 12, 3) and then when I get home pumping at 6 and 9. I have been breast feeding on the weekend, and she is fine with it, so that’s GREAT.
She has been eating the basic 4 for a while now; Apples, Pears, Bananas, Rice Cereal. We have tried Avocado 4 times now, which she HATES. She scrunches up her nose and squishes it around without swallowing like she is eating something really gross. Well they say it takes up to 10 times to like a new food right? She loves Sweet Potatoes too (thanks to Nicole for sharing her batch with me). She is eating so much too! Diane (our sitter) is feeding her 5 tablespoons of rice cereal and 2 cubes of food for breakfast every day. No wonder she isn’t as hungry for us in the evenings. Still drinking 20-28oz of milk a day. My guess is she is close to 12 lbs, so we will see at her 6 month appointment, on 11/6.
It is amazing how active she is now. We did end up getting the rainforest jumperoo, and she thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. She loves playing, but mostly sucking on her soft toys, especially her stuffed frog with the bee in the middle. She rolls over comfortably both ways now, and is even starting the army crawl. She gets frustrated when she can’t quite move to where she wants, and voices her frustration at her current situation by arching her back and whining. She can sit up too! (Not on her own, but can stay if propped up)
And miss giggles:
A few miscellaneous things… we moved up to the 6 month old pacifiers some time back, move to size 2 diapers, got a sippy cup for water which she is having fun practicing with (AKA beating her head with), moving into 6 month old sleepers (since her legs are so long she doesn’t fit in her 0-3 too well anymore). She loves watching me brush my teeth so I give her her own to hold while I brush, and I put a little fleck of the toothpaste on her lips so she can associate the taste with brushing. No teeth yet though! Definitely not “talking” yet, just lots of elongated “ahhhhhh”s and “ehhhhhhh”s.
We changed our Halloween costumes after Party City not having the baby bunny one in her size in stock. She is now going to be a flower (green sleeper with a flower hoodie), I’m mother nature, and Ryan is a gardener. Although we did find a tiny set of fairy wings in a store the other day that just about made me cry they were so cute. They were like $30 though so there was no way… I am REALLY looking forward to our Halloween Party on Sat; it’s the one big party of the year that we go all out for and everyone has a great time. And this year with all the little babes dressed up, its going to be the best! We will have to get a group pic of the kids: Rory, Luke, Boston, Keira… am I missing anyone???
Happy day though, I am almost back down to pre-prego weight! Wahoooooo! It’s so nice to be able to fit in most of my old cloths again. Although my body has for sure changed shape and there are some things I don’t think I will be able to wear again, I like my new “woman” body and feel really good about it. I’ve been running twice a week and that really helps; it’s great for the mind, spirit and body. I feel guilty about it sometimes, but I really need that time for myself. I get Tu Th for it and then Ryan gets to ride his bike to work on M Wed.
Well that just about catches us up… I sure hope I can get on here more often!
Well I’m still pumping away. I had a little stressful period a few weeks ago and my production decreased by 50% - that was really bad. But I got it back up. We have had to supplement with a bottle of formula here and there, mostly depending on how much she is drinking, since my production is pretty much consistent. She is only waking up once now, between 3:30 and 5, for a feeding and sometimes takes both sides, sometimes only one, and tops off at 6 before I pump. Same work pumping schedule (9, 12, 3) and then when I get home pumping at 6 and 9. I have been breast feeding on the weekend, and she is fine with it, so that’s GREAT.
She has been eating the basic 4 for a while now; Apples, Pears, Bananas, Rice Cereal. We have tried Avocado 4 times now, which she HATES. She scrunches up her nose and squishes it around without swallowing like she is eating something really gross. Well they say it takes up to 10 times to like a new food right? She loves Sweet Potatoes too (thanks to Nicole for sharing her batch with me). She is eating so much too! Diane (our sitter) is feeding her 5 tablespoons of rice cereal and 2 cubes of food for breakfast every day. No wonder she isn’t as hungry for us in the evenings. Still drinking 20-28oz of milk a day. My guess is she is close to 12 lbs, so we will see at her 6 month appointment, on 11/6.
It is amazing how active she is now. We did end up getting the rainforest jumperoo, and she thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. She loves playing, but mostly sucking on her soft toys, especially her stuffed frog with the bee in the middle. She rolls over comfortably both ways now, and is even starting the army crawl. She gets frustrated when she can’t quite move to where she wants, and voices her frustration at her current situation by arching her back and whining. She can sit up too! (Not on her own, but can stay if propped up)
And miss giggles:
A few miscellaneous things… we moved up to the 6 month old pacifiers some time back, move to size 2 diapers, got a sippy cup for water which she is having fun practicing with (AKA beating her head with), moving into 6 month old sleepers (since her legs are so long she doesn’t fit in her 0-3 too well anymore). She loves watching me brush my teeth so I give her her own to hold while I brush, and I put a little fleck of the toothpaste on her lips so she can associate the taste with brushing. No teeth yet though! Definitely not “talking” yet, just lots of elongated “ahhhhhh”s and “ehhhhhhh”s.
We changed our Halloween costumes after Party City not having the baby bunny one in her size in stock. She is now going to be a flower (green sleeper with a flower hoodie), I’m mother nature, and Ryan is a gardener. Although we did find a tiny set of fairy wings in a store the other day that just about made me cry they were so cute. They were like $30 though so there was no way… I am REALLY looking forward to our Halloween Party on Sat; it’s the one big party of the year that we go all out for and everyone has a great time. And this year with all the little babes dressed up, its going to be the best! We will have to get a group pic of the kids: Rory, Luke, Boston, Keira… am I missing anyone???
Happy day though, I am almost back down to pre-prego weight! Wahoooooo! It’s so nice to be able to fit in most of my old cloths again. Although my body has for sure changed shape and there are some things I don’t think I will be able to wear again, I like my new “woman” body and feel really good about it. I’ve been running twice a week and that really helps; it’s great for the mind, spirit and body. I feel guilty about it sometimes, but I really need that time for myself. I get Tu Th for it and then Ryan gets to ride his bike to work on M Wed.
Well that just about catches us up… I sure hope I can get on here more often!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Growing Before Our Eyes
How time flies!!! My co-worker brought in her 2 week old yesterday and it was crazy to see a newborn; made me realize how TINY Rory was just a short while ago, and how much she has grown since then. (Since all I was concentrating on was how little she is in comparison to all the other kids her age.)
I have given up trying to breastfeed during the day/afternoon because I was prolonging pumpings hoping to bf and then when she wouldn’t I would miss out on whole pumping sessions, and my production went down. So I’m back on schedule; she wakes up for her early morning feedings and I can get in anywhere from 2-3 of those before leaving for work. I pump for the first time right before leaving after her last morning feeding, (around 6am) and pump every 3 hours for the rest of the day for a total of 6 pumpings. Before that last 9pm pumping at bed, I can sometimes get her to bf for it. I’ve also started taking fenugreek to help with supply. All in all I can get anywhere from 12-16 oz pumped each day (plus whatever she is getting when she bfs). Which should be enough, especially considering we have started her on food too (rice cereal first then bananas, which she LOVES).
But she must be going through a crazy growth spurt because she recently began waking up as early as midnight for a feeding again, then every 2 hours after that till morning. And she is not satisfied with just a bottle (no matter the size) at night; she needs rice cereal to be content. With her added hunger, I have not been able to produce enough; last week we used 2 batches of frozen milk, and last night we supplemented with a large bottle of formula. She seemed to be fine with it; I tasted it and thought it tasted stale and gross; breast milk tastes WAY better! I don’t mind a bottle of formula every now and then as long as she is getting mostly breast milk. Boy is this tough! We will see how long my production holds out. I’m hoping to be producing for her for up to 2 years old, but we will see.
She is so active its crazy; she chews on her feet all the time, and is not pacified to just sit anymore; she wants to be playing, and entertained. We are looking around to get a rainforest jumparoo; from what I have read and heard kids LOVE them and apparently walkers actually hinder development for walking.
I came up with awesome Halloween costumes too (thanks Lindsey and Melissa); Ryans going to be Hef (he already has that so he doesn’t need to buy anything), Ill be a playboy bunny and Rory will be a baby bunny! (And meaningful, since Ryan calls me his honey bunny and Rory his baby bunny). Im excited to get pictures taken of her. :0)
I know there is more to update on, but I don’t get around to posting often enough and by the time I do post I have forgotten what I wanted to post about! Ahhh, mommy brain.
I have given up trying to breastfeed during the day/afternoon because I was prolonging pumpings hoping to bf and then when she wouldn’t I would miss out on whole pumping sessions, and my production went down. So I’m back on schedule; she wakes up for her early morning feedings and I can get in anywhere from 2-3 of those before leaving for work. I pump for the first time right before leaving after her last morning feeding, (around 6am) and pump every 3 hours for the rest of the day for a total of 6 pumpings. Before that last 9pm pumping at bed, I can sometimes get her to bf for it. I’ve also started taking fenugreek to help with supply. All in all I can get anywhere from 12-16 oz pumped each day (plus whatever she is getting when she bfs). Which should be enough, especially considering we have started her on food too (rice cereal first then bananas, which she LOVES).
But she must be going through a crazy growth spurt because she recently began waking up as early as midnight for a feeding again, then every 2 hours after that till morning. And she is not satisfied with just a bottle (no matter the size) at night; she needs rice cereal to be content. With her added hunger, I have not been able to produce enough; last week we used 2 batches of frozen milk, and last night we supplemented with a large bottle of formula. She seemed to be fine with it; I tasted it and thought it tasted stale and gross; breast milk tastes WAY better! I don’t mind a bottle of formula every now and then as long as she is getting mostly breast milk. Boy is this tough! We will see how long my production holds out. I’m hoping to be producing for her for up to 2 years old, but we will see.
She is so active its crazy; she chews on her feet all the time, and is not pacified to just sit anymore; she wants to be playing, and entertained. We are looking around to get a rainforest jumparoo; from what I have read and heard kids LOVE them and apparently walkers actually hinder development for walking.
I came up with awesome Halloween costumes too (thanks Lindsey and Melissa); Ryans going to be Hef (he already has that so he doesn’t need to buy anything), Ill be a playboy bunny and Rory will be a baby bunny! (And meaningful, since Ryan calls me his honey bunny and Rory his baby bunny). Im excited to get pictures taken of her. :0)
I know there is more to update on, but I don’t get around to posting often enough and by the time I do post I have forgotten what I wanted to post about! Ahhh, mommy brain.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Clone Wars
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
She HAS grown...
I LOVED Laura's idea of the same clothes to show how much our little ones have grown, so this is my version: At 4 days old and 4 months old.
Monday, August 31, 2009
My Birth Experience
Here are the links to the program with Rita Wagner and Loralyn Cross.
Details: http://www.patientpower.info/webcastdetails.asp?dateid=8/17/2009&webcastid=UCSD081709
Stream: http://patientpower.info/stats/Redirect.asp?SID=UCSD081709&HAT=M3U
Download: http://patientpower.info/stats/Redirect.asp?SID=UCSD081709&HAT=MP3
Details: http://www.patientpower.info/webcastdetails.asp?dateid=8/17/2009&webcastid=UCSD081709
Stream: http://patientpower.info/stats/Redirect.asp?SID=UCSD081709&HAT=M3U
Download: http://patientpower.info/stats/Redirect.asp?SID=UCSD081709&HAT=MP3
Our Little Peanut
So the 4 month old check-up on Friday went well. (Or so Ryan told me) She is still off the bottom of the charts; 23.5 inches, 10lbs, 6oz but they are not too worried since both Ryan and I were very small. I was always 5-10 percentile, and Cheryl says Ryan was 5-10 as well all the way through (and that was “adjusted” since he was so early they were taking his percentiles from his due date to give him a head start; so if they were not adjusting it he would have been off the charts like she is).
However, they do want us to start rice cereal early. So we did the first feeding on Sat; it went great and she loved it. We made it too thin and so my Mom was shoveling it in and holding the bowl below her chin to catch all the baby dribbles, it was a huge mess, but so much fun. We caught it on video. My Mom and Wayne had come over to babysit for that night so we could go to Wicked with Ashley, Dylan and her Mom. Well their sitter bailed on them so Wayne and my Mom ended up watching Boston too! I was so proud of them, they did such a great job and everyone was really appreciative of the date night opportunity to go out.
It’s so amazing to see them grow and develop right before your eyes. Aurora is now grabbing her feet and kicking like crazy. You would think she was going to loop them behind her ears they go so far up! She is very happy and smiles and coos all the time, but not so much laughing out loud going on. But my Mom says I didn’t LOL so much either.
The swaddling is now a thing of the past; she is happy as a clam in the bassinet all hanging loose, which is good since this crazy heat wave has it only dropping to like 80 degrees by the time we go to bed. (I think she would die of heatstroke if we had to swaddle her up).
She has kept the same night/feeding schedule; bed by 9pm and waking up ~3am for a feeding, then another when we get up at 6. I do love those morning feedings, because my jugs are the fullest and she feeds so well and its really wonderful quiet bonding time with her, even if I am half asleep. I am a little concerned about my milk production though; over the last few weeks I’ve dropped from being 3 day bottles ahead (we are storing each days worth of milk in 12 oz beer bottles) to only having 2 ahead. Luckily I have like 5 days of milk in the freezer, but I am pumping more often and started Fenugreek this weekend to see if I can up things. She is taking in more overall, since she mostly takes 4oz bottles now at each feeding instead of 3 and I just need to produce more to adjust!
The dog days of summer are coming to an end and this is the time of year that gets you thinking about the holidays; Ryan’s bday in Sept, mine in Oct, then Thanksgiving, and Christmas right around the corner… WOW its going to be here before we know it! Its going to be so wonderful, celebrating the holidays with our new family. I can’t wait!
However, they do want us to start rice cereal early. So we did the first feeding on Sat; it went great and she loved it. We made it too thin and so my Mom was shoveling it in and holding the bowl below her chin to catch all the baby dribbles, it was a huge mess, but so much fun. We caught it on video. My Mom and Wayne had come over to babysit for that night so we could go to Wicked with Ashley, Dylan and her Mom. Well their sitter bailed on them so Wayne and my Mom ended up watching Boston too! I was so proud of them, they did such a great job and everyone was really appreciative of the date night opportunity to go out.
It’s so amazing to see them grow and develop right before your eyes. Aurora is now grabbing her feet and kicking like crazy. You would think she was going to loop them behind her ears they go so far up! She is very happy and smiles and coos all the time, but not so much laughing out loud going on. But my Mom says I didn’t LOL so much either.
The swaddling is now a thing of the past; she is happy as a clam in the bassinet all hanging loose, which is good since this crazy heat wave has it only dropping to like 80 degrees by the time we go to bed. (I think she would die of heatstroke if we had to swaddle her up).
She has kept the same night/feeding schedule; bed by 9pm and waking up ~3am for a feeding, then another when we get up at 6. I do love those morning feedings, because my jugs are the fullest and she feeds so well and its really wonderful quiet bonding time with her, even if I am half asleep. I am a little concerned about my milk production though; over the last few weeks I’ve dropped from being 3 day bottles ahead (we are storing each days worth of milk in 12 oz beer bottles) to only having 2 ahead. Luckily I have like 5 days of milk in the freezer, but I am pumping more often and started Fenugreek this weekend to see if I can up things. She is taking in more overall, since she mostly takes 4oz bottles now at each feeding instead of 3 and I just need to produce more to adjust!
The dog days of summer are coming to an end and this is the time of year that gets you thinking about the holidays; Ryan’s bday in Sept, mine in Oct, then Thanksgiving, and Christmas right around the corner… WOW its going to be here before we know it! Its going to be so wonderful, celebrating the holidays with our new family. I can’t wait!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Weaning of the Swaddling & Male Pattern Baldness
Well the last few nights have been a little rough. Since Aurora can roll onto her side now, we need to wean her off of being swaddled to sleep. It is a process, getting them to be able to self settle after self startling (say that 10 times fast). So it has been back to newborn nights for me; up every few hours giving her back her pacifier when she wakes up and realizes she doest have it and she’s not all wrapped up safe and sound like a baby burrito (or glow-worm as many of you fondly call it). Good thing is, while she is up, I figure I might as well feed her, since she’s underweight anyway. So I think she’s been getting a little more milk than usual and its good for my production to have more consistent emptying of the milk jugs.
Besides that, while my darling little girl is just as beautiful as ever to me, she has developed male pattern baldness. As if the rat-tail/mullet wasn’t bad enough on it’s own, there is now a distinct bald ring just above it all the way around her head. Unless there is a new hair style coming onto the scene that I don’t know about, the “Fryer Tuck” wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my sweetheart. What makes it worse is that Ryan has decided that she looks like his cousin, and has now taken to calling her “Phillip”. The other day I had to call him on it, and point out that she was going to think her name was Phillip if he kept doing it. He restricts himself and only does it by accident a few times a day now.
Besides that, while my darling little girl is just as beautiful as ever to me, she has developed male pattern baldness. As if the rat-tail/mullet wasn’t bad enough on it’s own, there is now a distinct bald ring just above it all the way around her head. Unless there is a new hair style coming onto the scene that I don’t know about, the “Fryer Tuck” wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my sweetheart. What makes it worse is that Ryan has decided that she looks like his cousin, and has now taken to calling her “Phillip”. The other day I had to call him on it, and point out that she was going to think her name was Phillip if he kept doing it. He restricts himself and only does it by accident a few times a day now.
Monday, August 17, 2009
I'm back on the grid...
Well it has been a while… over 3 months actually! After posting my birth story, I battled with the idea of continuing my blog or just leaving it as it stood as a pregnancy blog. Part of me really wanted to continue on, but then as the days and weeks and months went by that I didn’t post anything I thought of all the things I would have to write in to catch everyone up and it just seemed overwhelming. Then I got a few requests from people to continue it, so here I am. I wont pretend to spend a huge effort grandfathering in everything from the last 3 and a half months, but here are the basics and here we go from here on out!
Aurora
Just a little pixie, has been small the whole time. Finally got her out of newborn diapers just a few weeks ago, and just this weekend retired the newborn clothes and got out the 0-3 month stuff. The fancy clothes (dresses with matching panties) all still fit the newborn size. She has fallen off the charts for smallness weight at just over 10 lbs now and head circumference (although its not like she was really far up “in” the chart to begin with), but with height she’s in the 50th-75th percentile. The doctors are slightly concerned, however, considering the fact that she couldn’t be happier and more content, is peeing and pooping just fine and we are trying to get her to drink as much of Mommy’s milk as possible, they don’t really have any other suggestions for us, and are satisfied with the fact that she is gaining, if slowly. And my instincts tell me that she is just perfect the way she is, and not to force her into charts and categories with other babies.
As mentioned, she is the happiest baby on the block; smiling all the time now, and giggling little bits here and there. Her best time is in the morning after waking up. She is so alert and active, ecstatic to interact. It’s a wonderful way to start the day. She’s babbling now too, which is music to our ears.
She sleeps through the night; goes to bed around 9pm and wakes up for her morning feeding at about 4am and goes back to sleep until we wake up to get ready for work at 6. She goes to bed like a charm for the night and for naps; just feed her, change her diaper, swaddle her wind up her “twirly friends” as Ryan calls them (her mobile) and she is off to neverland.
Her eyes are staying blue and I think they are here to stay. Sorry Ryan and Brian, but I won another bet. Her hair is staying sort of reddish-brown, we will see if it lightens up. She for sure has a fryer tuck fringe around the head going on though. Ill have to trim it if it gets to be too ridiculous. I am not about to have a baby girl with a mullet. She does have Ryan’s skin it seems though, which we will jump for joy at if it sticks. Time will tell!
Me
Well I am great. I healed up pretty good, and was walking with Aurora as soon as I could manage. But still really craved my runs. I have been able to take some of them and it feels great. It makes me really sad to take time away from Aurora though, so it’s really a battle to take the time for myself to be healthy but have to be away from her for it. So we go on as many walks as we can during the week for her and Guinness, and I try to get a few runs in during the week. After all was said and done, I had just under 10 lbs to loose. I still have 7 left. It’s a tough process! I am eating really well though when I can (commitment to producing great breastmilk) and that helps a lot.
The breastfeeding thing is going well, though not fantastically. With the introduction of many bottle feedings, Aurora is impatient at the breast when I’m not completely full. (So pretty much anytime that is not the morning feedings where I am full-o-milk). But as long as my boobs produce as much as she needs, I don’t really care. So I pump away. It is a pain in the butt, and I spend over an hour a day pumping (in addition to the time I spend breastfeeding her) but its totally worth it for all of the benefits of breastfeeding. I keep the stats handy about it for motivation: 71% of all children are breastfead in the beginning; it drops to 36% by 6 months of age, and only 17% of children are breastfead by 1 year old. I can see how it is much easier to just move to formula, even if it is more expensive.
I have been back at work for 2 weeks now. It was hardest the 2nd day back. The first day was like a vacation from the house; the second day was realization of the reality of leaving Aurora for 5 days a week. Aurora actually was very pissed at me after my first day out, and went on a breastfeeding strike and was very unhappy with me, but I slowed things down that night, cuddled a lot with skin to skin time, talked to her and told her about work and apologized; she somehow understood and was much better the next day. But now I have a schedule down and am very comfortable with how things are going. We figured out the care thing; Mondays and Wednesdays Ryan’s mom Cheryl is there from 7-9am, then my mom comes and takes over till we get home. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have made arrangements with an awesome sitter in Tierrasanta who we love, Diane who lives just down the street on our way out to work. (The previous 2 weeks, our cousins Kimmy and Sheila, as well as Aunt Diana were nice enough to cover those days). Most Fridays Ryan has off due to schedule and furlough, and I will take whatever Fridays he doesn’t have covered.
Well, I think that’s enough for now at least, we will see how long it takes me to come back for round two!
Aurora
Just a little pixie, has been small the whole time. Finally got her out of newborn diapers just a few weeks ago, and just this weekend retired the newborn clothes and got out the 0-3 month stuff. The fancy clothes (dresses with matching panties) all still fit the newborn size. She has fallen off the charts for smallness weight at just over 10 lbs now and head circumference (although its not like she was really far up “in” the chart to begin with), but with height she’s in the 50th-75th percentile. The doctors are slightly concerned, however, considering the fact that she couldn’t be happier and more content, is peeing and pooping just fine and we are trying to get her to drink as much of Mommy’s milk as possible, they don’t really have any other suggestions for us, and are satisfied with the fact that she is gaining, if slowly. And my instincts tell me that she is just perfect the way she is, and not to force her into charts and categories with other babies.
As mentioned, she is the happiest baby on the block; smiling all the time now, and giggling little bits here and there. Her best time is in the morning after waking up. She is so alert and active, ecstatic to interact. It’s a wonderful way to start the day. She’s babbling now too, which is music to our ears.
She sleeps through the night; goes to bed around 9pm and wakes up for her morning feeding at about 4am and goes back to sleep until we wake up to get ready for work at 6. She goes to bed like a charm for the night and for naps; just feed her, change her diaper, swaddle her wind up her “twirly friends” as Ryan calls them (her mobile) and she is off to neverland.
Her eyes are staying blue and I think they are here to stay. Sorry Ryan and Brian, but I won another bet. Her hair is staying sort of reddish-brown, we will see if it lightens up. She for sure has a fryer tuck fringe around the head going on though. Ill have to trim it if it gets to be too ridiculous. I am not about to have a baby girl with a mullet. She does have Ryan’s skin it seems though, which we will jump for joy at if it sticks. Time will tell!
Me
Well I am great. I healed up pretty good, and was walking with Aurora as soon as I could manage. But still really craved my runs. I have been able to take some of them and it feels great. It makes me really sad to take time away from Aurora though, so it’s really a battle to take the time for myself to be healthy but have to be away from her for it. So we go on as many walks as we can during the week for her and Guinness, and I try to get a few runs in during the week. After all was said and done, I had just under 10 lbs to loose. I still have 7 left. It’s a tough process! I am eating really well though when I can (commitment to producing great breastmilk) and that helps a lot.
The breastfeeding thing is going well, though not fantastically. With the introduction of many bottle feedings, Aurora is impatient at the breast when I’m not completely full. (So pretty much anytime that is not the morning feedings where I am full-o-milk). But as long as my boobs produce as much as she needs, I don’t really care. So I pump away. It is a pain in the butt, and I spend over an hour a day pumping (in addition to the time I spend breastfeeding her) but its totally worth it for all of the benefits of breastfeeding. I keep the stats handy about it for motivation: 71% of all children are breastfead in the beginning; it drops to 36% by 6 months of age, and only 17% of children are breastfead by 1 year old. I can see how it is much easier to just move to formula, even if it is more expensive.
I have been back at work for 2 weeks now. It was hardest the 2nd day back. The first day was like a vacation from the house; the second day was realization of the reality of leaving Aurora for 5 days a week. Aurora actually was very pissed at me after my first day out, and went on a breastfeeding strike and was very unhappy with me, but I slowed things down that night, cuddled a lot with skin to skin time, talked to her and told her about work and apologized; she somehow understood and was much better the next day. But now I have a schedule down and am very comfortable with how things are going. We figured out the care thing; Mondays and Wednesdays Ryan’s mom Cheryl is there from 7-9am, then my mom comes and takes over till we get home. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have made arrangements with an awesome sitter in Tierrasanta who we love, Diane who lives just down the street on our way out to work. (The previous 2 weeks, our cousins Kimmy and Sheila, as well as Aunt Diana were nice enough to cover those days). Most Fridays Ryan has off due to schedule and furlough, and I will take whatever Fridays he doesn’t have covered.
Well, I think that’s enough for now at least, we will see how long it takes me to come back for round two!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
She's Here!!! Aurora's Birth Story
Well, as my psychic powers predicted, Aurora had intentions of coming early. (Ok, so with Luke, Hazel, Boston, Keira and Aurora all earlier than their due dates, I am calling the whole "first borns go late" thing a myth.) Anyway, Monday was my last day of work. Tuesday, May 5th was to be my first day off; 2 weeks before the due date. And before I start my story, let me just say that as much of a planner as I am, I had prepared myself and tried to keep an "anything can happen" mentality going into this. And I just want to thank my amazing daughter Aurora, because she orchestrated the most amazingly timed course of events I could have imagined...
As previously posted, I had noticed changes the evening of the 4th and that morning of the Monday, the 5th and knew she would be coming sooner than later, but didn't know how soon. My wonderful co-workers took me out to lunch at my choice restaurant (BJ's) for my last day of work, and promptly at 12:45pm, just after they served Pazookies for dessert, my water broke - I begin to feel something slide down my canal, which I immediately think is the rest of the mucous plug or something like that... but then it feels like I am peeing in a pool and have no control over it, and water starts to pool in the chair I am sitting in and over the side down on the ground. 
I turn to Shelly, who was sitting next to me and say, "I think my water just broke." Everybody starts to get all hyped, and ask what we do. I say, "We finish our damn Pazookies!" Knowing that it would probably be my last good meal in a while, and the fact that I was not in active labor yet and it would probably be a long drawn out process, I was in no hurry to leave one of the best desserts ever un-eaten, especially when someone else was paying! So I make a few basic calls (Ryan, my Mom and Cheryl), we finished up, (all the while the janitor guy is trying to mop up behind me probably thinking I am absolutely crazy for acting so nonchalant about peeing my pants) and head out front. Most people would be really embarrassed by this, but hey, what are you going to do? Besides, how cool is that - my last day of work, out to lunch with all my favorite ladies from work, my water breaks and we all have a good laugh, and they get to share that part of Aurora's birth with me. We take a few pics (above) and then head back to the office. I grab the rest of my things at the office (lucky I was already pretty much packed up for the day) and head home to meet Ryan.
I get home, and we call the birth center, since Ryan is concerned that my water breaking requires more immediate action than I am giving the situation (I wasn't in any rush since the contractions hadn't really started yet), and they basically say to take my time coming in, not to rush, but to come in as soon as is comfortable. Take a shower, and we pack the hospital bag. Still not having any noticeably closer or regular contractions (although I was not really paying that much attention at this point - too hyped from my water breaking and trying to pack things up, etc.)
Finally get to the hospital around 3:30pm. My Mom is on her way to the hospital, Cheryl has a dentist apt at 3pm that I told her she might as well go to anyway, and Diana is already there, since she thought the water breaking meant that things were already well on their way (her water didn't break until much further in the labor process and didn't realize they didn't always happen in the same order). Ryan drops me off and goes to park the car, I find Diana and she checks into the birth center with me. They have me strip and find some of the amniotic fluid (which is still leaking little bits here and there) to make sure that is what it was, Ryan shows up somewhere in the middle of this, and then they take me to my room. By now I am starting to get regular contractions, about every 10 min. The floor was empty at the time, so I end up getting one of the two biggest rooms they have there, (which we will need later on in the story).
We get settled, and throughout the afternoon, my Mom, Cheryl, Little Diana, Brian, Blake, Nathan and Melinda all arrive to keep me company as my contractions settle pretty quickly to every 5 minutes, but are completely bearable. Everyone wants to know how far along I am, but since my water broke already and I seem to be fairly comfortable (translation: still a long way to go) the midwives are not going to check on things yet. This is frustrating for everyone, because they all want to know how far along I am! (I can read their faces, and they are saying, "look like you are in pain so they will check you!" What they tell the nurses is that I have a high pain threshold and I could be further along than they think... the nurses don't buy it - I'm sure they have seen it a million times before. One of them says actually women with high tolerance have a harder time with labor, because they are not used to things hurting; and childbirth surprises them and then they have a harder time than people who know they have a hard time with pain and are expecting/prepared for it to be really painful.)
The contractions progress through the evening, and night. At about 2am, they are getting pretty painful, and I am no longer joking around with everyone, or assigning pain scale levels to each contraction. Using my breathing techniques and just pacing around, I get through each contraction as it comes. At this point, I want to get checked. So they do, and she is "low" in my pelvis, I am 80% effaced and 2cm dilated. Great. Still a LONG way to go. But we are all happy that she is progressing. One of the nurses ask me if I want to try taking a shower. This sounds great to me, so Ryan gets on his swim trunks and I walk across the hall to the shower that has been prepared for me. OMG a shower never felt so good. I labor in the shower for 2 solid hours, with my breathing coach, Ryan right there with me. Contractions even stronger, and I get out as they are getting intense enough that I need some massage to deal with the back labor. Cheryl is the only one who seems to be able to massage my muscles hard enough, and of course Ryan continues charge of breathing. (My Mom says that he had every woman in the room breathing per his instructions!) My favorite position for the contractions settles to be bending over the foot of the bed with lots of pillows, Cheryl grinding my back into mush, Ryan in front of me directing my breathing and each of my hands squeezing his two middle fingers like I am on the ride of my life (and incidentally, I am.)
At 5am, I am pretty much beside myself. The pain is extremely intense with each contraction, and I have been laboring for about 12 hours at this point, with no sleep. I am exhausted and decide that I want some pain medication. The midwife says that if I want pain medication, then I can't set up the hydro-tub to labor in (since the meds will make me a little loopy) and I am far enough along its basically one or the other. I think about it for about a mili-second, and opt for the meds. They need to check me to see how dilated I am before they do the IV to administer the meds. Ok, at least we will know how far along I am; 5cm dilated, 100% effaced, she is at station -1! Yay, that means things are really progressing, (at least the pain is not for nothing!). They give me some phenergan (an anti-histamine like a benedryl that can make you sleepy but also helps with nausea) and nubain (for pain - similar to demarol). OMG it's amazing. It really takes off the edge, and after laboring for about 12 hours at this point, all through the night I am so exhausted I fall asleep for about an hour. Ryan does too. Everyone gets a little break... then my contractions wake me back up and it's go time again!
They are manageable now at least - about the same pain level as maybe 2-3cm when I was in the shower... I labor with those for a few hours, and finally start to get the "urge". Which basically at a certain point, in addition to being extremely painful, they are accompanied by the strong urge to go pee and poop at the same time, and push for all you are worth! So not only do you have to get through the pain of the contraction, but resist the urge too... NOT easy. So by and by I REALLY want to push, so we decide to check me again. 9am, I am 9cm dilated and almost ready to go!!! Somewhere in this process the midwife who was there has to leave for something, and the midwife who was called in to take her place is... RITA!!! I am really out of it by this point and am just glad to have her there. I labor some more and I just about can't stand it anymore, and pretty much at one point just want to start pushing, I don't care how dilated I am, so Rita checks me and we are ready to go; I can start pushing!
I ask her what position is best for controlling the crowning for stretching purposes since I know that will be my biggest problem, and she says lying sideways. So I lay down, Cheryl holding up my right leg, and it's show time. I start pushing sometime around 10:30am, Ryan right up at the top of the bed with me letting me squeeze his hands for stability and strength with every contraction. Eventually she is crowning, and man, does it burn! Rita and I try to control it as best we can, allowing the perineum time to stretch and she keeps putting some kind of gel all over and where my skin is turning white (places it is stretching too much and will rip) she tries to give support by "holding" it together, but eventually we just call it - it's not going to stretch any more, and I want that baby out and on my chest! So for a few contractions I just push for all it's worth, feeling like I am taking the biggest crap of my life and here she comes... Rita catches her and then suddenly she is up on my chest - all wet and warm and crying with big strong lungs. A few minutes later my Mom cuts the cord, and I finally have my baby girl.
(This part I only find out about afterward since I was pretty out of it at the time) I am bleeding more than Rita would like, it's not stopping on it's own, and Rita needs to stitch up my 2nd degree tear, so since we have the handy IV, she gives me some pitocin which I guess helps the uterus contract and stop the bleeding. Then she stitches me up (2 internal 2 external from what Cheryl could see) and I get propped up on the bed to feed her for the first time. We don't even get her weighed and measured for like an hour while we are getting good skin to skin time.
Aurora Lynn Cross
Born 5/5/09 at 11:25am
6lbs, 3oz; 19 inches (they said 18.5 but didn't measure very accurately; at the first ped apt a week later she measured at 19.25 so I am saying 19 from here on out.)
Rita said later that Aurora really did me a favor coming early because a few more weeks and I would have had some very serious tearing. (See, I started this whole thing by saying Aurora had it timed out perfectly from start to finish!)
I forgot to mention that there were about 10 people present at the delivery. Let's see... there was of course Ryan, Cheryl, and Rita (we were all on the bed for the delivery) then watching from around the bed were my Mom, Diana, Carol, Nana, Brian - taking the video, Alyssa, Blake - who had a hard time watching his "sister" spread eagle delivering, did I miss anyone??? All I know is that the only people I was really aware of were the people on the bed with me; I call it the snow globe effect. Ryan, Cheryl, Rita and I were all on the bed inside the snow globe delivering the baby, and outside the snow globe watching the whole thing was everyone else. I knew they were there, but didn't really have any concept of who was there or how many, or what they were doing... It was amazing to be able to share that with them, as they wouldn't normally get the opportunity to do so in a "classic" delivery set up at any other hospital. I can't even express my gratitude to the Birth Center staff, who did such an incredible job, or to UCSD for offering such a wonderful program like the Birth Center for people like me who want that kind of experience.
Anyway, I am sorry this has taken me so long to get up, things have just been crazy and I have been trying to spend as much time with Ryan and Aurora as I can before he goes back to work on Tuesday. I'm going to miss him so much! And it's going to be even harder when I have to go back in the middle of July. Well, enjoy the time while we have it, right? More later...
Monday, May 4, 2009
Any Day Now...
Yesterday Ryan and I went cleaning crazy and cleaned from dawn till dusk. Talk about nesting. Didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but got a lot done none the less.
Well last night Aurora was moving like crazy in the pelvic region (way more than normal) and there was for sure something going on in my soft tissues down there that has not happened before either. I told Ryan something was up.
This morning I woke up with pinkish discharge. (Discharge has been increased for the last week but no blood). Me thinks she's coming sooner than later!
Ryan said if she does decide to come tomorrow, she has a sick sense of humor; his. Being as how I am supposed to be watching Boston for a few hours in the morning, Rick, Cheryl, Blake and Alyssa are all going to Disneyland for Cheryl's Bday, and tomorrow is the ONLY day Kimmy didn't get permission to skip out on her finals/classes for the day if I do go into labor...
Well last night Aurora was moving like crazy in the pelvic region (way more than normal) and there was for sure something going on in my soft tissues down there that has not happened before either. I told Ryan something was up.
This morning I woke up with pinkish discharge. (Discharge has been increased for the last week but no blood). Me thinks she's coming sooner than later!
Ryan said if she does decide to come tomorrow, she has a sick sense of humor; his. Being as how I am supposed to be watching Boston for a few hours in the morning, Rick, Cheryl, Blake and Alyssa are all going to Disneyland for Cheryl's Bday, and tomorrow is the ONLY day Kimmy didn't get permission to skip out on her finals/classes for the day if I do go into labor...
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Waiting Game
I had my (probably) last chiropractor appointment this week. Carol told me I was her favorite pregnant patient, since she was able to get a great adjustment out of me even as huge as I am. She said normally mobility in pregnant women especially this late in the game is so restricted and you are all swollen she doesn't get much. It felt so great, even though the drop panel doesn't quite drop enough for my whale of a belly. And thanks to my Mom and Grace for their extremely generous gift certificate there (on TOP of everything they did for my awesome shower!!!).
Today is our weekly apt with Rita. I have a long list of things to ask her about...
-I gained 3lbs this week, wondering if that is anything to be concerned about. (How did that happen? It's not like I ate a big chocolate bunny or anything...)
-Started taking Aciphex last week (finally broke down and wanted to try something different for my heartburn than 10 tums a day; better late than never, right?) and it has been WONDERFUL. I even ate a real dinner last night, and was totally fine!
-Wondering how many first time vaginal births DON'T tear? (Or is that some unicorn story??? Do I even have a chance at it?)
-Want to make sure my ongoing cough (for the last 2 months) is still ok if no other symptoms...
Today is my second to last day at work too, Monday being my last. Very strange, it's really here now. Last night, just as I was in bed thinking "Finally, with work out of the way, I can actually get some stuff done" and mentally going through the list of things I want to do before Aurora comes, and literally right then, Ryan says, "Promise me you will take at least a few hours every day to relax, lay down and do nothing, since I know I can't keep you from doing at least something every day." I married a mind reader. Or am I that transparent??? How can I not be thinking of the dirty bathrooms, un-vacumed and un-swept floors, the unsorted and unwashed baby clothes, the piles of stuff we moved out of Aurora's room into the game room and have not organized... Well I will just take it one day at a time and try not to do too much each day.
Last night Rick and Cheryl came over for his semi-annual hair cut, and to give us the video camera that Rick is second-handing to us. [If anyone knows anything about Ryan's dad, we have a phrase with him called "Ricking it" which means he has to have the top of the line of anything he decides to purchase. And when new technology comes out that is better than what he has but his current stuff still "works" just fine... he finds some excuse to give it to his kids and get the newest, latest and greatest. We couldn't be happier or luckier recipients! And having Aurora is like the best excuse in the world for him to pass his camera on to us, and we are super stoked on it.] I want to get in some good prego footage, and some time of Ryan and I together and the house before Aurora comes. Then of course of the whole process of labor and beyond...
So here we are, playing the waiting game, wondering if she is coming next week, or the following week, or... All I know is that I don't think I can possibly get any bigger, more stuffed or more uncomfortable. I couldn't do twins and I think Octo Mom is the most insane person in the whole world. And I could really go for a rootbeer float right now. I'll have to wait until I get home.
Today is our weekly apt with Rita. I have a long list of things to ask her about...
-I gained 3lbs this week, wondering if that is anything to be concerned about. (How did that happen? It's not like I ate a big chocolate bunny or anything...)
-Started taking Aciphex last week (finally broke down and wanted to try something different for my heartburn than 10 tums a day; better late than never, right?) and it has been WONDERFUL. I even ate a real dinner last night, and was totally fine!
-Wondering how many first time vaginal births DON'T tear? (Or is that some unicorn story??? Do I even have a chance at it?)
-Want to make sure my ongoing cough (for the last 2 months) is still ok if no other symptoms...
Today is my second to last day at work too, Monday being my last. Very strange, it's really here now. Last night, just as I was in bed thinking "Finally, with work out of the way, I can actually get some stuff done" and mentally going through the list of things I want to do before Aurora comes, and literally right then, Ryan says, "Promise me you will take at least a few hours every day to relax, lay down and do nothing, since I know I can't keep you from doing at least something every day." I married a mind reader. Or am I that transparent??? How can I not be thinking of the dirty bathrooms, un-vacumed and un-swept floors, the unsorted and unwashed baby clothes, the piles of stuff we moved out of Aurora's room into the game room and have not organized... Well I will just take it one day at a time and try not to do too much each day.
Last night Rick and Cheryl came over for his semi-annual hair cut, and to give us the video camera that Rick is second-handing to us. [If anyone knows anything about Ryan's dad, we have a phrase with him called "Ricking it" which means he has to have the top of the line of anything he decides to purchase. And when new technology comes out that is better than what he has but his current stuff still "works" just fine... he finds some excuse to give it to his kids and get the newest, latest and greatest. We couldn't be happier or luckier recipients! And having Aurora is like the best excuse in the world for him to pass his camera on to us, and we are super stoked on it.] I want to get in some good prego footage, and some time of Ryan and I together and the house before Aurora comes. Then of course of the whole process of labor and beyond...
So here we are, playing the waiting game, wondering if she is coming next week, or the following week, or... All I know is that I don't think I can possibly get any bigger, more stuffed or more uncomfortable. I couldn't do twins and I think Octo Mom is the most insane person in the whole world. And I could really go for a rootbeer float right now. I'll have to wait until I get home.
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