1/31/10

almost 9 months


Lucy is almost nine months old so I thought it was about time I post an 8 month update.  Let's just pause for a moment and let the fact that my baby is almost 9 months old sink in..... 

What have we been up to lately?  Honestly I can't even really remember the last few weeks.  I came down with a horrible sinus infection that kicked my butt for about 2 weeks.  It feels like I'm still trying to play catch up from that one. I'm just thankful that Lucy never got sick.

Lucy is still sleeping through the night.  Occasionally she will wake up but on most occasions just needs to be repositioned or given her pacifier (only uses that to sleep) and she is back asleep. She is generally asleep by 8:00 pm and wakes up anywhere from 6:00-7:00am.  I nurse her in the morning before I take her to the sitter's and again before bed. I'm still pumping during the day and I have not had to supplement with formula.  Most nights I still have to pump again to have enough milk.  I still have no back up supply in the freezer, but I'm not as stressed out about it as I was before. I'm still trying to make as much of her food as possible.  When I was sick that is one thing that I feel behind on.  I had planned to make a bunch of food the weekend I got sick.  It was such a hard thing for me to go to the grocery store and buy premade baby food for her.  I felt like a failure of a mother.  I know, I know stop it already.  I was sick and exhausted and down on myself.  Tommy reassured me that she would be just fine if I didn't make all of her food.  Since then I feel like we have been struggling with her eating.  She very much prefers homemade food.  Some of the foods that she likes are fresh green beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, mangoes, peaches, pears, bananas, kiwis, plums and blueberries.  So far I have not been very successful at disguising chicken or any other form of meat enough so that she will eat it.  Maybe she has her momma's keen sense of smell and knows before it even touches her lips that it is in there.  She has become a pro at feeding herself Cheerios and puffs and really enjoys them.

Lucy is not crawling yet.  She gets where she wants to by rolling/flopping around.  She can go backwards.  When it comes to trying to go forward she just kicks her feet and flaps her little arms.  She has started to pull up on things.  We'll see what the next few weeks bring.  Today Tommy and I got rid of the coffee table in the living room.  It was a collector of junk (totally my fault) and took up way too much space.  Now we have lots more room on the floor for Lucy to play. 

I'm not really sure how much she weighs.  If I had to guess I would say around 18 lbs.  Her next appointment is February 15th so we'll see how close I am.  She is mostly wearing size 6-9 mo.  There are still a few 3-6 mo. shirts that I have not put away that fit just fine.  We are up to 2 totes of clothes that are too small!! 

Something that she has started doing that I'm not too fond of it pinching/hitting my face.  It seems to only be something she does to me.  Since she was tiny she has liked to play with my face.  Now she thinks its funny to grab my lips and pull.  I have tried several different ways of correcting this behavior but we have not gotten over it yet.  She laughs at me when I tell her "No!" 

Right before Christmas Lucy's first tooth finally made an appearance.  You can get a little glimpse of it in the picture below.  She is currently working on the one right next to it.

I think that pretty much sums up the last month!



*Kimberly took the picture at the top of this post.  Love it.

12/26/09

Christmas 2009

Lucy sitting on her great grandpa's lap Christmas Eve.

Clara and her new puppy Sonny the Schnoodle.

Lucy loved tearing the paper.

And chewing on everything.

Clara and Lucy on Christmas morning at my parents.

Chewing and eating paper.

Looking cute in her purple jammies and red socks.

Lucy's new bookshelf that my dad made for her. Now we just need a day without rain/snow so we can get it home!

As you can see we had a wonderful time celebrating Lucy's first Christmas.  She received many lovely gifts.  It was so much fun to see her get excited about new toys.  Lucy did very well with all the excitement and staying up late. I'm looking forward to what 2010 has in store for us.

happy holidays


We are enjoying our little Lucy's first Christmas. We feel blessed and loved. Pictures to come.

12/9/09

month seven

Today marks 7 months since I first met my little girl. She is such a joy and keeps me busy. Here are a few things we have been up to this past month.

We helped daddy put up lights outside.
Started sitting up without falling over.

Put up our Christmas tree.

Met Santa and Mrs. Claus.

It has been a busy and exhausting month!!

11/17/09

being a mom



Before I was a mom I always knew that there were sacrifices that parents make for their children. Now that I've had the privilege of being a mommy for 6 months I know just what that means.  When I was pregnant I can remember laying in bed at night, trying to fall asleep between my numerous trips to the bathroom, wondering how I would cope with the lack of sleep when she was born.  Six months in and I don't think I've had more than 3 hours of sleep at a time.  There are few reasons for this: my husband's sleeping habits, our dog Barbie and Lucy.  Surprisingly I have adjusted to the lack of a full night's sleep. Generally I can make it through the day without feeling like total crap. Amazing how the body can adjust.  I guess it pretty much has to. 

Today I had to be out of town for a conference for my job. I had to be out of the house an hour earlier than normal and got home an hour later than normal.  That is the longest I have been away from my baby since she was born.  I thought for sure I would be fighting sleep by the end of the day, but I was totally fine.  I think the change in routine did me some good!!  Being gone all day also presented the issue of pumping on the road.  I took advantage of the morning and afternoon conference breaks do run out to the car and do this.  I have done this before but this time I had my mom's car and the windows are not tinted as dark as they are in my car.  I was creative and managed to be discreet.  At least I think I was!!  When I was sitting out in the freezing cold I had a good chuckle.  I thought about how ridiculous I must have looked with my jacket on backwards.  I also thought about all the time that I have put into pumping.  Lately I have been struggling with my supply again.  Seems to be an ongoing battle for me.  I still do not have a back up supply.  Most days I have to top off her bottles at lunch with the milk from my morning pumpings.  By now I figured that I would be able to keep up and even be ahead.  Is there anyone out there who has had similar issues?  Is there anyone who is even still reading this blog?  Ha! My goal is to breastfeed until she is a year old.  It is such a part of my daily routine now and I'm not ready to give up.  I will admit though that I look forward to the day when I can be away from her for a few hours without worrying about bottles and pumps! 

I'm not the first mommy to sacrifice time, sleep, sanity for their children and I will not be the last.  I think about my chidhood and how wonderful my mom was and it makes me smile. I know she gave up a lot to take care of my brothers and I.  Heck, she still does.  She's the kind of mom I want to be.  We are closer now than we ever have been and I think that is pretty neat.  I love you mom thank you for all you do/have done for my little family. You're the best.