she's definitely made it part of her schedule

May 29, 2009

The whole waking up at four or four thirty and being wide awake until eight, eight thirty or nine? Yeah -- it's part of her little schedule now. I need to break her of this, cause Mommy just can't sleep during the day and can't fall asleep at nine pm. If I try, I just lay there and lay there, wide awake.

Oh well. I've run on less sleep before and I'll just be a little sleepy for awhile. It's alright.

Friday wasn't a bad day. We went to work in the morning so Charles and I could get some stuff out and done. She was so good. She only fussed once or twice, never much and would calm right down. Charles said he doesn't remember ever seeing a more aware baby -- she watches and is intrigued by everything. Though we did find out from one of the judges' assistants that the Judge's ruling on a case we went to trial on back in March is going to go our way. So Charles wants to have the bill and everything ready to go as soon as it's done, because collecting from that Plaintiff (sounds like we'll be awarded attorney's fees) is going to be, to say the least, interesting. So I get to recreate a bill of a three year old case -- pretty much from scratch. So fun, really. So a lot of work was brought home with me this weekend, cause I can do it here in the evening and when she's napping easier than I can do it at work.

May 30, 2009

Yesterday was a pretty lazy and fun day. Lil Miss was a little fussy in the morning, but that happens. We also introduced her to her Baby Einstein videos -- they fascinate her, which I guess is the point. She does like them though. She just watches the screen, with wide eyes and this little "OH" face. It's really cute.

Lil Miss and I also went to lunch with my friend Mary, who used to work with me at Ghost Tours. She had a lot of stuff going on when Lil Miss was born, so she hadn't met her yet. So we went to lunch (Lil Miss was, of course, perfect, in the restaurant) and then just hung out for awhile at her house until Lil Miss just played herself out and crashed out cold. So I brought her home.

It's so cute. She'll be playing hard -- playing playing playing -- I'll look away and look back not even two seconds later and she'll be sound asleep. I don't know how she can fall asleep so cute, but it's kind of funny. It amuses me.

Also -- question. When she falls asleep -- for naps like after her bottle -- if I put her down she usually either wakes up then or wakes up within ten minutes. But if I just hold her, she'll sleep and sleep and sleep -- sometimes for an hour or more. But as soon as I put her down, she's awake. Do all babies do that? Why is that? Is it a problem or should I just leave it?

eleven pounds of dead weight makes for a long weekend

May 23, 2009

It's been a long long weekend.

After Lil Miss' not sleepy at all Friday, I was expecting Saturday to be a day of naps. Haha, I was wrong -- she was a very SLEEPY baby on Saturday, but not a TIRED baby. Let's just say I had a grumpy butt ALL day on Saturday, who wanted to do nothing but fuss and nothing seemed to make her happy cause she was so sleepy but she refused to go to sleep.

Long day, cause Daddy was working (it's Memorial Day weekend -- long hours too) so Mommy had a fussy and screaming baby. Mommy was tired when she finally went to sleep.

May 24, 2009

Yesterday wasn't a whole lot better. She was actually tired, and wanted to sleep most of the day, but she refused to be put down. So Mommy got to carry around a sleeping baby -- meaning an over eleven pound dead weight -- all day long. Let me tell you how much my arms hurt when I finally got her out for the night and she let me put her down without screaming -- at ten thirty pm.

She was then awake again on this morning and was awake until almost five and then awake again at seven. Mommy is a sleepy sleepy girl.

I don't know what's going on with her. Is she maybe growing again? She is two months old today.

This is how my munchikin sleeps. It canNOT be good for her!

So yeah -- that is how my little one sleeps -- with her face directly against the side of her bassinet. No matter how many times I move her or straighten her back out, it's right back to this. I know she can breathe but it still worries me and I don't know how to stop it. Even when I use the little things that are supposed to keep her in place, she moves them til she's like this.

I don't know why she wants to sleep like that, but she is damn determined. And with me and Jimmy as parents? She's stubborn as a mule. She's going to sleep how she wants to sleep!

Trying to eat her hand. I'm not sure why. She wasn't hungry -- I tried to feed her, she spit it out and put her hand right back in.

Why does she do this? Anyone have any ideas? She tries to eat her hand on a daily basis. Not just her fingers (which she does too) but her whole fist. She can't fit it all in her mouth, but she tries damn hard. Again -- our daughter is a determined little baby. It is kinda funny to watch.

My sleepy sleepy attachmenty baby.

So yeah. I don't know how today is going to be. She's awake right now (she's playing in her bouncer) but I dunno if it's going to be a fussy day, a napping day or a normal day. I guess we'll see. I'll let y'all know tonight. Right now? I'm gonna go play with my munchkin -- and try not to think about how tired I am.

Her little monkey toys. They're so long! She can grip a finger with her toes almost as as with her hands!

you could set a clock by her!

May 17, 2009

Seriously -- there must be a little clock in her head or something. Cause every night, right at 9 pm, she puts herself to bed. Last night Jimmy had her and was trying to get her to go to sleep, since I was cooking dinner. It was like 8:45 and you could tell she was sleepy. Then his phone rang and he had to run to our neighbor's for something, so I took her. And, at 9 on the dot, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. And tonight? Same thing -- awake, awake, awake, 9 pm comes and she's out cold. It's nice to at least know when she's going to go to sleep. And she sleeps pretty well at night too, which it nice. Only wakes up to eat (about every 4 hours, sometimes as much as 6) and then goes right back to sleep.

She's such a good baby.

May 18, 2009

So yesterday was one of Daddy's days off, after working three hard days in a row, and he was up very very late Saturday playing with the boys, so Lil Miss and I let him sleep. We went grocery shopping early and then Momma cleaned and did some work that I brought home with me when Lil Miss napped and when she didn't? Well, we played and read. And walked (and walked and walked and walked -- I am getting payback for making Momma and Daddy walk me so much when I was a baby!). So basically yesterday was just a lazy day for all of us.

Out cold on Mommy's shoulder. It must be 9 o'clock.

Today was a bit longer of a day. Both Daddy and I worked. Charles is still out of town (gets back tomorrow), but Lil Miss and I went down to check the mail and the messages and get a couple of things done, as well as finish up some filing. We also made her 2 month check up appointment (next Wednesday) and an appointment to see the WIC nutritionist about switching her formula checks to soy formula (this Wednesday - -and while I'm there I need to see how to get her an appointment for her first immunizations; it's at the same place. THAT'S not something I'm looking forward to). Then we had to run to the grocery for a few things I forgot and then take the bus home and then do laundry up at the laundry mat. Which means Lil Miss got loaded in and out of her car seat and toted around on errands most of the day and did not really get a nap.

Which made her a bit of a grumpy butt which, honestly, I can understand.

So when we got back from taking the laundry out of the dryers, it was about 6 and Lil Miss decided it was "love and cuddle on Lil Miss" time. Meaning that the laundry sat and waited to be folded for three hours while I loved on and cuddled with Lil Miss. So after she went to bed, Mommy got to fold clothes.

That little one has a LOT of clothes. Seriously.

Napping in her pack and play.

I'm trying to prepare her for sleeping through the night by only putting her in the bassinet when she puts herself to bed -- I put her in the crib for naps and such. Is that okay? Do you think it will help? She seems to like sleeping in the crib just fine. Also, I want to make sure she's used to it because that's the bed that will most likely go with us when we do travel with her (since it folds up and travels much better than the bassinets would).

Now I've had about an hour of "Mommy time" to eat and update the blog. So I'm gonna finish my dinner and then go get some sleep. I sleep a lot it seems, but then again, I don't sleep well, cause everytime she starts mumbling in her sleep, I wake up, even if she doesn't. And, of course, getting up to feed her and such. And then she gets me up up sometime between 6 and 7. So Mommy? Yeah, Mommy is going to bed earlier than she used to. She's sleepy.

And now? Finish dinner, book and sleep.

at least it's over now

Momma -- do you remember that book Where the Heart Is? With Novalee, who hated sevens and though they were bad luck? Well, today, I felt like I was channeling her. It is Lil Miss's seven week birthday and we had a difficult day.

It was a long LONG day.

I think Lil Miss is a little sick -- I think she had an upset tummy most of the day. (If you don't want to hear about Lil Miss's bodily things, go to the next paragraph). She had a very messy diaper this morning, after having one last night (less than twelve hours). And it seemed that every time she ate a bottle, she would get a small messy diaper. And she was extremely fussy and clingy all day and seemed a bit more gassy than usual. So I think she had an upset tummy.

Which, of course, means that Mommy had a long day. We went to work this morning / early afternoon cause Charles is in trial this week. Lil Miss went cause Daddy didn't get much sleep and also wanted to be able to go down and talk to some people about possible part time jobs. So Lil Miss went to work with me today and was very very fussy. So we had a very rough day.

I finally got her to pass out about an hour ago. Then I went to take a bath before coming on here and then going to sleep.

Sorry I don't have any pictures from today. I only have one taken, and it wasn't very good. I spent most of the afternoon / evening walking and bouncing on the sidewalk outside because she seemed to like being outside. We walked up to the corner store -- walking and bouncing -- and back and forth outside. She would calm down and then we would come back inside and within ten minutes, she'd be screaming again and back outside to the walking and bouncing we'd go.

Mommy's arms hurt and Mommy's tired.

If she does this again tomorrow, I'm calling her doctor.

could it be a birthmark?

May 2, 2009

I know, I know, I missed a day. I'm sorry! It's been a very long weekend.

Daddy called about noon yesterday to tell me he needed me to start a bath running because he was sick. )c: So Jimmy's been sick all weekend and Lil Miss was wide awake and fussy last night, so I just didn't get a chance to post. By the time she went to sleep, I was so exhausted, I just crashed.

So I spent yesterday during the day taking care of Jimmy, Lil Miss and finishing all the unpacking and getting the house all set up. Everything has a place and it's probably as "done" as it's going to be with a baby in the house. (c: Zeus is still investigating (I think he thinks that Lil Miss' room is actually his, though that's not surprising, considering that she doesn't really sleep in there yet) and I think he's decided that this house is acceptable. Jimmy and I love it and Lil Miss, well, she doesn't know what's going on. As long as she's fed and loved, she's happy.

May 3, 2009

So yeah, Mommy didn't sleep much last night. Between Lil Miss waking up to be fed and Jimmy getting up through the night, I don't think I got more than twenty minutes of straight sleep all night. I finally gave up trying to sleep this morning about 9:30 and Lil Miss and I got ready to go to work and then, of course, went to work. Because she was so fussy Friday, I had things I needed to get done before tomorrow morning. But she was pretty good this afternoon and let me get everything done (she mainly watched Mommy work and cuddled with Moo Cow. Yes, she is trying to eat his ear in that picture above).

Lil Miss is a rather talkative baby. I wouldn't call her a fussy baby, because most days she doesn't really cry that much unless I'm not making her bottle quick enough or she's telling me she's wet or pooping, but she does grumble and "talk" a lot. She grumbles in her sleep a good bit -- I think when she's dreaming but, of course, I don't know for sure. It's pretty cute though.

She also does this thing when I'm holding her that I call "petting". Quite often when being held, she'll end up in with one are behind me. And usually, when she's eating or being cuddled, she'll pull that arm to me so her hand is at my lower back and then she'll "pet" me. It's very cute and sweet and, though I'm sure she doesn't do it on purpose, I love it. She also tends to hold my hand or finger when she's eating and, when we're riding home on the bus, she tends to hold my hand the whole way (usually while sleeping -- the bus has a tendency to knock her out cold very quickly).

Sleeping at the office today.

So, do me a favor and look very very close at her forehead -- do you see that "V" right above the bridge of her nose? Because I can't seem to *not* notice it. It's not there all the time -- mainly when she is or has just been being fussy, when she's mad or (I'm assuming on this one) when she's sick.

Mommy has one just like it. Momma said it was how she could tell if I was really sick because it wasn't always visible -- only when I was angry, stressed, or sick. Are birthmarks hereditary? So I know that doesn't make any sense and they can't possibly, but seriously -- that looks just like my birthmark.

When will we know whether or not it's going to stay? Is it possible that there is something in my genes that I could pass on that would make it more likely that she would get a birthmark? I don't want her to have to deal with it all her life, so I'm hoping it doesn't stay -- but when will I know? Momma -- when did you realize mine was going to be permanent? Was it obvious when I was a baby?

this may not be very long

April 25, 2009

And I apologize for that. But Mommy doesn't feel very well and wants to go to sleep.

We had a pretty good day. I got some stuff moved over to the new apartment (stuff we don't use every day, like everything that was in the little shed behind the apartment, my off season clothes, Christmas stuff, some of Lil Miss' stuff that we won't need for months). Daddy was on call today since the weather wasn't that great, so he helped me a lot today in taking care of Lil Miss which, considering how tired and yucky I felt all day, was really really nice.

It was also draft day, so Lil Miss got her first look at Daddy's dolphin craziness, which was pretty funny. (She also got to see Mommy get excited because one of her Bulldog's went number one over all and three went on the first day -- very cool)

We had another little crying fit today. Seems to be one a day and it seems to be just about an hour or so before she has a really messy diaper, so I thin they're related. Is there anything I can do to make it easier on her system? Any suggestions?

Other than the crying fits that I'm pretty sure are her trying to do what her body is supposed to do, she's a very good baby. We really are lucky. Daddy doesn't like to hear her crying though. I guess I've kind of gotten used to the little fits -- I know there's not much I can do, so I do what I can and just let her cry it out. But Daddy really doesn't like that and wants to fix it. It's really cute.

Okay. Mommy is sick and needs sleep, since Lil Miss is finally sleeping. So -- finish dinner and then sleep. I promise I'll do better with this tomorrow. (c:

Sitting on the couch and watching the draft with Mommy. It put her to sleep.

at least the day is almost over....

April 24, 2009

........cause it's been a LONG one.

Don't let the above picture deceive you -- she may be a cuddle bug, but when she is grumpy, she is grumpy. And some of it is my fault and I feel horrible about that too. )c:

So, like I said yesterday, we're moving. So the landlord dropped off the papers I needed for the utility companies (saying that yes, we had the right to turn on / transfer to this new apartment) early this morning. So I went down to get everything transferred.

So I went to do the water early today, cause it hadn't been turned off yet and I wanted to catch them before it was turned off because, if I could, there would be no transfer / connection fee. So we go do that and, when I leave the house, I'm planning to come back home and then go downtown and do the electric and then go to work (water company is in New Town, work and electric in Old Town), so I don't go out with extra bottles, just one full one.

So after I go to the water company and run one errand, Lil Miss is getting overwhelmed, so I figure I'll go do the electric and call Charles and tell him the munchikin is having a bad day, so I'll come in Saturday morning instead of this afternoon. I knew he would be fine with that. But then I get to the electric company and there's a hitch in getting everything transferred. It all worked out in the end, but it ended up with me having to go drop something off and get some things from work and I figured while I was there, I might as well go ahead and get the things done.

After Charles leaves, Lil Miss starts to have a fit and nothing I do really helps. Best I can figure (if you don't want to hear about the baby's bodily functions, you might want to skip this part) is that she was having a bowel movement and it hurt. Cause she seemed in pain and was crying really bad and nothing I did worked and, when it was all over, she had a messy diaper.

Is that normal? That hurting them? Is there anything I can do other than hold her and cuddle her and tell her she's okay? Is there something I should be doing differently in feeding her?

And then, after that, she got fussy again and I realized she was hungry.

That was about the point I realized I hadn't packed any extra bottles and she'd already polished off the one we had.

I took the next bus that would get me home quickest, but it was still over an hour and a half before we got home. She was not happy with Mommy and I felt so horrible. I am never leaving the house without at least two bottles again.

And she's been awake most of the evening too (she's finally asleep now). It's been a long long day.

But the water and electric are on at the new apartment. I can start moving stuff tomorrow and then everything else is switching over Monday. So we're moving completely on Tuesday. Yay more space!

One of Lil Miss' cute faces. This is the best shot of the "surprised" face I can get.

And now? This tired Mommy is going to sleep.

changing my world in just four weeks

April 22, 2009

Day I-don't-even-know-anymore of cow attachment. We've started calling him Moo Cow (as evident in a couple of my previous posts). He goes everywhere with us. We need to go by the florist that did the flowers (where Moo Cow came from) and see if they'll sell us a couple more. Luckily, they are local and not far from work.

Lil Miss is still having night terrors. I can sometime hear cues that tell me they're coming on, but not always. She made that sound again -- this little scream, not a cry - a scream, that is very much a "scared" sound, not a "sad" sound -- at work today and also tonight when Daddy was holding her and seeing if she was going to stay asleep. I hate hate hate hate hate that sound. It breaks my heart and makes me sad. I just want to scoop her up and hold her and never let her go again. God that's a horrible sound.

She's awake a lot more now. That's taking some getting used to. She's actually playing and focusing on things too, which is awesome. She's holding her head up pretty well and getting her neck strength slowly. I even saw her smile tonight when we were playing on the floor. She's doing really well.

Question -- since she was born at 39 weeks instead of 40 weeks, is she still considered premature? All the books say that, for premature babies, you should judge their development in weeks from when they would have been 40 weeks or full term, not from when they were born. Is that true for her? Should I be judging her by 3 week standards or 4 week standards?

Aren't they so cute? I love this picture!

Daddy has the magic touch, it seems. He can always get her to go down, even when Mommy can't. Makes me somewhat jealous. But hey, we knew long ago that she was going to be a Daddy's girl. She never listened to Mommy when she was in the womb, but all it took was Daddy putting his hands on my belly and saying one word to her, and she calmed down and stopped whatever she was doing.

Brat. (c:

Daddy, Lil Miss and Zeus. My whole world in one picture.

I can't believe she's already four weeks old. She'll be a month on Saturday. It doesn't seem like that long, but then again, there are already moments I can't even begin to think what we did when she wasn't here. I was talking to Rae today about something and I was like "it's amazing how much has changed in four weeks". A month ago, I wouldn't have left the house without my Ipod and organizer and a book and my purse. Now it's diapers and wipes and Moo Cow and pacifiers. And I love it. I couldn't be happier.

It's crazy. Seriously, who ever thought I would like carrying a diaper bag more than any of my cute purses?

Definitely a zombie. She's trying to eat my arm!