Friday, May 29, 2009

My friends

Sometimes Mommy is a dork and calls my toys "friends."

But I do have real friends. Kenady likes to kiss me.


And Jenna and I hang out!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Great Grandma!






This is my Great Grandma Ross (Grandma GG according to my cousin, Katia; I think it's a great name!) and me. I finally got to meet her today and hang out with her and Grandma Ann for awhile. Mommy is not very good at keeping the camera straight while getting me to smile. Oh, well.


And one more picture of me in my cute overalls.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I'm so cute!


This was going to be the picture at the top of my blog for awhile, but Jen made me a cute header. Thanks, Jen! Can't wait to meet you and my future husband, Ian, in July! Oh, and Joe, too. :)
I sat all by myself for awhile today (like 30 seconds). I'm growing so fast! I just can't seem to get off my belly when I roll from my back (Mommy says I'm being lazy- I've done it before!).

Monday, May 25, 2009

Other random pics

Sometimes Mommy puts me on the couch to sleep. She's lucky to get a half-hour nap out of me (other than my long morning one, which has lately been before bed, then I get up at 1am instead of 7am).
Mommy's friend, Jody, gave me my friend, Abby's old exersaucer (she crawls now so doesn't want to play with it anymore). It has lots of fun stuff.


Yesterday we had a picnic at Grandma and Grandpa Olsen's for Memorial Day. Here are some pictures of me with Mommy and Daddy.


Grandma and Grandpa Olsen now have a merry-go-round at the park, and Grandma Ann painted flowers on it with all her grandkids' names. I also got a bee. I'm so special!

4 months old

This is my piggy outfit Mommy got for me at Kohl's. It has a cute butt.
And a matching bib.
It's my first Memorial Day and I'm also celebrating my 4-month birthday. Here are some random factoids about me at this age:
-I wear some 0-3 mos clothes, but mostly 3-6 months now. The pants are the problem- I have a big belly and no butt.
-I get mostly breastmilk to eat, but some formula every day, too. I've also tried a little rice cereal and sometimes Mommy gives me apple-prune juice when I don't poop. I LOVE it.
-I am very smiley and sometimes I laugh, too.
-I roll from my back to front fabulously, but then I get there and can't get off my tummy (though I have rolled from my tummy to back before!) and get frustrated.
-I get really grumpy when I'm tired and usually have to get rocked to sleep. Mommy's trying to break this habit, but I've had a cold, so I've been sleeping in my bouncy seat and my sleep has been out of wack, anyway.
-I love to jump in my Jumperoo
-I am getting good at bringing my toys to my mouth
-I discovered my feet and love to eat them, especially my left. I do it every chance I get.
-I don't really use my plug anymore, but sometimes I'll suck on a Nuk brand one now
-I can sit by myself for a couple seconds if I'm not being a spaz.
-I am a spaz.
-I kick very hard when I'm in my bouncy seat.
-I pretty much never sit still.
-I love attention and I like to fuss when I'm not getting it.

Watch me roll over!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Jump, jump, jump!

This one is very unclear because it's from Mommy's phone, but I think you get the drift: I love to jump!

Yummy feets!

This one is from Mommy's phone, so not as clear:

The last few days

Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday: No pictures?!? Mommy must have been a slacker that day.

Saturday:
Took a bath and tried on my robe for the first time.
Then we took a family trip to Grandma and Grandpa Olsen's house (well, mostly their yard)
I didn't feel like smiling for the pictures.And just wanted to eat Daddy's finger.He made me go on the bike. I couldn't reach the handle bars (let alone the pedals!).Mommy made me hold the lilacs- they're her favorite flower. I liked how they taste. They gave me a little rash on my face.I was a little confused by this swing.But it was okay.Then I came home, Mommy went to get me clean clothes, and she came back to find me eating my feet for the very first time ever! I'm so talented!
Sunday:
I didn't get a photo shoot in this outfit because I had a major blowout. Yes, it's all over my back as this picture was snapped.So I got another bath and wore this. It's from Auntie Caitlin and says "This is my little black dress."
Monday (today):
This is one of the outfits Mommy's friend, Samia, brought from Brazil. This is me doing my standing trick and starting to fall over.Then sitting!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Howdy

On Sunday I was wearing a really cute dress, but I puked on it before Mommy could take a picture. You can see it here. I do have the shoes, but they are hand-me-downs (like the dress) and way too big. There is also a matching bib that I wore (you can see it, along with other Gymboree stuff, here). I drool, so Mommy almost always puts a bib on me, and this time I didn't look too ridiculous because it matched! This picture shows a little glimpse of me in the dress. It also shows me hanging onto my carseat bug toy. I like to grab at stuff now.
And here I am in just the bloomers from the dress. I smile big with my dimples now.
Then Mommy put me in this outfit, but I puked on it, too (you can even see a little bit if you look close!). I don't usually puke. I think I ate too fast. Or maybe it's just part of this being sick thing.

This is my other big smile- crooked and goofy with what Mommy calls my "stick out tongue." Like my froggy feet?

And here I am yesterday grabbing my toes and getting ready for a bath. If you look closely, you can see the boogers in my nose. I am still rather stuffy (but more runny-nosed now, thus the dried boogers) and sleep in my chair at night so the snot drains down my throat rather than stuffing up my nose and making me not breathe. Seriously, why can my baby friends and I only breathe through our mouths when we're crying? Mommy has added that to her "questions to ask God" list. It would make more sense to be able to do it all the time for when we're stuffy!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mommy won't shut up!

There's one other thing I meant to mention (actually there were two but I can't remember the other right now): Cloth Diapering. I was SO gonna do it. Just have disposables for outings and babysitters. I figured I'd wait a couple weeks after Maya was born so I'd have more energy and be ready to try. Don't remember when I actually did try, but okay, no one tells you how easily those things leak. Even doubled up. After two days of soaking everything to death, I gave up. The whole saving money thing: maybe you would in the long run, but the Parent's Choice diapers, at a mere $5.74 a package, work just fine. In fact, they work great. And I'm not as environmentally friendly as I thought.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mommy again

I remembered another thing: co-sleeping. As a kid I asked my mom why the one woman in the King Solomon story lost her baby. She explained that lots of times back then women slept with their babies and accidentally smothered them. Ever since then, sleeping with your baby has been a very bad idea to me. Too risky. But I got over that. It's not very often that I sleep with Maya, she's only once slept with both of us (and it was only for a couple hours in the morning), and her sleeping with me is usually if Ross is working a graveyard (which is rare now) or we're taking a nap together, or like when we were in Georgia and I got sick of crawling to the end of the bed to look in the crib when she started to fuss. Easier to have her there right next to me. And I am soooo careful not to have blankets and stuff near her... But the whole premise of co-sleeping is usually a bonding and security thing. I think it's bullcrap. I'm no less bonded to my child because she sleeps in a crib. And I think she'll be more secure being UN-attachment-style parented because she won't be scared of strangers, she'll know how to play on her own, and there will be no transitioning her to her own room when she's older because she's already there. The end.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Mommy thoughts

The Mommy here. Here are some thoughts on mommyhood:

-As a child, I remember being overly confused by Playtex drop-ins bottles. I mean, hello, they don't have a bottom. It just didn't make sense. I think the only thing that made less sense was the girl who brought a chicken to church (and sometimes a dog). But they are my absolute favorite. Yes, you have to keep buying liners, but there is SO MUCH LESS bottle washing. You just have to wash the bottles and rings every now and then, and wash the nipples. Much less hassle than constant bottle washing. Plus it's one of the few types of nipples Maya likes. Those and the Parent's Choice ones. They're the "standard" type of nipple but kinda thicker. She doesn't do normal standard nipples.

-I was set on doing Babywise. My child was going to get on a schedule and sleep through the night, goshdarnit. But then you give birth and though people have warned you you're going to be exhausted, you just don't understand at all until you've been there. There are no words to describe the sleep deprivation. And my mom took Maya in the middle of the night for the first week we were home. It was horrible (the no sleeping, not my mom :) She was a lifesaver!). It was part of the reason I gave up breastfeeding (but we'll blame it on Maya's quirky nursing habits. Seriously, getting her to take a bottle can be a major project, I can't imagine trying to get her latched on). Maya generally ate every 3 hours and was sleeping through the night- in her crib- on a regular basis by about 7 weeks. My genius baby. Even sick she's slept through the night in her bouncy seat. But as for eating, after awhile she gave up on that 3-hour schedule. She decided to take an ounce or two here and there. She sometimes makes a disgusted face when she doesn't want to eat, or take the nipple in her mouth and pushes it around with her tongue. It's almost comical, but mainly frustrating because it's like are you gonna eat or not?!? So the schedule thing got thrown out the window. And she is a horrible napper. Every now and then she'll take a long daytime nap, but those are few and far between. She sleeps through the night- usually averaging 7.5-8 hours, gets up and eats, then usually within an hour is asleep again for a good 2-3 hours, sometimes more. So I get to go back to sleep. Anyone who knows me knows I love to sleep in, so I like it this way. I can deal with her cat-napping the rest of the day. And even with Sunday night long naps on Tami's chest, Maya still sleeps through the night. So I can't complain. No training on my part and my baby is generally good natured and a good sleeper. If she ever ends up in daycare (heaven forbid) where they have scheduled afternoon naps, we'll work on that, but for now, things are just fine.

-I was super paranoid about some things that I'm totally over. Like being in people's gross houses. It'll be one thing when she's crawling around on the floor, but I guess breathing in some dirty home germs won't kill her. I was never paranoid about pacifier cleanliness. If it falls on the floor and no hair's stuck to it, it gets popped back in her mouth (though she doesn't take one anymore usually. And btw, my babies were NOT going to have pacifiers. HA! They're a life saver). I don't sanitize bottles or nipples (well, I do run them through the dishwasher sometimes). Some people are total germaphobes. We had a friend in Indiana who used instant hand sanitizer before nursing her own baby. A bit extreme in my book, but whatever floats your boat. Maybe I should be more germaphobey, but whatever.

-Speaking of paranoia, let's talk about SIDS. I don't want to get too harsh here because the older sister of a girl I grew up with lost her baby boy to SIDS a couple years ago and it's SO very sad. But seriously, everything causes SIDS these days. For years babies slept with comfy blankets, on their stomachs, with crib bumpers, no air circulation, too many warm layers, no pacifiers, ate from BPA-laced bottles (not that that's SIDS related, I'm just saying), and most were just fine. But because of the SIDS paranoia, I bought a ridiculously expensive monitor that goes under the mattress to sense movement. Because Maya is a bit psycho and moves around so much and gets to where the sensor doesn't sense her (it's only about the size of a sheet of paper and goes smack in the middle) it occasionally goes off, but doesn't totally freak me out because it's only for a few seconds then it's like "oh, okay, there is some movement" and stops. So I go in, yank her back to the middle of the crib, and she goes on sleeping. And I sleep, too- better than I would without knowing something is there to make sure my baby hasn't stopped breathing. If it weren't for all the SIDS hype, I'd stick her in there and have no worries. Then again, maybe not. I'm a true-to-my-Gardner-blood worry wort.

And I guess that's it for now. Time to go steam my baby. Okay, it's not as bad as it sounds. :) Close the bathroom door and run the shower 'til the hot water's gone and loosen the mucous in her poor little nose. I think she's finally getting better, poor little thing. And now I'm sick, too. It sucks. Happy Mother's Day to me.

Hi!

Even with an overly snotty nose, I manage to be in a great mood! (Most of the time.) I love my jumperoo!

This is a 2-for-1 picture. You get to see my attempts at holding my bottle (I'm not really trying to help feed myself, I'm just starting to grab at everything within my reach) and one of my monkey feet!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Recent events

Near the end of my trip in Georgia, I discovered my ears. I like to try to yank them off while I'm eating. No, I don't have an ear infection.
Mommy got me an activity gym thing at the local consignment shop. It is very intriguing.
Last Sunday- 14 weeks old!

I love to stand and we discovered I can do it while leaning against the back of the couch. I can actually stay this way for a few minutes (don't worry, Mommy doesn't leave me alone).

In Georgia, I got my first cold. Then two nights ago I got another one. It reached its worst point last night (Mommy tortures me with these steamy sessions in the bathroom and sucks out my nose with that stupid green thing the hospital gave us. It's so unkind. I know she means well, but my nostrils are red). But yesterday, I still smiled lots. Actually, I still am today. Except when Mommy sucks out my nose.

This is what I like to do in my Bumbo.