Week Thirty Seven

This week Remi had his first big hip surgery.  We had a mini veterinary hospital set up in the bedroom.  The noise and the fluid pump did not keep you up and you were a good sleeper despite all the chaos.  Poor Remi has to be kept on cage confinement for 2 weeks and it is hard to keep him quiet during your naps.  If you tell him "the baby is sleeping." He actually settles!

You are more and more verbal.  Babbling away in your baby language that no one understands and likely has no meaning.  Every once in a while you end up saying a real word, which is very exciting for us, even if it does not count as your first word.  We have decided that your first word has to be something that you say and know what it means.  You have said "okay" "haiku" and "I love you."

Your physicality is also improving by leaps and bounds.  You are pulling up to squatting and even standing all the time.  I am afraid that you will be walking soon and you will be such a big girl and my little baby will be gone.

Week Thirty Six

So much has happened and no matter how hard I try to dedicate a few minutes every week to blog about you and your adventures I seem to get more and more behind.  I have decided that I am going to try and enjoy you and everything about this first year and then if I have time to write about it.  Perhaps for your second year, which is coming up so fast, I will try and write once a month!

This week teething continued and I thought that your 5th tooth came in, but with a few more weeks under my belt I think that this tooth probably was just starting this week!  It was your left central incisor and it is so big, much bigger than your other teeth.  You decided that you no longer want milk in a bottle.  You Dad had to give you the bottle first, before solids, to make sure that you drank it all.  You still love to nurse, although you get distracted easily.  I guess that I am relieved since I am able to pump less and less, I can only get one session in most days, but sad too.  Sad  that this phase of your babyhood is coming to a close, sad that you are becoming such a big girl.  I want to bottle up the incredible babiness of you and be able to hold on to it forever.

Week Thirty Five

What a crazy busy week with so many developments!  You officially turned 8 months old, you are starting to sit without support, you got your 4th tooth and you can STAND on your own holding on to something.  It is like every day you do something even more amazing.  I was nursing you before work and you said "Hi, Hi, Hi" and then "I love you."  I nearly fell off my chair.  I know that you don't know what you are saying, but you can mimic us so well.

Also the sitting thing is huge for me.  I have been freaking out a little that you could not do this.  It seems like all the other babies were sitting around 6-7 months old and here you are flopping onto your tummy every time I would try to get you to sit.  I was starting to get phobic about developmental delays.  You just did this at your own pace, and although you are not as stable as other babies when sitting you can do it!

The downside of all this activity and all these developments is well your sleep, or lack thereof.  You are refusing naps on a fairly regular basis.  Which leads to a cranky little miss and tired Mom and Dad, since your nap time gives us time to get things done or mostly just recharge ourselves.  Luckily so far your night time sleep has still been good.  We thought that it was teething at first since you have three teeth all trying to come in at once, but even after your upper right lateral incisor cut through there was no improvement with your naps.  I think that you just want to practice all your amazing new skills instead of sleeping.

The upside of the nap problem is that your Dad is finally not swaddling you since you just scream when he tries.  I mostly end up just putting you in your crib when you are tired and letting you fuss/cry until you fall asleep which takes less than 5 minutes.  The more I try and rock you, pat you or nurse you the more you cry when I try and put you down!

You have gotten so good, so quickly at pulling up we have had to retire your co-sleeper bassinet, it is just not safe for you any more.  We ordered a second crib for our bed room that you can sleep in at night (until you wake up and come into bed with me).  I should be assembling it right now, but I wanted to write a little something to you first.

Another funny story and then I have to get back to work!  I had some minor surgery on my toe this week and I took you to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for this.  You were flirting so much with the pharmacist and her assistant they were laughing and could not stop looking at you!  It made my consult not very informative, but I love watching you charm every one you meet!

Sitting!

OMG STANDING!

Week Thirty Four

You have been working so hard at pulling yourself up this week.  You grab onto anything that is within your reach and PULL.  The dog crate has been an absolute favorite, although the railing of your bassinet is a close second.  You seem so big when you do this, more like a toddler than a baby.  I feel like your babyhood is ending and I am soooo not ready for that.  I have been thinking more and more about having a little brother or sister for you, but yikes I am so tired already!

This week we also adopted a new dog, another reason for feeling tired.  We got him at the local animal shelter and he is only 1 year old so I hope that he can live and be healthy to be the dog of your childhood.  He has severe hip dysplasia and will need several surgeries to correct the problem so there is some risk that he might not grow up to be the dog that I dream of for you.  However he has a wonderful personality and is so patient with you and just wants to kiss you and love on you.  I think that he is worth the risk and I am pretty sure that no one else would have adopted him.

You keep randomly saying words and phrases, which I know are likely just mimicking us and not real talking.  However sometimes you say the neatest stuff.  One night this week, after a diaper change, your Dad brought you back to bed, and as I pulled up my sleep top to nurse you looked at my breast and I kid you not said "Oh Yum!"  Baby I love you even if soon you won't be a baby anymore.

Week Thirty Three

I am caught up with your blog now and that feels really great.  I love writing about you and your adventures and how you change and grow and make our lives amazing.  I need to make time for it every week, instead of these marathon sessions.

You got Christmas presents from Aunt Sally and Uncle Jake this week.  Including this crazy cute owl hat.  We make you wear it all the time, but you don't seem to mind.

Your sleep has been really erratic again and we suspect that you are teething.  I can feel three teeth moving down, but none are super close to the gum line yet.  I hope that they all break through around the same time so that you will have some relief for a while.  The teething tablets help some, but you are having a hard time.

You officially love solid food.  You open your mouth so wide when we feed you, like a baby Grackle and eat 1/4 cup of food per sitting.  You have even decided that sweet potato is a good thing, as long as we mix it with apples or pears.  I love making you baby food and can proudly say that you have never eaten anything out of a jar.  Except your rice and oatmeal cereal I have made everything you have eaten.

We have started to look for another Shepherd and you are so amazing at the shelter, the noises and the smells and all the dogs don't bother you in the slightest.  You are your mama's girl that is for sure.  We have not found the perfect dog yet, and in fact I got so sad just looking we decided to take a break for a while.  I want you to have an amazing dog to grow up with.  I hope that someday you can have a relationship with a dog that was as special as my relationship with Audrey.  The dog of a life time.

You and Audrey the day before she died

Week Thirty Two

Now here is the part where things are going to get embarrassing to you in the future.  We are talking poop.  A New Year began this week and your digestive system also turned the page.  You starting having really solid poop, like a little log in your baby pants.  In fact you got constipated and struggled so much to go that your Dad left you bare bottomed to move around and help work the poop out.  Not the best idea, of course within 30 seconds you exploded poop on the living room floor.  After 2 years of dealing with Audrey's poop on the floor, she passes on and within 2 days the trusty carpet cleaner is out again, this time cleaning yours off the floor!  I teased your Dad that he should have caught the poop with his hand, he did not realize that I was teasing and so the next day he did catch your poop in his hand.  He was changing you at 4 am and before he could get a new diaper under you, you started to go.  He of course took a picture.  The next night you pooped in the tub.  Oh baby!  We finally realized that the pumpkin you adore makes you constipated, so now we give it to you less often and always with either pears or prunes.

You discovered the cat's water fountain, you have wet many outfits splashing and playing.  It is so cute.

You had a second Christmas with your Grandma and Uncle Alex.  They had so much fun with you, especially your Grandma.

You also learned to whisper this week.  It sounds a little satanic since it is you babbling and hissing, but it is so cute since you started my mimicking your Dad.  You are so smart and pick things up so quickly.  You amaze us all the time.

Week Thirty One

You are finally sleeping and I am going to try and get this blog as updated as possible.

This week was huge your first Christmas!  You had so many presents: dolls, stuffed animals, books, and SHOES.  Your Grandpa Jeff must have bought the entire selection of shoes at Babies R Us.  You are officially a fashionista since you have a shoe collection now!  We took lots of pictures of you opening presents, the gift inside was always boring to you, but crinkly paper and shiny bows were all the rage.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Mommy's dearest dog this week.  Audrey had been with me through so much.  I am so glad that you got to meet each other.  I know that she loved you, she was so patient with you.  I sent her to go be with Grace Dec 30th, 2013.  I take comfort in knowing that Grace has the best dog protecting her and loving her until we join her in heaven.