Food #2

Avocado = winner!

I think the texture weirded her out a bit since it's thicker than the squash, but she ate almost half of the avocado.

In the baby food book I have (thanks, Jess!), it mentions someone saying that people might be able to live on avocado alone. Interesting ...

I'm also giving her some water in between bites of food and she seems to like that. Her pediatrician recommended that I give her water in a non-spillproof sippy cup (as opposed to a bottle). I didn't think it'd be that hard to find a non-spillproof sippy cup, but apparently they don't exist. Even the cheapo ones at Big Lots were spillproof. So I bought the cheapest spillproof one I could find - and it sort of does the trick. But it's not great. Grr ...

Babyproofing

I fear that we are within mere days of a certain chubby-cheeked munchkin being mobile. If she could just figure out how to move her arms at the same time she moves her legs, she'd be off. You can tell she got places to go and people to see.

But have we babyproofed our house?

Not a single bit.

Whoops.

Weekly Natalie - Week 27

(she's sporting a mohawk in all of these pictures ... when the majority of your hair is in the middle of your head, and when you have silly parents, a mohawk is just inevitable ...)

Right before her first experience with squash

Ha!
Diggin' (or at least tolerating) the squash
Checking out what she's dropped on her bib
Happy squash eater
I think this was a cough/yawn.
This baby has a seriously large mouth. Post bathtime smile
Sweet little mohawked angel-face

Squash = Winner!

Natalie had her first 'real' food today - butternut squash. Survey says ... we have a winner! The first bite weirded her out a little bit, but she seemed to dig it after that. (I post the pictures tomorrow)

I'm attempting to make all (or at least most) of Nat's food. I think I'd feel better if I knew exactly what she was eating, and by making it myself, I know that there won't be any extra chemicals or preservatives.

The butternut squash was a cinch to do. I halved it, scooped out the icky squash guts, baked it flesh-side-down for an hour, then beat the heck out of it with my hand mixer. I was able to fill one and a half ice trays with one squash. I think that's about a week and a half's worth of veggies. Pretty economical.

I think I'm going to try sweet potato next. Though I'm not sure how hard it'll be to get it smooth with all the fibers it has.

Latest Stats

We just got back from Natalie's six-month checkup and here are her stats:

Weight: 17lbs, 2oz (75th percentile!!)
Height: 26.75" (90th percentile) (it's crazy to think that she's grown over half a foot since she's been born)
Head circumference: I don't remember what it was - but it's the 95th percentile! That's just one more trait that Nat inheirited from Lee. Haha!

At her four-month checkup, she was in the 40th percentile for weight. And now she's in the 75th! Hooray for leg chubs!

Weekly Natalie - Week 26

in her highchair/booster seat for the first time

more interested in the light than the camera
Daddy/Nattie playtime

trying to sit up by herself

right before she face-planted into my leg

June 2009 - Recap

Oh, sweet June. How we loved you. You brought back our sweet, smiley, good sleeping baby.

There are so many high points from this month (that's the good thing about having a bad month like May - any small good thing, such as not crying for five whole minutes - is a huge improvement). Always remember that, Nataroo - the good thing about bad days is that they eventually end. Your dad is great at remembering that; I, on the other hand, have a very hard time remembering that. We balance each other out like that.

High points:

• You met your Aunt Lisa, Uncle Rich, and cousins Draigen and Taylor this month. They moved to California when I was pregnant with you, so they never got the chance to see you in person before they left. They love you so much, and it was so wonderful to spend a week with them.
• You got dedicated at church this month. It was such a special day. Gramma Lu and Granddaddy came. Auntie Karen drove in from Panama City. Uncle Rich, Aunt Lisa, and Taylor were there. Nana came. Uncle Rich's parents (Paw-Paw-In-Law and Grandma-in-Law!) came. And three of my best friends came. So many people love you, little one. It does Daddy's and my heart so good to know that you're surrounded by loving and thoughtful friends and family. And you didn't throw up on Pastor John - that ALSO does our hearts good!
• You've been very giggly this month. It's awesome. Aunt Lisa got some pretty good laughs out of you while she was here. And Daddy and I did, too - finally!! Our cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so long. You are the cutest thing ever when you smile (you're the cutest thing ever ANYway, but when you smile - wow. The level of cuteness is quite astounding)
• You've set yourself a pretty wonderful nap schedule. You wake up anywhere between 6am and 7am and take a long nap about 2 hours after you get up. Sometimes I take a nap, sometimes I do laundry, sometimes I watch the goofy TV shows that I DVR'd that Daddy doesn't want to watch with me. Your afternoon nap varies a little more. You take that one anywhere between 1pm and 4pm. Sometimes it lasts for an hour, sometimes it's 2 hours.
• And speaking of sleeping ... you've been sleeping at night like a CHAMP. On a number of occasions, you've slept straight through the night. We put you to bed between 8:30pm and 9pm and you've slept until 6:30 or 7am. Woo hoo! There were several nights you got up in the middle of the night to eat, but that's not bad either. I feed you for only 10 minutes, then put you straight back to bed.
• You're getting good at sitting up! You still need to hold on to our fingers in order for you to sit straight up, but you're able to support yourself for a few seconds without us. It's really amazing to watch - it's like we can see your thought process on how to support yourself.
• You got in a swimming pool for the first time this month. You seem to be really annoyed by bathtime, so we were expecting the worst when we put you in the pool. And you didn't disappoint! You screamed like you had been stuck with a hot poker. Daddy held you the entire time and slowwwwwwly put your feet back in the water. He waited for a minute or so, then went a bit deeper until your knees were in the water. He waited a bit more and then went until the water was around your waist. All the while, you had this look like "Um, excuse me? What are you doing? This is WATER. Remember that I HATE water?" You didn't look thrilled. But at least you weren't crying anymore. And surprisingly, it only took a few more minutes before you smiled! Maybe this water thing isn't so bad,
  huh?
• Father's Day Craft Project. So I guess I should have followed the directions on the back of the box that said "Wait until child is asleep to put his/her hand or foot into the plaster to make a mold". Because I didn't. And the mangled mess of hardened plaster (that bore only a vague resemblance of a foot) that I gave Daddy for Father's Day is proof. But Daddy, being the wonderful man he is, said that he loved it. And he's got it sitting on his bedside table.

Low points:

• The heat. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm so sorry, baby girl. You were born to two sweaty parents. So you had no choice but to be a sweaty baby. And thanks to this blistering heat, we've gotten to see just how sweaty the entire city is. I would love to take you outside more - we have a swing in the backyard ready for you, but it's so incredibly miserable outside that all I want to do is go from one air-conditioned building to another. So that's what we've been doing. Instead of taking walks around the neighborhood or going to the park, we go to the mall. And TJMaxx. And Kohl's. And pretty much any other place that has air conditioning.
• My lactation consultant told me about something that perfectly describes you: A Fire-Alarm Personality. A fire alarm goes off whether there's burned toast in the toaster or if the entire house is engulfed in flames. Similarly, you cry hysterically whether you're a tiny bit hungry or if a tiger just bit off your leg (obviously that hasn't happened, but I assume that's how you would sound). Daddy and I have a hard time figuring out what's wrong when you cry like that.
• Poop. I won't go into too much detail with this one, but I will say this: now that you're older, you don't have a lot of, um, waste. And now that we've added in rice cereal, it means that what waste you DO have is easily backed up. So yeah. You don't go very often. Which is great in terms of cleaning off cloth diapers, but it means that we have to endure days and days of you grunting. But your pediatrician said not to worry unless it's been over a week. Yikes.

Little love, this has been such a fun month. You've been so playful and so gloriously smiley. It's like you're a little person now! (Not that you weren't a person for your first six months, but this age is SO much more fun). I love watching you interact with people. You smile at strangers (you've cried at some, too, but we won't go into that).

You and Daddy have your own games you play and own songs you sing. You won't understand this until you've experienced it yourself, but watching you and Daddy play makes me fall in love with him all over again. He is the best daddy in the world. You are his Babydoll.

(And you're my Boo Boo)

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

Books

Instead of a traditional baby shower, my sister threw me a book shower. I loved it! I got some great classics (Goodnight Moon, Guess How Much I Love You) that I've already started reading to Natalie. I got some books that were favorites of friends (If You Give a Mouse A Cookie, a collection of Little Golden Books). And then there was the gift from my mom. She gave me a stack of books that she read to Karen and me when we were little. All these memories came rushing back when I saw the covers. It was really, really special.

Natalie is too young for these books, but I decided to start reading them while I'm feeding Natalie before she goes to sleep. I used to talk to her and sing to her, but lately she's been really distractable. And as soon as she would hear my voice, she'd stop eating and watch me. Cute, yes. But productive, no. So instead of just sitting there in silence while she eats, I thought I would catch up on some of my favorite books from when I was younger.

Here's what I've read so far:

I had forgotten just how prim and proper ND is.

It's really funny (and also refreshing)

And totally unrealistic ... ND and her dad would SO get shot or thrown in jail for doing what they do if this had taken place in 2009.

Oh, how I love Ramona. I don't think I've ever related more to a character in a book. She's gangly, awkward, and bossy. She has a brilliant older sister. She often sticks her foot in her mouth and hates when she doesn't know something that somebody else knows.

This is, hands down, one of my most favorite books in the world. I had forgotten just how wonderful it was until I started reading it again. And this book has taken on a brand new meaning now that I'm a parent. I want to be like Danny's father. (I have several other Roald Dahl books that I'll read - Matilda, The BFG, and Boy. RD is wonderful)

This one is next on my list (my mom, my sister, and I read this book - and the other ones in the series - over and over and over and over again. I can't wait to start it)

Weekly Natalie - Week 25

Hmm ... so I thought today was Thursday. Apparently it's not.

Some Daddy/Nattie playtime on Father's Day

The face I saw when I went to check on her to make sure she was taking a nap Still not sleeping ...Our beautiful blue-eyed munchkin

Dedication

We dedicated Natalie at church yesterday. I'll write more about it in June's recap (how is it almost time for June's recap?!?!), but I wanted to write a bit before then.

Lee's sister's family is in town from California this week. Lee and I knew we wanted to get Natalie dedicated soon, and the arrival of out-of-town family provided a perfect opportunity. And plus, it was Father's Day. So it made it extra special.

Our church doesn't perform baby baptisms; it performs baby dedications. Their thought is that someone should wait to be baptized until he/she understands what it means and can make that decision for themselves. I was baptized as a baby, but I can see how both ways are special.

When Lee and I were going through premarital counseling, we rededicated our lives to the Lord. We were so excited about getting married, and knew we wanted to get the best start that we could. We felt that renewing our faith would be the best foundation for us as a newly-married couple.

And it has. Oh BOY it has. We've had some pretty intense things come up in our marriage. And I'm convinced that if we hadn't had faith, it would have been a lot rougher on us.

When Natalie was born, we recognized that she didn't belong to us. She was on loan from God :) We know that He can take her anytime He wants, but while she's with us, we want her to have the best life we can provide. And we felt that our biggest responsibility was to dedicate her back to Him.

Okay, back to the dedication.

My aunt made a christening gown that both my sister and I wore when we were baptized. My sister wore it in 1978 and I wore it in 1981. It's got both of our initials and the dates we were baptized embroidered on it. It's beautiful.

At one of my baby showers, my mom gave me that christening gown. (Cue the water works!). I couldn't wait to have Natalie wear it. And let me tell you, she looked like a little angel. A chubby-cheeked, blue-eyed, beautiful little angel. (See pictures below for proof)

Oh, and I don't know what kind of material my aunt used to make the christening gown, but it still looks brand new. I know it's only been worn twice, but it seriously looks like I just bought it. And it doesn't wrinkle! It had been in a box for a few decades, and it had nary a wrinkle.

We were convinced that our super-spitter would throw up all over the pastor during the dedication. We warned him ahead of time about this. He laughed and told us that his shirt was washable. I wanted to tell him that I have a few shirts that prove baby spit-up stains like crazy, but I didn't get the chance.

As we stood at the front of the church, they showed a short video that we had shot a week ago about why we wanted to dedicate Natalie. As the video was playing, the pastor whispered to me "How is Natalie feeling this morning?" I smiled and said "So far so good! But I can't make any guarantees!" He smiled. I handed Natalie to him and he explained to the congregation about baby dedications, and afterwards, everyone clapped.

It was very sweet, but I should have remembered that Natalie has recently become *very* sensitive to loud noises. As soon as she heard the clapping, her lower lip poked out, began to tremble, and she started whimpering. As soon as the whimpering turned to sobbing, the pastor handed Natalie back to me. Lee and I were both trying not to laugh, but we failed miserably. She calmed down quickly, the pastor dedicated her, and the congregation clapped again - cue more whimpering! And then the worship team started playing a song - cue more sobbing! So I rushed her out of the sanctuary and found a quiet place for us to sit.

All in all it was a great experience. And we're so happy Lee's sister's family was able to come. My family also came, as did three of my best friends. It was so special to share it with them, and we're so thankful to have people in our lives who love and support Natalie.

Yes, she's rockin' a headband.

So happy!
There's that tongue again

It's a physical impossibility not to munch on these cheeks
My sister came in from Panama City. She's the coolest.

(Okay, I just realized that it looks like I'm wearing a skirt in these pictures, which would mean I'm striking a very unladylike pose in this picture. But I'm not - I'm wearing shorts, I promise. It's 100+ degrees outside and thankfully, our church is fairly casual)

Four of my most favorite girls in the world

The Bushway-Smith-Farrington clan

The whole gang

Happy Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day, my love!

I just love these two ...

Swaddle On!

Okay, so we tried not swaddling Natalie for the past two nights. The first night she got up twice, and last night she got up three times. Ugh. So we went back to swaddling her tonight. Even though she ninjas herself out of it, I still think it helps her sleep better.

We'll try putting her to sleep without it in a few weeks to see if she's ready. If not, we'll try a few weeks after that. I'm not too worried about her being too old to be swaddled - The Happiest Baby on the Block author says that it's find to swaddle a baby until he/she is 9 or 10 months old. So we've got time.

And she makes the cutest baby burrito when she's all swaddled up.

Weekly Natalie - Week 24

Natalie is quite the morning person. After she wakes up, she usually lays in her crib 'singing' to herself until Lee or I come get her. The look on her face is a great way to start our day.

(We tried not swaddling her last night to see how she would sleep - she woke up twice, which isn't horrible, but still not ideal)

But this smile! When I saw it this morning, I totally forgot how sleepy I was. She must have a magic smile.

Blueberries

Blueberries are one of my most favorite things on the planet. They're cute, they're highly portable, they're sour, and they're wonderful in so many things (pancakes, muffins, cereal, my mouth ...).

This morning, my mom, Natalie, and I drove up to Molino to pick blueberries. It was miserably hot, but the blueberries (and my car's AC [another one of my most favorite things on the planet]) more than made up for the heat.

I was carrying Natalie in my sling and she had on a big floppy hat, so the only part of her that was exposed to the sun was her right arm that she insisted on flailing around. I was worried she's get sunburned if we stayed too long, so Mom and I only picked for 20 minutes or so.

But we ended up with about 3 lbs of blueberries which cost us a grand total of $2.06! If we had been Natalie-less (carring around an extra 16+ lbs is not conducive to effecient blueberry picking) and/or it hadn't been so hot, we definitely would have picked more. But 3 lbs is great! Especially since I probably ate 4 lbs while we were picking (just kidding, Mr. Blueberry Farm Owner).

I can't remember the last time I had fresh-picked blueberries. They're w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. Like ten times better than ones from the grocery store.

I can see a few more trips to the blueberry farm in my future.

Jumperoo Shmumperoo

Who needs a Jumperoo when you've got a Mom?!

Now that Natalie has gotten the hang of jumping in her Jumperoo, she jumps all the time - especially in my arms. I'm worried she's going to crack her skull on my chin (worried for both her delicate skull and my delicate chin), but it's so much fun watching her jump that I can't bear to stop her. After that first trip to the ER, I'm sure I'll stop her.

Weekly Natalie - Week 23

Superbaby!

We still swaddle Natalie at night - she's still so squirmy and fidgety that she'd wake herself up every three seconds if she wasn't swaddled. And we put her to sleep in in a spare changing table pad - again, because she's still so squirmy and we don't want her rolling over while she's swaddled because she might have a hard time flipping back over.

She is a swaddle ninja. Even with both Lee and me working together to get a super-tight swaddle, Baby Ninja still manages to break free. This is how we found her the other morning, halfway off the changing pad with the swaddle only attached around her belly.

She finds it hilarious that she's the swaddle victor.

Weekly Natalie - Week 22

For some reason, she's not wearing many clothes in the pictures I took this week.

I love her baby bathrobe

After her first experience with rice cereal.

She scarfed it down like a champ.

This picture makes me want to nibble on her cheeks

She's been making this face a lot

Hiding underneath her blanket

She didn't fight back at ALL when we played

"Let's Wrap Natalie Up In A Blanket"

This is her latest game:

"I Don't WANT to Wear a Diaper, so I'm Going to Roll Over"

A Day of Two Firsts

First first: Natalie tried rice cereal for the first time! We didn't give her a lot - probably only about a tablespoon, but she scarfed it down. She doesn't understand eating from a spoon just yet, but she did great for the first time.

Second first: Natalie peed on Lee (*cough*giggle*cough*) I was getting her bath ready and Lee brought Naked Baby into the bathroom. Obviously we waited too long to get her in the tub because she peed on him twice. I take partial responsibility for it because I was trying to open a container of tub toys for her to play with - and that delayed her getting into the tub. My bad. Thankfully Lee is good-natured and saw the humor in it.

Correction

I swear, it's a good thing I married someone with such a better memory than me.

Lee told me that Natalie's GI doc didn't say she showed no signs of reflux - he said he saw no signs of abnormal acid reflux. He saw signs of reflux (because everyone refluxes), but saw no signs of acid reflux (ie: her esophagus looked good). And just because he didn't see any acid reflux doesn't mean that Natalie doesn't suffer from another kind of reflux. Or maybe she did have acid reflux, but the Prilosec she's been taking for the past few months has helped. Or maybe she has no problem at all with reflux and we haven't yet found what the problem is. Or maybe there is no problem and she's just a fuss bucket.

Either way, Natalie's pediatrician reassured us that getting the endoscopy was a good idea. And she recommended that we start her on a small amount of rice cereal to see if that helps calm her fussiness.

May 2009 - Recap

So, yeah, May? Are you friends with March or something? Because you two months were eerily similar.

My darling Natalie. I've done some researched on this 'four-month wakeful period' thing to see if that could explain why, all of a sudden, you stopped sleeping well at night. It's not that you went from sleeping through the night and then started getting up once in the middle of the night. Oh no. When you commit to something, you commit. Instead of getting up once a night, you got up two, three, and sometimes four times a night. It was u-g-l-y.

But you started this month off GREAT, sleeping almost eight hours last night. Let's hope that this streak continues. Daddy will give you a pony if it does.

High points:

• Your first laugh! Even though it wasn't directed at me or Daddy, it was still awesome. And I was able to get it on video, so that just makes it extra awesome. I will forever be indebted to your Aunt Amanda for making you laugh for the first time.
• Rolling over like a professional roller-over-er. Daddy and I love watching you roll over. I'm fascinated at how you learn things. It's not like we taught you how to roll over - you just figured it out on your own. And now, you roll over all the time. (Though it would be nice if you could explain to me why you start fussing when you roll onto your stomach ... I put you on the floor on your back and you immediately roll onto your stomach and start crying. Seriously. That makes no sense, kid.)
• Watching you jump in your Jumperoo. You hated it at first, but now you seem to really like it. In fact, as I'm typing this, you are jumping and singing. It's so incredibly cute. You often surprise yourself with the noises you get the Jumperoo to make. The look of shock on your face is adorable.
• Your noises! Oh good gracious, your sweet little noises. You sing, you squeal, you squawk, you coo, and you blow raspberries. And they're the sweetest noises we've ever heard.
• Watching you and Daddy 'play fight'. You'll be in your swing and Daddy will come up to you and you guys will start batting at each other's hands. I have a sneaking suspicion that you'll be a complete Daddy's girl. And I wholeheartedly endorse that. Your Daddy's quite awesome.

Low points:

• Lack of sleep. Enough said.
• Not knowing what's causing you to be completely happy one second and completely hysterical the next. We now know that it's not reflux, but we don't know anything more. That's incredibly frustrating.
• You're like a baby ninja when we swaddle you now. It takes both me and Daddy to get a proper swaddle and even then, most mornings we find you with both arms out, both legs out, and some semblance of a swaddle around your stomach. It's half funny and half annoying, as you often wake yourself up with your flailing arms if you're not swaddled.
• Having a man ask if you were a boy or a girl when you had a blue bow on your head. Apparently pink bow = girl and blue bow = boy.
  

Daddy and I are so thankful for your beautiful smile. It's what's gotten us through this rough month. I don't have much experiences with babies, but I swear you've got to be the best smiling baby I've ever seen. Even in our sleep-deprived madness, you bust out one of your smiles at precisely the right time and it helps us refocus.

I can promise you this - Daddy and I won't stop trying to figure out what's causing you such discomfort. Because when you're happy, you're the most delightful person in the world. And we want to see more of that. And we'll try our hardest to find out what's getting in the way of you being happy more often. Because Daddy and I want to bottle up your smiles and sell them to grumpy people. We'd be millionaires in no time.

Hugs and smooches,

Mommy and Daddy