I Was Just Kidding But…..

they do make an Obama onesie!

Nine Months, a Little Late

I just realized that Bridget turned nine months while we were on vacation and I completely forgot to do her update!

Bridget is becoming more and more vocal almost every day. She can now make the sounds MaMa, DaDa, BaBa, NaNa (trust me, no one here is happy she can make a noise that sounds like “no” because she uses it constantly when she is upset “Nanananananananna!”) and now she is saying aT. She’s also stringing more sounds together in new ways. For instance, I heard her a few weeks ago declare her choice for a 2008 presidential candidate - A Ba Ma. My girl supports Obama? Right on! I’ll see if they make a campaign onesie. She is also very clearly understanding when we talk to her. If I say to her, “Bridget, where is DaDa?” she looks directly at him. She doesn’t point at things when you ask her where they are though, although she is constantly pointing at things and babbling. I assume she’s telling us a story about the ceiling a lot. Jake swears that one night on vacation when she woke up in the middle of the night, after having had a bottle and some or@gel, she was whine-crying and pointed at her crib as if to say “please let me go back to bed now.” I don’t know if I buy it, though.

The motion. The constant motion. Oh my god, the constant motion. She is so quick! I set her down on the bathroom floor the other night, hung up her towel and turned back to her and she had the little plastic thing that covers the bolts that attach the toilet to the floor in her mouth. Nice. Luckily no one ever uses the toilet in her bathroom so the toilet parts stay pretty clean in there. In a flash she can grab just about anything I don’t want her to grab. She also does not want to sit still for anything. Not a diaper change, not a feeding, not to get her nails trimmed. It makes all those tasks very difficult as you might imagine. In fact at bedtime, right up until the moment I lay her down in her crib, she is trying to climb up me. Then she collapses dead asleep pretty much right after she lays down. It’s no wonder she’s small - she really does burn up every single extra calorie she takes in.

She pulls up on everything and I mean everything. But she doesn’t express much interest in walking. Even when we hold her hands she doesn’t really want to “walk”. I have caught her a few times trying to pull herself up to a standing position without the aid of a table or a chair or a cabinet. So far she hasn’t mastered it, but I know it’s only a matter of time. I’m not sure if I dread or look forward to walking.

The last new development is teething. She has started the process, but we are almost two weeks in and no tooth has made its debut yet. But thankfully she doesn’t seem to be too much in pain anymore. I just wish it would hurry up and pop through. I kind of want to see her with her one little snaggle tooth.

I’ll leave you with this. Today we are getting Bridget’s nine-month pictures taken. This will be the first in the series where she is clothed so I had to find her something cute to wear. Our photographer recommends solid colors rather than patterns because they photograph better. So here is what I bought her:

I fell in love with this dress at Gymb@ree a few weeks ago but was not at all willing to pay $30 for a dress for an infant. See, I don’t believe in dressing my kid in fussy expensive clothes. She will invariably ruin them with puke or food. She doesn’t like to have outfits on and quite frankly, I prefer to save my money for the days when she will actually care what she wears. For right now, Car.ters, Tar.get, and Old Na.vy clothes do just fine. She has some Ra.lph Lau.ren outfits that I found on sale, but I never buy that crap at full price. Anyway, when I realized the picture was coming up and we needed a solid color dress, I immediately thought of this one. As luck would have it, it was on sale and then had an additional 20% off so I got it for less than half its original price. I love a bargain! And it’s a good thing, too, because I know she will probably never wear this again. Dresses are completely impractical for babies who crawl and unless there is some sort of party that comes up in the near future, this will soon end up in the pile of things to send to Auntie Helen for her little girl. But I can’t wait to see her in it today!

All in all, month nine has been quite active. I’m adapting too, just not as quickly as she is. But however exhausted I am at the end of a day with her, she can always make me laugh. Man, I love this kid. I don’t know what we ever did before she got here.

Mama Needs a Cocktail

….. because this child is wearing me out.

She screamed for ten minutes because she wanted down from her high chair NOW! In fact has taken to screaming for any reason. She wants to crawl over the dog bowls and take a sample and I won’t let her. She wants to climb up the stairs (which she can do now, except she gets tired and wants to stop midway up which would result in her falling down if I weren’t right behind her to catch her) and I won’t let her. In fact, I just let her suck on and chew on a ziploc bag for about an hour because to take it away from her caused such ear-splitting screams that I couldn’t take it. I decided now was a good time to choose my battles.  Please don’t call CPS on me. It was a big gallon size bag and it was sealed shut, so there was no chance she was going to choke on it, or get it open and pull it over her head.

She keeps spitting up everywhere. I am not worried - I think it’s just because she’s so mobile now that she shakes things up in there. But still. I’m so sick of cleaning it up from her, from me, from the floor.

She just peed on me when I was changing her diaper and onesie (see above note about spit up). Thankfully she was naked at the time so no other articles of clothing were touched by the pee fountain. Oh yes, girls can do the pee fountain too. Don’t think they can’t. It may not shoot as far as a boy’s pee fountain, but they can do it.

And the funnest part of all this… fun….. is that Jake is out of town so I have no one to hand her off to or otherwise put in charge of keeping her from killing herself.

I think now might be a good time to find a mother’s day out program. For everyone’s safety and sanity.

Home Again, Home Again

Well, we’re home. I can’t decide if I’m happy or sad about that. I will say that Saturday night when we got Bridget home, she was very happy to be here and her bedtime ritual seemed to make her happy. We didn’t hear a peep out of her all night.  That tooth sure is taking its sweet time coming up. I see a little fleck of white on her gum but it’s not making much more vertical progress than that so far. At least she’s been in a better mood and is eating again.

All in all, I think I can only quote the sage words of my father-in-law: “You can either take a vacation, or you can go on a trip with kids. You can’t do both.”

Evil, Thy Name is Teeth

So yeah. Bridget is definitely getting her first tooth, very late mind you, but there it is.

At first, I thought her refusal to eat had to do with waking up at 4 a.m. on Saturday to get on a plane. Her whole day was jacked up so it was no surprise to me that she only took one normal bottle on Saturday, and just “nibbled” for the rest of the day, even at bedtime. She was simply too tired to hold her head up, not even for a bottle. Sunday, I could still chalk it up to travel excitement. We were in a new place with new things to climb, slime and explore. She’d eat a few ounces and then refuse any more and demand to be put down so she could crawl. She wasn’t fussy, she wasn’t upset, and she ate her fruits and other solids just fine. It really didn’t dawn on me. On the periphery, I knew teeth were coming, I could see the bump on her gum, and she was definitely drooling up a storm. I just didn’t connect the dots.

By Wednesday, I was freaked out. Over the previous days, she had MAYBE taken a total of ten ounces of formula per day (a baby her age should be getting between 24 and 32 ounces per day), her diapers were fitting her very loosely and I was in tears and about ready to pack this all in and head home so we could go see Dr. Karam. Wednesday night, Jake called his mom. (See, I am actually raising Jake version 2.0 so honestly, I should just get Jake’s baby book and follow that for advice and guidance.) We wondered if Jake had done something similar. And yes, before he could get the words out of his mouth, she said, “Sounds like teeth.” Duh! I never really thought that sucking on the nipple of her bottle really hurt her, so she just chose not to do it. Spoon feeding was ok because it really applies no pressure to her gums.

So began the application of or@gel, and lots of ice, and things were getting better. We congratulated ourselves that our little girl was handling teething with style and grace - again, she hadn’t been fussy or cranky or whiny. Just refusing to eat, and we had found the workaround for that.

Then last night, she lost her shit. Poor thing woke up at 1 a.m. and COULD NOT BE CONSOLED. We tried more or@gel, more ty.lenol, ice, a bottle, diaper change, holding, rocking, walking, shhhhh-ing, sleeping in bed with momy and daddy. She was having none of it. It was horrible for me because she has never been like that. We’ve always been able to solve the problem, and sadly there was just nothing to be done until that ty.lenol took effect. All in all, it only lasted about 20 minutes, the really bad part. I just held her, walked with her and told her over and over how sorry I was that she was having to go through this. I think that at that point, I would have cut off my own hand if it would have stopped her from hurting. It’s almost like she was thinking, “Woman, why won’t you FIX this????” My poor girl.

And yet, she woke up bright and sunny this morning at 8 a.m. as usual and has been in a good mood ever since. She took her full six ounce bottle without the aid of or@gel or ty.lenol. The tooth is definitely poking up more and I’m hoping that it pops up before bed tonight.

The upside is how cute she’s going to look with that one little baby tooth popping up. Now I need a big container of anything caffeinated. We had planned a day trip to Charleston today but I’m not sure if it’s on or off.

Vacation Part Two (or Why I’m a Bad Parent)

Well, as suspected, vacation with a baby is not really vacation at all. It’s simply moving your duties to a new location without benefit of all the things you need to perform your duties. It hasn’t been bad, per se, but just not what I had hoped for when I booked this trip.

So as not to ramble on incessantly with details no one wants to hear, here’s the skinny. I had what may have been a touch of food poisoining (although I think that is a bit of an exaggeration for what I had). We have a baby who hates the beach. We have a baby who both appears to be teething and also is refusing to take more than three ounces of formula at a time, which necessitated a call to the pediatrician. And I am still hearing that question I hope never to hear again - What do you want to do for dinner?

Jake and I were talking this morning and we both admitted to sort of wishing the baby was not here with us. And then we felt like monumentally bad parents. Or at least I do. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I was sort of looking for an escape from my daily life, which in essence is motherhood. Except there is no escape from motherhood, even when they aren’t with you. Lesson learned.

I know that things will get easier as she gets older - she won’t always be afraid of the beach (she better not be), she’ll be able to walk herself rather than be carried everywhere, we won’t have to worry every second that we aren’t holding on to her that she’s found another item on which she could kill herself, she won’t always take two naps a day that we have to work around. In short, she’ll gain more independence from us which will free us up to do more of the things we want to do. Of course, when that day comes, I’m sure I’ll bemoan the fact that my little girl doesn’t neeeeeeeed me anymore. Waaaaah! Welcome to parenthood - centrally located between this rock and that hard place.

Vacation - Part One

Yesterday we departed on our first ever family vacation. I was worried about how this was all going to go. You know, what with taking an infant on an airplane and jacking with her schedule and routine and everything she is familiar with. But I couldn’t have been any more pleased with how Bridget has been. Even after having been awakened at 4 a.m. yesterday, barely eating a thing and only sleeping for about half an hour on the plane, she was a dream.

The best part of yesterday though, was getting to meet Shelly, her husband and Peanut in person! Here is photographic proof of the meeting. Please don’t look at how awful I look. I had been up since 3 a.m. and been drooled on, spit up on, and generally used as a baby jungle gym for eight hours already by the time this was taken.

I have to tell you that as many cute pictures as you may have seen of Peanut if you read Shelly’s blog, they can simply not do justice to how beautiful a child she is. I thought I was prepared for her cuteness, but my god, she has the most gorgeous big brown eyes I have ever seen. And there is simply no doubt that she looks like both her parents. She very kindly shared her rice cakes with Bridget, who seemed to like them and Bridget shared a Cheerio or two. They played together a little bit and Bridget gave Peanut “pats” on her head and face. I know that it’s Bridget’s way of showing affection, but I’m sure no parent likes to see their kid smacked in the face by another kid. Sorry, Shelly. I promise Bridget is not a brute. Both Shelly and her husband are delightful in person. So yea! New friends!

After we left the restaurant we got on the road for Hilton Head. We were both exhaused. Bridget actually fell asleep laying on the car seat while getting her diaper changed before we left so it was no surprise that we didn’t hear a peep out of her until we were already in South Carolina. She slept all the way through Georgia! Our condo is beautiful and huge - way more room than we really need but having a separate bedroom for Bridget is invaluable. Before I had a chance to pass out, I headed out to buy supplies for the week, then we snacked a bit and took a walk on the beach. Bridget put her feet in the water….

And then we pretty much all passed out. Jake and I were in bed, lights out at nine p.m. But this morning I got up and went to the Coligny bakery for muffins and coffee, and as soon as Bridget wakes up, we are bound for the beach!

Vacation Time

Tomorrow, bright and early, we get on a plane to Jacksonville, where we’ll get to meet Shelly and her husband, and the Peanut. After that we’ll get on the way to Hilton Head.

Wish us luck. I hope that we don’t annoy everyone on the plane. I’m not sure if booking a 6:30 a.m. flight on a Saturday was a good idea or a terrible idea. Time will tell.

And since I have to get up at 3 a.m., I guess I better get my butt in gear. I still have much to do….

Good Thing Her New Shelf is Attached to the Wall

Yesterday Bridget discovered the new bookshelf that my dad made for her. Thankfully, Jake and my dad mounted it to the wall, you know, in case of earthquakes. That bitch isn’t coming down for anything. In fact, when we move, it may have to stay with the house. It’s THAT solid. But I’m glad they did. Why, you ask? Because…..

Yep, in just about ten seconds she grew weary of the stupid toys in the basket purposely placed where she could reach them and wanted to know what was out of her reach. And so….

Notice her blurry hand? It seems every picture I take of her is somewhat blurry because the child is a constant ball of motion. She is never still unless she is asleep.

Just like her dad….

1987 Called. It Wants Its Pants Back

A couple weeks ago, I was out shopping at my favorite place on this earth, Nordstrom. And on the sale rack I found a great pair of khaki pants. I needed to replace the ones I have been wearing all spring because they are flat out too big for me and I spend all my time hitching them up when I wear them. Don’t congratulate me, they are house-sized pants I bought after Bridget was born. You can congratulate me when my pre-pregnancy stuff is too big on me.

Anyway, the pants fit great, are a good versatile design that can be a bit dressy or casual. They are cropped, which is perfect because any pants that fit my big ol’ hips will be too long on me unless they are cropped or the elusive “short” length.

The funny thing, the thing that made me feel these pants are worthy of a blog post? They are made by Esprit. Seriously, I haven’t seen Esprit clothes for sale since I was in junior high.

I wonder if they still make those striped leggings and big sweater with the polka dots on it? Karin, you know what I’m talking about here.