Leah 6 Months Old

Wow! My little Leah, you are 6 months old... halfway to 1 year old! For the first time, your stats have remained basically the same, but that could be due to the fact that my measurements a month ago were not quite accurate. We had our 6 month checkup today and you weighed 16 lbs. 12 oz. (61%) and were 27.5 inches long (96%). You are still wearing the same size clothes and diapers. I bought a TON of size 3 diapers on clearance (0.15/diaper for Pampers), so you can't grow out of them too quickly!

You continue to LOVE food! You eat everything I put in your mouth whether it's vegetables, fruits, curry.. you name it. Your Uncle Johnny declared that you were "the neatest baby eater ever" because you open your mouth really wide and don't really allow any food to not go into your mouth. (That doesn't mean that I haven't gotten the occasional raspberry with squash speckling my face though!) The last few days, you have started grabbing at the bowl with your food in it and you try to grab any food (even mine) if it is within your grasp. I think you might be ready for some finger foods soon. 

You are getting better and better at sitting up, but you still fling yourself backwards so I have to keep a hand on your back or a boppy behind you. One evening, I put you on your knees and went to do something. When I came back like 5 seconds later, you were sitting up. You have yet to repeat this when I am actually watching though!

Crawling/scooting is coming along. You can scoot anywhere you want and at a decent speed. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth frequently. You do this stance where you have only your hands and feet on the ground with your knees in the air. You have been inching your knees forward and you get one hand forward, but then you end up crashing to the ground and get upset. It will only be a matter of time before you have it down. You are definitely strong enough! You just lack the patience.

The standing position continues to be your favorite. I'll try to sit you in front of a toy and you'll refuse to bend your legs, so you can stand holding onto the toy instead of sitting. We have a push toy that you have taken a few steps while pushing, but you aren't walking along and holding onto anything yet. You've let go of whatever it is you're holding a couple times and stood on your own for a few seconds.

Every time someone wants to hold you, the first thing they say is, "Wow! She's REALLY strong!" Then they follow up with, "Does she ever stop moving?" I chuckle and respond that you slow down a little bit when you're sleeping. This last Sunday, Doug had to work and I was alone, so some DEAR brave souls decided to help hold you. It's like being in a baby holding marathon with you Leah! If you weren't grabbing their face/jewelry, you were turned in every direction opposite from the way they would face you, or bouncing on their lap/out of their arms.  Another baby the same age just SAT on his grandmother's lap. I don't mind (mostly). You are a mover and a shaker my little Leah and you will change the world!

All of this moving takes a lot of energy and you nap pretty well for the most part. You are definitely getting better at sleeping through the night. You were waking up every 2-3 hours to nurse, so I decided to start some sleep training. It stunk and your little lungs got quite the work out, but you started sleeping longer periods of time within three days of starting. You are pretty regularly sleeping through the night 7:30pm-5:30am, nursing, and then waking up for the day at 7:30am. This is an IDEAL day and we still have QUITE a bit of variance, but it's MUCH better than waking up every 2-3 hours like before.

Potty training is going great! (See previous post if you're clueless about this.) The diaper pale doesn't fill up nearly as fast and isn't nearly as stinky. I would say that you go poo in the toilet about 75% of the time and pee maybe 25%. It's really helping to cut back on diapers. It's probably more mommy potty training because I've had to learn to read the signs that you need to go, but I've heard that some infant potty trainers are officially done with diapers by a year old. I'm not counting on it, but that would be a dream! I really think this comfy Bumbo potty seat should get a lot of the credit. We were at a friend's house and you tried her daughter's potty seat and wouldn't go. Comfort is key!

I can see that your fine motor skills are just barely starting to develop. You rake at smaller and smaller things with your fingers and sometimes you are even able to pick up smaller objects. There are beads on this toy of yours and you love feeling them between your fingers. You can also grab your pacifier now and put it into your mouth the right way.

Things that you love... You still love to read Dr. Seuss's ABC's Book with me. These days, I usually read to you while you are sitting on the toilet because it's the only time that you're really staying still, You also LOVE Darwin, our kitty. You smile really big when you see him and have tried grabbing at him a few times, but he gives you a wide berth. You love bright colors... It may just be my imagination, but you seem attracted to the color yellow right now. You continue to love being outside. You love watching people, especially kids! It fascinating to see you develop interests and preferences. Your personality is showing more each day.

Your Grandma H. and I finished your quilt. (FINALLY!) I'm pretty excited about it! Your name is embroidered on the back in the lower right corner. The colors are some of my favorites and it really did turn out beautiful. We are thinking about making some matching valences to go in your room. (This picture below is you in the cradle your great uncle Al made for you with the quilt grandma and I made as the background. You were making raspberries the whole time I was trying to get a picture!)

We just decided to move you into the next car seat. You have adjusted well! This one should last you until you grow out of car seats. I was worried that you would hate it because there are no buggies toys to talk to like on your old car seat, but you have your feet to chew on and I sometimes place some toys on your lap. This last Sunday was kind of a nightmare because there was no place for you to sleep besides my arms. We're going to have to figure something out!

The weather has started cooling down and I have started layering you up. Here's a favorite picture that showcases your beautiful brown eyes! The sweater is awesome. It is a hand-me-down from your Aunt Heather and it actually zips up the back!

You are amazing, my little girl. I love you more and more each and every day. (If that's even possible!) I feel very blessed to be your mommy. 

Thank You, Mom

Let's rewind 12 or so years back... I'm in the height of my teenage years and like most teenage girls, I fought with my mom. I remember this one in particular because of the guilt and shame afterward.

I made my mom cry.

We were getting out of the car after my mom had driven me home from one of the many activities she carted me to and from each day. I was angry because she was "always bragging about me." I still remember the harsh words as they came out of my teenage mouth. "Mom! The ONLY reason you brag about me is because you have no REAL accomplishments of your own!"

Ouch.

Here's a picture of my mom sleeping in the car around this same time period.
She probably had just dropped off one kid and was waiting for the next one to get in the car. 

Fast forward to now.

This week, I was sitting in a group of mommies with babies similar in age to Leah. We were all talking about what our babies were doing and the mommy problems we were having. I didn't realize it until after the mommy I was talking to moved over to talk to another mommy. She wasn't trying to be rude, but I realized pretty quickly that I probably had been talking too much... and probably even bragging. :/

My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment for a brief moment and I silently chided myself - Jen, you need to be a better listener. LISTEN, DON'T TALK! - (This self-talk happens frequently.) I played silently with Leah on the carpet and smiled listening to the other moms in conversation in the room... but I was embarrassed. Then the memory of the argument with my mom resurfaced. 

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I am now just starting to understand what I didn't all those years ago. Being a stay at home mom is a thankless task and your children are your accomplishments. There is no annual evaluation that comes with a shiny star and no raise. Your job fulfillment comes from seeing your child/children progress.

Yes, THEY are the ones scooting forward on their own, but gosh darn it... YOU were the one dangling the toy and changing the diapers and feeding them and bathing them and and...

YES, as a teenager, I was the one that practiced, that worked hard, that made good decisions, etc. BUT, my mom was the one on the sidelines. She stayed up late listening to me talk about my day. She made cookies for my friends. She carted me everywhere I needed to go. She made sure I was fed, clothed, sheltered...

I guess I just want to say, "Thank you, Mom."

...and I'm sorry for all the crappy things I said as a teenager. Leah will probably get me back.

I still need to work on the less bragging and MORE listening. Unfortunately, that's just my personality flaw and it's something that I'll probably have to actively work on for the rest of my life. 

It's just so dang hard when your daughter is as amazing as Leah. ;-) 

Lesson learned learning.

Potty Training Adventures

WARNING: Potty terms will be used in the blog post below. Read at your own risk!

What??

Yes, that's right. I'll start from the beginning...

Leah started sitting in her Bumbo at around 6 weeks. I noticed that each time, I put her in it in the morning she would go poo in it. I thought it was funny and we started calling it her "poopy seat." At the reunion in July, I showed my family Leah's "little trick" and my sister Heather said that it was great and it should be easy to potty train her.

About a month after the reunion, I was bored one day, so I decided to search for Bumbo potty training seats. One came up on Amazon and I read the reviews. In the reviews it mentioned that the Bumbo toilet seat was perfect for "infant" potty training. I posted a link to it on my sister's wall on Facebook and she said that it couldn't hurt to try. I still didn't act on it because the idea of potty training a baby seemed kind of ridiculous to be honest. About two weeks ago, I got bored once again and decided to just go for it and buy the seat. If she didn't use it, fine. She could just use it later when she was ready. No money wasted.

I bought it and it was shipped to me the next day. Love Amazon! I wasn't in a hurry and waited until the evening to even open the box. I put the little seat on the toilet, took off Leah's diaper, and just sat her on it. We read her favorite book, played with some toys, and nothing happened. She was comfy and just kind of hung out on it like she was sitting in her actual Bumbo. Oh well. No big loss. I put her diaper back on her and we went about our day.

The next morning, I put her on it and about a minute after she sat on it, she went pee. I was so excited that I started clapping and I actually scared her. :) I picked her up off the seat, praised her, hugged her, and then put a diaper back on her. I tried periodically throughout the day just randomly putting her on the seat. The next time she actually went poo. I never thought I could be so excited about a bowel movement. It is a sure sign that I have become a mommy. She went about four times that day with just randomly putting her on the toilet.

The next day didn't go as well, so I decided that I needed to study her to look for cues. We've now had the potty seat a week and some days are more successful than others. I never get upset if she has a wet or poopy diaper. It feels like an experiment at this stage. The good thing is that I rarely change poopy diapers. Maybe once every other day. When she poops in her diaper, she gets REALLY upset, like inconsolable, and I have to actually nurse her to calm her down. We haven't had this happen when we are out and about yet. I'm worried I might have to start carrying this seat around. She doesn't really have peeing in the toilet down. If we catch it, it's by luck. I'm trying to figure out what cues she gives before she wets her diaper. Poopy is easy because she usually has gas and I just walk her to the toilet.

Now I read somewhere that doctors say that babies under the age of one do not actually have control on their bowels. All I know is that I put Leah on the toilet and she goes... Most of the time right away. It's really quite unreal.

My main reasoning for doing this is purely financial. I've already cut down on the amount of diapers I've been using by about a third. It's mostly work for me because I'm the one that has to read her cues and put her on the toilet. I've heard of some pretty terrible potty training nightmare stories from parents and I'm just trying to get her used to the potty so maybe it won't be so foreign when it is time to "officially" potty train her. We'll see. This is just my latest adventure in mommyhood.

Leah 5 Months Old

Leah JoAnn, happy 5 months! You continue to surprise me on a daily basis with the new things that you can do. Right now you weigh 17 pounds and are 28 inches long. You are wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes and you just started wearing size 3 diapers.

Our big milestone this last month was trying solid food. You had been watching daddy and I eat during dinner time every night with complete fascination. One night about a week after you turned four months old, your daddy and I were sitting at the table and you were in your Bumbo watching us. We were discussing whether or not you were ready for solid food and then I said, "She probably doesn't even know what this spoon is for!" and I brought it near your mouth. You leaned forward, opened your mouth, and nearly bit the food off my spoon. We decided to start you the next night. :-)

  

I mashed up some avocado and mixed it in with some breast milk. I started with very small bites and you picked it up rather quickly. You loved solid food! It's been several weeks since then and you have tried rice cereal and oatmeal, sweet potato, butternut squash, acorn squash, green beans, bananas, and applesauce. I've been making your food and freezing it into ice cube sized portions, so it's pretty easy to get your dinner ready. I always taste test your food and have actually developed a taste for the different squashes. :-) Your daddy thinks I'm crazy! I'm not sure it's "recommended" but we give you a taste of our dinner each night if there is some sort of sauce. You loved the Indian curry we had last night! You are good at eating your food every night, but you LOVE to try mommy or daddy's food!

You started sitting up by yourself this month with support. I still have to keep a hand or a boppy behind you because you still fling yourself back and have bopped the back of your head more times than I would like to admit. Whenever you are laying on your back, you struggle and try to sit up. It looks like you are doing mini crunches!

We still do tummy time every day and you will lay on your tummy and play with toys for almost 10 minutes on a good day. I thought last month that you would be crawling by now, but you have not put together the different motions. (Whew!) You recently have started scooting backwards, but you do not have forward crawling motion down yet.

You surprised me this month by starting to stand while holding onto things. You've liked to push yourself to a standing position from a very young age, but you always needed help. We have a wooden toy with a bead roller coaster on top that a friend gave to us and you INSIST on standing up and playing with the beads. You always look so grown up when you do it.

You still love your Jenny Jump Up, but you aren't merely standing in it and moving around anymore. You are JUMPING! You have also become increasingly vocal. We call them your dinosaur noises because you're not really making any consonant sounds like mama or dada.  You just like to yell... and sometimes scream which is not the greatest, but I know that you are just experimenting with your voice (and giving daddy a headache).

In order to stay busy, we walk to our local library once a week for storytime and drive to a bigger one with more programs twice a week. We go to a Rhyme, Rhythm, and Tune time with your BFF Brooke which is pretty noisy, but you love to watch all of the excitement. We also do Babygarten classes. Those are nice because they are more developmentally appropriate for you and we get to hang out with babies the same age as you.

You FINALLY have become ticklish to the point where you laugh. I've been waiting for this moment for a while! You used to just squirm and look at me like, "Hey lady, that's uncomfortable!" but now I can get you to squeal and smile. It makes my heart melt!

Each day we try to read a story, and this month I decided to start giving you choices. I put 2-4 books in front of you and wait for you to grab at a book. I always just assumed that you were touching the book that was closest to you, but one day I switched them up and you reached for the SAME book in a different place! I couldn't believe it! Your favorite book is still Dr. Seuss' ABC's and you barely sit still for any other book. You like to help me flip the pages in the books we read. A couple Sundays ago, you grabbed at the hymn book and started turning the pages. Your daddy and I were pretty entertained.

A little over a week before you turned 5 months, we decided to move you into a highchair that hooks on the side of the table. It's nice because you can't break out of it like the Bumbo and I can prepare and cook most of dinner while you are entertaining yourself with toys on the table. Your favorite toy right now is this musical farm themed toy. You love to spin the wheels on it. You always turn your head and look excited when the opening musical sequence plays " Welcome to our learning farm..."

Grabbing things isn't so new anymore. You grab at EVERYTHING! You even like to grab at my face and hair.... and pull! Your accuracy is improving and you can pick something up or even grab at the hanging toys on your play gym and get them on the first try. You are still working on getting your pacifier into your mouth. Speaking of pacifiers, here is a picture of you using one your Aunt Morgan got for you.

We recently tried a sippy cup and you caught on pretty quickly. I let you chew on the tip and put some breast milk it. You got really excited and started grabbing and it and bringing it to your mouth. You usually hold onto it with just one handle which doesn't get it to your mouth so well. It's pretty hard to get much out of those sippy cups anyway with all the spill proofing!

On Sundays, I coordinate our dresses. You are my best accessory! ;-) I sure do love being your mommy! I can't wait to see what you will do this next month!

Leah 4 Months Old

My dearest beautiful Leah, you are amazing and perfectly adorable in every way! I absolutely love being your mom! We just had your 4 month well visit. Right now, you weigh 15 lbs 1 oz (67%) and you are 26 inches long (96%). The nurse measured you a second time because you were WAY off the charts. She kind of scrunched you in a little the second time. :) You are still in six month clothes and size two diapers.

If I needed to describe you with just one word, it would be MOVER!  You are constantly in motion. The nurse was going crazy over you at your well visit. You never stopped moving! She had quite the time getting your heart rate and oxygen level from the sensor because your kicking messed up the readings. The paper on the exam table was crinkled and torn after you laid on it a little while. At church, you are a big squirmer. You usually jump up and down on my lap all through the meetings. Whoever sits on the pew behind us usually gets quite the show! 

You continue to love your Jenny Jump Up, but I think I LOVE it even more. It is really the only reason that I get to shower, prepare food, eat, go to the bathroom, etc... You just love bouncing around and thinking that you can just walk off. A friend in the neighborhood let us borrow their exersaucer, but you only lasted about 5 minutes because you couldn't move from your position, you could only turn around.

This month you've started a few funny habits. You love to suck on your hands and many times you actually gag yourself with your fingers! Don't worry! I asked my Facebook peeps and apparently you're normal. Every once in a while, you get your thumb in there and start sucking on it, but I just stick in the pacifier and you usually take it.

You have gotten even more smiley as you've gotten older. Your happiest part of the day is when you first wake up. We haven't figured out why, but you always smile and giggle whenever we do a "MOOOoooooo" cow sound. You don't react to recordings, so I must assume that you think we look pretty silly scrunching up our faces all funny when we do it. It's nice though because it's an easy way to get you to smile for pictures.

This month started out tough. Your daddy had to go to Thailand for work and has been there this entire month! :( As soon as we got back from the reunion, you started nap striking... Exactly what it sounds like - you REFUSED to nap! You went from taking around FOUR 2-3 hour long naps to snoozing for only about 30 minutes after nursing. You would wake up ANY time I tried to move you. The only time you would take a longer nap was if I would nurse you to sleep on my bed and stay cuddled up next to you. I got NOTHING done. Luckily all that nap striking ended about a week ago, (Whew!) You're only taking 1-2 naps a day now, but they are starting to be longer and you will sleep on your own. Here's a picture from a day where I got NOOOOTHING done. Even Darwin was bored!

We stayed very busy this month with daddy being gone. I have a hard time keeping you happy unless you are moving or eating. We go on lots of walks around the neighborhood. We've even met friends for play dates just so we can go walking in a new place. We went to Cunningham Falls State Park and Greenbrier State Park with the local mom's group. We stayed out for over 4 hours both days and you were SO good. We only went in the water a little bit and you didn't like it much. You really liked watching all of the kids play around in the sand and water though and took some great naps while we were there under the shade of your play gym.

Your biggest developmental milestone this month has been developing the ability to reach out and grasp onto things. You grab at the rings on your play gym (on purpose!) and you like to grab the rubber ducky during bath time. You even have a favorite toy at this point. It's a blue soft elephant that makes a crinkly sound whenever you squeeze it.

You continue to flip like a champ and you've got all the motions down for crawling - you just haven't put them together. (Thank goodness!) When you roll over, you always roll to the left. You seem to have forgotten how to roll from front to back, but you've got the difficult one (rolling back to front) down. Being on your tummy used to upset you, but now I can get you to smile even when you're on your tummy. We even read your favorite book (Dr. Suess's ABC's) now during tummy time!

In an attempt to develop daily routines (and meet other neighborhood parents), we started going to the baby swings at the playground in the middle of the neighborhood. You really enjoy swinging in the swings outside. If we stay there too long, you always fall asleep. One time I was talking with two other parents at the neighborhood playground when I felt something dripping on my foot. There was a trail of liquid baby poop running down your leg and dripping onto my sandals!!! Oh the joys of motherhood! ;)

Right before you turned 4 months, we took a trip down to Virginia Beach to see your Aunt Heather and all your cousins. They loved playing with you and holding you! We went to the local recreation center. You didn't really care for the cold water in the pool. We took the opportunity the next day to go to the beach. You love being outside, but once again you found the water too cold and you SCREAMED when I put you in the water. You got really sandy, so we stripped you down and cleaned the sand off of you with baby powder (works wonders!). You really liked being out of your diaper, even if it only was for a limited amount of time!

On your 4 month birthday, we went with your mommy's family to Cunningham Falls. We tried the water again (unsuccessfully) and we hiked to a waterfall! You fell asleep in your carrier on the way there, but you woke up once we were at the falls. You were pretty unimpressed. I guess I have to take you to some waterfalls in Hawaii! 

Leah, you are becoming more and more fun each day. I feel so incredibly thankful that I get to be the mom of such an amazing and spirited little person. I am so happy being your mommy!

Perspective

Doug has been traveling for work since the family reunion and he won't be back until the12th. Taking care of an almost four month old is pretty time consuming. Leah is a mover and basically isn't content unless she is physically moving, nursing, or sleeping. The only reason I get a shower most days is because of an amazing contraption called the Jenny Jump Up. I get about 5-10 minutes with that. Who knew that being able to brush your hair would become a luxury?!

I'm not writing this post to complain about my current situation... although I guess I'm getting to do that too. :) I wanted to write down some of what I've been thinking about these few weeks because a 4 month old isn't much of a conversationalist.

A little over a week ago, I almost threw in the towel on being a stay at home mom. I guess there were probably several factors involved, but the one that was on the forefront of my mind was my complete inability to get ANYTHING done.

Leah was nap striking. She would sleep in my lap and next to me on my bed. I would try to sneak away, but she would wake up within a few seconds of me leaving her side. About the only time I had to myself was when I needed to use the bathroom and she was usually screaming about 10 feet away.

I happened to know about a first grade position at the elementary school less than a mile from my house. I was about to unresign my position and try to apply.

You see, I've been a stay at home mom now a little over 4 months and my kitchen is still HALF painted. It's been that way for OVER a year and it makes me feel like a complete failure. It's a dumb thing to stress about, but whatever. When you're home A LOT, you start to see a bunch of things that you'd like to get done (and Pinterest only exacerbates the problem).

So when was my turning point? When did I gain my perspective? Well, I guess there have been a few things...

First, a grandbaby of someone in my ward died of SIDS. (Worst freaking nightmare of any new mom) She was just a few days older than Leah and we actually met. I was nursing Leah in the mother's room at church and this mom came in. We talked for a while and I just remember the mom snuggling her little girl and whispering to her, "I love you. I love you. I love you." I remember thinking that Leah was huge compared to this baby that was a similar age.

The day I found out, I was bouncing Leah in a little bouncer in front of me and browsing Facebook. I immediately put my phone down and just hugged and squeezed my little girl. I've always snuggled my little Leah, but I started doing it even more. I treasure our time together (even though we do get A LOT of it).

Another thing that changed things for me was joining a Facebook group for moms in the small town that I live in. I've met lots of my neighbors and made new friends. I've learned about all the neat little events that go on in my itty bitty town. I've even started going on play dates.. haha.

Up until this point, I've always felt like my house was a temporary place... a stepping stone to my next house that would be bigger, better decorated, have a bigger yard, more garage space, etc. etc... My next house would be my HOME. Well, I've decided that I actually LIKE where I am. It's a great place to raise Leah. It's not perfect, but I'm going to make it my home.

So this weird feeling that I've been getting lately I guess is contentment.

I'm OKAY with the small town where I'm living. My house with it's postage stamp sized lawn, nonexistant driveway, and small bedrooms is just FINE. It's NOT A BIG DEAL that my kitchen is half painted. I will get to it eventually. I'm HAPPY where I am.

Right now, I'm just going to enjoy my time with Leah. She's does something new and amazing just about every day (even if amazing at this point is batting at a toy on purpose). It's the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also pretty dang rewarding to wake up to her smiling face each morning.