Teeth

We are not fans of teeth.
8 and counting;
it appears that she's starting on her first molar.

At 9 months of age.
A little ridiculous, no?

A Moment of Wow

I did the math, and she is 1-3 days shy of being out as long as she was in. Close enough.
Then (8 days old):

...and now

Moving

Happy birthday, of sorts! Little R has now been in the outside world longer than she gestated inside me...

We realized that R would be crawling if we had rugs in the house. Wood floors make friction difficult, and friction is critical for crawling. She gets up on her hands & knees, and then her little knees slide backwards until she's on her belly again. However, this is not preventing mobility. She is all over the place, all day long. She just had a little screaming fit because Dad would not let her push the button on the plug-in CO sensor. It would have made a loud, horrid noise that might have discouraged her from ever doing it again, but it might also have damaged her tender eardrums.

2 more teeth working their way through, and not painlessly. This will bring her grand total to 8. She may not be precocious in anything else, but my o' my is she very adept at growing teeth!

Conflict of interests

Being a mom seems to mean that I mourn the passing of each phase, each cute little habit - but at the same time, can't wait to see what's next.

Miscellaneous growing things

The deer ate our garden this year. R did a great job getting it beautiful, planted, weeded, and healthy, and then the deer ate it.

Green beans are, apparently, tenacious. You can see how high the deer could reach.

Pump that through Powerpoint.

I do not now, nor will I ever (if I have anything to say about it!) know what, "MD5 hash the result" means.

That is all.

Unreal

Everyone told me that it goes by so quickly.

Up until the last few weeks, I would say that things have been moving along at a comfortable pace. None of the unpleasant phases (such as not sleeping) lasted for too long, yet we feel like we've had plenty of time to enjoy each of the new, wonderful things that Baby Girl (BG) is doing.

Until she became mobile. The changes in her are significant, daily! One day, she's rolling over. The next, she's barrel-rolling around the house. The next, she's commando-crawling. The next, she's doing whatever is within her abilities to chase our Old Dog around the house (!) so that she can pull his toes & ears. Thankfully, he is a very tolerant dog.

She came out with "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" this past Tuesday. On wednesday, she said it all day long. Both times that she woke up Wednesday night, she looked up at me with her wide, bright eyes, and told me, "Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba". I told her, "No, BG, it's time to sleep." You can guess her response!

Where's my little girl?

3rd tooth is through, 3 more on the way quickly.

When I went in to check on her this morning, she was sleeping on her belly. On Her Belly. This is the child who, 3 weeks ago, fussed if left on her belly for too long. She's over that.

Now I just have to learn not to worry about her sleeping on her belly!

...keep them doggies rollin'...

I thought R was rolling over because she could flip from her front to her back and her back to her front. Now, I understand that "rolling over" means that I will find her on her belly when I go in the feed her in the middle of the night. It means that she will nurse while trying to roll over and to scoot along on her belly. It means that she will not, ever again, stay in the same place that I put her down. It means that we have to rearrange and R-proof our household, so that all those beautiful, tempting cords are hidden away.

It means that my Baby Girl is mobile, and very, very excited about it.

God help us!

New in her world...

The other day, R had Baby Girl on a blanket on the living room floor. He was running around washing up, feeding the dogs, etc. She had plenty of toys to play with. When he came back in, she had flipped herself onto her belly (she HATES being on her belly!), and was pulling herself, hand-over-hand up the vacuum cleaner cord towards the outlet.

She's sitting. In that drunken-baby sort of way, where she happily tips over and then smiles up at me, blinking.

Loves being outside. Lots of bug-bites.

Loves people. Very social.

Top teeth working on coming in, but taking their sweet time...they've been just below the surface for weeks. I'm starting to wonder if all 4 top incisors will come through at once?

Baby Girl has, for the most part, been an absolute JOY - full of laughter, smiles, giggles. She plays with everything!

We are teething.

We are officially cutting our first tooth. Either that, or We have a splinter in Our lower gums. Whatever the case, We are not happy about the state of affairs.

Tooth growing today;
Loud yells start in the morning.
Breaking through gums, ow.

Art project

We tried baby girl in the backpack. She likes it, but her head is still a bit too wobbly for any treks in the woods. We're guessing another couple of weeks at most. It will be a relief - the Bjorn is not comfortable for more than about a mile!

Why is it not comfortable? Because our daughter is a giantess! 15lbs. at 4 months, and 27 inches. Off the charts in length, but "a nice, lean, breastfed baby - very healthy". And heavy.

We're especially proud of our latest art project...

We plan to add more colors, and to do a run going up a wall and across the ceiling. Not sure how the logistics of that will work, since it's a wiggly process that requires the full attention of 2 people, and the more-or-less cooperation of a small 3rd person. Still, it's entertaining.

By the way - this is in Baby Girl's room. I think we'll have to do some in our room as well, since she will undoubtedly want to paint over them or wash them off some day. Her mother, on the other hand, is going to want to treasure them forever, and will occasionally look at them and get all teary-eyed when Baby Girl is a rebellious, difficult teenager.

FEET!

Just over a year ago, I found out I was pregnant. What a great birthday present. This year for my birthday, Baby Girl giggled as I was putting her to bed and tickling her with my ponytail. Life is pretty darn good.

Her latest trick is FEET. She loves, loves, loves her feet. When she half-wakes up in the middle of the night to eat, I look over and see her grabbing her feet, eyes closed. She did manage to get toes into her mouth this afternoon. Cute attack!

Nature Walk

We went for a nature walk the other day to capture some of the local flora on "film". We don't have a lot of flower landscaping, so we make due with what Mother Nature gives us in the woods nearby...a few pictures below, and more pictures here.

Joy

Someone small is in full control of her smiles & giggles these days.

It seemed like a dream...

Someone small fell asleep at 8:50 last night, and didn't wake up until 5. I was very confused when I woke up - did I feed her in the night? Did I put her back in the co-sleeper? I don't remember putting her back after feeding her...oh, wait...that's because she didn't eat during the night....??

Although we can complain about spitting up and other things, we cannot complain about her nighttime sleeping. She's a champ.

She is not, however, a champ about taking a bottle from her dad during the day while I'm working. Sigh. One thing at a time.

Mother's Day

It's hard to believe that she's 12 weeks old already...it doesn't seem fair that Mother's Day is the day before I go back to work. I'm not ready! However, we did have a sweet day, that ended with a hike. I am so blessed to be the mother of this child - she brings more richness and joy to life than I ever could have imagined!

Spring afternoon

What better way to spend a warm, sunny, spring afternoon then snuggling with Dad out on the lawn...

Visit with Grandparents G

I guess I'm a little behind...Rosemary had a wonderful visit with Grandma & Grandpa G. It is such fun to watch them playing with her, and see her enjoying them! She made faces, screeched with joy, cooed, smiled - she performed very well!

The other event of the week was her 2-month check-up. First of all - 2 months? How did that happen?! She hit the 95th percentile for height, and 75th for weight and head. All that eating seems to be working! She also had her first round of shots, which did not go over so great. She emitted the requisite scream when she received them, and then quieted down quickly. All was fine until later that evening, when she started screaming and crying with everything she had. It lasted about 1/2 hour, acetaminophen to the rescue. Oh, it was no fun for any of us. Poor kid.

And I'll have you know, I spelled "acetaminophen" right on the first try.

Lifting her head up!

Scene 8, in which my talented baby girl lifts her head up and gnaws happily on her sleeve.

Happiness

Cooing, almost laughing, screeching (happily!), "taking off" when she lies on her back (everything from the ribs down lifts up into the air), checking out her mobile, sleeping (sometimes) 5-6 hours before waking up at night, rewarding us with her sweet smiles, and getting more adorable by the day. Who could ask for anything more!

Matthew, this one's for you...

This child accepts no substitutes. Sigh.

Sometimes, just a little is a lot

I cannot believe that Baby Girl is entering her 8th week of life already.

Very advanced, I'm sure

I wish I had caught her about 30 seconds earlier. I rolled her onto her belly, and wheeeee! up into the air flew her head. Twice. I did manage to capture her "swimming" a bit--arms, legs, & head in action.

Family Fun

A great weekend visit with family. Liz & Theo came for a long weekend, and John, Debbie, and Dan came up for an overnight. Great fun was had...snuggle time with Rosemary, play time with Theo, sledding (mostly the grown-ups!), some x-country skiing, and the chance to share some meals together. A real treat, and the weather was fantastic! You can see the pictures by clicking into Week 7, over on the right...

The newest generation of Cousin Club!

2 big changes

Rosemary lifted her head while lying on her tummy 2 days ago. She's been doing it while we hold her for a while, but this was the first time I saw this one...wish I'd gotten a picture!

More exciting - we're starting to see some real smiles! They don't last very long, but she looks at us, and smiles back when we smile at her! Wheeee - sweet reward indeed. Hopefully we will be able to get a picture of this in the next few days. She doesn't smile on command yet. She doesn't do anything on command.

We, however, do just about everything on command, as long as she is the one commanding! Hence, "Little Tyrant".

Oh - and some video of our little Rosebud in action. Some smiles, some not-so-happy noises...

Everybody loves Tummy Time!

Rosemary and Barley enjoyed some tummy time together. Earlier that day, Rosemary explored her relationship with gravity. She slept like that for about an hour, and resisted all attempts to prop her upright. Clearly, this baby girl does her yoga. What is the Sanskrit word for, "90-degree angle head"?

Big is the theme.

We went for a big ski on Saturday. Not big by normal standards, but longer than we usually take the dogs out for (snow conditions have to be just right for old dog), longer than I've done since just before Christmas, and the longest ski Rosemary has taken. Rob carried her, since I was too tired and too out of shape to trust myself on some of the hills...Click to see a close up of how baby girls ski!

Later that day she had her first big blowout. No pictures of that one, thank you!

Rosemary is also getting so big...look how long she is! You cant' tell from this picture, but her eyes are starting to get tints of brown. I guess she had a 50/50 chance, right? I was hoping she would have Rob's blue-grey eyes - I love the dark grey that they have started out as. I guess there is still time to change, or stay the same!

Rosemary Refuses

Princess has decided that she will only sleep at night if one of us is holding her. Lying down in the co-sleeper? That's for sissies. Real babies insist on being held! Sigh. I know this is just a phase (right?), and we'll figure out a solution sometime soon...She's like this for most of the day as well, which means that I'm catching catnaps while she zonks on my chest.

That said, she's asleep in her carseat right now...I'm going to go try to catch a few zzzzz's on the couch!

Neck!

We are amazed at how STRONG Rosemary is becoming! She picks her head up and turns it side-to-side whenever one of us is holding her. Almost overnight, it seems, she became strong enough to hold herself in a standing position, too. My little girl is growing up so fast!

Tummy Time!

Rosemary had her first official tummy time yesterday evening. Luckily she seemed to enjoy it a great deal. Was tummy time invented at the same time that the NIH (or is it the Child Safety Council) started recommending back sleeping to reduce the incidence of SIDS?

Very entertaining for us, as first-time parents. She did very well at turning her disproportionate head from side to side, but she did tend to get stuck in the middle for a moment each time. Or maybe she was just taking a rest before the final heave.

Clearly, however, the reward on the other side was well worth it...

Time Flies!

How time flies! I can't believe that I haven't posted since 2/14 - the big event is that Rosemary Joan was born on 2/15! What an incredible 2 weeks it has been...I won't bore you with the details of every moment of every day since then, but here are a few highlights:

• 2/27: Rosemary discovered her thumb quite by accident! She got it in her mouth, gave it several vigorous sucks, and surprised herself with the strength of her sucks. Very cute, of course, to see her startle at the sensation of sucking her own thumb!

• 2/28: Doctor's appointment - our little piglet gained 20 ounces in just 11 days! And grew 3/4" in length. My gawd, I guess all this power-nursing is doing something!
  

Everyone warned me that this time goes too fast, this newborn state of bliss. At this point, I would have to agree...

Really, not at all the greatest picture. Indicitive of just how graceful I'm feeling these days, though! 39 weeks, 4 days. We are anxiously awaiting arrival of le petit (or la petite)!
Looking much cuter, Barley & Tucker hanging out under my desk. Yes, that would be 180 pounds of dog wedged under my desk. It's where they like to hang out while I'm working. Just in case, you know I want to try to go anywhere. They'll know. Not to mention, it ensures that I can't lose track of them.

37 weeks 4 days

Things are certainly moving along! I'm 37 weeks, 4 days, technically. Or thereabouts. Baby seems to be getting bigger, which is pretty much one of his/her main jobs right now. Head down, moving around, must be getting crowded in there! You maybe can't tell from the picture, but Baby has dropped - maybe about 2-3 weeks ago. The belly didn't get low so much as it got very out front.

We're getting the remnants of an ice/snow/yuck storm, and I am just grateful that Baby did not decide to come today, when the roads are no doubt dangerous!

I'm starting to think....

That I might be pregnant. I just came home from shopping - ravenous - and had cottage cheese with a side of dill pickles. And found it all most delicious.

What do you think?

All Belly

35 weeks, 4 days - or thereabouts. My butt isn't really that big - the pants just fit strange.

Ow.

I took a tumble on the ice yesterday. The immediate sense of fear for Baby was an intense experience - not a thought of "Am I ok?" - just - "Is Baby ok?". The same look of fear & concern was mirrored in Rob's face. A taste, I guess, of the worry that we will experience day after day as parents. Thankfully, no signs of early labor, and Baby is still moving around just fine.

In the mean time, I did pull a muscle, and am pretty close to immobile until it starts getting better. Patience...patience...

33 weeks, 2 days

Baby just keeps growing and growing...7 weeks, give or take a couple, to go! What will s/he look like? How much will s/he weigh? Will s/he come out quickly or be in no hurry? Can't wait to meet the little one...