One Notch Down

Today we moved the little Peanut's mattress one notch down. She scoots to the sides of the crib, climbs the bumper, eventually peals it down and grabs the rungs of the crib to do a side crunch. She's very strong and although it's not likely, I was too worried that we were going to hear a thump in the night and find her on the floor.

Maggie is moving around like crazy. She scoots all around and generally moves backward to the upper right side of her crib where I usually find her, up on all fours, when she wakes up. Last night around 9 (way past her bedtime), she had her first deliberate crawl that I've seen where her knees and hands were coordinated. So exciting!!! I think she was awake from all of the excitement and trying to master her new skill. As of today, she didn't have much time on the floor to see if we can duplicate this or if it was a fluke. Although, this morning I had her on her blanket on the floor and she scooted backward almost under the bed while I watched her. She's quite a happy baby in general, but will definitely let you know if she's frustrated or stuck.

As for her dining fun, Maggie had apples for the first time today. I whipped up a batch last week and froze them alongside a batch of yams. With the apples (and pears) she makes a tart/sour face at first, but she gobbles them down. So far, she's had rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, yams, bananas, and apple. And I'm pretty sure it was in that order. :)

I generally give her a fruit in the AM with oatmeal and a veggie at night with rice cereal. I'm anxious to have her try mangoes and avocado. I love the combination, but will serve them separately to her first. I also let her try out her hands with a sippy cup today and within 30 seconds of placing it in front of her, she'd grabbed both handles and took the mouth piece right to her kisser. We weren't really expecting her to drink anything, but we were more interested in getting her used to this as we're already in the 100's in Dallas and keeping hydrated beyond her milk supply might be challenging.

We had a play date today with Harper/Crystalyn and Sarah/Lana. It's so nice to gather with other moms and let the babies play, but she was exhausted tonight and went to bed at 6:15. Maybe this is a nap???

Yesterday was a little emotional as I packed up her next phase of clothes that she's outgrown. It's always fun to get her into the next biggest size, but it always means that this little girlie is getting so big. She totally done with any 3 - 6 month outfits and has some 6 - 9 that doesn't fit. It really depends on the brand. And the way the weather is heating up, we'll probably have her in the bare minimum to keep comfy in the house. I had the thermostat at 78 for a few days, but I couldn't take it. I'm a 75'er, otherwise none of us can sleep, even with the fans. Embracing the heat is fine during the day, but nighttime is a whole new game.

One last thing...these last 3 nights Maggie has been going to bed between 8 and 9 sleeping through until 4 or 5 respectively. This is so nice. My body will take a few days to adjust to this, as I'm still waking up to find her asleep, but this is going to be sooooo worth it! Yeah for sleep!

Rocking Around

Maggie is now 6 months old.  She had her well child checkup yesterday and she weighs 14 lbs. 14 oz and is "thriving" in Dr. Nale's own words.  She's 35% and has a good deal of chunk on her little legs and arms.  She's totally mastered rolling over and never sleeps on her back anymore.  We had a great trip to Minneapolis for Jeff's work a few weeks ago.  She slept through the night (9 PM - 5 AM) every night, but when we got back to Dallas, she reverted back to waking up once or twice during the night.  Go figure!

Her latest move is to rock back and forth on all fours (hands & knees).  She also likes to get up on her tip tops and her hands (downward facing dog) and squeals!  She loves her rice cereal and gets 1/4 - 1/3 cup twice per day and we are starting her on vegetables as well.  Yesterday she had peas for the first time and she really wasn't into them at all, but did continue to take bites.  More on that later.  

5 months and a little bit of attitude

Maggie reached a new milestone today:  defiance.  All day today she was cantankerous and proud of it.  For the last two weeks, this little girl has LOVED her rice cereal, but today it took me three different attempts to get her to eat it.  Thanks to a week of antibiotics for her poor little UTI, she's learned to spit out medicine (and now rice cereal) and turn her head away to avoid my approaching syringe or spoon.  All the while, she is looking right into my eyes with a wry little smile. 

Her other new trick is to make an L-shape with her body and her legs while on the changing table or in her crib.  (This position is not so new. See picture from mid-February.)  She then slams her legs down over and over again and can't help but smile and coo at her own latest amusement.  This is not so funny when I'm trying to administer meds to her diaper area (also thanks to the antibiotics her flora is imbalanced).  She seems to favor her left hand, although I know this can change over the next several months/years.  So while I am trying to calm her crazy legs, she figured out that she can take her left hand to touch her feet and then naturally decided to "help" me spread the diaper cream.  Eesh!  And all this bouncy leg movement seems to get things moving for her.  I went through 3 diapers in 5 minutes and countless wipes as I *attempted* to clean her hands of the diaper cream before she decided to put them anywhere else on her body.

Buddy and Sadie have really begun to enjoy the baby.  They know better than to play with her toys, but are really interested in Maggie.  On Saturday Maggie was giving Sadie some pets on her face (and eyes, ears and nose) in a very gentle and sweet manner.  I couldn't believe she was so deliberate.  And then...she grabbed Sadie's neck.  We're lucky Sadie's been around kids forever and were thankful that she just sat there patiently while we gave Mags the old "no."  And Buddy who is normally wild is really mellow around the baby and even put his nose and front paws on the bed the other day before jumping up to see where Maggie was sitting.  After he jumped up on the bed, I gave him a few snaps to get on the other side of me.  Wonder of wonders, he jumped off the bed and walked around to the other side, jumped up and settled down.  For those of you that haven't witnessed the "storm before the calm," this is excellent behavior for BudBud.  One day, we'll get that on camera.  I should also note that my family, specifically my sisters and my mom are very nervous about the dogs getting close to the baby.  I hope that by writing about this now, I ward off any ill-fated dog-baby stories.

Finally, Maggie and I were on the 5 o'clock and the 6 o'clock news tonight on NBC.  We were interviewed about the unsolicited newspaper subscriptions that our neighborhood receives from a local Spanish publisher.  It's a total waste of paper, printing supplies and marketing $$$.  Even if they're recycled, it's superfluous from the get go.  While we are home, she is very vocal and emotive.  When we are out to eat, grocery shopping or trolling the mall, she is very quiet and enjoys looking around.  At this point, I'll count my blessings.

Easter Bunny

Thanks for the Easter Bunny for Maggie!  She loves it!  See you in a week or so.  

She had her 4 month checkup today and is now 12lbs. 9oz.  

Just 2 days to go! I posted some photos here because I cannot post to Kodak from my work computer (and I can't use our home computer at present). We took these on Sunday night and hope you enjoy! Still feeling great and enjoying the last days of the pregs.

I go in tomorrow for my 40 week checkup and the doctor will tell me when we'll induce if I've not gone into labor already. Getting the house ready for the baby and for Christmas has been so much fun. We bought our tree this weekend and are planning to finish all of the holiday decorating ASAP!

Week 32, 4 days

I had my 32 week checkup today, a few days early. The baby wasn't moving around like normal, so I called the doctor for some reassurance yesterday and did my kick counts. She asked that I confirm that I had 15 kicks in 30 minutes. The kicks were so much softer yesterday, but I could feel them. But again this morning, all of the movement was very subtle. I called again today and the nurse said the doctor was in surgery all day, but that they'd get me in for a biophyscial and a non-stress test.

When I went in at 2:00 PM today, they immediately did a sonogram and discovered that this little baby is breech! I think there is still ample time and hopefully enough room for the baby to turn, so not to worry.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_biophysical-profile_1276703.bc

We could see the baby's full belly (a good eater) and the baby's mouth opening and closing for breathing. Our little one is measuring 4lbs, 3oz and is in the 26th percentile for growth. I'm so happy I went in--I knew something was different, but I couldn't know what! After the sono, they hooked me up to a heart rate monitor with the clicker. Jeff so sweetly held the monitor in place as the little bugger kept moving around. I had to click the button each time I felt movement. Overall the babe scored a 10 out of 10 for the biophysical, but at least I know now what these new movements feel like. Even when they were doing the sono and we could see the baby moving its arms and legs, I couldn't feel anything. So, it must just be the baby's orientation.

On a side note, they still are showing my due date as 12/11. I like 12/10 better, since they told me that first... :)

98 Days to Go

I can't believe I'm under 100 days. With *only* 98 days to go, I suppose it's time to kick into gear on all the pending items. We're working a little bit at a time to get things ready, but this latest milestone will get things moving even faster.

I'm 26 weeks today and still feeling great. Jeff is in Kansas today and tomorrow. He's not been traveling as much, but does head to Madison this week. We also start our kitchen work next week on Monday. This will add a little extra stress, but as with the baby, the end result will be fabulous.

Facebook has captured some of my time last night. A friend of mine is now on there and it's fun to connect up with friends and family all in one place. I just can't commit to updates here or on my facebook page. I really need to post some photos. Maybe later.