I had been thinking that Harper was trying to say something for about a week but now I am totally convinced that she knows what she's saying. It's official that Harper's first word is "kitty." I am actually feeling pretty good about that because then neither Brad nor I have to feel bad that it wasn't "our" word of mama or dada. Two days ago when I was home with her, Tecas jumped up on sofa and Harper stuck her hands out to her and said, "ki" (this sounds like kee). Then when my mom was with her yesterday she said that Harper was looking all over and whenever she saw the cat she would say it. We have also been working on getting Harper to wave and she is starting to do that too. Well, last night when I got up to nurse her about 4am I was burping her and the cat strolled in and Harper waved at her and said "ki ki." It's pretty amazing how quickly they go from being pupal lumps to people! Sometimes when I think of all she's accomplished in just 7 months it wears me out!
Another Thanksgiving down the hatch. Lucky for me, with the amount of leftovers we have, I got to relive the dinner today for lunch! It was a nice, low key day for us. We had it back at our place this year. We usually do Thanksgiving but skipped last year when I was pg and had just gotten the crappy results of my triple screen test. Let's just say that I was feeling MUCH better about everything this year! We only had 7 people this year (including Harper). Just me, Brad, Harper, my mom and sister, Alyssa, and Brad's mom. This, too, was fine by me because we still cook the same amount and then I get to feast for days afterwards. I love Thanksgiving food. I mean, when else do you have the excuse to consume mass amounts of butter in everything you cook? My stuffing alone calls for 2 sticks of butter. God, is it good. Anyway, we had the requisite turkey (which is always perfect because we brine it), two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn casserole, green beans amandine, my fancy raspberry jello, and buttercup squash. For dessert there was pumpkin pie and german chocolate pie. I was pretty proud of myself for not going overboard. I wanted to keep going back for more food but I controlled myself nicely.
Oh the tragedy! My heart lies bleeding on the floor and stomped upon. Dandy does not remember our first date! And here I thought it was so special for the both of us. Now I have to take some time to collect myself and remember that our relationship is still solid....maybe just not as solid as I had once thought. Waaaaaaahhhhhh!
Ok, so yes, our first outing together was at Guero's. I'm hoping you at least remember the place!!?? It was in South Austin, so more on my side of the tracks than yours :) We were in Sam Oh's class together and had started getting chummy (I still think of Sam Oh and how he was always jacked up on Red Bull!) over the woes of database design. I think that might've been the hardest class I took in grad school (but I still got an A, hee hee). I remember that we first started talking because I brought a piece of fruit every day and you mentioned it to me once about how my fruit always looked so tasty. Then there was the time that I brought rice krispie treats and those teeny tiny grapes (champagne grapes) from Central Market. I think that sealed the deal because we shared. Anyway, so after we had talked in class and gotten to know each other a bit, we decided to meet up outside of school and Guero's was where we went. It was really hot out (of course, right?) and we sat in a booth in the more front part of the place. It would be to your left as you walked in (see what a memory I have!). I had the fish tacos because I LOVED their fish tacos. Sadly, I don't remember what you had except for the margaritas because we both had them. We just talked about everything and I knew that I had made a friend for life! We had all those little coincidences.....Midwestern girls, family in Wisconsin, family that actually knew other family, wound up in Austin at the same time, wondering what the hell we would do once we graduated. I'm pretty sure you were wearing your beloved flip flops. The only other thing I remember was that we wound up staying a lot longer than I think either of us planned. When I got home Brad was wondering where the heck I was!
Ahhh, the good old days.........
I haven't posted since October 31st!? Geesh, where have I been? I need to be better about posting updates because I like going back over them and seeing what happened in my own life :)
So I pretty giddy today. I think it's because I've gotten NINE hours of sleep last night and the night before. That's not nine hours total, that's nine hours EACH night! Woot woot. Of course, I am now jinxing myself because every time I write about how well Harper is sleeping, it changes. I will take it for now, though. I have been doing to be at about 9:30 and last night she didn't get up until about 4:15 and then I nursed her and she (and I) went back to sleep until 7:30 this morning. Oh, it is heaven. And, she is starting to nap better too. Again, am I jinxing this!?? Yesterday, Elyse (our neighbor who came over and watched her yesterday) said she took a nap from 9:30-10:30 and then another nap from 12:30-3! This from the child who used to take half hour naps throughout the day. Anyway, it has been really nice. I am getting sleep, she is getting sleep, and we are all happier for it. Next week, I'm sure it will have changed completely.
Miss H is also loving her solid food. So far she's had sweet potatoes, winter squash, avocado, and peas. Her favorite was the avocado. Least favorite is the peas but who can blame her?? She now knows when you put her in her seat that she is going to get fed and she gets excited. It's pretty cute. I am happy that she doesn't get AS excited as when I pull out the boppy for nursing because it makes me still feel like I am the number one choice. It is a pretty funny scene when I am getting ready to nurse her. She pants. I told Brad we really need to get that on tape. Some day I will look back at it and cry and pine for "my baby" and some day she will be completed repulsed by it.
I am having to get rid of clothes left and right now, too. I think she grew an inch in the last week! Well, at least it feels like it. She is now solidly in to her 6-9mo clothes at this point. I tried to put her in a pair of smaller jeans today and they were highwaters. That's not going to work. It makes me a bit sad when I have to pack the clothes up but I just keep reminding myself that she is a happy, thriving baby and this is how it is supposed to be!
I don't have much other news to post about. Work is work. Life is life. You know. Nothing terribly exciting. It's getting colder here and really gray and rainy lately. That doesn't do much for my mood. I want summer back now! After Harper goes to bed all I want to do is put on my pjs and plunk myself in front of the TV. I am currently enjoying Rock of Love Charm School and Storm Chasers. Yes, that is a strange mix. I have decided, though, that I need to break off my deep dependency on my DVR and start reading again. So, I'm trying to get into bed about 9 and then read for about a half hour. I'm just starting Eat, Pray, Love. Anyone read it? So far it's holding my attention but her use of similes and metaphors is getting a little tiring.
Well, I need to go pump (I'm at work until 8 tonight) so I better get this posted and get to work!
...but I think that Harper's sheets have something to do with how well she sleeps. She has slept AWESOME the last two nights. Like, better than ever, I think. She's gone down about 8 (we're prepping for the time change) and then she woke up both nights about 6 (wow!), I fed her, and then she went back down until 8. How great is that? When the time changes, that will be 7-7 basically. Of course, I know better than to really think we're on a roll, but a girl can hope, right!?
You thought I lived in a city in SE Wisconsin but you were wrong. I live in Spit Up City. It's a strange place. The streets are paved with something that resembles cottage cheese and it smells kinda yucky. Everyone here changes clothes at least 3 times a day. There's random burping on the streets and you're safest if you cover yourself with a cloth diaper. I'm hoping to move soon. At least within the next 6 months.
Ugh. Harper's been spitting up SO much lately. No, it didn't coincide with feeding her solids, it started about a week or so ago. She's never been a spitter but now it's nonstop! I am wondering if she's really guzzling her milk a little too fast because sometimes she pulls away sputtering and choking a little bit. Today she spit up right in the middle of a feed and as soon as it was out (and all over my boob!) she went right back at the feed. Ewwwwww. She didn't care, though. I did some reading on Kellymom and everything I read there points to her being just fine but man, I hope she outgrows it quickly.
I also hope she outgrows her new found affinity for waking up at 5am! Ack!!! Even worse is that the time change is this weekend so pretty soon it will be 4am. Double Ack! She's also been waking up a whole lot earlier at night and wanting to nurse lately. It was 3:30 or later and now it's back to 1 or 1:30. I would like to put it off a bit but she gets really worked up and frankly, it's just easier to feed her instead of hoping that she'll settle back down and go back to sleep for a bit. The end result for me is that I just have to go to bed earlier and earlier. When she was getting up at 3 and then sleeping until 7, I could go to bed at 10 and be good. The last few days, though, I've had to go to bed about 9. I would like to stay up just a bit later so I could have some "me" time before bed but, for now, I think this is what I have to do. I just keep reminding myself that this won't last forever and there will come a time when I actually miss getting up with her in the night!
Other than that, she's doing really well. She's happy, napping a lot better (though I wonder if this has something to do with getting up so early?), and is really starting to use her voice. There is a lot of jumping, too, whenever I have her in a standing position. And, she now refuses to roll over when she's on her belly. She could roll no problem belly to back before but I've not seen her do this in a at least 2 weeks now. I wonder if it's because she's thinking about how to get herself moving? She'll lie on her belly and kind of rock back and forth with her arms and legs up in the air. Kind of like a turtle :)
Who knows!? I'm still just winging it!
Oh how I love it! I went today and got an activity walker, leapfrog activity table, and 17 clothes items (shirts/pants/sleepers) for 40 bucks! I was so excited about the clothes because they were a buck a piece and most of them are Carter's. If I bought those in the store they'd probably be about 10 bucks apiece! I told Harper that she is officially a Craigslist baby. We got the crib, changing table, and glider and now I look for clothes deals all the time. I really can't believe how much money I've saved by doing that. And, now I don't feel so bad about buying the certain things new that I do.
Well, today was the day. Harper had her first meal this morning. We decided it made more sense to try it over the weekend so we would be here with her all day if she had a reaction or something. I cooked up a sweet potato and then pureed it with some breast milk. She was pretty eager. We put her in her chair and I came at her with the spoon and then she opened right up. After that first bite, she grabbed the spoon away from me and put it right back in her mouth. I'd say she ate about two teaspoons and then she was pretty much done with it. That's a really good start, I think. We'll try it again tomorrow. Here are some pics!
I am running on empty. I have no idea what to do. I normally think of myself as a strong, willful, independently minded woman with a lot of opinions. Now, not so much. Harper's sleeping is getting out of control. Well, her lack of sleeping I should say. I can't even decide how much sleep a 5 month old should really be getting over the course of a day! I've read things that say as a little as 9.5hrs/night to something like 12hrs/night. And that doesn't even cover the naps. I keep trying to tell myself that this too shall pass, but I have a hard time believing it. We had a great two weeks and now everything has gone to pot. She's whiny. She's clingy. She wants to nurse a lot more. She won't nap well. She wakes up multiple times at night. Is this all from teething!??? Her two little bottom teeth have already broken the surface and nothing looks terribly swollen but I suppose that could be the problem? Well, that and I'm trying really hard to break the paci habit. This is part of the problem. We never have her a paci except at bedtime but now, unswaddled, she swats it out of her mouth constantly. I can't be in there 20 times putting it back in so we have to wean it. It sucks. I just wish I could tell her and have her understand that if she swats it out, it's right over there so she could put it back in if she wants it. Aaaargh!
