Eight Months

So, I notice my blog becoming boring, monthly updates on my daughter. I really do have other thoughts on motherhood I want to share, or questions that come up I could use answers to, but somehow I never get around to posting. I hope to do better this summer when work doesn't get in the way of blogging.

For now. . .Maddy is 8 1/2 months old! They really do get more and more fun.

Here's what I want to remember:

She loves tags. Tags on her toys, burp clothes, bibs, changing pad covers. She is fascinated with them and chews them soggy.

She loves remote controls and cordless phones. She likes to chew on them and push their buttons. Makes me wonder why we have all these toys if all she wants are tags and remote controls.

She is still not crawling. She is starting to pad forward on her hands when she is sitting. Lately she has been raising her butt while she's lunging forward. I think someday she'll get on all fours from there and maybe one day crawl. If she's on her stomach she stretches out her arms as far as she can to get something. She'll also try to push off on her toes.

She'd much rather walk. She wants to stand all the time. She pulls to standing while holding our hands. She moves one foot in front of the other for forward motion.

She eats pureed baby food (fruits, veggies, turkey, chicken) and some finger foods now like cheerios, puffs and yogurt melts. We tried some cut up elbow macaroni the other day and she eventually ate that. She feels food with her fingers first. If it feels mushy like pears or bananas, she won't eat it. She almost didn't eat the pasta for this reason until she saw me eating it off her tray and then she took an interest. I can get her to eat most foods this way. She is very dramatic and gaggy if she doesn't like something.

I think she's gaining some weight. Her face seems to be filling out and she feels a little more solid when you lift her. I'm sure she's still underweight, but maybe we're making a little progress. She eats a lot now: 1/4 c yogurt, 3/4c fruit, 3/4c veggies and 1/4c meat a day plus finger foods. She hardly nurses for long now, maybe 7 or 8 minutes tops but she does snack often throughout the day. She takes 2-3 6 oz bottles for my MIL on the during the days when she's here.

Shreiking is her new thing. She babbles often too. Mama, dada, baba, to no one or thing in particular.

Sleeping. We've had some really good nights. She goes to bed around 7:30 and won't wake up to eat until sometime between 5 and 7 and then usually back to bed until sometime between 7 or 8. She seems to be getting better at putting herself back to sleep in between. Some nights we've had to let her cry herself to sleep as nothing will work to soothe her. This can take around 30 minutes. Her naps the last two days have been awesome (and surely a fluke), two 1 1/2 hour naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It still makes for a long evening as her stretch from 3-7 is hard, especially because she has been bothered by her top teeth for almost a month now. Hello teeth! Come out, come out wherever you are!

Let's see what else. . .Oh, she purses her lips and scrunches up her nose and breathes in and out in a huffy way. Sometimes she'll almost close one eye while she does it and looks like Popeye.

We just love her so much. Every once in a while when I look at her I see glimpses of little girl in her face instead of baby. I can't believe how much personality she has. She is such a joy.

Seven Months

She's going to think her name is tiny. . .

That's what everyone who sees her calls her.

I figured I better hurry up and do a seven month post before she turns eight months in a couple of weeks!

So what's up with Maddy?

She can sit on her own and play.

She is in love with our dog! He can put her in a good mood when no one else can.

She has two bottom teeth and is working on her top two (teething is still not fun).

She can push up to all fours but not for very long. She wants so badly to move now and gets frustrated when she can't.

She can go anywhere from 9-11 hours at night without eating. We are working on getting her to go back to sleep on her own in between. She is not a solid sleeper. Sleep is one of our biggest battles still.

People call her a happy baby. It blows my mind considering where we started. It's true, if the sun, stars and moon are all aligned just right and nothing is bothering her, she is a very happy, smiley baby.

I wish her digestive system were more mature. If it were, I could fill her up with more fatty foods. Everytime I try, something seems to bother her. We rotate between constipation and almost diarrhea. It is a delicate dance. We tried yogurt yesterday and I'm not sure her system handled it well. I'll wait awhile before trying that one again.

She took her first swing ride today. I think she would have enjoyed it more if she hadn't been overdue for a nap.



We love you sweet Maddy!

She's Baaaaaaaack!

AF returned.

Already?

I'm truly suprised.

It's only been seven months. That's not much of a break. I feel like I've been BF more now than I have been in months. She's been teething so she has been eating longer for comfort.

I guess that means I'm fertile again. Haaahaaahaaahaa. . .ha. . ha! Yeah right. I am surprised my ancient eggs got back on the bandwagon so soon. I guess you can't keep an old egg down.

The benefits of BF are dwindling. . .

I've Been Distracted

I'm such a dork!

I have FINALLY joined facebook. I think I may be the last person alive to do so. I'm not sure why I have been a hold out. I just thought it sounded lame and stupid. Well, it is lame and stupid, but so damn addicting! All of the sudden I'm searching for this person and that one, feeling like everyone from high school has aged but me, neglecting my poor baby. I need to stop.

Part of me is really glad I never joined before I had a baby, in the days of my infertility. It would have been too hard. Everyone has a freaking kid! Everyone. It would have hurt too much. I like blogging better anyway, especially my anonymous kind. I can really say what is on my mind.

Meanwhile my baby turned 7 months old on Easter Sunday. I will do a seven month post soon. For now here are some pics:

Oh, so that's what the fuss was all about.

Maddy cut her first tooth.

I felt it this morning.

She had been waking up several times a night for the past three or four nights. I was suspecting reflux again. It's my go-to. We had pretty much counted teething out. We had symptoms for so long but no teeth.

It was a relief to see the reason for the fussing and wakefulness. I bet the second one is right behind it, because I see no relief for her. She was very cranky this morning and biting my finger and anything else she could put in her mouth. That little sucker is sharp. No wonder she was so upset.

My Big Girl (well, not really)

Will somebody feed me please!


I mean it people. I need to grow!


Next weekend Maddy will turn seven months! That is starting to sound really old. She'll be a seven month old trapped in a four month old's body (and I'm being generous with four months).

She is still.so.small.

Everybody says that she looks so cute, like a little doll with her blond hair, blue eyes, and teeny tiny body.

I was a bit discouraged after her six month appt and worried that my milk supply was not keeping up. I started taking fenugreek (finally- not sure why I didn't start this sooner) and pumping three times a day when not at work to try to supplement her feedings. She doesn't feed very long at all. She gets so distracted even when I go into another, quieter room. I'm not sure if this is from her reflux, her developmental curiousity, or she just isn't that interested in nursing anymore. This behavior I suspect is hurting my supply. It's like a slippery slope.

She doesn't seem hungry all the time. If nothing else is bothering her like gas pains or reflux, she can easily go 9 to 10 hours without eating at night. She eats a good amount of solid food now too. If it were all my lack of supply, you'd think she'd start gaining once on solids. This doesn't seem to be the case. I think she's growing long, just not fat. Her arms are like little spaghetti noodles.

She's meeting all her milestones and is full of energy, so I am not too concerned. It just get so hard to hear people remark how small she is all the time. I feel guilty and responsible because I am still her main source of nutrition. I've given thought to supplementing with formula, but she has so many issues with reflux and her digestive system struggles with anything other than breastmilk. I'd be afraid this would mess with her uneccessarily. I do want to start weaning her this summer. My goal is to go nine months. I don't think we'll make it a year. I don't think I have it in me much longer. So she will be on formula eventually. I'm hoping by then her system will have time to mature. I'm assuming she will be at the bottom of the growth scale at our nine month appt.

I am starting my research now. How many of you supplement or rely on formula for feedings? What kind do you use? Maddy's is very sensitive and gets constipated easily and suffers from reflux still. Any suggestions for a formula? Help!

Snuggles

Yesterday morning was so nice.


Maddy woke up early at six for some reason. I know it wasn't hunger. I've stopped trying to guess anymore. I let her work it out herself, going in to check on her now and then, until seven when I changed and fed her. She was still so tired.


DH had just gotten up for work so Maddy and I went and laid down in bed while he got ready. I was thinking to myself how nice it would be if she'd just take a nap right there with me. That girl never sleeps anywhere but her crib.


She sat there and watched her dad until he left. Then I laid her on her side and laid next to her. She just stroked my face and smiled as she sucked her paci. Finally she nuzzled into my neck and fell asleep. She slept that way with me for almost an hour and a half. I wish I could have slept too, but I am not used to co-sleeping so I just laid there and enjoyed.


Sleep does not come easy for her. She has trouble shutting down. She hasn't even fell asleep in the car for months. Although just the other day she slept on the way home from my parents. That was rare for her too. And last night she slept ten hours straight. We only had to go in once and stick a paci in. Maybe this sleep thing will get easier for her someday. Or is that just wishful thinking?

In the meantime, I'll take my sleepy snuggles when I can get them.