Big
news! Jane cut her first tooth yesterday, and she did it amazingly
well. I have to say, our daughter is wonderful. She isn't drooling, but
she is chewing on EVERYTHING. She is sleeping and eating well, and other
than being a bit more clingy than usual, she's handling turning into a
carnivore pretty well. It'll be fun when she starts to use her teeth to
explore all the amazing food that is out there to eat, like chicken
nuggets and strawberries (my personal favorites).
Now
that Jane is sitting up and able to reach and grab for things, I have to
be careful where I set her down at and what I set down near her. Before
I know it, she has a paper bag and is waving and smashing it around,
pleasantly entertained with her new found object. My first instinct is
to swap it out with a baby toy that is much more suited for her, like
the colorful rings. But hey, she isn't eating the bag and it seems
harmless enough. That bag was waved, smashed, crinkled, slobbered on,
and played with for half an hour straight.
Jane's first Easter
Cheapest
toy ever. Why do we even spend money on toys for her? She seems content
with paper bags, clumps of string (knotted and short enough to be
safe), Tupperware cups, ribbon, beach balls, mason jar rings, and
laundry baskets. Oh and the closet mirror, can't forget the mirror. That
is by far her favorite toy because that's where the other little girl
lives that she plays with. Note to self, I need to socialize my daughter
with more kids than just her reflection.
On to
tomorrow, well not really tomorrow, but more like next month. When we
moved to the Bay Area, we were quick to find an apartment that met our
needs. Now that we've been in the area for a few months, we've had a
chance to get to know what we want in a place and that our current
apartment isn't meeting all of our needs. Today I received word that an
apartment we looked at has become available for May and you know what
that means, we're moving again! Much to Dan's demise, I'm making him
move one last time this year. Hopefully this apartment will be amazing
enough to keep us there for the next few years until life decides to
change again with either a baby, a job change, or who knows what.
Tomorrow our little pickle will be 6 months old and even though it seems like some days go by in slow motion, the past half year has flown by us much too quickly. Before it's gone, I wanted to take some time to remember what it's like on a daily basis to have an infant.
1. Breast feeding. The biggest thing to acclimate to was nursing. Most will assume it's the sleeping, but for me, the most important thing to me every day from birth has been breastfeeding Jane. Nothing will compare or replace the bonding and closeness that a mother has with her child while breastfeeding. Those first few weeks were tough, dealing with a crying baby that every time she latched on it felt like I was feeding a lamprey, but every day became a little easier. I secretly didn't believe my midwife when she told me in a few months I'll just be popping her on like nothing. Thank goodness it's much easier and pain free now. My favorite daily routine is nursing Jane to sleep. Looking down at that sweet little face that has drifted off to dreamland will never be forgotten and forever cherished.
2. If you asked me, I wouldn't say that I'm a hippie, but if I step back and take a look at myself, I guess we do live a bit of an "alternative" lifestyle. With babies come diapers, lots and lots of diapers. Being on the budget conscious side of things, we decided that cloth diapers were the way to go. Since that decision, we've become cloth diapering, baby wearing, co-sleeping, elimination communication, paleo eating, milk freezing, bike riding parents. Maybe we should have stayed in Portland!
Right, back to diapers. After shopping at specialty baby stores and comparing so many options, we landed on Thirsties brand diapers. I LOVE these diapers! The diaper covers are super cute, come in a ton of colors, and the diaper inserts are soft and haven't stained once. When she poos, I don't even rinse it off, I just toss it in a bucket of oxi-clean and let it soak until I'm ready to do a load of diapers.
Jane, 1 week old, in her first cloth diaper
3. Cloth Diapers. And speaking of diapers, the amount of laundry is amazing! Every day there is at least one load of wash that needs to be done. Some days there are a few more leaks and blow outs than others, but man, I wonder how I made it through college doing my laundry once a month.
4. Sleeping. Yes, we are proud parents that sleep with our daughter in our bed (aka co-sleeping). It started off due to laziness because Jane's room was downstairs and I didn't want to go up and down those stairs every 2 hours in the middle of the night. From day one, she's slept right next to us, and I love it! Only a handful of nights has she actually cried enough to wake Dan up, and one of those she was vomiting and had a fever. If you're wondering, we do have a crib. It's a very nice crib. And we do use it, I let her play with all the stuffed animals in it while I fold laundry in her room.
Having her sleep with us allows us all to sleep soundly and fairly well. I sleep a lot lighter than I used to, but for the most part now, I wake up enough to move her to the other side of me and alternate throughout the night. Dan, the lucky man, sleeps all night without interruption. How many parents of a 6 month old can say that?
Carrying Jane in the Bjorn during our visit to Point Reyes National Seashore
5. Baby wearing. What is this? It's when a baby is carried rather in a wrap or other baby carrier. Why do we wear Jane? Because she loves it! And we love not hearing her cry. Carrying her is super comfortable in the K'tan and the Bjorn. Wearing her is another way for her to stay attached to us and close to us, knowing that we are always there for her when she needs us. I love resting my cheek on her head and having her relax on my chest. Often times it's the only way I can get her to go to sleep. An added bonus is that it's hands free! Once she's in, I have both hands to do necessary daily activities, like surf Facebook.
6. Talking to myself and Jane all day. I don't know how some Stay at Home Moms are, but I feel like if I don't talk to Jane, the house is much too quiet. Thus I have conversations with her, but I'm mostly just talking to myself. She responds with her coos, gurgles, and other noises, but I still look forward to my husband coming home and the occasional phone call with my mom.
7. Elimination Communication. We've just started this new thing this week. EC is helping your child understand and recognize when they are going to the bathroom. While I was at target this week, I picked up a training potty and I put her on there throughout the day. Over the course of the past few days, we've managed to catch her going tinkle three times already! I'm amazed, shocked, and happy we are trying it.
8. Smiles and laughing. This is the best part of my day, watching Jane wake up, look at me, smile really big, and then let out a giggle. Her laugh is infectious and her smile melts our hearts. When she sees strangers, she smiles. I think she knows how beautiful and special she is.
These past six months have been delightful, and I can't wait to see what the next six months are going to bring. Crawling, walking, talking? Who knows?
Jane at 5 1/2 months sitting up and playing her piano
Every week it seems Jane is doing something new, something exciting, and sometimes something funny. As of this week, she is officially sitting up all on her own. We do have a few weebles and wobbles, and the occasional falling down, but no major bumps or bruises yet.
Stack ALL the cups!
Her favorite new toy is a little piano that she happily pounds away at and loves the fact she can make noise. I have to thank Fisher Price for choosing notes that go together and don't cause an earache. Another new addition to the toy box are her stacking cups. Who knew that 8 little cups could be so entertaining? But be careful, as a parent you are always stacking these cups. It becomes addictive, almost obsessive. Every time one little cup rolls away you're off tracking it down. As playtime comes to an end and you find 7 of the 8 cups, that missing one is going to drive you nuts. Okay, maybe not nuts, but it will irk you a little. Enough about the cups.
Our new highchair
Another big addition to the Selleck household furniture collection was a highchair. With Jane sitting up all on her own now, it was time to invest in one and of course, it had to be swank. I chose the OXO Sprout because one, it looked really cool! Who could say not to brown and green? And two, it's solid wood and as so few parts it'll be easy to clean. The pads are attached with velcro and come off easily. But solid food is a ways out, so the high chair is mainly for entertainment purposes. It also allows mom and dad to have some "adult" time at the table (aka dinner without a baby in tow). Thank goodness for developing ab muscles! Yay freedom!
A weekend visit to Point Reyes North Beach on a warm January Saturday
It seems that as a stay at home mom, each day moves in slow motion as you're changing diapers and rocking a baby to sleep. But then all of a sudden three months have gone by in a blink and my head is left spinning. Christmas and New Years are long behind us, Jane is somehow not a wee baby anymore, and Dan and I are Californians. What? No. What?
First things first. Jane.
She's 5 months old, has almost figured out this whole sitting up thing, and her teeth are making her quite uncomfortable. The teething has resulted in fevers, vomiting, and overall crankiness. We persevere thru each day and make sure she has plenty of toys to chew on.
Jane 4 months old on her playmat
Having Jane has changed our lives in ways we can't even describe and I'm sure in ways that we aren't fully aware of yet. I guess having something so helpless, tiny, and fully dependent on you changes your perspective a bit. Becoming a mother has changed me, inside and out. When I make eye contact with Jane and smile at her, seeing her smile back then kick her legs and flap her arms in excitement makes my heart melt. Holding her and nursing her to sleep is something that I wouldn't give up for the world. Watching Dan carry her around in the carrier and pretending she's driving the "daddy bot" makes me laugh. I can't wait for the tickle monster attacks and jumping on furniture to stay out of the lava.
Jane 5 months, sitting up!
On Saturday Dan turned 31! To celebrate this special day, we had planned on spending the day at the gym playing around with tires, yolks, and stones then having a nice relaxing day at home ending with a dinner of steak and mashed potatoes and of course, birthday cake. However, Jane's first birthday gift to her dad was a fever of 103 and some sever fussiness. All the plans were thrown out the door at 4 am and we ended up spending the day rocking, cuddling, and bathing our little girl and eating leftovers. I think a redo is in order for this weekend.
