Another Year Wiser.....

I think I have learned the most this past year, mostly in part to having a baby. This has been the best birthday year simply because Andi is in my life.

We had some nice couple of days so Andi got to go without socks. I took her to Wal-Mart for the first time and by myself. She did really well and was an attention getter as well. She also tried out her stroller for the first time as well too...she really likes it! She didn't know what to think about the wind hitting her face or the sunshine. That is the bad thing about having a winter baby, you keep them all bundled up and indoors.

 Matt's aunt and uncle, Ron and Charlie came to see Andi for the first time. He was a pro at holding and feeding her:-)

These past couple of weeks have been EXTREMELY exhausting for me. I have been working 40+ hours a week and dealing with INSANE customers. Clinique's gift brings out the monster in people. Here are some examples of what I have been dealing with: customers getting into arguments over who was first in line, the end of the line customer demanding to be waited on first, customers bringing product back and demanding a gift for having to bring it back, etc. So by the end of the night, I am frazzled then I come home to a teething baby.  This is how she has been this past week:

The poor girl will be smiling and crying at the same time. She hasn't been sleeping well at night either. She has been waking up at 2am and squirming around until 4:30 which means no sleep for me. She will start sucking on her hands so hard that she will be squeaking. She will refuse her pacifier and just run her fingers along her bottom gums. She doesn't like teething rings so my coworker suggested frozen mini bagels. I will have to give that a try. We have been putting ora-gel on her gums but it only helps for a little while. Tylenol works the best but I DO NOT want to become dependent on it. Besides her fingers she likes to gum the bottle nipple so I tend to hold her and a bottle for a couple hours.
I am soooo glad that gift will be over next Thursday and I can get some rest and resume my normal work schedule. I am not a coffee drinker but that is the only thing keeping me going. Matt says that his wife has been gone for two weeks. I guess you can say I have been mean to him but it is very tiring working and taking care of a baby.

Andi is still a good baby...I just wish she didn't have to go through the teething process or at least it didn't hurt so bad.

She is always doing things with her fingers. When I am changing her she will grab hold of my hand and when she drinks her bottle she will have her fingers on it, with her pinkies sticking out. When she sleeps, she has her fingers doing random things like this: 

 

I would like to think that she really is signing "I Love You"

She has found a new friend, her bunny! She likes to gnaw on its face or hug it!

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I had mentioned before that I was missing out on her firsts. I missed out on her first food, bananas. I found out about a week later that Matt's mom had fed her. Then he shows me the video 2 weeks later. I can't seem to get it uploaded. In a couple of weeks she will be starting her cereal with a spoon. She is growing so fast, I tend to get teary eyed a lot these days thinking of what she is going to be like as she gets older.

We tried out the baby Einstein jumper and she was really going to town in it. She was trying to jump even though her feet aren't touching and she was changing the music by hitting the shapes. She likes it but it can be a little over stimulating to her after awhile.

One last thing, Andi wishes everyone a Happy Easter!