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!
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!
I can't believe it has already been 3 months! Where is the time going? Soon she will be half a year which brings a tear to my eye. Everyone told me that babies aren't babies very long and I now understand. This past week I packed away her 0-3 months clothes. Now she is wearing 3 month and some 3-6 months. Her hair is growing and she has two bottom teeth buds.
She grows out of her onezies the quickest. She is still petite but getting long legs. She is wearing a size 1 diaper in Pampers and a size 2 in Huggies. I am still not a fan of Huggies but we still have up to a size 3 to get through.
Her thighs and cheeks are the only thing that is chubby on her. She is nothing like how Ior Matt was as a baby. We were A LOT chunkier and bigger.
She is getting stronger but still will fall over when sitting for awhile. We still have awhile before she is suppose to be able to sit by herself. I just wish she liked tummy time more. She still gets mad. If she lasts 5 minutes, that is a good day!
She gets that mischievous smile from her father. I can see that she is probably going to use it a lot to get her way.
She is sleeping so well at night. She has been going to sleep earlier on her own. I don't put her down, I let her decide when she wants to go to sleep, and it has worked well. She started out at 10p, then went down to 9p, now she has falls asleep between 8-8:30 and sleeps until 5am. I have had to stop using her as an alarm because after her 5am feeding she is sleeping 4 hours now. Thankfully Matt called me the other morning or I would have been late to work!
She very rarely throws a nightly tantrum like she used to around 1 month. This past week she went through a growth spurt, so she has been a little fussy and needy. Last week I had a mild case of the stomach flu which I ended up giving Matt and then his sister got it. Thankfully, Andi has not gotten sick!!! It is crazy how Matt and I have not been sick since high school and as soon as we have a baby we get sick. I guess this is how it's going to be now.
At work we have been preselling for gift which has made me exhausted! Our last gift I was 7 months pregnant and I don't remember being this tired. I think it is because I don't get into a deep sleep anymore. I wake up tired because I hear every peep she makes.
During her playtime she has been batting at the toys that hang on her gym and she has started bringing things to her mouth, like her hands and blanket. She had stopped sucking on her fingers after she was a month and now she will suck on the back of her hands. I try to keep a paci in her mouth to avoid that!
It seems like everything I had planned to do with her has changed since she has been born. My first plan was to breastfeed for a year but that did not happen, not by my choosing though. Then I had said that when she reached 3 months she would be moved into her room and into her crib. Well that has changed as well. I am thinking at 6 months she will make the move.
I still swaddle her at night but she has gotten too big and strong for so in the mornings she is all sprawled out of it. I started using a sleep sack that has a wrap. She still wiggles her way out of it but as long as she sleeps, I am fine with that. I know once she starts rolling over, the swaddling days will be over. Once we are done with gift at work and I am rested, I am going to experiment with not swaddling her for a night and see how it goes.
Yesterday we found out that Matt will be working close to Kansas City in a month which means he will be gone for 4 days at a time. I am not looking forward to that but at least I have the family to help me out!
In July my mom and I are planning on going to Texas to visit my family. My grandparents and aunt haven't met her yet. We are debating between driving or flying. I am scared of both...lol! I don't know about driving 10-12 hours with a 7 month old and then I don't know about flying with a 7 month old. I guess time will help me make a decision!
This past week has been my second week back and I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. The hardest thing is saying goodbye to this little one.
Diaper changing time and floor mat time have become my special moments as a mom.
Andi is really starting to babble and answer back. It makes my heart melt, especially when she has that huge grin on her face. The first thing she does when she wakes up is greet me with a real big smile. My heart melts every time. I have to say my cup runneth over! I never knew just how rewarding being a mother would be and how much a little baby can have such a huge impact on your heart. I LOVE her sooooo much, I just want to eat her up....lol. I told Matt last night I am ready for another one. I might become this crazy person that is obsessed with having babies...lol. Another thing that tugs at my heart strings is watching her sleep. I have never seen something so precious, angelic, and innocent. She is my baby angel:-) She has learned how to trick you. If you leave the room, she will act like she is crying and when you come back to check on her she will give you a big, cheesy grin! You can tell she gets A LOT of attention and she eats it up!
She is falling asleep earlier now. Instead of 10 we are at 9...yay! She usually sleeps about 7-8 hours a night and then a 2-3 hour nap after she eats and plays. This is what our mornings, afternoons, and evenings consist of:
She starts showing how she plays a little better in this one:-) It sounds like she says hi back!
She usually gets really loud and carries on. Every time I would take the camera away she would act like her normal self and then when I would bring it back, she would stop. I think she is camera shy:-) She doesn't have her crying rampages at night like before. She will get a little fussy but then fall right to sleep. She has been a very good, healthy baby and I hope it continues. This past weekend was her first restaurant experience, one that I missed due to work. I will admit that is upset me, I am already missing out on her firsts. Apparently she did well, just loaded her diaper. I was sent this picture as she was doing it!
We got this new seat with toys from Matt's dad and step mom. I put her in it and she is holding her head up pretty well. Hopefully within the next month or so she will hold it up all the time. She does when you carry her around.
We explore a lot of things. I will put her in her walker (which she is still too small for) and push her around. She really likes it because she can look around.
She is a very observant baby. We have her swing near the TV and she will turn her head all the way around trying to look at it.
She still isn't a fan of tummy time, not even on her boppy. She will get her legs to moving so fast but the poor girl isn't going anywhere. She will even get to rocking, which she has rocked her self onto her side briefly. She would rather be on someone's chest for tummy time, which she will push up and look around so I guess that will have to do.
I wanted to get a pic of her awake in her outfit, but she was exhausted after her outing. She got her shots Friday. I felt so bad and teared up when they gave them to her. I had Pa-Pa Davis come with me for moral support. I am not a big fan of needles...needless to say shots from my experience as a kid. She was playing, cooing, and smiling and then got stuck 3 times. She didn't cry very long, she actually had her melt down getting put into her car seat, which didn't happen for awhile. Luckily she didn't have a fever that night and she wasn't fussy either, she was just tired.
I decided to take her to my work and let her meet my coworkers. That was over stimulating for her. We only visited for about 30 minutes and I thought that was enough being her first time in public. It is amazing how a baby attracts people and kids. You can't help but awe over a little baby. I have only taken her out twice to the pediatrician and that was it. I am slowly getting braver. She acts pretty good, I just have to have her binky and bottle nearby. I am not brave enough to take her to a restaurant yet. Maybe in a month or so. I am waiting for the flu bug to pretty much be gone. We went to a new pediatrician, Dr. Nitta, and I am overly impressed by her and the nurses. The bed side manner is great and she is very thorough in her examination as well as explanatory. I learned a lot from her in one visit about Andi, than the last two at the other pediatrician. Here are Andi's stats so far:
She is right at 11lbs
22.5 in long
She is in the 95th percentile and above average( which apparently she was in the bottom 10 in weight and length when she was born)
She is VERY social
Has sensitive skin, especially on her face
Overall a very happy, healthy baby.
One thing we have noticed with her, she will follow you with her eyes and other people. She is a good watcher. The other night we had her in her swing away from us and had some visitors. She was watching us the whole time and started getting fussy. I went and got her and she became happy being part of the conversation, sitting on my lap looking around at everyone. She will watch me do my exercise videos....I often wonder what she is thinking... Sam has really became her protector. He always lays by her when she is on the floor. The other night JuJu tried to get between him and her and he absolutely wouldn't let her. He started showing his teeth and growling at her. He knows he is going to be Andi's little horse when she gets bigger...lol. Well I got my hair chopped off and I LOVE it!!! It is sooo much lighter and easier to take care of!!! Matt really likes it too!! I could have gotten it shorter but it is a good starting length.
I go back to work Monday. I am only going to work 30 hours that way I can have 3 days off a week and not worry if Matt is going to be working on Fridays. Plus it gives me more time with my baby...which I am going to miss. I am not going to know what to do since I won't be staring at a baby all day! This past week I went to a training class for Clinique and I felt like a fish out of water. It is going to be an adjustment getting back into the swing of things after being gone for 2 months and not wearing make-up the whole time...lol. Matt and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night at Haruno's, and let me say how hard it has been to not have sushi for over a year! FINALLY, that craving has been satisfied!!! We celebrated our 1st V-day there 4 years ago and he didn't say more than a sentence the whole time due to it being close quarters with other people.
He can be shy at times and so can I. This time we had good company: Christie, Cassie, Rick, and Michelle. My how times have changed!
This has been our 2nd date night since Andi has been born. The funny thing is that we used to not have a whole lot of date nights, we enjoyed staying home. Now, we like to get out. So much for our hermit lives...we have a baby now:-)!
Andi is smiling more socially!!! It is sooo adorable. She smiles the most right after she wakes up. She loves playtime on her mat. We have hung a musical mirror and she will stare, coo, and smile at her self for well over an hour. It keeps her quite content. She really likes it!!! She has been such a great sleeper this past month!! We finally have a nightly routine down, and it has had good results!! I usually feed her around 9, change her, and then swaddle her. I then sing her 4 different songs. Brahms, You Are My Sunshine, Stay Awake, and Baby Mine. Usually by the end of Baby Mine, she is asleep. I put her in her bassinet around 10 and she has been sleeping until 4:30-5ish. Then she gets changed, fed, and will sleep until 7:30-8ish!!! Hallelujah!!! At the end of this month, we will be moving her to her crib. Hopefully she will adapt to it well.
This past month has been crazy! Andi has only been in public twice...both times were to the pediatrician. My main reason for not taking her out anywhere else is due to the bad flu bug. I do not want a sick baby. Matt has never been sick since we have been together, in fact he hasn't been sick since high school. About two weeks ago he came down with the flu. We got him on Tamiflu quickly and to keep me from getting it, I had to take it too. During this time Andi stayed with both sets of grandparents for 4 days so we could get the germs out of the house. I have never done so much sanitizing and washing clothes before. It literally sounded like Matt was going to hack up a lung. To make things worse, he said he had to go to work in Kansas and would not stay home. Of course it was one of the coldest days we have had. I think it was 8 degrees that day and he was out ALL DAY in it. Thankfully his cold didn't turn into pneumonia but we are pretty sure it turned into bronchitis. He came down with an ear infection as well. Thankfully I never got sick, however I had to dump my milk for 10 days. By being on tamiflu, my milk decreased quite a bit. Andi made a big dent in what I had frozen. When I started breastfeeding, my goal was to make it a year. After she was born, and the latch on issues/45 minutes to nurse, my goal was to make it to 6 months. Now I don't think I am going to make it that long. In the beginning I was producing over 42 oz a day and it has dwindled down to 7oz/day. A lot of it is my fault because I didn't pump every two hours like they say to keep your supply going. However, I am not a robot. Four times a day was getting old. Everytime I turned around it was time to pump again. I then cut it down to 3x and now I am pumping twice a day. The lactation consultant told me that my milk would eventually run out because it isn't the same as nursing. If I were going to be a stay-at-home mom, I would have nursed. But with my work schedule and varied hours, it would be too difficult. So probably within a month, my milk will probably be dried up. Andi has done so well, and I really contribute it to the breast milk. Onto formula, I am not a fan. I have been putting rice in her formula which sustains her longer. I have now switched to oatmeal cereal since rice seems to be constipating her. She hasn't had a bowel in 3 days which the pediatrician says is normal since she is changing over, but it has me worried. Andi is still her self, but to go from 3-4 bm's a day to zero, is a little alarming. Formula makes her toots and burps smell horrible and when she had her bm it smelled retched. I definitely prefer breast milk by far!!! We have had a lot of issues with our insurance and hospital bills, now that they are rolling in. Before I had her I called my insurance to get everything lined out and to make sure I understood everything. I was told that when she was born she would be covered and then I had 31 days to enroll her officially if I wanted her on my insurance. I told them she would be put on my husbands. Well we got her bill over 31 days later which is close to $3000 and since I didn't put her on mine, we are responsible for payment. This is BS!!!! It's times like these, I sometimes would like to be through the state. Oh well, lesson learned!!! Starting Monday, I go back to work full-time. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm coming back at a busy time, pre-selling for gift. I hate calling customers, with a passion!! Anyway, I have gotten our routine down in the morning and things are going smoothly. Andi is such a good baby, I am very thankful!!! She is very easy going. She just gets upset when her diaper is wet, when she is hungry, and if she is being held too much. She is going to be very independent, which can be good and bad!
I have finally gotten enough rest and motivation to start exercising again. I'm 5 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight thanks to breastfeeding, but I need to lose another 20 to feel better about myself. My body just doesn't look the same after having a baby. The first step to my make-over is getting a good foot of my hair chopped off and a new style. It is the longest it has ever been! It is down to my butt now and it tangles sooooo bad. I have started getting rat nest tangles again, the same as I did when I was 5. I have to wear it in a bun 24/7 to keep it out of reach from Andi and from tangling. I . This will give me incentive to lose weight. I just need to stick with it. Since my pageant days, I just don't have the motivation to work out simply because I burnt myself out and I am inpatient. I would workout for 2 hours a day/ 6 or 7 days a week. It definitely payed off...I was the smallest I have ever been due to eating only 500-800 calories a day and in the best shape of my life. I used to be a lot harder on myself and stricter about what I ate. Now I just don't have the drive or time...so I need to go slow and eat right...not starve:-)
Do you believe in fate? I used to question it until Matthew and I reunited. Former classmates, only 10 miles apart, six years later, and under my nose the whole time...if not for Facebook WE would not exist. I knew on our first date that he was the one I had been looking for and wanted to grow old with.
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