stats update

She has grown an inch and gained four pounds. Terry was a little disappointed that she hadn't grown more, but she's still thriving. Yay!

At last, a post about knitting

I knit this sweater for Valerie, but it would almost fit Solana right now. It's only about an inch too short, but the sleeves would look really funny. Anyway, I understand it's pretty warm in Savannah right now! So, I'll just save it for now.

So then I made this for Soli's birthday (it's a tank top, not a dress!)

milestones

She has found her feet - grabs them all the time and tries to suck on her own toes :-)

She laughed for the first time for her babysitters a week ago today; I've heard a couple chuckles since then but I'm still waiting for her to laugh like this.

QUICK while she's sleeping!

The hardest thing to do while mothering is work on the computer. I can entertain/hold/nurse Valerie while reading, eating, and even a certain amount of housework (except maybe cleaning the toilet or using the stove). But the computer uses both hands, both eyes, and most of my focused attention - and it seems like even when she's happy in her bouncy chair looking at her birds and listening to music, when I get on the computer it only takes a few minutes til she's trying to get my attention. So I have to wait until she's asleep.

Terry has found another tactic:

better

All my ailments seem to be healing, and there have been no more regurgitation incidents (aside from the incidental spit-ups). I decided to hire my babysitters as occasional errand girls as well, which in less than two hours wiped 5 things off my to-do list. T. is back in town and we're getting our work done. And have I mentioned the weather is gorgeous?

I have, though, lost a knitting needle - a long metal #1 DPN - and so am stymied for sock knitting at the moment. Sock knitting is one of those things I can fit into the corners of my life and get the satisfaction of seeing something material concretely produced. So instead I've been folding origami birds for another mobile for V.

I promise, I promise, pictures forthcoming - once I finish writing an essay due tonight.

yay, it's morning!!

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." While not always literally true (sometimes weeping can last a lot longer than that!) it was true for us this past 24 hours. Here's the timeline:

Sunday night: Val sleeps 7 hours straight! Mom feels totally rested!
Monday night: Val wants to nurse every 2 hours - Mom feels completely sleep-deprived.
Tuesday all day: Val is fussy and congested, wakes herself up coughing every time she goes down for a nap. She doesn't want to lie on her back, preferring to be held upright. I think she can breathe better this way. She also seems to sleep better while nursing - at least while suckling, even if she's not actually eating much. I think it's because she can swallow the mucous that's draining from her sinuses.

So all this would not be a huge deal, except that at some point yesterday I did something funny to my right shoulder and now I can't lift that arm higher than horizontal. Hurts! My guess is I pulled something while lifting her from her bassinet. So this makes all manner of baby wrangling all that much harder.

And, sorry if this is too much information, but I've been dealing with a small sore spot that won't heal and sometimes bleeds, from nursing. I talked with a lactation consultant who said that it should heal if she is consistently latching on correctly, so I'm hoping... it seems a little better today but this is a constant challenge since ensuring correct latch-on means paying close attention while nursing her which is hard to do in public places when you're trying to be discreet.

Anyway. So last night I was exhausted and alone, dealing with a fussy baby and feeling crippled in my right arm. Somehow I managed to cook and eat supper and to give her a bath. Then I took her to bed to nurse her to sleep. She was nursing enthusiastically, and then sucking on a pacifier, and my finger, just as enthusiastically - and then she THREW UP. All over the bed. In wave after wave of sour white milk. Fortunately I had her lying on a towel, which got a lot of it. But it also got on the sheets, the mattress pad, my pajamas, her onesie, her hair (after the bath!!!), even in her ear.

She lay on the couch kicking happily and saying "aaaaAAAAaaaa" while I cleaned up.

Once we got re-settled, with clean sheets and a hot pad on my shoulder, the night went much better. I know the EMT who gave us the baby CPR training would have a cow, but we slept tummy-to-tummy all night. She nursed at midnight (when we went to be finally), at 3:30, at 6:00, at 8:00, and at 9:00, and we got up at 10. Each time she woke up coughing, but each time we both fell asleep and then slept well.

Poor baby. Poor me, too, I was feeling quite desperate at times and won't say there weren't tears on both sides. But there's no passing the buck, you just have to do the next thing that needs to be done. I think of all those times when I was little and sick and throwing up and I know my mom did the same for me. I'm sure she felt quite desperate at times, too, but here I am. We lived to tell the tale.

a day late and a dollar short

Little V. was four months old... yesterday!!!

No new milestones to report, but I feel like we're on the verge. She likes to say "AaaaAAAaa" and "Urgle," clasps her hands together, and will bring objects to her mouth when placed in her hand. We've had to lengthen the Bjorn, so we know she's getting longer. And chubby! She rolls to one side but doesn't roll over all the way yet. I think I heard her laugh one time in her sleep... but I wasn't completely awake myself, so can't be certain.

As for school and all that, we're coping. Two nights ago she slept seven hours straight... heaven! I felt so rested the next day! Last night, however, was another story altogether. I feel as sleep-deprived now as I did during finals week as an undergrad. Not good. Hopefully tonight will go better.

kind of impressed with myself...for the moment

This morning I found myself simultaneously:
1) pumping milk (plugged ducts - arg!)
2) eating oatmeal
3) listening to "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" (the NPR news quiz, very funny)
4) reading e-mails

And then, while Terry held the baby, I made an origami mobile to hang over her bassinet.

(Granted, the paper had already been folded; all I did was thread them on string and hang them from the ceiling with thumbtacks.)

Terry thinks that all mothers should automatically grow two more pairs of arms - about 20 feet long and retractable, like the Octopus bad guy on Spiderman - when they have a baby. I tell him HE is my extra set of arms!

A good day... so far.

it's six a.m., do you know where your baby is?

(This is one for the album, is it not???)

I know every parent whose baby regularly wakes up before dawn is playing the world's tiniest violin for me right now, but I've gotten used to V. sleeping until around nine a.m. Her parents are night owls and she seems to follow suite. Now granted, she doesn't sleep straight through until nine; usually she's interested in nursing at six, at seven, and at eight (give or take) before she fully wakes up. But this morning? Wide awake at six. This would be less of an inconvenience for me if she hadn't been up until midnight last night. She had a long, late nap from around 7-10, so I wasn't sure what her sleep pattern was going to do. I guess this is it.

But seriously - how CUTE is this picture???