6 Months

How in the world are you 6 months old already??  Your daddy and I were talking the other day how up until this point you still sounded like such a baby when we would say how old you were, but now…now that you have hit 6 months it sounds so much older and we are on the downhill slope to your first birthday!!  Just when we think you can’t get any more precious to us, you flash that gummy smile of yours and just melt our hearts.  Last weekend you learned the “mmm” sound and it really sounds like you are trying to say “mama.”  That is music to my ears my sweet Chloe!  And even though you have no idea what you are saying or that you are referring to me, I hope “dada” will follow soon behind.  He loves you so much and I know it will mean the world to him when you really start to call out to him.  You have given us so much purpose in life now.  Someone said it best that you are never hit so hard with love as the day you bring a child into this world.  That is so true.  And you have our hearts completely.

 Sleep: You have been very consistent with your sleep this last month.  Besides one night when you had a cold and were incredibly stuffy so I made you sleep in the bassinet in our room, you are doing really well sleeping in your crib in your own room at night.  Sometimes we have to go in within a few minutes of putting you down to put the pacifier back in your mouth, but if you are pretty sleepy you are out immediately.  We’ve learned if you wake up during the night to let you try and go back to sleep on your own rather than running in there right away.  Usually you can soothe yourself back to sleep within a few minutes.  You are down for the night between 9:30 and 10 and sleep until around 9 the next morning.  We have gotten better with naps too and you take between 2 and 3 a day.  Swaddling is still key.  Again if you are pretty sleepy we might be able to get away with not swaddling you, but it’s best to just do it from the beginning so you don’t wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning upset.  And you love talking to yourself when you wake up!  There is a little green power light on your monitor camera that you love to look at.  It’s like you know we are watching you on the other end and you’ll just stare up at the light (which makes it look like you are looking directly into the camera) and talk away.

Daily Routine: We’ve got this thing pretty well down now, it’s only taken 6 months.  You normally wake up around 9 am whether it’s a day you are going to the sitter or staying home with daddy.  You eat, and then either get ready for the sitter, or hang out with dad.  You still go down for a nap within the first two hours of waking up, and if you don’t, we pay for it later in the day.  That’s where swaddling is key…your daddy is a softy and if you fuss when he puts you down he normally goes and picks you back up or he doesn’t swaddle you.  But we just have to stand our ground and then you will fall asleep and take at least an hour nap, if not two hours.  How are you still sleepy so soon after waking up for the day, my child??  Then it’s time to get up again, eat, play, change a couple diapers, play some more, and then go back down for a nap.  If the morning nap wasn’t long this one usually is.  By this point I either pick you up from the sitter after the 3^rd bottle of the day, or I get home about the time you wake up.  We play some more, eat, take a bath, go down for a quick cat nap, up again to eat and relax for the evening and then put you to bed.

Feed: Formula feeding has been pretty consistent this month as well. Your first and last bottle of the day are 7 ounces and the other 3 are usually 6 ounces.  It’s so cute watching you watch us as we prepare your bottle.  If I’m holding you, you stare at the formula as I pour it into your bottle like “don’t skimp, mom!” and I count the scoops out loud so you know I don’t. Ha!  I feel like the Count from Sesame Street. Then if the bottle gets anywhere close to you, you grab for it.  Even if I haven’t shaken it up yet, you still want to hold it.  If we aren’t holding you while we prepare your bottle, as soon as we hold it up so you can see it, you reach out for it.  You also hold the bottle now while you are eating.  It’s still a bit hard for you to manage when it’s full, but as you drink more you can hold it.  And sometimes you hold it straight up in the air upside down which is pretty funny to watch.  We introduced solids this month.  I made you carrots and sweet potatoes, and we also tried avocados.  You did not like avocados but seemed to like sweet potatoes.  Then grandpa bought you a big variety pack of baby food from Sa.m’s and you love peaches and apples!  We’ve also tried carrots out of that pack and you like those too.  The first few tries of the homemade food you choked but now you seem to be a pro.  We try to give you a solid food once every night and daddy seems to be getting in a habit of giving you some in the mornings too.  

Weight: will update after doctor’s appointment next Tuesday

Length: will update after doctor’s appointment next Tuesday

Diaper Size: Size 2 diaper

Clothes Size: We finally have had to put away some of your 3 month pants. 3 month shirts are usually ok assuming the neck is big enough.  Last night I went through your bin of clothes and pulled out a bunch of 6 month clothes.  In my head I can’t believe that you are ready for them, and I think they will be big for a while, but you are kind of in this in between stage where 3 month clothes are a little too tight, but 6 month clothes are a little too big.  

Hair Color:
At birth: blonde
24 weeks: Still blonde.  Even that dark patch of hair on the back of your head has really lightened up.  Your hair is getting thicker all around, but you still have a thin, mostly bald spot on the back.   

Eye color:
At birth: blue/gray
24 weeks: bright blue (really hoping they stick!)

Funniest moment: Well the “piss crystals” post sure ranks up there with funniest moments this month.  You’ve also started rocking back and forth and it cracks us up.  Whether you are in your jumperoo, in our arms, or sitting on our laps, you’ll just start rocking out of nowhere and get the biggest grin.  

Milestone: Your motor skills are really improving.  You really reach for things now, like your bottle I mentioned earlier, and you also reach for us.  If you are laying down or sitting in your jumperoo, we’ll hold our hands out to pick you up and you will lift your arms. You look at people when they talk to you or if you hear something, you will turn your head right towards the noise.  You have figured out how to sit up on your own, although it doesn’t last too long.  Your new thing is to rock back and forth and you think it’s so funny. One day you were in your jumperoo and your pacifier was resting on the outside platform.  You saw it, picked it up, and put it straight in your mouth!  You seemed like such a big girl knowing exactly what to do.  I just remember looking at you and thinking “you didn’t just have that, where did you get it from?”  Since we have introduced solid foods, you are sitting in your high chair to eat many times. Your new favorite thing is to say “mmm” or “amam.”  Still no teeth but the drooling is constant.  

Your favorite toy: You still love the jumperoo, but we have added a crinkle book to your assortment of toys and you like it too.  The noise seems to captivate you, there is a mirror so you can see yourself, and of course after a few seconds the toy ends up in your mouth.  The dogs have become a favorite too.  You are mesmerized by them.  Always watching them and when they get close enough you reach out for them.  You still like to hold mommy and daddy’s hands, or grab our necks, or mouths, or noses.  

Firsts:

First time sitting up on your own

First time sleeping through the night in your crib not swaddled (very rare occasion)

First time eating solids

You love sticking your tongue out

And here you are arching your back, again trying to roll over

 Love those gorgeous blue eyes!

 Saying "mmmm"

When we sat you in the glider, you realized you could make it move.  It was so funny to watch you rocking yourself.

Ya Got Me!

Gotta keep this fun survey going, right?  I was tagged by Sean - thanks dude!  I've seen a few different sets of rules, but I'll go with these and just make it work. :)

1 - Post the rules
2 - Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you. 

3 - Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.
4 - Tag people and link them to your post.
5 - Let them know that you tagged them.

 Her questions for me:

1. What movies could you watch over and over and still love? Grown-Ups, Knocked Up, UP – we watch a ton of movies, but not usually more than once
2. Last person you kissed? My sweet girl, Chloe
3. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? About six months ago.  I wrote a letter to my daughter before she was born.
4. Ever gotten a speeding ticket? Yes, unfortunately.  But it’s been a few years.  My husband on the other hand hasn’t been so lucky.
5. What is your Chinese astrological sign? The Rat
6. Do you believe in ghosts? Hmm, not sure about this one.  I believe in signs that you’re loved ones are around you.  Does that count?
7. In God? Yes, but I’m not a very religious person.  I only go to church on major holidays, but I do want to find a new church soon so Chloe grows up learning about God.
8. Can you knit or crochet? No, but I really want to learn how!
9. Do you miss anyone right now? My mom, terribly.
10. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? I would love to live near a beach, probably in the gulf somewhere.
11. If you could live in any era of time, what would you choose? Honestly I think it would be fun to live in the 30’s, 40’s – not too terribly long ago but life seemed so much simpler back then.

 My questions for you:

1. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
2. What is one thing that makes you unique?
3. Have you lost someone close to you?
4. Were you named after anyone?
5. Tell us about an embarrassing moment.
6. What did you want to be when you grew up, and did you accomplish it?
7. Why did you start your blog?
8. What chore do you absolutely hate doing?
9. What celebrity do you think you look like?
10. What songs are included on the soundtrack of your life?
11. What story does your family always tell about you?

The lucky bloggers I'm tagging:

1. Jenn at Hollands on the Hill
2. Kelly at Candid Confessions of a Southern Princess
3. Heather at The Road Less Traveled
4. Stacey at Three G's in a Pod
5. Kayln at The Kasun Family
6. Bridget at The Lost Stork
7. Sarah at Our Journey

A-M-A-M

My daughter is on the verge of saying mama!  She just has the letters mixed up a little bit.  Instead of saying M-A-M-A, it comes out sounding like A-M-A-M.  She just started doing this yesterday and it's crazy to hear her actually making sounds other than oohs and aahs.  I have no idea how she picked it up, but it's like now that she knows she can make this new sound, that's all she wants to do.  She did it all afternoon/night.  It's the cutest thing!

And just to throw this in there, (I was a cheerleader for almost 10 years) I posted this picture on FB yesterday with the following caption: "Cheerleader in the making.  I may or may not have taught her some cheers already...Go Jay.hawks!"  Even though they lost, she was sure cute sporting her KU shirt!

All Clear!

Yay!  I was pretty sure that’s what I would hear today at my appointment, but ya never know.  I got there at 11, was called right back and asked to strip from the waist up.  Now that’s a change from what I’m used to, ha!  I felt like I was at a spa though, I was given a locker for my clothes, a nice white robe, and the office itself was very nice.  The nurse said she was going to talk to the radiologist first to see if he wanted to do a mammogram.  I was a bit confused since that’s the only reason I was there, but she said since I’m so young that the tissue can be pretty dense and hard to see anything with the mammogram and that they might just go straight to an ultrasound.  She came back and let me know that we would be doing both tests today.  So she and I went in this small room, and did the screening.  If you’ve never had one done, they really aren’t bad.  They aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world, and you have to stand funny sometimes just to get the right angle, but you are only in that position for a minute or less and then you reposition for the next image.  She did six images total, three on each side. 

Then I had to wait a little while for the ultrasound, there was someone ahead of me.  When it was my turn, I went into that room and was introduced to the tech and her trainee.  What’s with me getting trainees at ultrasound appointments?  (I had several at one of my RE appointments).  The tech did the whole thing so I’m sure it took longer than normal.  I couldn’t see anything on the screen though because it was behind my head.  I think it’s funny, this is now my third type of ultrasound.  They keep going further and further north.  First the internal, then the abdomen, and now the breast.  Again the two techs said they couldn’t see anything, but the radiologist needed to look the images over and he would come talk to me.

After a few minutes the techs and the doc were in the room.  He and his wife have a 3 week old baby at home so we discussed life with newborns a bit, then he went on to grope examine me.  I’ve never had a male doctor, and as weird as I thought it would be, it really wasn’t.  He too said he couldn’t feel anything abnormal and showed me the monitor and pointed different things out to me.  Basically that’s it.  No follow up other than to my normal doctor to make sure they were satisfied with the screenings.  And I’m glad to know that I have my baseline mammogram done now.  Maybe now my dad will get off my back about getting it done.  The doc did ask if I wanted to fill out some paperwork since I was considered at high risk for developing breast cancer – it had something to do with high risk cases, people analyzing the data, and then providing recommendations on further testing.  I was fine with that, so we’ll see if they contact me in the future.

Onto even better news…I’m going on a date tonight!  With my husband!  And no baby!  My one and only cousin that lives somewhat close to me gave JJ and I an AMC gift card for Christmas along with a “coupon” good for a night of babysitting when we went to see a movie.  After all the craziness we’ve had the last few weeks I thought it was a good time to take her up on it.  So I’m meeting JJ after work and we are going to see Contraband.  What’s funny is we never go to movies and I didn’t realize how hard it would be to find a movie time that was early enough to get us back home in time to put Chloe to bed.  The movie starts at 5:00.  We’ll probably be the youngest people there, but maybe that means it will be a less rowdy crowd.  Does that make me sound old?  Oh, and my poor girl has a cold.  We noticed a stuffy nose Wednesday night and yesterday with the sitter she was a little fussy and stuffy.  We had her sleep in our room last night just to keep a better eye on her.  I absolutely hate hearing the gurgly sound of her stuffed up nose.  And with her pacifier in her mouth it’s even worse.  She usually hates us using the aspirator but last night it was like she almost wanted me to.  She’d see it coming and she’d sit real still and stretch out her neck to give me her nose.  Poor baby. :(  This just calls for lots of cuddle time this weekend.

Not again please

I had my yearly exam at the OB's office yesterday.  One of the things I wanted to address with her was me getting a baseline mammogram.  Those of you who have followed me for some time, know that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41.  That's not ultimately what took her from us, but she was diagnosed at stage 3.  I have always remembered her doctor said I should start getting checked at 25.  Then when we went to the RE she suggested I get checked too.  I never scheduled a test, but had inquired to insurance about whether or not they would cover it with me being so young.

So at my appointment yesterday I filled my doc in on all those details I just mentioned.  Her thoughts were that the baseline didn't need to start until 10 years before my mom's diagnosis which would be at 31 for me.  But she was fine with me doing it now, then another one at 31, and then yearly from 35 on.  I was cool with that. 

Then she went to do the breast exam.   And almost right away she said she felt a lump and that was reason enough to request the baseline.  Just as quickly as she said it, she said she was 99% sure it was just breast tissue, most likely from just having a baby and pumping for a few months.  Then she went to the other side and found one almost in the same spot.  That to me is a good sign meaning maybe it really is just tissue, but what do I know?  After I left there I went straight downstairs and gave the Breast Care Clinic my orders for a mammogram.  I knew I needed to have one done soon, and even asked for it, but now that's it here I have to admit I'm a little nervous.  And it just brings back those emotions from when my mom was diagnosed and what all she went through.  The clinic called and got me pre-registered today so when I go for my appointment tomorrow at 11 I should be in and out in less than an hour and a half.  They are looking at both sides though which takes a little longer.  So here's to hoping, crossing my fingers, praying, wishing, whatever I can do that everything checks out just fine so we don't have to go through this again. 

Piss Crystals

A little back story, my dad gave us an opened package of diapers that Nina's grandson has already grown out of.  They are Huggies size 1-2.  We normally use Pampers size 2.  I figured we might as well use them up so I'll put them on Chloe when I know it will be a short time before changing her again. She usually does fine. 

I just got a text from JJ with this picture and this caption:

 "When I changed Chloe this morning this is what her diaper looked like.  It's split open in the front.  I'm burning these diapers so you can't use them anymore."

In my defense, those are the good Pampers diapers.  But I noticed one had a tear in it and just set it aside.  When I changed her last night, it was dark, and I must have grabbed the torn diaper by mistake. 

I get a second text from JJ saying "those are piss crystals coming out of that tear!"

I am dying laughing!  Piss crystals?

(But you gotta love those sweet baby fat rolls.)

Who Am I?

I struggle sometimes with who I am.  For 18 months I was infertile.  For 9+ months I was pregnant.  And now for (gasp!) almost 6 months I have been a mom.  And add to that a daughter, a sister, a wife, a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, an employee, a teacher, a friend, probably even sometimes an enemy, and the list could go on.  Whew, that’s a lot of things to be!  The best one by far is a mom.  I am Chloe’s mom.  But I feel as though those 9+ months of being pregnant never existed.  I look at myself in the mirror and see almost zero sign that I was ever once pregnant.  The only thing left is the slightest hint of the linea nigra.  I had an OB appointment last week and I felt so out of place sitting in the waiting room.  Like I didn’t belong there because I wasn’t pregnant.  Never mind the countless appointments that I just had with a big belly in tow.  Then over the weekend JJ and I took Chloe to Bu.yBuyB.aby to get some things.  And again I felt like I didn’t belong.  Like only pregnant women were supposed to be in that store.  Ridiculous, right?  I can’t believe how much I miss being pregnant.  It truly defined who I wanted to be for so long, and just like that it was over.  But then I think the goal wasn’t to get pregnant, the goal was to bring home a healthy baby.  And we did that.  So why am I struggling seeing myself as a mom?  I guess because I’ve only been doing it for a few months?  Maybe it’s because I don’t get the attention that I did when I had a big belly?  People who don’t know me have no clue that I have a new baby at home.  They just see me as a “normal person.”  And what’s so wrong with that?  I think back so often to those final days being pregnant, and how everything just fell into place.  But again, keeping the eye on the prize, we brought Chloe home.  I need to be here in the now for her.  What we went through shaped our lives today but it doesn’t define us anymore.  So who am I?  I’m Chloe’s mom.  The end.:)