Laughs

Ok, I know I need to take more pictures, but I can't right now--napping and the camera is in Little Bit's room.  Anyway, today I was singing to her and when I sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and crawled up to her neck, she started laughing--real laughs. Not like the "I'm coughing up a hairball" laugh she used on the baby swing.  This was a "hee hee" sound.  I kept tickling, she kept laughing, and then she wound up giving herself hiccups....am I mean?  lol 

In other good great news, my BF informed me the Dragon King's Daughter is opening in New Albany!  Yeah!  I learned about it from a friend while in grad school, and then went to it again last winter, before I was expecting.  It's sushi, and since I love it, I avoided it while pregnant...but nothing is stopping me now (except $...).  However, they have a terrific Happy Hour from 4-6, so I will be visiting soon, and I hope they open soon!

The next wonderful thing that I remember from this week is finding caramel & sea salt gelato in Target's frozen section.  O. My. Goodness.  I loved it in Tucson last winter, but we were unable to go back and gelato is a rarity in this neck of the woods.  I have a problem of normally inhaling foods that I find tasty, but this was so good, I had to stop and enjoy every single bit.  It does have chocolate caramel covered truffles in it, which I actually dug out and threw away--I don't like chocolate chunks in ice cream (go figure).  Anyway, go ahead and try it, but please leave some in the freezer for me!

A Drizzling Day

Today it drizzled. Perhaps it rained more than that, but I was content and warm in my house, my mother's, and my in-law's homes, so it didn't really matter. 

I can't believe my new baby is three months old tomorrow.  Time has passed so quickly.  She gives the most beautiful, flirtatious smiles, and she adores one of my teenage nephews, yet I'm not sure how she senses who to like and who to tolerate.  I laugh every time I hear her mutter her oldest sister's first name--I know it's not purposely done, but it sounds just like Lovely's name when my baby is disgruntled and crying with her fist in her mouth.  I've caught her sucking on her fingers and fist on more than one occasion, and for some reason, she's been fighting sleep a lot lately.  She wears 3 mos size clothing, although the sleeves are still a bit long on her.  Her dark blue eyes are outlined by long, thick black eyelashes--something I doubt will change considering her sisters still have the same color eyes and lashes that they were born with. 

Not to jump to the next subject, I've decided I need to minimalize.  So, after I clean my house tomorrow, I want to look room by room and remove everything that is useless to me.  I've always felt I needed to hold on to things, just in case.  I admit, there have been times when I have left something go and five years later remembered it and wished I still had it, but the clutter right now just depresses me.  I have no idea if/when we'll be able to upsize our home, and although it's tough, I'd rather remain where we are so long as I don't have to work more and be away from my baby.  Speaking of...I hear her calling...

11 Weeks and Much to Do!

Little Bit is 11 wks old already!  I can't believe how quickly time has passed.  She stares you down now when she wants your attention and then sends huge smiles your way.  She always seems to want to say something, but rarely to the coos come out, and when they do, boy are they worth it!  She is finally willing to sit in my lap and just watch what's going on, so that's good.  I attempted eating pizza yesterday and she answered me with an extreme spit-up episode and several awakenings last night...thus I must wait a little longer to try to introduce dairy back into my diet.  Her room is about complete, but I'm waiting on a dowel rod to paint and use for a curtain rod, and I need to put the decal on the wall...pictures to come.

I had a meeting with Snugglebug's teacher last week because apparently, she can't do this, this, and that in class.  Yet, I go over it with her at home and...surprise!  She knows it pretty well.  This makes me question my choice to send her to charter school, but I'm not sure how to take on homeschooling while teaching any college courses and with a small infant.  I'll be in prayer about this.  Meanwhile, I've been going over all her schoolwork again each night:  clocks, math, reading, more reading, language arts, and more math.   Is it normal to spend at least an hour each night going over facts/reading when it's not even part of the homework?  hmmmmm....However, I do hope federal funding for private preschools passes in our state--I LOVE the preschool at the girls' school, but it's not part of the actual school because it is church-based. 

In other news, my sisters and I threw a 70th birthday party for my mom.  She said it was one of the best days of her life, so I'm glad it turned out so well!  I think she often forgets how many people really care about her since she stays at home so much and the rest of us get busy with our lives (although, I'm there quite frequently!). 

What are your plans for when you are seventy?

Diet While Nursing

S asked me this morning why we always have a grumpy baby while everyone else has happy babies.  I know it seems that way sometimes, I mean, who can forget waking up to screaming, waking up to more screaming, and waking up to even more screaming?  And yet we need to remember a baby's digestive system is just learning to get the swing of things, it takes time, and most likely, other people have grumpy babies as well! 

The pediatrician suggested I stay away from dairy, such as milk and cheese.  Now, milk is OK (I stayed away from it mostly while pregnant because milk has simple sugars that spike blood sugar quickly and is therefore a good remedy for blood sugar lows).  But cheese.  Cheese was what I looked forward to while pregnant, my only enjoyment while on the diabetic diet.  Yet, I've worked on keeping intake to a minimum. 

However, my nursing diet doesn't stop at dairy.  I also need to remember to shy away from gassy foods, such as onions and broccoli.  While I hate chunks of onion, I do find they're added to most anything for flavor.  Broccoli is one of my favorite veggies.  Ughh!

And in addition to the above restrictions, I'm limiting caffeine (I stick to Sprite or Ginger Ale if I go for soft drink), but chocolate!  Oh, I've grown fond of chocolate after going without it for so many months while pregnant.  And garlic/spicy foods?  They're out, too.  What's left?  I'm really starting to question it.   

I started this post because I was doing a quick meal plan search for this week and had to say no to all recipes cheesy, spicy, or gassy.  My only two options:  chicken soup (minus the onion), and baked chicken.  Hmmmm.  I'm about to visit a store where I can find vegan cheese and buy soy milk...something's better than nothing, right?

Oh, in the world of development:  Little Bit finally grabbed at her carseat toy yesterday morning, so toys are beginning to catch her interest.  And, in the world of irony since I begged for them to be removed from her room for so many months, LB loves to look at the deer heads on the wall...now that's just weird! 

2 Month Check Up/Check In

This pic is from Sunday, the day before Littlebit turned 9 wks old.  Snugglebug was doing a project for school where they bring their class mascot home and do all kinds of fun things with it, and then document it for the rest of the class to read.  We decided to let Littlebit dress like Sweetie Pie (the zebra), so Sweetie Pie wouldn't feel out of place :)

Littlebit had her 2 mos check-up today.  She gained a whopping 2 lbs in one month, bringing her up to 11.5 lbs.  She's also 23.5 inches "long."  She screamed her heart out when they jabbed her with 4 immunization needles.  I know several people who don't immunize, and I can see why, but I also remember my grandfather limping since childhood because of his bout with polio.  Therefore, I prayed and felt it best to get my children vaccinated. 

Littlebit has been smiling up a storm and she's spoiled rotten.  She eats, smiles for 5-10 mins, and then screams because she doesn't like to entertain herself.  You know--one of those "walk me around until you fall over or I close my eyes in slumber" babies.  The doctor said I need to put a stop to that--we'll see.  Littlebit also laughs lately, what I refer to as a "hairball" laugh.  She sounds like she's coughing up a hairball each time she laughs.  Considering I was decided I couldn't date someone based on his laugh (ok, it was a little more involved than that), I hope hers improves! 

Let's see, what else should I remember in case I have any more children:  she eats every 2-3 hours.  She still wakes up at night (every 4-5 hrs) and "thinks" she needs to eat, according to her pediatrician.  We are to put a stop to that as well (gulp).  She gave me the cutest look yesterday when I left her at my mom's house while I taught--she woke up, saw me, and jumped like, "Hey!  Where'd you come from?!"  She talks a little big, cooing at me--and the sofa.  She gets mad if the sofa doesn't respond.  I would get worried if the sofa did respond. 

I read The Velveteen Rabbit to the girls the other day because I bought one of the Kohl's Cares books for LB for Christmas.  She stayed calm through most of the story.  I almost cried.  Seriously.  I almost cried while reading the book because the rabbit wanted to be Real.  I wondered why this made me cry, and then I thought, maybe it's because of the Love (God's) we want so badly to make us feel Real. 

So, what books have made you cry lately?