Ten Months

I'm writing this in tiny pieces, taking breaks quite often to chase after a newly-mobile and slightly-punchy-because-it's-almost-bedtime baby as she chases the cat, grabs handfuls of fur off the dog, tries to stick her fingers in the back of the fan (it sounds more dangerous than it is), pulls herself up on the coffee table to grab hard drives, and crawls down the hall in search of the vacuum cleaner cord. 

Yep, our lives have changed pretty drastically in the last couple of months! When I think back on parenting in general, so far, I think about phases like this:

1. Leaving the baby on the couch to do things in the other room, many hours to do my own thing while she sleeps

2. Leaving the baby lying on the floor to do things in the other room ('cause she'd roll off the couch if she could), some time to do my own thing

3. Leaving the baby sitting on the floor playing, not as much time to do my own thing as she's clingy

4. Chase after a mischievous crawler

I'm sure #5 will be RUN AFTER A MISCHIEVOUS TODDLER! We have a little time before that happens though.

We had quite the week last week. I was terribly sick the weekend after we got home from Florida, and Ivy followed suit pretty quickly. I felt like I was racing against time, because right before I got sick I'd called her surgeon for a checkup, which was scheduled for that Thursday. I wanted to ask about a couple of episodes Ivy'd had, where she'd swallowed a bit of food and had thrown it back up a few minutes later. I was concerned she might have a stricture and need a dilation. 

Luckily, she was mostly better by Tuesday, so on Thursday we made the trek up to the hospital and had a quick meeting with the surgeon. She recommended an esophagram, which they scheduled for the following day, to see if there was a stricture. (They also doubled her omeprazole dose - it's an anti-reflux medication that protects the surgery site against developing too much scar tissue.) And then on Thursday night, her fever came back, so on the way up to the esophagram appointment I made an appointment with her pediatrician for the afternoon.

This was her third esophagram. The first two times she did really well, but this time she was hungry and did NOT want to stay still and drink the barium. I don't blame her. Luckily, the technician got the x-rays he wanted, and the doctor said everything looks great - in fact it looks better than last time! So that made me feel better. It still didn't tell me why she's getting food stuck, but now I think it probably has more to do with the motility of the esophageal muscles - they stop and start up again at the stricture site, rather than move the food down in one fluid motion. So we continue to watch and stay careful when we feed her pieces of food.

After the esophagram, we stopped in at the pediatrician. I had mentioned that she had those episodes of food being stuck, and then the nurse tried to get a blood oxygen level and ended up with a measurement of 75. So the resident came flying in, thinking she had aspiration pneumonia, but once they saw that I wasn't worried about her they did another O2 check and it was normal. Sorry for the heart attack, doctor. Turned out she had croup! I feel awful, because now I realize I can't tell the difference between her floppy trachea barky cough and croup. Anyway, she got some steroids and felt better the next day. Boy, it's amazing the difference in her demeanor when she's not feeling well - she's always such a happy girl that when she's not feeling well it's super obvious.

Let's see, what else... she is waving like crazy, to everything. It takes her a little bit of time to warm up when she's in a new place or around new people, but she's not afraid of being held by people she doesn't know. She's starting to do the "I'm shy" head-on-mama's-shoulder thing sometimes when new people (or people she doesn't remember) say hello to her. She's definitely teething; I can feel her left lower front tooth right under the surface, and she's been biting my nipple quite often the last week or so. I was going to say that she's sleeping great - all the way through the night, like 9 hours - but that was short-lived, heh. Last week it started taking her upwards of an hour to fall asleep, and she was pretty bitey. It's probably a combination of teething and going through another mental leap (and learning how to crawl and stuff changing her brain). She's constantly babbling, but no "mama" yet. She can't stand hats; they come off within seconds of being put on. This is unfortunate because it means I can't take her out in the sun for very long - but it's OK 'cause I don't like being in the sun either; we can stick to the shade together.


My lettuce wrap worked well as a hat too, but I couldn't get a photo of it before she started ripping it off her head!

To Orlando and Back

We are back from Florida!

A week ago Friday, we flew over five hours to Orlando. We had a short layover in Kansas City, but our first flight was slightly late so we walked off one plane and onto the next, leaving no time for Ivy to play before having to get back into a cramped little seat. Mom, Cory and I took up a row, and it worked pretty well; Ivy could switch back and forth among us. I'm always a little antsy about getting through security and making it to the gate on time, and having to figure out how to do it with a baby made me that much more worried, but we did it. The last half hour of the last flight, she got a little punchy, but the rest of the time she was great.

And then we spent the next week running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Ivy's nap schedule was shot, and we were working such long hours that it was hard to stop for a few minutes. Burt in the ballroom I was working, they left a little room open for me to nurse, and it was awesome. Mom walked all through the hotel dozens of times, and brought Ivy to me when she was hungry, and it all worked out really well. Ivy met so many people and did so well - lots of our members knew she was coming, and they all gave her lots of attention. I thought she would have a hard time with all those strangers, but she really was so good. It wasn't until the last day that she was done and needed her mama a ton. She learned to wave, and would reach her arm towards the third-floor balcony and when we would go out there she would wave at the people down below. She also started standing on her hands and feet and almost figured out how to pull up on the furniture. (She has since figured it out!) I can't remember if I mentioned that she learned to crawl about a week before we went, but she had a blast in those big empty ballrooms at the hotel as we started to unpack, and she also spent lots of time searching out little crumbs and pieces of dirt and pebbles and trying to eat them.

And then it was time to come home! She was not excited about being in the plane on the first leg, and we ended up being so late (a plastic clip from an oxygen tank had broken and they had to do paperwork) that they held our connection in Denver and we were the very last people on that plane. One very nice lady moved so that Cory and I could sit together, but mom was out of luck and had to sit with strangers. Ivy slept almost the whole of that flight, and as we we waiting to deplane she flirted with the lady next to us who said she looked exactly like her son at that age.

And then we were home! I feel so lucky that my mom agreed to come; she was such a lifesaver. We couldn't have done it without her.

Now cross your fingers with me that Ivy and Cory don't get this sickness that I brought back with me. I had a 24-hour fever that finally broke in the wee hours this morning, and I still feel like I was run over by a truck. And I had such grand plans to clean and mow and stuff this weekend. :(

Ivy at Nine Months

We have been taking photos of Ivy on her month-birthdays, like most parents do, but I haven't posted any of them yet. However, this weekend when we snapped a few for Ivy's ninth month-birthday, I also grabbed my phone to take a few.

At my baby shower, our friends Mike and Danielle gave me a cute little onesie. It was big for a three-month size, and it was grey with little line-drawings of tents and trees on it. We decided to use it for her monthly photos, so that we could see her grow out of it, and I figured after four or five months she would be out of it.


Ivy at one month old, in her camping onesie

Well, here we are nine months later, and that onesie finally won't snap around her diaper anymore. So this month I went another route.

When we first started thinking about trying to conceive back in the mid-2000s, I spent hours and hours online, watching homebirth videos on YouTube, researching exactly what supplies I needed for a baby, and reading discussion posts about anything and everything baby-related. One of the big fads back then was Goodmama diapers. They were spendy to begin with, but everyone wanted them - they were like the Beanie Babies of the diaper world. So I gave into the pressure and bought just one - one little ($30) item to start off this new chapter in our lives. But life, of course, had other plans, and that diaper languished in the back of a drawer for years and years, being shoved further and further into the shadows every time I saw it, because it ended up being a very effective reminder of our infertility.

This weekend the diaper finally, finally went to its proper place - on my kid's bottom. :) It was a sweet moment. So we photographed it.

Nine months!

Technically, Ivy has been in the world longer than she was inside of me, since some of her very early time was in a Petri dish. It's strange to think that such a life-changing time in my life has been overshadowed, not only by her mere presence, but also by the length of time she has been with us.

Today Miss Ivy is nine months old. She had her checkup today: she is 16 pounds, 3 ounces, only 10th percentile. Her head is only in the 8th! But we don't pay too much attention to the comparatives. The doctor said she is a bit behind (though not alarmingly so) on her gross motor skills, but I don't care about that either. She will do it when she's ready, and I get a little extra time for snuggles and for not child proofing the house.

Ivy is starting to become much more interactive! She:

• Claps
• Turns pages of her books
• Tries to mimic sounds (she says "mmmm!" when I moo, and smacks her lips like I do when we read about puppies chewing)
• Loves knocking stacks of toys over
• Doesn't care about stuffed or soft toys, much prefers plastic ones
• Moves from sitting on her bottom to hands and knees (or one knee and one foot) and back
• Screeches in higher pitches than before
• Pulls herself up using our fingers, and today she pulled herself up on daddy's leg as he lied on his side on the floor
• Sorta kinda fed daddy peas tonight for the first time, when we asked
• Gets happy and  excited when we clap and cheer for her
• Stands up when holding onto something
• Talks back to us when we talk to her
• Loves being thrown around and swinging and being held upside down

In two weeks, we are flying across the country, and I think she is going to do great, even though I'm a little nervous about the trip. Cory and I work at the same place, so we both have to work our annual conference in Florida. My mom is coming too. I'm so happy that our company is open to us bringing Ivy; I definitely wouldn't be able to go without her!

Also: my poor laptop finally gave up the ghost awhile back, and I have been posting on my iPad as a result, which is not friendly when it comes to trying to post photos. So here are some links if you're interested in seeing our little bunny:

Ivy's playlist on YouTube
Instagram

Now we are Eight

We celebrated eight months with no pomp: Ivy has had a bad cold all week and yesterday was an especially bad day, at least in the evening. Fever of 101.5, nose faucet, phlegm that she would cough up and then choke on. And the cold this week has really showcased the "TEF Cough" that so many of these kids get - floppy trachea equals terrible bark. Poor little thing.

It feels like milestones are slowly growing farther and farther apart. This is not a bad thing at all, for me - I feel like life is sorta-kinda slowing down a teensy bit and that's really nice. A few new things:

* Figured out how to feed herself. She loves the (unhealthy, of course) little puffs that melt in your mouth, and it was fun to watch her figure out how to get a hold of one on her tray and get it to go in her mouth. She still has to use two hands sometimes.
* Has been able to get from sitting to hands and knees, reaching for a toy. She will rock back and forth a tiny bit when I put her down on the floor, but prefers the tummy. Well, really, she prefers to just sit. And then get frustrated when her toys are out of reach.
* The other day she was outside on a windy day and she stuck her tongue out to feel it, and left it there. We were out for ten or fifteen minutes, and that tongue was out the whole time.
* Chews on the nipple of her new sippy cup, but doesn't know how to lean back to get anything out of it.
* Sort of pulls up on me, loves to get up into a (supported) standing position, but doesn't think to pull up on anything else.
* NEEDS mama. Touching mama is not enough. Sitting right next to mama is not enough. Being surrounded by mama's arms but lying on the changing table is not enough. There must be total body contact. Very important.
* Loves being thrown around. That gets the most giggles. But she's not a super giggly baby, on the whole.
* Really enjoys her day care buddies. It's so sweet to see her smile at them when they run by, or play with them on the floor.
* Doesn't care about water. Doesn't hate it, but doesn't get excited for bath time like some babies I know.

I continue to have a hard time leaving her at day care. I like work, and I'm glad she has other kids to interact with, but I miss her a ton when she's there. I visit her for every lunch hour to nurse, and none of the other moms do; it's partly to keep up my milk supply but also because I can't bear the thought of being away from her for almost ten hours every day. But we make do.

Seven months

I think the biggest thing going on with this seven month old is that she wants her mama ALL THE TIME. It makes doing much of anything else kinda difficult sometimes, but I have to admit I will be sad when the pendulum swings to wanting daddy all the time.

Other new things:
Still no crawling, but she sometimes gets one knee under her for a second. So it's coming.
Sits up on her own
Still babbles a ton - ba is her favorite - but is starting to make little "pfff" blowing noises too
Finally weighs enough to use the Moby Go carrier!
Loves sucking her toes
Likes it when I flutter my fingers against her lips while she makes noises (so it sounds like "babababababa") - she tries to do it herself too

She's also a foodie. (Heh.) She has liked everything I've put in her mouth, and I've put some interesting things in her mouth. Besides the normal jarred/pouched food, I have made some (apples, sweet potatoes), and she sometimes gets bites of what I'm eating, including mild salsa, pickles, all kinds of sauces, lemon, and yesterday she had a couple of bites of cod. Yum. She's gonna be a good eater.


She also continues to be the happiest baby ever. She frequently babbles and sings herself to sleep, and barely fusses (unless mama leaves the room in the evening).

Love this kid.

Like the first day

It's a sunny day today, relatively unusual for January, and though it's a perfect day for a trip to the coast, my little Bunny has her first fever so we are staying in. It's the best day ever for the cat, who always enjoys company as he sleeps the day away in bed. Ivy has spent a few interrupted hours awake and fussing, or fighting with me as I try to suck out her nose, but the vast majority of the day she has been asleep on me. And though I feel terrible that she is so uncomfortable, I also love these cuddles so much. She is currently lying on my chest, and the sunlight filtered through our north-facing bedroom window is illuminating her face just as it did that first morning. I was fuzzy from four hours of sedated-sleep, tender and sore and floating, stroking her little head with hands studded with IV's. And she was at once peaceful and frenetic, her rapid breathing already concerning to the nurses but her face so serene, as if she hadn't just been thrust into the cold, bright, loud world. Despite the fever and the fussiness, today is so sweet, so full of thankfulness that she is here with me despite all it took to get here, I'd take it over a coast trip any day.