Lucky 7

All clean!

Daddy bought her a new toy!

Skyping with Obachan.

At daycare hanging out...

Our little girl is growing up so fast. And, she has to do everything so quickly! There are many firsts in her life, obviously, but she seems to want to do things in a hurry. What we've noticed, and what others have shared with us (which confirms our suspicions and doesn't make us feel as biased), is that she's definitely a go-getter. Bound and determined, and nothing is stopping her. Some of her milestones in the past month and up until recently include:

• Sitting up on her own.
• Laughing at us without us physically touching/tickling her.
• Clucking sound with her tongue, trying to copy Daddy. 
• Started drinking water. 
• Experienced rain.
• Crawling--army crawl to get toy away from Ben.
• Rolling over in the changing table and fighting to stay turned over.
• Runny nose that never seems to go away! (It's been about a month now, is this normal?
• Playing independently in her playpen.
• Likes when stuffed animals “talk” to her. 
• Trying to stand on her own a couple weeks ago, by now she is grabbing ahold of something and standing on her own! (Way too early for that...babyproofing is on our to-do list this weekend!)

First Bites, Part III

We're still at the stage where we're just trying the mild, easier to digest foods. Depending on which resource you read, it seems everyone has different opinions. The route I took was to introduce the foods with the yellow and orange colors. So far, Little P seems to like food. She definitely likes her rice cereal!

It has been so fun to make her food and witness her reaction to the first bites.

The one book I've been referring to is called Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies & Toddlers. She makes a good point about making your baby's food fresh and not freezing them into the ice cube trays. Do you want to eat frozen, thawed out food every night? Another good comment a friend pointed out was that we're teaching P to like fresh food.

I was hand-mashing her food, but figured with some veggies, I need a finer strain. So, I went out and bought a food mill. Right now, it's fun, and I look forward to making her meals. There is something to making her food that evokes a tender emotion within me as I'm peeling the skin off the pear or mashing up a banana. Even better, seeing the vibrant bright colors of the produce and their freshness and knowing there are no pesticides, it gives me hope that we are giving her a "leg up" for her health and wellness.  It's working out well so far. Belonging to a CSA helps so we can use the fresh produce towards her meals. We'll see how things progress and how much time I can keep dedicating to this.

[Sweet Potato]
Hmm...not sure if I like this!



[Bananas]

Hmmm...this one is better! Everything tastes better when you're camping!

[Yams]
Mmm...yammy!

[Pears]
Why are you taking pictures of my food?



[Peas]
Do you think she likes peas?

Ladybug Ladybug Fly Away Home

I started cleaning out some of Lil P's clothes to make room for the new wave of clothes at this stage. One of my favoriite newborn outfits was this ladybug one. I was pleased to discover that a recent gift from one of my mom's friends was the same ladybug pattern, but it was in the 9 month-old size. So, I thought it'd be fun to do a little comparing!

It's hard to believe she was that little not too long ago.

She's A Happy Camper☺

Little P did such a great job when we camped. She and I spent a lot of time in the back of the bus. RT had put some pretty thick foam to cushion the back, so it was like having a playpen where she could just hang out and have fun. Plus, with Mommy so near, what more could a baby want?

I think being in the fresh outdoor air was a nice change of pace for her. She slept pretty well throughout the night. It was pretty tight quarters sleeping all together in the bus, but she probably loved it having us both on either side of her! (Hopefully, she won't get used to that!!).

We kept it pretty close to home--a few miles away at Montana de Oro, in case we had to go home for whatever reason. We had such a good time and felt so proud of ourselves for having ventured out with her that we're already planning another one in a few weeks to Big Sur--a little further away from home.

The love of the outdoors for Little P starts...now!

First Bites, Part II

The next food Lil P tried was yogurt. I know that you're not supposed to give babies yogurt until they're at least six months old because of the live cultures and such. I also read elsewhere that yogurt is a good food to try first (after rice cereal) because it's fairly neutral.

When she first tasted yogurt, it was quite sour. She did the pucker face and the shake, but continued to open her mouth for more. She really liked it!

We gave her yogurt for a few more days (only about 2 teaspoons each time), but decided to hold off for another month or so after hearing some rumbling in her tummy. While it's probably okay to continue with the yogurt, we'll just try some vegetables and fruit next. So, stay tuned for the next "first bite"!

Oh Six Months of Sunshine

I think I say this every month how the time goes by so fast. Our little baby has fast approached the 6-month milestone. Some of the things I've noticed this past month include:

• 
  
  Starting solid food.
• 
  
  Sitting up by herself.
• 
  
  Starting to crawl, up on all fours and rocking back and forth to go forward.
• 
  
  Laughing at us as we act goofy.
• 
  
  Fake coughing to get our attention (so cute!).
• 
  
  Has a fascination with clocks.
• 
  
  Bottom two teeth have sprouted all the way through.

General observations abour her include others commenting on her happy disposition--such a happy baby! She's an easy baby. She's a busy girl, so alert. She doesn't want to miss anything (code for "nosy").

It seems her growth is leveling out. In the beginning, she was measuring in the 80-90th percentiles, but now I think she's probably more average. She probably weighs around 17 pounds.

She's a spunky little girl, and we are loving every moment of our Little Sweet Pea!

What's A Mom To Do

Milk Station

Well, by now I've shared the trials and tribulations of being back in the hospital for this small bowel obstruction. This leads to the next dilemma of nursing the baby. I was already having trouble keeping my milk supply up to satisfy our growing baby. Even though she's starting to eat rice cereal, she still needs just as much milk. Now, being in the hospital with no food or water for 40 hours, plus being dehydrated didn't help me much. I was able to pump while in the hospital, but because I was doped up, it was pump and dump. We had to resort to formula. As much as I didn't want to, there was nothing we could do. I didn't have enough reserves in the freezer to tide us over. At least we were able to get the organic formula, but still the guilt weighed heavy on my mind.

We used the formula for about 2 weeks. I am producing enough to satifsy the days when we're home together, but still can't get ahead especially to freeze enough to take to day care. Arghhh!!! It's so frustrating.

I remember first starting out. Breastfeeding was and is such a challenging part of being a new mom. Thankfully, from the beginning, Little P was able to switch back and forth between breast and bottle like a champ. I had to start pumping right away when she was first born because of possible infection (ouch!). I remember thinking, if only I can make it to three months. Then, if only I can make it to six months since that's the recommended timeframe. It's definitely gotten easier. Now, my goal is to make it to one year. Since, she has two little teeth on the bottom, it can get hairy, but so far no major injuries (fingers crossed!).

The worst part about nursing is the pumping at work. At my work, we have only one bathroom and it's co-ed. That's the only "private" place for me to pump. I HATE it! At this point, only five and half months to go...