"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit. "No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't. But there was going to be when I began it. It's just that something happened to it along the way."

Our walking buddies Madelyn and Colin were running late this morning due to a diaper explosion so we pulled out a blanket and took some pictures while we waited.

 This is her velociraptor impression.

 Hi guys!!

 Humph, pouty lips.

 What did you say to me?

 Look, Mom, they're here, can we be done now?

Night owl

Hi Mom! You didn't want to go to bed with Dad, right? You wanted to stay up and talk with me. Admit it, you're pretty pleased to have a night owl and not an early riser. We are going to stay up and sing soft hymns until I either fall asleep or it's time to eat. It's a race to see which comes first.

-Munchkin

Perhaps just a small smackerel of something

Today a mean nurse came in and made me drink this stuff that Mommy said smelled like cotton candy, but I did NOT like it at all! Then she made me lay on the table and Mommy had to hold my hands while I was crying and she STABBED me... TWICE!!! I had to cry big sad tears, but she gave me cute pink camo band aids for my legs so I guess that's ok. Mommy saved half my lunch for me for after my shots so that I would feel a little better, that's why I look so brave. Just wanted to wave hello!

Love, Munchkin

Two Months

Happy Two Month Birthday to the Munchkin!

Stats to be updated tomorrow at the pediatrician's office:

Height: 22 3/4inches

Weight: 10lbs 8oz

Reaction to shots: BIG tears, but no fever or fussing so far

Munchkin makes a lot more sounds now, as you can see in the video. She is doing a lot more "talking" to us not just crying. Even her fussing is becoming more of an attempt to communicate not just a shriek or cry, although she still does plenty of that. We have a pretty good pattern to our day, but no real schedule. She refuses to sleep in her crib, and even if she's passed out when I lay her down she wakes up after about 5minutes and starts crying. She sleeps really well in her pack-n-play, swing, bouncer, and in your arms. The last week or so she has been experiencing some reflux, but we have yet to determine just how bad it's going to be on a daily basis. So far its pretty sparse. Much to the Lady's dismay she is totally intrigued by the TV. Mister thinks it's hilarious- last night she was watching the screen and he turned her to face him so her back was to the TV and she turned her head left and right trying to see it again. *sigh*  I know its just the big colors and movement, but it just seems wrong. Munchkin still HATES tummy time, but we're working on it more now because I want her to improve her chest and arm strength. She gets lots of practice/activity with her legs and she is a rock star at holding her head up, but she isn't very good at lifting herself up when she's on her tummy. I know babies develop at different rates and patterns, we're just going to work on the things she's not quite as strong in. I've started introducing some baby sign to her, just in play. We plan to teach her a lot of the baby signs; I would love to have her be fluent in sign language but we're going to start with easier expectations. 

Anthill visits

Munchkin loves her some Anthill! She's had good play time all week with a few rough days and a few good days. She especially loves her brightly colored shirts and fun laugh. 

 She also helped us get some good pictures of bathtime. Munchkin likes taking baths, but gets tired quickly and doesn't like getting OUT of the bath.

 Wet baby face!

 BUBBLES!!

Demonstration

Here is how you calm an angry Munchkin. 

"h-h-h-HELP!!", Piglet

Desperate times call for desperate measures

It's been a REALLY rough day. Munchkin has cried most of the day. She's also been cluster feeding all day. Not sure if its a growth spurt or if we're making up for our weird eating schedule yesterday while we were out all day. She got to go to her first movie yesterday- Harry Potter 7.2. I only missed about 10minutes of the movie but spent the whole movie standing and rocking. She then made it through walking around the mall, dinner at Maggiano's, and Trader Joe's. It was a long day for both of us, but she was awesome. Today not so much. Mister finally was able to deescalate our shrieking Munchkin with the above trick. We figured out that if we put a blanket over her head and eyes she stops crying long enough to chill out and be soothed by the paci. We kind of feel bad about it because it feels a little like we're smothering her, but I promise she's not being smothered. Also, it makes her stop being so hysterical. She gets to a point of being so hysterical and overstimulated that you have to find the reset button. She is currently awake, but isn't crying so... that's good. 

Swimming: Take 2

We tried swimming again today and we were much more successful! This time we waited and I fed her at the pool. Then Mister held her so that she could be out of the water while she acclimatized more slowly. 

 

 Just trying some toes first

The hiney is the hard part.

Whole body in with a paci and we're happy.

"A trifling matter, and fussy of me, but we all have our little ways." Eeyore

We had another big first yesterday. After lots of consultation with my doctor she asked me to go in and do a bunch of blood work, oh and an x-ray. X-rays and babies don't mix. Mister wasn't going to be home for a while, I debated having him meet me there, but they weren't going to be open that long. My other option was to find a neighbor to watch Munchkin for me while I ran in real fast. It took me a while, but my next door neighbor was home and pleased to take her. I packed all her stuff, made sure she was fed, freshly diapered, took her bouncer seat (because the boys that live there have all outgrown baby stuff) and headed over. Ugh it was the hardest thing ever to hand Munchkin off and walk out the door! It's been 7 weeks and she hasn't been with anyone besides me, Mister, Gramma, or Nana in charge of her. I was having mixed emotions too, because I had just been thinking that I wanted her to have more exposure to other people for socializing purposes. We just don't have that many people that we're in contact with on a regular basis. Heck, we just achieved Lady socializing, much less Munchkin socializing! Anyway, I told every lab tech I worked with that I had had to leave her for the first time. They were all very sympathetic and asked about her. Turned out I left her at her fussy nap time. The neighbor said she wanted to sit up, and when she was sitting up she would fall asleep and as soon as she lay her down she'd wake up and cry. haha poor girl. We snuggled for a few hours when I got home, I think it helped both of our hearts.

THEN, her Daddy came home. From that point on she wanted NOTHING to do with me, and only wanted to be held by her Daddy. She shrieked and shrieked, of course getting more and more tired, to the point where we finally left her in the swing and walked away for about 10min. Once we stopped paying attention to her she crashed and was out cold. *sigh* I might've cried when she stopped crying. It had been a VERY emotional day. Now that I think about it I think I started the day crying because I'd only slept 4hrs and she was crying because I wasn't feeding her fast enough. And when I'm still working on less than 5hrs sleep Munchkin crying= Lady crying. Thankfully, I got to go back to bed after that. So, long story short, Munchkin was left for the first time with a non-family member for an "extended" period of time, and we had our first successful "cry-it-out" experience.

Practice for hitchhiking.

See that thumb? It's been finding its way out of the sleeper mittens the last few nights and has tried finding a home in that mouth. No successful attempts yet, but I have a feeling it might happen eventually. We're still pushing the pacifier, but I feeling this is one of those- try your best and the kid'll tell you what they want- situations. 

"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it is a good morning, which I doubt."

This is what a Lady and Munchkin sick day looks like. Specifically when the Lady needs to go back to sleep and the Munchkin is wide away and wanting to have a conversation. She gets to lay on Mister's side of the bed while the Lady talks to her until she falls asleep again. This particular morning it took about an hour but she told me wonderful stories. 

Apparently I'm still fighting what was supposed to be a 48hr fever virus. We're going on 72hrs now. Thankfully, Munchkin and Mister have been spared so far. We're crossing our fingers that Mister's working immune system (as opposed to mine on prednisone), and Munchkin breastfeeding will keep them healthy. I suppose it's a good day to be in bed because there is supposed to be a heat index of 110 today. I know, I know, most of you are unimpressed, but you should know that it truly is a Houston-like muggy heat wave that you just don't go outside for. Annnnd Munchkin's out cold- back to bed.

Swimming!

We tried the pool today! It did not go well. Munchkin sure looked cute though! She loves the shower and the bathtub, and the water really wasn't that much colder than what she gets in those places. I think maybe it was the wet t-shirt that bothered her. Our neighbor Jackson came over to watch the event, that's who's in the background. He was pretty doubtful that she would like it, turns out he was right.

 Mister tried to take pictures of her in the water, but I was trying to get the sun off of her face as she was shrieking and this is all we ended up with. Not even the paci phased her. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

**In other news, now that you can see the gray in my hair in PICTURES(!!!!) it will likely be time for a grooming session next time Anthill comes to visit. *sigh*

Er, jump? Tiggers don't jump, they bounce.

Happy Saturday morning! I hate to tell you it's a breezy 84 on the back deck today, so we enjoyed our breakfast out there. Munchkin tried out a new trick on her mat- scooting! 

When we started, her feet were up against the blue pole, and she slowly but surely pushed herself to the middle! What a big girl!

Taking a break

Whew! That's hard work!

We've started a spit-up phase so the bibs have come out in full force. It's not too bad, but just enough to warrant a few wardrobe changes without one. 

"It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffling slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal."

We've had quite a week of firsts!

Monday, (if you'll remember) was our first social outing with Munchkin. That didn't go very well. 

Yesterday, Munchkin and I had our first mom date. We met another mom in the neighborhood who has twins a week and a half younger than Munchkin and we went for a walk. It was so wonderful, after our previous outing, to be with someone who I didn't have to be anxious about Munchkin fussing and we could help each other when we dropped something. We shall be friends, it has been decided. 

Today, Munchkin and I took the stroller to my Dr appointment. It was the first time to use the stroller for a non-walking event. Then I used the baby bjorn to go into the post office (a first). We met Mister for lunch (see date dress above), and then we went grocery shopping with the baby bjorn all by ourselves. Ta Da!!! The bjorn works only if you keep moving, so we were drive-by shopping- no stopping to consider prices or products. :) Doing all of these things for the first time is a very anxiety driven experience. One that I didn't really expect. It's hard to not worry about bothering people if she starts to fuss. Thankfully, we're getting better at knowing what our schedule is and a timeframe for eruptions so I can kind of ward off some of them. Munchkin is also getting better at communicating when she can make it to the car to be changed and when she needs to be fed NOW!!!

Happy Independence Day!

We headed to some friends house to celebrate Independence Day. It was our first real outing with Munchkin. Both Mister and I had to change twice after being spit up on before we left. She did ok at the party, well that's not true, she was kind of awful, but we learned a lot and she got a lot of 'how pretty' comments. Those comments later turned into 'angry baby' comments *sigh*. Munchkin comes from pretty stubborn stock so we go from happy and sweet to screaming pretty quickly. We just happened to be there when its usually time for her nap that happens in the swing and alternatives weren't really cutting it. It's alright, we got a good 2.5hr outing, good food, and hung out with friends. Then we came home in time for it to pour down rain and make for a quiet 4th. Munchkin did get to wear her special outfit from Nana. It was a little big on her, and she didn't really appreciate the hat, but it sure was cute!

Don't be "ridiccorous". Tiggers only bounce up!

Got some good pics with the dogs. They love her so much. Dixie jumps over and kisses her really fast and then jumps away. When she cries, Dixie runs to find me so that I know she needs help. Dash on the other hand, has taken a more paternal approach. When she cries he runs up and snuggles her and licks her face. He tries to clean her if she spits up. 

 Dixie saw a bug and whipped her head around to create this awesome ear shot.

Watching life go by with her Dash.

Then she had some play time with Mister. 

She loves her some Daddy!!!

Happy Canada Day

I'm wearing a dress that Gramma made for my mom when she was a baby. It's a little big on me, but that's ok- I'll grow into it. 

Love, the Munchkin

however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.

This is a few days past, but we spent some time on the back deck taking pictures of tiny baby parts. It's amazing how much she has changed in one month. She has little baby rolls and so much more control over her appendages.

 Look how well I can hold my head up!