Well, after two months of visitors, it's all over. My mom flew out this morning after a terrific week here. Jay and I are starting to plan a trip home in the spring - probably in March - but we won't be seeing any family for a couple of months. I guess the biggest difference (in Kate, that is) will be for Claire since Kate was only 5 weeks old during her visit. 5 weeks to 5 months - that's a big change. I remember with Anna...I visited Claire when Anna was 2 weeks old in July and then didn't see her until Christmas - she was such a cutie! I'll never forget holding her in the airport when everyone picked us up. I had on this shirt that had a little drawstring at the neck, and as soon as I held Anna she just started shoving those in her mouth. Oh, she was cute. She's still cute now, of course, but she was a precious 6 month old. ANYWAY, it'll be awhile before our families see Kate again, and it just stinks.

 

Kate's behavior has dramatically improved. Wednesday was like a turning point or something. Tuesday night (the 26th), I could not put her down to sleep. She'd fall asleep in my arms and I'd put her in her crib - and she'd scream. Pick her up, she'd fall asleep, put her down, she'd scream. After about an hour I just about lost it - I was so pooped - and it continued for another hour while Jay witnessed the phenomenon. Eventually I said, f**k it, I'll just sleep with her. So, the little twit got me to sleep sitting up in the glider while she was all comfy in my arms. Sheesh. 5 hours later she ate and then went to sleep in her own bed. I don't want to be repeating that anytime soon. But, like I said, Wednesday was much better. She hung out with Jay and my mom just fine and continued to for the rest of the week. My mom was sleeping in our bed with me because she didn't want Jay to give up his office upstairs for her (so he slept upstairs). She really wasn't able to sleep through all of Kate's little noises from the co-sleeper all night long, so Monday night I started putting Kate to sleep in the crib. It went great, and I packed up the co-sleeper yesterday. We were planning on moving her next week anyway, so this was just a little early. It's pretty nice to reclaim our room for ourselves, I have to admit. Speaking of sleeping...Kate is now going to bed between 9 and 10 and then waking up between 4 and 5 to eat. She goes back to sleep until 9. I LOVE this new schedule! It's almost like normal life.

 

The little darling is sleeping right now, so I should go do a few things...Happy New Year!!

OK, so I'm a day late - still, I hope you had a nice holiday! My mom got into town without any incident on Saturday night. It's so nice to have her here. She was thrilled to meet Kate, of course. Kate, for her part, is making everyone's life difficult. Mommy all the way or...lots of crying. UGH. For example, Nonnie was just playing with her while she laid on her blanket, and all was good. She picked her up, and now there's screaming and flailing. *sigh* She's back by herself on the blanket, and is slowly calming down. It's really pretty awful, and I think my mom is pretty surprised by the fact that I'm not exaggerating here. Apparently I was like this for a little while, so we asked how long it lasted - the response? A few months!!! UGH!!! So that's definitely put a damper on things, but we still had a nice holiday.

 

We went to see "The Pursuit of Happyness" yesterday at 10:30, and the theater was just about empty - fewer than 15 people, probably. Kate slept for the first half, then woke up to eat, and then went back to sleep while I held her.

 

OK, the crying is escalating, I need to go...

For Christmas of 2001 my mom got Jay and I (and Claire and John, who were engaged at the time) power toothbrushes. Jay and I were immediate converts, and sadly our toothbruush died late this summer. *sniff* We went to manual brushes knowing that someday we'd get a new power brush. They're expensive, though, so I didn't rush to the store for one. My mom and I were talking the other day about how I should use one of my Bed, Bath, and Beyond 20% off coupons to buy one, and that was my plan for sometime soon. Jay was at the dentist this week and came home with a $10 off coupon for an Oral-B brush (the brand we had before), so that settled it. Yesterday I went and bought a new brush - saving almost $25 in the process! - and I am so glad I did. Brushing my teeth last night was like luxury...They made some improvements since 2001, and I got an intermediate level model - I literally felt like the dentist had just cleaned my teeth. The transition from power to manual was pretty rough a few months ago, but like anything you get used to it - I had forgotten how much better a power brush is. Are you still using a manual brush? If so, you should seriously consider investing in a power brush!

 

If all goes well my mom will be here tonight!!! Yay!!!!

 

Kate is turning into a great sleeper. Most nights she goes at least 5 hours between feedings after she's been put down for bed, but more and more frequently we're hitting 7 and 8 hours! For example, last night she ate at 10:30 and was asleep a few minutes before 11 - I woke up at 6am to feed her! I definitely can't complain about that. I considered staying up at that point, but only briefly. We have a few more things to do before my mom gets in, but it's not much and I need my sleep.

We're hopeful, but as Jay said to me - let's see it two days in a row. When Jay got home tonight Kate was hanging out watching her mobile. He joined her, and when it stopped, he picked her up. So far, so good. He held for a little while, and she just stared at him - it was hysterical, as if she'd never seen him before. I took pictures of it...They hung out, and she fell asleep in his arms! He put her in her crib for the nap, and when she woke up and cried for us, he got her - and she was happy! They hung out some more, then he fed her, etc. She was super-smiley and cute, and they hung for a bit longer. When she started to get tired I took over and put her down again. It was great! I ran around doing lots of random things, and Jay loved having his happy daughter to himself again. Maybe the phase is over? *crossing fingers*

So last night after I posted about the crying she eventually calmed down for Jay - yay! He was able to just hold her while he sat on the couch and she got sleepy for a little while, so that was good. This morning, though, he offered to take her while I took a shower - and like always, things were fine through the diaper changing and not so good after that. I did rescue her relatively quickly this morning (but not until she was beet red and barely able to breathe because she was so hysterical). I didn't want our whole day to be screwed up. It really is mostly a problem when she's tired. There must be something about Jay that is the opposite of soothing...

 

OK, there's a lot to do today, so I'm off to finish getting ready and packing up the munchkin. One more day until Nonnie is here!!

Ah yes, the nightly "I hate Daddy routine" is underway. Jay just fed her, and that went ok, but now she's freaking out and I don't even think they've made it to the diapering station yet. I talked to my mom for a while about this earlier, and she was kind of dumbfounded at the details I was giving her. We're both really interested to see if this is a Jay-specific problem or an anyone-but-mommy problem. I'm seriously crossing my fingers that Kate behaves for Nonnie!

 

On to happier things - my mom is going to be here in two days!!! Yay! After 11 long weeks, she's finally going to meet Kate. I'm so excited for that. Like I said, I hope Kate doesn't do this with her...wouldn't that just suck? Both my mom and Jay are doing South Beach, so what would normally be a pretty indulgent holiday is going to be much healthier (or sparse, IMO). My mom did make a bunch of Xmas cookies to give away, and she's bringing me a small container, so at least I'll have something to indulge in. Indulging myself doesn't seem to be a problem these days, though - if I don't watch it I'm going to be putting on weight while Jay loses it!  In any case, we're all looking forward to a nice holiday together. My presents are all wrapped and under the tree, but I think Jay has some work to do still in that area. We set a $25 limit with each other, though, so how much work can it be? *lol* It's the first year that we're spending Christmas in Seattle, and I have to say that I'm loving the fact that we don't have to fly! That said, I really hope that my mom's trip goes ok - I'd rather us be flying than her have a bad trip out here.

 

Man, it's hard to concentrate on happy things when there's a frantic baby around the corner...*sigh* I will not rescue her, I will not rescue her...

The other day I said that Kate isn't making Jay's life any easier. What I've come to realize, however, is that her dislike of Jay is really not making my life any easier! After spending all day with the kid, it would be so nice to be able to pass her off when Jay gets home. Instead, I'm "stuck" with her all day. She tolerates him changing her diaper, so he takes his time playing with her then, but god forbid he picks her up from the changing table. We have instituted the new daily bottle rule, and she does fine with that - again, until he tries to pick her up from the changing table. Since she's still going to bed pretty late (between 9:30 and 10:30, generally closer to 10:30 - apparently it shifts to early evening in another 6 weeks), it means that I really don't get much of a break. To make matters worse, during the day there is generally a nap where she insists on me holding her. She'll be clearly tired,  and I'll put her down - and she screams. I pick her up, and she falls asleep. If I wait until she's really deeply sleeping and then try to put her down, she'll wake up and scream. Once I pick her up, she's asleep again. *sigh* I'm not a huge fan of being tethered to a seat...Many people would probably have said that having a baby was going to be a good way to make me "slow down" and just sit sometimes, but people, the problem is that I really am not a fan of just sitting. There's a reason that I am always on the go - it's the way I am, and I'm happy that way. Having to sit and hold her, while very sweet, just isn't good for me.

 

Everyone says to just get through the first 6 weeks. Our first 6 weeks were a breeze...these last 4 1/2 have been rougher, for sure.

When I went to deal with Kate after my last entry I had no idea what her problem was. I was fed up and said, let's go outside. We went and sat on the porch for a couple of minutes - it was COLD, so I cuddled her - and she calmed right down and just looked around. She always loves going outside. That gave me the idea that a walk might be good for both of us. For some reason I didn't want to use the stroller...So I put on the Moby Wrap, got her all bundled up (which she hates when she's inside because she's so warm), and then decided to see if her neck is strong enough for her to face out and see the world. I decided that it was and man, we were cute. This purple thing wrapped all around me and this little adorable pink teddy bear taking on the world.  She fell asleep within a couple of blocks, but I just kept on walking. It's good exercise to add an extra 12 pounds...We walked and walked, and I decided to stop at Noah's - it's been a while since I've had a bagel - and Starbucks. I ate my bagel and drank my coffee and everyone just oohed and aahed at how cute she was. She slept for a long time, and when she woke up I knew it was time to get outside and on the move again. We were just about home when she woke up for good. It was great for me to get some exercise and some fresh air, and I think it did her good, too.

 

When we got home I checked my email and saw that the photographer from last week had emailed me last night about the photos being online. Kate was getting hungry, but I thought I could sneak a quick peek. OH MY GOODNESS, they are SOOOOOOOOOOO cute!! I saw the first one and the tears started...by the time I'd seen the first 10 I was bawling. Kate was really hungry, so I walked away from my computer to feed her. Once she was settled I called Jay - apparently I scared him to death, calling while I was crying. We are SOOOOOOO pleased with them. I was really second guessing the decision to have the photos taken. It's really expensive, and we can always get pictures at the mall. We did that when she was 4 weeks old and we liked them a lot. Well, these photos blow the mall photos out of the water. I don't know how we're going to pick just two to have printed...such a beautiful baby. At what point does it become inappropriate for me to brag about how pretty my baby is? Not yet!

 

Jay came home, and after I fed her I handed her over to be diapered and rocked by Daddy. What a mess. Fine during diapering, not fine during rocking. She really doesn't like Jay when she's trying to fall asleep. I let her cry for a long time before I took over and put her down for a nap. While she was sleeping we decided that everyday Jay will feed her a bottle and do all of the associated tasks. He just did that, and it was fine until just now...we're at the point where it's time for her to go to sleep, so Mommy is needed. Here they are now... 

Today started out like any other. We got up a little after 7 (4 1/2 hours after her last feeding), I fed her, played with her a little, and then gave her an overdue bath. Like always, she was up for an hour and then went back down for a nap. We had to go to the post office, and she slept through that just fine. Since we've been home it's been rough. I don't know what's going on...she's eating really well and going a long time between feedings, and I wonder if that's not the issue. She's been on a pretty solid 2-2 1/2 hour eating schedule during the day for the last two weeks or so, but today she's going 3 (or more hours). After she eats she falls asleep, for a long time, and when she wakes up it's like Kate the Volcano. The kid is not happy. I don't know if she's just extra hungry because she's spread out her feedings today or if she's feeling yucky or what...oh no, there she is again. *sigh*

Man, Kate is not making Jay's life any easier. On Friday he was home because Microsoft was closed (you probably heard about our huge windstorm...we didn't lose power but a LOT of people did), so I took advantage and went on a few errands by myself. What should have been two hours of errands turned into FIVE because of the mess that some of the roads were - total congestion and missing traffic lights. Kate was quite unhappy with Jay for a lot of that time. I felt awful because I never would have gone out for that long of a time period intentionally. To make matters worse, I already had plans to go out that night with some girls from soccer. I was home for about 2 1/2 hours before leaving again - and she wasn't happy, again, to be with Daddy. *sigh* She continued all weekend - if she's in a happy mood, she's fine being with Jay. Once she's upset or tired, though, she freaks out if he's holding her. The pediatrician was surprised to hear that this is already happening, and I'm a little worried. I'm starting to wonder if maybe he shouldn't start doing more in the taking-care-of-her area. For example, after I feed her, I burp her, rock her a little, and change her diaper. Sometimes I then rock her to sleep. Perhaps in the evenings I should hand her off to Jay to do all of those post-feeding duties. Maybe she's just not comfortable being soothed by him because he doesn't do it on a daily basis?? I just don't know. Jay isn't happy about this whole thing, either - not only does he feel bad about it, but he also is upset that it's hard for me to go out knowing that she's not going to behave. The thing is that it's not like he's unable to console her during regular fussy periods. It's more that she has fussy periods when he's taking care of her, and doesn't if I'm around. *sigh*

 

On Saturday the three of us took a road trip to Portland to see my aunt and uncle (my dad's brother). I had called them on Tuesday to see if they were up for visitors, and it turned out that they were having a Xmas party that evening. So we crashed it, lol. We left around noon which put us into Portland a little after 3. I sat in the backseat with Kate - she slept nearly the entire time. I packed enough milk for two bottles (one for the drive there and one for the way back) so that we wouldn't have to stop and feed her. On the way down she took part of a bottle from me while she was in her carseat, but then she had some gas so we ended up getting off the highway after all to burp her. She slept the entire way home - Jay sat in back with her and caught a few zzz's himself. The visit was fantastic. My aunt and uncle were thrilled to meet Kate, and my Aunt Julie's family was at the party. We've had Thanksgiving with them a few times over the years, but it's been a couple of years since we'd seen them. They were happy to see us and meet Kate, and we all had a nice time catching up. The other people at the party were great, too. We just had a nice visit. We took off around 9:15 and got home at midnight. 6 hours of driving and 6 hours of visiting; everyone at the party was stunned that we weren't staying the night, but we didn't think it was too bad, actually. I was glad to find out that Kate can handle a long car ride. It makes me wonder if the three of us couldn't go up to Vancouver sometime soon...Jay and I had wanted to make the trip before she was born, but time just got away from us.

 

OK, that's it for now. I added a bunch of photos to the 3rd month album and also added a nursery album so that you can see the room all assembled...

Kate's pediatrician visit went very well this morning. She got her shots - 4, not 5 like I thought - and it actually wasn't such a big deal. She cried, but just briefly while she was actually being stuck. Once that was over she calmed down almost immediately. As far as I can tell she's had a pretty normal afternoon, although she has slept a bunch. I'm going to be careful with her left leg, though - that's the one that got the tetanus shot, and we're expecting it to get pretty sore.

 

The fun part of the doctor visit, though, was her stats! She weighs 12lb 3oz (75th percentile) and is 23 inches long (75th percentile), so I guess she's a well balanced kid. Apparently her head is small - just 25th percentile! What a cute beanie. The doctor was happy with everything she saw and again proclaimed her perfect.  We're such proud parents, lol.

 

There's not too much going on here tonight - our cable just went out, so that's crummy. I have this little hat to knit for Kate, though, so maybe I should work on that. Oh, and the diapers came in! They're so cute...I'm running everything through the laundry right now and I think I'll trade out the diapers when they're done. The diapers we have been using come in colors - we have 4 of them - and for some reason they seem a little bigger than the natural ones, so maybe I'll leave the colored ones in rotation for another week or so. I'm excited about the new diapers, and I bet Kate's going to love them. Her skin won't be wet anymore because these ones wick the pee away to an inner layer...the post about diapers is coming soon, I promise, and this will all make a little more sense!

 

Oh good, the cable just came back on...

I just added a few new pics to the 2nd month album and started a 3rd month album...expect it to grow, and if I start slacking, prod me to take more photos!

Tomorrow is Kate's two month checkup, and the first of her immunizations. UGH. She'll get 5 shots...the poor little thing! Actually, I'm not sure that she will get them tomorrow because I'm afraid she's getting my cold.  Her nose was a little runny last night and again today, but it's not too bad. She doesn't sound congested, and she seems to be feeling ok. She is sleeping A LOT, though - she had absolutely no alert times yesterday and was only awake to fuss or eat - so I wonder if her system isn't fighting it off. She seems to be on a more normal sleeping schedule today. Hopefully I've built up her supply of antibodies and she'll beat the nasty virus. I've been told how unpleasant it is for a baby to be congested, and I'm not quite up for experiencing it just yet. Particularly since I'm still finishing up my own illness! Can you believe that?! Last Monday I started feeling bad, and here I am, 8 days later, still a little sniffle-y and dealing with a little chest congestion. It's enough already!

 

My dad's flight was at 6:30 this morning, so he and Jay left for the airport at 4:45 this morning. I just checked his flights and it looks like, although he left Seattle 10 minutes early, he got into O'Hare late and ended up with a very short layover...I need to call to see if he made his connection - I hope he did. He had a 2 hour delay leaving Rochester on the way here, so I hope that he at least had a relatively smooth trip home. Our early Christmas was great last night, and we get to have another one in two weeks! Kate was sleeping through the opening of her presents, but I'm sure she appreciates them anyway.

 

This morning a local professional photographer came over to take pictures of Kate. The photographer offers this package she calls "The Beautiful Year" - it's three sessions within one year, starting within 6 months of birth. So, one session is done at 2 months. We'll probably do the second session in the spring, once she can sit up, etc. Anyway, this morning I got up early to iron her outfits, we washed her hair, and she was just a doll for the photographer. She was really alert and even smiled for the camera! To top it off we had sun for the first time in days, so there was nice light for the pictures (the sun went away shortly after the photographer left!). The pictures should be online in a week or so, and we can't wait to see them. She looked awfully cute...some shots in her purple diaper, some in her holiday dress, and some in another adorable outfit from Claire.

 

Kate hit her 2 month mark on the 7th - can you believe it's been that long/only been 2 months?? She'll be 10 weeks on Saturday...she's growing up, folks! She's still wearing her 0-3 month clothes, but she has some 3-6 month stuff that fits her now. I guess it won't be too much longer before I need to shift her wardrobe again. Speaking of shifting her wardrobe! She's just about ready to burst out of her diapers, but the diapers we're transitioning too weren't available until recently...they shipped yesterday so will probably be here tomorrow! Such fun - we love the new ones as much as we love the old ones. I need to do an extensive post about the diapers soon...

 

OK, Kate's calling my name so I gotta run!

After my post last week my cold got completely out of control - I was pretty much out of commission until Friday when I HAD to get it together in prep for my dad's visit. It was horrible...but it's clearing up, finally.

 

My dad got into town Saturday at 2pm, and we've been having a nice visit. Kate's 'outbursts' as everyone has been calling them have been getting worse...*sigh* Her preference for me also seems to be getting worse...*sigh* So that's made life a little less pleasant around here. Anyway, my dad is loving seeing Kate. Today the three of us went down to Pike Place Market for a little while, and that was fun. Tonight is early Christmas! So fun...

 

OK, I should go. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive!

I think I'm getting sick. Strike that, I know I'm at least getting a cold. My colds always start with painful post-nasal drip, and that was yesterday. This morning I woke up, and ugh, I feel crappy. I've been taking Tylenol because I don't think I'm supposed to take any type of cold medicine while breastfeeding - doesn't it seem like you should be given a master list about what drugs are ok and which aren't when you leave the hospital? I'm totally clueless - except that I know Tylenol is ok. My understanding is that Advil is a little less ok, but still not problematic. I guess it's just like pregnancy - avoid all drugs. *sigh* Anyway, I've had a lazy couple of days so I needed to be productive today but am not really feeling up to it. *sigh*

 

Kate has given Jay and I a difficult time the last two evenings. We're really not sure what the issue is. It's possible that it's gas, but she generally calms down without any obvious burping or passing of it. That's eventually...first she gets herself into an absolute tizzy of crying and carrying on. It happened on Sunday right as we were trying to put her down for the night. I had fed her, Jay had changed her and was going to put her down when I heard all this commotion. I was otherwise occupied and just had to listen to it escalate. Eventually I was able to help out - initially that helped, but not for long. Poor little thing. Last night was actually a little worse. I was making dinner while Jay held her...and all hell broke loose. It has seemed to us for a few days now that she really prefers me, so we're fighting that off by minimizing my involvement if Jay is around. So, I kept cooking dinner. Eventually it just got out of hand and I was asked to join in. On and on, the poor little thing just cried and cried. She generally prefers to be up on our shoulders, and I'll switch her back and forth without looking at her face. At one point last night, though, I pulled her in front of me and said, Kate what is the matter?? Well, of course I saw her face when I did that. Bad move for mommy. Seeing her so distraught and sad brought tears to my eyes...the poor little thing. The crying really doesn't set me on edge - even when it's right in my ear for 30 minutes - but seeing that...oh man. Eventually she calmed down, and we really don't know what was going on. At one point we did give her some gas relief drops - out of desperation, really - and we have no idea if they helped or not. In any case, it's a trying experience, and we're hoping to not repeat it tonight.

 

On a good note, the kid is really consistently sleeping well overnight. There is always a 4-5 hour stretch, then a 3-4 hour stretch. Sometimes that's followed by a 4 hour stretch. Not too shabby, huh? And, of course she's cute as can be. The smile patrol has been retired because she smiles all the time now. There's nothing better than a baby smile...