Baby's First Halloween

My sweet Baby Baby celebrated her first Halloween today. No candy. She DID get some cinnamon on her breakfast of oatmeal and apples, though. LOVED it!

Elise was a monkey. I'm not crafty; we bought the costume. It was super cute.

We went to our friends' neighborhood, which makes a big production of the Halloween festivities. We didn't trick or treat, but we walked Elise around to see the costumes and the decorated houses. She had a great time.

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I swear that Halloween costumes are getting skimpier and sluttier every year. Last year it was the moms. I saw several middle aged ladies walking around in what I could only assume were the very outfits that lead to their childrens' conceptions. This year it was hands down the teenaged girls.

I kept asking Husband, "Where are their PARENTS?!" Mostly it was little short skirts and thigh-high stockings. Weird sexy Raggedy Ann costumes or whatever. Then we saw this one girl. There is NO WAY her costume didn't come from an adult store. No way. Trick or treat indeed! You look like you're 15 and I CAN SEE YOUR ASS! I don't like Halloween costumes that make me feel like I'm breaking some sort of law just by looking at them.

Elise. You were a cute little monkey for your first Halloween. Strangers oohed and ahhed over your adorableness. If I EVER catch your teeneaged ass hanging out of a Halloween costume, I am going to make you WISH you lived far, far away in a tree in a jungle somewhere. No one will be mistaking MY daughter for the trick on Halloween.

I Can't Remember Baby CPR!

Before Elise was born Husband and I took an infant CPR class. I felt very responsible for doing so. I thought at the time that the class would prepare me for the worst case scenario.

Tonight Elise was eating a delicious dinner of lentils, carrots, and yellow squash. There was texture to her food, but no big pieces.

Elise has started experimenting with her airways. Snorts, screams, sucking air in, blowing air out. It was only a matter of time. I knew when her face started to turn red that she did not have a big enough piece of anything in her mouth to totally obstruct her breathing. I knew that she'd be able to work it out. But it's horrible to see your little baby's eyes tear up as she's coughing and trying to catch a breath.

I gave her a few seconds of coughing, then realized that she needed my help. As I'm unsnapping her straps for the high chair, all I can think is, "I don't remember baby CPR! I don't remember baby CPR! Keep coughing! Don't stop breathing! I don't remember baby CPR!" I leaned her forward and pounded on her back and after a few thumps, she spit a throat-full of food onto the floor. Her coughing sounded different after that and I knew that she was getting more air. She kept coughing for a while and drooling food everywhere.

I think I could have pulled it together if I had to. If she'd have stopped breathing, I think I could have remembered what to do. Plus my phone was right next to me, so I could have called 911 and they'd have given me instructions.

Maybe I'll just go re-read the steps for baby CPR, to be sure that I remember them...

Coconut Milk!

Elise had coconut milk tonight! If she knew what thumbs up meant, she'd have done it.

I mixed some coconut milk in with a serving of sweet potato and some rice cereal. It smelled goooooooood. Made me wish I was having curry for dinner.

I ate a lot of curry and a lot of coconut soup while I was pregnant. Plus I love candy with coconut in it. So, Elise was clearly already familiar with the taste.

I'm thinking banana/mango/coconut for breakfast tomorrow. Oh, man, that sounds good. Elise, you are in for a treat!

I'm going to be sad when she becomes a toddler and gets all picky about her food.

Tune In Tokyo

I guess because they stick out and they're a different color, Elise has developed a fascination with my nipples. Specifically, she's started to grab and pinch them. She'll be nursing, pull off all of a sudden, and then, as if my nipple is just another one of her toys, start playing with one. Great eye-hand coordination, kiddo.

I heard somewhere that nipples are darker than the skin on the breast in order to help the baby find its food source. The contrast is like a bull's eye. Well, Elise has NO trouble finding mine. They feel like they're being used for target practice.

Mango Baby Food

Elise had mango for the first time yesterday. She loved it!

I must admit that I'd never bought a fresh mango before. I'd bought mango already prepared in things like pastries and there's this fruit cocktail that Husband and I love. But never a fresh mango. I asked one of the grocery store workers from the produce section to help me pick a fresh one out. None of them were ripe, but he found me the ripest one he could. In retrospect, I maybe should have let the mango ripen a few more days than I did before preparing it. I didn't know. Like I said, I was new to fresh mangoes. But Elise loved the mango baby food anyway.

Fruits are easy to make into baby food. You either just mash them, or steam them and then mash or puree them. I mean, obviously you can bake apples or peaches or whatever, but you don't have to do it that way. Which is good, because I love making food for Elise but I don't have an infinite amount of time.

One drawer in the freezer is full of Elise's food right now. Just keeping the stores of food up takes a good bit of time. I need to make her more pears right now because she's completely out. Plus she's low on green beans, carrots, oatmeal, and I don't know what else. Ugh. I should put half as much effort into thinking about what I should be eating. I'd be so healthy.

Day Care Nightmare

A little baby died recently at a day care center in my city. From the charges that were filed and the description of the baby's injuries, my guess is that the worker walked away for a second while the baby was on a changing table or something and it rolled off. An accident, but totally preventable. How horrible.

Although I've worked at a day care center, and we've used a couple of different ones for the foster kids, the center where the incident took place was not one that I'm familiar with. Thank goodness.

I went to day care when I was little. I survived. I know that bad things don't usually happen like that. But when I heard about that baby, I couldn't help but feel glad that I am able to stay home with Elise for now. It reminded me of when my lactation consultant told me about how she had to help a mother dry up her milk whose 2 month old baby had died during its FIRST DAY AT DAY CARE. She tells me this as I'm holding my tiny, days-old baby in my arms, crazy hormones still rushing around my post-partum body. If there had been any question about whether I'd go back to work after my maternity leave was over, that would have sealed the deal. Nope. No way. I was prepared to sit on the couch and cradle Elise until she started kindergarten after hearing that.

So check back with me in 5 years. If Elise is being home schooled, you'll know that I've heard one too many my-kid-was-hurt-at-school stories.

She Has Her Daddy's Toes

Now that Elise is getting bigger, some of her features are becoming more distinct. Last night I noticed that she definitely has her Daddy's toes. Mine are fat and curly-- sort of the shape of jelly beans. Elise and Husband have long, straight toes, like stalks of asparagus.

When I was pregnant I would say to Husband, "I hope she gets your feet." And Husband would say, "I hope she gets your boobs." So far so good.

Co-Bathing

I love taking baths with Elise. I'm normally not a bath person. The thought of sitting in a slowly-cooling tub of my own filth usually doesn't do it for me. But under the right circumstances, I can enjoy the occasional bath.

When I was pregnant and feeling really queezy or if Elise was very active in my tummy and it was driving me crazy, a bath would make me feel better. Sometimes I take a bath now if the only time I have to get clean is while Elise is napping and no one else is home. I want to be able to hear her cry, so I don't run the shower, I take a bath instead.

But my favorite reason for a bath is if I'm going to take one with Elise. Babies are slippery when they're wet so I never took a bath with her when she was little. But now that she can sit up it's not so scary. She splashes around like crazy and really loves being in the big tub instead of her baby tub.

Elise has the most beautiful little naked baby body. In a weird way, I'm proud of it. I look at her naked, from head to toe, and think, "Wow. Husband and I created that. She's perfect." I know that as she gets older, the imperfections will start to show. Maybe she'll inherit my baggy knees or bad teeth. Maybe she'll get migraines like Husband. And then when she's much older, she has to watch out for the cardiovascular disease that's common on both sides of my family. But I can't see those things now. I can't see anything but soft, round, cuteness.

When I take that cuteness, smelling like baby soap, and wrap her in a fluffy towel, then look at her sweet little face, still smiling from the fun and excitement of 15 minutes of non-stop splashing, it makes me realize that sitting in a bucket of my own butt-water was totally worth it.

Plum Baby Food

Peeled, chopped, steamed, and pureed Elise some plums today. She liked them. She always likes fruit.

I want to let her taste every interesting fruit I see. I just don't know when it's safe to introduce most of it. It's easy to find information about when the best time to introduce bananas to a baby's diet is, but star fruit and lychee are trickier. I'm sure I can figure it out if I look hard enough, but that makes it more difficult to be spontaneous at the grocery store.

When Bo lived with us, I often enjoyed giving him new fruits to try. He loved fruit and he'd already tasted most of the basics, but I always liked giving him something such as kiwi and then seeing his face go from a look of skepticism to one of pure joy.

Elise doesn't really get delighted by food yet. I know she likes something because she'll eat it very fast and she'll hold her mouth open for the next bite. I guess that's what adults do, too. You like something so you keep eating it. That's why the peach cobbler ice cream in my freezer is nearly gone.

Babies Movie

We watched the movie "Babies" tonight. The documentary that follows 4 different babies living in different parts of the world. It was interesting. You see the similarities and differences in how babies are raised in 4 unique cultures. And the babies are all adorable, of course.

Elise was very tuned in to the baby noises in the movie. She's at that age where she's especially interested in other babies. Elise didn't care to stare at the TV, but she did react to the sounds the babies would make.

"Babies"-- the movie for babies.

Yawn

I am a sleeeeeeepy mommy. Elise hasn't been sleeping well the past couple of nights, and I've been breaking all the rules by picking her up in the middle of the night and putting her in bed with me. Feeding her. Whatever she wants. I'm too tired to care. Babies want consistency, but mommies NEED sleep.

Elise got her second flu shot yesterday (babies have to get two flu shots at least 30 days apart the first time they're vaccinated) and I wonder if that has had anything to do with her weird sleeping habits yesterday and today. It seems like she's sleeping longer during the day, but less at night.

Elise's sleeping habits are forever changing. As soon as I think I've figured out her routine, she changes it. Lately, we lie down at 8pm, and it takes her up to an hour to fall asleep. Then she wakes up around 11pm and fusses for a long while. She wakes up at about 2:30am to eat, and again at about 5:30am. She goes back to sleep for a bit, then we're up for the day around 7am. She used to sleep straight through for long stretches, but she's up every few hours now. I don't know why. It's practically like having a newborn again.

Of course, now that I wrote that all down, it's bound to change.

Lentil Baby Food

Elise had lentils for the first time tonight. I cooked some today and ran them through the blender with extra water to thin them out. We have a LOT of lentils right now.

At first it didn't look like Elise would like them. But I think it was the texture throwing her off, and after 5 or 6 bites she got used to it. Pureed lentils are still a bit chunky and gritty. Kids are funny about textures. But when you think about it, Elise has already tasted all of these flavors before in my amniotic fluid and breastmilk. It's the texture of each solid food that's new to her.

Once I mixed in some peas and carrots, she was good to go. That's a real meal-- lentils, peas and carrots. Her food actually smelled really good tonight.

Oh! Last night I decided to do an experiment. I gave Elise some sips of water from my glass. Just to see what she would do. She drank them really well. But then she started biting the glass, scratching her teeth back and forth. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Good lord! What a noise. Back to the boobie for you, young lady!

Finger Foods Update

So far, Elise has had solid chunks of banana, avocado, and (steamed) apple. She hasn't figured out how to feed herself yet. Even when I put the food in her hand, she doesn't bring it to her mouth. Everything else goes in her mouth, but not the food.

She mashes the chunks of fruit with her little gums. It's so cute to see her chew. She's doing quite well at chewing up the food before she swallows it. No major choking episodes yet. She gags more on barley than she does on the chunks of fruit.

Elise is a good eater and always has been. We've never had any food issues with her. I hope that as she grows, she stays open to trying new tastes and has a healthy appetite for nutritious foods.

Adoption Recruitment Event

I got an email a few weeks ago about an event where prospective adoptive parents can meet kids in the foster care system who have already had their parental rights terminated and who are waiting to be adopted. I had heard about these kind of events before, but Husband and I had never attended one. We decided to go see what it was all about.

The event was held in a family-style arcade. First, the prospective adoptive parents went to an orientation. The organizations putting on the event told us about themselves, then we got a quick FAQ presentation about how the day would unfold. One of the speakers talked about how some of the older kids in attendance had been to these events many, many times and didn't want to go to them any more because they were tired of being disappointed and feeling like no one wants them. At the time, I let those words wash over me and tried not to think about them too hard. Now, they haunt me and make me want to cry. I can't even begin to imagine that feeling. They've already suffered terrible abuse and then they are made to feel like they aren't good enough to have a permanent, loving family. Ouch! My heart!

Each adoptive family was put into one of three groups, and the waiting children were divided into three groups by age. Little kids, tweens, and teenagers. The families "visited" with each age group and participated in ice breaker games that got the adults and children interacting with each other. The event coordinators did a really good job with this part of the day.

After that, everyone was given some free passes to play video games. It was another opportunity to interact with the kids. Afterward, they served lunch before the event ended.

We talked with a lot of kids-- mostly older kids, actually. We've inquired about a few of them. Who knows. Right now I'm still reeling from the emotions I have at seeing so many kids waiting for a chance at unconditional love and permanancy.

Baby Sleepover

Elise spent the night at her baby boyfriend's house for the first time on Friday. Don't worry-- they were thoroughly chaperoned. No hanky panky. No monkey business. Although we did catch Elise slobbering on Andy's sock today, that's not a euphamism. She really was just chewing on his sock.

We had a really busy weekend visiting friends, visiting family, and attending an adoptive parent recruitment event. I'll tell you about the event later. I'm really worn out from the weekend. The point of the event was for potential adoptive parents to meet children who are ready to be adopted and see if there is any connection. It was very well done. I'm glad we went.

It's waaaaaaay past Elise's bedtime right now, and she's still bouncing off the walls. I think that all of the excitement from this weekend has thrown her schedule off. I have a feeling that it will be a loooooooong night...

Long Day & Elises's First Peas

Today was a very busy day. I'll tell you all about it later. When I'm more alert.

Also, Elise had peas for the first time today. Went better than I expected. She made a few faces but she didn't reject them.

Oh, lordy, I'm tired. Good night, moon!

Our First Foster Daughter

Our first foster daughter, Cecelia, arrived about two weeks after Bo did and she stayed with us for a month. Her parents' rights were already terminated and she was waiting to be matched for adoption. When the state agengy called us about taking Cecelia into our home as a foster child, they suggested that this would be a good opportunity for us, because as her foster parents we would be considered as a potential match for her adoption. It wasn't until later, when she was matched with another family, that we learned that this other family had known about her and been sort of "pre-matched" with her for years. Husband and I felt like we had been tricked, even though we still would have taken her in as our foster child even if they had been completely honest and told us that there was no way we'd be matched with her. Why lie?

Cecelia had been living with a foster family for years, and then right before she was going to get matched with a new family for adoption, something happend in her foster family and they needed to move her to a new home. (It had nothing to do with her, by the way.) That family that they already knew Cecelia would go to for adoption wasn't a licensed foster family, so she couldn't go live with them until the official matching took place. Bureaucratic red tape. So we were sort of a transitional, month-long foster family for Cecelia.

Cecelia was really nice-- VERY well behaved. She was a bit whiny and used her tears to manipulate situations, but what little kid doesn't? She and Bo were both 3 years old when they were together living with us, although Cecelia was 8 months older than Bo. And she was a good deal bigger than him.

I think they both liked having a playmate. Bo got kind of confused when Cecelia started transitioning to her new adoptive family. He didn't understand why she got to go hang out with new people and he couldn't go, too. Bo talked about her for a long time after she left. We told Cecelia's new family that we would love to do play dates and let the kids hang out, but the new people weren't into it. Based on stuff we heard from other people, the new family was trying to break ties with as many people from Cecelia's past as possible-- kind of pretending that she had no history before she joined their family. I personally don't think that's very healthy for Cecelia, but it's not up to me. I hope she's doing well.

I got pregnant with Elise right around the time Cecelia was transitioning out of our house. So Elise never met Cecelia and I doubt Cecelia ever found out that I'd had a baby. Aurelius, our first foster son, and Cecelia are the only foster siblings that Elise didn't meet. We have pictures of them, and Elise will see them some day. All of our kids have been really cute. I guess we got lucky that way.

Really, I feel lucky overall. Especially after seeing what the kids in foster care go through, getting bounced around and losing ties and connections as they are shuffled from one place to the next. Nobody's life is perfect right? But my childhood looks positively magical compared to they stories I hear on a regular basis as a foster parent. I read Cecelia's case file and while I can't tell you any of the details, let me just tell you that as fucked up as Cecelia's early childhood was, it was 100 times better than what happened to her own mother. So just think about that. Her mother, who was horribly abused, tried to do better for her daughter than what she went through and it STILL wasn't safe and good enough for her to keep her child. That's the kind of thing that makes me want to cry.

That's the kind of thing that makes me want to do the absolute best for my children that I possibly can. I know that Elise (and any other children that come into our family) may not appreciate it for a long time. Maybe not until she has her own kids. Or maybe not ever. But to me, loving my children isn't about lots of toys and cute clothes and trips to McDonald's and Disney World. Some of my foster kids had all of that stuff before they were taken away from their parents. Loving my children is about making them feel safe and loved every second of the day. Raising them to be good people, who are kind and loving to others. As long as my babies have kind hearts and know that no matter where they are and no matter what they're doing, their mother loves them and will be there for them if they need her, then I'll feel like I did a good job as a parent.

Dinner Nap

For two nights in a row now Elise has fallen asleep while eating dinner. Is there something in the barley? Is eating becoming hard work for her? One minute she's chewing away, then next thing you know, her mouth is open, her eyes are shut, and her head is cocked to one side.

Baby narcolepsy is adorable.

Barley Baby Food

Barley. Mixed results.

I made the barley baby food last night by putting some uncooked barley in my coffee grinder and turning it to powder before I cooked it. But here's the deal. The cooked barley powder still puffs up quite a bit. So its texture was sort of like a mushier version of couscous. Lots of little puffy bits.

We gave it to Elise tonight, hoping the texture didn't totally turn her off. The first few bites were plain barley, and Elise had trouble keeping the food in her mouth. The little bits just slipped around in her baby drool and some got swallowed and some fell out. So then we added the barley to some avocado and sweet potato mix, and the rest of the food held the barley together and she could swallow all of it. So it worked in the end, but plain barley wasn't going to cut it.

Now we've given Elise all of the easy-on-the-stomach grains: rice, oatmeal, and barley. So far so good. I'm just waiting to see what those little beads of barley look like coming out the other end...

Finger Foods!

Elise started finger foods tonight. We gave her little chopped up pieces of banana. She didn't actually feed herself-- they were too slippery for her to pick up. But I fed her pieces off MY finger and she chewed them with her little gums.

She made a horrible face at tasting the first piece of banana. Twisted her head and straightened her back, but no arm flapping. She's had banana many times before (mashed up), so I thought her reaction was strange. At first I thought, "Oh, she's not ready for this." But then I saw her chewing. She ate the piece of banana. So I gave her more. She did fine after the first few bites.

Also today, Elise watched Husband eat lunch with this weird intensity. Then she started chomping her jaws and smacking her lips. So we're going to start her on small lunches. We're thinking finger food lunches. We'll offer Elise some more banana pieces tomorrow at lunchtime. See how that goes.

And I Was Worried About the Teeth...

I was so worried that Elise would start biting my nipples once she got her teeth in. Boy, were my fears misplaced. She's been PINCHING me!

It really hurts. Elise grabs at my breast as she's feeding and squeezes and pinches. I've tried moving her hands away, giving her my shirt or my bra or my hand to hold, telling her "no," and yelling "ouch" so she knows it hurts me. She's very persistent and just goes right back to pinching no matter what I do.

I actually noticed a bruise this morning. I'm not kidding-- she's hurting me! I think my strategy will be to just keep taking her hand away and saying firmly, "That hurts Mommy." Hopefully she'll either figure out that I'm not happy with what she's doing or she'll get past this phase.

From erogenous zone to lunch boxes to punching bags... thank you for your service, boobies.

She's Doing Everything Big Today

Elise is ready to get on with her life. Today she tried very hard to be older than she is.

Screw crawling. She's pulling up on EVERYTHING. She wants to walk. Most dangerous is her obsession with her laundry basket. Today she was pulling up on it, standing there holding the edge and pulling clothes out one by one. But her balance isn't that great yet. Sometimes she would fall backward and land on her butt. Sometimes she would fall forward as she bent at the waist and bop her forehead on the edge of the basket. Fortunately, no tumbles INTO the basket. I kept waiting for that to happen.

Then at dinner she wanted extra food. First she ate a serving of carrots and a serving of green beans mixed together. Her two least favorite foods. But she ate them all. Then I gave her a serving of butternut squash, her very favorite-- you should see how fast she can eat it because it's really amazing. Three servings of food for dinner is her norm, and then she's usually done. But tonight, after finishing her squash, she held her little baby bird mouth open and waited for more. And waited. So I fixed her another serving of squash and she ate it all.

But she kept spitting up right before bed, and even though she'd nursed several times since dinner, the spit up was all orange like the squash. So I fed her too much. Oops. Maybe she's not ready for a whole fourth serving. Maybe a little rice cereal in with her dinner or something like that, to add some more calories but not feed her too much.

She's a big girl. And now she's trying to grow up even faster. Slow down, Baby Baby! Mommy can't keep up with you!

The Carrot Dance

I steamed and pureed some carrots for my little baby bunny today. She ate almost all of her serving, but it was kind of rough going. She'd occasionally make faces and do a little "carrot dance," which consisted of her straightening her back, whipping her head to the side, and flapping her arms.

Elise never gagged like she did with the green beans, but she clearly finds the taste of carrots to be all but overwhelming. I remember HATING cooked carrots as a child. Raw was okay, but cooked grossed me out. In retrospect, I don't know if it was the texture or the taste. But I'm not surprised that Elise was a little freaked out by her carrot baby food.

In other news, Brother-In-Law shaved Husband's hair into a mohawk today. It looks pretty awesome. One day Elise will see pictures and say, "Dad had a MOHAWK when I was a baby?!" I can't wait.

Happy 7 Months, Baby Baby!

Seven months old today! My perfect little baby. I can still calm her when she cries by singing "Hush Little Baby" and she still smells like baby soap and milk. But she's growing fast. Crawling. And she's been able to go from lying on her belly to a sitting up position for about a week now. She's learning how to pull herself up, almost onto her feet. And she talks and talks and makes all of these great sounds.

Elise is my heart.

Nuts!

My sister is having a boy!

Oh, she could have had her pick from piles and piles of baby girl clothes. I have a much smaller selection of gender-neutral onesies and pjs. But my sister and Elise's little baby cousin are welcome to whatever we have, of course.

Baby clothes don't get much use-- babies grow so fast. There are very few exceptions to the rule that all of Elise's old clothes still look brand new.

This will be the first boy that has descended from my parents. I have two sisters, then I had a girl. Weird. A boy. I hope he's effeminate and gentlemanly.

Baby Menu

Now that Elise has a good number of foods that she's tried (she had pureed baked white potato tonight for the first time, by the way), I've started to make her a weekly menu. I want to make sure that she gets a good variety of foods. Also, it helps me plan for what foods I need to make more of that week.

I make sure that Elise has at least one fruit, one vegetable, and one grain every day. She usually gets two different foods for breakfast and three different foods for dinner. So, for example, she might have banana and oatmeal mixed together for breakfast and then for dinner have butternut squash mixed with apple and a side of green beans. The next day will be entirely different foods.

I'm careful to only mix together the foods that I actually think would taste good mixed together. So no pear and yellow squash stirred up in the same cup, although they might be served together during the same meal. I've seen adults mix baby foods together in combinations that I know for a fact they wouldn't eat themselves. Babies have taste buds, people!

So far, no serious complaints about my cooking.

Cry Baby Cry

Elise did not sleep well last night. I'm blaming this on the teething. Don't know if that's true or not. I just know that I'm tired. And I hope that tonight is a better night.

Elise's First Pears

Elise had pears for the first time yesterday. She liked them. No major response, good or bad.

Every time she has a new fruit her tummy goes into overdrive and she poops with just about every diaper change. Then she adjusts and it's on to the next new food.

Elise's Baby Boyfriend had papaya the other day. I don't think Elise is ready for anything that fancy yet. She has a kind of delicate stomach. Especially with regard to fruit. Maybe in a month or two. We'll have to work up to papaya.

Lightening Up

I weighed myself last night and (drum roll please!) I AM BACK TO MY PRE-PREGNANCY WEIGHT!!!

Just under 7 months. I could have done it a lot quicker, if I'd really watched what I ate and was better about exercising. But whatever. I feel lucky that most of the weight came off on its own.

Of course, my body doesn't look the same. I might weigh what I used to, but my hips are forever slightly wider, everything is jiggly and untoned, and my abs could use some serious work. So it's time to start toning up. Weights, crunches, push ups, in addition to our regular walks.

Having a baby really takes a toll on a woman's body. My advice to anyone thinking about getting pregnant is to get in shape first. Easier pregnancy, easier delivery, easier recovery. If Husband and I ever decide to try for another biological baby, you can bet that I'm training for that event like it's a marathon.

Head Banger

Now that Elise can scoot around on the floor, her little head is in constant jeopardy. She falls to one side or the other as she tries to crawl and sit up. And most dangerous of all is her new-found ability to pull her upper body off the ground by grabbing hold of furniture or a person.

Just yesterday, she crawled over to her dresser, walked her hands up the drawers until she was in a position like she was kneeling... and then lost her balance and fell headlong into the dresser and bumped her head. Boy did she howl after that. Poor baby!

We had to lower her bassinet, too, because she started to pull up on the sides. Now she sleeps in the regular playpen part. I tried putting her in her crib the other day during a daytime nap, but she rolls around so much and kept hitting her little noggin on the wooden bars. So the playpen is fine for now, as she can't hurt herself on the mesh sides.

Maybe I should get her a football helmet for Christmas, to keep her tiny head safe.

Jogging Stroller

We bought a jogging stroller yesterday. Husband and I were dropping stuff off at Goodwill and saw a great deal on a jogging stroller, so we decided to get it. Husband and I actually used to run, before I got preggers, so maybe we'll be able to get back into it. Very exciting.

We're still doing well with our goal of walking for exercise. We walk about 4 times a week, and we've just increased the distance to 2 miles per trip.

Not only do Husband and I want to get into better shape, we want Elise to think of exercise as a regular part of life. Something you do out of habit. We went on walks a lot with Bo while he was living with us, too. We want our kids to think of an evening walk as something that's nice and relaxing, and so we show Elise by example and make it a part of her routine as often as possible.

I want Elise to be healthy and strong. I try to do everything I can think of to make sure that she has as many advantages as possible. I quit working so that she wouldn't have to go to day care. I breastfeed, make all of her food, read to her every day. I can't forget that she's observing, too. Learning patterns. Developing a sense of what's normal and comfortable to her. It may seem like taking walks every night is mostly for me right now, but I think that in the long run they will benefit Elise, too.

Maybe one day when I'm old she'll return the favor and check me out of the nursing home every once in a while to wheel me up and down the street. "Hear the dog barking, Ma? That's a doggie! Ruff! Ruff!"

Once Bitten

First boobie bite.

Probably my fault, in all fairness. We were out in public and I was trying to pull a blanket out of Elise's mouth and stick my nipple in real quick. I think she was trying to bite the blanket and not my boob, BUT it hurt either way.

Has a child ever bit his or her mother's nipple clean off? Normally that would be the kind of think I'd google, but really, I don't think I actually want to know the answer to that question.

Also, I saw another lady breast feeding in public today. I just don't see it very often. I was happy. I wanted to give her a high five or something, but it probably wasn't an appropriate time for that.

Busy Day

We were very busy today, Elise and I. Got up early, Elise had some nanacado for breakfast, then we met a baby and mommy friend for a walk. Elise likes taking walks and often narrates the entire event as it unfolds.

Later on, we had someone come look at the house. Although they stayed for a decent amount of time to look around, I can tell that they are not our buyers. I have a certain idea in my head of what our buyers will be like, and the people today are not it.

After that, Elise had her first taste of butternut squash. Loved it. She ate her first serving really fast. Then I gave her some more mixed with green beans, which she liked also, but toward the end her toofies started to hurt and she got very upset. Poor baby. A teething ring and some Orajel helped, but ultimately she just needed to sleep it off with a nap.

Right before bed, Elise did some fantastic crawling. Her skillz improve every day. It's really amazing to see. You can practically watch her muscles growing.

And that was our day. Now Elise is asleep, so I'm going to go watch a movie.