Squeals and laughter and strange googly-eyed animals

Yesterday I took Sofia to her 5 month doctor appointment. It went perfectly and she is a healthy 16 lbs 1 and 1/4 ounces and 25.1 inches long. Yay!

Before we saw the doctor, we were sitting in the waiting room with about 10 other patients. There was another family there with a little girl about a year old who was wandering around the room entertaining everyone. Well, toddlers love babies that's a known fact. The first thing she did when we sat down was come over to investigate this other little person, and being completely adorable she brought over a toy to give to Sofia.

It was this little stuffed lion with giant googly eyes. Cute and scary at the same time. Well I put it in front of Sofia and suddenly she was laughing. I mean full out giggles, not like her usual squeals (which, by the way are the cutest squeals ever). She loved that lion. She had the whole waiting room laughing too.

So after our appointment we headed over to the Pharmasave to buy one of these toys (They are called Yoo Hoo and Friends and I guess they are like Webkinz in that you can go to their website, login and create your own Yoo Hoo friend and learn all about different animals. They didn't have any more lions so I got something else (no idea what kind of animal it is). Of course she hasn't laughed again like she did at the clinic, no matter how much I wave that thing in front of her face. But it's cute and makes a cute giggle noise so whatever. I'll keep trying.

The things you do to entertain your children.

Roll over, roll over

One day your baby car barely lift her head on her own and the next she is rolling over. I was actually starting to get a little discouraged because Sofia wasn't rolling over and I kept hearing about these babies who would roll both ways by the time they were three months old. But my inner voice told me that she would do it on her own time (and her giant head - thanks to daddy - was impeding her ability to move too quickly).

Up until yesterday, when I'd put her on the floor for the obligatory tummy time, she would grunt and squirm and plant her face in the floor. So I tended to avoid tummy time all together, figuring that she'd figure it out when she was ready.

Yesterday morning at playgroup I put her on an activity mat on her back as per usual. The first thing she did was reach her left arm across her body, arching her back as she tried to get a teething ring just out of her reach. I immediately freaked out, thinking she was about to roll from her back to her belly. I kept luring her with toys and she kept reaching and arching, but no rolling.

So last night at home, I had her on the floor again and she was doing it again. This time I figured I would help her out a bit and see if she'd get the hang of it. So I flipped her over onto her belly. Then, not five seconds later, she pushes herself up with her arms, leans a little to the side and , voila! She's back onto her back. Saying I freaked this time would be an understatement. I was so surprised, I scooped her up and planted about 50 kisses all over her face while telling her how proud I was.

I have no idea where that came from. I gotta say, I have a super awesome kid. I'm sure every mom says that, but I'm saying it anyway.

Feeling good, pass it on!

I have had several blogs since, um I don't know, whenever blogging became a cool thing to do (I just have to jump on bandwagons that involve writing and taking photos). I never really cared if people read my blog, cause I was mostly doing it for myself and if someone did happen to stumble upon it, well, great! I have definitely never gotten any sort of recognition for blogging ... until now! Even though I have only been blogging about my adventures in new mommyhood for a few weeks, a fellow mommy blogger has presented me with an award! Yay!!

It is no Grammy, but it's still pretty cool! Thanks to Tina F. from Mommy is Teething for giving me this award! And thanks to my fabulous baby girl Sofia for giving me a reason to write again. It had been too long and I'm so happy to be doing it again, even if it is just a little blog.

Now, on with my obligations as a recipient of The Versatile Blogger award...

 The Versatile Blogger Award Rules

• Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award (Done!)
• Share 7 things about yourself (See below)
  Pass the award on to other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous (See below)
• Contact the bloggers you chose and let them know about the award (In progress)

7 Things About Jenn:

1. I really, really, really want to be a photographer but I have no idea where to begin, other than to snap pictures of everything and anything (mostly my daughter these days) in the hopes that somehow I'll stumble upon a way to get going. Other than my daughter my other photographic obsession is flowers. I have a photoblog (Jenn's Photo Journal) that I don't update nearly as much as I should.

 

 2. Before becoming a mom, I worked as the editor of a weekly newspaper. While it was a great job, always interesting and ever-changing, I don't really miss it. I miss writing and taking photos, and I miss the people, but I do NOT miss the deadlines and stress. (P.S. It was the Meadow Lake Progress if you want to check it out).

3. I absolutely hate being alone. I spent too much time alone when I was a teenager that I would much rather be around people these days. I never even lived alone, aside from in a single room in residence in university, before I met my husband. I thought I'd hate being a stay-at-home-mom but luckily my baby girl is awesome company :)

4. I am organized almost to the point of obsessive-compulsive. I hate chaos and I will avoid it at all costs. Having a baby makes it hard for me to keep things in order sometimes, but I do my best. If I start something, I have to finish it. Like this list.

5. I am a proud Newfoundlander turned Saskatchewanian. I miss that island a lot, I miss the ocean and I miss my family, but there is no way I want to live there again. I want my children to have opportunities to travel that I never had because I was surrounded by water. I really believe Saskatchewan is Canada's best kept secret. It's the last place I ever imagined I'd end up, but I love it here.

6. I know you aren't supposed to say this, but when I found out I had a girl I was so happy. Before she was born, I said I'd be happy with either a boy or a girl, and I believe that if I had given birth to a bouncing baby boy, I truly would have been happy. At the same time, I have to admit that I really can't imagine it any other way right now. (And I absolutely love love love dressing her up hehe).

7. I have no idea how to be a good mother. I follow the leads of others around me and I listen to advice from friends and family, but in all reality I have no clue what I'm doing. I take comfort in knowing that everyone was right when they told me that mothering would come naturally to me. When I first saw that tiny little body in my arms, I knew I'd be ok no matter how difficult it was. I am taking it day-by-day and hoping that everything continues to fall in place as it should.

 

Blogs I Present the Versatile Blogger Award to:

Saskmom.com 

The Sweetest Thing 

My Baby D 

Quirky Birds

Swoon Photography

... A thing on mother's milk and kisses fed

Mila's Daydreams

Yummy Lolly

Rookie Moms

Mike's Bloggity Blog

Stefanie Harrington Photography

The multitaksing mom

This Sunday I'm attending the Savvy Parent Seminar in Saskatoon. I heard about it through my mom and tot group. I was never the type of person to go to things like that, not alone especially. But in this case, I really thought the info could be useful to me and honestly, I'll take any opportunity to learn how to be a better mom. So Michael will drop myself and Sofia off on Sunday afternoon and we will see what we can learn.

One thing I considered after I bought tickets was that I haven't really spent this long (four hours) out in public with the baby by myself. Sure, we've gone for walks around town, to playgroup and once I even drove the two of us the hour to Saskatoon to pick up a friend at the bus station. But none of those outings required me to carry/change/feed her without any help whatsoever. And me being the paranoid person I am, of course I worry about the little things.

Like one of the first questions I asked myself was how am I going to go to the bathroom if the ... need arises? I mean, I will have our umbrella stroller with me so at least I know I have somewhere I can put her while I do my business. Seriously, these are the kinds of things that cross my mind.

I honestly don't know how single parents do it. I admire them, I really do. I am so lucky to have a husband who takes a very active role in raising our daughter. He does everything I do, aside from breastfeeding (but he does give her a bottle at times). So when I don't have him at my side I start to panic. I know it's silly because people do it by themselves all the time, but I am also aware that I am spoiled.

I am not going to let my paranoia deter me from doing things though, which is why I decided to take this opportunity to attend a seminar that will be interesting, informative and maybe help me overcome that paranoia anyway.

Happy Day

I had such a happy baby today!

This morning we got all dressed up and went to playgroup, then spent the afternoon doing the usual, playing on the floor, playing with Sophie the Giraffe, taking pictures to put on Facebook for our family and watching a few cartoons.

This evening we caught a ride to daddy's work and walked home. It was a little chilly, but I bundled up my little bundle and we made it home long before the sun set. I just gave Sofia her nighttime bottle and she nearly passed out in my arms. Even though she hardly napped at all today, she was perfectly pleasant.

I love days like today :)

Information overload, baby

I have discovered that nobody really knows what they are talking about when it comes to babies. Ok, yes they know what may or may not have worked for them in various scenarios, but any advice they give me may as well be a fairy tale. I want to believe it's true, but that doesn't mean it is how my life is going to go.

But, being a rookie mom, you take what you can get. If someone tells you to try giving your daughter rice cereal at 4 months, you go ahead and try, and then watch that poor child screw up her face and spit it out. If a mom of a one year old suggests giving her formula before bed, you will head out to the grocery store and spend every evening preparing bottles when before all you had to do was lift your shirt. You get worried if your baby isn't rolling both front to back and back to front, crawling on her elbows, sitting up unassisted, laughing, eating solids or sleeping through the night by 5 months. Because that's what so-and-so said their baby was doing at 3 months.

It's probably my own fault really, that I am so confused. When Sofia is having a nap and the house is quiet (like it is right now ... ahhh) I sit with my computer on my lap or my iPod in my hand searching anything and everything I can about motherhood. I read all kinds of mommy blogs, I download every parenting app I can get for free and check my email for my weekly updates telling me what milestones my daughter should be hitting this week. How can anyone know what is "right" with information coming at them from every direction?

Just this past Monday at mom and tot playgroup we had a presentation about cloth diapering. I went into it thinking I'd like to try that. I mean, it's obviously better for the environment, it saves you tons of money and how hard could it be? Well, by the time the presentation was over, I was so overwhelmed that I was more scared of the whole idea that excited about it. When you have so many options, it's hard to even think about making a choice.

Sometimes I want to just block it all out. I want to stop reading blogs written by people I don't know, delete all my apps and tell strangers, friends and family alike to butt out. I kind of want to figure it out on my own. But then, aren't I doing that either way? Even if I listen to all that advice and maybe even take them up on a suggestion or two, in the end I am the one making the decision about what really is right for my baby. It is trial and error sometimes, but that is what makes motherhood interesting. That, and watching that little baby grow up of course. And if you have a happy, healthy baby that's all that matters.

Something about sleep

Sleep was never such a source of stress and frustration before I had a baby. Now, how much sleep I had, how much sleep the baby had, how much sleep we didn't have, consumes every day and night.

Last night, I turned off my bedside lamp at precisely 9:55 p.m. and at 10:33 I heard that familiar "waa" coming from the next room. I had literally just finally started to drift to sleep at that point. Of course Sofia had only been in bed herself since about 8:30 so she was not hungry yet, but just needed me to stick her soother back in her mouth.

I am cursed with a busy mind, making it difficult to fall asleep even when I'm exhausted. I can't just shut off my brain as soon as I hit the pillow. My husband on the other hand can sleep anywhere, anytime, no problem. So between turning out the light and hearing a waking baby, he actually gets sleep, however little that may be. Add to that the fact that he doesn't always hear the baby, and you've got a great night's sleep. I, on the other hand, having mommy's instinct and all, hear every sound that comes from baby's room, even a teeny tiny sneeze.

Sometimes, broken sleep is better than no sleep at all. But after so many nights with only two or three hour stretches of sleep banked, it starts to catch up with you. Lack of sleep is one of those things seasoned parents will warn you about, but you will never really grasp until you experience it. I remember at the end of my pregnancy being told to enjoy sleep/rest while I could. I thought to myself, if only I could save up all that rest and use it later when I really needed it. But alas, that is not possible and today I long for those nights of 10 plus hours of sleep.

Somehow, even with a lack of sleep, you do manage to function though. This morning, for example, I got up and bowled three games. And while baby naps, here I sit at my computer instead of using the time to grab some shuteye myself. That's what us moms do - we complain but we know it's all part of motherhood, and we still wouldn't change a thing.

Things that make me feel good

I got sleep last night! When you are a parent, several uninterrupted hours of sleep is a cause for celebration. We'd had a few rough nights in a row, so last night being able to sleep from 10:30 until 5ish was amazing. Sofia drank 4 ounces of formula before bed last night so I'm hoping that has something to do with her sleeping longer. We'll see.

So I am going to start going to yoga in a couple weeks. I am so excited! I used to take yoga way back before I got pregnant and I really enjoyed it. I don't do the gym or fitness classes so it's really the only thing I have done that makes me feel really good, inside and out. I really need this time to myself too. Michael is going to be playing hockey so we'll both have our time out. Now we just have to find time for just the two of us together.

It's another gloomy day here. I'm starting to get used to it, but it sure would be nice to see the sun for once. I am hoping for a few sunny crisp fall days to get out and walk without being hot or eaten alive by mosquitoes. Before it snows!! Oops I sad the "S" word.

Keeping the balance

I had one of those "I'm a terrible mommy" moments this morning. I was invited by some other ladies in my playgroup to join their team in a women's bowling league. I figured that I will welcome the opportunity to get out especially during the winter, and plus they have in house babysitting, by a women who happens to be the mother of a friend of mine.


So today was the first day, and overall it went well. I dropped Sofia off with the babysitter and told her that she was probably tired cause I had to wake her up to get her ready to go, but she had just eaten so she shouldn't be hungry for a while. I gave her the diaper bag and went on my way. I checked on her a couple times, and at first she was fine. The second time I went in the babysitter told me that Sofia was crying a bit but not bad. I should have known that she was hungry but I was too preoccupied with my turn coming up and I said she would be fine. I guess I thought that the babysitter would let me know if Sofia was getting upset or anything, but she didn't, probably cause she had several other children to look after.

When the last game was over, I rushed in to see how things were going and I found the babysitter rocking Sofia, who was screaming bloody murder. I scooped her up and tried to comfort her, but she was way past comforting at that point. I knew by then that she was hungry and tired. The babysitter said she kept almost falling asleep but waking up again. I tried feeding her but no way, she was just plain upset. So we headed home. As soon as we got home I fed her and she passed out in my lap. She was exhausted.

I felt so bad! I know I should have fed her when she was starting to get fussy, and I should have checked on her more often than I did. It was the first time she was ever with a stranger for longer than a few minutes, so she probably just wanted me too. Even though my instincts were telling me to check on her, I didn't.

I'm sure everyone has these moments when their baby is upset and they know they could have prevented it, but I still feel terrible. I feel like I neglected her. I'm definitely going to do it differently next week. If I have to, I'll bring her out with me for a bit. It's so hard sometimes to balance everything and keep it balanced. Sometimes you accidentally lean the wrong way a little and everything falls to the ground. That's just part of parenthood I guess, but it sure is upsetting when it happens.

The TV gods are against me

This morning I woke up to a broken tv. Sometime during the night it got fried and now it won't turn on. Sad day!! So Michael hooked up our old tiny tv and discovered that our satellite was also out. Luckily he managed to fix that, but we're not sure there is hope for the tv. I'm kinda bummed cause I already have a list as long as my arm of stuff I need to get in the city on Sunday (looking at certain websites did not help keep the list short lol). Now we have to add tv to the list?! Those things don't come cheap, and this one we have was a wedding gift so we hadn't even spent money on it before. As much as it's not a necessity, it's something we use every day and would be lost without. I've become quite attached to my HDTV shows :S

So this list I have is almost entirely made up of stuff for baby. I am no longer satisfied by shopping just for myself. Although I would enjoy buying some nice new fall clothes for me, I would be happy enough to just shop for Sofia. Of course after yesterday's post I learn that Old Navy is having a 30% off baby sale!! So yeah, we will be going there on Sunday. She really needs some warm clothes. It was so nice of people to give us so much clothes while we were home visiting last month, but they failed to remember that we live in Saskatchewan, where the temperatures go down to -40 in winter. I need to get a snow suit, socks, tights and long sleeved shirts. I've got drawers full of clothes and somehow I managed to think of more things she needs lol. I just can't help myself.

Also, I am thinking about trying Sofia on formula. Until now she's been exclusively breast fed, and it has been going well. Changing it up is something that I have been struggling with. While I know she is getting all the nutrition she needs, I have been toying with the idea of supplementing for a few reasons. The main one is that I have not been able to pump much. There have been several occasions where it would be nice to be able to give her a bottle, like if I go out with the girls and if Michael offers to feed her at night and let me get some rest. Every time I have gotten stressed out wondering if I pumped enough. So far I have, but as her demands increase, it will get harder and harder. A friend of mine also suggested giving her a bottle of formula before bed to help her sleep through the night (since the rice cereal didn't go over so well). Aanything that could mean a full night's sleep is ok by me! I figure it can't hurt to give her a bottle once a day, and then if she does ok with it, I won't have to worry about pumping if I want to go out for a few hours or something, and when I go back to work in the spring.

Well, I'm going to go watch my tiny tv and wait for baby girl to wake up from her nap. She's having a mega snooze right now!

WANT

Canadians can now shop online at the Gap and Old Navy. I made the mistake of looking at their baby clothes. If I were rich I would buy every single piece of baby clothes they sell. Seriously.

This is just one of the cozy sweaters I need lol

Skinny jeans for babies! No way!

Cute!

I heart rainbow

Ok really, I want this coat for MYSELF!

She can be Sofie the Giraffe for Halloween!!

Somebody take away my credit card! Old Navy has some really good prices! I haven't even looked at the women's clothes yet. Oh dear.

The quiet life of a mommy

The baby is sleeping in her car seat. We got home from playgroup and she couldn't keep her eyes open so I figured, why disturb her if she's comfy? So I put on the dishwasher and folded yesterday's laundry and tried to make the house smell pretty with these diffusers I've had since Christmas (cause our house smells like kitty litter). And now I have a moment to read blogs and check Facebook.

I really like going to playgroup. It makes me feel human. It gets pretty lonely around here when you don't leave the house for days. As much as I love playing with Sofia all day long, sometimes I need adult interaction. I'm really looking forward to Monday playgroup starting up again cause we get to sit around, drink coffee and eat snacks, and even have guest speakers come in.

It's so weird how different my life is now. I went from the daily stress of work, coming home every day and venting about all the annoying things that happened that day, to actually enjoying my own company and not having to worry about deadlines and getting all my work done. Yeah it gets boring sometimes, but I love watching my little girl learn new things every day, and I'm actually enjoying life for once. If only we could live life without stress all the time.

Now I'm going to watch America's Next Top Model that I taped last night before Sofia wakes up from her nap. Ah the joys of being a stay-at-home mom lol.

Day By Day

We had a busy Labor Day weekend. We went for what we call a mini vacation to visit friends at the lake. Sofia was awesome traveling as always. She slept the whole three hour drive there and even slept better while we were there than she does at home (eight whole hours one night!!) She was a great little entertainer too, especially since she learned to squeal this weekend (It's sometimes hard to tell if she's upset or happy lol).

Last night when we got home, I was so tired from the trip and from not sleeping much and I kind of had a little break down. Sofia had been spitting up a LOT yesterday and suddenly I just felt helpless. I want her to sleep through the night but I don't know how to get her to eat more at each feeding, and the spitting up doesn't help. Everyone has advice but how do you know who to trust? How do you know what is right for your baby? I am sure every mom goes through this, but it's still hard.

So. Today we gave Sofia rice cereal for the first time. One of the suggestions I have been getting is to try it to help her sleep through the night. Well, when we gave it to her she made a funny face lol. After a bit, I could tell she didn't hate it, but she sure didn't know what to do with it. I guess she's not ready for solids yet. It is going to be so much fun when she is!


 I feel better tonight and I think Sofia does too. I am taking everything a day at a time, cause that's really all you can do. I'm the kind of person who wants to be able to plan ahead, but I'm quickly learning that it's not possible when you have a baby.

Me Time

I have the best husband on earth. Just wanted to say that. He's great. Really.

Just got Sofia down for her morning nap. I should probably take this opportunity to nap myself, but for some reason I just can't do it anymore. You know what they say, "sleep when the baby sleeps". Easier said than done. I used to be able to do it, but these days I have so much to do ... cleaning, eating, catching up on tv shows, blogging. I really actually enjoy the "me" time. Besides, napping just ends up making me more tired and feeling yucky.

We are going out of town this weekend. I'm excited because it will be laid back and relaxing. Sofia is a great traveler. When we went to Newfoundland in August, she was amazing. She slept on the plane, hardly cried at all and didn't mind being handed from person to person. This weekend it's just a three hour drive, so I'm hoping she is just as good. The thing is, you never know with babies. They could be super perfect one minute and before you know they have moved onto the next phase, which could happen to be the "no way am I cooperating" phase. We'll see I guess.

K, now I'm going to go do something productive. Or else lay on the couch. Whatever.

A bumpy ride

We did it! We walked to the Co-op and it didn't rain! Yay! Of course I was exhausted from barely getting any sleep last night and turned around and came straight home instead of taking a detour like I was planning to do. And the walk was made just slightly more difficult based on the fact that I just HAD to have a coffee. That meant carrying it in one hand while steering the stroller with the other hand, because when I put the coffee in the stroller's cup holder it spilled every time we hit a bump, and trust me there are a LOT of bumps on the sidewalks in this town. Just one of the new things I've learned to do since becoming a mother!

I don't really want to be one of those moms who complains about how little sleep she got the night before, because I am quite aware that all moms have to deal with that problem, but I just can't help myself. Sofia has only slept through the night like twice, so I shouldn't really be upset that she's been waking up at night. However, she was doing good, only waking up once and sleeping the majority of the night in her crib. Then we came back from vacation and suddenly she only sleeps about four hours in her crib (if we're lucky) and then wakes up every two hours after that. I'm not handling this broken sleep very well. Every night it's hard and harder for me to haul myself out of my comfy bed to go retrieve my daughter and plunk her down beside me. Then once she's done eating I'm way too tired to do it again, especially with the possibility that she may not go back to sleep in her crib.

Anyway, I know there's not much I can do about it. Babies will sleep through the night when they are ready. The main thing is, Sofia is eating and pooping and growing, and that's all that really matters. Now, it's 9 p.m., time for me to go to bed.

Out and about. Or not.

I'm quickly learning how much work goes into just getting myself and Sofia ready to go out anywhere. Yesterday we were going to go for a walk. After I made sure she was dry, fed and dressed for the cool weather, I got myself dressed and packed up her diaper bag with all the essentials (extra diapers, clothes, blanket, socks, toys etc etc etc). I strapped her in, put the dog upstairs and locked the safety gate and off we went! We got up the street, around the corner and one block away when I realized there was an enormous dark cloud hovering right above us. Then I heard the thunder. Then I felt the raindrops. After all that I turned around and headed back home. It rained for the rest of the afternoon and we didn't get to go for our walk.

Boooooo.

So today we will go through it all again and I'm hoping this time the weather cooperates. Oh well, even if it doesn't it gives us something to do! The joys of having a baby :)

The Beginning

I've decided to start a new blog. This one is going to be a place for me to brag about/vent about/reflect on my new life as a mother. It's very different from my old life, the one where I spent my days working for a newspaper, stressing out about deadlines and chronicling the life of everyone around me. Now I get to focus on MY life, and the life of this little person I created (with the help of my husband of course hehe). So far it's been boring at times, sometimes even lonely, but at the same time exciting. There is nothing better than watching someone grow up right in front of your eyes.

I am excited to be able to write about my everyday experiences, no matter how mundane they may be. Probably no one will read this blog, but I'm putting it out there anyway.

Today has been pretty normal for me. Sofia slept in! Of course I'm sure that had to do with the fact that she was in my bed. She's such a happy baby. I put her in her Exersaucer for the first time and she went to town with all the toys. I could sit and watch her discover her surroundings forever. She is starting to get the hang of reaching and grabbing at things now. My little angel is napping now and I'm enjoying this quiet time to myself. Although I am wondering when she will wake up so we can play again ... ;)