+ That's a first +
For the first time, I was unable to get in to pump this morning. I was running late, working on something else. And when I got down there, someone was in there. I waited and waited, about 25 minutes. But I have a meeting in less than 10 minutes. Even if I got right in, I wouldn't finish in time. So, I'll have to pump later.

And of course I didn't put pads in this morning. And I'm wearing a white tailored shirt. Boy I hope this meeting is quick (it should be).

+ Mondays. Bah humbug. +
I don't like Mondays. I know, nobody does, but still... In fact, it just got worse (work stuff). I'll write more later.

+ Update +
You're doing slightly better. The diaper rash is going away, but you still have poopies that worry me. Your food doesn't look as digested as it should be, but I admit my experience with baby poop is limited.

At any rate, you are a happy baby. You've been very silly lately, and love to laugh at yourself in the mirror. The interesting thing is while you are a happy baby, you are also a serious baby. I asked Daddy about this, and he said his mom used to tell him what a serious kid he was. I think you take after him in this way. You don't seem unhappy at all, just pensive. You will watch things going on around you, it's not like you're fixated on one thing (which would be a bad thing if you were). You just get this serious, thoughtful expression while you're taking it all in.

Your sitting is fabulous. And crawling is still RIGHT there. Your teeth are threatening to break too, and Grandma Laurie and I have bets on which one will pop first.

+ Reflections +
When you're a new mommy, time kind of flies by. Okay, there's no "kinda" about it - it flies by. And you remember snippets of those early days, when you first brought home your tiny baby, and you think you remember enough to savor it forever. Then something happens to jolt you back x-number of months (years?) and you're there again, holding your brand-newborn baby. That something happened to me last night.

You're in between diaper sizes. I bought a big box of 3's at Costco, but they're 16-plus pounds, and you were only 14/4 at the doctor 2 weeks ago. I have some 2's, but figured I should buy another package just to get through a little longer before the 3's. Well, Costco only has Huggies, and the other package of 2's were Huggies we got at your baby shower. At the store on Sunday, I bought Pampers Swaddlers because they were on sale. Yesterday I opened the package to put them in your basket.

Whooooooosh! I zoomed back 7 months, and I saw myself standing in my hospital room, then in our bedroom the night after we brought you home. It was the smell of those diapers (which I like, anyway), and it just flooded me with this rush of the emotions I had when you were first born. I remembered how excited, and tired, and truly scared I was. And how utterly full of love and wonder for you, my tiny daughter. I couldn't believe anything could be so small and so precious, and I was so afraid of not being worthy of the task of raising you. That smell just overwhelmed me. I actually had to sit down in the glider, diaper squished to my nose, and close my eyes while I tripped down memory lane.

Wow. I am not even sure this post does justice for the emotions that smell brought up. But I think it is totally fascinating that a smell can bring back things even the most recent visual memories cannot.

+ Cruddy day +
Today is not a good day. To tell the truth, I suspect you might have celiac. :( You have had bad poopies ever since Sunday. You had a slightly upset stomach before that, which is the only reason I'm not fully convinced. But the, well, quality of those poopies has deteriorated. What has this done, besides make you uncomfortable? It's resulted in horrible diaper rash. Bah! You've made it 7 months without diaper rash, and here we are. I just hope the Desitin helps. And I think you'll be rolling around on a blanket and waterproof pad buck naked tonight. Auntie Chelle will probably think that's funny.

The night itself wasn't so hot either. You woke up at 2 a.m. in a mood to play. You literally played with your binkie and stuffed elephant while talking to yourself for 1/2 hour. Just as we had both drifted off to sleep, you woke up again, screaming at 2:45. *sigh* Probably your tummy or bottom. Who knows? You did nurse back down, so that's one blessing.

Then I found out at daycare that someone TOOK your diaper rash cream. So I had to run to the store, get some, and bring it back. Not. Happy. It has your name on it now. I never thought I needed to label diaper rash cream! Yikes! I also brought some food in for you. You're apparently going to get that twice a day now. Hopefully it doesn't result in too much increased poopie (and resulting diaper rash).

Yay. Poopie talk. Must be very stimulating for everyone. Incidentally, more photos in her album now. Email me if you still need the password to our family and friends page.

+ Weekend update +
It was a nice weekend, but way too short as always. You were very cheerful this weekend, but you've been having some tummy upset. I have my theories on this, but I'll wait on that. We went to a party Saturday and then you went to Grandma Laurie's for a brief visit while daddy and I went to dinner. I think you enjoyed that. Yesterday we went to the grocery store and you had a field day. You were so good, and so giggly, people kept staring at us. Very funny.

Not so funny was something else that happened yesterday. We went to church and delivered you as usual to the nursery. Phyllis is great, and the others help make your time in the nursery a lot of fun. But we walked in to find you in a walker, with cracker crumbs on the tray in front of you. Oh, you were in great spirits, giggling and slapping your hands on the tray while you bounced up and down. Grandma Laurie nearly fainted on the spot, and I kept everyone calm, knowing I had never told Phyllis about my celiac disease and keeping you away from wheat. In fact, it simply never dawned on me that in the 50 minutes or so you're in there, they might feed you. It should have, but it didn't. Well, you also had a couple of bites of fruit (canteloupe, watermelon, lemon) at lunch, and one of the above things definitely didn't sit well. You had lots of poop, one borderline diarrhea diaper, and endless amounts of gas. Pooh. It took 3 attempts to get you down for the night (which is the only part you're usually really good about), and you woke up at 12:30 for the first time in quite a while. This morning, more poop. I think we'll stick to our adamant no-wheat policy for as long as possible. But for the record, you were 7 months when you first had Mommy's Poison (a/k/a gluten).

Incidentally, other new developments: You are beginning to develop separation anxiety. You call for me when I leave the room (usually a squeal), and cry when someone you don't know takes you from my arms. You love the throw-it-and-make-mommy-fetch game. Mmmmm. You love to sit and you're trying really hard to figure out how to do it yourself. On the changing table, you are constantly doing crunches and grab onto my hands whenever you can to pull yourself up. You sit very consistently on your own now. I'm amazed how much better you sit now than you did even just a week ago. So strong. You're not quite as fond of green beans as you used to be, but you love love love lemons. Ummmm. I guess that's it for now.

+ Boys are fun! +
Of course, if you believe Knott's Berry Farm: "Boys are Dumb. Throw rocks at them." But, you see, I don't believe them! Last year, I ordered Jeniffer to bring us a husband for you. And guess what?! Oh, wait. I can't tell if she succeeded or not. You might have a little husband on the way, or a little best girlfriend. I'll just have to let her tell first. :)

Congratulations, Jen! I'm just glad s/he cooperated for you!

+ Boobie gymnastics +
I'd like to apologize in advance to both the male readers of my journal here (i.e. my brother), and to those female readers who could care less about my breastfeeding experiences (I pity you considering that's often a major topic of this journal). With that said, I have to tell you all about my beautiful daughter's newest antics.

First, she's still quite fond of the pop-off-and-look-around game. And the pop-off-and-sit-up-to-watch-TV game. Yes, these are fun (for one of us). Now she is to the point where she can pretty much find The Boob by herself if she wants to. She knows where it is, what it smells like, and what it should be doing (feeding her). If she is sitting nearby, she will roll over and seek it. This may involve sitting up, bending backwards, climbing my shirt... The latter is quite entertaining, I might add. Then there are copious amounts of pawing and pulling at anything in the way (shirt, necklace, bra, whatever), and simultaneous whining. She shows remarkable agility and strength, and I figure within a month she'll be crawling up, pulling my shirt up and latching on without my involvement at all. I routinely joke that she's more interested in my boobs than a prepubescent teen boy. If she's hungry and someone else is holding her, she is usually fixated on my bosom. God forbid I should be wearing something even moderately revealing! She gets this look on her face that could stop anyone in their tracks. Ugh.

One thing bottlefeeding moms don't have to worry about. :) Having said that, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know that look of rapture I see on her face when she gets what she wants at last. It's a look she only gives to me. That's pretty groovy.

+ Friday and Piccies +
Today... you are SEVEN MONTHS OLD. Holy cow, that's hard to grasp. Seven months. I have now had you in my life for almost exactly as long as I knew I was pregnant (one month-ish was before I knew, and one month-ish was cut off the end by your early arrival). Man, it seemed like I was pregnant longer than I've had you in my life. Yes, it really does seem like you've always been here. What a trick the human mind plays on the concept of time when it involves someone you love.

Last night was a good night. Lots of squish (a/k/a butternut squash), mixed with rice cereal and water. You liked that quite a bit. And you played with Michelle a little and went to bed perfectly. We got lots of laundry done and watched Survivor. Someday you'll think we were really silly for watching that show. Ach, well.

Tonight? We get to hang out with daddy. I'm making santa fe sausage from TJ's and organic sweet potato fries... maybe I'll even let you taste the fries if I can mash them up enough. I probably can. I'll bet you'll love that.

Also, new pictures in your 7-9 month album. Link is on our family page. Thank Auntie Chelle for reminding Mommy to do these.

+ Sitting +
You definitely are perfecting the art of sitting. You can sit with very little wavering for long minutes at a time. Go, Ceili! You're especially fond of doing this while reaching for the doggie. In fact, you're especially fond of getting into crawling position and reaching for the doggie. Or being held and reaching for the doggie. I'm sensing a pattern (and so is the doggie). Heh.

You're eating like it's going out of style. I can't keep babyfood stocked! I'm going to have to start making it because it's too stupidly expensive for how much you get. I know most people just suck it up, but I don't know if I'm willing to do that. We'll see.

+ Amazon +
So I have a $10 gift certificate for Amazon.com. What should I do with it?

+ Pssssst +
Guess what I did? I made a password section for family and friends. I finally did it! Don't ask me how, and don't ask me how long it took. But it worked! You can email me at work for the password if you have that address. Or you can email me at home: kerry@prettyinpurple.net and I will send you the login/password. If I don't know you in real life, please identify yourself. If I've ever chatted with you in email, I will undoubtedly let you in so please don't be afraid to ask for access. If I haven't chatted with you, please identify yourself and I'll still probably let you in. I just want to kind of keep tabs on who's reading.

Of course, the photos will be linked there too. But I will continue to post here, uninterrupted. That place will just have more personal stuff I don't wish to share with the general public. :-) Thanks!

+ Just a quick update +
Geez, I can't believe you're almost 7 months. I know everybody says that, but I am serious. I have to do the math every time I think of it, because I just can't believe it's true.

Anyway, you had a fun weekend. More book shopping on Saturday with Uncle Chris and Mason, another baseball game (with Melissa this time) on Saturday evening, quick shopping with Grandma Laurie yesterday and a nice walk last evening now that the weather's getting nicer. I'm looking forward to doing that more often.

Missy bought you a beautiful pink Diamondbacks outfit too, which she gave me today. Oh, it's so cute! I can't wait to see you in it. I'll definitely take pictures.

Which reminds me, I need to print out this blog so far before something happens and I lose it to a technical glitch. Of course, now that I said that, I've cursed it to happen. I'd better get on that.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love you? By 4:00 every day, I'm dying to go home and see you.

+ Hip-py chick +
Well, it was a super-quick checkup as predicted. But he did do x-rays, and they looked fine! Even daddy said they looked fine, thank God! You'll have to go back in February for one more checkup, and the doctor said it would probably be just as quick a checkup. Whatever. As long as he's looking at the x-rays closely enough to know they're fine, I'm happy. Yay!

+ Did hell freeze over? +
Seven o'clock p.m.
Six o'clock a.m.
That's how long you slept. Wha-? You had a VERY slightly elevated temperature, I'm sure left over from your immunizations. So I gave you a dropper-full of baby Tylenol around 6:30. You had squash again last night but really didn't want much of it. That was strange. So after a final good nursing at 6:50, you were rubbing your eyes a lot. I put you down and you were out like a light. Tired myself, I retired at 8:30. I never even heard daddy come home from work - I was very sleepy. This morning about 5:15, I woke with a start! I ran into your room and put my hand on your little back and you stirred a little. Still breathing. *phew* You started stirring for real again around 6:00 and I heard you kick on your Fisher Price Aquarium (another of your neat tricks) about 6:15. Up at 6:30, you were just fine. Wow.

I, on the other hand, could use some help. I nursed you at 6:30, earlier than I usually do our pre-work nursing (though I did it again at 7:30 for good measure), but I was (TMI alert) SOOOOO full of milk, I had to get it out! I pumped one side as I usually do in the morning, and got 4 oz. out in no time. The other side you emptied even faster, though I'm guessing you probably got about 6 oz. out of there. Yikes! Thanks to Michelle for the camisole things. They actually helped last night with support, and I hadn't even planned to need it for that!

Anyway, as we speak you are at the orthopedic surgeon's office with daddy for a checkup on your hips. I'm still hoping they'll x-ray them to make sure they're solid. The Dr. is a weird one as I've mentioned before. And if all we get is his quickie checkup, daddy and you will only be in there about 30 seconds, tops. I'm not sure I will feel confident that everything's okay with a super-quick check. Hopefully daddy will call me soon with an update.

+ Momma Milk +
Another good read as to the long-term benefits of breastfeeding, especially for small babies. Must be all that milkfat.

+ What else? +
Other little developments I keep meaning to log... You have an amusing new pasttime: Looking behind you over your carseat to stare at me while I'm driving. Charming. You also will open your mouth wide in anticipation if I even pick UP a pacifier/binky. You find your binky in your crib in the morning and play with it, and have gotten quite adept at putting it back in your mouth (even if upside-down sometimes). When nursing, you still suck off and look around all the time. Now though you have developed a habit of sucking off and sitting up. "Okay, I guess you're done" is my usual response. And yesterday I caught you "waving" goodbye to Maria with a swing down of your arm. Neat trick, that. She apparently taught you this and it's very cute. It's accompanied by a huge grin. :)

+ Squish +
You also like squash. What's up with that? Your grandma said maybe I'll learn to eat like you. Nah. I just figure you've got Daddy's ability to eat anything. You ate a ton of my homemade applesauce, and 1/2 jar of squash, gobbling them both down. We haven't found a single food yet you DON'T like. Wow.

+ What a big girl! +
Your doctor's appointment yesterday went very well! You weighed 14 lbs. 4.25 oz., which is the 25% - exactly what you have been since right after your birth (when you were 10%). You are 27 inches long, in the 75%! Long and skinny little girl. We knew that, though. Your head was 17 inches, and I don't know what percentile that is. Everything looked great, she said your hips felt good (yay!) and everything is as it should be.

Then you showed off for her, sitting on the table like a big girl. You sat for a long time, too. The doctor was very impressed and said "That's great. That's a 7-9 month thing!" Well, who knew? After she left, you showed me how well you can roll from sitting to a crawling position. Of course, you're not actually crawling yet, but that's just a technicality. You are SO close, I realized I must begin babyproofing, and pronto! Last night you were on the floor, playing with your Learning Table and you pushed up on all fours and started rocking for a long time. Finally, you looked up at me and started chatting up a storm. Ugh. You are growing so big, so fast.

I have some more pics, now that I finally changed the batteries in the digicam. I will post those in her newest album (not made yet) shortly. Feel free to email if you want those. I might just go back and email everyone who previously had access if I get the time. If you haven't heard from me and want in, just shout! I'm still working on the password section yet. *sigh* Someday, I promise...

+ Poor thing +
Shots today. In about an hour and a half. :(

+ Dreft stain remover +
...is some good stuff. I got ALL of the stains out of the bibs and outfits and burp cloths from last week-ish. A couple needed 2 runs through, but that Dreft stain remover (combined with Baby Care All) did the trick! Yay!

I think you might be getting sick again, dammit. You are sniffly and sneezy. It might just be our wonky weather, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

+ I'll be right by your side, come hell or water high, down any road you choose to roam +
That's from a Live song out right now I love. It makes me misty every time I hear it.

Anyway. Nice weekend, not very restful as usual. You have now eaten: rice cereal, applesauce, carrots, sweet peas, sweet potatoes and pears. Tonight it's homemade applesauce and probably in a few days we'll try green beans. I didn't mean to switch you through foods so fast, but I only bought one jar of each and you eat a lot! Last night we had 1/2 a jar of pears and a decent serving of rice cereal. Little piglet.

Mason, Chris and I bought the stuff to make your Halloween costume on Saturday. Guess what you're going to be? A purple monkey. Heh. It's basically the tiger-looking one here, only the body and tail will be lavender flannel and the ears and tummy will be royal purple. It's going to be adorable, trust me. Uncle Mason is the domestic sewing type, but he's going to show me how to do it too. Fun!

You're getting so incredibly strong. You can sit, when you don't realize you're doing it. You were sitting at Grandma's yesterday, and with me on the couch last night and this morning. The key is not drawing your attention to the fact that you're not being held. Oh, and having toys in front of you to keep you leaning slightly forward. You are also closer to crawling for me. You are almost always on your tummy now, at least doing push-ups if not on all fours. On all fours, you're mostly just rocking but that's how it starts! In push-up position, you can scoot pretty far in search of a toy.

Your sense of humor is developing more and more all the time. You love to sit with me and play fetch with "the doggie" (Princess). She jumps up on the couch with the ball, and you giggle. I throw it and you watch her run to get it, and run back. Wash, rinse, repeat. You also like to grab onto Princess's fur and beard which she is not enjoying. Oh well!

This morning you were sneezing a LOT. I really hope it's just allergies. You were rubbing your face and eyes last night too, so I hope it is environmental (i.e. pollen) allergies and not food. :-( I didn't see any real rash and your tummy seems okay, so I don't think so. By the way, poop enters a whole new realm when starting solids. I always heard that but didn't truly understand until now. I got the poopy booby prize last night. Ewwwie. It looks healthy, just very different. Sorry. TMI.

There was something else I was going to write but I can't remember. Wednesday is your (late) 6 month checkup and Friday Daddy is taking you for your orthopedic surgeon (hips) checkup. I am not worried about either, though I'm really hoping things are still okay with your hips. I think they are, but how can I really tell?

+ At last +
Well, the wait for poop is over. I was starting to get a little alarmed, but you gifted daycare with it yesterday. Thanks for sparing me, little one. I appreciate that. Last night you got the rest of the peas (there wasn't much) and some sweet potatoes. Interestingly, you seemed slightly less interested in the sweet potatoes, which I did not expect. You still liked it well enough, but maybe it was the texture that confused you. We'll see how you do tonight. You like your baby food just fine. I'm really glad. I did finally talk to the nurse today (we played phone tag yesterday) about your pooping. She said not to worry about it up to a week unless you were visibly upset (which you weren't). That's good to know.

Sleeping is still an issue, but I'm convinced it was your tummy. You will hopefully start going back to normal now. I could really use a little break from the difficult nights.

I'm working on seeing if I can pump some extra milk. Yeah, right. I can't pump enough to send to daycare! But we'll be leaving for 4 days in October, and you will probably not be going with us. I don't expect to leave enough EBM for the whole time, but I do want you to get at a BARE minimum one bottle a day. I'm going to pump the whole time I'm gone too. I'm so afraid of coming back and finding you've weaned. :-(

+ Sleep already! +
So, it's been a rough couple of days. You have definitely not been sleeping well. I'm still investigating the culprit behind this. My current favorite explanations are... You're either teething (yes, you're 6.5 months and STILL no teeth!), or have a serious tummy ache. The latter is a contender because you didn't poop once all weekend (long weekend - including Monday), and I found out this morning you didn't poop at daycare yesterday either. You must have some constipation going on in there. Last night you were making your red-faced grunty cry like you were pooping massively, but you weren't. Harrumph. I'm hoping they'll tell me when I pick you up today that you pooped and are feeling much better. I need my sleep back!

I'm still having issues with daycare. I'm not sure what, if anything, I'm going to do about them. They're giving you rice cereal now, which I approved, mixed with applesauce, which I did not. Oh well. I guess you've had applesauce now. I have a jar of it, and some homemade too, which I was saving. I wanted you to just have veggies first. Incidentally, last night was time for sweet peas - you really liked that! You ate about half a jar, and smiled through the pea grime for Michelle. Very cute. I hate the smell though. Blech. Glad you don't really have much to compare it to. Tonight we'll finish off the peas, and maybe I'll give you some apples since you apparently like those now. *sigh*

No crawling. No sitting. No standing. No walking. Don't get me wrong, I really want to keep you little forever, so I'm not rushing you. But when I see all these bigger babies doing all those things, it makes me worry a little. I don't think I should though. I think you're working on talking. And watching TV.

+ Southpaw +
I'm starting to think you might be left-handed. You definitely seem to show a preference, and really always have. Daddy says he "was" left-handed, but he was taught to be right-handed instead (which would explain his handwriting). That's what they used to do to people. I don't mind at all, except that your school supplies are going to cost more. :-) No problemo.

By the way, you really really like carrots. And carrots really really stain clothes and bibs. We're trying peas tonight. Those probably stain just as much.