+ Toofies +
Oh yeah!!! You have a tooth. You woke up on Friday, 10/17 without a tooth and came home from daycare that day with one. Terribly exciting! Your other one (the lower left one) is working its way through right now, and the top ones shouldn't be far behind. Are baby teeth supposed to be crooked, though?

+ Photos +
Oh, and there are photos in her albums. Email me or post here for access if you don't already have it. Cheers.

+ Could it be? +
Could it really be that it's been over two weeks since my last update? Oh, goodness. I really must be better about this. I suppose there are some updates, most good, some not-so-good. So here we go. If I remember more, I will try to update again soon. Before you're two years old.

Sick. You were a sick sick sick little baby last week. On Sunday, you were being, well, weird. You wouldn't eat much which is very unlike you. By Monday morning you were running a mild fever. It was only 100 and you mostly seemed okay, so I gave you some Tylenol and trucked you off to school. By noon, they called and Daddy had to come get you. We got you in to the Dr. that afternoon, and your fever was 101.5. I cuddled you all evening and gave you pedialyte and lots of loving, but your fever finally spiked at 103.6 around 8. I called the nurse line, and after asking me a zillion questions, she basically told me to alternate infant tylenol and infant ibuprofen every four hours, keep you hydrated and not worry until your fever hit 105. Yowza! At 103.6, you were completely lethargic and scared the ever-living-you-know-what out of me. Then, the next morning, it was REALLY low (about 94), and slowly spiked up to 101 by noon. Daddy stayed home with you all day that day while I went to work most of the day. That night, back up to 103.3, and I wasn't sure we were going to be able to go to Seattle on Wednesday. I had backup plans in place, I'd looked up changing and/or cancelling my flights, everything.

But Wednesday, you were doing so much better, we decided to proceed. And you really were better, as it turned out. I still don't know what it was; just some nasty virus, I guess. You stayed with Grandma Laurie on Wednesday and Thursday nights, then with Grandma Carol-Ann and Grandpa John on Friday and Saturday nights. Apparently, you were very good for them and had a blast. Lots of doggie play, cuddles, and new toys (of course!). You came home from the latter home with a fabulous new walker! You're enjoying it very much at our house. To make room for it, we dismantled the swing and haven't put the pack&play back together yet. I was a little misty about the swing, like I am every time I put another outfit in your "Too Small" bag for storage. Growing so fast.

And yet, still so small. You're probably hovering around 16 pounds now. You had been plumping up, and now you're growing longer again and looking thinner all of a sudden. Might be from being sick too. :-(

There are several reasons I'm sorry we took our trip to Seattle without you. I regretted going before we ever got on the plane, but I couldn't explain why and still can't. It broke my heart to leave you and while I had fun I missed you terribly. I had to pump very frequently, and yet I still feel like my milk supply is horribly low. It probably isn't, and it's probably nearly back to normal now, but I really beat myself up about it for a few days. You're just so hungry, I find myself giving you formula sometimes after I've nursed you. And while I guess I should be glad I have it, and glad that you'll take it from me now (you used to refuse it from me), it breaks my heart at the same time. I am feeling very confused and hurt over the whole thing. I don't want to have to supplement, but I just don't make enough milk. Maybe you need more Food food.

Which is another thing... How do I know what to feed you and when and how much? Who figures these things out? I pretty much go by gut and let you lead too. But they always say to feed until the baby indicates they're not interested anymore and turns away. Yeah. Right. You've done that maybe THREE times EVER. Once you were sick and twice I was giving you peaches. Incidentally, what person, and what kind of baby doesn't like peaches? I tried twice thinking it was a fluke. Nope. You don't like peaches. Anyway, you almost NEVER turn your head from food, even well into the third container if needed!!! Yikes! Where is all this food going? You're so tiny! You're eating baby food 3 times a day, usually 1-2 containers plus rice cereal. In addition to copious quantities of milk and/or formula. Again, where is all this food going?!

You are still much more interested in standing than anything else, but it tires you out very quickly. You can crawl, that's for sure. You are starting to show interest in chasing The Doggie, much to her dismay. Heh. If you are in crawling position, you can fairly easily transfer to a sitting position, or to a kneeling position. From a kneeling position, you like to reach out for a ledge or for Mommy and Daddy's hands in order to pull up (by yourself!) into a standing position. My gosh, what happened to my tiny baby?

There's more, but I'm at work so I'll stop for now. But I have to say that the sweetest moment in recent memory came when we showed up at Grandma's to pick you up. We'd loaded everything in the car and come back to get you because you were sleeping. When we walked in, Grandma Laurie had just come down the stairs with you. You were wearing your cute green pajamas, and you were definitely at least 1/2 asleep. You blinked at us in the dim light with the MOST adorable half-smile. I put my arms out and you lifted your hands just a little so I could take you. One kiss, and you were all smiles! You were still sleepy and drowsy, and you let out these little gutteral giggles when Daddy and I both kissed you gently, over and over. It was awesome.

+ Motorin' +
Yes, so you did what I officially consider proper crawling last night. You have it figured out. And I had better get on truly babyproofing very, very soon. You did it again for Michelle, then this morning you did it again for Daddy. Sooooo strong you are! You also really like squealing now. On one hand, I want to encourage your "talking" but on the other, I don't want to encourage your squealing. We have a friend whose son squealed for years and years, and to this day sometimes cannot speak in a "normal" tone of voice. And he's seven!

3624448

+ 34th week +
Wow, that seems like a lot. Time sure flies when you're having fun (and growing up). New things you're doing (some may be redundant):

- Kisses. You give these open-mouth, tongue wagging, WET kisses. Adorable.
- Eating. You are a voracious eater, and very good at it. You're especially fond of eating and sucking on fruit. Not surprising.
- Drinking. You want to drink anything anyone in the room is drinking. You can drink (lap up) water out of a normal cup if it's held right for you.
- Sitting. Yeah, sitting like a pro. You're very very strong and can sit indefinitely (until the doggie runs by and you reach too far to catch her).
- Crawling. Sort of. Still more scooting, but faster and with more coordinated leg movements every day. There are those who would say you are crawling. Until it's more standard crawling, I don't think it's official.
- Standing. Oh so close. You can stand while holding on to something (like mommy's hands or the ottoman).
- Talking. You like to tell stories. Nobody understands what they are, but they're cute. You are using "dadada" with more regularity, but I'm certain you don't know what it means.
- Growing. You weigh a TON. Seriously. You were really plumping up there for a while. You seem to be working on growing taller now all of a sudden, but either way, you weigh MUCH more than you used to.
- Coordination. You can play with anything you want to. Hold it, bang it, throw it, bounce it, flip it, twist it, give it away, take it back, you have it down.
- Observation. Everything is fascinating. We had to stop 3 times when we were walking through Robinsons-May yesterday so you could gape at the (way too early) Christmas decorations. Christmas is going to be FUN.
- Separation. You're a momma's girl. If you see me or hear me and know I'm around, I must be holding you. I'm working on breaking you of this, but we're having some issues so far. It's cute when you hold your arms out for me, though.
- Hair. You look like Little Cindy Lou-Who over there --->

+ Piccies! +
Updated pictures on the family and friends ofoto link. There are a couple of cute ones in there. Go look!

+ Bad updater +
The update's not bad, just the updater (i.e. Me). I have been ridiculously busy at work. In fact, I had to send Grandma Laurie to pick you up on Monday because I had to work a few minutes late - and she was home sick! :( You're doing very well, though. Okay, truth be told, you're being a royal PITA. Cute and cuddly and giggly one moment, whining and screaming and writhing the next. I have deduced it simply MUST be teething, and those teeth are popping up so far I can't believe they haven't broken yet. You whine and cry when you eat, nurse, sleep, constantly. Baby Orajel does seem to help but I am only supposed to give it to a few times a day, and I can't send it to daycare (they will not dispense any medicine). Apparently you cried all day on Monday, taking almost no naps, but were pretty good yesterday. This morning you were drooling ridiculously. Very attractive.

You have decided crawling is not sufficient (though you're not even really doing that yet; you can turn in circles only). Now you're trying to figure out how to stand. Great. You can definitely stand with support when you want to now.

We went to see the Declaration of Independence on Sunday. It's touring the country. You liked that, well at least the video stuff that went along with it.

Still working on your costume. Lots left to do on that. And I know I have other updates, I just don't remember them all. I'll try to post more soon.

+ Archives +
You wouldn't think fixing the archives would be THAT hard. Boy, was I wrong. Well, they're fixed now, anyway.

+ One more thing +
I forgot to mention... You are getting so good at sitting up, it seems that's all you want to do most of the time. Our little post-bath massage turns into a little challenge while you roll around and/or do tummy crunches trying to sit up. And Tuesday morning (I think?) was the first time I half-dressed you sitting up. I put your shorts on and you were crunching and trying to grab my hands to pull up. So I helped you and you sat there, grabbing stuff while I pulled your shirt on over your head and arms, and then put your socks on. You just smiled at me. What a big girl!

+ Sleep +
This week's update from AmericanBaby.com:
"Your baby's sleep patterns are getting more predictable. By the eighth month, he'll sleep as much as 12 hours a night without needing to be fed."

Um. Yeah. And you don't need to eat every 2 hours during the day, either. I wonder if I can get one of these "experts" to come have a chat with you and tell you how things are supposed to be.

+ TGIAF +
Man, I wish I had the time and inspiration to re-design this site. I've been looking at the same stupid page since my very first O.Baby! entry. Okay, it was a pink background then, with different sidebar items, but it was the same stupid page. One day, I will re-design. I promise.

Anyway... You were such a giggly girl this morning. And chatty, too. You were telling me a story on our drive to "school" (I never call daycare "daycare" - don't ask me why. "School" just sounds better). It was very cute. In fact, you were downright adorable this morning. You smelled like lavender soap from your bath last night, and your hair must have been dry enough before getting smooshed, so it was still soft and going in all the right directions. You were smiley and happy, without nose-running or eye boogers which sometimes accompany morning-time in our house. In fact, you were up on all fours grinning at me when I walked into your bedroom this morning. Playing by yourself happily. What a sweet baby. Mornings are definitely your best times.

I never mentioned that we brought you in to work last Friday, did I? Well, we did, and you were being extraordinarily shy. You hardly smiled and did a shy-dive for my shoulder a half-dozen times. Charming. But everyone was just blown away by how beautiful and aware you are. I keep hearing about it, even still.

Sleeping is still an off again/on again process. Some nights are wonderful, some okay, and some awful. Last night was just okay, up at 1:00 and 4:00, and the night before was nearly wonderful, up once at 3:00. I may be used to the unpredictability of our nighttime sleep patterns, but they still aren't easy. And I still wake up tired despite my best intentions. Oh, well. Such is life with an infant (and yes, you are still an infant, no matter what Grandma Laurie says).

Your poop, btw, is finally back to normal. We've been very simple with your dining in the last two weeks, just momma milk, applesauce and rice cereal and it's seemed to help. Yesterday we went back to pears, and you'll get just pears and milk and cereal for the next week. It's back to square one, and I am praying that whatever triggered your last tummy issue (wheat?) doesn't sneak into your diet again anytime soon. Ugh.

You LOVE the doggie. I can't wait until you start chasing her around the house. I'm still not completely sure why you're not crawling yet, but you seem content to sit on all fours and rock and hop on your legs. Sometimes you even push up to a position that looks like yoga (cat something? Legs and arms straight, butt in the air - what's that called?). Sometimes you straighten just one leg, like you're going to sit or stand. Sometimes you reach for a toy and get there by scooting and rolling over. But genuine crawling? Nope, not yet. Sitting, yes. That you have down. You can even stand for a very small, finite period of time, holding onto something. But I haven't trusted you enough to let go very long yet. It'll come. Before then I really MUST lower your crib. This weekend, hopefully, I'll finally get that done.