Adventures in Teething

It's fall!

I believe our little princess is teething.  At least, I hope she's teething because she's absolutely miserable.  Drool everywhere, fierce chomping on everything, red cheeks with eczema (we're thinking that's because of the intense amount of saliva she smears all over her face AND the fact that she's now sleeping on her belly most nights).  She's doing angry screaming one moment and then babbling and giggling the next.  Speaking of babbling, she's talking up a storm!  It's hilarious and seemed like it turned on overnight.  We went and bought her some new toys over the weekend which she is thrilled with, so that helps distract her when she's upset.

Technology Wiz

Hey!  I'm ready to play!  Who care's if it's 1:15am?

Cheerios were fun to pick up but she didn't really know what to do with them.  :)

Beautiful sleeping baby

My little Coug!

And, of course, her sleep hasn't been that great.  I can't exaggerate and say TERRIBLE, because she's really only waking up once or twice a night and USUALLY she goes right back to sleep after we get up and put her pacifier back in her mouth.  Last night, however, she was up at 1:15am and didn't go back to sleep for another hour.  And then she was asleep for fifteen minutes and woke back up again.  I brought her into bed with us and she slept through until the morning (of COURSE).  I'm really hoping the phase of waking up is over soon, although we really don't have too much to complain about since it's a pretty quick fix.

Standing up with her new toy

Eight Months!

Our little girl is eight months old today!  She is the funnest little girl ever.  :)

Things she can do now:

She easily eats a half a jar of baby food each evening and happily does so.  We've gone through all of the jarred vegetables I could find at the grocery store, so now we're on to the yummy stuff: fruit!  She devoured the green beans, which I was shocked at because they smelled AWFUL and looked like, well, poop.  And I haven't eaten a single green bean since, uh, childhood, so she definitely didn't develop a taste for them when I was pregnant.  Tonight she had bananas and loved them.

She rolls over!  I picked her up at daycare one afternoon and Lesley says to me, "I have something to tell you but I don't really want to," because she understands my pain of missing milestones.  I knew immediately what happened and said, "She rolled, didn't she?!".  Lesley said, "Not once, but twice!".  I was really excited and glad to hear it, so I took her home and demanded she roll for me.  Of course, she didn't.  :)  The next day I finally saw her do it AND got it on video, and it's what she does pretty consistently, now, when we put her in her crib or on the floor to play.  She also pushes pretty hard with her legs when she's on her back and can sometimes turn herself around while laying on her tummy if she's enticed by a toy or Fiona or Joe.  I'm definitely mourning the loss of the little freedom I had to leave her on the bed for five to ten minutes and know she'd be in exactly the same position I left her in when I came back.  Now she could roll right off the bed!

It's hard to leave this face in the morning.

She's got TWO teeth we can see under the gums.  Another morning at daycare Lesley asked me if she was teething to which I answered, "I don't think so...I can't see or feel anything there yet".  That afternoon she pulled out the flashlight and said "LOOK at her teeth!" and there they were, two small slits of white barely visible with the boost of light.  It IS pretty exciting to share these new milestones with someone else who thinks they're pretty exciting too!  Plus she often catches things I don't catch or can give me advice since her daughter is about a year older than Zoë.  How lucky!  Lesley says it could be a week or two before the teeth poke through.  I instantly got sad thinking about the loss of her gummy toothless smile.  It was the first time I felt immediate sadness thinking about how fast she's growing.  :(  Somehow the mental picture of her smile and how it is going to change made me especially sad.  So weird.

She is incredibly vocal making all sorts of weird sounds.  She makes them when she's eating, pooping, playing, pretending to sleep in her crib, and in the car.  Sometimes they are quite alarming until I look at her and realize she's happy and not mad.  She's enjoying blowing raspberries into her food and at random moments throughout the day.  Her grasp is inTENSE and she flails her arms so hard that if you happen to be in the way of them it'll sound like you've gotten a good slap to the face.  She grabs my face and skin now and if she holds it for long enough it can hurt.  She's still leaving her earrings alone, which is great, though she HATES getting them cleaned with a cotton ball and alcohol.

She LOVES swim lessons which we're doing twice a week at the Federal Way Community Center.  She has a great big grin on her face the entire time we're in the (freezing cold) water until the end of the half hour when the exertion has clearly caught up with her.  She does underwater glides like a champ, though I'll admit that pushing her underwater was hard on mom.

Yesterday we went to the fair (a yearly tradition for Chris and me) and, per tradition, ate our way around in a clockwise fashion from the blue gate, towards the stables, past the rides, and back again to the main pavilion.  Delicious, and Zoë had a great time looking at the animals and people watching until it started to pour, at which point she melted into unhappiness for our ride home.

I can't believe we're 2/3 of the way through her first year.  The holidays will be here before we know it and then it'll be her first birthday.  CRAZY.  It is going way too fast.  I just want her to stay little forever!

Baby's first Puyallup Fair!!!

How long until Dedo can get you some chicks for the farm?

The Last Bit of Summer

We survived our first road trip and family vacation with Zoë, and that's really saying something considering how sick she got.  She was great in the car on the ride down there, slept for a good chunk of it and we were worried about how much sleeping she'd be doing at night since she did the bulk of her daily sleeping amount during the day.  The night was as rough as we though it would be, but only because she got sick.  :(  The next morning we knew something wasn't right with our little girl, so Chris called the Sunriver Medical Center to ask if we could bring Zoë in to get her temperature taking so we would know (because we of course didn't have a thermometer with us on vacation).  They said of course and if she needed to see a doctor they would get her in to see him in the afternoon.  Sure enough, she had a 100.9 degree fever and we stayed to see the doctor who confirmed that she had an earache and an upper respiratory infection and prescribed some ammoxicillon and lots of rest.  So, we laid low for the weekend.  We did get some good bike rides in and of course went to Goody's and the Hot Lava Baking Company every day (duh, you gotta eat!), but I'm looking forward to our next trip without a sick baby!

Baby's first bike ride!

At the observatory

We had lots of time to relax on the couch with the sicko.

My first two weeks of school have been rough.  I'm not sure if it's because I haven't taught for the last 7.5 months (wow) so I'm out of practice, or if I'm feeling like I'm being pulled in a million directions (having a student teacher is tough, even though he's pretty great!), or if I'm just sad when I come home because I know how much of the day I've missed with Zoë.  She and Chris came to visit at work yesterday during my planning period and lunch and it was fantastic!  Baby smiles in the middle of the day?!  Yes please!  She IS doing great at daycare (had one crying day last week, but that's it) and has a big smile for me when I pick her up, which is fun.

We are starting swim lessons on Monday!  Five weeks, twice a week, we'll be at the Federal Way Community Center.  I can't wait!!!  

Mmmm, squash!

Zoë had a weight check appointment last week to make sure that she's still gaining weight even though we dropped her calories from 27 to 24 last month.  She's doing just fine and is in the 50th percentile for her adjusted age.  Woo hoo!  She's started eating some solid foods/purees.  We started with squash which got some really big smiles and she ate a TON!

Mmmmm, peas!

We've been having peas the last couple of days which she doesn't seem as into but is not making any terrible faces, either.  There is absolutely no way to keep that kid clean when she's eating.  She rubs her hands on her mouth and then on her eyes and all over her face.  By the end of the event she had peas in her eyelashes and up her nose.  Oh well, baths are fun, too!

Finally, it's Grandparent's Day!  I didn't know there was such a thing until about two years ago when one of my co-workers mentioned it, so it was fun to scheme with some of my other mom friends about what we could make for the grandparents.  My talented photographer friend, Karah, came up with the idea to have the babies "paint" with their feet and to take pictures to frame with their art.  Zoë was NOT a fan of the project, but she still made beautiful pieces to give to her Baba, Dedo, Grandma and Grandpa.

I'm not ready for this

Dear Zoë,

I'm not ready to go back to work.  If you had asked me back in April if I wanted to go back to work I would have looked at you, you adorable blob of baby and said, "yes, that would be fine, how much could I possibly miss?"  You ate and slept and spit up everywhere.  Every once and a while you opened your eyes and looked at me.

But now, oh now.  Now you smile and giggle and sit up.  You coo and babble and screech.  You grab toys and throw them on the ground.  You follow me around the room with your eyes.  You accompany me to Target and Joann and Petsmart on errands (and sit in the cart!) that are not exciting to either of us except that we share it with each other.  We go to mom and baby group on Wednesdays and both have a great time with people we are so thankful to have met.  You love when Dad walks in the door and when he dances with you in the living room.  Or tells you a funny story or anecdote.  I have watched you grow from a two pound twelve ounce speck to a thirteen pound hulk of a baby.  Every day you do something AMAZING and new!

It is not helpful to know that in November I will have a long weekend with you at Thanksgiving, or to know that merely three weeks after that that we'll have two whole weeks off for Christmas.  You see, I'm used to being with you always.  I haven't missed a thing.  And inevitably, I'm going to miss something with this being at work eight hours a day schedule.  I'm pretty sure that every moment I'm away from you I'll be thinking about you and wishing you were there with me.  Isn't it appropriate to teach with a baby on my back?

I know you're going to be really well taken care of.  We spent some time yesterday at the daycare in the morning together and the kids love you.  Lesley is going to watch you carefully and take the best care of you.  She is patient and kind and we love her very much.  Sure, you got wacked in the head a few times and a little overcrowded and overwhelmed with all of them in your space for so long.  And yes, it took you an incredibly long time to drink your bottle because it wasn't warmed up and because there was so much that distracted you as you ate.  OK, these things made me worry.  At our house it's quiet and there aren't any small children trying to pat your head and give you kisses all the time.  Your dad said a really smart thing yesterday that made me feel a little better:  "The novelty of Zoë will wear off and she'll have lots of space, don't worry".

Plus, it'll be like having baby group every day!  You're going to learn how to play with other kids, clean up (we'll practice the clean up song at our house, too!), take naps on schedule, learn to share, do art, run circles around the school bus tent that all of the kids there are absolutely in love with.  You'll spend time outside every day climbing and sliding and running around screaming with other little people.  It's going to be so good for you to be around all of those kids all of the time.

And of course I feel guilty.  But, that's nothing new.  :)

Tomorrow is going to be the hardest day of my life, I'm pretty sure.  Yes, when you were born there were lots of scary moments, but I think that this will be harder.  I know how much I love you and how great you are and I just don't want to miss a minute.  I hope to surround myself with other working moms who I'm sure will be willing to give me a hug when I need it.  I am sad and mad and exhausted from being drained from feeling all of this emotion.  Only five more wake-ups until the weekend.

I love you more than I'll ever be able to describe to you and I can't wait until summer vacation starts!

Love,
Mom

Seven months!

Zoë is seven months old today!  She had her big follow up therapy appointment last week, is continuing to grow and do new things every day.  We're heading out to Sunriver for our first family vacation tomorrow and really looking forward to it.  Zoë's going to have lots of new firsts this weekend (baby's first bike ride, baby's first round of putt putt golf, baby's first Goody's ice cream...) and it'll be a good last hurrah before meetings for school starts on Monday.  But more about that later...

Zoë can now:

1) Sit up!  Yes!  It's true!  She is a sitting baby!  OK, I still wouldn't walk away from her and expect her to still be upright when I came back 100% of the time, but the MAJORITY of the time she's still upright when I get back.  :)

2) And within the same theme...she can sit in shopping carts and restaurant high chairs.  No more Baby Bjorn while shopping or placing the carseat in the bed of the shopping cart.  Sure, she still needs towels and blankets to bumper her on the sides, but it's still fun to be able to have her upright when we shop.  She also sits in her high chair in our kitchen and loves it.  It's handy because we can put toys in front of her and she can play with them (which wasn't possible with the Bumbo since it didn't have a tray).  Well, that is until she throws them on the ground.  But we usually have a good three or four minutes until they're all gone.













3) Pass items back and forth between her hands.  Apparently that's a big deal.


4) Drool.  Seriously, she is a drooling machine.  We're pretty sure she's teething because she's definitely become a lot more cranky at random times.  Nothing big, just some inconsolable crying until she either gets Sophie, the frozen teether, or her pacifier in her mouth.  I can't feel any teeth, but they've got to be on their way.

5) She's way more vocal.  I would say she likes the sound of her own voice.  In the car she is hilarious (which should be interesting on our 7.5 hour drive to central Oregon tomorrow) and screech/yells most of the way wherever we're going, if she's not sleeping.




6) Endure tummy time for WAY longer.  I credit the four foot wardrobe mirror from Target we place on the ground in front of her.  She's even learning to turn her body into an almost-roll from her back, just not quite there yet.

Growing so fast!

Therapy

Zoë had her follow up therapy appointment today at Valley Children's Therapy with the neonatologist, OT, PT, nutritionalist and nurse.  What a team!  I was nervous that Zoë would be thrown off by all of the people in the room, which seemed to be the case in the beginning, but once she was down on the floor playing with some toys she was just fine.  It was interesting to see what the team did to test her development and I think they asked us every question in the book!  She got the "gold star standard" for a four month old and is well on her way to accomplishing all of her developmental goals by the seven month mark (when we go back for another appointment).  This team will continue to use her adjusted age until she's two.

Some recommendations from them...

-We should stop using the Bumbo chair.  Apparently, it sucks for developing the muscles Zoë needs to sit properly because the seat is lower than where her feet stick out and that doesn't help her learn how to sit the right way (she could learn to be hunched over, not cool man).  We are going to use the Boppy to help support her (she doesn't need much!) and we need to find a high chair so she can sit in that to eat.

-We need to stop encouraging her to stand.  Apparently (especially because she's a preemie) her reflex is to push against whatever her feet are touching and we need to encourage her to contract her body rather than push out because she'll need those muscles to crawl and eventually walk.  Apparently standing on our laps or in her jumper/excersaucer encourages her to use both legs at one time doing the same movement rather than alternating, which is what she'll need to be able to do to crawl AND walk.

-Having a variety of toys is great, and we're also going to get a 4ft long mirror to put on the floor so when she's on her tummy it lengthens the amount of space she can see.

-She's graduated to a level 2 nipple in her bottle because it's taking longer for her to eat.  Other than that, her feeding looks good (whew!).

Overall, she's doing really, REALLY well.  We won't see Sharon, the neonatologist, again :(, but we'll see the OT and PT again in three months when we go back.  It's so nice to hear everyone gush over her (it always has been) and see people who take such good care of her.  Zoë is a lucky, lucky girl!

Raspberries

Lunch with Dad in Seattle

Zoë has learned to blow raspberries.  And it's the only sound she does.  It started out with a very distinct "hmmm" sound she did all day on Monday and then it evolved into some spitting and finally a true hmmm blended into a raspberry.  She loves it and practices it all. day. long.  Chris says he read in a one of the baby books that babies learn one sound and then practice it until they develop another one.  Our experience this week would confirm that!

Blowing raspberries (or giving the face that Dedo used to give us when we did something, uh, that disappointed him)

Always getting big smiles

 We are continuing to get bigger and bigger and more spontaneous smiles.  They are delightful and numerous!

Playing at baby group.

Much too big, but still awfully cute.

Zoë got a new toy this week, Sophie!  For those of you who are not parents and don't know about this ridiculous teething toy, Sophie is made in France, hand painted, and made with materials that are completely safe for chewing on.  And is $22.  Seriously?  Buuuuut, "everybody has one" actually came out of my mouth when I tried to justify the purchase to Chris.  But they do!  Chris said, "so, this is what it's going to be like when she wants a cell phone..."

Uncle Connor and Zoë at trivia

Zoë is still enjoying her jumper, though she has yet to actually jump in it yet.  She does some tentative bouncing and rocking back and forth, but really just enjoys playing with the toys attached (she LOVES this airplane).

Zoë also really enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. Pretty girl!

At baby group this week Zoë was up to 12 pounds 14 ounces, not bad considering we reduced the calories she is eating from 27 down to 24 two weeks ago.  Her big therapy appointment is next Wednesday where she'll see the neonatologist, feeding therapist, nutritionalist, OT, and PT.  Wow, big party!  I'm nervous, but it seems like she's hitting milestones left and right, so I think she'll wow everybody there.  She's SO close to sitting on her own, I expect her to be able to do that within a week or two.

We had fun in our "stay in our jammies all day" day.