2nd Tooth Up & Coming

Bottom right tooth has decided to join in the race to the top, still pretty weeny but SHARP.  Who knew baby teeth would be so sharp!!!  Like a razor blade.  When she gives me the big, open-mouthed grin I see the teeth... her smile is changed forever.  Still unbelievably cute and adorable, but it is a change.

First Tooth Has Arrived!

It's here, bottom left, sharp as can be, already poked through the gum.  She's been an absolute trooper, a little out-of-sorts but nothing like I've heard about with other babies.  Oh, and then there's the increase in drool.  Sometimes she drools so much she gets a little red rash on her chin.  Of course I've read that this is common when babies are teething, once again referring to other parents experience on the internet.  How did our folks handle all this when only doctors and hard-cover books were available? ;~)

The arrival and hence our discovery of the tooth was both elating and sad for me.  I was so excited to feel it and to see my baby growing up and changing... and then I was quite sad that my baby is growing up and changing.  The two-sides of parenthood.  Does it ever change?

Carrot Face

I had to post this picture, as all the rest are pretty sweet and "picture-perfect".  This was one of her first solid foot experiences and we were letting her figure out how to use the spoon herself, as you have probably guessed.  I love the expression on her face, like "what the *#$@* is going on here?".  It's fun watching her facial expressions when she gets a new food to try.  We are following the every-4-days rule, and I feel so limited by what I can prepare for her at the moment but the list of options is growing.  So far avocado, sweet potato, carrot and green beans are her favourites, and I now have garlic and oregano available for flavouring!

We have started with mashed and pureed food, by are beginning to move toward the Baby-Led-Weaning (BLW) approach now, where we provide soft chunks of finger-food and let her feed herself what she wants, rather than accepting what we put on the spoon for her.  There's tonnes of information about this on the web but the link I provided is for the original paper written by Gill Rapley (Deputy Programme Director of Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative).

It feels a lot more natural and now that she's getting better at her pincer-grasp I think it's a good time to move in this direction.  The gagging reflex still has me watching like a hawk, but I know she's practicing an important skill and NOT choking when she does this.  Took me a few goes to realize that.  If you are interested check out this funny write-up The Gagging Thing v. The Choking Thing.

I've also been hesitant to start this process as she is a late tooth-bloomer, but all the articles and mums agree that the gums work just fine so long as everything is soft enough and small enough.  So, here we go!

First Baby Fever

We just had our very first "baby fever", and yes... we are certainly first-time parents.  While we instinctively know that she's okay, (having referenced numerous websites!), there's still that niggling thing at the back of the mind that whispers... "What If" into my ever listening ear.  "What If" it's this, "What If" it's that... and back to google we go... reading other parents stories, comparing symptoms (real or imaginary), reviewing medical sites, and round and round the merry-go round.  All the while keenly tuned into every sound and action of my little girl.  And breathing.

And how many times did we take her temperature?  We'll just let that question roll around in your own imagination, I prefer not to answer that and I also think you'll have more fun that way.  In addition, I  discovered that the thermometer we are using might just be a piece of crap, giving very different readings within minutes of each other (can you imagine the loops that sent me on!).  So I check it on myself, and my husband, and then compared it to our oral thermometer... oh what fun we had!  So I'm off to the drugstore today to get a better thermometer... for next time.  In addition, after spending 20-minutes on the healthline with a very helpful and kind nurse, I discover the medical profession here will not recognize forehead temperatures, only underarm or anal (I can hardly even type that one, let alone perform it).  So underarm it is... unless of course "What If" should scream loudly at me next time.

As we are still relatively new to this town, we also googled the directions to the hospital... just in case.  I've done it before but thought it best to have it newly burned on my internal hard-drive unit (my brain)... just in case "What If" reared it's ugly head again.

All quite hilarious in hindsight and really it wasn't that big of a deal, but you can see the potential for a funny story here... if it wasn't MY kid!

FOR THE GRANDPARENTS:  she feels much cooler today and is getting lots of sleep in, so nothing to worry about if you are reading this.  I'm certain you remember your first time with our fevers?  How did you survive the night without dr. google??

6 months... a time of milestones.

So she's reached the 6-month mark, WooHoo!!  Unbelievable how quickly time goes, yet it feels like she's been here forever.  While reaching the half-year mark is a celebration... it also brings a whole big other list of things such as physical milestones, mental/intellectual learnings, new habits/patterns, etc., some of which feel a little less than celebratory.  Here, let me explain in more detail:

1. Crawling:  She hasn't quite got this one down, but she is up on all hands and feet while wiggling her wee bum around in the air.  Yes, unbelievably funny and adorable... but NOT at 3am.  It seems her perfect little body has a in-built need to perfect this new skill at ALL hours of the day and night.  We are back to waking pretty much every two-hours, and usually I find her on her hands and knees at this time, crying but still asleep.  Talk about multi-tasking!  Thankfully I can often get her back down pretty quickly but SHEESH... save it for the daytime!
2. Sleep-Regression:  See above!  She's back in my bed, waking pretty much every two hours (although its usually quick to get her back to sleep).  I've been reading that these "regressions" are common, just got to ride 'em out and she'll eventually go back to her "normal" habits (hers, in all fairness, are pretty good).  Now, if only I can be assured that Mum will go back to "normal"!! 
3. Eating Solid Food:  We've begun to introduce our little girl to the world of eating solid food, stuff that comes from the kitchen rather than mummy.  She's not been a super huge dive-in fan, but certainly lets me know when she wants to try more.  We've had oatmeal, avocado and sweet potato so far.  While it's super fun to watch her figure out "how" to eat, it also adds a lot more to my day:  preparing food (shopping, cooking, cooling, mashing, etc.), feeding her (and wrestling the spoon out of her slippery hands), cleaning up (highchair, hands, face, legs, feet, bib, mum, floor...), and then of course the dishes (yet again).  I am impressed how she lets me know if she wants more or not, thats pretty cool.
4. Poop.  So with the introductions of solid foods, so changes the poop.  No need to go into detail here, but as we are using cloth diapers (and got rid of our diaper service) I am cleaning up poopy diapers at least once a day.
5. Growth Spurt.  Along with reaching the 6-month mark comes the second major "growth spurt" which means more frequent cluster feeds which they do to increase the milk production.  Smart little beings that they are.  Between this and the introduction to solid foods it makes the majority of our day about feeding and food.  Oh, and squeezing my meals in when I remember too.
6. 26-week Developmental Spurt.  I read about these in the Wonder Weeks book, and so far she's been right on schedule with these milestones.  These "Developmental Spurts" are pretty cool actually, although they can bring along a whole bunch of "not-the-norm" behaviours until they work through them, including interruption of sleeping habits (see above), crankiness, neediness, etc.  Right now we are in the "World of Relationships" spurt, and the "separation anxiety" is apparently just around the corner.
7. Countless Other New Things.  In addition to the all of the above she must be experiencing so much more in her little brain, body, emotions:

• vocal chords - we are hearing all kinds of new, loud and often high-pitched sounds.
• discoveries - her little fingers are becoming so dextrous, holding and feeling tiny little things.
• digestion - her digestive system working differently with the introduction of solids
• teeth - although we still have no sign of teeth there must be a bunch of stuff happening beneath her gums.
• hair growth - yeah, not traumatic or anything but just wanted to mention that it is finally coming in, she looks like a fuzzy duckling as you can see in the photo!

And a bunch of other things we can hardly even imagine.  With all of this going on, she is doing AMAZING!  Even with the sleep regression, she is a wonderful being and she melts me.  Sometimes I wake up to feel her little fingers exploring my arm or hand during the night and it is the most wonderful sensation, even through the sleepy haze.

Drool. Never Been a Big Fan

Before I had my own, I remember meeting babies with a constant stream of drool hanging out of their mouth soaking everything in its path.  I was never a big fan of drool, having grown up with two older brothers and their friends.  I have memories of being held down while a string of spit was stretched to it's farther extension without breaking onto my face... hopefully!  When my little bundle of joy began to grow bigger I was grateful she wasn't much of a drooler.  Ha.  Times change.

She's nearing the teething stage and Let the Drooling Begin!  Reading up on the internet I've learned that a baby's saliva doesn't appear until they are a little older.  So hers arrived and that was cool.  And then the teething began, at least that what we hope all this drool is about.  To be honest she still doesn't drool quite as much as some babies I've been around, but when you aren't a fan of the drool and have childhood memories of "spit strings" then, well... you get the idea.

At least I'm no longer squeamish about it and can wipe it up with my bare hands without so much as a grimace, I've really come a long way.  And the soaking wet chin on my shoulder (plus my soaking wet clothing) is from my very own little girl, and somehow it really does make it all that much better/tolerable.  And lets be honest here, when you are this cute and can smile as in the photo above, you are bound to be given some wiggle room with your natural body functions.

Everyday I have a little swipe around her gums to see if there are any protrusions, but nothing yet.  Just the drool.  Oh, and the constant gnawing on anything and everything especially things that are hard or have firm edges.  I've found that her cloth toys (especially Mrs. Bunny and Mr. Cheetah) are great because they ABSORB the drool before it makes its way anywhere else, what a wonderful invention.  And I'm happy to wait for the teeth to come, we are breastfeeding afterall.

A Facial Expression is worth a Thousand Words

We went on our very first hike a few weeks back, just a 90-minute walk through pristine BC forest complete with a waterfall, mossy trees, standing in the icy cool river, and a little rest on a grassy knoll.  It was a perfect day, and the extra 15lbs I had to carry was an added bonus for my cardio-experience (especially uphill).  I suspect the up-coming crawling sessions will also add to my cardio needs, but lets leave that for now.  So far, she hasn't managed to coordinate the whole thing, just pieces of it.

This picture begins to show the personality that is emerging and I suspect she's going to be quite a character!  Can't tell you how much joy that brings me, getting to know her more and more each day.  Right now, she's on her belly having rolled-over for the 100th time this morning and while she can pull her knees under her, she has no concept of what to do with her arms yet.  And she doesn't know how to roll back over onto her back when she needs to relax, that's mum or dad's job at the moment.  Only a matter of time until it all comes together, and I'm willing to wait because I know what comes after that!!

She recently went through a rough sleeping period, I suspect because of all the physical development that's going on.  Up almost every two hours for a few minutes each time, I was definitely feeling it.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised last night when she did a 5-hour sleep, followed by a 10-minute feed at 2:30am, and then a 4-hour sleep after that.  Honestly, I feel like the bionic woman today... I haven't had that much sleep at once in over 4 months now.  I am reminded yet again that everything comes in cycles, like the seasons, except a baby doesn't come with a calendar... I never know when the winds will change direction.  So, bend like the willow trees, flow like the rivers, and try my best to take each day, and night, as it comes.  That way I won't miss the small stuff.