I had my first truly terrible mommy moment today. (Okay, maybe second - the time I tried to put Henlie in her rocking chair that was by the door and knocked her head on the doorknob was pretty bad, too.)
I worked, so I was getting ready to take Henlie to Matt's mom's house, as I do all days I work. As I typically do since it is warm and I have a whole lotta crap to carry, I took my tote bag and my pump bag downstairs to put in the car and start the car. I went back upstairs to get the baby, and the door was locked. Apparently, I locked the knob on my way out (another habit when we are leaving, because why use the key twice when you can only use it once? :))
My keys were inside.
My phone was inside.
I dashed downstairs to the car and sped off to Matt's mom's house to grab the spare key. (Thank heavens they live close by and have a spare to my house!) It was about 2:15, and kids were getting home from school. The bus was stopped. Ugh!
Then that darn bus stopped again to let my sister-in-law off at the end of their lane. Walk faster, Jenn! I picked her up to speed down the lane and grab the key, then sped back home.
The puppy was watching from the window.
I opened the door, and found my baby standing up with the help of the tote box that has my fall decorations in it. She just smiled at me. (That tote was a great drum, I'm sure.)
We got everything else together, the baby in her car seat, and the dog a treat before going back to Grandma's house.
Thank goodness everything turned out fine.
Are we really only two months away from having our itty-bitty baby be a 1 year old? Eek! She really does get more fun each day. She's one smart (and speedy) cookie who likes to keep us on our toes.
Some people say their house is harder to keep clean with a kid around. Yes, she makes messes, but our house is, in general, more clean than before she came. We have to be more diligent about vacuuming thanks to feathers and fur, and I think this is the longest our coffee table has been relatively clear. One of Henlie's favorite things to do is pull everything off of the coffee table. Solution? Don't leave anything on it (except Matt's tree . . . she has tried getting into it a couple of times, but it is still surviving :)) Our office is a lot cleaner too. When we were clearing out the nursery (because that room was essentially our storage shed), a lot of it got moved to the office, and it has stayed in disarray. Now at least half of the room is clear lol.
Speaking of those messes she makes, she loves to get into everything. And she can, too. She can speed crawl, and she can walk along furniture. She has even stood up in the hallway using the wall and the nightlight that is plugged in there. Her reach keeps getting longer as her arms and legs continue to grow. As long as it's not her own toys, she's captivated. (Her own toys are only good for pulling out and strewing about before being left alone.)
Standing on the cat toy.
She is also a "great helper." When I'm doing dishes, she will come over and pull herself up with the dishwasher door. She then tries to take out the silverware. I've started waiting to put the silverware in until the end, but then she tries to get the plates out. It's less annoying when I'm loading the dishwasher (because they're just about to get washed anyway), but it's a real struggle when she wants to pull out the clean dishes. She can even poke at the top rack. (Unfortunately, she managed to get her hand stuck in the rack one day - poor girl.) When I vacuum, she loves to come right over to check it out. She doesn't move when the vacuum bumps into her, either. I have had to vacuum around her and pick her up and move her to vacuum. I guess this is better than when I had to hold her while vacuuming or else she'd scream... Hopefully this enthusiasm will continue when she gets old enough to actually help with chores ;)
As for baby girl's runny nose, she had a bit of a relapse. Although, it wasn't as bad nor for as long. A lady in my ward brought over a trial size of DoTerra Breathe blend, and it has been quite helpful. Dr. Fullmer said it could also be a mild allergy, considering the duration and she didn't really get "sick." Who knows?
She is doing better with sleeping at night again, for the most part. This is good because when I was reminded how crappy waking every few hours is, I wanted no more children ;) However, napping is becoming more of a struggle. She'll nap after nursing, but not deep enough for me to put her down. If I try, she just wakes up and then there is no more nap. It's rather unfortunate because her morning nap is when I usually shower.... (she can't get into much trouble if she's sleeping, right?)
She still will eat pretty often. She's not demanding food constantly like she did during her huge growth spurt between 7 and 8 months, but I'm sure she's growing pretty steadily. We'll nurse in the morning, and she'll share some of my cereal (usually Cheerios of some sort, but not the ones in the milk! I pull her out some Cheerios before I pour the milk on). Then she'll have her own cereal and bottle. Always eating...
However, I noticed with the snacking and drinking water from her sippy cup, she wasn't demanding to nurse really anymore. She still prefers to fall asleep after nursing, so, in an effort to regulate our lives a little more and help my body figure out supply (yet again), we are on a 4-session schedule. (I don't know how this pans out when I work, but my frozen breast milk supply isn't terribly decreased because Matt gives her formula probably half the time. It's faster.) So now, we nurse in the morning (and pump, time permitting and if she didn't wake and need to nurse in the night), then 3 to 4 hours later we nurse again before (hopefully) her morning nap. We nurse before her afternoon nap (maybe another 4 hours later), and then we nurse before bed, which is anywhere between 6pm and 7:30pm. It's crazy to think she'll probably start weaning soon(ish). Once she figures out how to fall asleep without nursing, I'm sure weaning will happen pretty quickly. I anticipate those nap-time feedings to be the first to go.
She is definitely her daddy's girl. When it comes to drumming, that is. She loves to bang on things and has for quite awhile. Only now, she has found banging on doors and walls is fun. And the toilet lid. That makes an awesome drum. Even better is she can get both hands going at the same time because she can lean against the bowl. Just thinking about it makes me want to grab the Lysol wipes :)
She also loves the puppy and the kitty. She thinks it is great fun to chase the dog around. They'll even play with Mocha's gecko together. Sort of. There have been some games of tug-o-war over it, anyway :) Just wait until she learns to throw! She loves the kitty too, but the kitty is less enthused about this. Sometimes, if we're helping her, he'll let her pet him. She thinks it's funny when she gets tail in the face (our cat is FLUFFY - so it's like a freaking (soft) bottle brush in her face). In fact, Henlie's first word may have been "puppy." One day I was making dinner in the kitchen, and Dad and Henlie were in keeping me company. The dog came over and she exclaimed, "Puh-pay!" At least, it really sounded like puppy, and the dog was there.... I wasn't even watching her (busy at the stove) and I thought she said puppy. However, she hasn't tried that since. :) Not certain she knew what she was saying exactly - so we'll count it as her unofficial first word :)
Another of her tricks is spinning. Usually this happens at Grandma's house (probably because there is so much to see all at once there!) She will sit and use her legs to turn in a circle. She doesn't really do this at home, but I have seen her do it at church. Must be a more efficient way to turn around to take everything in :)
As usual, Henlie and I visited the doctor's office to get her weight this month. She weighed in at 18 lbs. 8 oz. That's another two pounds from last month. Her growth chart is opposite the average kid so far. Standard chart shoots up fast and then tapers off. Henlie's was slow at the beginning and is now taking off! Who knows where she'll end up? :) By my calculations, she hasn't grown much in height this month, though. I measured her at 27.5 in. However, she does have at least four teeth coming in, all in the top middle. The two on the right are seeming a bit quicker than the two on the left, but none have erupted just yet. (Dr. Fullmer even mentioned it looked like she had top teeth coming in - I guess standard is the two bottom middle then the two top middle, but there isn't anything on the bottom, yet.) She may actually have some teeth come her one year birthday!
