I Can't Believe My Baby Is All Grown-Up and Rolling!

Kellie has been rolling (angrily) from her belly to her back since the 11th of February. I can't believe that this tiny thing can roll! To reminisce, I've posted monthly shots of Kellie.
I even caught a roll on camera today!

Less than one day old.

One month old.

Two months old.

Three months old.

Belly...

Side...

Back!

See Mom? That's how it's done!

And this one is for Lori. :)

Hi Grandma!

Aftermath

Kellie loves bathtime, but she despises the cold afterward.
This is a baby who has slept her best in three layers of clothing, a blanket, and a portable heater pointed in her direction...
in our 80. degree. house.

Pictured above is the first time Kellie wasn't upset about being out of the bath and on her changing table.

I love the small changes.

Answers

Emily: I can leave Kellie in the Bumbo for brief moments. (ie., to run and pee, to grab a burp cloth, etc.) As soon as she can reliably hold her head up, I'd feel more comfortable leaving her to grab a basket of laundry.

Heather: My IUD is the devil. I feel like I felt on the Depo shot. The devil.

Routine

We have one!

Kellie and I wake up at 7:15 and drowsily go down to the basement to pull out the knob on the diapers soaking in the washer. While the water is draining, we go back up to her room for a diaper change. After the change, we sit in front of the computer and nurse for about ten minutes. The diaper soak is now done draining and we go down to start the wash cycle. Kellie is a good sport about hanging out in the laundry basket while I relocate laundry.
While I fold laundry, she settles into her morning nap in her swing. She naps really well in the morning hours so I can get most of my cleaning done.

My baby naps!
And I'm pretty sure she sleeps through the night.
At least, I do.

This, my friends, is what happens when you try to tie-dye a burp cloth with string (instead of rubberbands). And even though you tied the string tight enough to cause a gigantic blister on your bitty finger, it still comes undone in the bucket! We'll have another go at it today. Golden Yellow, here we come!

Oh! I weigh 172 now. I wish I could say I feel like a slacker for not posting pictures...but I don't. :) I'm having the devil (read: IUD) taken out of me soon! I'm hoping that will restrengthen my resolve.

Bumbo Bumbo

Ridiculously expensive and worth every penny.

That's how I'd describe Kellie's new Bumbo BabySitter. It sits babies in an upright position long before their little muscles will allow.

Look at how happy Kellie is!
She is seeing the world from a whole new perspective!

And she's eating her O-Ball.
She loves this toy too!
It's super easy to hold and very lightweight.

It's the first toy she held and brought to her mouth to taste test.

Man! Were toys this fun when I was a kid??

PlayDate

My Mommy asked to see an up-to-the-moment picture of Kellie.
Here it is!

She had a playdate on Tuesday and this sums up how well she took it.

Alexander is the most gentle baby.
Cute little coos when he is upset or hungry.

My baby girl has a set of pipes!
She isn't timid about letting everyone know
when she's unhappy or uncomfortable.

Alexander stared at her like she was from another world.
"What is she hollering about??"

We Mommas had fun, though!

Inspired by Emily-Created by Laura (Part Two)

Nope, the BumGenius aren't my favorites. Which is funny. I really thought they would be on account of all their fantastic reviews. I think I like the snaps on Hugga Buns better. And I like the way Hugga Buns fit Kellie's skinny tush.

To each her own.

I'm selling all but a few of my BumGenius diapers in exchange for some FuzziBunz and some Hugga Buns.

This is Kellie's baby book page with her baby shower cards. Emily did this to her wedding cards.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
That girl has got talent!
I know I'll never have the inspiration that Em does,
but I like that she lets me be her copycat in my own special way.

Week 4

Co-sleeping is back with a bang.
We had the fire department at our house last night.
And I'm down .8 of a pound!

Week's Loss: -0.8
Total Loss: -7.0
Pounds to Go: 34.8

To go into further detail. I realized that the reason Kellie was waking up with sheets on her head was that I took out the wedge we'd put under the sheet for her congestion. Take that out and I'm a rollin' MaMa! Put it back? No sheets over the head since. Whew! We both missed co-sleeping. She would sleep for 20 minutes, wake up and want me to hold her. Once I laid her back down, she'd realize I was gone and cry for me to hold her again. Brutal nights.

Our smoke detectors went off for no obvious reason last night. The fire department came out, we evacuated (Kellie in a snow suit), while they did their thing we waited in a neighbor's house. When Kellie started crying (It was nearly midnight!) I took her back outside and the fire fighters let us sit in their truck. Not their engine. Their truck. Still cool!

And again, I don't deserve the weight loss. I really only followed the plan two days out of the week.

Happy/Sad

When I was a kid, part of our family dinner was to go around the table and each family member got to share one happy thing and one sad thing that happened during their day. It was an excellent way of keeping our blended family close and helping us to learn to look for the positive and acknowledge the negative. I'd like to share my happy/sad.

Happy- I am in LOVE with cloth diapers! I will never go back! Kellie has explosive and often massive breastfed baby poops. I have yet to find a diaper that holds these in. When she poops, she means business and a mess is sure to accompany said poop. Her first poop in a cloth diaper? Not a single drop of poop got out of that sucker. It was a HuggaBuns brand. A WAHM (Work At Home Mom)makes these and I bought two on eBay. I'm definitely going back for more. Miracle diapers! Kellie has yet to poop in any other brand. I'm anxious to see if all cloth diapers pass the poop test or just these fantastic HuggaBuns!

Sad- I don't feel safe co-sleeping with Kellie anymore. Three times this week, I woke up to her crying with the blankets over her face. This morning, I woke up to her crying and the sheet tucked up and over her head so tight that she couldn't have wiggled out of it had she tried. Who knows how long she cried before I finally heard her?

I don't know how I'm going to sleep at night. She's become my security blanket. I may retract my "no more co-sleeping" policy in a few days, but for now I need to think of safety and I'm just sleeping too heavily to keep Kellie safe. Sad. So sad.

Oh, the Praise I Sing For My Sling!

Kellie is a little person with big needs. One of those needs is constant human contact. She needs to know where Mommy or Daddy is at all times, and we need to be within reach or have a substitute holder-person in place for her. For the first month, this was nothing short of glorious as it gave me time to sit on my butt and watch court TV. Shortly thereafter, my Mom and Pop came to visit and were happy to oblige Kellie her need for physical contact.

Since my folks left, I've been trying to find a balance of Kellie's needs, household needs, and my needs. As I've learned, laundry doesn't wash itself. And some days I started to smell like a rotting onion.

In comes the sling! How did moms do it before slings? I know not all babies have the same high needs personality that mine does. But I also know she's not alone. Thanks to my NoJo sling, I got two loads of laundry done yesterday. Thanks to Brian, I showered today. I think a balance of needs is in our future. I wonder how long it will take to get there.

Our townhouse neighbors are painting furniture. The fumes are so overwhelming, both our neighbors and we have called in to maintenance asking about a possible gas leak. When Brian went over to see what was up, they opened the garage (Yes! They were painting in a CLOSED garage.) and came out for air. Who knows, maybe he saved their lives? I looked up paint fumes and their effects on babies. Turns out it can cause restlessness and sudden/frequent waking. So THAT'S why Kellie didn't pass out (from exhaustion!) until 8:45 a.m. Lots of crying was had last night. And as soon as she fell asleep, she'd breathe sharply and wake up suddenly. Last night was the first night in Kellie's life that I considered letting her "cry it out." Thank goodness we figured out what the problem was. She's peacefully sleeping in her sling and my fume-high is going away. Things are on their way back to normal.

Happenings (Week 3)

Monday
Kellie sleeps alone in our bed. (Very rare!)

Tuesday
Kellie dances a jig and Brian rushes for the camera.

Wednesday
Kellie cries until 5:45 a.m.

Thursday
Kellie and I go to an AP playgroup.
This is her modeling her outfit before we head out.

Friday
Terra naps with Kellie so i can get some much-needed cleaning done.

Saturday
Kellie's cloth diapers come in the mail.
We can't use them yet.
Her natural detergent (best for cloth diapers) hasn't come yet.
I just put this on her for a quick pic.
Aren't they adorable??

Sunday
I'm down!
I'm also having a haircut today.
As Brian put it, "Your hair is a fright!"

Week's Loss: -3.8
Total Loss: -6.2
Pounds to Go: 35.6

ETA:Where I Buy My Diapers
Where I Buy My Detergent
Where I Get My Questions Answered

Smiles and Diapers

Kellie smiled today.
A genuine smile.
A hey-your-my-Mom kind of smile.
She's been unintentionally smiling since we brought her home.
But this one. This one was for real.
And I gotta tell ya, her smile lights up her whole face.

Wow.

I fell in love all over again when I saw her I-meant-to-do-that smile.

She's been laughing too. She's never happier than when she's at the breast. She'll smile and coo and laugh, all while trying to eat. (Which isn't very effective, as you can imagine.) It's almost like she's pleased with herself for finding such a tasty meal. Her own little secret. Cute as all get-out.

We took the plunge!
Kellie will be in cloth diapers within 7-10 business days.
Pricey little buggers, those. But when I ran out of Luvs in her changing table basket, it made me think of how I'll never have to buy a pack of Luvs again.
That, my friends, is priceless.

We got a wipes warmer for Kellie's cloth wipes and a step-on pail for her dirty duds. We're set and ready to go.

I'm trying lots of different pocket diapers.

I ordered
3 bumGenius,
1 FuzziBunz,
2 HuggaBuns,
3 Homemade by a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom),
2 Stuffables

We went with pocket diapers as opposed to covers on account of Brian's being finicky about "stuff" touching him. (Poo, pee, diaper cream, lotion...He just doesn't like "stuff" to touch his skin) This seemed the most seamless transition from 'sposies to CD (Cloth Diapers). Wish us luck!