Thursday, February 24, 2011

One year ago today ...



One year ago today, we saw Jane for the first time. I nervously sneaked out of work that afternoon and headed in for my first ultrasound. One year ago today, it became real to me that there really was a baby in there. Our little bean even looked kind of like a baby. One year ago today, I saw her heart beating. One of my greatest fears had been that we would not see a heartbeat that day. It was the first of many such fears I have felt since I got pregnant and became a mother. One year ago today, I was so excited about the future. I tried to imagine what our home would look like with a baby in it. I pictured baby gear strewn throughout our house. I imagined snuggling up to our little one on the couch. One year later, my dream is a reality.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

4-month appointment

Jane had her 4-month checkup and shots yesterday. Our big girl now weighs 16 pounds and is 26-3/4 inches long. She handled the examination well, except for when the doctor looked in her ears. I don't know why she became so upset then.
Afterward, when the doctor was talking to us and answering our questions, she had a lot of things to say to him. I have never heard her talk so much to someone she barely knows before! It was hilarious. I think she may have been lodging a complaint against her incompetent parents. Or maybe she was just lecturing him for looking in her ears.
She handled the shots remarkably well. She got two this time - one in each leg. She also had an oral vaccine. She screamed a bit, but stopped as soon as I picked her up. She whimpered as we put her back in her car seat, but had completely settled down by the time we got to the car. She fell asleep on the five-minute drive home. When we got there, I changed her and fed her, and she fell back to sleep. After a 45-minute nap, she woke up feeling pretty chipper and played as if nothing had happened for the rest of the evening.
She found a new trick to do - making a smacking sound with her lips. She laid and kicked and smacked her lips and laughed at the fish. Oh, to be so easily entertained! I'll admit, I was just as entertained by watching her.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Babies and dogs


The old cliché is that a picture is worth a thousand words. I was at a loss for what to write about this week, so I’m going to give it a shot. I might not get a thousand words, but I’ll do my best.

What does this photo say to you? To me it says one thing: Trouble.

Featured we have the always adorable Baby Jane, and the cute as ever Weezer the dog. It’s been a tough past few months for poor Weezer. His people brought home a new, tiny person that makes weird sounds and smells. They don’t pay as much attention to him as they used to, because they are busy with said new, tiny person.

Fortunately for all involved, Baby Jane is becoming more independent. She’s also becoming more curious about the furry friends she shares a home with. She has a puppy friend at daycare, too.

What I like about this picture is the eye contact between the dog and the baby. Since neither of them can speak in a language I can understand, I can only imagine what this wordless glance between them means. I have a few caption ideas.

“What up, dawg?”

“In a few months, you and I are going to rip this place up!”

“If you think it’s fun to chase your own tail, just wait until I chase it!”

“I see competition for the morsels of food on the floor in the very near future!”

“I didn’t toot! It was the dog!”

“I didn’t toot! It was the baby!”

“Let’s get this homework-eating agreement settled now.”

• • •

I’ll be honest. It’s hard having pets and a baby. There have been some “What were we thinking?” moments. But things are improving. They might get worse again, but they are improving for now.

I think it’s good for children to grow up around animals. We always had dogs and cats on the farm growing up. It taught me some responsibility and compassion. Pets are great companions and playmates. They’re always willing to lend an ear without judging, and seem to know when you’re sad and need comfort. We humans could probably stand to learn from them in that regard.

So while our pets may have been temporarily displaced, I am beginning once again to see their importance. I hope Jane feels the same way. I think maybe she is already starting to.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

My Funny Valentine







I’m generally not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s one of my least-favorite holidays. I mean, it’s no Columbus Day, but it’s definitely not one that I get excited about, either.

My feelings on the matter are that I do not need some contrived holiday to inspire me to tell people I care about that I love them. I do not need a holiday to do something nice for my spouse. I also do not like that Valentine’s Day makes single people feel sad.

Those are just my personal beefs with the holiday. Plenty of other people seem to enjoy it, and I say more power to them.

My grandfather was born on Valentine’s Day. His name was Valentine. I do always think of him on this day. It must be a good time for birthdays. I have a cousin and a co-worker whose birthdays fall on Valentine’s Day as well. A close friend’s birthday is on the 15th.

As much as I find Valentine’s Day to be unexciting and a bit annoying, I must say that I did enjoy it this year. That’s because we went on our first little family trip with Jane.

We had been planning to take a trip since Christmas. Jane has always enjoyed taking baths so I thought it would be fun to take her swimming. It was. Our hotel even had a kiddie pool, which made it a lot more fun and easier with her.

I don’t think she knew what to think at first. She probably thought it was a pretty long bath, and wondered why Mama and Papa were in the bath with her! We spent quite a bit of time in the pool Sunday afternoon, and again on Monday morning. Although she was a bit reserved at first, by the end she was splashing quite nicely.

Before we headed home, we went out for lunch with a friend and went to the pet store. She saw bunnies, dogs, ferrets, snakes, hamsters, guinea pigs, and a variety of birds. Her favorite part was watching the parakeets. There were so many of them and very brightly colored. If she could have, I’m sure she would have put one of them directly into her mouth.

By the time we headed home, she was exhausted. She took a three-hour nap Monday afternoon, and went to bed at 8:30.

It may not sound like a very exciting Valentine’s Day to someone else, but it was the best one I’ve ever had. Spending the whole day with the two people I love the most makes me very, very happy.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Baby snow angel






We've been wanting to take Jane out to play in the snow for quite some time. Unfortunately it has always been too cold. But this Saturday the weather was finally suitable - a balmy 35 degrees - so we decided to try it. She seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. She was pretty preoccupied with trying to eat her hands, as usual. We did get some fun pictures that will always be special to us of Jane's first time playing in the snow.
She is also becoming quite the proficient roller. When laid on her back she rolls onto her side almost immediately and soon ends up on her tummy. Which she hates, so she begins fussing and we have to turn her over. She needs to learn to roll over the other way very soon, because this is getting really frustrating! Most babies roll from front to back first, but not our little girl! She just has to be different.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Rolling!

Our little Jane is suddenly becoming quite mobile. Two nights ago I was making her do tummy time (which she hates) and she came so very close to rolling over onto her back. She probably would have done it but some crazy lady was jumping up and down and screaming. I think it's a skill she'll be mastering very soon. She is also now able to roll over onto her stomach. My husband took a snow day yesterday and she was with him the whole day. At one point she was laying on her back on the floor playing. He turned for a few seconds and when he looked at her again, she was on her side. She eventually worked her way onto her stomach, where she promptly became upset. He took a video but couldn't get her to turn back over onto her back. Soon, though, I can feel it!
Jane is also feeling much better this week. We're nearing the end of her antibiotics for her ear infection, and she is back to her old self. I feel that the infection probably set her back a bit on rolling and some other skills, but what can you do? She's getting it now and that's what matters.
She will be four months old in less than a week! I can't believe it.