Sippy

At Lucy's six-month check-up, her doctor gave us the okay to give her water in a sippy cup.  She's really great at picking objects up (rattles, water bottles, the straw from my water cup, her own baby bottles) and bringing them to her mouth, but she is still learning the concept of tipping the cup/bottle up so she can drink.  So we had some fun yesterday with a sippy. : )

The scrunch face is a new thing, I think it's super cute.

She was completely drenched and I don't think she actually drank any.

WAHM bam, thank you m'am

WAHM, in case your wondering, stands for Work At Home Mom.
To get you up to speed, I ended up not going back to work after my 12-weeks of maternity leave was up.  This little one occupies the majority of my day:

 Now that we're past the whole sleeping all day and eating all day phase, we've gotten into a pretty good groove.

Andy is now working two jobs to make up for me not working, and it's nice because this way we see each other way more than we would have if I'd gone back to work.

We were going to tag team it and one of us would be at work and the other home with Lucy, which thinking about it now was a crazy idea.

In order to bring in a little extra money, I've been freelancing for The Placer Herald.

I thought it would be super easy reporting and writing articles, because I'd just do all that stuff while she napped, right?

If I had been gifted with a child that napped anywhere with my arms, that would be the case.  Haha.

So now I make phone calls while she's playing in her exersaucer or the floor, and write stories at night.

She's even gone with me for two photo shoots and one interview.

The first photo was a little awkward.  Lucy was about four months old, and decided not to nap all day.  So in the Moby wrap she went, and though she got a little fussy while I was taking the photo, we got it done.

This past Friday, we went to interview a 62-year-old Japanese woman, Takako, who has been living in Rocklin and studying at Sierra College for the past year.  Lucy was asleep when we got there, so I wheeled her into the lady's home and there she slept for most of the interview.  She was pretty happy when she woke up and sat in my lap for the rest of the interview.

It got a little hairy, because Takako's host lady needed privacy downstairs to do some counseling, so we went to my interviewees room and Lucy was not happy.  Takako offered to hold Lucy, but that didn't last too long because Lucy gets squirrely if someone new is holding her.

It was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be since Lucy is pretty well-behaved and happy, and just went with the flow.

We visited Sierra College today in order to take a photo of Takako at lunch.  Since Lucy didn't get much of a morning nap, she fell asleep in the car again, so I put her in the stroller (much like Friday) and wheeled her to the cafeteria.  She stayed asleep the whole time while I was taking the photo and interviewing Takako's classmates.

Working at home hasn't been too bad, but I'm definitely doing less than I was when working sans child.  At The News Messenger, I was doing about 8 to 10 stories a week, and now it's one story every week or two weeks.

One story every two weeks is about all I'm comfortable with at the moment.  Any more than that and I feel like I'm not spending good quality time with Lucy because I get stressed with more than that.

It's funny how your life changes with a kid, that's for sure!!

 

20 Weeks!

Life is never boring with this one, that's for sure.

Some of our favorite things at 20 weeks:

• Waking mommy up at 4 a.m. and then again around 6 a.m. or 7 a.m, ready for the day to begin.  Mommy needs to learn to go to bed earlier, but hey, it's so much fun messing around on Pinterest/Regretsy/Facebook and/or doing housework after bed time.
• Getting kisses from Cartman and being sniffed by Brody.
• Blowing raspberries and "talking" to us
• Being handed a rattle or her new favorite ball and thrashing/shaking it around.
• Chillin' in her Bumbo seat (mommy got a tray for it at the suggestion of her doctor and playing with toys is so much more fun now).
• Chewing on her hands and drooling!!  
• Drooling on the back of daddy's head when on his shoulders.  He's always amazed how quickly he gets doused.

• Trying to catch water during bath time as I pour it from a cup.

She's still shy with new people and doesn't handle being in loud groups very well.  Hopefully with a little more socializing that might change, but she might be shy, too.  And that's okay.

I love a good swaddle in the evening

I was starting to feel pretty smug about Lucy sleeping through the night since eight weeks.
But then I read an article online saying babies should stop being swaddled around four months, because not being able to move freely at night could inhibit crawling later on down the line.
Since I don't want that to happen (yikes!) we've decided to stop wrapping her like a burrito for bed time two nights ago.
Now I feel bad for being so smug!
We went from bath, pajama, swaddling, feeding and then bedtime by eight, and once she was down, she was down!
Sigh.
I miss burrito baby.
We still do the same bedtime routine, but it's a lather, rinse repeat of: nursing, rocking, in the crib, and waking up as butt hits the mattress.
This little cycle usually goes on three times before she goes to sleep, and there's usually a little bit of crying before she falls asleep.
Instead of sleeping straight through until six or seven in the morning, we're waking up at 3:30/4 a.m., awake for an hour and then again at six or seven.
There's not a lot going on on Facebook at that time, but it does give me time to catch up on Words with Friends : )
I've been extremely tempted to swaddle her again but I know she's going to be too big one day for that, so may as well start now, right?
Oh, I'm tired today.

Baby's first Christmas

Was just a tad stressful, not going to lie.  
Our little peanut gets just a wee bit overwhelmed in large groups, and as I've done more and more research, learned is pretty common for babies.
Over-stimulation at it's finest, Andy and I took turns holding our screaming Mimi in a dark room playing a white noise app on our phones.
This happened at the Dumm Family Christmas Party, Christmas Eve morning at Andy's mom's house, Christmas Eve night at his dad's and Christmas dinner at my grandparents.
Although now that I think about it, she's pitched a fit when we're visiting just his mom and grandma, or my parents.  It's usually on days where she's been on a nap strike. 
This holiday definitely went by in a blur.  I feel like I wasn't really present at each family event because I was either in the thick of things with an upset baby or in a different room with her finally sleeping.
I think we both felt that way.  To anyone who feels like I wasn't fully listening when they were talking to me at these events, I'm sorry, but I wasn't.  Is this that mommy brain people talk about?
A big thing I learned from hubs is that my anxiety over feeling judged by family members when she's screaming her head off after reaching her socializing limit makes it harder for me to calm her down.
I can't help it.  I feel so self conscious, like I'm failing, when I can't get her to calm down right away.  That coupled with people staring (not in a mean way, but in a, "Hey, that baby who is my relative is crying" way) and then offering advice on what might make her stop adds to my anxiety.
The last straw usually arrives around this comment, "Oh, I don't mind that she's crying."
Sometimes that's said when someone else is holding her, she's screaming, and they don't want to give her up, since they don't mind it.
Well, I don't like hearing my baby scream.  So hand 'er over.  And for goodness sake, stop staring while I dig in my bag of tricks for a way to soothe Goose, and making comments.  It shifts the contents of that bag and makes it harder to get them out.
Andy and I are really the only ones who are able to talk her off the ledge when she's that upset.
Which worries me for when we're actually ready to have someone babysit her so we can have a date sans baby.
Sometimes I worry that the reverse isolation has made her a mama and daddy's girl, but to that I say nay because she gets out pretty frequently.
I think something people forget is that everything. is. new. to a baby.
Every new face, and every new smell, sound, sight, temperature change and texture when out, whether it be at a beloved grandparents house or the grocery store, is processed by a baby as something new to learn and remember.
Adults can get over-stimulated, too, but it takes a lot for that to happen, and it's usually by the end of the day.  We know how to relax, and babies don't.
We can put on Family Guy, stretch out on the couch and doze off.
Babies need some help in the form of a dark room, a bottle (or boobage) and a soothing sound to get them to chillax.
I'm so grateful that Andy and I were able to work as a team and figure out how to soothe Lucy.  By the time the next family events comes around, or even a visit to someone's house on a nap strike day, we'll know how to soothe her sooner.
During the moments when she was calm, it was nice to be with family, enjoying their company.
I think next year will be a lot more fun, since she'll be one and hopefully walking and ripping wrapping paper up.
I don't want it to go too fast though.  She's already 16 weeks and I feel like that's way to old.  I just want this to slow down, so I can savor every baby moment.

My un-angsty Thanksgiving post

Looking at my last post you would think Thanksgiving was a total crap fest.  Not true!
Some highlights!

• After seeing how bummed I was about not visiting family on turkey day, Andy called several family members on his way to work to find someone to come and visit Lucy and I.  I had visits from Andy's mom, grandma and his dad, which made a world of difference.  They definitely lifted my spirits.
• Andy's dad Larry was able to hold Lucy for the first time ever.  I loved seeing how happy he was to finally do so, and he's definitely enamored with his granddaughter.

• We cooked our very first Thanksgiving dinner at home.  I would have roasted a turkey but let's face it, those things are massive, so we went with a little 5 1/2 pound chicken instead.  Andy cooked the rest of the meal so I could tend to our little turkey, which consisted of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole and apple pie.  It was nice being able to spend the evening together as a family, and it's great that Lucy is healthy enough to be home with us to enjoy those things.  

 After my last post, I realize that I tend to focus on the negative more than the positive.  I'm going to make it a point to not do that anymore, because it's no fun!  I'm sensing a New Years resolution? : )
 

We'll be home for Thanksgiving

It was just the five of us for Thanksgiving this year (that includes Brody and Cartman).
The littlest turkey had her two-month check-up last week, and we asked her doctor if Lucy was cleared to attend a family Thanksgiving dinner.
She (after getting an ” Are you kidding me right now?” look on her face) advised us against it.
With her neutrophil count still below normal, a large family gathering combined with being at a home that's not our own poses risk for infection.
I was bummed when I learned that we wouldn't be able to participate in family Turkey Day festivities, but not nearly as sad as I was on Thanksgiving morning.
I put the parade on, which is something we do every year...before heading over to whichever parent's house we'd be spending the day at.
There are three options, since Andy's parents are divorced and mine live ten minutes away.
I have this uncanny habit of crying over whatever is bugging me right before Andy leaves for work.
The parade was on and I was tidying up the house while Lucy napped and hubby got ready for work and it just hit me that we wouldn't be spending time with family on Thanksgiving and I just started crying.
I never really thought about what the day meant to me before, because we've never been in the situation where we couldn't be with family on a major holiday.
I've just always taken it for granted that we could be with people we cared about on Thanksgiving, no questions asked.
I am so thankful Lucy is healthy.
It is so hard not being able to visit the homes of people we love.  People come over, and we go out and meet friends and family for dinner/coffee/walks around the mall.
But it's not the same as being able to go veg at someone else's home, have family dinners, play games, etc.
I learned recently that someone close to me thinks that we're not being completely truthful about the steps we've taken to safeguard Lucy.  The no people in our house for a month after she came home, and no one but Andy and I allowed to hold her for that month.
The finally letting people into our home after that month and holding baby girl.
The not being able to visits the homes of grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends.
The being allowed to take her to the grocery store and the mall and restaurants as long as they're not overly crowded.
All because before she was born and before we knew about her immune disorder, we said we wanted to limit how often and how long people came to visit our home so we three could bond.
I'm really hurt by this person thinking I'd make this stuff up.
This person wasn't in the NICU with us when the doctor told us what we needed to do to keep the baby safe.  They're not at every pediatrician appointment where we ask the doctor what baby step we can take so that Lucy can be with her loved ones that love her already.
Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I suck at lying.  It's probably a good thing I'm not good at it.  
And anyone who knows me well would know that I would never choose to not be able to have people over for a month, let alone keep my baby to one room for a month (which means Andy and I were also stuck in that one room for most of each day for that month).
Or that I would never choose not being able to go hang out with the baby.
I would certainly not choose not being able to be with loved ones on Thanksgiving.
These past 12 weeks have been hard.  So hard.  Having a newborn baby is hard, but then add in a tremendous amount of cabin fever when you are well and able-bodied enough to pop your baby in the car and drive.
I just hope this person some day realizes that we were telling the truth about the measures we've had to take to keep the baby healthy and will not take for granted the fact that Lucy is alive because of the sacrifices we've had to make to keep her safe from infection while she gets through her fight with neutropenia.