Rhythms...

Life is really all about them, and finding mine has always been important to my sense of well being. Call it my inner musician, call it my OCD... but when I find a good rhythm for my life everything else seems to fall into place.

In my theory on rhythms... your life has a lot of them- your home rhythm, your work rhythm, your friend rhythm... one dissonant note can effect all the other pieces of your life.

Why all this prattle about rhythms? I feel like I've settled in quite nicely into my motherhood rhythm. Kat and I are pretty harmonious, and it's nice. We've got our little piece of music down pat, granted when outside influences happen it can either enhance it- or throw it into dissonance. The key is being able to settle back into it quickly rather than dwell on the bumps. I feel myself changing and wrapping my life around her little rhythm, and now that I've got it down, I feel more peaceful and happy. Granted I'm more tired and worn out, but that's just how motherhood works!

Maybe there are other rhythms that aren't nearly so smooth in my life, but I also think that your personal piece of music is never perfect. If it were, you'd have nothing to work towards or learn.

Maybe I've been listening to too much classical music lately... maybe my inner band geek is showing...but my theories work for me. :)

There goes my little trumpet now... gotta run! accelerando!!!

Odd Musical Fact about Kat...

She will calm down from a yelling fit if Daddy turns on techno and she can watch the equalizer...

Her naps last almost twice as long if Mommy plays classical music during the day...

There's your random factoid for the day, hope you all feel enlightened!

Love...

Sometimes I look at Kat and get choked up, I love her so much... I was just looking through the hospital pictures my mom sent me from when Kat was born. She's growing so much! I'm a little teary right now.

I am lucky to have such a beautiful little girl!

Almost 3 months old- time is flying and I can't wait to see her grow some more!

Sleeping through the night?

The last 3 nights in a row, she sure has! We've had 3 nights back to back where Kat has gone to bed between 11-12 and woken up around 7:00-7:30! Well let me correct that, she doesn't request food until that time. I hear her waking up in the night for a few minutes at a time, playing in her bassinet and talking to herself for a few minutes before putting herself back to sleep! This is really great and I feel downright human again. Not to mention I'm bursting with pride over my awesome little girl!

She's given us long stretches before, but never with any regularity. Her 'long stretch of sleep' used to last about 3 hours, then 4, 5, now it's 6 or 7 with regularity. She's been sleeping in 6 hour stretches for about a week and a half now.

At 10 weeks old I didn't expect her to be sleeping so well all on her own, and self soothing herself back to sleep. Her pedi told us in the beginning (when she'd absolutely meltdown everytime she was hungry without giving you a chance to feed her) that babies do that in the beginning mostly because they don't trust that they're going to be fed again (sad huh?) but once they realize that you're there and they don't need to be scared that they relax and trust you. Sounded silly at the time (she was a newborn after all) but I see where he was coming from! I think that since Kat can hear me (and pretty soon be able to see me from her co sleeper) at night, she doesn't need to cry to wake me up to eat, she knows that food and mommy will be right there as soon as she needs it so she relaxes and I'm getting good sleep. That's the feedback I'm getting from other co-sleeping mommies too, that their little ones would normally start sleeping through the night earlier.

It seems like once Kat really started to trust us, she's SO much more mellow and sweet. She knows she doesn't need to scream to get something she needs, she just needs to let us know. Now (usually, not ALL the time lol) she'll fuss for a second, then listen... then increase the volume and wait another minute or so... if you keep ignoring it she WILL start crying like crazy, but she just gently kinda lets us know- hey! I'm hungry! Granted if she's in pain or gets startled she'll start the big cries, but she'll calm down fairly quickly if she gets some snuggles and feels comforted.

I think that I got lucky the first time around getting such a fantastic, smart, sweet baby. She constantly amazes me and I SO love being her Mommy.

The Sun will come out tomorrow...

Okay, so I lied... I live in Michigan... where the sun only shines 2 weeks out of the year. So sad...

Today is a better day than yesterday, Kat's little fever is allll gone and she slept all night last night, and only woke up once to nurse from 10:30-9am! That's my good good girl.

While I'm dreaming of a tropical vacation... Now for some more pictures!

Daddies are good for napping on...

And they tell good stories...


Then we nap some more...

Then we cry because we're hungry!! (Note the words on the bib- hahaha!)

2 Months old!

Grrrrr.... Blogger isn't letting me separate different points and running it all together no matter how many times I edit to correct it.... sorry if this blog looks messy, but it won't let me fix it!!!

Since she's sleeping... see above!

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I can do this quickly :o) We've been having a rough few days here in Lewis Land... started off with Kat having diarrhea for 2 days, then switching off to cranky, listless, and irritable for another 2 days. We suspect she may be teething, but we aren't sure. It's way early for that, but from what we gather not unheard of! We'll be bringing it up at her 2 month checkup on Monday.

So our little one has been here 2 whole months now! It feels like longer :o) What do we know about her so far?

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~She's gotten over her hatred of baths, we figured out her main problem with the baths was the hammock bathtub thing, once she's actually IN the water rather than over it, she loves them! She recently discovered that if she kicks her legs hard enough it makes splashes, and she loves that.

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~She's also decided that naked really isn't so bad! When we change her now she smiles and coos at us instead of turning that lovely shade of magenta and screaming. She also spends her diaper changes talking to the stickers of Beavis and Butthead on the side of Tim's computer... I kid you not! She gives a HUGE grin everytime she sees them! We're thinking it's because they're so brightly colored against the black background of the PC box.

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~She's really really strong, especially for her age. She holds her head up and steady like a champ, and looks all around all the time. She's been doing that for weeks now. She also likes to play the up and down game... basically standing up and sitting down while Mommy said "Up and Down!"... funny enough when she hears Up... she pushes with her legs because it's time to stand up! She can pull herself upright holding onto your hands and stand on her own feet as long as she's balanced. Holding her own weight is not a problem at all for her. She can sit assisted already for short periods of time as well, but likes standing better.

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~She rolled over (back to tummy) the first time yesterday. Granted it was during a full scale temper tantrum, so I'm not sure we can really count it because it was accidental, but she still did it. We'll wait to see when she starts doing it intentionally... lol

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~She looks like a tiny little elf up to no good when she grins... 'nuff said!

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~ She is cooing a lot and trying hard to mimic sounds! When you talk to her she screws her face up concentrating, then starts moving her mouth trying to imitate. So far she's got down Dadadada, and Mamamama (though that only happens when she's crying lol), and just the other day we heard her say Kakakakakaka (which is her mimicking me saying Kat over and over again) .... she's a genius! (Shhhh, every mom thinks that- it's mean to point out otherwise LOL)

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~She's gotten really fascinated with Daddy the last few weeks. Whereever he is she's trying really hard to watch him! Even when nursing, which makes for some awkward poses!

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~She's sleeping (almost) through the night! On a good night, normally she'll go down around 10:30 and sleep until about 3:30-4am so 5-5.5 hours at a stretch! After that she'll nap for 2 hour stretches until Mom decides to roll out of bed.

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~She's basically a sweet and cuddly little thing. She's extremely loving and really enjoys lots and lots of human contact. That being said, she's got a temper on her when she's hungry/sleepy/otherwise irritated.... she goes from smiles to screams at the drop of a hat. Luckily we get more smiles than screams, but that's mostly because Mommy knows when the screams are coming and intercepts lots of them early!

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I've learned we sort of unintentionally practice something called Attachment Parenting... not to the letter of course, but it's the closest label for our sort of natural parenting style... and it's working very well! If I notice she's starting to get upset I intervene before the meltdown starts and try to fix the problem. I basically feed her when she's hungry, hold her as much as she wants when she's upset, put her down when she wants it, and let her sleep when she's tired. Crazy huh? I keep getting lectured I'm letting her get spoiled.... but I've sniffed her and she's still perfectly fresh!! *evil grin*...

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Attachment Parenting also advocates co-sleeping (check!) in the bassinet in the bedroom actually counts as co-sleeping, breastfeeding (check!), baby wearing (check!).... the only deviations with us are the whole medical thing... I was all about the drugged birth, don't regret my c-section, if she'd been a boy she'd have been circumsized, and we're definitely vaccinating her according to schedule. I trust my doctor (who really encourages us to keep her as happy as possible by whatever means and assures us she cannot be spoiled when she's this little) and I believe in medical technology. At home, we totally practice the idea of compassionate and connected parenting (because that's just how we are normally anyway)... but I also believe it's my job to keep her as healthy as possible and would be derelict in my duty by skipping her vaccinations. I've gotten some steam over that from some crunchier moms that me.... and that's fine too. You raise your kid, I'll raise mine LOL....

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Or better yet, you eat your granola.... and I'll eat mine.... tee hee....

What a Wonderfully Weird little Girl!

I got Mamma Mia for Christmas from Tim... and I've been watching it for 2 days straight now (yes I know I'm odd... I just like dancing around the house with The Kitten and singing because it makes her giggle and forget that her tummy hurts!) OH- and my copy has a sing a long attached so I can skip to the songs! Abba Karaoke!

So not only does my daughter love techno music... I kid you not, we need to get video of that (I Blame Tim!)... but she adores Abba. I remember when the movie came out this summer I downloaded the soundtrack and would dance around with my melon belly singing and she'd always kick with me, well she must remember it... because she giggles her head off while we dance and sing (she helps sing, she yells and laughs) then starts snoring when we're done. Creative ways to get your child to sleep 101....

She's so wonderfully weird and beautiful! LOL... at least my kid has personality. Even if her taste in music is going to get her teased in school! So if the techno is Tim's fault... the Abba is totally my fault. I don't think I've laughed so much in years... we've been laughing together for 2 days now, wonder if my neighbors are sick of Abba yet??

Ahh sweet revenge for all the nasty pot smell and bad metal music coming through my walls!

As tired as I am lots of the time, I really do love being Kat's Momma.... don't think I would have wanted to be anyone else's Mom. Just hers...

In case you were curious, her favorite songs seem to be: Mamma Mia, Does Your Mother Know that You're Out, and Waterloo... she's not so hot on Dancing Queen :o)

Get up, get out, and do something....

As part of my ongoing crusade for continuing mental health (battling Crazy-Sleep-Deprived-I-Am-A-Walking-Milk-Bar-Syndrome), and the desire to NOT become a mommy pod person... one of my new year's resolutions (and requests from Tim) is to go out on my own at least once a month and have a Big Girl's Night/Day Out.

He wants to have more time with Kat (he has been a little bothered that she's really only soothed by me lately) and he's also super supportive of me making some more friends a little closer to home. I am also pretty excited about this too, I miss having people in close driving distance to hang out with!

So... I'm thinking my first 'Day Out' will be Cross Country Skiing Lessons in 2 weeks. I used to LOVE downhill skiing in high school, so I think this might be a lot of fun. It's definitely more affordable than downhill skiing. Besides I still have an extra 10 pounds hanging out, so I think getting a little more active is going to take that right off! Hopefully this doesn't kick my butt too bad, but even if it does and I make a few more friends then I'm still coming out ahead of the game!! Wish me luck... anyone know anything about Cross Country Skiing?? LOL

I think this is a fantastic idea...

And intend to adopt it for my life plan... thanks Dawn!

On Life...

The objective is not to arrive safely in an attractive, well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, glass of wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Random fun stuff... and tag you're it!!

2 Random fun things for today while WeeKat takes her afternoon nap!

If you go to this link: http://www.parents.com/parents/astrology/ you can enter your sign and your little one's sign and get horoscope and compatibility reports... usually this stuff is crap in my mind, but at least entertaining!! Go do it :o)

Results for me and WeePiglet:

Mom
Capricorn
The Goat
Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Capricorn moms make wonderful parents because they take the job so seriously -- you're responsible, conscientious, and supremely patient (a trait most moms wish they had more of). Your natural ability to allow your child to grow and learn at her own pace is a testament to your maturity and innate understanding that everyone develops on her own timeline -- no need to obsess about hitting every single milestone marker on time. And smart, practical Capricorn moms are instinctively more focused on their child's overall well-being than on pushing for outward signs of perfection in specific areas. (How social is baby? Is she already saying "mama"?)
One big trap for you to avoid is a nagging sense of self-doubt -- were you too quick to correct your child in music class today? Was it wrong to let her cry it out at naptime? Learn to trust that you're doing a great job. Look into your child's eyes, see her smile, and you'll find all the reassurance you need.

Baby
Scorpio
The Scorpion
Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Your child's intensity and perceptiveness are striking (and at times challenging). Even as an infant, she'll read and respond to your emotions, so manage your anger and frustration in front of her. Because your little one is especially determined to get her own way, you'll need to put your patience in overdrive. And since Scorpions are prone to shyness in large social settings, make frequent eye contact and let her know you're there to protect her. Also, keep your home well-stocked with objects that appeal to your child's probing nature: She likes soft stacking rings, toys with different textures, and open-the-flap books.

Capricorn Mom & Scorpio Baby

You and baby Scorpio will have a ball together! The child will sense your executive abilities almost immediately and resolve to stay on your good side. With most other parents, Scorpio babies try to get the upper hand, usually through manipulation. But even a tot can sense that you're not easily swayed -- even by emotional appeals. You'll be amazed at how quickly this kid solves puzzles and figures out how things work. Break-apart blocks and stacking towers are great toys for your child. Be sure to acknowledge his accomplishments. Despite their tough exterior, Scorpios can be highly sensitive. They can get as upset about not being noticed as they do about being scolded or getting a time-out. When your little one is acting out or being unruly, think of something he accomplished recently and bring on the praise! Celebrating a triumph you might have overlooked is a sure way to lift Scorpio's funk.

Also... for fun... a Tag you're it game! If you're a mommy, and you read my blog (I know who at least SOME of you are!) consider yourself tagged! List 10 random facts about what makes your little one special/funny/individual...

10 Random Facts about my Kiddo:

1. She likes to listen to techno music... I'm not kidding! This is how Tim calms her down, just proof that he made me listen to WAY too much of it while pregnant! She gets really quiet if she's cranky and nods her head and waves her hands around. I'm aware she's strange! She especially likes it if they are at his computer listening and he turns on the visualizations, she bats at the screen then.

2. She snorts and grunts like a Piggie when she eats... which is why she is The Piglet. She also turns all pink, especially the tip of her nose, which is how we know she's Irish...

3. She had a 20 minute conversation with our Solstice Tree this morning... she just cooed and smiled at the tree, unfortunately the tree was the strong silent type and she eventually gave up the conversation for food.

4. She can't be laid down unsupervised anymore because she scoots everywhere. If you lay her on her blanket she'll scoot with her lower legs until she's come full circle with her upper body in the same spot! If we lay her on the couch she will try to scoot off, so we have to be really careful.

5. She's a fist sucker.... not a thumb sucker. She balls up her hand, and sticks the whole thing in her mouth and makes really really loud sucking noises. She does it in her sleep and wakes me up in a panic at night thinking that she's either wheezing loudly, or the cat has a hairball.

6. When she's hungry she's not particular who she's rooting on... she bit Tim's nipple 2 weeks ago, and he screamed like a little girl. Muahahahaha!

7. She doesn't like being naked... strange right? Not sure this is our kid... when you undress her she gets cranky if not going into full tantrum mode 80% of the time.

8. She hates the bath! See above... how strange is this? She's getting better about it, but the minute we lay her in her little tub, she just starts yelling her head off. Bathtime is very traumatic for us! LOL

9. She enjoys Binkie tossing... she especially likes the binkies with rings on them, because she can hook a finger in them and get better distance. She throws it, then gets mad when it's not in her mouth anymore. The only thing that calms her is if she manages to aim her fist correctly at her mouth to suck on within a few seconds of her mouth being vacated.

10. She doesn't like any toy that hangs over her head, especially the stuffed Toucan on her Rainforest Swing. She eyeballs it suspiciously (seriously, face all scrunched up and one eye closed) for a few minutes before taking a swing at it and crying. I've had to also remove the hanging toys from her bassinet shade, now all hanging toys offend this strange little monkey.

Rocking and Rolling....

takes on a whole new meaning when you have an infant in the house!!

Kat is rolling up onto her side from her tummy already! Once she figures out to tuck her arm, she'll be rolling over. I think it'll happen in the next few weeks! She's such a strong little thing, she never ceases to amaze me at the cool things she does!

She also almost has the thumb sucking figured out. She's gotten the thumb in there twice and was in heaven, but mostly she just puts her fist in her mouth and makes really loud sucking sounds (it's so funny)....

Last night after having birthday dinner for Tim at his parent's house, I spent about 2 hours rocking her to sleep, she had mean old gas bubbles so it was a loud evening for us. Luckily once they passed she slept soundly most of the night. It'll be so nice once her digestive system develops a bit more and those gassy nights are fewer and farther between. I hate seeing her in pain!!

I also have more pictures to share! Sleepy Kat with a Sleepy Freya standing guard over her! (it's her baby too in her head! She always tells us when Kat has a wet diaper, she sniffs her butt and looks at us like -hey! Take care of that, would ya?)

PS for all you nervous nellys out there, Kat only ever sleeps on a blanket with a blanket like this when one of us is directly next to her on the couch watching her :o) Usually I'm next to her with a book or watching a movie. Don't send the sleep Nazi's to our house to scream at me LOL

We wanted to title this one Milk Drunk.... she nursed frantically here for like 10 minutes, drained the bottle, then zonked out and dropped the bottle. (she holds our hands on the bottle while she eats) It never fails to crack me up how she goes from 100 miles an hour to completely asleep in the drop of a hat! Silly baby!

Getting better... and 3 weeks old!

Things are getting easier with Kat as time goes on. Those first 2 weeks when I was still recovering from the C-section and Tim was working most of the time were so rough! I was getting maybe 2 hours of sleep a day if I was lucky, sometimes more if Tim watched the baby to let me catch a nap. Kat slept all the time during the day and wanted to party all night long... I was just exhausted and in pain... blech...

Things are really starting to get better though! Lots of reasons why, first and foremost is that Kat is having way more alert time during the day where she just wants to look around and play. It's higher maintenance than sleepy baby, but more fun and less stressful never knowing when she'd wake up and demand food. (usually the minute I sat down to eat or pump) It also means she's sleeping more at night, she's doing about 2 1/2 hours between nighttime feedings- and as long as she's not sick or gassy I do manage to get about 5-6 hours a night.

Another good one is that I finally got a double electric breast pump- yeah I know you all wanted to know that. But seriously, it's giving me more milk (which makes for a happier baby and a happier momma) and it's shaving 40 minutes off of each pump time as opposed to my manual. This thing has bought me almost an extra 480 minutes a day (if my calculator is right lol) Tim's mom is my HERO for getting me this... Kat is also latching on more often- she rarely nurses for long, but at least it's a step in the right direction!

Finally, and the part I'm feeling most proud of is that basically I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride with the whole motherhood thing. I am simply getting better at it... and it's making things easier for me. It's incredibly gratifying when all it takes for Kat to start feeling better is me to curl up with her and talk to her. She watches me very intently and pats my face a lot... it's our special time. Granted I still don't have a lot of free time, but I'm feeling less wild eyed and crazy. There were times those first 2 weeks when I wondered if I could do it. Now that I'm healing, and things are getting easier I only feel like that every great once in awhile LOL... any mother would know I was lying if I said I never felt that way anymore.

So Kat is officially 3 weeks old today! YAY! She's already hit some early milestones...

~First smile- Thanksgiving Day- According to the charts this is an Advanced Skill for a 1 month old
~Follows Objects with her Eyes- Since she was about 2 days old- According to the charts this is a Mastered Skill for a 2 month old baby
~ Holds her head steady at a 45 degree angle- since about 2-3 days old (no kidding! her neck muscles are very developed)- according to charts this is an Advanced skill for a 2 month old
~Can bear weight on her legs- since about 2 weeks old, if you hold her hands she pushes up with her legs and holds her weight- According to charts this an advanced 2 month old skill
~ Turns towards loud sounds- Since about 2 weeks old- this is an Advanced 3 month old skill
~ Lifts head and shoulders when lying on Tummy (mini-pushup)- She's been doing this for about a week now, if she's laying on her tummy she'll push her whole upper body up and turn her head the other direction and lay back down- this is an Advanced skill for a 2 month old

Her motor skills are so much more advanced than I'm used to for such a young baby! It does make things easier, since she holds her head up for periods she's less scary to hold for guys like Tim who haven't been around babies much! She's really strong already, and will scoot around if you leave her on her back on a blanket... she kicks her feet and scoots on her back- it's really funny but you have to really watch her! I'm sure every mother thinks her child is a prodigy... and I'm no exception. Just watching her is amazing, she's so curious and takes everything in. She watches everything we do, the animals.... everything. I think we not only have an adorable little girl, but likely a smart one! Yay!

I'm a Mamarazzi...

Ken lent us his camera and I keep taking pictures of the WeeKitty... and thought I'd share her adorable-ness with the world...

Okay... not real sure why Blogger is uploading these this way, they're right side up in my computer, but I've tried everything and it keeps doing it... so here's some sideways Kitty for ya...

I call these our sleepy pictures... Kat has some nasty reflux and has trouble sleeping on her back sometimes, so we hold her a lot to help her sleep... it also means that we don't get much sleep ourselves... she's worth it!

Other than worshipping our adorable little piglet how are we doing??

Mostly tired. Tim is back at work now, so most of the caring for the Kat falls to me now, especially at night. Night is still her rough time (she was always more active in the womb at night too), but we're getting a little better every day. I gotta say the Moby Wrap is a lifesaver, especially with a baby with GERD... I can still do things (like post my blog, lol) and still have my Piglet close to me and able to sleep better upright.

Piglet??

She earned this name in the hospital, she turns pink and grunts and snorts when she eats, therefore, she is now our Piglet... one of her many many nicknames! Including: Kat, Kitty, Kitty Kat, the Kitten, Muffin Butt (it looks like one the way she sticks it out!), Pumpkin, Peanut, and Katherine Brigit (when she's being obstinate, LOL)

How is Kat doing?

She's pretty much a happy baby aside from digestive issues. We have her on both breastmilk from bottles, and Soy Formula. I had planned on breastfeeding exclusively, but being in the hospital on heavy fluids for so so long made things so that she had too much difficulty latching on. It also took my milk some extra time to come in (which happens with C-sections commonly) so we had to start her on formula. She currently gets about half and half, and it seems to be working well for us. Sometimes you gotta change your plans... and I'm totally cool with that. As long as she's happy and healthy (and she is!) I will do whatever works for my sweetheart.

Her super dark hair seems to be lightening some, and the thicker stuff has been falling out (like we knew it would) it looks like she's either going to keep getting blonder, or she'll have a sort of golden brown haircolor. Time will tell. Her eyes were a very dark blue when she was born, now they're already changing to a dark grey blue, we're not sure if they'll turn brown or stay blue. Either way she'll still be gorgeous. She's getting chubbier and chubbier, which is a good thing! She's already back at her birth weight as of her 3 day doctor checkup. Her umbilical cord stump has already come off, which is a bit early, but the doctor isn't all that concerned. He chalks it up to her being such a wiggler, she's very active and she just kept moving on it and moving on it until it eventually came off.

Other than that, all is well in Lewis-land! Much love all...

Hospital pics and an apology...

Typing one-handed here, I have a sweet sleepy girl in my arms... I am so lucky and in love!!!!

I just found out that no one (and I do mean no one) on the call list was called when Kat arrived... it was a very long stay with a very complicated and strenuous labor. I am still recovering & it took all Tim had to care for me & Kat. We're still not really with it yet. I did want to apologize to you all though- it was definitely NOT intentional & if you wanted to visit the Kat give us a call or drop me an e-mail. I can apologize in person if possible. *grin*

I will post her birth story with all the gory details some other time, right now I don't seem to have the time!

Okay now for the good stuff! Ken just sent me a batch of pictures from the hospital stay and I figured I should share!

Before the birth, Tim and Tara (and Tim's mom) in the parking lot in front of the hospital.

Kat wide awake and alert in the Recovery Room.

Me in the Recovery Room the first time I was able to hold Kat. Yes I'm crying, luckily you can't see my face!

Daddy completely exhausted and in love with his little girl!

Our new family! God I love them!

Katherine Brigit Lewis

Typing one handed here guys... but we are finally home after 5 days in the hospital (I'll post the full story when I don't have a sleeping baby on my lap)

She is beautiful, and we've got lots more pictures, but I just now took these to show off real fast for you all.

She's a very sweet tempered little girl... unless she's cold or hungry- then watch out! She loves being held and just curls up into a little ball in the arms of whomever has her and starts snoring (not kidding)

More about the light of my life later... now for pictures!

She is pondering the meaning of life.... she's deep like that!

Meaning of life too difficult... must... nap....

Proof that this is indeed Tim's child... lol... he was trying to imitate her, I think the original is much cuter! (but you're still cute too Tim!)