Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
My newest hobby... digital scrapbooking
Not only is it free :o) but I can do it one handed while Kat nurses or sleeps on me... here are my first few attempts...
This one is a 12x12 print, and the quote (in case it's too small to read) is: "My fingers may be small, but I've got my Daddy wrapped around them!" These are all of Tim's favorite pics of him and Kat...
This one is a 5x7 image, and it's actually a signature I'm using on my message boards.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Interesting Article on Baby Einstein and Educational Programming
Hmmm this is interesting, but makes SOME sense to me... this is from the TIME magazine website...
Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All
By Alice Park Monday, Aug. 06, 2007
The claim always seemed too good to be true: park your infant in front of a video and, in no time, he or she will be talking and getting smarter than the neighbor's kid. In the latest study on the effects of popular videos such as the "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" series, researchers find that these products may be doing more harm than good. And they may actually delay language development in toddlers.
Led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis, both at the University of Washington, the research team found that with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos. These products had the strongest detrimental effect on babies 8 to 16 months old, the age at which language skills are starting to form. "The more videos they watched, the fewer words they knew," says Christakis. "These babies scored about 10% lower on language skills than infants who had not watched these videos."
It's not the first blow to baby videos, and likely won't be the last. Mounting evidence suggests that passive screen sucking not only doesn't help children learn, but could also set back their development. Last spring, Christakis and his colleagues found that by three months, 40% of babies are regular viewers of DVDs, videos or television; by the time they are two years old, almost 90% are spending two to three hours each day in front of a screen. Three studies have shown that watching television, even if it includes educational programming such as Sesame Street, delays language development. "Babies require face-to-face interaction to learn," says Dr. Vic Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. "They don't get that interaction from watching TV or videos. In fact, the watching probably interferes with the crucial wiring being laid down in their brains during early development." Previous studies have shown, for example, that babies learn faster and better from a native speaker of a language when they are interacting with that speaker instead of watching the same speaker talk on a video screen. "Even watching a live person speak to you via television is not the same thing as having that person in front of you," says Christakis.
This growing evidence led the Academy to issue its recommendation in 1999 that no child under two years old watch any television. The authors of the new study might suggest reading instead: children who got daily reading or storytelling time with their parents showed a slight increase in language skills.
Though the popular baby videos and DVDs in the Washington study were designed to stimulate infants' brains, not necessarily to promote language development, parents generally assume that the products' promises to make their babies smarter include improvement of speaking skills. But, says Christakis, "the majority of the videos don't try to promote language; they have rapid scene changes and quick edits, and no appearance of the 'parent-ese' type of speaking that parents use when talking to their babies."
As far as Christakis and his colleagues can determine, the only thing that baby videos are doing is producing a generation of overstimulated kids. "There is an assumption that stimulation is good, so more is better," he says. "But that's not true; there is such a thing as overstimulation." His group has found that the more television children watch, the shorter their attention spans later in life. "Their minds come to expect a high level of stimulation, and view that as normal," says Christakis, "and by comparison, reality is boring."
He and other experts worry that the proliferation of these products will continue to displace the one thing that babies need in the first months of life — face time with human beings. "Every interaction with your child is meaningful," says Christakis. "Time is precious in those early years, and the newborn is watching you, and learning from everything you do." So just talk to them; they're listening.
Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All
By Alice Park Monday, Aug. 06, 2007
The claim always seemed too good to be true: park your infant in front of a video and, in no time, he or she will be talking and getting smarter than the neighbor's kid. In the latest study on the effects of popular videos such as the "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" series, researchers find that these products may be doing more harm than good. And they may actually delay language development in toddlers.
Led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis, both at the University of Washington, the research team found that with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos. These products had the strongest detrimental effect on babies 8 to 16 months old, the age at which language skills are starting to form. "The more videos they watched, the fewer words they knew," says Christakis. "These babies scored about 10% lower on language skills than infants who had not watched these videos."
It's not the first blow to baby videos, and likely won't be the last. Mounting evidence suggests that passive screen sucking not only doesn't help children learn, but could also set back their development. Last spring, Christakis and his colleagues found that by three months, 40% of babies are regular viewers of DVDs, videos or television; by the time they are two years old, almost 90% are spending two to three hours each day in front of a screen. Three studies have shown that watching television, even if it includes educational programming such as Sesame Street, delays language development. "Babies require face-to-face interaction to learn," says Dr. Vic Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. "They don't get that interaction from watching TV or videos. In fact, the watching probably interferes with the crucial wiring being laid down in their brains during early development." Previous studies have shown, for example, that babies learn faster and better from a native speaker of a language when they are interacting with that speaker instead of watching the same speaker talk on a video screen. "Even watching a live person speak to you via television is not the same thing as having that person in front of you," says Christakis.
This growing evidence led the Academy to issue its recommendation in 1999 that no child under two years old watch any television. The authors of the new study might suggest reading instead: children who got daily reading or storytelling time with their parents showed a slight increase in language skills.
Though the popular baby videos and DVDs in the Washington study were designed to stimulate infants' brains, not necessarily to promote language development, parents generally assume that the products' promises to make their babies smarter include improvement of speaking skills. But, says Christakis, "the majority of the videos don't try to promote language; they have rapid scene changes and quick edits, and no appearance of the 'parent-ese' type of speaking that parents use when talking to their babies."
As far as Christakis and his colleagues can determine, the only thing that baby videos are doing is producing a generation of overstimulated kids. "There is an assumption that stimulation is good, so more is better," he says. "But that's not true; there is such a thing as overstimulation." His group has found that the more television children watch, the shorter their attention spans later in life. "Their minds come to expect a high level of stimulation, and view that as normal," says Christakis, "and by comparison, reality is boring."
He and other experts worry that the proliferation of these products will continue to displace the one thing that babies need in the first months of life — face time with human beings. "Every interaction with your child is meaningful," says Christakis. "Time is precious in those early years, and the newborn is watching you, and learning from everything you do." So just talk to them; they're listening.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
How Crunchy are you?
The quiz is here:
http://themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm
Some of the ladies in my Attachment Parenting group passed this out, I scored:
129-90 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!
Guess I'm crunchier than I thought! LOL
Oh for those not really into mommy slang: Crunchy or Granola Moms are typically the baby wearing, breastfeeding, into organic foods, co sleeping, cloth diapering, alternative, attachment parenting hippie types. The moms running barefoot in the yard... they tend to be liberal and left leaning.
I'm mildly crunchy, don't think I could ever go hardcore crunchy- IE: unassisted home birth, home schooling etc etc... but I'm fairly proud of my mild crunchiness :o)
For more information about Attachment Parenting check out Dr. Sears's website at:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T130300.asp
His site is also great for all those questions you'd like to bug your Pedi about in the middle of the night :) Good, down to earth advice... as good as it comes anymore anyway!
http://themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm
Some of the ladies in my Attachment Parenting group passed this out, I scored:
129-90 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!
Guess I'm crunchier than I thought! LOL
Oh for those not really into mommy slang: Crunchy or Granola Moms are typically the baby wearing, breastfeeding, into organic foods, co sleeping, cloth diapering, alternative, attachment parenting hippie types. The moms running barefoot in the yard... they tend to be liberal and left leaning.
I'm mildly crunchy, don't think I could ever go hardcore crunchy- IE: unassisted home birth, home schooling etc etc... but I'm fairly proud of my mild crunchiness :o)
For more information about Attachment Parenting check out Dr. Sears's website at:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T130300.asp
His site is also great for all those questions you'd like to bug your Pedi about in the middle of the night :) Good, down to earth advice... as good as it comes anymore anyway!
Great deals... yay!
The deal I'm getting that I'm most excited about is my new Arms Reach Mini Co-Sleeper... for those who don't know what this is... it's basically a large bassinet that attaches directly to a parent's bed with a small bumper between the two to keep the baby from rolling into the parent's bed. It enables me to be on eye level with her in the bed, to be able to reach out and comfort her without standing up, walking over to the bassinet and checking her. This will make my nighttime breastfeeding MUCH easier, and I'm a fan of anything that makes my nights easier since I'm the only one getting up with her!
I am a fan of co sleeping, but am just too nervous to let her sleep directly in our bed. So basically this gives her her own space attached to our bed, so it's the next best thing! This is going to make my nighttime wake up calls much easier, and since she's rapidly outgrowing her original bassinet, it was this or transition her to the crib in the next few weeks, which I wasn't quite ready for. I'd like to keep her co sleeping for at least 4 months, if not a bit longer.
These Co-sleepers are top of the line and recommended by Dr. Sears (whom I use for all my pediatric questions) and usually run about 150-180 dollars, I have a lady selling me her mostly unused one for 30 dollars! yay!!!!!! So saving like 120 bucks is a happy thing, plus I get to keep the peanut in my room for a little longer. This will be handy if we decide to have another one ever again... this would've made the c-section recovery SO much easier!
Here's a pic of the one I'm getting:
My other great deal was not nearly this exciting but made me happy anyway. We're still using our Boppy Pillow constantly, and the peanut is a messy eater lately since she's started teething. We desperately needed a new cover for our boppy so we could always have a clean one. I went to Target today to get one, and one was 13 dollars, but once I cruised over to the clearance aisle they had a 2 pack of covers for only 8 dollars... very sweet..
I'm a bargain shopping fool... bless you if you've read this far, this is the most exciting thing in Tara land right now LOL so I apologize for boring you mindless! I'll try to find something better to write about soon!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Watching history...
Someday I'll tell Kat the story about how she sat on mommy's lap when she was 2 months old and watched Barack Obama being sworn in as President...
I'll tell her how when he spoke she was very quiet and big eyed, and watched the whole thing...
I'll tell her how I sat with her Grandpa in the middle of the night the night Obama won the election and watched his speech, rubbing my belly wondering when she'd come out and watch all this history happening around her....
I'll tell her how when he spoke she was very quiet and big eyed, and watched the whole thing...
I'll tell her how I sat with her Grandpa in the middle of the night the night Obama won the election and watched his speech, rubbing my belly wondering when she'd come out and watch all this history happening around her....
Monday, January 19, 2009
My funny kid...
Remember the purring video yesterday?
Last night I woke up to nurse Kat, and our cat Luna crawled up next to me so I pet her with my free hand while Kat was nursing.
Luna started purring, Kat gave a BIG smile, stopped nursing, and then started purring happily back at Luna.
I laughed so hard I woke Tim up, problem is- after this it was Playtime in Kat's mind and she refused to go back to sleep, she just wanted to purr and talk to everyone (Luna included)
Luckily Daddy finally took a shift and I managed to get a little more sleep!
Last night I woke up to nurse Kat, and our cat Luna crawled up next to me so I pet her with my free hand while Kat was nursing.
Luna started purring, Kat gave a BIG smile, stopped nursing, and then started purring happily back at Luna.
I laughed so hard I woke Tim up, problem is- after this it was Playtime in Kat's mind and she refused to go back to sleep, she just wanted to purr and talk to everyone (Luna included)
Luckily Daddy finally took a shift and I managed to get a little more sleep!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Kat purring...
I told you she purred :o)
While I was editing the movie she heard it and started purring again, she does it all day long now! What a silly girl!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
It was a good birthday
Officially I am 28 now, though Tim insists that I'm actually only 2... as that's all the birthdays I've had since I moved here :o)
This post is a few days late, because we've been running around like maniacs doing things and generally being parents...
So Tim took me to Red Lobster where I spent waaay too much money, but had myself my first margarita in over a year (yay!), forgot what I lightweight I was, and proceeded to giggle my way through the rest of dinner and try to convince Tim into making a snow man with me in front of the Red Lobster...
Then we were supposed to go sledding at The Fridge with some friends, but due to -20 below wind chills they closed it for the night (like I'd have attempted it that cold, but I digress) so we went to Borders, bought LOTS of books (woohoo), then grabbed Katie and Matt to go bowling with us.
All in all it was a good birthday, I got all kinds of goodies- Borders gift card, the first 2 seasons of Weeds, awesome 1928 jewelry, and I still have a gift in reserve from Tim that I need to go pick out at the Mall once I'm feeling up to it. We were going to do it then, but we were just too tired and cold!
Kat hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the evening and had lots of fun. She finally mastered purring (no I'm not kidding) and will look at you and make the little purr noise to tell you she wants you to purr at her, once you do you get a BIG smile out of her. She knows that, and how to ask for kisses... if you make the kiss noise she opens up her mouth real wide and leans in for her 'kiss'... but once in awhile she'll just make the kiss face and go in for one to let you know she wants one! This kid cracks me up! Going to have to get some video of that for Grandma in West Virginia!
So 27 was a good year, very full... I enjoyed it, and very much look forward to the year of 28... and all the cool stuff Kat will be doing, and everything else going on in our lives!
This post is a few days late, because we've been running around like maniacs doing things and generally being parents...
So Tim took me to Red Lobster where I spent waaay too much money, but had myself my first margarita in over a year (yay!), forgot what I lightweight I was, and proceeded to giggle my way through the rest of dinner and try to convince Tim into making a snow man with me in front of the Red Lobster...
Then we were supposed to go sledding at The Fridge with some friends, but due to -20 below wind chills they closed it for the night (like I'd have attempted it that cold, but I digress) so we went to Borders, bought LOTS of books (woohoo), then grabbed Katie and Matt to go bowling with us.
All in all it was a good birthday, I got all kinds of goodies- Borders gift card, the first 2 seasons of Weeds, awesome 1928 jewelry, and I still have a gift in reserve from Tim that I need to go pick out at the Mall once I'm feeling up to it. We were going to do it then, but we were just too tired and cold!
Kat hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the evening and had lots of fun. She finally mastered purring (no I'm not kidding) and will look at you and make the little purr noise to tell you she wants you to purr at her, once you do you get a BIG smile out of her. She knows that, and how to ask for kisses... if you make the kiss noise she opens up her mouth real wide and leans in for her 'kiss'... but once in awhile she'll just make the kiss face and go in for one to let you know she wants one! This kid cracks me up! Going to have to get some video of that for Grandma in West Virginia!
So 27 was a good year, very full... I enjoyed it, and very much look forward to the year of 28... and all the cool stuff Kat will be doing, and everything else going on in our lives!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Baby, it's cold outside!
Welcome to the life of a Michigander...
We were going to run errands today (we meaning myself and the WeePiglet) but the wind chill is going to be around -20 today and this evening, so looks like we're staying snuggled up inside.
It's snowing a little outside, and luckily nothing we needed to pick up is urgent and we can put the errands off for a few extra days until it's a little better outside. No way am I taking the little one out in this weather!
Ask me in the summer if I regret moving to Michigan and you'll get a resounding no... however, anytime after the Christmas holiday up to Summer (we have no spring here lol) you might get a different answer. I only miss Virginia weather in the winter.... brrrr... you'd think after living here for over a year I'd have gotten used to the weather, but my blood must still be southern and thin because I'm FREEZING!!! lol
I feel like I should put on some Hawaiian music and make some Margaritas to dispel the chill outside. I'll get a tiny grass skirt for Piglet and we'll have ourselves a luau before daddy wakes up!
We were going to run errands today (we meaning myself and the WeePiglet) but the wind chill is going to be around -20 today and this evening, so looks like we're staying snuggled up inside.
It's snowing a little outside, and luckily nothing we needed to pick up is urgent and we can put the errands off for a few extra days until it's a little better outside. No way am I taking the little one out in this weather!
Ask me in the summer if I regret moving to Michigan and you'll get a resounding no... however, anytime after the Christmas holiday up to Summer (we have no spring here lol) you might get a different answer. I only miss Virginia weather in the winter.... brrrr... you'd think after living here for over a year I'd have gotten used to the weather, but my blood must still be southern and thin because I'm FREEZING!!! lol
I feel like I should put on some Hawaiian music and make some Margaritas to dispel the chill outside. I'll get a tiny grass skirt for Piglet and we'll have ourselves a luau before daddy wakes up!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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!)Monday, January 12, 2009
It's a bad day to be a baby...
2 Month Vaccinations were today... poor baby! She woke up in the BEST mood, flirted with the doctors and nurses... then the bad stabby things happened!!
Then to make things worse Mom and Dad thought they could do grocery shopping at Wal Mart... for this experience she reserved the special cry, the one where she turns purple and can't catch her breath...
She can't nap, or get comfy... she's running a low grade fever and her chubby little legs are all pink!
It's not a good day to be a mommy either! I just want to make it all better and not hurt! That's all the time we have now folks... hope my Piglet feels better tomorrow!
Then to make things worse Mom and Dad thought they could do grocery shopping at Wal Mart... for this experience she reserved the special cry, the one where she turns purple and can't catch her breath...
She can't nap, or get comfy... she's running a low grade fever and her chubby little legs are all pink!
It's not a good day to be a mommy either! I just want to make it all better and not hurt! That's all the time we have now folks... hope my Piglet feels better tomorrow!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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....
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Kat and Horton
Kat's favorite Christmas present this year by far seems to be her stuffed Horton from Grandma and Grandpa. She sits and tugs his ears and talks to him for long long periods of time. No one believed their quite deep and serious relationship... so I had to take pictures! LOL This is the only reason I can usually get anything done during the day. We turn on her Rainforest noisemaker in her crib on one side (the monkey in it used to be her best friend before the days of Horton) and put Horton on the other and she'll sit and babble at both of them, buying me a few minutes to shower or clean.
I absolutely love these pictures of Kat with her Horton.... my little girl is getting so BIG!
Sick...
Kat has a tummy bug of some kind :o( So we have been up all night not feeling good. Shockingly enough she's still giving big ol' smiles to everyone even if she's feeling a bit poorly. I think the worst is past, but we'll be calling the doctor this morning to see if he thinks we should push some fluids to be safe...
She's sitting with daddy right now smiling with little circles under her eyes, it's so cute and pitiful all at the same time!
She's sitting with daddy right now smiling with little circles under her eyes, it's so cute and pitiful all at the same time!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Finally, her hospital picture!
Finally got a decent digital copy of Kat's hospital picture to share!
Sadly almost all that pretty hair is almost gone! *sniffle* looks like she's destined to go bald and then grow more duck fuzz. Well we loved it while it was here! But this was the hospital picture of our fuzzy little duckling a day after she was born!
No wonder the nurses were always in our room! LOL
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Clingy Pumpkin...
I can't seem to move today! Usually when Kat drops off for her morning nap I can put her down and get a few things done before she wakes up. For some reason today, everytime I move she wraps her hands in my shirt and clings for dear life! If I put her down she wakes up crying.
For some reason this silly little baby is completely attached to me today. When she's awake she's happy enough as long as I'm in touching distance. She had a long and deeply involved conversation with Horton this morning, but only when I was right next to her on the couch. And even if I'm next to her, she manages to scoot closely enough that she's laying against me.
I wonder if she's missing the time before she was born, when she was always with me and being held on to. It seems that way... all she wants is momma right now, and if I hug her tight she gives me a big smile and lays her head down to sleep.
I know they say 'If you hold them too much you'll spoil them'... but my thought on this is: If she needs me to hold her, then I'm going to do what she needs- not what people think I should do. She's gotten much more independent lately and sometimes cries to be put down, if she needs held then there's some baby logic to it!
So I'm a siamese mommy today for the WeeKat. Luckily I can have her curl up on her Boppy in my lap while I'm at the computer. Just gotta find computer stuff to keep me busy! LOL
Man this cuddling stuff is hard work! *grin*
For some reason this silly little baby is completely attached to me today. When she's awake she's happy enough as long as I'm in touching distance. She had a long and deeply involved conversation with Horton this morning, but only when I was right next to her on the couch. And even if I'm next to her, she manages to scoot closely enough that she's laying against me.
I wonder if she's missing the time before she was born, when she was always with me and being held on to. It seems that way... all she wants is momma right now, and if I hug her tight she gives me a big smile and lays her head down to sleep.
I know they say 'If you hold them too much you'll spoil them'... but my thought on this is: If she needs me to hold her, then I'm going to do what she needs- not what people think I should do. She's gotten much more independent lately and sometimes cries to be put down, if she needs held then there's some baby logic to it!
So I'm a siamese mommy today for the WeeKat. Luckily I can have her curl up on her Boppy in my lap while I'm at the computer. Just gotta find computer stuff to keep me busy! LOL
Man this cuddling stuff is hard work! *grin*
Friday, January 2, 2009
Awesome Milestone
Kat will be 2 months old in a few days, and she's still breastfed. I finally have her taking only about 2 oz of formula at bedtime, she's completely breastfed otherwise! The only reason we are still letting her have the formula bottle before bedtime is that she sleeps better and if we keep it from her she gets really angry. I guess the formula makes her feel more 'full' since her body processes it more slowly!
After all the crap we went through with supply issues, mastitis, bad latch, late development of milk due to c-section.... we finally got my body and Kat ramped up to be in sync with each other finally.
Hallelujah!!! She's been completely breastfed for about 2 weeks now. She does still get bottles when she's being babysat, but mostly I try to make sure it's only 1 bottle a day still.
So proud of us...
After all the crap we went through with supply issues, mastitis, bad latch, late development of milk due to c-section.... we finally got my body and Kat ramped up to be in sync with each other finally.
Hallelujah!!! She's been completely breastfed for about 2 weeks now. She does still get bottles when she's being babysat, but mostly I try to make sure it's only 1 bottle a day still.
So proud of us...
No Cross Country Skiing...
Sooo, don't expect any update on how much I sucked at it tomorrow LOL... it got cancelled unfortunately, but I'm still getting together with a few gals for lunch anyway- so that should be fun.
One of them has a little girl about 6 months older than Kat, so I'm going to take her with me as well since it'll be kid friendly. I'm actually pretty excited regardless, I think this may be the start of a good thing for me. It'll be nice to make some more friends up here! Besides, maybe I'll score a playmate for Kat as well. :o)
One of them has a little girl about 6 months older than Kat, so I'm going to take her with me as well since it'll be kid friendly. I'm actually pretty excited regardless, I think this may be the start of a good thing for me. It'll be nice to make some more friends up here! Besides, maybe I'll score a playmate for Kat as well. :o)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year all!
I spent my new year curled up with my WeeKat while Tim was at work... it was a good new year anyway!
2008... one heck of a year for me... but you all know that! I'd classify it as the best year of my life to date, that being said I am looking forward to 2009 and what it holds as well.
Many blessings and good wishes for you and your family through this new year!
I spent my new year curled up with my WeeKat while Tim was at work... it was a good new year anyway!
2008... one heck of a year for me... but you all know that! I'd classify it as the best year of my life to date, that being said I am looking forward to 2009 and what it holds as well.
Many blessings and good wishes for you and your family through this new year!
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