Day One Hundred and Seventy-One

High Chair

Milo was up at 6:30 today, but it was one of those mornings when I woke up feeling like I could use several more hours of sleep. Chase and I have been up pretty late all week making notes on houses, but last night we didn’t have any excuse. I think we were just internetting until around 12:30, and then I woke a few times during the night. Milo’s night nursing is holding steady at once per night, and I haven’t had much trouble getting back to sleep the past few nights. So who knows why I felt more tired today than previous days. But I did.

So I napped with Milo during her first nap, and it was glorious. Then we went out to Grove for lunch, where Milo sat in her first restaurant high chair! She held herself up very well. She was just about at mouth-level with the table, so she was very eager to gnaw on the edge with her gums. Admittedly, it wasn’t the greatest parenting move to let her do this, but we limited it as much as possible. Then we gave her a taste of potatoes. She made her customary “what is this” face, which looks a little like she’s concerned or grossed out. Eventually she’ll get used to food, right? When we get to the sweet stuff, I bet she will stop making that face.

We took our time walking home, stopping in a few stores and making a few purchases along the way. We walked through Panhandle and eventually made our way home, while Milo napped for about 20 minutes somewhere on the way. So, when we got home, our girl was not interested in napping right away. She did, however, have a 2-hour nap from about 4-6, which was glorious for all of us. Chase got some work done, I got to relax with my girl, and the apartment was quiet and still for a while.

This evening, we talked about houses some more and played with Milo a bit before bed. Bed time was a bit of a fiasco because our bluetooth speaker decided to quit working right when we were laying Milo down in her crib. We still use it to play loud white noise in her room. And it’s such a strong sleep cue that when it shut off, Milo just perked right up and wanted to look around. Not awesome. Chase and I both worked on it and decided that it was totally dead, so he ran to Target to pick up a temporary replacement until we can get another good one in the mail. Still, not the greatest timing. Milo ended up going to sleep on her own with a bit of crying in her crib while soft white noise played from the ipod. I still don’t like to hear her cry, so it only made me more angry at the speaker for quitting. Yeah, it’s irrational to get angry at an inanimate object, but that’s that.

Notes:

• Milo knocked over her play mat today just by kicking it. It was fun for all of us, that one.

• Still no teeth or sign of teeth, though our girl is still putting absolutely everything in her mouth and chewing on it.

• I brushed Milo’s hair a bit today with the scrubby brush, and I got a little bit of her cradle cap off. She doesn’t have much, just a few spots, so I haven’t been very worried about it. I think I’ll work on loosening it up soon.

Day One Hundred and Seventy

Brunch

Milo finally pooped today! Her poor body is not processing the solid foods very quickly, and today’s poop looked and smelled awful. It was like peanut butter, but greenish - it was just pasted all over her. Poor girl. No wonder it took her so long to get it out!

After breakfast, Chase set about making a frittata for a brunch we planned to attend nearby. Milo did not want to nap well before the brunch, and she ended up going to sleep right before we were supposed to leave. The result was that Chase went to the brunch and mingled while I stayed behind to allow Milo some good sleep time, and then I joined them when she woke.

AT the brunch, it was nice to hang out with Chase’s work people, and one couple even took their kids! It was so fun seeing the other littles running around, and the little one was even pretty fascinated with Milo, especially when his daddy held her. Jealousy. Milo was all smiles, as she usually is around people. She was very interested in watching everyone and listening to the conversations, and a few people even held and played with her.

She got tired on the way home, though, and had a nice, long nap. The evening was lazy and good; we made spaghetti for dinner and then watched a movie. Milo had a late bed time, but she fell asleep easily.

Notes:

• We’re now pretty sure we can classify Milo’s eyes as blue. They’re still grayish, but more and more they’re looking bluish. The neat thing is that we get comments on them each time we go out. Usually, it’s “Oh, look at those eyes!” (The most common comment we get about her, though, is “Wow, she’s big!!”, which annoys me almost every time. I know she’s big. She’s healthy. And she’s beautiful!)

• Milo’s favorite toy is still her little banana, which got rave reviews at the brunch from the other adults.

• Still no crawling, but lots of scooting and pushing backward.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Nine

Baby Curiosity

Each day, Milo gets better at sitting unassisted. She reaches for things and can hold her balance pretty well now. It’s so exciting to see her get more control of herself!

I haven’t mentioned sleep in a while. Milo has been doing well with sleep, only waking once per night. For a few days last week, she was waking up at around 5am, which was throwing her naps way off. But the past few days/week has been great; she’s going to bed just a tiny bit later, and she’s waking up somewhere between 7 and 7:30, with on average 1 nursing session each night. Not bad.

Milo is also getting better at putting herself to sleep at night. I often lay her down when she’s still writhing around, and she goes right to sleep, often without crying at all. Also, in the middle of the night, she’s often awake when I lay her down after nursing. But again, she puts herself right back to sleep in the crib.

Today, Milo and I headed out for sign language again. I was nervous because she didn’t have much of a nap (only 40 min) before class, but she remained happy and playful throughout the lesson. Then, she had another very short nap on the way home and another shortly thereafter.

The really exciting thing about class today is that Milo finally reacted to the other babies! Well, one baby in particular. Another baby, about 11 months old, came over and sat right next to us. Milo immediately reached out to her and tried to move closer. I scooted her over, and the two touched each other’s hands and were generally amused to look at each other. Her mom came and took her away pretty quickly, so that was disappointing. But I think it’s about time I try and find some play groups to join so that Milo can hang with some people her own age!

Notes:

• Milo learned to blow spit bubbles today. She loves it. She even slightly spit on my face for a moment, but that was ok. She’s so darn cute when she learns something new because she’s so excited to practice it!

• Another new thing Milo has learned to do is a sound sort of like clearing her throat. I wish she weren’t so adamant about practicing this one because it seems to irritate her throat and make her cough, but she continues.

• No poop today.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Eight

Sweat

Nothing really special to report today. Milo is getting very good at playing with things while on her tummy; she lifts herself so high and is better able to support her head while looking at and chewing on things in front of her. Her core muscles must be getting stronger. I love it.

We tried a lot more sitting up today, and Milo is great at it. She still topples over sometimes, but she’s pretty good at catching herself so that she doesn’t bump her head. And she’s practically an expert now at reaching for things while sitting up.

Chase noted today that Milo often sweats when she plays, mostly from her head. She’ll be playing and playing, and her head will just get so sweaty. She is almost always sweaty when she sleeps in my arms, but that’s to be expected because of my heat compounding her heat. But the sweating while playing is surprising and somehow adorable.

Notes:

• Still no poop today. Hopefully we won’t have to resort to more prune juice.

• Milo hates having her mouth wiped. She actively avoids it whenever possible. She is so good at turning her face away when we go to wipe her mouth. It’s challenging and not adorable.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Seven

Up Chuck

Milo tried broccoli again today, and she generally had a better reaction to it. It was warm, which freaked her out at first, but then she welcomed it with each new bite. So that was exciting! I think she is getting used to eating some food at around lunch time in her little high chair.

Later in the day, Milo spent a lot of time practicing crawling, and she’s getting pretty darn close to having full movement. She pushes herself along, but it’s still quite a struggle for her. Today, she got to Sophie pretty quickly several times; getting to the cat is a big motivator, I think. I kept moving Sophie a little farther away, and Milo just kept getting to her. It was a fun little game, and Sophie didn’t seem to mind.

One thing I have noticed regarding Milo’s attempts at crawling is that she seems to try harder when she’s on the bed, probably because it’s softer than the floor? When she’s on the floor, she just kind of lays on her tummy and plays, but on the bed she moves.

The worst part of the day was when Milo threw up everywhere. It was like actual vomit, not spit up, because of the broccoli. It got everywhere! All over Milo’s clothes, the couch, the blanket on the floor, the carpet, me. I just sat there stunned for a moment because I didn’t know what to do. Ultimately, I decided to clean Milo first, then myself, then the rest of the stuff. I think Milo was freaked out because she started crying right away. She recovered quickly, though, and wasn’t fussy. Still, I’m going to hold off on more broccoli. At least until she poops again.

Notes:

• I expected broccoli poop today, but no dice. Milo’s body is working hard, and I don’t want to over stress it.

• Milo is still working on sitting up, and she’s getting stronger each day.

• When Milo is playing on the carpet on her play mat, she’ll often get stuck because of the play mat’s legs (the things that criss cross at the top to hold the toys). It really frustrates her, but most of the time I let her get herself free of it rather than help her. It’s really cute; she’ll roll over, right up against one of the legs, then she’ll have to figure out how to complete the roll or get herself free. She’s getting pretty good at it.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Six

Broccoli

Milo wanted to hang with Mama today; she basically wanted to be in my lap or in my general vicinity all day, so when I tried to get her to play by herself, she wouldn’t really have it. It was fuss city.

As of this morning, Milo can sit up all by herself! She is still very wobbly, but she can sit alone without being supported, and she has even begun to reach for toys with reasonable success! I’m so excited about this! This means that she’ll be able to play in totally new ways.

Also today, I gave Milo broccoli for the first time. She didn’t spit it out, but she wasn’t incredibly excited about it, judging by her facial expressions. She made the same concerned/confused face that she always makes when she tastes a new food for the first time. She ate it, but she never seemed quite pleased with it. I’m going to focus on broccoli for a few days, and then we’ll move on to cauliflower. Yum!

This evening, Chase and I began a house hunt in Austin, and we’re super excited about it! We looked at homes that were recommended by our realtor and whittled ~90 down to ~20. Not bad. We’re pretty easy to please, but since we have a lot of time to look for a place, we might be able to be kind of picky. The really great part about house hunting is that Chase and I agree about almost everything regarding what we want in a house and a neighborhood. So that should make the job pretty easy.

Notes:

• Chase planned his first 2-day trip away from me and Milo, set in early February. It’s a business trip, and I’m not looking forward to it.

• Still no teeth.

Smelling the roses

Milo’s a baby, which usually means that she has very gross motor control. When she’s sitting up and she sees something in front of her that she wants to grab, she basically just slams her arms together and hopes that they catch something. When on her belly, she tries to crawl, but it doesn’t work because she’s basically just kicking straight out and not bending her knees or swinging her legs with any real intention. In the exersaucer, she slaps and flips and grabs and tugs whatever she can reach, as fast as she can reach it.

But sometimes she slows down and focuses intently on the smallest of details. She’ll be straining on her belly non-stop for a whole minute, and then I’ll notice that she’s suddenly gone still. When I look down, I see her gently stroking the smooth plastic of the pole on her play mat, or clawing at the rough fabric of our shoddy old couch. She loves textures.

And then, absentmindedly, I find myself clawing at the same fabric, or thumbing the same pole, seeing a glimpse of the world through her fascinated blue eyes.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Five

Rough Day

Another Monday. Milo was mildly fussy all day, so it was a bit rough. I think I mentioned that she has a new noise, and today I figured out exactly how to describe it: whining. She has learned how to whine. It’s a high-pitched kind of cry, but her mouth is closed. She now whines whenever she is even mildly put out about something. Today, she was displeased almost every time I put her down to play, and she only wanted to be standing up, playing in her exersaucer, or sitting in my lap to play. I’m trying not to hold her all the time because I want her to be able to play independently, but today was hard.

Also, she may be progressing in her teething. Everyone was adamant that she was teething at Christmas time, but we didn’t notice excessive drooling or any gum issues. Now, there is slightly more drool, so perhaps things are picking up? Maybe this is contributing to the fussiness?

Milo again did not poop today, so I think that may be contributing to her whining, as well. We gave her a bit more diluted prune juice, so maybe things will get back to normal soon. I really hope so. I don’t like it when she doesn’t poop, and I don’t feel good about giving her solids while her tummy is still irregular.

So, today was just a kind of bleh day. Chase got home early, which allowed me to cook dinner while he took care of Milo. She had a late nap, so she ended up having a late (9:20) bed time, which was frustrating. I hope tomorrow is better.

Notes:

• Milo is still napping in my arms during the day, which I love but I need to put an end to soon. To be honest, I’m a bit scared to try putting her down for naps because I just know it’s going to be a long and frustrating day when I do. But soon.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Four

Let There Be Poop!

This poop thing became really ridiculous today. I mean, the girl last pooped on TUESDAY! So this morning I decided to give her some plain yogurt, thinking that maybe the probiotic would be helpful. She did not care for the yogurt, though. Probably because it’s so tart. She kept making an awful face and even gagged a bit trying to spit some out. It will not be the last time she eats yogurt, though. I will persist.

She then basically skipped her first nap, only sleeping for about 30 minutes even though she woke up at 6am. So we did our routine of massaging the tummy, encouraging movement, etc. Chase was gracious and let me nap while he watched her, which was amazing because I didn’t get much sleep last night.

And all day there was still no poop. We finally called Kaiser and they recommended diluted prune juice twice per day between nursing. So, on our way back from lunch we picked some up and then set upon trying to get her to drink it. It’s difficult to get Milo to drink anything other than breastmilk directly from the source because she doesn’t like a bottle. So we started with the juice in a bottle, followed by juice in her sippy cup, followed by spooning the juice into her mouth. We finally resorted to using the syringe that comes with infant Tylenol to get her to drink it. That worked, and she was not happy with us afterward.

After all that, I’m happy to report that Milo pooped this evening at around 6:30pm. It wasn’t room-clearingly stinky, either, which I was surprised by. It was kind of chunky, though, which is new. I think there will be lots more poops to come, perhaps even some poops tonight while she sleeps. But so be it. This girl needs to get that poop out!

Notes:

• Milo has begun to make a high-pitched humming sound. It’s like a new kind of scream that isn’t as intense. I dig it.

• We let Milo lick a pickle again today, and again she had basically no reaction.

• This week I’m going to puree some vegetables to begin freezing for Milo’s first solids beyond the cereal and avocado. I’ll probably begin with broccoli. Yum!

• Our girl has begun to basically attack Sophie out of curiosity. Today, she twice pulled Sophie’s face toward her, and in the past week, she’s begun maneuvering toward Sophie and grabbing fist-fulls of fur. Sophie is a good sport, though.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Three

Hayes Valley

Today, we mostly stayed home and tried to help Milo poop. She had lots of stinky farts, but still no poop. I emailed her doctor, but if I don’t get a response in the morning, I’m going to call and get some advice. This is getting ridiculous. So far we have:

• Massaged her belly with oil.
• Bicycled her legs.
• Encouraged lots of activity, including “crawling” on her belly and rolling around.
• Fed her lots of breastmilk.
• Sat her in the vibrating chair for as long as she would tolerate it.
• Given her a warm bath.

Nothing. The bath was fun, though. Chase got in with her since she can’t sit up by herself yet, and it was the first time we’ve given her toys to play with in there. She drank quite a bit of water while in there, which I didn’t like much, and she played with her floaty toys a bit, too. Milo has loved the bath for a while, but this time was extra fun because there was more water and she got to play with daddy.

In the afternoon, just after Milo’s second nap, we went out to Hayes Valley. Chase got some frozen yogurt and I got ice cream, and then we walked around and looked in some shops. We don’t go down there too often, mostly because all of the shops are too hoity-toity and expensive. But one of our favorite ice cream shops is there, so we make the trip every so often. It was worth it.

We ended up walking the whole way home, which was kind of awful because of all the hills. But it was nice exercise and a nice talk.

In the evening, we ate leftovers for supper, and we wasted a lot of time on the computer and watching reruns. Not a bad day.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-Two

More Signs

Milo still hasn’t pooped. I’m starting to get worried. She is still not too fussed or pained about it, though, so that’s good, I guess. Chase and I did massage her tummy and work with her legs to try and get things moving, and we even put her in her vibrating chair. But all of that just brought up some gas. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Today was day 2 of Milo waking up at 5:30am. So Chase and I took advantage of having time together this morning and went out for breakfast at Devil’s Teeth again. I love their breakfast sandwiches! Milo was great, and she ended up taking a very long nap from 8:45 to 11:10am. I let her break the 2-hour-nap time limit today since she woke up so early.

After that, we had to leave right away to make it to Sign Language on time. Luckily, since she had a long nap right before class, she didn’t get too fussed during. Today we learned colors and “things that go zoom” (aka, forms of transportation). I also learned how to introduce myself, and I found out that the babies on either side of me, who are both smaller than Milo, are older than Milo. She’s a big girl. I love it.

Getting home took a while because we were on public transportation, so Milo decided to have a short nap. Then we played a lot at home; Milo got a couple of new teethers, and she just generally rolled around and grabbed at whatever she could find.

Tonight, Milo didn’t fight sleep, which was nice. I fully expect that she’ll wake up at 5:30 again, but we’re not going to bed any earlier than usual, which is a mistake. Oh well. We’ll just suffer through it together tomorrow.

Notes:

• Milo is now able to push herself backward pretty easily. She rolls, she pivots position on her tummy, and now she can push herself backward. She was all over the place in class today!

• She is still really distractible while she nurses, especially when Chase comes around. She will just whip off of the nipple to see whatever it is that caught her attention. I’m told it’s a phase. We’ll see.

Day One Hundred and Sixty-One

New Toys

Milo’s sleep was all over the place today. Chase and I went to bed late, then Milo woke up at 1:30 and, was up for the day at 5:30. So I basically felt like I got no sleep last night, and I have no idea why she wanted to be up so early. It was awful. Luckily, Chase took care of her for a bit this morning, and then Milo napped from about 7:30 until 9am. She had several more naps today, though they weren’t very long. And tonight she fought sleep at bed time, which she hasn’t done in quite a while.

Today was not too bad, though, except for the weird/frequent/short naps. Milo played well, rolled all over, had stinky farts, and tolerated my need to vacuum and wash dishes. We bought her a new teether, which she got to chew on today and absolutely loved!! Seriously - she drooled all over the place while chewing and sucking on this thing!

I also got a new laminating machine, which I bought in order to make flash cards for Milo to help her learn different nouns, colors, etc. and sign language. I’m really excited about it because 1) I haven’t gotten to create anything learning-related since I stopped teaching, 2) I am really eager to start teaching Milo sign language, and 3) the laminator will be super useful when I return to teaching eventually. I’ve got about 70 flash cards ready to be printed and laminated already! This weekend will be busy and fun.

What else? Milo hasn’t pooped since Tuesday, which is distressing. But she doesn’t seem to be too bothered (though I do wonder if this is contributing to her sleep problems). I think it’s time for some tummy massage tomorrow morning before we head to class.

Notes:

• Milo’s hair is coming in more and more, and I am so freaking excited!

• She is right on the verge of sitting up on her own. Chase and I sit with her in our laps, and she can sit unassisted for a few seconds before falling in one direction.

• Milo still thinks it’s pretty funny when I pretend bite her finger while she’s nursing. And today she laughed while nursing and falling asleep for her nap, which still makes my heart happy. I’m going to be so sad when she no longer does this.

Day One Hundred and Sixty

Bubbles

I gave Milo some more oatmeal cereal today, and she ate more of it than she has in the past. She also played with her food for the first time :) What she did was blow when I put the spoon in her mouth, effectively causing little bubbles of oatmeal cereal to get on her face and bib. I think the first time was an accident, but subsequent blows were definitely on purpose. I know I shouldn’t have, but I laughed every time. It was cute and funny, and I’m not made of stone.

Milo has also been screaming and screaming lately, and I now think that she doesn’t quite know what she’s doing. It’s like she just learned to scream and she’s practicing all the time on all different kinds of situations. For instance, she’ll scream when she’s excited, and she’ll scream the exact same way when she’s getting fussed. It’s hard to know which is which until it’s obvious. If that makes sense.

Chase got home a bit early tonight, which made it possible to make a good dinner: smoked turkey chowder. It’s rich and delectable, and we savored every bite.

Also today, I finished my third novel of the year! I’m really proud of myself for getting into reading early. I’ve been taking advantage of Milo’s naps, which is what’s allowing me to get so much done. Tonight’s book was The Girl On The Train, which was a fun but not entirely wonderful read. Worth the time, entertaining, but not my favorite.