Day One Hundred and Fifty-Nine

Gross Poop

Well, today’s poop more than made up for the missed poop yesterday. Milo pooped while playing in the exersaucer, and apparently she’s become a stealth pooper because I didn’t hear her do it. I only noticed the poop when I picked her up and felt something wet on my hand, which was under her bum. Figuring it was just pee, I put her down and took off her pants. That’s when I noticed all of the thick, yellow goop down her leg and all over her diaper and pants. And on my arm, and somehow on my leggings already.

Needless to say, that poop took a while to clean up. It was also very stinky, which I guess I’m going to have to get used to now that she’s getting bigger. Milo was very patient with me while I cleaned her up, but she got fussed shortly there after, I presume because she was hungry, having just emptied her previously very full tummy.

After I cleaned everything up, Milo and I headed out to meet Chase for lunch at the Ferry Building. It was her first trip there, and she was curious about everything. Also, she’s now at the stage where she grabs at everything within her reach. So eating while holding Milo has become a challenge, but we’re still managing ok. Soon she’ll be eating solids and we can offer her food, which will (hopefully) calm the urge to grab at things.

Because she woke up at 6:30 this morning (and then woke up from her first nap at 9:40), she was exhausted by the time we finished eating at 12:30. So she fell asleep somewhere around 12:45 while I was walking to the bus stop to head home. A quick 30 minute nap, and she was awake for most of the ride home. Once home, she was cranky but still played with me on the carpet for a while. She clearly needed more sleep, though, so she took another nap from about 2:45 until 5pm.

This evening, Milo and I played quite a bit on the carpet, which mostly consisted of me watching her roll around, handing her toys, sitting with her so that she could sit and play, holding things for her to chew on, etc. Chase got home on the late side, so dinner was late tonight, but it was easy and Milo didn’t fuss too much.

Notes:

• Milo seems to be getting really desperate for food, but we’re still not comfortable giving her more food yet. We did let her lick a pickle today, but she didn’t really know what it was or how to react.

• Sometimes, when Milo tries to crawl, she ends up moving backward. She does this when she actually uses her arms to lift her upper body. Normally her face is on the ground and she pushes forward with her legs, which makes her irritated. She’ll get the hang of it soon.

• Milo totally fixates on Sophie whenever she catches a glimpse of her. Sometimes when she’s playing on the carpet, she’ll just stop what she’s doing to stare at Sophie, especially if Sophie is moving around.

• I made Milo laugh today by doing a shocked face and gasping loudly. I love making her laugh.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Eight

Brown Bear

Milo did not poop today. She has begun to skip days on poops, and it makes me very nervous. She did, however, have some very stinky farts. I’m not used to her farts or poops smelling bad because she’s been exclusively breastfed. But now that I’m giving her cereal, I guess that contributes to the stinkiness? Who knows. Anyway, they were intense.

We played quite a bit inside, and we went out for a trip to Haight around noon. I (stupidly) tried to go to the post office to mail something, and only when I got there did I realize that it was closed because of MLK day. So we just walked around a little bit and came home. Milo still loves going out.

At home, Milo had 3 good naps, played in her exersaucer, rolled around a lot, and did a lot of screaming. She has begun to scream a lot lately, but not always for the same reason. Sometimes she screams when she’s happy, other times she screams when she’s frustrated, and other times she screams when she’s about to throw a fit. I still love to hear her vocalize, though, no matter what the reason is.

In the evening, I met up with Chase and Joe on Haight for dinner, and then we walked around a bit. I bought Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? at the book store, and I’m eager to practice singing and signing it with Milo. We learned how to sign it in class last week, and I’ve been practicing. I sang it to Milo tonight just before bed, and she seemed to like it a lot. To be fair, though, she loves any song we sing to her.

After dinner, we went to The Ice Cream Bar on Cole St. and I got a chocolate milkshake. Milo just about fell asleep in the ergo on the way home, but we didn’t let her. If she had fallen asleep, she would have almost certainly woken up once we got inside, and then she would have had a hard time going to sleep for the night. So, crisis averted!

Notes:

• Milo can just about play with every feature of the exersaucer these days. It was slow at first, but now she can spin around and touch every part of it, and she seems happy to do so.

• The other day on the bus, a lady spent some time talking to and looking at Milo, and she said that she thinks Milo’s eyes are indigo. Interesting.

• I love looking at my girl when she sleeps.

• Milo is no longer satisfied with laying down and playing on her play mat. She’ll lay and play for a while, roll around and play for a while, but sometimes she refuses to be happy until we sit her up so that she can sit and play with the toys hanging from it. So we sit her up and hold on to her (she hasn’t quite mastered sitting up on her own) while she grabs at things and chews on things. Then she’s happy.

• Every day, Milo begins to love chewing on her toes just a little bit more.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Seven

Making Milo Laugh

We’ve been pretty successful at making Milo laugh lately. Today, Chase was talking to her and began to make dog noises, and then Milo just started laughing a little girl laugh, and it was amazing!

Earlier in the week, I took a video of Milo as I made her laugh by making high pitched noises as she played on the floor. I just squealed and cooed at her, and she loved it, for some reason. I’ve also been able to make her laugh when she’s nursing; she picks her arm up and tries to find my face, and I play-bite her little fingers. Sometimes I make munching noises as I do this, and she gets a real kick out of the whole production. I know it’s not a great idea to distract her while she’s nursing, but I don’t care. I love making this girl laugh.

My favorite, though, is when she laughs when she’s falling asleep while nursing. It’s the best. I even got a video!

Today:

Milo refused to nap this morning. She was awake (save for about a 5-10 min nap) from 7:30 until 12:30. It was a marathon! And the most surprising part is that she was in a good mood the whole time. So we didn’t worry too much about it, and she eventually had a couple of good, lengthy naps.

Chase and I both finished reading our second books of the year, which means we’re well on our way to completing our reading challenge (20 books). We didn’t go out because Milo’s lack of nap made the schedule weird, and also it’s been raining much of the day.

So, we had a fun little family day. Chase spent a lot of time with Milo while I read, which was very nice for both of us. I can’t wait until Milo is a reader, and then we can all sit around on rainy days and read our books as a family.

Notes:

• When we visited JP and Puja last night, he mentioned that she’s getting her “toddler face.” It makes me excited and a little sad at the same time that my girl is growing so fast.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Six

Rainy Day

It was a rainy and wet day today, so we didn’t go out much. Milo was up at 7am, and we were slow to get anything done. I actually napped with Milo for her first of the day, which is one of my favorite things in the world these days. While I held Milo through her other naps, Chase cleaned up the kitchen and made more yogurt! We also got a considerable amount of reading done, too. Since I’m required to stay in one spot while Milo naps these days, I’ve been trying to read more. I’m on my second novel of the year. Not too shabby.

This evening, we went to JP and Puja’s place for dinner. We ordered in some middle eastern food, which was delicious. We also got to catch up with them and play with Avani. She gets cuter and smarter each time we see her! Highlights of the evening: Avani is saying more words, she kissed Milo a couple of times, Milo got licked vigorously by their dog (Miso), and we got to talk about parenting things.

As a result of going out tonight, Milo didn’t get to bed until just after 9pm. She was pretty exhausted by the time we put her down. I hope she sleeps well tonight.

Notes:

• Milo hasn’t pooped since Thursday, and even that was a little one. I’m getting a bit worried, but hopefully it’ll come soon.

• Milo loves biting on the new teething necklaces I got recently, as well as her little teething banana. We still don’t see any teeth coming in, but we hear it’s a slow process.

• She is so close to sitting up on her own and crawling! She tries and tries to crawl, and she definitely scoots herself around, but she hasn’t gotten the hang of the hands-and-knees thing.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Five

Sign Language

So, Milo and I had our first Baby Sign Language class in the 6-class series we’re taking at Natural Resources. It’s the longest (and farthest) we’ve been out since getting back from our trip. I was nervous about it because I’ve been working on Milo’s naps and keeping her on some sort of routine, but we can’t just stay home forever.

We headed out to the Mission District at around 11am because I thought the class began at noon (it actually began at 12:30), and we arrived at about 11:45. I got lunch and walked around a bit, and then we went to class early. It was nice to be around other parents and babies, and I got a sense of how big Milo really is. The man next to me had a 5.5month old who looked tiny compared to Milo (who is 5 months old). As expected, Milo got fussed about halfway through the class.

At some point during the class, I had to change Milo’s diaper because she was wet. This was a fiasco. I was in a confined spot, and Milo kept trying to roll away from me. She even managed to get diaper cream on her hand, and then on her toy and all over the outside of the diaper before the ordeal was over. Then, she wanted sleep and needed some help. So I didn’t end up participating much in the songs or in signing, but I did learn the signs.

At home, I worked to teach Chase what I’d learned. I love sign language, and I just know I’m going to be super excited when Milo signs for the first time!

In the evening, Chase and I went out to dinner at Brenda’s, and Milo was still pretty good at the restaurant. No fits, though I did have to feed her about half way through. Soon, we’ll be able to bring our clamp-on high chair so she can sit and eat with us!

Notes:

• Milo’s legs are so strong that she’s now kind of jumping up and down when I hold her in a standing position!

• She’s also kicking a lot whenever she gets the chance. She’ll lay on her belly and just kick her legs out. She also does this when she’s getting sleepy and is kind of resisting - just lay in my arms and nurse, and her legs are going and going.

• Still having to hold her for naps, though today I was able to lay her on the bed for the last 30 minutes or so of her final nap.

• Milo’s back to flailing out and grabbing whatever her hand can find while nursing. I still don’t mind it.

• Sleep has been good at night, though she seems to have settled in to her routine of waking twice each night and waking for the day at 6:45am.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Four

This girl is FIVE months old today!!!

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Three

Not Much

Another day of not much. I’ve been staying in ever since we got back from the holiday trip, and there’s no real reason for it. The weather has been sort of rainy, but not rainy enough to keep me inside all the time. It’s just one of those things I do, I guess, when I come home from a good trip. I stay in because it’s hard to be here away from everyone. Anyway, I’ll go out tomorrow.

Today, Milo and I played a lot, and I made her laugh a lot, too! I have to take my glasses off to tickle her, and then I do so by rubbing my face in her chest near her underarms. She loves it. I also do lots of vigorous kisses or kissy noises on her neck, and that makes her squeal sometimes, too. Life is so much better with baby laughter!

As for Milo’s naps, I’m letting her regress a bit so that she gets the sleep she needs (and so that I don’t go crazy trying to get her to sleep). I’ve been allowing her to sleep in my arms or right next to me during the day, and it’s been helping her stay asleep longer. I’ll slowly transition back to laying her down for naps when it seems like she’s ready.

As for food, I tried avocado again today, but Milo wasn’t much interested this time. I think it was timing rather than disinterest, as she’d just nursed not too long before I tried giving her the food.

This evening, Chase and I went to the other side of town to pick up a FREE stroller that was being given away! I’m still not sure how much we want a stroller, but this one was free, and it’s exactly the stroller we’d get if we were going to purchase one. So what the heck, right? We were also pleasantly surprised to find that the woman also gave us a rain cover and a winter bundler, so Milo will stay warm and dry when/if we take her out in it. Maybe I’ll try the stroller later in the week.

Bedtime facetime

Milo knows her bedtime routine so well by now that almost immediately after we dim the lights and start singing, she gets sleepy. We know because she also gets fussy.

Often there’s nothing we can do about this except rush through the routine, since she’s so accustomed to us by bedtime that our silly faces and our cooing are no comfort. But tonight I hadn’t had time to play with her much before bed, so I was still a novelty. So as I rubbed her feet with lavender oil, occasionally I would lean in to put my face inches away from hers. Each time I did, she stopped fussing, stared straight up at me, smiled, and reached for my hair or my nose or my mouth.

And then I pulled away. And then she started fussing again.

And then I came back. And she was enraptured again.

Away, back, away, back.

Magic.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Two

No Naps, part 2

Today was day two of no naps, or at least day two of Milo resisting being laid down for her nap. For some reason, she just doesn’t want to be on the bed, away from me, to nap, and she doesn’t want to stop nursing to stay asleep. So, I decided again today to just let her sleep in my arms or right next to me so that she would get adequate sleep. It worked, I didn’t go crazy, and Milo wasn’t fussed all day. Win?

During the day today, Milo and I played and I worked on getting rid of some baby things. We sold baby clothes and a Moby, and we listed more items on CL. Purging feels so good!

Chase got home on the late side today, and we had leftovers for dinner. I love leftovers nights. On leftovers nights we get to spend so much more time together, and I don’t have to worry about keeping Milo happy while simultaneously trying to clean the kitchen and cook.

After Milo went to bed, we watched Steve Jobs. We both liked it, though it seemed like Jobs was a pretty one-dimensional character in the film, and I would have liked a more accurate depiction. Anyhow, we’re slowly making our way through the (likely) Oscar contenders.

Notes:

• Milo had a really gross poop today, probably because of the avocado. It still didn’t smell bad, but it was very messy and not nice to look at.

• I put her on the carpet to roll around and play on her play mat, and she just goes everywhere. There’s no controlling her anymore.

• My girl doesn’t really flail her arm around when nursing anymore, or at least she hasn’t been for the past day or two. She just puts it on my chest or on my face, which I find comforting.

• Her legs are always getting stronger, and she loves to stand when on my lap. She stands and just reaches for whatever is around her, or she grabs my face.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-One

No Naps!

Today was rough. Milo decided that today was not a day for naps. Not long naps, anyway. She stayed awake through two attempts to get her to nap this morning, and the only thing that would put her to sleep is a walk in the Ergo, and even then it was only about 25 minutes.

After the briefest nap ever, Milo was slightly fussed. She perked up enough for me to feed her more avocado, which she loved, and I was able to clean the kitchen while she noshed. Just as yesterday, Milo was first skeptical about the avocado and then welcomed it eagerly.

In the afternoon, Milo again resisted napping. She fell asleep while nursing but awoke immediately when I tried to lay her down. So her second nap was only about 30 minutes. After that micronap, she was again pretty fussed and unhappy, probably because she was still tired. So we played, I let her roll around a tiny bit, but she was too fussed for that mostly. She laid on the sofa while I read a bit, and while laying there she mostly grunted, as she’s taken to doing lately.

Speaking of grunting, we haven’t yet figured out what she’s trying to communicate when she does it. I think it’s complaining, as it seems like she usually grunts when she wants a change of position. Though sometimes she does it when we change her diapers or when she’s just laying on her back.

Later in the afternoon, we had the same troubles with napping - when I took her off of my breast and tried to lay her down, she woke up almost immediately. So I decided to hold her so that she could get some good sleep. It worked out well, and her final nap of the day turned out to be 2 hours long! My girl was tired.

This evening, we all went out for a brief walk, and we face Milo outward again. She seriously loved it and was all smiles. I think we’re going to have to do this more often.

Notes:

• Milo now weighs about 17 pounds.

• Even though she’s only 5 months, Milo is already fitting into some 9 month clothes. We’re having to get rid of all her 3-6 month jumpers because they’re just too short or too tight, so she’s mostly wearing 6-9 month and up. I love my big girl!

• Our girl is getting so good at scooting! She’s not crawling, but she does use her legs to push herself tiny increments on the carpet. She’s also good at pivoting around to change directions.

Day One Hundred and Fifty

Sunday

Although we planned to go on our first hike of the new year (and Milo’s first ever), we decided to stay in today because I wasn’t feeling great. So instead, we cleaned the house a bit and tried a new recipe in the slow cooker.

For lunch, Chase went out to grab some burgers from a local place, and with our order, we got a lot of extra avocado. Since Milo took to cereal so easily, we decided to see how she liked avocado. In short, she loved it. At first she was a bit confused about what we were putting in her mouth. We used our fingers to offer it to her, and she tentatively opened her mouth at first, mouthed it with a skeptical look on her face, and finally let her face rest. After the first few nibbles, she eagerly pulled the finger toward her when we presented more avocado on it. We didn’t give her much, but she ate up what we did give her.

In the afternoon, we went out to get a few groceries, and Milo slept well in the Ergo while we walked around Costco. Of course, it was only a brief nap, so she had to nap again in the evening. Also of course, Milo’s evening nap was the longest, so we had to wake her up at 7pm so that the nap didn’t flow into her bed time.

After Milo went to bed, Chase and I decided to watch a movie, as has become our custom. Tonight it was Joy. Not a bad weekend, all together.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Nine

Not a great quality photo, but I just had to put it on here because Chase dressed her today. :)

Brief Update

I’m not feeling great today, so Chase was a great help at playing with Milo while I rested. This morning, we rented the car and drove out to Devil’s Teeth for some breakfast sandwiches and other goodies, which I spent the entire day munching on. After breakfast, we spent much of the day at home, each of us napping at various times. It was great.

Notes:

• When laying down and playing, Milo is now doing this thing where she plays with a toy for a while and then lifts it above her head multiple times and brings it back to her chest. It’s like baby power lifting!

• Even though she’s great at grabbing things, Milo still hasn’t quite figured out how to get things off of her face. For instance, when she is playing with something, it may land on her face and then she’ll let go. Then she just sort of leaves it there and lays still. Sometimes she’ll flail her arms and talk a bit, but she never, ever grabs the thing and gets it off of her face.

• My girl has been hungrier than usual lately, but I’m not sure if it’s because of a growth spurt or because my milk supply is low. Either way, I think we’ll give her some more cereal soon.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Eight

Notes

Milo was up bright and early at 6:45 again today, so Chase had a bit of time to play with her before he headed off to work. I didn’t sleep well last night even though we went to bed at around 9:30, so Chase graciously said yes when I asked him to take Milo to pick up breakfast on Haight.

Even though she was tired, Milo refused to nap until around 10am, which is a pretty long stretch of time for her to be awake. Luckily, she napped for 2 hours, so she was in great spirits for the rest of the afternoon.

I stupidly loaded myself down with groceries when we made a trip to the store, which meant that I had to haul the heaviest bag in the world down two pretty steep hills and then up 3 flights of stairs. I talk to Milo a lot when I have her in the Ergo, and today it was mostly complaints on that walk home. Usually I count the stairs as I walk up them (to help her with numbers), but today I just huffed and puffed.

Nothing much else was new today; Milo played with her balls and blocks, chewed on her chewbeads and cat rattle, but she wasn’t too keen on being in the Bumbo much this afternoon. We talked a bit, I tried to help her get into the crawling position again (which was not well received yet again), and she napped well. This evening, Chase got home early, and we all got to cook dinner together. Not a bad day.

Notes:

• Something I know will be ending too soon is our dinner routine. Since Milo came along, we’ve been watching shows while eating dinner and placing Milo on the couch in between us. In the past, she just stared up at us or chewed on something while we watched and talked to each other and her. Now, she squirms and tries to turn her head around to see the tv. Or she tries to chew on my clothes, or she uses her legs to try and push herself off the couch.

• I also think we’ve used the swaddle for the last time, too. I’m going to miss waking her up and unzipping that swaddle, seeing her arms and legs pop out and Milo stretch a long stretch until she is completely satisfied and awake.

• I also wanted to mention that at night (and at her middle of the night nursing sessions), Milo finishes nursing and then kind of swings herself back in my arms, letting her arm swing wide and fall limp. I love this so much. She just lays her head back, lays back on my arm, puts that arm out, and is totally passed out. I don’t know how long she will continue to do this, but I want to remember it.

• I made Milo laugh today. That’s worth remembering, too.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Seven