9 Months!

2/3rds of year!! Everyone told me that babies grow up so fast, but it rings truer and truer as the months tick by...I mean in only 3 short months Kaitlin will have her 1st birthday - that is just complete craziness!! I know I say this every month, but every month it feels like I fall in love with her deeper and depper. She is a GREAT kid, with TONS of energy. I am quickly having to learn how to put on a diaper any which way (forwards, backwards, sideways, standing up , sitting down...fight, fight, fight!) The child HATES diaper changes right now. Sitting still in one place for more than 30 seconds is apparently TORTURE to her - she wants to be on the move! This month, we have gone to more finger foods and have introduced plums, watermelon, peaches, tomatoes, and her latest favoite....Cherrios!! Yumm!! Put a couple of cherrios in front of this girl and it will make her happy for a LONG time. She has figured out how to actually walk in her walker, and will sprint toward any cat or dog around (oh - and she gets a kick out of running into your ankles as fast as she can!). MS and I just crack up at her when she is in her walker - she LOVES the thing. She hasn't made any more sounds, but has started to "share" her toys. She is into putting her paci from her mouth to momma's mouth, to her mouth again and back and forth, back and forth. Two more teeth came in (her two front ones), and she is FINALLY growing some more hair!! I am anxiously awaiting the time that I can put some bows on the child. We still have our same bed-time routine, and when I rock her she sticks her free hand in my mouth (or up my nose...whichever) to try and see where the singing is coming from.

Happy 9 months my baby girl!! I love you oh-so-much!!

Evolution of a Mom

Being a first time mom, I know that I have a HUGE learning curve, but I felt like I was as prepared as I was ever going to be to have a child. I read several books, I went to all the classes, I was involved a group with pregnant women, and new moms, and heard all their stories. I watched "Happiest Baby on the Block" and cleaned my house up and down three times over before Kait was born. Although I was nervous bringing Kait home from the hospital I thought that I had the knowledge to conquer her every whim and whimper. I wanted to make sure that I did everything correct from the swaddling, to the shushing, to the sleeping, to the changing, to the breast-feeding. I wanted to make sure that this child got off to the right start. I cleaned out her still attached umbilical cord so carefully and made sure that the wipes weren't too cold so that she didn't cry when I changed her. I thought that I knew what it took to be a great mother. But nothing slaps all of that "knowing" out of your head like a newborn screaming for you at 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am (ad nauseum). Although I thought I knew how I would handle a baby, my child still cried, my child still had sleepless nights, and most of all, and worst of all, my child ended up being formula fed. Out of all my classes, books, and support groups, the one thing that I was not going to budge on was breast-feeding my child. I even dragged my husband to breast feeding classes and made him read a couple of passages in some books to make sure that I had a strong supporter who also knew all the benefits of breast-feeding. I won't go into the details of why I ended up giving my child formula (if you really want to know email me). But the bottom line is, that was my first failure as a mother, and will always be my first failure. It is something that I am still working through, might always be working through, but it has gotten better. And it has gotten better because I know that although I might feel like an epic failure as a mother, my child still looks for me in a room and squeals with delight when she sees me. My child still likes to cuddle with me before I put her to bed. My child looks into my eyes with such extreme love and trust that my heart feels like its about to explode in happiness. And - my child is still well fed, well nourished, and happy and healthy. She is thriving with the circumstances that she has been given, and that makes this momma extremely proud of her almost 9 month old! Every day I am becoming more comfortable in my role as a mother, and ENJOYING it more and more - what intense joy a mother has been given to watch their child grow...regardless of their failures. I am evolving into a mother, a provider, a confident that she can be proud of, that she can learn from (and yes learn from my mistakes). I am learning what GREAT JOY it is to be a mother - not just the person who gave my child birth.

8 months

Yes - I am posting 7 months and 8 months all in one day, because I said before - I am LATE getting A LOT of things done these days.

So here's to 8 months!! (& yes, these pictures were really taken on her exact month birthdays...one thing i didn't fail at miserably!).

8 month stats.....

• As you can see from the pictures, Kait is crawling and pulling herself up and LOVING every minute of it!
• She had your first plane ride and made it all the way to Pennsylvania for the Watermire family reunion! (side note: I will never again to "baby on lap" for a plane ride....this was a nightmare. All she wanted to do was be on the ground crawling!! Trying to keep her in my lap for 4 hours was not so great for mommy & daddy. Not to mention that the flight attendants were not to helpful when I had to change the her - they told me I had to wait until they were done with their beverage service. I told her she was out of her mind, and she let me go through. I guess a screaming poopy baby can be pretty persuasive - needless to say, we will buy a seat for her and take her car seat so we can strap the child down!).
• "dada" was your first consonant sound. MS was thrilled, because I have been practicing for MONTHS now to get her to say "mama", but I told him that it didn't count yet because it wasn't recognition. I am still holding out for "mama" as her first words!
• We tried puffs this month, and I was scared to death that she was going to choke on them, but she did pretty good and now LOVES them.
• She is still sleeping through the night and on Saturdays she even sleeps in (which makes both mommy and daddy very happy!)
• She is just an excellent baby, and she is getting more fun every day! So many people comment on what a great baby she is (and we do feel really lucky to call her ours!)