Thursday, July 31, 2008

Whoa...

So it's obviously hard to decipher, but we're pretty sure that Roxanne JUST said her first real word. She was laying with me on the bed a minute ago, and Justin came up behind her and touched her back and said hello. She whipped her head back and did a full body roll towards him and literally yelled "Dada!" when she saw him. And like I said, I'm sure it could have been a coincidence, but it really seemed like she was calling Justin dada. It was really an exciting and special moment. Even if it was a coincidence.

We're trying a new nighttime routine to try and help Roxanne start sleeping in the crib, and the pattern we are trying involves nursing, then reading a book, then rocking her in the glider with a lullaby. I try to have Justin rock her, since when I rock her she just seems to want to eat. It works pretty well, and we are trying to give her one of her lovies to hold during this nighttime routine. I had picked out one that is a monkey (with a head and a blanket body) and we've been using that for about a week. However, tonight she peed on it. She pretty much pees once for every two times she gets a diaper change. So fortunately, we have some back-up lovies, (two) and I tried to let her pick between them. That means that she has had both of them for a while.

But as I type, she is asleep with Justin and is only holding one. Our new secret is to put her in her crib on her belly. She really stays asleep better that way, even though I know that ALL of the baby literature tries to tell you that it's the worst thing ever. Our babysitter swears by putting babies to sleep on their belly, as does my mom. For now, I put her in the crib on her belly and she stays asleep for about an hour and a half, and then we end up rocking some more and I put her back in the crib on her back. Then she wakes up again sometime around 1:00am and in my sleepy stupor, I end up keeping her in bed with me for the rest of the night. And as much as everyone tells me I should not let Roxanne rule the night, I am happy with the way things are, and I'm not worried about it. We'll get where we need to be eventually. And for now, at least Justin and I have a couple of hours every night to hang out and talk and watch TV, etc. with no baby around. And I still get my little baby snuggler for half of the night. Pretty soon she won't want anything to do with me, so I might as well take advantage of the cuddling while I can.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Duh

I forgot, Justin and I just had our second wedding anniversary! It was July 22. We did go out for dinner on a date and had lots of fun. Of course, we spent most of our time talking about Roxanne. But it was very fun. We went to P'Cheen in Inman Park and acted like grown-ups.

This weekend went by really fast. My mom watched Roxanne with some help from my sister Leah and her friend. Justin got the day to himself (although I know he missed Roxanne). We all went to dinner at Fickle Pickle in Historic Roswell. Roxanne was a little bit of a banshee. She's getting a little harder to take out to restaurants because she is such a mess. She throws everything off the table. It's amusing, but vaguely stressful. On Saturday we went to a party, and Roxanne got to hang out with Griffin again. They were really cute together. And today we went to our friend Ariel's condo in Sandy Springs/Roswell area and went swimming. Roxanne really enjoyed herself this time. She splashed and splashed and actually went most of the way in the water. I eased her into it pretty slowly, and I think that's why it clicked. She kept staring at the water with this crazy level of intensity and reaching one of her chubby little hands and trying to grab it. She was getting confused when the water splashed her face, and I think that freaked her out, but she didn't cry. It really wore her out, and she took a long nap on Justin in a lounge chair. We went to dinner at Greenwoods in Historic Roswell with Ariel and Luke, and it was delicious. I would highly recommend it. The building it's in is really neat, and the food was wonderful.

I got to do a lot of swimming at Ariel's pool, and it was nice, but now I'm sore again. I decided to try and start working out a little every day to help get more energy for keeping up with 3 babies, and Saturday morning was the first day going for a short jog/walk. Good grief I'm out of shape. My legs are hurting! But I'm going to try and stick to it. Too bad I hate working out... Maybe I can absorb some of Justin's determination and ability to go to the gym every day...ugh. Plus, I'm five pounds from my pre-baby weight, but I want to lose 30 more...double ugh.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Winding down...?

So let me think of what's new... I am really excited to be leaving my job, but these last couple of weeks are really stressful. Everyone keeps going out of town and my co-workers are all quitting. Some friends and I counted how many people have left since I started (almost two years ago) and we got to 60. Our entire group is around 100 people... In any case, I'm really relieved to be getting out. I've been researching about being a nanny, and trying to figure out taxes and other key details. I'm really excited. I'm hoping to get back together with the families this week or next to meet Maddie and her parents and go over some more details about the schedules and feeding habits, etc. etc. Roxanne seems to be getting off of her schedule since her daddy has been keeping her. She has him wrapped around her little finger. She seems to nap and eat whenever she feels like it. But I think overall, they are doing pretty well together. Justin's better able to feed her solid food than I am. We've started on sweet potatoes, which are the first things I've made with the new Cuisinart. With one large sweet potato, I was able to make two full trays of baby food. It was really fun and easy. Next week I want to make pears and apples. I also want to try avocado, which apparently Roxanne can have now. I really love the baby food cookbook we have. It's super easy and has lots of good information about what to feed and when. I'm still confused about when I can start doing things like Cheerios, so I think I will wait until her next doctor's appointment and I get clearance to give them to her. In the mean time, I've got a set of fruit and vegetables I can give. She's finally getting much better about eating solids. I"m looking forward to spending more time with her and keeping up on her development. I hope I'll get to see her first steps, and the first time she crawls, and she'll still get to be around other babies. I am hoping this will be the perfect situation. So far, it has clicked well. I will be making almost the same amount of money (my pay now minus child care costs) and I will be salaried, with paid vacation and sick days. But for this week, Roxanne and her Daddy are best friends.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Can you hear my sigh of relief?

I just submitted my two weeks notice at work!!! I have accepted a position as a nanny for two families in Morningside. I will be watching an adorable boy named Ben who is 9 months old, and a little girl named Mattie who is 14 months old. I will be working at Ben's house, and the best part is, I get to bring Roxanne!

All of this came together this week, and I didn't want to tell anyone because I was afraid I would jinx it, but I'm so excited! This is a new chapter for my family, and I can't tell you how relieved I am. I start the new job on August 4. Yay!!!!!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Hmmm


I can't think of anything specifically exciting or new right now. Roxanne is still being adorable, and she is getting more and more grown up all the time. Her top left tooth is still coming in, and I think I can see a corner of the right one now. She has started grinding and clicking them together, which makes my skin crawl, but I have to say I can understand the inclination. I bet it's really weird to have teeth for the first time...

Roxanne is well again, and she's very spunky. She and Katie have been reaching some new levels of bonding, which is good. She absolutely loves her, but we try to keep the contact closely supervised since Katie smells like old gym shoes mixed with rotten eggs, and because their last visit ended with Roxanne having a Katie hair sticking out of her mouth. She tried to bite Katie's face. I think it's her new greeting. She loves to put my face in her mouth and blow rasberries.

Justin and I are trying to talk through whether or not we will be staying in our apartment. There are pros and cons on both sides, so for now, the consensus seems to be that we will look a little, but unless we find something awesome, we will stay. The annoying thing about Atlanta is that rentals don't get advertised until they are vacant, so our lease ends on September 30, and while I'd like to start looking now, there won't really be anything for us until late August or early September. In the mean time, I'm turning into a Craigslist spaz, checking the rental listings almost daily. It's kind of a hobby now...

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Monday, July 7, 2008

Grumpy and Tired

Roxanne isn't feeling very well today. As of Sunday morning, she had yet another runny nose and cough. Sigh. She was able to go to Andrea's, but when I called to check on her today, she told me she was very uncomfortable and fussy. Her report card said "grumpy" and "tired," which is a first for Roxanne. She usually has "happy" and "chatty," and sometimes "playful." I'm hoping it's just teething, since her top left tooth is just starting to poke through. It looks HUGE. I can't believe how old Roxanne is getting. She's so cute and grown up.

We spent part of our stimulus check this weekend on some new clothes for everybody. We got Roxanne some clothes for fall, in 12-18 months. I hope that size works for her. The clothes at Baby Gap are so cute. Everything is navy, khaki and kelly green. We even got her some grey and kelly green striped leggings. I am in love with them. They were also having a sale, which made everything even better! I looked at Gymboree, but I really just prefer Baby Gap. It fits her well and I like the solids and bold patterns rather than animals and things. But I still like Gymboree, I just prefer Baby Gap for Roxanne. Old Navy is cute, too. Justin wants to get her a couple of things from American Apparel baby clothes, since he loves her in really basic pieces, but I don't know. I do like the karate pants they have. They are adorable. We'll see...

In sad news, the couple who were buying my breast milk had to give their baby back to the birth mother. Apparently she changed her mind. I can't imagine how sad they must feel, and I wish I could do something to help. They were so excited. Adoption must be a hard road.

Well, we hope everyone is doing well! It's been a while since I've posted, but only because I've been trying to post to the Atlanta Parent blog more. The editor e-mailed and asked me to be sure to post plenty this month because she featured my blog on the Atlanta Parent home page. You can see it here. Pretty neat!