Getting somewhere slow

     In 6 days, little miss will be 6 months old. There has been much improvement in how she gets around. We have a barrel rolling genius.

     I have marked with her cat where she started and that is where she got. She's also gotten into the habit of trying to push off with her legs against something and pushes her head along. She never gets very far, and at least she is on the foam.

Second food

 

 

     CARROTS! She likes them!

First road trip

     Yesterday was our first road trip as a family. A few friends were going to a water park in Quebec with their boys & had invited us along. It was interesting to say the least.

     We get picked up & hit the road. She slept most of the way there, after staring at the boys for a while. We have a pit stop to stretch & I feed her the travel bottle I packed. Back asleep she goes.

     We finally arrive & change into suits. There was a children's splash pool that we waded in for a while. Lots of feeding due to being in the sun/ watching Daddy and the boys run off for the bigger slides. At one point, a mother and her daughter approached me. With everything that's been going around about breast feeding in public, my mind automatically went to they were going to tell me off. Instead, they offered to let me borrow their beach chair, but I was more comfortable sitting on the deck. (What got me was all the little babies around, there was a lack of breast feeding going on). After a feed, Kaelynn just passed out - to the point that I just placed her in her big girl stroller all bundled up to keep warm/sun free.

     One of the dads was unable to go on any slides. He was okay with watching a sleeping baby while I went on some slides - I paid admission, I should have some fun.
     I went down with my brother's girlfriend on most slides. We went down Black Magic a few times - an enclosed slide. Than Jake, a friends son, Kaitlynn and I went down Tornado Alley. The whole time I was screaming "I NO LIKE". The funnel spun it so I was backwards, plus it was dark.

     Jake deserves some sort of medal for being a baby wrangler. He spent most of the day riding with the younger boys or at least following them to where they wanted to go. He made sure an over zealous 3 year old didn't drown in the wading pool.

     We stayed at the park roughly 5 hours. Going home was a whole other story. Grumpy baby. 5 year old in the back, yelling to the front (then complaining about the screaming baby). We had to stop and get something to eat and feed/change her. Once on the road again, nothing seemed better. I gave her crinkly things to play with, fingers to suck. Nope. In the end, I had to creative nurse her. Lesson learned: for our zoo trip in 2 weeks for my bday, bring my battery powered pump.

Pass The Peas, Please

     Kaelynn is 5.5 months old now. She seems to have a strong interest in our food, so this morning she got some Baby Bulleted peas and breast milk.

     She was unsure about them. She would open her mouth for the spoon, but once the food was in her mouth, she decided she didn't want it- I didn't force them upon her. We're going to try again later this afternoon. It could just be she wanted what we have when we have it. She LOVES licking food juice off our fingers.

     Throughout the day, I fed her more peas. Peas after I had lunch, peas after I had dinner. It got to the point where she was opening her mouth for them. I haveno real idea how much I should feed her, but the jar she polished off only had about 2 tbsp worth of peas in in. I figure all day she must have had 1-1.5 tbsp of peas.

      A video from her finishing off her peas for the night.Notice she grabs the spoon to shove it in her gob & keeps lookimg towards her pea pot?  I'm thinking she likes them.(I'm also hoping I don't sound as silly in person as I do in video).

Blurbs from the boyfriend:

"But it's SO watery"

"Think about what she eats on a daily basis.."

"She Should....."

     I like to think that we have a strong willed baby (much like I am). I like to think I am capable of asking for help if I need it. We've been going along great up until now when people want to voice their opinions on how to "help". These people have never had children, nor do they spend a large amount of time around Kaelynn.

     "she should learn to take a soother so she's not on your boob all the time"

"she should learn to self soothe"

"she should learn to sleep in her own bed"

"she should learn to use teethers"

 

     Yes, she should learn, but she is only 5.5months old. She is too busy learning more usefull things, plus trying to come to terms with painful things trying to burst through her gums. She chews on her Sophie sometimes, on frozen icepacks, and on warm teethers - all are sometimes and none are by free will.

    

     When it comes to sleeping, she is back in our bed. We put her in her crib, and sometimes she will sleep for about 2 hours and then be awake and wanting to party. At this point,there is nothing I can do to put her down - unless I want to stay awake for hours. Once brought to bed, she wants to play for a bit, but because it's dark and quiet already she's able to nurse herself to sleep. This way, it's bonding time for the whole family and we sleep (roughly) hours at a time.
     Talking with people about her sleep habits (because they asked), we got the advice to let her cry herself to sleep. Jake replied that she will cry for an hour and just keep going. "Oh, let her keep crying, eventually she will fall asleep". No thanks. Early on, we let her cry it out mainly because she was just whining and not really crying. Now with teething coming in, she SCREAMS. I can't just let her scream and be alone in her crib - if she is just whiny and rolling around, she stays.

 

      I've heard that it takes a village to raise a baby, but in the end, it's my baby. I'm the one who is there for her 24/7. Unless you're willing to care for her for about a week - to see ALL her moods- than helpful hints are not welcome.

 

5 Months Old

     Five months already. Pretty soon she is going to be all grown up, but I won't think like that.
Kaelynn is getting to be such a big girl. Even in her 5 month Mommy picture, she looks big.

     She is increasingly becoming more vocal & more personality is growing. She has become WAY more interested in food, but I'm waiting. She's getting to the staring/grabbing/angry/feed me too stage. As her Aunt Sarah said on Thursday (while eating Menchie's), "she's making me feel bad". She's been playing with her new Munchkin spoons, and sometimes even gets the right end in her mouth. She hates when it's empty, so when it's time for homeopathic allergy "meds", I place a small bit on her spoon.

     Her sleep has definately changed in the last little while. Recently, she has been trying to roll from her back to her front, and this has carried over into sleep. I lay her on her back to sleep, and she will roll over half way, wake herself up and have a freak out. She's also got the skills now to pivot herself. I place her in the bed facing in one direction, and in a few minutes she will be the farthest thing away from the first position.
     For the past 2 nights, I have brought back the bassinet and she's been in there. She JUST fits. Lastnight, she was in there until 4am, but then from 4-9am, she was in bed because she didn't want to be in her own bed/or tired me didn't wait long enough to put her down.

 

 

     She's become to get more interested in her toys. I was at Toys R Us picking her friend up a birthday gift, and of course we had to walk out with something for her. I got her an OBall. She loves it. I also got her a rattle a few days ago, and she's just getting into that too - with lots of head smackings.

 

     As in the previous Torticollis post, she now is able to sit by hersel unassisted for a little bit. She is even able to sit up, and not in a tripod position. I am always close by, but it makes me happy - even if sometimes she almost topples over on top of Bandit.

     There are the beginnings of tooth nubs in her gums too. Tiny teeth for a tiny baby. Yet, they cause her big stress. I feel so bad that I can't really do anything to help her. She doesn't like her teething toys, she spits out fingers now, teething homeopathic liquid doesn't seem to help. I am so glad that adults don't remember teething.

 



    ...and now for a touch of cute...I love making cute lil baby leg warmers now, pity it's Summer time.

Water Baby

      This past week, I have taken Kaelynn on 2 different adventures- to the splash pad and to the beach. Both were a success.
    
     Wednesday, we were supposed to go to Grass Creek park, but there were threats of thunderstorms. My friend, her 4 year old girl, and us went to Lake Ontario Park for a picnic and splash pad instead.
There were a lot of kids there and I decided to put Kaelynn in the splash pad too. I put her beside a ground spout. She was fine with the wet cement, but once she got sprayed she was not quite pleased - but not super unhappy. She was indifferent to the swings, but she got the hang of them.

\     Friday afternoon, we finally made it to Grass Creek Park. I didnt fully think things through before we left & I forgot her swim diaper. Problem solved - take the insert out. We had a lunch picnic too, and I'm pretty sure she's a crafty baby. She was being held by my friend, and playing with her links. Kaelynn dropped  her links behind Cezar. When Cezar bent to pick them up, Kaelynn made a play towards the salad. Silly baby, not yet.

     She was loving her first time in a river. She splashed and smiled and played with a ball, all under the cozy shade of an umbrella.

Just breathe

I am midway through 4 months. After realizing this as I looked at the date quickly before getting ready for work, I can feel my heart racing.

I feel no baby flutters yet, so it seems weird when my boyfriend puts his face against my belly. I still just feel like I am getting fat.

My boss did the Chinese predictor and said I am having a girl. Here's hoping on Tuesday they let me know.

I also just can't shake the feeling that people just think I am fat. Yes, I have always been belly fat, but this is weird. I've always struggled with my weight, so I feel uncomfortable.
More on this later, the clock says its time to get dressed....and poke a cat sleeping in my new beanbag chair!