Category Archive

This summer is going by so fast. i can’t believe that my baby is already 8 months old. I swear I still remember the day that I brought her from the hospital like it was yesterday. I know it wasn’t that long ago, but it doesn’t feel like 8 months ago. Sophia has been doing really well recently. I finally got her to the point where she no longer wakes up at night. I got really sick of her waking up at night and looking for her soother, so I just let her cry it out one night and she has been an angel sleeper ever since. She didn’t even cry that long, but now even if she does wake up in the middle of the night she puts herself back to sleep without a peep. I love feeling rested. Ahhhh, no more night feedings, such a good feeling.

Today we’re going to take Sophie to the lake , and then later on in the afternoon she has her 8 month check up. I’m looking forward to seeing how much she has grown in the last month. It seems like she is getting bigger by the minute. The othey day I was looking at her newborn pictures and I blown away by how much she has changed. Even seeing a newborn baby I swear that Sophie was never that small, but I now that she was even smaller than then average newborn baby. I almost miss that stage, but not really. I like the sleeping through the might stage better.

She still refuses to crawl and wants nothing to do with being on all fours. Every time that I put her in that position she just cries and whines until I pick her up or she rolls over. She is trying to scoot backwards on her bum, but even that is not working out too well. She is all about the walking. She can actually run, I get tired out before she does. Ahhh the energy of a child, I only I could have it. Maybe I should go for some runs and get in shape so that I will be able to keep up with her.

Well I guess I should go get her diaper bag ready so that we can head out when she wakes up. Here are some comparison pictures. Enjoy .

8 month old

1 day old

I got some of these from my parenting forum, and I thought it would be funny to share. Feel free to add and I will post it here.

• YOU KNOW YOU’RE A MOM AND SLEEP DEPRIVED WHEN…
• sleep is the only think that you can think, obsess and dream about.
• you think you’re going crazy when you hear screaming even when it’s dead silent in the house.
• 7 am is considered sleeping in
• you get excited when you see a poopy diaper
• you become a complete airhead- there are days you’re surprised you are able to dress yourself (and haven’t gotten into a car accident!).
  
• that even months after you’ve had the baby you’re still shedding like a lab
• you drive to work and don’t remember the drive
• you are talking to someone and forget what you are saying right in the middle of your conversation
• you’ve heard crying too and jumped up and ran in the nursery only to find your kid sound asleep
• you are pumping for milk for the next day and you fall asleep for an hour sitting up in the chair
• you put the car keys on the side of the car seat while you strap your kid in and then spend 10 minutes trying to find your keys.
• you’re not quite sure if it’s avocado smeared on your pants from toddler hands or if it’s poo from the newborn…
  
• going to the bathroom alone is a luxury.
• you start prepping dinner when you get up in the morning and work on it here and there throughout the day.
• you have no idea what is going on in the world but can name 20 different kinds of dinosaurs and/or digging equipment.
• when you start losing your big people vocabulary
• when you find rocks in your gym bag and know exactly when they were put there and that you’ll be in BIIIIIG trouble if you get rid of them.
• you think nothing of eating the soggy remains of an ice cream cone left by your son, when 5 years ago the very idea would gross you out.
• you find yourself saying things like, “Jackson, no eating your shoes!!!” or “Mommy’s going pee-pee. Do you want to come with?”
• when you are getting out of the car and check to make sure you have your keys 3 times because you don’t remember checking the 1st time.
  
• when you are talking to your child from the bathroom so they won’t start crying.
• you do silly dances while cooking to entertain your 4 month old.
  
• when it’s no longer about you anymore
• when you give in and let your son get a dog and you ARE NOT an animal lover. (I’ve totally lost my mind)

He was a nice boy, a sweet boy- but that was it, he was just a boy. I didn’t want a boy, I wanted a man. Yah sure Brad was only 19 years old, hardly to be considered a man, but he was more of a man then what I had. Seems silly for a 17 year old girl to be asking for a man doesn’t it?

Me being the romantic that I am I decided that it was better for me to stick to what I knew rather then moving onto something new. Two weeks before my 18th birthday I got engaged. Why? To this day I still don’t know what possessed me to want to get married so young. I was engaged to a guy that I wasn’t even sure about, even though if anybody would have asked I would have said that I was SURE.

The first semester was soon over and I had decided that I would move into the dorms for the second part of the year. I felt that if I was going to get married I needed to experince the dorm life before the married life. It was specially exciting as I was moving in with one of my best friends. We sure had a blast. I didn’t see Brad much during that time. Odd, seeing as how we were both living on campus. I honestly didn’t even really think of him anymore. My mind was occupied with other things, and Brad just didn’t matter all that much anymore. He was also interested in another girl (whom by the way blew him off). I say that because he rarely gets turned down by girls, I think she may have been the first one to do that.

The only other time that I remember talking to Brad is in the bookstore area. It was nearing to the end of the semester and I decided to go down there to see if there was anyone that I could hang out with. It was pretty late, but then I saw a group of people and decided to stick around. We played some card games and talked, I had a pretty good time. Around 3:00am-which was way past my bed time, I was just a bit overtired and and ended up saying something kind of dumb. I stretched so that just a bit of my stomach showed and said that I wanted to seduce someone. Seeing as how Brad was the only guy there he knew it was directed at him. I didn’t really mean it, I was just having fun. He later told me that if we had been alone he would have gone for it and kissed me, I don’t know if I would have refused…

At the end of the year Brad threw a big Gala at his grandparents house and that was the last time that I saw him. Next time we would meet would be in September for our second year…..

Here are some pictures from our first year……. The second one is for Leah

We had a visit from the mysterious nap strike fairy. Sophie has again decided that sleep is WAY too overrated. Last night she went to bed as usual, 6pm, and was fast asleep. She then decided to wake up at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, and then stayed up for 2 hours whining. The again at 4:30am and stayed up for an hour, and then woke up for the day at 7:30am acting like she was the most rested baby in the world. She did take a 50min nap at 10:00am and then decided to go on a nap-strike and not go to sleep for the next 4 hours. FINALLY I got her to fall asleep and she was up 10 min later. I’m starting to wonder if it has anything to do with teeth??? I took a look at her gums, but there is no sign of teeth coming anytime soon. I wish I knew what brought all this on.

I’m also feeling a lot of anxiety. I’m unable to get myself to sleep. I hear the littlelest noises in the house and as soon as I wake up I CANNOT get back to sleep. This morning my mom took her so that I could get some more sleep and I just layed in bed for 3 hours, finally got up for the day. I wonder why I’m feeling so much anxiety lately. I want it to go away so that I can get some rest.

I don’t have much more to say, just really exhausted, and I don’t want to complain. Just wanted to know if this sleep anxiety is normal and how to make it go away.

Angry baby

Not last night, but the night before, Brad and I had the worst night ever. For those of you whom read my blog know that Sophia has started being a very good sleeper. We were down to one feeding a night and about 13-15 hours of total sleep. Well let met tell you, that was NOT the case the other night. As usual I put her down and 6pm and she went to sleep. Then at midnight she woke up crying, I thought it was kind of odd, but went in and gave her a soother. I usually don’t like doing that, but I was really tired and wanted to go to sleep. She then proceeded to wake up again 1/2 hour later, I fed her “just in case” but she didn’t really want to eat. She then slept for 1 hour and began waking up every 45 min from there on. By about    3:30 am i thought that I was going to go insane. Even Brad ended up getting up a few times, we just couldn’t figure oot what her deal was. Ahhhhh, it was like having a newborn again, except worse. I think it reminded me of how glad I am not to be pregnant right now, yes I changed my mind again. Anyway,  by 5 am she went to sleep for 2hours and woke up like nothing ever happened at 7 am. That’s 2 hours before her usual wake up. Of course she was as grumpy as a bear all day yesterday. Guess who else was not a happy person….yah mommy. I just could not function at all. My mom then offered to babysit and Brad and I went out for the afternoon. It felt really nice to get away, Thank you mom.

Soooo, my mom also took Sophie for the night so that we coud get some rest. And of course she went back to her usual and very nice sleep habits. Odd child, I swear she likes playing mind games with me.

Well today we all woke up happy and rested hoping that we don’t have to deal with another night like that. It was not fun at all. She’s having a hard time falling asleep for her nap so I have to go and help her.

Sophia and Grandma Richert

Yesterday Sophia and flew from Edmonton to Abbotsford. I call my title a proud mommy moment because she was such an angel during the flight. Last time All 3 of us flew to BC, in Feb, she threw a bit of a fit, so this time I was afraid that the same thing was going to happen again. But as soon as we got into the plane she just nuzzled herself into my armpit and fell asleep. I was in a bit of a shock, but accepted it. She slept for the first hour, and then for the last 1/2 hour she just stared and smiled at people. I was proud of my little girl, she was sooo good.

Anyway, I am trying to get her settle in, but I think that she is having a bit of trouble adjusting. She never had issues with coming here, but for the last couple days I have been having trouble getting her to sleep. Yesterday she didn’t go down until 8 pm, and today it was 9pm. Her usual bed time is 6pm, so I hope that she doesn’t get overtired from missing all that sleep. Once Brad and I are back here on the 24th, I will try to put her on more of a schedule. I wouldn’t mind if she went to bed later, but every time that  that has happened she gets VERY overtired and cranky, and those kind of babies are NO fun to deal with. She still sleeps well for me, on average I get 13-15 hours a night, so I can’t complain there.

I’m watching her on our baby video monitor right now, and she is sooooo cute. Watching a baby sleep is so precious.

Oh I remember what I was going to say. I ran into one of my very good friends at the airport. It was such a fluke that it happened, but it was very exciting. I hadn’t see that girl in a very long time. We chatted a bit and then she whispered into my ear that she just found out that she is pregnant. I am very excited for her. They hadn’t told their families at that point, so I felt privileged to be the first one to know. She is one of my most favorite people, and I wish I could see her more, but that’s what happens when you live in different provinces.

So anway, CONGRADULATIONS Val, I love you and miss you lots. Oh and her due date is Dec 3, 2007

Sophie has found her new favorite song. She gets the biggest smile on her face when she hears “Old MacDonald”, but her all time favorite part is the “Ee i ee i oh” part, that’s when the big grins come out.

When she was a newborn I didn’t really know any kids songs, so I sang her the Beatles song-So Happy Together. I don’t really know why, but that was the first one that came to my head. She loved it when I sang to her, and let me tell you…I CANNOT sing. I’ve always wanted to be able to, but I just don’t have the voice. It’s a good thing that babies don’t care how their mommies sound. Anyway, the Beatles song is the song that she gets before bedtime, like a cue that it’s time to go to sleep. We have a bedtime ritual that is the same every night, that way she knows what’s coming next and doesn’t protest going to sleep. We have play time, bath, swaddle, feed with song, and then lights out. It took a little while to get into routine, but since we started that when she was a newborn, now she is very easy to put to bed.

Well since her bedtime song is just for bedtime, I thought that it would be fun to sing some kid songs to her during the day. She doesn’t seem to care for any but the Old Macdonald one. I don’t know what it is about that song, but obviously something that she really enjoys. And seeing as how she’s not a cuddly baby, that is the only way that I can get cuddles. She loves it, and giggles when we cuddle and sing.

Yesterday she was having some tummy time on the floor, and I decided to sing her that song and managed to get the huge smile on camera. Hope you all enjoy the big smiles. As Brad said the other day “babies are the living proof that smiling is easier then frowning.”

Have a great day everyone

Note the drool on the chin…