Catching Up/Five Months

So this one time, I had a blog. Then I had a baby and the blog got neglected because post-baby life was all about survival and blogging was very much a leisure activity. But now, all these weeks later, it is time for a little catching up because goodness, life has changed.

The biggest change is that we've moved! After over 3 1/2 years in the same place, after hosting Christmases and Thanksgivings and parties, after being Hotel Herrick a dozen times, after going from newlyweds to new parents in our little basement apartment, we moved in with my parents in Draper. The plan is to stay here for about six months, save some money, and spend time with my mom and dad. Tim is still going to school at UVU and working at Novell, so he's commuting quite a bit, but we're really happy to be here. Tim is also working at my office to help us with some shipping and he has a little contract work on the side. Needless to say, he's keeping busy!

I am still working 25-30 hours/week and it's getting...marginally easier? I was able to reshuffle some responsibilities at work so my workload is more proportionate to the time I have, but it's still stressful. I don't know how other working mothers do it - I am definitely still trying to figure it out. (More about that another time.)

I can't think of much else to update. Mostly, we moved and we have a baby who takes up lots of love and attention. We all got super sick for a week and a half in February - Georgie had a cold and double ear infection (trauma for all of us, by the way) and the resulting lack of sleep made Tim and I sick. Not so fun. And we got to see all of our Herrick family last month at our niece Lillian's blessing. We got this awesome picture of the three cousins who were all born within six months of each other. I can't wait for these girls to be old enough to actually play with each other! It's going to be so sweet.

I guess that's the other big thing to update - we have a five-month-old. It's not too much different from having a four-month-old; she's just growing and developing and delighting us with her advances. She giggles more easily and she's a rolling champ (back to front especially) and she really really wants to crawl. She gets up on her toes and tried to push forward and then ends up turning in a circle. We think the weeks of drooling and gumming on things might finally be turning into actual teething soon but it's hard to tell. 

I think the best part of five months is that she responds to us more and more. She lights up when she sees Tim and sometimes when she's upset she can't help but smile at me when I make faces at her. She is just barely starting to reach for us when we go to pick her up but it already melts us. Our favorite nicknames for her are Bugaboo and Chickadee and Fussbudget (for the fussy times). She seems to be entering an attachment phase and sometimes gets really upset when I leave the room even if she's being held by someone else. 

She has very expressive eyebrows and eyes - they always give her away when she's tired, happy, excited, or upset. Her eyes are definitely blue and her hair is still a dark blonde - it's getting long enough it doesn't stand up on its own and just kinda swirls on the top of her head. I swear she's going through a growth spurt but I always think that so who knows? She was doing really well with sleeping at night and taking naps and then she got sick (a cold with a double ear infection - it was traumatic for all of us) and then we moved and now she's not sleeping at all - 45 minute naps (we can sometimes convince her to take two naps back-to-back but that's it) and waking up two or three times at night, if not more. We're wondering if she is having nightmares or something because she just recently starting getting scared - not just startled but actually frightened - and that might be waking her up. The only upside is that she sleeps equally badly in her swing or crib so we made the switch to having her sleep in her crib all the time. Hopefully this phase passes quickly!

She spends a lot of her time on her play mat (this was taken today):

And this was from almost a month ago but dang, it's just so cute! I never saw the appeal of babies in oversized hats until this moment right here:

I haven't been good about taking pictures since life has been so crazy, but I'm sure I will inundate the blog with more soon. So that's the update - baby, moving, work, blog, life. Word.

4 months (because time flies)

I am four months old already! Things have changed so much since I was two months old. I am finally sleeping at night (Mama and Daddy love that part SO much) and I even sleep through the night every once in awhile. I am a pro at reaching and grabbing and I can even pick things up off the floor now. I love to put anything I can reach in my mouth, including my toes - sometimes I get really mad when I get my diaper changed and I have to let go of them. I especially love sucking on my fingers and my toys, hard or soft. I can roll over both front to back and back to front, mostly on purpose, but I tend to get really mad when I'm on my stomach and can't crawl anywhere yet. I like to be held sitting up or standing and sometimes I do a little stomping river dance when I'm standing. 

I am still a little choosy with my giggles but tickling my tummy, kissing my face, making funny sounds, and playing peek-a-boo all get me laughing and there is nothing my parents love more. I am still too small for my bouncy swing that hangs in a doorway but I love it all the same! I haven't grown very much since my last check-up - only 1 inch longer and 1 1/2 pounds heavier, which puts me in at 8% for weight. Mama got all kinds of worried (she does that) but my doctor says I'm healthy so for now, it's all good. Mostly I am just happy and growing and make my parents smile everyday!

Really, pictures say it all:

The tried and true "headlock in order to chew on the giraffe's ears" trick

She really does like her swing, promise.

Merry Christmas!

Blessing Day

Today was a beautiful Blessing day for us and for Georgie. Thank you so much to everyone who came to support and love us. We are so grateful to have so many wonderful people to be a part of Georgie's life. The little one did so well up until about two hours after the meeting got over, then she decided she'd had enough attention from strange people and called it quits for the day. But really, can you blame her? At least she held up through the blessing part!

The little one herself

Maryon family

Our family

Most of our Herrick family (we missed you, Paul and Bekah, but we're awfully glad you had your little Lillian home with you instead!)

Rambling thoughts (plus a picture)

Right now, Georgie is in her swing and perfectly content to just sit there. After screaming hysterically for fifteen minutes and burrowing in my arms for another fifteen, she's been content for the last half hour to just sit, swing, wiggle one arm free of her swaddle, lick her lips (she discovered her tongue recently), and judging by the furrowed eyebrows, consider the plight of humankind. She keeps bouncing her free arm up and down like she's marking time to a song only she can hear. And who knows? Maybe she can hear her own music. I probably should have been working during this half hour of peace but I didn't think it would last so long. She should have been napping but alas, nap times are still highly variable. She looks like she might fall asleep yet. Because of the angle of the swing, her cheeks are extra chubby and kissable and make her face look slightly square. Oh here, I'll just show you a picture:

I find this girl absolutely adorable. I can't wait (oh, but I can) for when she's a little older and we can play together, laugh together, talk together. I can't wait to find out what kind of personality she has, what she likes and what she thinks about. As much fun as this snuggly newborn phase is, it's actually not all that "fun." It is enjoyable at times, but truthfully, I am so exhausted that "enjoyable" is stretching it. It's...rewarding? Satisfying in a deep, instinctual way? It's challenging, that's for sure. It is full of moments both sweet (like this one - re: picture above) and frustrating (like this one - re: not working while I had the chance). New motherhood is disconcerting above all else, I think. I am a mother first and myself second - how easy it would be to lose myself completely. I have nothing to talk about except this tiny perfect girl, and yet I am constantly second-guessing my choices for her and my interpretations of her needs. It's strange to feel always incompetent at something that also feels so natural.


I have a feeling I will continue to process this new role of mine for many weeks and months and years to come, especially as it shifts and changes. Motherhood is not altogether what I expected, but one thing is exactly what I thought it would be - I sure do love my Georgie girl.

Today I am two months old

 

 

Today I am two months old. I am getting big! I am wearing some of my 3 month clothes and lots of my 0-3 month clothes don't fit anymore. I weigh 10 1/2 lbs and I am 23 inches long.

My favorite game is when Mama and Daddy stick out their tongues at me and I stick mine out at them. It makes me smile, which is one of my other favorite things to do. I also like to just lie on a blanket and look all around and sometimes I get really chatty about everything I am experiencing. I am getting better at holding up my head when Mama puts me on my tummy but I don't like it much. My newest trick is sitting up by myself on the couch. 

I have pretty bad reflux that makes me cry a lot, but I have some medicine now that helps. It tastes yucky so I always try to spit it out, though. I like my bath time and I recognize the lullaby Mama and Daddy sing to me when I need to calm down. My hair gets so curly when I get out of the bath!

I like to sleep in my swing and when I'm being held, but I generally don't sleep for long if I'm in my crib. Sometimes Mama falls asleep while she's snuggling me and then I can sleep through the night without needing to eat. She wishes I'd do that in my crib but I am not very motivated to make that change. Maybe by my next month birthday, I'll be sleeping a little better. Fingers crossed! Mostly I am super cute and super loved, even when I keep everyone awake at night. I am learning and growing everyday!

Happy one month birthday, Georgie girl!

This past month has felt both flown by and felt like one very long day and night. We survived the first four weeks, and that "we" includes Georgie. All in all, she has put up with her very inexperienced parents very well and is responding to us more and more - I love it when I can tell she recognizes me or my voice!

This month brought some unexpected challenges with it. Not only have we survived the sleepless nights, we have learned and re-learned and then re-learned again how to breastfeed. We survived Georgie choking and starting to turn blue on her first day home. We survived me having postpartum high blood pressure (basically pre-eclampsia, only after delivery) for two weeks. We survived Georgie not gaining enough weight and the accompanying guilt and extra feedings. We survived finding not one, but two black widow spiders in our living room (plus one outside our bedroom window). We survived my having the beginnings of a yeast infection, which then developed into an allergic reaction to something (still not sure what) that spread across my chest, down my arms, and up my face, swelling one of my eyes almost completely shut. Who knew that my health would be the roadblock to a smooth first month at home?

Mostly, we have learned so much in our Parenting 101 crash course. For example, we've learned that the less sleep I get, the less I am able to cope with a crying baby who won't eat no matter what I do and when I start crying too, it's time for Tim to step in. We've learned Tim's still got mad staying up all night skills when the situation calls for it (and I bless him for it). We learned that setting up a crib in your bedroom doesn't mean that's where the baby will be the happiest sleeping. Cleaning your kitchen takes a very far backseat to sleeping when we get the chance. And having something to watch during the long hours of the night not only makes them go a little faster, it also helps us stay awake. 

Most of this month has been operated in survival mode - one meal at a time, one load of laundry at a time, one hour of sleep at a time - and I'm not afraid to admit it. Just the fact that we made it this far is enough for me. It has felt like a "two steps forward, one step back" dance so being able that we have made progress is very rewarding. We're on the other side of a month and I know that in another month, things will be different again. Maybe not better, but different. Today I took Georgie for a walk, and tomorrow we will attempt to go to church. Slowly, something resembling normal life is creeping back into our home. Par for the Parenting 101 course, I think. It helps that Georgie is so stinkin' cute, makes it easier to remember why we decided to sign up for this course in the first place. And I know that someday, probably sooner than I think, I'll be looking back on all this fondly and wishing a little bit that my girl could be so tiny again.