[exhale]

I just sat down and relaxed for the first time in a really, really long time. Man, it feels good!  Things are finally getting settled at work (I got an official promotion!), I finally got caught up on all the work that I got behind on when I was sick during the entire month of December (probably won't last long but I'll enjoy it for tonight!), I finally boxed up the last Christmas present that I have to mail (let's just ignore the fact that it's February tomorrow and the fact that I still can't mail it because I ran out of packing tape, but at least it's boxed up!), and I finally got a chance to bake something for fun after Rose went to bed tonight (just muffins, but what a treat after a week of difficult bedtimes for Rose!). Between all the sicknesses that we've been experiencing for the past few months and all the work stress I've been under, it feels unbelievable good to exhale all the lingering stressors that I'd been holding on to, especially now that the big stressors are all gone. Ahhhhhhh.

40 weeks

The theme for this week's photos is definitely Rose's mastery of her tripod crawl!

"Here I go!"

Determination

Success!

In other news, Rose has developed a sudden aversion to loud noises. We made the mistake of taking her to the car wash yesterday, thinking she would enjoy it since Mike and I both loved car washes as kids. Big mistake! Huge screams! And then this morning I made us smoothies (as I usually do on a weekend morning, but hadn't for the last couple weeks since we had run out of mango until yesterday) and we got the same response. Yikes! I don't like hearing her yell and cry like that. I guess we'll avoid loud noises for now, but hopefully those things will be less scary for her soon!

Have a great week, everyone!

CRAWLING!!!

Rose is officially mobile!!! It's the coolest thing ever to watch - I could watch her crawl all day long! I'm ridiculously proud of her new-found crawling abilities. (So impressed, in fact, that I pulled out the dreaded video function on my phone, despite the fact that it crashed my blog for a couple days earlier this week!) Anyway, apparently she's been crawling all week at school but they didn't want to say anything to us until we said it first. (Milestones never happen at school, only at home!) Then on Thursday night she started crawling in the bathtub... so after she went to bed, Mike and I moved the rug from our dining room to our living room in case our hardwood floors had been handicapping her. And then she started crawling at home on Friday morning! Alas, I did not get to witness it because I was already at work by the time she woke up, but I rushed through my day to pick her up so I could see it myself. She's already a pro! Here she is, our mobile daughter:

 

Poor Lucy has no idea what to think of this new skill!

And here's an aerial view to show off her "tripod" crawling technique:

Definitely one of the coolest skills she's learned to date (right up there with waving "bye bye"!). I can't wait to see her crawl again tomorrow!!!

Good morning!

Here's Rose wearing one of my favorite outfits that she borrowed from her friend Norah :)

nine-month pediatric appointment

Rose is 9 months old! She got a clean bill of health from the doctor today, although I'm still dealing with the lingering guilt for not being there since I had a meeting at work that I couldn't miss. Good thing she has such a wonderful daddy (and I have such a wonderful husband!). Thanks, Mike!

Here are her stats:

Two months
weight:  12# 6.4 oz (85th %ile)
height:   23.5"  (86th %ile)
head:    15.5" (66th %ile)

Four months
weight:  15# 10oz (86th %ile)
height:   26"  (95th %ile)
head:    16.75"  (85th %ile)

Six months
weight:  17# 7oz (78th %ile)
height:   27.25"  (93rd %ile)
head:    17"   (72nd %ile)


Nine months
weight:  19# 9.6oz (65th %ile)
height:   28.75"  (87th %ile)
head:    17.5"   (66th %ile)

I know it looks like her weight has been taking a massive dive (based on percentiles), but I want to mention again that these percentiles are based on the CDC norms, which are predominantly formula fed babies, so this pattern is common for breastfed babies. The CDC actually recommends using the WHO norms (especially for breastfed babies), but our pediatrician's office doesn't have those in their EMR. Based on my really rough calculations and comparisons, however, it looks like Rose would be at the ~75th %ile for weight based on those "correct" norms.

In other news, things still aren't settled at my job. I still have an "interim" promotion, and it's looking like it will become definite soon. But now there's talk that the role I'm being promoted to will change and will entail some additional responsibilities that are a little intimidating to me, so we'll see what happens. It'll be interesting and exciting either way, but I'm still nervous about it. Sigh.

Finally, sorry for all the trouble with my blog the last couple days. I tried to get all fancy by uploading a short video for our weekly update earlier this week, and apparently every blog that included videos from the google+ instant upload also had their blog crash! I'm waiting on a fix from google and then I'll repost our weekly update.

Have a great week! (Sorry for a photo-less post!)

39 weeks / 9 months!

Rose turned 39 weeks old on Sunday and 9 months old today. And, best yet, she is finally on the mend from the yucky influenza and ear infection!  Thank heavens for antibiotics, ibuprofen and probiotics - I would have made a terrible pre-21st century mom - thank you, modern medicine!

Now that she's back to her usual chipper self, I had such a hard time winnowing down the slew of photos I took this weekend. :)

I have to come clean about my moment of parenting "fail" that followed this next photo.Just after I took this shot, Rose lifted up her beloved teapot and then promptly dropped it on her foot. She now has a huge bruise on her big toe, and I feel so guilty! Ouch!

In addition to her portraits above, here is photographic proof from later in the day that she loves my Camelbak water bottle. She really prefers it over her sippy cup ,so we just ordered her a kid-sized version to have to herself. (No, she's not spoiled at all!)

We've been working on some baby sign language for the past couple months. She is getting really good at signing "all done" when she's finished eating! (Yes, that is carrot on her forehead!)

I'm coming to terms with the fact that we're coming down the home stretch with breastfeeding. After all the trouble we had in the beginning, I still can't believe we made it this long. But I think we're getting close the end for me. So for now I'm going to savor this view while it lasts.

 

Finally, here is Rose showing off her new "bye bye" skills! :)
(Mom and Dad, you'll need to go to the actual blog to see the video since I don't think it will show up in the email notification.)

Hope you're having a great week, everyone!

Sunday morning

Nine months later, I'm finally getting back to my Sunday morning tradition of reading the paper. And now I have "help!"