Sleep

Lately we’ve been getting much more sleep around here than before. I don’t know that I can credit it to starting Aurora on solid food, but it certainly did seem to begin around the time we introduced rice cereal. That’s also about the time Rora developed enough hand-eye coordination to grab her own pacifier and bring it to her mouth without help! So, these days she’s going to sleep around 7:30pm, and doesn't wake up until 5:30-ish. I'm sure she wakes up lightly here and there in between, but I've stopped using the baby monitor in our bedroom so I only wake up if she cries (I used to wake up everytime she sneezed or breathed heavily!).

At 5:30am I feed her then either stay awake and play for a little while, go back to sleep and snuggle until 7am, or leave her to sleep with her daddy so that I can shower and get ready for the day. Today was our last official half-day, so Chuck figured they should sleep in. This is what they looked like when I headed off to work this morning. It was a little too cute.

I don’t know how much traveling to Florida might disrupt this new trend, but of course I plan to keep her on schedule as much as possible and expect she’ll be her usual happy self the whole time. Aurora and I are leaving on Saturday and will be staying with my parents until Tuesday afternoon. Chuck will spend the weekend at ACL fest and I’m sure he’ll have a great time watching some of his favorite bands sans wife and baby.

Food

I just had to share this picture. As you know, we video taped Aurora's first encounter with food. Her second time involved less gagging, but more turning red and shaking (it was dramatic). This was her third time, and she seemed confused, but generally okay with the whole experience.

Last night she eagerly ate every bite I fed her. Once she finished the rice cereal, she even ate sweet potato with only a few disapproving faces. Tonight, not so much. She was tired and more interested in chewing the spoon than actually ingesting anything. One thing's for sure - feeding Aurora has been (and will most likely continue to be) a new adventure each night.

Happy Birthday to me, Mom & Dad!

It occurs to me that birthdays should really hold more significance to the parents than the child. Not only are they the ones who facilitated the birth, but they most certainly remember the day better than the person celebrating. I was also thinking that perhaps we really don’t need to celebrate past 30. But, I have to say that this was a good one.

Yesterday Ashley told me that on my birthday I can do whatever I want. So this morning I woke up and decided I wanted to bring Aurora to work with me one last time before going full-time. We’re getting our new floors today, so I figured there would be strangers and loud noises in the house, and Chuck may be needed to help move furniture and electronics.

It was a busy morning at work, which made having Rora with me a little trickier than usual, but then Donna and Bailey took me out to lunch. We went to Blue Star Cafeteria and it was yummmmy. I had fried artichoke hearts, smoked trout salad, and the most decadent chocolate cake – definitely worthy of a birthday celebration. Bailey brought flowers, which Aurora and I thought were very pretty, and it looks like the rest of the week will be booked with more birthday lunches with friends. Honestly, a nice lunch and flowers is all I could ask for these days.

Today is also Kelsey's birthday - she's turning 25 (happy birthday!). Bailey just turned 25 last month and her mom sent her a card in which she wrote “Thank you for a quarter century of pure joy.” I hope I can say that to Aurora 24 ½ years from now. Of course, I’ll only say it if it’s true. Her card could say something like “Thank you for a quarter century of misery.” Watch out.

Today after lunch Aurora and I went shopping at Old Navy (thanks Nancy!). We just finished a pizza party with the floor installers (that’s sort of equivalent to a sleepover with friends when you’re 12, right?), and will most likely drink some wine and bake cookies later tonight. Not bad…

Story Time with Daddy and Tater

My kitten climbs trees...

Chases butterflies and bees.

My kitten says hello to fish...

Drinks her milk from a dish.

My kitten plays hide and peep...

And then my kitten goes to sleep.

Thanks Daddy, that story was the best!

5 months

Today is Aurora’s 5-month birthday, and it also happens to be Bianca’s birthday and Lance Armstrong’s birthday. When Rora was 1-month old, Sue said something like “can you even remember life before her?” and I was like… uhm, yeah, it was only a month ago! But now, after 5-months, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time before Aurora. She has certainly become a sweet little part of our family.

Her latest near-accomplishment is that she’s starting to sit up on her own… sort of! Okay, so she still needs a little help, but she’s SOOO CLOSE!

The funniest thing that’s been happening lately is that she’s decided that daddy is better admired from afar. When he’s across the room, all she wants to do is smile and love him, but as soon as he comes and picks her up, she wants mommy back. What's that all about?

On the home front, the siding and balcony are done as of yesterday, so the painting and the construction workers are gone. The Internet went out again but is back now, and the satellite guys will come out next week to get the TV back up and running. I got a cabinet guy to demo the damaged cabinet this morning, and the flooring will be installed next week. The new cabinet may take a little longer to build, but it’ll be here before long.

And on the work front, things will be changing soon. Chuck’s company is getting ready to move into a new office, and once that’s ready he’ll be hiring a couple of full-time artists and going in a few days a week. I know my time working reduced hours is also coming to a close soon, so I’ve already notified Aurora’s daycare she’ll be starting full-time October 1st. I’ll be sad to see our Tuesday/Thursday half days go, but I think these will all be good changes. For now…

I have to say, having so much going on at once has been a little overwhelming, and I'm kind of in a funk today. It'll be nice when all I have to really focus on is being a working mom and putting food on the table. That's quite enough!!!

Gag me with a spoon

I really had it in my mind that Aurora would eat her first food at 6-months old. But, along with the doctor giving us the okay, Aurora’s been giving me all the signs that she’s ready. In the last couple of weeks she’s been:

• Increasing her milk intake
• Grabbing at our food and water bottles
• Making chewing motions
• Bringing things to her mouth and trying to eat them
• Sitting up in her highchair without slouching
• Needing a supplemental bottle before bed, which we’ve been adding rice cereal to – meaning, I’m having trouble keeping her full, and she's taking thickened milk just fine.

It was my intention to at least save solid foods for after we return from Florida. Judging by her reaction, it may not be a bad idea to just keep adding rice cereal to her bottle before bed and hold off for a couple more weeks before trying a vegetable again! I do think she’s ready, and I think if I could supplement just one meal at dinnertime with rice cereal and a veggie, she’d sleep better. I guess it'll just take a little getting used to.

Today we have two videos for your viewing pleasure. One of Aurora enjoying her first meal of solid foods (ha!), and the other is the video you’ve all been waiting for – Aurora laughing out loud. Enjoy!

Crib Shoes

Lately there's been a lot of buzz about these high heel crib shoes. Aurora is not nearly trashy, er, girly enough to pull off such a style. But in general, I think crib shoes are a good idea. They're all soft leather and conform to the shape of baby's feet without confining them. I see other babies wearing them at daycare while they scoot and cruise around, and they look comfy, sturdy and safe.

This morning I decided Aurora needs some crib shoes. Then I remembered, she already has some! So we tried them on for the first time, and here they are...

First, these very comfortable Land's End white sandal-style crib shoes were a gift from Nancy's friend Peggy:

Next, a lovely pair of pink suede moccasins from the Grand Canyon, sent by Chuck's step-sister Bonnie:

And finally, some little Nike's I found on sale back when I was pregnant. So sporty!

Disaster Recovery

No, we have not been affected by Ike. From what I gather, it hit east of Austin and kept a safe distance from us. The Austin ISD (and therefore Aurora’s daycare) closed at Noon yesterday in order to keep the roads clear and provide shelter, just in case. Our TV’s been out for a week, so other than that, you probably know more about it than we do.

From the looks of our house you’d think we were hit by a hurricane. We’re still dealing with all kinds of contractors (and the expenses that come with them), but it seems like there’s an end in sight. We got a new A/C unit on Thursday, and around that same time the cable company came and fixed the Internet cable that the siding guys had accidentally severed (can you imagine, me and Chuck without Internet for a full day?!). The siding is up and they’re about halfway done painting. In the daylight, the color is a little more burnt orange than we’d expected. Go Longhorns!

I picked out new flooring on Thursday, and late last night decided to list our old laminate on Craigslist, free to anybody willing to pull it up and take it away. The damaged part had already been removed, and it’s just a snap-lock laminate, definitely in good enough condition to re-use. I woke up to 25 emails from people who wanted our floors! A nice couple came by this morning with little mallets and crowbars and got everything up and out in about an hour (with Chuck’s help). Not only do they get “new” floors for their dining room and hallway, but we save money from not having to pay the flooring guys to demo and dispose of it, and of course, we’re reducing the waste that would’ve ended up at the dump. Win-win-win. Aurora, Tater and & I just sat on the sidelines and watched in awe as our flooring disappeared little by little…

We still don’t have a plan for the built-in shelving unit, but new floors should be in by the end of the week, along with new toilets. For anybody who’s visited us, you know our toilets are high-flow and all have problems. One you have to hold and jiggle the handle, another won’t stop running unless you finesse it just right, and the one in our bathroom has a chain that keeps falling off (I hate reaching in to fix it). Well, one of the line items on the floor estimate was taking up and reinstalling the toilet in the downstairs bathroom - $165. I said hey, if we’re paying somebody to install a toilet, let’s have them install a new one. And if we’re getting one new toilet, why not get all three? Compared to the siding and floors, it’s a fairly easy and inexpensive project.

Chuck says the floodgates have been opened and it’s time to start closing them off. Once you start with home repairs, it’s hard to know when to stop.

Escape

We're currently living in Chuck's studio. It doesn't have plumbing, but it does have air conditioning and the TV works. This was me and Aurora earlier this afternoon...

And this is what's going on right now. Rora's trying to sleep on the futon while Chuck's hard at work. Tonight we'll all sleep on the futon. It'll be like a combination of camping and staying in a hotel.

We're getting a new A/C unit installed on Thursday, but we're having trouble finding somebody to replace the built-in cabinet. That has to be done before we get new floors, so the rest of the interior stuff is at a little bit of a stand still.

Tonight I purchased a plane ticket to take Aurora to visit my parents and grandparents in Florida. It was a quick decision, but I've been looking at airfare to AZ for Thanksgiving and it's so expensive right now. I figured if we go to AZ, I should take a trip to FL as well, and scheduling is easier with my family since they're mostly retired. I don't have to work that trip around a holiday - so I found a great fare and booked it. I'll be going for a long weekend at the end of September, then Chuck will be taking his own trip to AZ the following weekend to attend our friend Corey's wedding. Even that trip was more expensive - I'm not sure why flying to AZ is so much more than flying to FL right now, but it was about $100 more. I'll keep looking for a good fare to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. Aurora and Zeland are scheduled to have a photoshoot together!

I think I bought the ticket partially because I just feel like I want to get away from all this construction craziness. Of course, by the time we actually travel, chances are everything will be fixed and our house will be perfect.

Misery and joy

Well, the construction workers are still busy outside with the siding and balcony, but the inside work has yet to begin. I'm getting quotes to rebuild the water damaged built-in cabinet, and we'll get the flooring guys out to make our selection and get them started later this week.

In the meantime, our A/C unit malfunctioned once again, this time doing no damage to our home but leaving us with the most miserable indoor heat and humidity. Apparently a transformer blew up, and Chuck made the executive decision that it wasn't worth fixing because what we really need is a whole new system. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long that will take, as we're still pricing it out. Everything with these projects just keeps getting more and more expensive, which is harder to handle than it normally would be due to the fact that it's 85 degrees inside my house and none of us is getting nearly enough sleep. Even the baby's restless and sweaty. Also, I have a sore throat.

Regardless, we're doing our best to maintain our sanity and keep a sense of humor about it all. Last night we captured this silly video. You tube isn't letting me embed it like normal, but basically this is what life is like around here much of the time. Aurora is most definitely finding her voice! She had already been squealing for over a half hour before this video was taken, and it's also toned down due to the fact that Chuck's nearby. I think the squawking is usually a ploy on her part to get his attention, as her noises are always at their finest when I'm sitting in this chair and she's facing daddy at his computer. She focuses all her energy on him, and if he comes over to see her, she stops and just about hurts herself with an undeniable full-body joy.

The oversided jammies were just the best I could do to keep her from over-heating last night. All her other pj's are long-sleeved with footies. Tonight she's sleeping downstairs in the pack'n'play in a onesie. These are sad times indeed for the Wadey family...

I got peed on!

This week was full of silly, strange, random and interesting things.

Thursday Chuck was so busy that I felt bad leaving the baby with him for 5 hours while I went off to work. So, as soon as I got home I grabbed her and let him get to work. Normally he helps give her a bath; I run the water and grab the towels, and he undresses her and brings her over to me - holding her at full arm’s length mind you, just incase any bodily fluids escape. This time I figured I would do it alone, no problem! I’ve done it before. Well, let’s just say this time I did things in the wrong order. First I undressed her, then I brought her with me into the bathroom and sat her little naked bottom on my lap while I ran the water. Note to self: running water = peeing baby.

That day he moved his computer upstairs with the baby and turned the music on. She quickly conked out for her afternoon nap, and he actually emailed this photo to me at work. It made me smile.

Then I came home to THIS! He was out checking the progress of the siding project, in just about the most stylish outfit ever. I guess that’s just a perk of working from home.

Friday morning I headed off to work just after 7am, leaving Chuck & Aurora asleep at home. So, Chuck brought Rora to daycare, and he said when he got there, Carole had another baby, Adi, on her lap. Well, Adi looks a lot like Aurora - they both have cute little noses, bald heads, and while sitting in Carole’s lap I’m sure she looked about the same size. When Chuck went to hand Aurora to Carole, Adi shouted out “Daddy!” Can you imagine his surprise!? Not only isn’t he her daddy, he’s never heard a baby talk!!! Adi’s actually 8 months old, but I can totally imagine him thinking at first that she was about Rora’s age and just being shocked. It’s amazing how much difference a few months can make.

This weekend Chuck & I both had dreams about Tater. She recently peed on the carpet and pooped outside our bedroom door. Not okay! Chuck dreamed that of course she was upset with us, because we’d gotten a fluffy white kitty that she hated! I dreamed that she pooped on our blanket on our bed while we were sleeping, and we threw her out the window onto the roof to be an outdoor kitty. Then (in my dream) I saw foxes and wolves outside devouring all the outdoor kitties and I started to cry, but some sort of metal bird scarecrow held up by helium balloons was keeping me from opening the window to go get her. Strange.

Today Robin sent me the description for a show she’s going to take Grandma Nancy to while she’s visiting the Chicago area this week. It’s called Funny, You Don't Look Like A Grandmother. I can’t wait to hear her review of it – it sounds very silly, and oh so appropriate for the new grandmother of two.

And this evening, we gave our little Rora rice cereal for the first time. I had made up my mind I’d wait to begin solid foods until at least her 5-month birthday, but my friend Bethany gave me the idea that I could mix some in with her evening bottle to thicken it up and perhaps keep her fuller longer so she’ll sleep better. The pediatrician actually said that one sign she’s ready for solids is that she wakes up more in the night again, which is exactly what’s been happening lately. I didn’t add too much, so we’ll see if it makes a difference!

Here’s a cute picture of my girl from earlier today, practicing her feet-grabbing and sitting-up skills while watching a DVD.

Tomorrow we're having breakfast with Bethany and her 2 kiddos - Orion who's 2 years old, and Atticus who is just about 1 month old. I just found out Raquel had her son, Julian, too... babies babies everywhere!!! Congrats to both new mommies!

Mommy's Big Girl

Today I took Aurora in for her 4 month appointment with her pediatrician. She’s actually 4-1/2 months old, but waiting until September worked a little better with our insurance. At her last appointments she was so little, she just laid in her blankie until Dr. Sood came to check on her. Today she kicked around and grabbed at the paper on the table like a big silly!




The fun news: Rora weighs 14 lbs 12 oz and is 25 inches long, placing her firmly in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Interestingly, her head circumference is 40 cm, putting her in only the 25th percentile there. I hope that doesn't mean she has a small brain! Not my girl!

The not-so-fun news: More vaccinations. One by mouth and three shots. Chuck didn't come to this appointment with us, so I held her little hands the whole time. She proved that she's not only a big girl with regards to her size, but she was a brave big girl with her shots too. She cried at the moment the shots were given, but once the nurse was done, she recovered so quickly. She did cry on the way home, and it was a quiet sad cry, but smiled as soon as she saw her daddy. Here she is with band aids on her legs.

Dr. Sood asked me a bunch of questions, and said she's very pleased with how we're doing, including the breastfeeding and Rora's sleep patterns. She said we can introduce rice cereal and solids - that it sounds like Aurora's ready anytime. I don't know for sure that I'm ready yet!

Long Lazy Weekend

Saturday morning we headed up the street to Bee Caves & Cuernavaca to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Laura Bush Library. Almost 200 people showed up (all wearing red, white, and blue) and an aerial photographer took pictures of us lined up on the outline of the building.

Rora has several red outfits to choose from, but she decided to wear the overalls Grandma Nancy gave us before she was born. They fit perfectly now, but even with a pink onesie, people thought she was a boy. Oh well!

We will surely enjoy this library once it’s built, so it was neat that we got to be a part of the groundbreaking.

Yesterday we headed to the garden center off Bee Caves and 360. We’re looking for ideas for low maintenance plants to put in once the siding’s done. If you've been here, you'll recognize the pink flamingos – but I think this picture looks like something straight out of Mary Poppins!

So, we really haven’t done much this weekend, but I went into it with just one goal: to catch up on sleep. That’s easier said than done when you have a baby. Luckily, she cooperated for at least PART of the weekend. Saturday night she slept completely through the night, and then I napped with her twice. Last night wasn’t as great, but I’m pretty sure we have more napping ahead of us. Today we plan on doing several loads of laundry, food shopping, and getting ready for a busy week ahead. Oh, and Daniela just invited us over for dinner! If you haven't checked out her blog, you should... Rora gets lots of face time there.

Now if only I could get a massage... my shoulders are killing me from carrying this heavy girl around!