dangerous

So I got an iPhone. Thus far, it's the best thing ever. Except I can't put it down.

Which is both good and bad. Bad: hard to eat tacos made by my husband while texting my sister. Good: it's easy to write a few words before heading off to bed.

My bedtime routine with audrey consists of a bath, lotion, pjs, nursing then my favorite - rocking in the glinder. The weight of her in my arms as she drifts of to sleep is heavenly. She lays her head just so on my shoulder and curls her tiny body against mine and muzzles her face against my skin and floats away to dream land. This, my friends, is what it's all about. It's the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. I wish I could think if another dessert cliché. Regardless, the rocking chair is something I look forward to every day. Which is handy because I've been clocking quite a few miles in that thing lately.

I'm sure rocking her to sleep is causing irreparable damage to her sleep habits and I'll be fishing for suggestions on how to get her to sleep through the night before too long. I never forget, even at 4 am, that this time is fleeting. I remember when her little self could stretch full out on my lap - now her legs drape over the arm. In a few months I imagine she won't be able to curl up on me the way she does now. And a few months after that she probably won't want to anyway.

So I'm happy to rock her to sleep whether it's 8 pm or 3:30 am. During those stolen moments in the middle of the night I can smell her sweet baby smell and rub her soft baby skin and hold her so close to me and thank my lucky stars.

Little Things

Before getting ready for bed I put my phone on the charger and started to turn off the lights. Audrey's toys are scattered all around the living room - we had a great time playing today. And it hit me: this is a home with a baby in it. There are signs everywhere - baby laundry I've been folding, baby toys, nursing bras hanging all over the place, bottles in the sink. My house has turned into a sea of tiny pink things.

It's wonderful.

Doggie Woes

I don’t know what to do with Tallulah (2 year old, German Shorthaired Pointer). We had some problems with her digging when we first got her. It took about 6 months to get that under control – she pretty much digs when she’s bored so we just increased the number of walks and started to send her to daycamp a couple of times a month and all was well.

She’s been back to digging lately. It’s no mystery why. Audrey is more active now and is crawling all over the place which means there’s more attention on her and less on the dog. There’s no getting around that. Todd takes her on a good walk when I nurse Audrey and put her to bed but she probably needs more then that.

Todd ran to Home Depot last night to get some stuff to patch the fence where Tallulah has been digging (the hole is on the side of the fence facing our favorite neighbors. They have 2 dogs and a cat that hang out in the back yard). I was getting Audrey to sleep and making her bottles for today when I heard Tallulah bark like crazy. I went outside (in my nursing bra and PJ pants) but couldn’t see her anywhere but it was dark and her coat is spotted which makes her very hard to see. I could hear her tags banging around so I assumed she was running around. I went back inside after shouting at her to shut up (ironic, no?), checked on the baby monitor and found shirt/shoes to throw on.

She was still making a ton of noise a few minutes later so I went back outside and found her SITTING ON OUR NEIGHBORS DECK SCRATCHING AT THEIR DOOR. Luckily they weren’t home and Todd pulled into the driveway – he opened the gate to their yard and she came trotting out like everything was perfectly normal. She was an absolute beast again this morning which resulted in Todd going into work almost an hour late because she wouldn’t come in. She was tearing around the yard and barking her crazy head off. Most everyone in our ‘hood has at least one dog except for the neighbors on the side that Tallulah doesn’t dig. She must sense that they’re no fun and she doesn’t want to hang out with them :-P It’s a matter of time before they call the cops on her. After last night I’m tempted to call them myself :-)

We've taken her to school THREE times. She's a champion when it comes to sitting and staying but completely ignores the "come here" command when she's distracted by anything. Sadly, shouting "sit!" and "stay" when she's in hunting dog mode are useless.

I know she just needs some extra love and attention, poor thing. In a year her and Audrey will tire each other out and all will be well. I don’t know if I can make it until then!!!!!

8 months old

Audrey turned 8 months on Saturday! Dad went to a football game so Audrey and I were on our own, just like old times. We went to Gymboree for her 2nd Level 2 class and played around for a while then it was off to return/exchange some clothes from Grandma Katy and to babyGap (my guilty pleasure). Poor Audrey has been having a tough couple of weeks. Between teething (we're up to 4 teeth now!), a nasty diaper rash and a recent excema diagnosis she hasn't been herself. She's still pretty kick ass but I'm sad to see her suffering. She's having such a hard time sleeping, both at night and for naps. It's like she can't get comfortable unless she's being held. Which I don't mind doing at all :-) I know in the not so distant future she's not going to want to snuggle on my lap anymore so I'm stealing those moments whenever I can. Even if it is at 4 AM (although I admit I'd prefer 4 PM).

Nursing is still going well. Pumping still sucks (pun intended) but I'm keeping at it for now. Most people I know wean at one year and stop pumping around 10 months but I'm not sure what my plans are. Ideally, I'd like her to wean herself but I'd like to get back on the trying to get pregnant again wagon within the next 6 months. I'm riddle with guilt thinking about that though. How crappy of a mother am I to force my child to wean to increase my chanced at conceiving? What if it takes another 2 years to get pregnant? I almost feel like throwing myself off of a bridge just thinking about it.

So until I get to that bridge I'm just maintaining status quo. And enjoying the hell out of my daughter!

Insanely gorgeous pictures of my daughter

Fellow Austinites - RUSH over to Photography in Bloom and book a session with Mollie. It doesn't matter if you have a baby or not, do yourself a favor and hire her to photograph you, your dog/cat/rabbit/etc.

If you want to check out pictures of m y kid click here, go to "Clients" and enter "Audrey" as the password. Be prepared to pass out from the cuteness.

And then email Mollie to book yourself a session. Tell her I sent you.

An update of sorts

Sweet Audrey is closing in on eight months. We've had a busy couple of weeks and my blogging has paid the price. I was lamenting to myself this morning that I've been really, really crappy about keeping track of milestones, etc. I have a half assed baby book, pediatrician records, a blog and a slew of message boards I need to wade through to compile a record of things. I really, really want to be better about this!!!!

In any event, Audrey is fantastic. Well, the past few days haven't been fantastic between cutting her 3rd tooth (and I suspect her 4th will come through tonight) and a nasty cold but we're getting by.

In the past month Audrey:
* Pulled herself up from a sitting position to a standing position
* Mastered crawling
* Started solid food (not purees, real food!)
* Developed a love for the dog
* Full all babbles - yi yi yi yi, ga ga ga ga, etc
* Is growing some hair, finally
* Can open drawers
* Has held onto furniture and TAKEN SOME STEPS

I am not ready for all of this but it's (obviously) not up to me. It's beyond wonderful to see my baby thrive but I wish there was a way to hold onto her babyhood for a while longer.