She is back to "talking" or "singing" really loud.
Elsie knows her name.
She pulls mommy's hair & gets her fingers tangled in it. I think it comforts her or something...?
She screams & whines really loud when she is hungry or tired..
She likes to follow mommy around EVERYWHERE.
When she stands up now she can walk around. I.e she will side step around the coffee table (Oct. 7)
Her tongue is always sticking out now.. She caught a cold (or something) & has had a runny nose.. so now she sticks her tongue out to lick the snot.. YUCK!
She rests her head on my chest & curls into a ball whenever she is tired (So cute!)
She hums sometimes.
She does not like baby food anymore... She wants the "real" thing.
Her favorite foods: Peaches in Oatmeal, bananas cut up, still likes baby food peas, very watered down apple juice, potatoes, whatever mommy or daddy are eating.
Elsie cries whenever daddy leaves. She loves daddy.
She says "da-da" occasionally now. (Oct. 9)
She thinks she needs one for each hand. Meaning anything. If you give her a wash cloth she needs another for the other hand. If you give her a banana puff.. she needs one for each hand. Etc.
Elsie can go from standing to sitting now. (Oct. 14)
She says "ma-ma-ma-ma"repetitively. (Oct. 15)
If she sees our toothbrushes she insists on "using" it too. (The vibration probably feels good on her gums?)
She is starting to know how to entertain herself while in the car.
She went on her second road trip.
Elsie moves her eyebrows up and down when she is smiling sometimes. It sure is cute!!
She is a mama's girl.
She can drink out of a straw.
She climbs up my legs and won't let go when she wants to be picked up...
Elsie doesn't sleep through the night.
She can open up cupboards now... /:
Elsie stood without any support for about 8ish seconds (Oct. 24)
She plays in her play pin without crying now. (I needed something to close her in while I shower or cook dinner...)
She weighs: 20lbs
& She is inches long.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014:
Elsie is being super whiny this morning.. anything I do she starts throwing a fit. Even when I am holding her she whines. I feel like I can't do anything right. How is it that a 7 month old is this opinionated?? Wasn't this stage going to happen around 2 years old? I think she might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed though.. or her teeth could be bothering her. Can't they just come in already?
I think Elsie is starting to know how to do the sign for "milk" it's the cutest thing. She gets a huge smile on her face & flicks her wrist back & forth. Instead of squeezing her hand together like the actual sign.
Elsie is being super whiny this morning.. anything I do she starts throwing a fit. Even when I am holding her she whines. I feel like I can't do anything right. How is it that a 7 month old is this opinionated?? Wasn't this stage going to happen around 2 years old? I think she might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed though.. or her teeth could be bothering her. Can't they just come in already?
I think Elsie is starting to know how to do the sign for "milk" it's the cutest thing. She gets a huge smile on her face & flicks her wrist back & forth. Instead of squeezing her hand together like the actual sign.
I thought that Elsie was getting into a routine.. because for the last (almost) 2 weeks she has been taking 2 hour naps (give or take a little). It has been WONDERFUL. I had something to "look forward to" each day. I know I know, this makes it seem like I am ungrateful to be a mom.. but I can guarantee that most moms will agree with me when I say sometimes you just need a dang break. No matter how much you love your baby. It's just how it is. It's not that I don't look forward to spending time with Elsie... because I do. I love her beautiful symmetrical face, her cute little chubby cheeks, that heart melting smile, & her shinning innocent blue eyes & those sweet chubby baby hands, legs, feet, etc. I love love love Elsie. I do look forward to seeing her & being with her & all that. & I would do anything for her... & I do. I get up every 1-3 hours all night to feed her & sing her back to sleep. & most the time it usually is every hour that I get up.
But... It really really really is nice to get a break here & there.. & it is SUPER nice knowing that you can rely on something consistent. When you have no idea when you're going to get a break, the day seems to drag on & on & on & on... you get the point. & then to top it off there is no looking forward to night time because you know you have to get up A LOT during the night as well. Things start to get really discouraging... That is why I get my hopes up whenever Elsie starts doing something for over a week.. I start to think YES! I can count on this. I can recharge & relax without worrying that Elsie will get hurt somehow from standing up & climbing up on everything. This way I don't feel like a zombie day in & day out. Today I feel like a zombie. I fell asleep while nursing Elsie... That is how EXHAUSTED I am!!
I told myself I wouldn't write any negative posts this month because I seems like I am always complaining.. It's just hard being a mom & I want to keep it real. So I guess this is it. from now on I will try to write during the good times.. I just want everyone to know that I do love Elsie & I do love being a mom. It is the best thing in the world. Especially when I see the love in Elsie's eyes when she sees her mom or her daddy. She knows we love her & I know she loves us.
Yesterday when Dee & I picked Elsie up from the gym's child care after our work out, Elsie smiled at me & rested her head on my shoulder. I don't know why but it made me want to cry. It makes me feel like I am doing everything right. She knows I am her mommy & she knows I will comfort her when she needs it. & she NEEDS me. I love it!
Elsie slept for 5 hours straight last night! AHHH heaven. I am not going to get my hopes up for tonight though.. maybe her being sick had something to do with it & she needed that sleep. Yeah Elsie has a cold/flu or something & it is making it's rounds to mom & daddy as well. (no fun) I always feel so bad whenever Elsie is sick.. She is so innocent & does not understand what the heck is going on. Especially since she has had a poopy diaper every time I've changed her for the last 2 or 3 days. Lets just say she usually goes through 8-10 diapers in one day.. & now she is going through about 15 diapers a day.. not good for our wallet or for her bum. ): Today has probably been the worst day with her being sick. She does not know what she wants so she has been super needy, whiny & crying over everything. Mainly I just wish I knew what she needed. So I've just been cuddling her & trying to validate her feelings. Yes sometimes it gets REALLY frustrating because I just want to sit down or put her down but she doesn't want that.. But she doesn't understand what is going on so I just have to keep telling myself that.. plus silently pray all day to make it through the day. It's crazy how much it helps to do just that instead of getting mad or annoyed.
I have also been taking care of Dee today... Yep he finally caught the bug that Elsie & I had. I haven't really felt sick today. But it does come & go so who knows.. I might be feeling sick tonight or tomorrow. Or not. All I know is I am so glad we were not all sick today. That would have been torture. But then again whenever I feel sick I just have to keep telling myself that I am not sick otherwise it is a miserable day for me since I have no choice but to take care of not only myself but Elsie as well. It is a hard task being a mother... especially whenever you're not feeling well.
Elsie had the biggest poop explosion the other day.. it was probably more like a week ago now because I think this happened last Friday.. Anyway it was horrible. I had it all over my arm, my pants, the quilt on our bed, my night stand.. 2 diapers, & some ended up on the floor & all over her towel! No fun. But those are moments where you just have to laugh because what else can you do?
I never understood why moms always complained about never being able to be alone for two seconds.. or why moms would tell me to enjoy going to the bathroom alone before I had Elsie.. until now. Elsie
I get it now. What once was a luxury.. is now lost.
What I once thought in the beginning of parenthood was an alone spot.. is now just another place for me to be on the clock.
Moms are amazing!! Holy moly. You think you understand.. you think you know how it is.. but you don't. Not until you have a kid of your own. & now those "just wait until you have a kid of your own, then you'll understand" statements your mom used to say do not seems so funny anymore.. because now you do understand, & now you are going through the things your mom.. or other people warned you about.
Yeah now I understand why moms say "I haven't showered for days" or "I got a 5 minute shower today" & so on. I just didn't get it. I didn't get it because since Elsie was born I've ALWAYS been able to shower. Sure there was maybe 2-3 times that I wasn't able to because of a crazy day.. but I usually never went with out. In fact I looked forward to showers. They were my chance to get away for 10 minutes & be by myself & only think about myself. It was heaven. It was my time!
Sadly I thought other moms were crazy. But no.. my time just came later. (I still shower every day it's just usually whenever Dee is able to watch Elsie or for literally 2 seconds).
Today was a crazy day. I feel so bad that Elsie is sick. She can't sleep & she looks so miserable!! She even gave me the "I don't understand"... "Fix this" look to me today. My heart about burst. ): I really really wish I could take her pain away.. but too bad I cannot do a darn thing. ):
(We went and visited my mom & my siblings over the semester break October 15-18.. we left late! Well 6pm to be exact & arrived in Idaho at 3:30am. It was nice because Elsie slept the whole time.. she was maybe up for a hour and that was it. It was a great visit & I am glad I got to see my siblings, my mom, my grandparents, a few of my cousins, and my Aunts).
(We left Saturday October 18 around 4ish... maybe closer to 4:30pm.. stopped in Boise for a few hours. We got back on the road around 6:50 & arrived home on Sunday around 4am. This was a longer trip because Elsie decided she didn't want to sleep that good. Overall it was a way better road trip than it was last time we went on one with her though. So I won't complain plus can you blame a girl for teething? haha).
All I want for my birthday next week.. is for Elsie to sleep through the night. (5 hours... or more). After 2.5 months of waking up every 30 minutes to 2 hours (sometimes 3 if I am lucky) at night I'm starting to know what a zombie feels like. I guess it might be time to try the crying out method for reals now. She needs sleep.. I need sleep.. Dee needs sleep. At this point I am willing to do almost anything to get her to sleep at least 5 hours at night. Ironic.. huh? I am now wishing I never complained about her sleeping only 5 hours. I should have been happy!! But I guess when you're used to your baby sleeping 8-12 hours straight... you tend to want to complain when they don't. Now I've learned my lesson & will never complain about 5 or more hours of sleep at night. I will be lucky if I ever get to sleep that long again!!
Elsie learned how to open the cupboards & has been getting into everything. There are messes everywhere.. Sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out because I finish cleaning something up.. then I turn around the the very thing I just put away/organized/cleaned is a mess again. I've learned that I just have to let it go or I will always be cleaning & missing out on my baby growing up. I clean up the messes she makes at night now.
Elsie is officially 8 months old today. It's just not fair! Why does she have to keep growing up?? While I'm happy and excited for her to be changing and growing and learning new things, I am also sad and keep asking myself where did my little 8lb 3oz baby go?? Wasn't she seriously JUST born yesterday? no.. no.. Wasn't see just in my belly? Didn't we JUST find out we were having a girl on October 8 of 2013? AHH! I know I know I keep repeating myself. But seriously... where the heck did the time go? She is growing out of that baby baby look and is soon going to start looking like a little toddler. So sad! ): I just want Elsie to be a baby forever. I love this baby! And I pray everyday thanking my Heavenly Father for this special spirit. She has taught me SO much these past 8 months, it's unbelievable. I thought we were suppose to be teaching & mentoring her. but no... it's the total opposite. Crazy... I know!
She likes to make messes...
That's all for now!
