New food, not taking it, future plans

1. Another new recipe for dinner, this time a chicken curry from Joy of Cooking. S and I both enjoyed it, but it could have used a lot more curry powder and I could have left more of the jalapeno seeds in.

2. I’ve started pumping recently before bedtime because I thought it would be good for Baby to be able to take a bottle next time we need to leave her in the evening. We tried bottle feeding her before bed last night and tonight, and she just isn’t taking it. I think I’ll try it in her sippy cup tomorrow, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll switch to our alternate plan of breastfeeding her and showing up a little late to our meeting.

3. Today was a chatty sort of day. I missed a call from my grandma last night, so I called her back and we picked an afternoon for me to come over with Baby. Then I called my Florida sister and had a nice chat with her too, with tentative plans for swing dancing while she’s in at Christmas.

Our Sunday

1. I left Baby with a friend in the church nursery today. She did really well considering it was her first time in there without me. I loved coming down to get her. She had the happiest smile and such a wonderful squeal when she saw me.

2. I’ve started picking out pictures of Baby for her photo album. I have so many, but I’m breaking it down by month, so it shouldn’t be too bad. I’m planning on doing an old style scrapbook, with real pictures and handwritten captions.

3. Today’s new recipe was for roasted butternut squash and red onions.  It was a winner. I did use an extra half teaspoon of the garam masala because just one teaspoon sounded wimpy. We’ll see what Baby thinks of the leftovers tomorrow.

Raking leaves, chase, baby fun

1. Raking leaves with S while Baby napped this morning. I was glad I didn’t do it when I had a chance earlier in the week, since it’s nice working together.

2. Baby edging away when the robot vacuum came toward her, then slowly crawling after it when it went away.

3. We were sitting on the living room floor after dinner, S was near the loveseat and I was leaning against the couch. Baby pushed at S until he moved over so she could crawl between him and the loveseat, then she just kept crawling around behind him, pulling herself up on his back and making baby sounds. Then she’d come over to me and sort of wedge her head between me and the couch. I don’t know what she means by doing it, maybe she’s playing at hiding, but we did have a lot of fun with her antics tonight.

Confused

1. I was apparently fairly disoriented at 1:30 this morning. I heard Baby crying and thought I was holding her in bed. I got up to go nurse her in her room and thought she felt unusually light, and my mind was trying to figure out what I was going to do with the baby crying in the nursery since I already had a baby in my arms. It was my teddy bear.

2. We brought smiles to the grocery store today. Baby went in costume. I thought she should wear her costume more than once, and it gave her a nice warm layer on this chilly day.

3. I roasted garlic to go with our mashed potatoes tonight. It made the house smell so good and tasted even better.

Banana, growing, a book

1. I gave Baby part of her banana in slices this morning, then partially peeled the other half and handed it to her to see if she’d eat it that way. She promptly turned it around and amused herself by chewing on the stem.

2.  Baby’s grown so much since we lowered her crib mattress that she’s able to hang both arms out over the top rail! I guess it’s time to lower it all the way. She’s growing so fast.

3.   I took advantage of being at the library for story hour and picked up Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Pioneer Girl. I’ve been wanting to read it since it was published last year, but just didn’t take the time to go borrow it.

Crafty

1. I made Baby a pair of fleece slippers with claws to go with her costume. I didn’t have any non skid slipper fabric so I used some slip proof shelf liner for the soles. This is the pattern I used for the slippers. They were so simple and I think I’ll make her more for the winter.

2. Baby seems to be throwing temper tantrums when she wakes up from her naps. She’ll be standing up in her crib when I go in to get her, then when I hold out my arms, she flings herself away and back onto the mattress and rolls around all angry. I’ve tried walking out of the room and telling her I’ll come back, and also just sitting in the rocking chair ignoring her until she is settled down. When she does it, my first instinct is to walk out, but it feels mean to leave if she’s upset, but I don’t want to give her positive attention for that sort of behavior. Sitting in there ignoring her seemed effective this afternoon. I was watching her out of the corner of my eye and she was peeking out at me. She’s been happier this afternoon than she was this morning at least.

3. Baby crawled up the stairs after S today. I went behind her to catch her in case she slipped. Now we really are going to have to keep a gate up!

Cold

1. Baby’s standard response to pretty much everything is ‘baa’, except for this morning, while I was nursing her, S poked his head into the nursery to check on us while I was nursing her and after he left, she pulled off and said ‘da’ and was craning her neck to look out the door.

2. I bundled Baby up for a walk when S got home from work, but then we decided that she was probably too cranky for a walk in the cold. She looked like a little doll with her jackets and hat and mittens on.

3. I’m looking forward to having our electrical work done. We drop the temperature in the house at night and run space heaters in the bedrooms. Unfortunately, we found out last winter that the upstairs breaker has a tendency to trip with both heaters on. S and I have a fairly chilly room for almost another two weeks.

Home fires

1. I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up the base for Baby’s Halloween costume while she napped this afternoon (S took the day off to recover from our trip). She’s going to be a little monster and I was able to get started on making eyeballs and teeth and ears to attach to the hood of her little jacket. Next is a fleece fringe around the neck, wrists, and ankles, and then spots.

2. Our trip didn’t really wear us out that much. It was really nice to get home, and Baby slept through the night for the second time in her life last night, but it was probably the most relaxing trip we’ve taken yet, even though we had so many different people to visit. I think it’s partly because Baby is a little older, and mostly because we didn’t have to cook at all.

3. S and I have started reading to each other in the evening after Baby goes to bed. I like this.

Travel thoughts

1. A mid day walk around my great aunt and uncle’s Maryland neighborhood after being in the car for most of the day before was very pleasant.

2. A rough first night away from home. Baby woke up around 1 am and after I fed her and tried to lay her back in the pack n play she just cried. I let her cry for a few minutes, but didn’t want her to keep my relatives awake, so I thought maybe she’d asleep in bed with me. It worked for about two minutes, then her head was up and she was feeling my face and looking over at S. He made the mistake of saying something and then she was ready to play. I stood up with her and she fell back to sleep, but anytime I tried to lay down or sit down she’d pop awake again. It was a long night until around 5 am when she woke and was fighting to get out of my arms. I didn’t know what to do with her and I was exhausted, so I popped her back in the pack n play and crawled into bed and she was asleep in just a few minutes. I should have done that sooner.

3. A lovely wedding of S’s cousin. The wedding was outdoors at 5. It was warm, but not uncomfortable. The reception was inside and we were served the best food I’ve had at a wedding yet. I had grilled salmon with a mango salsa, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. The sundae bar was fun, and the live band was loud, but good.

4. Watching Baby’s eyes get heavier and heavier during the reception. We had her in a booster seat at first, but she was getting so tired and antsy that I put her in the front carrier. The music lulled her to sleep for a while.

5. A slow song was finally played a little before we left, so S and I made our way onto the dance floor and danced with Baby sandwiched between us.

6. Weddings do bring back memories of ours.  I think the worst part was waiting in the basement for the ceremony to begin, but then it was all excitement. One of my favorite things about being married is that we never have to tear ourselves away to go home, because we belong together now.

7. A lunch out at a Greek restaurant with S’s parents and siblings and a nice visit with his aunt and uncle in the afternoon.

8. We stashed baby’s pack n play behind the couch in our hotel so she wouldn’t see us and would be able to fall asleep. It worked, although we had to keep the lights off even though we weren’t ready for bed.

9. Spending a morning and lunchtime with a friend I haven’t seen since 2012 and getting to introduce her to S and Baby. ‘How did you end up with him? He’s normal!’

10. Then getting to spend the afternoon, night, and half of Sunday with some very dear friends who I consider to be my second family. They met S before we were married, but Baby was new to them. And for a delightful surprise, one of their daughters and her family moved in a few houses down from them so I got to reconnect and laugh with her like we used to. She’s had two more kids since I last saw her in 2010, and she had three then. I feel at home there and I hope we’ll make it back down before another four years goes by. I miss the deeper talks with them all and always feel like I can be honest with them.

11. Laughing last night with our friends over some of the things that S and I had to adjust to after we got married, both funny things and hard things.

12. Baby really has handled this trip so well. We’ve been in the car a lot and she’s had times that she’s been inconsolable in her car seat, but she’s also managed to nap in it better than she used to. She’s met so many new people and has started acting shy, looking at someone when they’re talking to her, then ducking her head away, then peeking back at the person. I feel like she’s wanted to cling to me a little more than usual, and she’s probably going to be very happy to get home, as well S and I.

Sleep, boil advisory, snapshot

1. Baby slept beautifully last night, bed at 7, up to nurse around 2, and didn’t hear another peep from her until 6:47 this morning.

2. We had no water when we went to bed last night. I called the emergency water number and was told there was a water main break. It was back on this morning and I found out after brushing my teeth and drinking a bunch that we should be boiling it.

3. I wished I had my camera on me. S and Baby were sitting at a picnic table under a gorgeous tree which was dropping red-orange leaves. They were both looking so happy in the mid day sun. I’ll have to save that picture in my head.