Catch Up

Wow. Has it really been that long since I posted anything? I am feeling really guilty. Things have been so busy this fall with work. Marc has been working with me painting at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington DC. We are just about finished with it, so things are settling down a bit. The hours were crazy; Marc was leaving at 5:30 am and not getting home until 7pm or so… he’d be exhausted, and it was all we could do to get her in a bath and in bed by 7:30 or 8:00. I think seeing her so little every day was really hard on Marc. It was kind of depressing.
But like I said, things are calmer now, so that’s good. Olive is doing remarkably well. Let’s see… she is walking now, which is fantastic. I was starting to wonder if she ever would; but I think now she was just thinking about it. The pediatrician asked how often she falls when she walks; I was kind of surprised, because she doesn’t fall at all. She’s not one of these kids who charges forward with a zombie-like stagger. She’s much more methodical about it. I think she just thinks more.
I need to post some Halloween pictures. I am at work now, screwing around, so I’ll have to post the pictures later. She went as a bumble bee this year… very cute. She caught on real quick to the whole candy game too. That didn’t escape her one little bit.
She is also talking like crazy. Her first official sentence was “No Biting!” at daycare… that’s another whole story. But she’s pretty self assertive and that problem for the time being has seemed to go away.
He second sentence that we heard a few nights ago was “I go poop.” Ahh yes, one for the record books. She’s gonna love that when she’s sixteen.
We stopped counting words once we got to 60. She also knows a lot more words than we think, even if she doesn’t say them. If you tell her to go put her cup on the table, she’ll do it, although she’s never said “table” as far as I know.
She freaked me out a few weeks ago. We let the cat out and she wanted to go out too. I told her no, and she started to cry and whine. I went back into the kitchen, and she wandered into the living room and I assumed she’d just moved on to something else. A minute or so later, I see her and she’s dragging my purse to the door. She goes into my purse, grabs my keys, and starts putting keys into the keyhole of the door and trying to figure out how to open it. This is when I knew I was in trouble. She’s so damn smart it’s scary. The logic train involved in that situation is pretty complex, but she knew exactly what to do. It blew me away.

Anyway, I promise to post pictures soon. More later, M

A week at the Beach

So, we just got back from a week in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. We went with Sue, George, John and Mary Tyler. It was a fantastic week. A bit of a long drive though... we broke it up into two days each way. Olive does fine for awhile, but after about four hours has pretty much had it with the car seat entirely and focuses her energies on screaming. After awhile you are ready to swerve into oncoming traffic, but then, thank god, you remember that there are graham crackers.

Olive loved the beach. She played in teh sand and went swimming; I dug her a hole near the water line so it would fill with water and make her own little pool to kick around in. When she wasn't eating the sand herself, she decided to share the love and add a handful or two to my tea. We went to the North Carolina Aquarium, which she also enjoyed tremedously. I was trying to get her to say "Echinoderm" the whole time.

The kid is getting so smart so fast it's really scary. Maybe it's just because I spent so much time with her last week that I'm more aware of it. So, now she can say "FEESH" and she knows what it is. She can blow kisses, and, as of today, figured out that if you blow on the pinwheel, it will spin. Kristen said she figured out the toy car today, pulling it back and then letting it go, all by herself. They were also playing Ker Plunk today (that game where you put sticks through the holes in a clear cylinder and try to keep marbles from falling through) and she picked up a stick and fed it through the tiny holes in the side. Now, that impressed me, because those are tiny. And, while we were on vacation, she crawled over to the bedroom door, climbed up against the wall, reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it. That freaked me out.

She is still not officially walking yet... she will walk if we hold her hands; Even if you hold just one, she does pretty well. I think she could probably stand up on her own, but hasn't really figured out that she can yet. She's really into rocking out now; she loves the rocking horse, the rocking chair, etc. etc. It's pretty amazing.

Things with me have been pretty good; I took some time this week to reassess my priorities. I have been so caught up with my work stuff that I have kind of distanced myself from my parenting responsibilities. Marc brought this to my attention. Um, yeah. Anyway, after feeling like the shittiest parent ever for a day or so, I decided to just go with it and try to do better rather than beating myself up about things. It's really hard though; you feel so insecure about being a "good" parent, and then when you get criticized or something stupid happens, you just beat yourself up even more for being a shitty parent. It's just hard to shake off. Insecurity breeds more insecurity, not progress. After a few days, I just decided to clean slate the whole thing. When I'm home, I am trying to focus more on her and less on trying to get a million things done in the 45 free minutes I have. But, that also means that if I don't get dinner made, someone else is going to have to do it. It's not even stuff around the house as it is work stuff. With my own little side business, there's always something to do, something to write up, something to file or organize. Marc's suggestion was that I do something for me instead; go to Yoga one night a week, something, so that my work isn't my home hobby. Otherwise, it just never ends. I am looking into taking a class at Clayworks this September; I think it will get me motivated. I want to make some ceramic forms for mosaics. I thin it will be good for me; Maybe he's right. It will give me another focus and I think it will be fun.

So, there we are. I will post a picture of Olive in the hermit crab photo op at the aquarium. More later, M

4th of July Weekend

We went to Ithaca for the 4th of July weekend. Olive was in a horrible mood and the car ride up there was less than pleasant. I figured she was just teething, so we kept her pumped with Tylenol and it kept her fever down. Once we got back to Baltimore, she went back to Daycare wednesday and Kristen pointed out to me that she thought she might have an ear infection; Yep. I completely missed any symptoms, I just thought she was teething and cranky. So, now she's been to Patient First and gotten antibiotics and seems to be feeling much better. Marc, however, came down with something awful on Friday; he said he knew he was running a fever when he went to get into his black car that had been sitting in the sun all day and he said it felt good inside because he'd been so cold all day. He had a 103 fever and barely made it out of the house all weekend. So, now I am starting to suspect that that may have in fact been what Bean had, in addition to the ear infection. Let me tell you, it was a rough couple of nights. It made me think, "Oh, so this is how people end up getting divorced."

(Relax, everything is fine. No divorce court proceedings here unless I:
a. Bring home a random stray dog
b. Leave the mop bucket on the landing at the top of the basement stairs
c. Decide that that 200 year old farmhouse fixer-upper is just too good to pass up. )

So, everyone seems to be doing better. It was nice to see the family in Ithaca too; We made the (Great) Grandmother Circuit on sunday and saw everyone. My HIgh School 15 year reunion was also that weekend. Very, very weird. Everyone has babies around the same age. Creepy. There are actually some people I knew from high school whom I found out live right down the street with their two year old. Smaltimore.

Anyway, that's what we're up to. Hopefully everyone will stay healthy for awhile. Ciao!

Cranky

Tonight was rather un-fun. Bean was exhausted after daycare. She must not have napped very well. REALLY cranky & fussy. Nothing seemed to make her happy, and she was driving us nuts, so she went to bed early and screamed for 45 minutes. She finally wore herself out and fell asleep. I gave her some Tylenol, which seemed to help her a bit. Maybe she's getting more teeth. Speaking of going to bed early, I have been up since 5:30 and sleep is starting to sound like a really good idea.

Stairs!

This week I discovered that Olive knows how to climb stairs. I had no idea; then, I had her in the front yard with me while I was watering flowers, and I looked over and she was climbing up the stairs to the porch. It startled me, but it was pretty cool; she was very proud of herself when she was done. We practiced the stairs inside too; Marc was a little mad at me I think. But really, I'd rather just show her how to do it and help her than completely shoo her away from them. She's going to have to learn them sometime. I think it will be fun when she gets a little older and can count as she climbs. (I painted numbers on our stair risers going up)

We went blueberry picking on Sunday with her which was fun; I enjoy the "family outings" now. She was very cute. She helped me pick raspberries; They weren't always red ones, but she was picking them and putting them in the basket. It was kind of cool to see her say, "OK, I get it. I know what we're doing." She also ate a fair amount of dirt while we were picking blueberries, but I think that babies have been eating dirt since the dawn of time; there are certainly worse things she could be eating. I made 11 pints of sour cherry jam, 6 pints of blueberry, and 7 of raspberry. I also made a blueberry pie, and I still have about 3 pounds of blueberries left over. I went a little crazy.

We seem to have regressed a little bit with the sleep issues lately. She is sleeping through the night, which i s great, but we've been having a lot more trouble putting her to sleep. We used to be able to rock her for a few minutes to settle her down and then put her in bed. No more. Now, she will just thrash around and punch you in the face. We end up just putting her down and letting her cry it out. She's usually so exhausted she just passes out after 10 or 15 minutes.

I have been working in DC a lot lately which has me pretty frazzled. I hate the commute. We carpool, but it's still awful. There's just no easy way to go. We're going to Ithaca for a few days for the 4th, it is actually my 15th High School reunion. It should be interesting. It will be nice to get out of here for a few days. I am finding work so stressful as of late.

Let's see... What else? Oh, Olive has three new teeth! The top ones are in, and she has one on the upper left side. I'm not sure how that one snuck in there undetected, but there it is.
There's a piece of blueberry pie dwonstairs with my name on it....

Raisin Rage!

We have entered the clingy temper tantrum phase of our wee development it seems. Marc had to work on Satrurday, and I spent the entire day doing everything with one arm. ( I even attempted to paint a wall with one arm belive it or not) Granted, the "I love Mommy" thing is initially cute, but after awhile it can be maddening. Saturday I was not able to put her down. At all. All day. The second I put her down, she'd start screaming. It made for a very long day. She is doing much better with the crawling though... she's gotten pretty good at it and is pretty fast. She is pulling herself up on things now, (mostly my legs) but is still pretty wobbly on her feet. She's getting there though. Marc says when he drops her off in the mornigns now its an instant cryfest. He says all the other kids come over and comfort her and try to distract her while Marc sneaks out. Very cute.

Father's Day we went to Gunpowder State Park and put Bean in the water. It was pretty crowded, but nice. Bean had a great time; she was smiling and giggling at everyone. I always forget about my tattoo; then I go to someplace like that and I feel like I'm on display at the Midway or something. It comes with the territory, I am used to that. It's just weird trying to explain a tattoo to little kids. I just tell them its a drawing of my favorite things.

We also experienced what Marc and I have dubbed the Raisin Rage... for some reason, when she sees the canister of Raisins she goes totally nuts and starts screaming and crying until she can have it. She doesn't even want the raisins really; she just wants the container. And even when she gets it, she just freaks out even more. Raisin Rage. apparently, it's the new hip thing. ("Mom, you are soooo lame.")

We also have "Oooo" sounds now... and I think we're catching on to "No" pretty quickly too. Oy. Tonight Marc is out and it was just us girls. We made quesadillas and had a tickle fight; she went down like butter tonight, so she must have been tired. It was pretty fun actually. So, that's that.

one year and counting...

She has been growing so fast it's amazing; I am looking back at the pictures from earlier posts and I can't believe how different she is. She is officially 1 now; we had a small birthday party for her on the 27th; her actual birthday (the 21st) was pretty quiet, just sharing a cupcake with Mom and Dad at home. The 27th was a much bigger party, and she had a great time. I made her my favorite tropical carrot cake with pineapple, coconut, macadamia and ginger. It takes several days to make, but it's fabulous. She got lots of new clothes, some new books and toys and some crayons. She is actually drawing a bit now; I have saved her first drawings. She knows how to hold a crayon and make marks on the paper. It's really pretty cool to watch. As if on cue, she started really crawling at her birthday party; not just doing the military crawl thing. We did get the gates installed finally; she isn't super fast, but she is very determined. She has been pulling herself up to standing a lot lately too; I'm sure she'll be walking in a few weeks.

On a side note, I had a cold briefly, but now I have a nagging terrible cough that won't go away that is really starting to annoy me. I feel like it itches every time I breathe in. I think it might be allergy related, but either way, it's getting on my nerves. I don't know why I felt a need to post that, but there it is.

Her birthday was a bit emotional for me; I can't believe how much I've learned in a year. I remember being so sad and depressed, and having everyone telling me that I should enjoy all these precious little moments. When everyone is telling you that it gets better but you feel like it never will. I remember crying one night after being so frustrated by breastfeeding problems and saying to Marc that she deserved someone better than me for a mom; someone who was more patient and loving and understanding; someone who didn't get frustrated and angry and insecure. While I still have my moments, I'd like to think now that I have grown into that person a bit more; that I have in some way become the parent she deserves. I try to be every day. It really has gone quickly; I find that she is so much more fun to be around now; we really play and laugh together and I really enjoy our time together, rather than me focusing all the time on immediate needs like hunger and sleep. But it's always changing; just when you think you've figured it out, something new comes up. Its an ongoing process. I am truly thankful for the GBMC mom's group; It has made a huge difference for me; I have met so many great people and gotten so much support and advice; I don't know what I would have done without it. I tell every pregnant woman I see to go and find a Mom's group and talk to people. We have an online group so everyone can stay in touch and post events and questions, it keeps me connected even when I'm working. It's great; I am very thankful to have it.

This weekend is John and Mary tyler's wedding reception at Sue and George's, so Olive will get to see the whole Raley family again. She loves a crowd. She's just a charmer like that. Its supposed to be nearly 100 degrees. Yikes.

So, that's what's been going on here! More later....

I am such a slacker!!! I haven't updated this in so long it's pathetic. However, in my self defense, things have been very busy here lately. By the time I get home, get dinner ready, get her fed bathed and happy, get her to bed, make something for us to eat, do some laundry, clean litter boxes, etc etc, it is 10:30 pm and updating the blog seems pretty far down on the priority list. However, it has been bugging me and I wanted to get back into it. After all, she will be ONE YEAR OLD next Wednesday. I can't believe it. So, for those of you who haven't seen her in awhile, which is most of you, here's the rundown of what she's been up to.
No! She is not walking yet. She is still in the army crawling phase, not really up on her knees just yet. However, this doesn't slow her down one iota. We have been reassessing everything in the house and need to start baby proofing NOW. What she lacks in bipedal mobility she is making up for in language skills. She has a whole vocabulary of sounds and noises she makes now; she is begining to figure out who Da Da and Ma Ma are, but they are still used somewhat interchangeably. She does have one word, which is "KEE-EEEE" for "Kitty" and she says it whenever she sees a cat. Which is quite often.

She still only has two teeth... No new ones yet. They'll be in eventually. That doesn't stop her from eating just about anything though. She is a freak for popcorn ("What?! Popcorn? She'll choke!") which we break into small pieces for her. I put up a series of photos on Photobucket that Marc took... we have been encouraging her to crawl by leaving Hansel and Gretel trails of popcorn around the house... Its hysterical to watch her crawl to one, eat it, look around for the next one, crawl to it, eat it, repeat. Her other new favorite food, of all things, is chickpeas. Loves 'em. Give her gas, but at least she's eating them. She's been somewhat resistant to being fed lately, so finger foods seem to be the new deal. You can feed her peas or carrots or whatever, but she has decided that its really fun to make razzberries as soon as she gets them in her mouth and spray you with food. Nice. I am trying not to encourage this behavior. It doesn't seem to be working because she thinks its hilarious.

With all this crawling around, it also becomes apparent that my house is filthy and disgusting, but she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, there's nothing she loves more than finding a stale cheerio covered in lint under the stove for a delicious snack. We keep the vacuum in the kitchen, and she crawls up to it and looks into the canister of cathair filth like it a gumball machine. ("If only I could figure out a way to get IN there!!!") Good times.

Well, that's not everything, but at least its a start. I'm putting up a photo of her at the park a few weeks ago when my parents and aunt and uncle came down to visit. She was delightfully charming. She loves an audience.

I will update more soon, I PROMISE!!!

Wow! So much has happened in just the past few days. Olive hasn't shown any interest in crawling thusfar, which hasn't concerned me. Most babies her age are crawling by now, but everyone's different. Her doctor said she would start rolling places first; and sure enough, friday she started rolling across the living room floor to check something out. It was pretty cool. Since friday, it's been getting faster and faster now that she's getting the hang of things. Our house has no carpeting because of a certain four legged member of our family; we just have hardwood floors and I'm scared she's going to take some nasty falls. I guess that's all part of the learning process, but we definitely need to start exploring our childproofing options. I think childproofing can be excessive... I remember working in a hosue in Virginia one time and I had to pee and I had to get the nanny to show me how to undo the childproof lock on the toilet seat because I couldn't figure out how to open it. It was pretty embarrassing.

Olive had her first swimming lesson on Saturday! I forgot my camera, of course, but I'll bring it next week. It was fun because we both got to go in the pool with her. I was laughing because at one point each kid had to pick a floating toy out of a basket. Olive did her grandfather proud and picked the rubber crab! Such a Maryland girl. Very cute.

Today in Sunday and our hot water heater is out. We tried relighting the pilot light and it didn't do anything. I think it's the sensor. Anyway, I called the plumber and hopefully he can come out tomorrow because I REALLY want a shower. It's so cold out too, so the water coming out of the tap is absolutely icy.

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Al are somewhere in Germany tonight... They left yesterday out of Rochester to go skiing with a big tour group. Thibadeau, our cat (at my parent's house in NY) will be 15 next week and she's not doing well. The day before my parents left, she had stopped eating and drinking and was balled up in the corner. She's at the kennel this week; I know she's old, but I can't bear the thought of her dying alone in a cage at the vets' office. I hope she can hang on a little longer so she can at least be at home. She was from a totally feral litter of kittens and for weeks they wouldn't come near anyone. But one day I was out in the yard and she just came over to me out of the bushes and let me pet her and she's been with us ever since. So, I've been thinking about her a lot this weekend.

Anyway, sorry to be a downer. On a happier note, this morning when I went to get Olive up and get her dressed, she was smiling at me and I noticed that she has a tooth just starting to poke out on her lower jaw! Yea! first tooth. I can't believe how fast things are going all of a sudden. She is just learning and growing at this amazing exponential rate. She is shaking her head; not to say "No" but just because she thinks it's fun I think. She seems to do it when she's eating something she likes. And she now says "Kee" when you pick her up. Marc is passed out. I'm exhausted too. Daylight savings time is rough. Anyway, more updates this week!

Wow! March already. It's nearly SPRING!!!! I was very excited to find my chinese butterbur blooming this morning in the backyard. It looks like a lime green sunflower growing flat in the dead leaves. There's no stem, and the flower appears weeks or months before the leaves ever come out. OK ,Ok ,I know. This isn't "Mariah's Geeky Garden" blog.

Well, Olive has yet another daycare inspired cold, which she has passed on to Marc. Fourtunately I haven't gotten it... yet. Needless to say we have had several long and fussy nights this week. I think the worst of it is probably over. Saturday morning is her first official swimming lesson! Yep, 10am on Saturday, she's goin' in the pool at the Y. I think she'll love it. I will bring the camera to document the big event.

Grandpa Sue and Grandpa Al are off to Germany this weekend to go skiing and touring around, they are understandibly very excited. This will be their second trip, and I know they will have fun. Grandpa George will be going to New Orleans to compete in a marathon next week, (I think). Aunt Mary Tyler sent some very cute clothes to Olive this week, thank you very much!

Not too much else going on here... coupon mania. Can I just say that I will never pay for toothpaste, deodorant or soap ever again! It's so easy to get it free! www.moneysavingmom.com. Yes, we're turning into those people, but let me tell you, it's really really fun to walk out of CVS or Walgreen's with all this stuff and have paid $2.

Anyway, I will post swimming lesson pictures soon!

Let's see... It's been awhile. Well, Olive is doing great, as is the norm for her. She has been eating more stuff now; She's started chewing all of a sudden; she still has no teeth, but she's definitely figured out chewing. She LOVES cheese now. We've been giving her cheese and scrambled egg and she's starting to feed herself. It's amazing how fast she learns. She has also started making this funny little clucking noise. Kristin noticed it at daycare too; I wonder if she learned it from me because I do that around the cats all the time.

Last weekend we met up with friends from Tokyo in DC; they were in town for a Japanese culture exhibit at the Kennedy Center. We went to dim sum in Chinatown and then headed over to the Kennedy Center... I wasn't sure how she'd do, that makes for a really long day for her. But she was sweet and charming and everyone adored her. She ate oranges at the Chinese restaurant for the first time and they were a big success. She also got new shoes for Valentine's Day from grandma Sue (Raley) which you can see in the picture. We are going to register her for swimming lessons at the Y next week; It is saturday mornings and Marc will probably take her... I'm not sure if we can both go or not.

The weather has been cold and gross here, but it'a almost the end of February and in my mind that means it is almost spring. Soon it will be time to plant stuff!!! I have plans to move a bunch of stuff in the front yard around.

Anyway, she's up from her nap so I have to run. More later!

So, 18.5 pounds! All went well at the doctor's visit. She was all smiles the whole time. We are now trying to wean her off the 4am bottle and get her to sleep through the night. Dr. Bodnar said we may as well do it now, because it will only be harder later. Last nigth was alittle rough; We going and soothe her but don't pick her up and then wait 7-9 minutes before going in again. She was probably up for 45 minutes last night, but did end up going back to sleep and stayed asleep until 7. I mean, if someone woke me up at 4 am and said, "Here's a little snack, now go back to sleep for three hours." I'd be totally psyched. I can see how you could get fond of that routine. Dr. Bodnar said she should adjust in a week or so and start compensating by eating more during the day. Kristin said she's been sleeping a lot during the day this week; I think it's probably because she had shots Tuesday. Hopefully tomorrow will be my last day at this DC job... It is going painfully slow, but that's just because it's really intricate painting, not by any fault of ours. We should be out of there tomorrow. Well, it's 8:00pm and I still haven't eaten dinner or done dishes. Gotta get everythign done beofre LOST comes on!!!

Good times to be had at CVS!!!

Holy Crap! Marc taught her to turn the pages of her book!! I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty cool to see her learning stuff. Wow. It kind of freaked me out. She's been very happy lately, very smiley. We are off to the Doctor's office tomorrow morning at 9:00. I'm curious about what she weighs.

Work is the same old same old, but at least this week I'm not in DC again. Ugh. I just vascillate between getting all fired up wanting to quit and do my own thing, to feeling very grateful to have a steady job at all considering all of the uncertainties. It's too hard.

In the meantime I have moved on to coupon fanatacism, which I am discovering is much like a mild gambling habit, only inreverse. There are websites and blogs totally dedicated to figuring out how to get free stuff from CVS every week; and believe it or not, it actually works and I'm totally hooked. (Did you realize you can actually MAKE money doing this?!) Of course, I now have enough bottles of softsoap (3 for 5.00, minus $1.00 coupon), to last me the rest of the year. At least it smells good. Anyway, it's kind of fun just to see what you can get away with... how little you can actually pay for things. You can check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ if you're interested. (they have a CVS 101 article) Oh, Come on. Like you'd pass up FREE toothpaste.

If I'm still like this when Olive is in middle school she will be absolutely mortified. I think I need to get out more.

Tonight I discovered that one of the neighborhood cats has sprayed all over the plastic bathtub. (We have been keeping it out on the deck) Fantastic. I discovered this when I brought it in and filled it with hot water in the sink and the whole kitchen smelled of steamy, destinctively feline piss. The cats were totally spooked out. I guess so much for that one. Oh well, she had just about outgrown it anyway.

Today Kristin from daycare had to take her daughter to the dentist, so I had to get Bean at 12:30. Of course, I figure this out on the phone with marc while I am sitting in trafffic on the DC beltway at 9:00... I got to the jobsite, dropped off paint, worked for a half an hour, and drove back to Baltimore. Despite the hectic morning, Bean and I had a nice afternoon... it was sunny for a change and not quite so cold, so we went for a nice long walk. It felt like when I wasn't working all summer.. God I miss that!!! She was really happy today and we had fun.

Olive has been pretty good the last few nights. Earlier this week she had a cold and made our lives miserable. When she gets that congested, she wakes herself up all the time. I was trying to explain it to people at work who don't have kids; the best way I could describe it is as if the snooze alarm goes off every 40 minutes all night long, only you have to get up and go in to another room to turn it off. Combine that with meeting the carpool to DC at 5:30am, and you have a recipe for one bitchy zombie by Wednesday. So, I'm glad she's feeling better.

Marc had band practice Thursday night, so it was just me and Bean. It was really fun actually. I finally started to see that it can be fun... I know that sounds weird. But sometimes it seems like I'm checking off a list of a series of chores; bath, change into jammies, bottle, etc etc. all in order to get her to go to sleep so I can relax (ie. collapse in a heap) or do something else. Like load the dishwasher. But Thursday was really fun; she had dinner, we took a bath and played with bubbles, we read some books, spent some time in the bouncy seat laughing. It was great. We had some nice "quality time" when I was putting her to sleep. There's just no way to describe how I feel when she's looking into my eyes as she falls asleep. And that helps me a lot; I've really struggled with feeling guilty about being a little bit emotionally distant. You feel like you're a terrible person if you aren't pining away every moment of the day that your baby is in daycare and counting the minutes until you can get home again. (I blame advertising!) Don't get me wrong, I'm always excited and happy to see her when I pick her up; but I am confident that she's happy and safe and I don't worry about her all day. So yeah, I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm not so bad at this after all. She is awesome.

Well; It's January 13th already. Happy New Year everyone. The holidays were crazy. I can't believe we're halfway through January. Olive will be 8 months old on the 21st!

Olive has been up to new stuff lately; She now sits up on her own. She's mastered rolling over, but can't quite sit up from lying down yet. I think she's going to be one of those walk before you crawl types; She doesn't show any interest in crawling yet really, but she always wants to stand up, and can stand for several minutes without any problems. I don't think it has occurred to her yet to take a step forward. She's making some more noises, "Ma Ma Ma" mostly. That is sort of the universal distress call for when she's scared or tired or frustrated with something. It isn't directed at "me" per se, its more like "I need help!" I have been thinking about trying some basic sign language and seeing if that works; some of the Moms swear by it. It's "food" and "more" that are apparently the most effective, go figure. She's on mostly formula at this point, she still gets a little breastmilk every day, but for various reasons, (work, daycare, stress, hormones) we are gradually weaning her off of it. I had originally planned on trying to make it to one year, but my job intervened. I think if I were home with her it would be easier, but it was kind of the beginning of the end when she started daycare. I am still feeling a little guilty, but I am trying not to beat myself up about it too much. The "natural" parenting gurus would be horrified, but it just wasn't working for me anymore. And if I've learned anything throughout this process, it's that you just gotta go with what works.

We went to Ithaca after Christmas to visit my family; My aunts were all fighting over Olive. I am posting the picture of Bean being held by Carol with Mary and my mom in the background. My uncle Andy, who is a great photographer, got some great shots of the family and I want tomake sure he gets due credit for the great photos! I love the picture of her standing with that grin on her face. She sooo looks like she's up to something, doesn't she? She looks like her father there. It was great to see everyone, some of my relatives had never met her, so it was fun. Grandma got her all kinds of new toys to play with.

Speaking of new toys, grandma also got Mommy a new sewing machine which I am so excited about. I took a sewing machine basics class last weekend and I may take some sewing classes this spring. I'm mostly into making quilts and toys for her, but I wouldn't mind learnign how to sew from a pattern. We'll see. I have also been feeling the creative pull of sculpture and painting again, and I'd like to pursue it if I can. I have a few ideas rolling around in my head. I just have to make time for that stuff. It's just so important. I truly believe that creativity is what keeps you young.

I have another busy week coming up, I will be in Annapolis. Work was slow there for awhile but seems to be picking up again. It's definitely exhausting. Just when you think, "Oh it's the weekend and I can sleep in." Wrong. I woke up this morning at 7:30 to a big gummy grin in my face. Very cute. Very early, but very cute. It's harder to get little things done around the house, like posting blogs and photos, let alone laundry and dishes. But in general, I think we are adapting pretty well.

Anyway, I am trying to post a little more frequently, so we'll see how my resolution holds up.