Hmm...attachment parenting?

You know...as much as I would never be a big proponent of attachment parenting (wearing my child 24/7 makes me shudder), I see how this kind of thing could really have positive effects on the child. Lately, I have taken to slinging D around with me instead of putting her in her strollers. She seems to really love it. It really puts her in better spirits and she certainly smiles a lot more when she is on my body. She actually really dislikes being in her car seat, but will be happy to get in it after I've been carrying her around when we are out. It's quite crazy and I bet here I am again digging my own grave - instead of getting her more acclimated to her stroller by having her spend more time in it, I am carrying her around everywhere...what is wrong with me?

Bobble head?

Are most babies prone to falling over onto their heads or am I just a negligent mother? Can anyone answer me that riddle? Lately, I am finding D (under my watch) falling over and hitting her head quite a bit. Boohoo!
I mean, she seems to be less coordinated, of course when she is tired. But, today, she fell over onto her face! Ouch! Waaaah! And mind you, I was sitting right next to her! It's not like I was not paying attention to her. Silly active girl.

Mischief

I swear babies are born with an innate sense for mischief. I see Dillon's wheels turning when she crawls over to the bookshelf and knocks a set of books to the floor. She knocks them down then looks over at me to see if she can get a reaction. If not, then she moves over and does the same, while simultaneously issuing a squeal of delight. Again, no response from mommy and then she moves onto other things. But in that time, I see it in her eyes that she loves to leave a room like a tornado's hit it. Too funny!

It's Dillon vs Fido

The part of Dillon being played by Dillon and the part of Fido being played by yours truly. Yes. I wake up and I take the dogs out...I pick up their poop then I come home and feed them.
Then I feed Dillon and while I am doing so she throws her toys all around the kitchen floor and what do I do? Well, I fetch them of course. Yup, that is my morning activity. Fetching after Dillon. Feed, feed, fetch. Feed, fetch, feed fetch. Fetch. Then if all goes well, I finish feeding her and then I pick up her poop too!

Saying No

Dillon is soo funny! She totally understands the word no and it is so funny to see when she has something in her mouth or near her mouth and I say, "No!" She gets startled and immediately tosses that thing away. It's the funniest sight!
This morning, I was so pleased to see that she crawled over to a cord (which she looves - all cords) and she was pulling on in it. We were both saying, "No, no Dillon. Don't touch that." And she knows the word so she sits there for a minute and then she gets up on her hands and feet and crawls over the cord. I love when she gets up on her hands and feet! So, she walks over it and then crawls over to the wall where there is a spot of sunshine and hangs out there for a bit. The she crawls on back and when she gets to the cord, she doesn't even stop! She just goes back on her hands and feet and crawls right over the cord! Amazing! Our little Dillon is so smart! :o)

Curses...

Oh whyyy is Dillon like me? As far as sleep and energy is concerned. :o) She is like the energizer bunny. She just goes and goes. She speeds from room to room as she maneuvers on her little hands and knees. It is surely the cutest but she's fast!
I love to hear the little padding sounds her little hands make as she is determinedly traveling from one spot to the other.

Sleep...

I just met up with a mom's group here in East Nashville today. It was surprising to learn that every new mommy frets over the baby's sleep habits. In fact, all three of us moms were lamenting about how our babies hate naps and really don't know how to happily just fall asleep wherever they are at. Heheeh!
These mommy groups are kind of fun!
And now speaking of sleep. Dillon has been waking up in the middle of the night every so often to cry and eat and be cuddled. Am I not feeding enough?? Uggh, I spent all of today trying to stuff her with food. Aaaack! Now I'm starting to fret about bringing more variety into her diet! Aaack! When will she start getting teeth? I feel like she can eat more if she has a tooth or two.
Uuuggggh! Motherhood is not for me. So much responsibility! What has happened to my carefree life from two years ago?? Bebopping around NYC drinking my face off and having a jolly good time? Waaaah...
Now my days are filled with..."How much has she eaten today?" "Has she pooped?" "Oh no, is she getting too much soy in her body since she is on soy formula?" "What more can she eat?" "Do I need to get things for her to climb on and over in her room?"
It's enough to drive a girl to drink! But drink I cannot...b/c what if she wakes up in the middle of the night to be cuddled?? I need my rest to function the next day! Add to that, her spells of no napping. Exhausting, I say!

Solids for baby

Gosh, I'm a bit perplexed over this solids feeding for baby. I make the food and I feel like I am not expanding her food choices enough. I mean...golly...how does one plan meals?? And it's so hard to determine what foods are appropriate for her age, knowing she still has no teeth.
Y'know, my friend C was telling me about her friend who goes to the grocery store only once a month and she plans the entire month's meals. She even writes down all dinners for the month on a calendar so her husband knows exactly what he's getting for dinner every night! OMG! Now, that's talent. I am in charge of only D's food. G handles food for us, or we collaborate but we wing it. Now, even though I am only in charge of D's food, I can hardly keep it all straight. I don't even know what she's going to have for breakfast that day, let alone lunch or dinner or any other meal for that week! It's crazy!
Btw, do you know how many yellow/orange foods are out there?? This is how I try to plan D's meals. I try to make sure she is eating more than one color of food so I hate when I only have let's say pumpkin and sweet potato..booorrring. I like to add a bit of green so I will give her peas or green beans or avocado. 'Course I try not to overkill on the avo either but it's so hard b/c avo is so EASY. I hate when I get stumped and have sweet potato, winter squash...a cauliflower/tomato/basil concoction that happens to be orange...what ELSE is there?? I just bought a purple sweet potato just to change up the color palette.
I have not introduced potato to D. It's just such a boring, no value added starch. No thanks.
She got turnips for dinner tonight. That was fun. Hmmm...I need to get more creative.

Thank you for sleeping...

D...thank you for sleeping all night the other night. I really appreciate it. Considering the two nights prior you were acting really weird.
First night, she wakes up around 11pm, crying like she was dying. So I go down to comfort her. She snoozes, I put her down, she starts crying. I pick her up and rock her some more...she snoozes, I put her down. She cries. So, I exit the room and let her cry for a bit. 10 minutes later she is having a minor meltdown...so, I make some formula, head back to her room. Feed her, she eats EIGHT oz which is a lot for her at that hour. I rock her, she snoozes, I put her down and again she cries. So, now because I love her so much and can't understand why she is so sad, I am holding her (I am now reminded of her younger days when she only slept on my body...) and proceed to lay down on the floor, on my back with her on my chest as she sleeps peacefully.
Finally, she is totally out and I get to put her in her crib and walk back up to my bed at 2am. Sweet.
The following night, she again wakes up in the middle of the night around 2am and wants to be rocked and cuddled. Zzzzzzz... I cuddle and feed her. All is good. I am hoping she is not developing a habit and Yippee! The third night, she sleeps all the way through the night and has been doing so!
Phew!!

Traveling

Oh man, I've been slaackin on this blog! Let's do some catching up. While Dillon was sick, we had to make a trip to Pittsburgh! For Tom's book signing - Nordstrom Guide to Men's Style - at Nordstrom Ross Park Mall. Despite the fact that she was sick, she was a CHAMP!
She traveled well AND let my friend Lori hold her and play with her. Could be the fact that I handed her to Lori and Lori immediately took her to a stuffed doll and bought it for her...Or it could be that Lori has the magic touch. :o)
But then, D also let my friend Tiffany hold her later on at Tiff's house! Whaaat?? Who is this new baby who is so friendly? hehe.
She's usually so mommy-centric. It's embarrassing.
But all in all we had a great time meeting up with friends in Pittsburgh. And now D is all better!

Sick

And now...D is sick. :o) Heheh. Guess that's what will happen when you bring babies around other babies/toddlers. The good thing is, while she clearly has something - her nose is running non-stop - she does not have a fever and is in great spirits and still has a good appetite!
Hopefully, this is an indication of how she will deal with colds in the future! A chip off the old block! It's all psychological I say. It's all in your head. If you think you're sick, then you are sick and you will go through all the miserable symptoms. But if you forget that you are sick and just ignore it, then it will just pass. Of course, I do up my Vitamin C and I THRIVE on hot water with lemon and honey whenever I feel like I might be coming down with something. And it works!!
I hope D gets better by tomorrow...today is her second day and she is a lot less snotty. We are flying in a plane tomorrow...so fingers crossed she kicks this thing by today!!

My gym

We just took Dillon to a My Gym class last week. It's like a Gymboree but privately owned here in the posh neighborhood of Brentwood in Nashville. Dillon LOOVED it. The class time was right around her nap time, but I thought she could just nap in the car on the way out there. Which she did so that really wasn't a very long nap. But, when she woke up she was so excited to see all the bright primary colors and the gym apparatuses. Oh, she loved it. They had a sing along in a circle to start the class and she was all smiles doing hand gestures with daddy. It was great!
We are going to try out the actual Gymboree in Brentwood next week as their prices are a bit lower and they have more options for classes.
Socialization is fun! They actually have a part near the end of classtime that is called separation time. It's where all the babies/toddlers are placed in the center of the room with toys, etc and the parents are supposed to sit along the wall so the babies get used to being away from their parents. Uhh, because Greg is so paranoid about germs, we clearly didn't do that part very well. Of course, we weren't sure how it was done, and I did let the instructor take Dillon and put her in the center, but I was hovering nearby and when I actually got up I noticed that all the parents were really far away..on the outskirts of the play area. Yes...of course. It's called separation time...I'll be better about that next time (hopefully sans G) since D really needs to learn to separate from us!!