Enjoying life on a new level :)

Today Mia is 15 weeks and 1 day awesome...I mean old. She will be 4 months on the 19th....4 months!!! Holy crap! In all the books I have looked at (not much time for cover to cover reading these days) she will start eating solid foods this month! Wasn't I just blogging yesterday about the newness of breastfeeding?? Now, she's not only moving past the breast, she's going to start chewing....crazy. Now that we are settled and have what resembles a routine (even if in the slightest way, when you're squinting) she has started sleeping through the night again. In fact, the other night, Dan and I both sit straight up in bed at 4:45 and had a small panic attack thinking the monitor wasn't working. Turns out, it was working, and Mia was still breathing....I ended up going upstairs to check on her just to make sure. Go figure, the first night she sleeps all the way through, I'm still up at 4:45AM. I guess it comes with the territory. Although sometimes I'm pretty sure that monitor goes both ways, it's like she can hear me roll over and check the time on my phone in the morning because when I do, I almost always hear her do something whether it be roll over or coo or fart....you know, just something ;-) It's at that time, I get very still and hope she goes back to sleep, and most of the time, she does. We have entered a new phase as of late, one where Mia expresses her distaste for my absence from her sight by SCREAMING bloody murder. It's a fun game....I thoroughly enjoy the drama. Since this phase I have literally accomplished NOTHING. She is in the bathroom when I shower, sitting on the counter in her bumbo if I have to go to the kitchen or literally on my lap or hip if I go anywhere else. On the plus side, I am getting my arms in shape and learning to do things that I never thought to be one-handed tasks with only one hand! Ever tried to type with only your non-dominant hand? It's no easy task! This afternoon, she decided that naptime was going to be moved to the living room, just in case she opened her eyes, she could still keep track of where I was. Good times. With the way she fights sleep though, I don't really care where she is when a nap finally enters the picture, she could literally hang from the balcony if that's the way I got a few minutes of free time. Let me be clear: I DO NOT LET MY CHILD DANGLE FROM THE BALCONY, just in case that was a question ;-) Aside from her sleep patterns, she is still eating about every three hours during the day (sometimes 2) and my body has about decided that we will no longer be breastfeeding. I still try to nurse, pump several times a day, I'm just not producing nearly as much as I think I should be :-/ It's bitter sweet. I'm coping. I must say, a bottle is pretty darn easy to come by....and the way my kid unlatches still, my nipples are breathing a sigh of relief.

I am finding every day that Mia is "playing" for longer and branching out, toy wise, as far as what makes her giggle, and let's be real here, that IS the ultimate goal ;-) She has now mastered her neck, we're super proud. And she is rolling from side to side. Also, she is learning to scoot. When I go get her in the mornings, she has always made at least a quarter of a turn. That probably explains why she still has no hair on the back of her head, well, aside from the dark baby mullet just abover her neck ;-) Her hair is filling in on the top of her head though...and its LIGHT! in the sun light, I would swear it's red, but in regular light it looks kind of brown. Her eyes are still blue and seem to be getting bluer :) They are the prettiest eyes I've ever seen....I may be partial though ;-)

I am finally learning why it is necessary to have 800 bibs. I was convinced for the first couple of months that they would completely go to waste. Not anymore. My kid is a drooler! I swore she was getting teeth with how much she is drooling and gnawing on her hands (not that she hasn't always done that though - the gnawing, not the drooling). It only took me a couple of days of changing her clothes every hour because of her spit stained neck area before I remembered that there was an invention intended just for the purpose of keeping spit off of that area. I was also convinced at least for the first month that Mia would not ever take a pacifier, however that is not the case. And for that, I am grateful (something I never thoguht I would say!). I realize that the theory is that if you give them one, you will have to ween them off it, but I could really care less about that at the moment. It is, at points, my only sanity. If it weren't for that paci, she may NEVER sleep. She is pretty good about spitting it out before she actually falls to sleep too, so at least she's not sucking on it all night. Even if she did, I'm pretty sure I wouldnt care.

Well, I think that pretty much covers the Mia news. As far as I'm concerned, I'm good! I finally feel settled at the house (I realize we've only been here for a week, but we generally settle faster than that ;-)). I am sleeping better and feeling more refreshed when I wake up in the morning. I really enjoy just being at home now. I think it most likely has something to do with the feeling of ownership and the ample space to spread out in! I haven't lost any weight this week, so I'm still 9lbs from my goal, but with the weather being as nice as it's been, I have started walking, so hopefully that will be a kick start to the last little bit!

I dont have any pics of the house yet, but I swear by the next post I will have some. What I do have, is a pic of what my child looks like at the end of the fighting sleep battle ;-)