Big night last night

Last night I was a dirty stay out. As soon as Mr. Bishop came home...I left for a big night on the town. I went to Trader Joes for some recreational grocery shopping. I like Trader Joes and I like Whole Foods, but they are not every day grocery stores. I can't get everything I want or need there. I can get some treats for the whole family...but I can't get regular stuff and if I try to get regular stuff I end up coming home with "punishment food". So my trip to Trader Joes was for fun. I got some good bread and spreads and apple sauce for the baby. It was fun. I did not dress up. I did not even shower. But I had a great hour by myself.

Yesterday Elle and I were official beach bums. We got to the beach at 9:30 and did not leave until 5 pm. We put in a hard day! She swam in the pool an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. She took 2 long naps and she ate a bunch of blue berries (cut in quarters) baked potato (cut into little niblets) and mozzarella cheese (also cut into niblets). I find that she does not mind if I put all these niblets in the same tupperware. So I did. And she snacked all day. I had some peaches that I ate and she likes to gnaw on the edge of my peach (as soon as I bite the skin off for me). That is super cute and she loved it!

Elle is also learning how to drink out of her sippy cup. Very cute. We got the soft spout version from Born Free and she likes the handles. I think she actually prefers her little plastic shot glass that I let her drink out of in the high chair...but really, she doesn't get much in her mouth from that method.

More poops

Since the introduction of many more solid foods we have had many more poops. This is a good thing. Often the first food in tolerances manifest themselves through constipation (or so my mom says). Elle has gone from a once a day pooper to at least 2 good ones. Now that she eats the occasional meat, these poops can be real stinkers. Also, because she likes finger foods I often get to see the blueberry skins and pieces of produce in the diaper. Awesome.

I am introducing foods at a pretty rapid pace because she has had no reactions. She eats a wide variety of dairy now...yogurts and cheeses. Yum. She has also had turkey, chicken, beef and salami. She ate pasta for the first time at a party a couple days ago. She loves it all.

I let her do a lot of finger foods and try to feed her off the spoon at least once a day so she knows what that is all about. I don't want her to be a monkey baby. She is still nursing 2-3 meals a day and gets a 6-7 oz bottle at night before bed. Overall, she is eating so much better (read more) than she was 3 weeks ago. It is like she finally got the hang of it. I try not to obsess over the "normals" and "milestones" that the books and websites give me (apparently she should have been eating food off a spoon regularly by 6 months...but she didn't). She would taste the food, but rarely eat as much as she does now. I feel like she has what she needs to grow now...we will find out at her 9 month checkup!

I am fat

I want to lose weight. We eat very healthy, but I eat too much. I chase my kid around and then reward myself with a snack. Sucks.

The good news is..

I was so tired last night that when Elle went to bed, so did I. I usually like to stay up a while and tidy or relax, but I went to sleep. The bad news is, now my body thinks I had a full night sleep at 3 am.

Elle is my little helper. We went to a fundraiser yesterday and sold raffle tickets. She is the best little sales girl. However, she is not a good ticket picker. I think she wanted everyone to win so she grabbed handfuls of tickets out of the pot.

We are trying to learn to drink out of sippy cups. It is a whole new experience, one that looks an awful lot like a bottle to me. She is good sipping out of my water cup but I think she should probably learn to drink out of her own- hence the sippy cup.

Elle is in a mood today

I think we have more teeth coming. She is a mix of demon baby and just pathetic...so sad.

I don't know how to be a mom

It is late. I was just thinking about the day and how much I love my kid.

I love when we are playing on the floor and she takes a break to rest her head on my leg or my chest. I love when she "fish hooks" my nose with her little fingers. I love when she laughs and my "eat your belly" game.

I have no idea how to be a mom. The first time she took a break from playing to pause and stop being the wild woman she is to rest her head on my chest I was baffled. She was not tired. She was not hungry. She was just resting. And I think she likes me. So I patted her back. And she smiled. And everything was good.

I don't know why she laughs at the eat your belly game. I don't know why she laughs when she sticks her fingers up my nose. But I roll with it. It is what we do.

I know she loves going in the swimming pool. So I love going in the swimming pool. I used to prefer the ocean. But Elle does not like the ocean, she likes the pool. So I like the pool.

I think she may be getting a little tan on her arms, even through the SPF a million organic sunblock I bought her for $32 dollars a tube. I have not spent $32 on myself since the week before she was born, but she is worth it. I don't know if it is bad that she may have a tan, but she is so happy and seems so healthy...and the pediatrician has not yelled at me yet. It is not like I give her baby oil to rub on her belly. And she doesn't eat ice cream...yet. What am I going to do when ice cream makes her happy? I hope blue berries always make her happy.

By the way, a little note to a friend of mine who may read this someday. I don't talk about it a lot because it seems like a long time ago...but my beautiful daughter came into my life after a lot of trying and hoping. I thought it would be easy and I tried to control every situation but I learned that the best things in life are:
a) worth waiting for
b) take some time and are out of my control
c) are given to us when the time is right
d) are worth working for
and e) all of the above.

Busy Girl

Elle is very busy and she relies on her mommy to make her nap. She does not want to nap, but she will if I take care to follow a schedule. The routine is good for her. It is not good when I break her routine. She gets crazy.

Formula feeding

Formula smells bad. To me. To Elle, it must smell good because she scarfs that stuff down like it is her job at night. I am still to lazy to formula feed the rest of the day, so she still is a boobie baby until that last feeding.

Someone asked me the other day when she will stop nursing. I really have not thought that far ahead. She eats a wide variety of people food, but not in great enough quantity to stop the bottle yet. She is only 8 months old (this week) and The American Academy of Pediatrics says to nurse for a year if possible. If you don't nurse for the year you need to do formula. She can't get everything she needs yet from solid food and she has not had cow milk yet. (she has had nibbles of cheese and yogurt, which she likes!)

I don't know when we will stop nursing. I feel like I have other things to worry about. I have stopped pumping extra bottles because that was getting to be very hard on my body. I was starting to either feel tired or resentful of the pump and that was not good. So for now, we will keep nursing as many meals as we can and figure out the rest later.

Elle walked along the couch today

She pulled herself up at one end and walked all the way to the other to get some kisses.

Just need some quiet time

Sometimes Elle just needs some quiet time. Not a nap, just some silent play in her Chicco Play Yard (known around the neighborhood as a Pack n Play even though that is a different company). She is sitting in there now, talking to her stuffed animals and enjoying a little alone time.

Eating everything

Elle is eating everything! She had cheese and cheerios today! She ate peaches and prunes with cereal for breakfast. Cut blue berries and cheerios and peaches for lunch. Cheerios and cheese for a snack. Peas and cereal for dinner. Such a good eater!

She is moving all over the place. She was a busy kid today. She ate and played and wore herself out.

I asked my LaLeche friends about Elle's sleeping and eating today...they said the same thing as my friends did...it is all normal. I don't need sleep!

Another long night

Thank you to everyone who sympathized (but did not offer a solution * lol*) to my sleep deprivation problem! Last night Elle changed it up and got up at 2 to eat! Then Mr. Bishop woke me up at 3:30, 4:45 and 5. Then the dog had to pee at 5:20. Then Elle got up at 6 ready to rock and roll. Right now she is balancing herself on the dog crates, that is the funnest place to stand because mommy is to tired to object!

Picky eater

Elle is not the big eater that her mom is. We are usually lucky to get 5 or 6 spoonfuls of whatever she is having in her. She will eat 11 cheerios. She will eat 3 pieces of any fruit you give her. None of those things concurrently. Patience is a virtue.

Her favorite mush is peaches and blueberries mixed with cereal.

To all you moms that want to try making baby food: Don't make it hard. It is easy. Today I washed and peeled some peaches (they were very ripe and juicy) then i washed some blue berries. I microwaved them all together for 2 minutes and put them in the magic bullet. In less than 10 minutes I had 8 portions of fruit to mix with cereal. That is over a week worth of breakfast made from local fruit.

Elle still not sleeping...

Elle still is waking up at 3 am every night. She used to sleep 9 to 5, now I am lucky to get to sleep until 3:14 am. Why is she still doing this? Is this something I can ask the pediatrician about without sounding like a major jerk? (like, I just want to sleep...not like I care about her well being)

She wants to nurse at 3 am. She is not interested in nursing during daylight hours. She squirms and bites and pushes (even when she is hungry), but at 3 am, she wants to nurse.

Easy up easy down

We are home again...and Elle is even more mobile then she was when we left. She loves to stand up and play, "look mom, no hands". She does not love what happens next. I don't mean to imply she cries and whimpers when she inevitably falls down, but she gets mad. She occasionally bumps her head on the way down. On what? On anything. There could be a shoe that seems impossibly far away and she will manage to find it on the way down. She does not like that.

This brings me to her saucer, which she has grown to hate. What was once a place of joy and fun is now a prison so mommy can work or type or do laundry. Poor kid.

Stand Up Baby Stand Up!!

Elle stood up yesterday!!!! It was awesome! She took her hands off my leg and raised them in front of her, got down in a knees bent, balancing position and smiled SOOOO BIG! She knew she was hot stuff!

Go West Young Elle...go west

Elle has made a far trek to the west coast to visit her grand parents. Mr. & Mrs. Bishop were in tow.

Elle is the most popular girl in the airport. She talks to flight attendants. She talks to other passengers. She talks to the TSA. She is a very happy kid.

It is weird to me that people ask me, "Is she a good baby?". I would like someone to define to me a bad baby. Does a bad baby cry? Does a bad baby not eat all the mush you make for her? What does a bad baby do? I am pretty sure that Elle is a good baby. I am also pretty sure that even if she cried and bit and threw food (wait, she does all that) that I would still think she is a good baby. She is my good monster baby!

Diaper examiner

Judging by Elle's diaper this morning, she ate most of her blueberries and peaches last night. I can always tell by the diaper how much she likes something and how how much gets fed to the dogs.

On a diaper note. I love the way Luvs fit...however, they seem to hold moisture closer to Elle's skin so she requires more frequent changes. I love them in the house and close to home, but for a road trip I need something that wicks more moisture away.

The Living room is Elle-zone

Our living room is completely Elle proof. I have gates in front of the TV and book shelves...gates to close off all entrances and exits...Elle likes to kick these to try to break them down. I still never leave her alone in the living room, but I think she wishes I would!

Not logical

Dear Elle,
Why would you wake up at 5 am and want to play if you will need a nap by 8 am.
My suggestion is just sleep until 6 and skip the nap.
Love,
Mom