tales from the twilight hours

Don't expect any pictures for this post; too tired and incoherent to snap photos between 11 PM and 6 AM. So the growth spurt saga continues. The formula on it's own elicited arched back screeching and tears from the munchkin last night. The larger Advent bottles did the same. This girl knows what she wants. It's safe to say she's set in her ways when it comes to her bottle. The formula hidden with mostly breast milk seemed to pass muster but just barely. The first try caused her to pause and screech and lick the inside of her mouth from the odd taste. A second later she started sucking down the bottle. She was probably too tired to protest. I have to admit I don't blame her for the disdain towards the formula. It smells downright filthy! Unnatural almost. Addie woke at 11 PM, 2 AM and then 5 AM. At 5 AM I had to offer her the straight formula which went over like a turd in a hot tub. The water I offered next fooled her for about 10 seconds. Realizing she wouldn't go back to sleep until her little tummy was full I lugged her downstairs and plopped her in her highchair. She sat with her finger in her mouth holding her lovey, half asleep. I quickly made some oatmeal with pears and when she saw the spoon she gave a grunt of approval. After scarfing the food she rested her head on my shoulder and proceeded to fall immediately back to sleep and stayed that way until I woke her up at 7:45 AM. Then you won't believe this...she ate a second breakfast before we were off to daycare. Oatmeal, apples, and prunes. She ate all of it. That little Hobbit! All I can imagine is that her little bones are stretching and her mind is expanding and those motor skills are honing. Nourishment is needed for such a precious growing little girl.

As for Mama, it's only Wednesday and I feel worn out. Good thing Justin's coming home and can act as the relief pitcher. Mad props go out to the single Mother's of the world!

big baby appetite

Is this a beautiful little girl or what? Who could possibly disagree? Every day she discovers something new. It's like she's going through a mental growth spurt. She's also going through a physical growth spurt. This little cutie pie has been packing away some serious food the last few days. On top of that she is waking up all hours of the night hungry, protesting when she doesn't get a bottle immediately inserted into her little mouth. She is drinking every ounce of milk I'm producing right now and it's not enough for this Miss Piggy! That's 25 oz of milk plus three meals a day of cereal, fruit, veggies, and yogurt. It's quite amazing. Anyway, I bought our first canister of formula today (I had no idea there were so many choices!). Maybe adding some formula to her bottle will fill her up a bit more tonight. She quite easily could chug down 8 oz of breastmilk during a feeding and Mama is just not producing that anymore. This makes me even more bummed now. So I'll let you know how the formula goes.

Addie's meal times are getting more interesting. She tried cottage cheese, string cheese, and strained chicken. By far her new favorite food is avocado. She got terribly frustrated trying to pick up the small pieces of avocado on her tray but when I fed it to her from my fingers she gobbled up the entire slice.

We miss you!

Dear Justin/Daddy,

We are getting along just alright without you. We are managing playtime, mealtime, bathtime, and even bedtime just the two of us, but it's just not the same without you here. It's not the same without you here to make us laugh and smile. We miss your "I love you's" and your hugs and kisses. We miss how good you read stories to us and how you kiss us goodnight.

Come home, we miss you.

Love, Sara and Addie

"mama"

She said it! I clearly heard "mama" come out of Addie's mouth on Saturday morning as I got her ready for the day. It was actually more like "mamamamom". It made my heart sing and melt at the very same time. She continued saying it as the weekend went on, other people witnessed it so I know I wasn't just hearing things. Pure bliss!

ode to lovey

I'd like to think that I'm Addie's favorite thing in the entire world but I don't think it's the case. Maybe in the favorite Mom category I'd win but Addie's favorite thing is definitely her lovey a pink soft blanket with a stuffed lamb head. We have three of these and one actually has a pink poodle head but she doesn't know the difference yet. She's been devoted to her lovey since she was three months old, she can't sleep without it. It's her comfort and security. She rubs it on her face and grabs a bit of it to put in her mouth when she sucks her finger. It's adorable. One time I got a call from daycare saying they couldn't find her lovey and that Addie wouldn't sleep and wouldn't calm down. They even tried to make a lovey by putting a rubber band around a toy in a blanket. Apparently she threw the decoy aside and laughed in their faces (I'm guessing her face said "what do you think I am, stupid?"). I have a feeling we are going to have a long relationship with lovey and I hate to imagine what they will look like in a few years after they have literally gone with us around the world.

Sunday highlight: blue balloon

Addie and I had a busy day today. Justin is traveling so I ventured out to run errands with my baby girl. She had her first trip to Trader Joes which went really well. She sat in the front of the shopping cart and played with her toys and watched the people go by. We even got a balloon which made her eyes sparkle. I can't believe we are at the balloon stage already. She stared and stared and reached for the bright blue balloon. It's definitely more work to run errands with a baby in tow but we had fun together. We received lots of friendly glances and even met a nice little boy (about 4) and his Dad. The boy told us he loved watching babies, and that we should come over sometime and see. His Dad explained that they babysat a friend's baby a few days a week. For a moment I thought it might have been a very clever pick-up line constructed by the father that he uses on young Mom's in the super market. Who knows, if it was, it was pretty unique. The sun graced us with it's presence today. We took a walk with Lucy that was by far more enjoyable for Addie and Lucy than for me. I lugged Addie on my hip as she stretched herself and leaned every which way to make sure she could keep her eye on Lucy, while the mutt wrapped the leash around my legs and got caught on the wrong side of a few bushes. For the rest of the evening we are going to stay in and play. I'm looking forward to an easy dinner and some quiet time after Addie goes down watching Miss Austen Regrets from The Complete Jane Austen on The Masterpiece Theatre. It really is about the simple things in life.

maybe I'm not clueless

I'm one of those people who look at photos of so-called "high fashion" and feel totally and uterly clueless. How do they know to pair those items together? It's all very confusing to me. I second guess my sense of style all the time. I need an example before I can envision it on myself. I mostly stick to the very basic mass produced items and tend to catch on to a trend late in the game; mostly because by the time it's affordable it's past it's peak coolness. I'm ok with all of this but that doesn't mean I'm not fascinated by fashion and what others deam fashionable. I strive to be more fashionable. So I was very excited to see an item that I just ordered on a very trend setting DC blog fashion is spinach. This Old Navy tote was listed on the Lucky Shop Girl blog too. How cool. I ordered it because it will be perfect for pool and beach trips in Manila and double as a diaper bag too. Justin stop reading here. In my Old Navy order I didn't stop at the canvas tote. I also picked up some great cotton basic tees for Addie for this summer and an adorable, ridiculously cheap ($19.50), retro print one-piece halter swim suit for myself. I don't care if this is fashionable or not. It's totally me! Justin start reading again here. All in all the order cost less than the swim suit I was going to order at Ralph Lauren. Man, I'm a bargain hunter!