8 Months Old and on the Move!

Lainey turned 8 months old today! There's been lots of excitement since my last post. Lainey bounced back from her tubes procedure easily and two days later took her first fledgling crawls while we were celebrating her cousin Jacob's 11th birthday. The next morning, she successfully pulled herself into a standing position (although she did have a headstart, because she was sitting on Mark's leg). She's still not moving full steam ahead, but she can make her way across the room pretty quickly and tonight she pulled herself up in her crib (time to lower the mattress). Looks like we need to start thinking about some baby proofing around this joint!

Enjoy some pictures and video from Elaine eighth month of life! Lainey's Eighth Month

So proud!

Tubular!!!

Lainey had her tubes put in this morning. All went perfectly as it should. She did great without food this morning and had fun playing around on the hospital bed.

She was pretty out of sorts after, but is now sleeping peacefully. Let's hope this marks the end of the ear infections!

Here's a pre-op picture of Lainey in her hospital gown. She loved all the extra fabric! She also loved chewing on her little ankle tag. If there is a tag, she'll find a way to chew on it.

We Can Do It! (But, Can I?)

After over three months of trying to fit it in, Mark and I FINALLY made the trip to get our new iphones. I snagged an awesome Rosie the Riveter case for mine. She will be a great symbol of female empowerment for Miss Lainey, who will undoubtedly be staring endlessly at the back of this phone as I take copious pics of her cute mug.

And maybe a little inspiration for me, ‘cause I’m definitely not feeling “Rosie” right now. More like “Kylie the Kaput.”

Lainey’s ongoing ear troubles keep her up most nights and being held upright is often the only position that gives her relief for sleep. I gotta’ be honest. While I love taking a weekend nap with my little one, it’s hard getting a restful night’s sleep with a 19-pound baby on your chest.  I try to count my blessings. Her issues are very common and relatively easy to fix (tubes on in on Thursday). I know there are too many parents with truly sick children who would give their right arms to go through a few months sleep deprivation if it meant their child would be okay. But, gratitude is sometimes hard to find at 3am as you hold your crying baby for the umpteenth night and watch the clock tick towards your 5:30am alarm.

Right now I feel like I’m stumbling through my days, getting the bare minimum done and not doing anything particularly well. Trying to juggle work, errands, house chores and mommy duties has me in a tailspin. Calgon, take me away!!! (Does Calgon even exist anymore?)

I suppose life is still cushier than working in a war manufacturing plant...

7 Month Pictures

Lainey turned 7 months on Friday. Where has the time gone?

Here's a link to the pictures  from the past month(there are a few video clips in this batch). Enjoy!
Lainey's 7th Month

Who Needs Gerber?

Now that Lainey seems to be getting the hang of eating solids, I decided to give making her baby food myself this weekend. In less than an hour, I whipped up three batches--carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. Pretty easy and much cheaper than shelling out 75 cents a jar. I'm not saying I'll be going the homemade route all the time, but when I've got the time, why not?

To get all that great food, we had to take a trip to the grocery. Lainey rode in the cart for the first time and LOVED it! Look at that round face!!! So happy!

Elusive Laugh

Lainey loves to smile! We have no trouble getting a huge grin out of her. But, she is very, very, VERY stingy with her giggles. We work hard to get that rare full belly laugh and still haven't found gold for something that consistently amuses her. What makes her laugh one day is old news the next day (or even the next minute). It's frustrating, because her laugh is like crack for Mark and me. We get a little taste and we just want more, more, more!

I stumbled across some noises last night that caught her fancy and managed to catch a little bit of her joy on video. Perhaps you'll understand why Mark and I are so obsessed with getting a repeat performance...

Wonderful Weekend!

What a great weekend! Lainey's feeling all better, her antibiotics are done, her diaper rash gone and, dare I say it, she's been sleeping through the night again!

Mark and I took advantage of our daycare's Parent' Night Out and hit Blackbird for dinner on Friday. You can still call it dinner if you make a 5:30pm reservation, right?  When we walked up to the restaurant, only one lone woman was seated in the completely empty restaurant. Mark and I started cracking up, and Mark said "This is embarassing." But, by 6pm the restaurant was half full, so we weren't total losers. The food was still fabulous...baby octupus appetizer and sturgeon entree for me and mussel bisque and roasted lobster for Mark. We had coffee and dessert and were still out of there and off to get our girl by 7pm. Just as well we were early birds, because the snow was pretty thick and we wanted to pick Lainey up well before the 9:30pm cut off.

Mark had a less lovely Saturday, running around and doing errands, including taking the car in for an airbag recall. But, I had a full day with Laineybug, including an awesome afternoon nap together (we would repeat this on Sunday). I love me some cuddle time with my girl!

Sunday we ventured out to a restaurant with Lainey for the first time in a very long time! We grabbed brunch at Revolution Brewing. They've expanded their brunch menu with lots of tasty sounding dishes. I think I have a new favorite over their biscuits and gravy...the Red Flannel Hash. Super yummy!This was Lainey's first whirl at sitting in a restaurant high chair. She did pretty well, but got antsy the last 15 minutes we were there. Just as we were getting the check, we could see a meltdown coming, so I quickly suited her up for the cold and headed to the car, while Mark paid. (I refuse to be that parent who lets her child scream in the middle of a restaurant.) As soon, as I got her outside, she was completely chill. I think she was just bored and need a change of pace.

Now it's Sunday night, Lainey's in bed and it's time to prep for work tomorrow. Boooo! While I'm so happy we had an amazing family weekend, it makes going back to the office that much harder. Thank goodness Mark drops Lainey off at the daycare in the mornings. I have a feeling if I were in charge, we might play hooky everyday.

No more car seat! Lainey's ready to eat at the table!

Cozy