8 Months/The Sweet Spot

Lola bean turned 8 months old last weekend...

Can you believe she's that old?? 

                            

My girl is growing like a weed and changing so fast daily. More and more we catching glimpses of what she'll be like as a kid not just a baby. Its wild.

 This month was all about Lola's personality. And Lola's personality is all about happiness. I swear she's smiling all day long. And she has a great sense of humour too, you can already see hints of that poking through. Like in the random things she finds funny, the joy she seems to get in cracking other people up. I have a feeling she's going to be quite the little comedienne one day.

But this month has not been without its challenges. After several months of going down without so much as whimper, Lola just suddenly started taking 30-40minutes to settle. While I'm sure this is quite a normal thing, it was just so out of character for Lola. And she was only doing it at night, not before naps. We couldn't' figure out what was wrong. Separation anxiety? Teething? Growth spurt? Is she eating enough? Is she eating too much? Is she eating too many new things? Yet again I found myself questioning everything just like those good ol' early days.

In the end some sniffles and a cough tipped us off to the probable culprit: a cold. Sean also caught it and was absolutely miserable. We finally had some insight into how our little monkey was feeling. After some baby advil and extra cuddles, Lola's sleep mostly returned to normal, although it still took us probably another two weeks to get to where we are now, back to minimal resistance at sleep time. Tonight she cried for a minute or two but looks like it was more related to finding a comfy position. All of a sudden Lola is preferring sleeping on her belly exclusively, with her bum high up in the air. No more side-sleeping for her. Problem is, it takes her a little while to get it just right, especially given that we still put her on her back to sleep. I know I could probably help her out and put her on her belly right from the start but I prefer to let her make that call. It makes me feel like then I've at least tried and at the same time shes getting some practice at rolling herself over and trying new movements. If we're gonna get crawling any time soon, she's gotta work out those muscles! 

The other thing about this month is that Lola has become a master at amusing herself. She can play on her own for an extended period of time. If you throw Charlie in to the mix, even longer. Although when that happens we have to be quite vigilant. Lola doesn't quite have the whole petting thing down, she prefers to grab and twist, especially Charlie's eyelids. Poor guy. He loves the attention and loves being near her but its definitely at a sacrifice. One time we didn't get to Lola quick enough and Charlie finally let out a loud yelp. He's such a great boy though, he still hardly moved. Any other dog might have snapped instinctively. But not our Charlie boy. We are so lucky.

Its been so nice to have Lola be able to play on her own. She's starting to really love toys and is so curious. It gives Sean and I plenty of time to make dinner together or just relax for a few minutes even when she's awake. Before this month I thought that was damn near impossible!

So yes, its been a great, great month. I know I say this often but it just seems like this is such a perfect age. We are in such a sweet spot right now - Lola is engaged and interactive, self-occupied and autonomous but at the same time immobile and relatively non-verbal making protest still largely a non-issue. I wish I could freeze time.

Anyway, I'm feeling quite proud of myself for completing this 8 month post only one measly little week after the fact! To celebrate, I am off to bed! Gnite!

Sleeping Lola

I have a confession to make...

Sometimes I watch Lola while she sleeps.

I know, its super creepy. And also pretty annoying given that I don't just passively sit there and watch her. Oh, no. I rub her back, pat her bum, touch her cheek. Often I'll smooth down her ever-disheveled hair. Sometimes I put one finger inside her loose fist and hope she grabs on reflexively like she used to. I could go on.

Sean tells me I'm pushing my luck. Or Lola will suddenly wake up crying 10 minutes after I was in there and he'll ask, "what did you do?!" He is totally not on board with my habit.

Not that he's all that innocent either. Every night after turning off all the lights and climbing the stairs to bed, I see him poke into Lola's room to look at her for a few minutes. He claims this is different as he just looks, never touches. I think thats just semantics.

But you can't blame us. There's just something about this kid.

And there's just something about watching her sleep.

I feel like I notice so much more when she's asleep. I marvel in the little details. I love when she puts one hand under her cheek so that it smushes it up in the most adorable way. I love her long pretty eyelashes. I love how she sleeps on her side, with her feet crossed over one another, ever so daintily.

Sometimes I try to pinpoint exactly where it is that she looks older, bigger. I wonder if she's really grown so much again today or if its all just in my head. I think about how much I love this exact moment, this specific age and try not to imagine what she'll be like even with one more day of development. I try to savour every single minuscule bit about this moment in time.

What I try not to think about while I'm doing this? That at any moment Lola could wake up and see me there staring at her, like a big ol' creepy creepster.

Eventually the thought of that pulls me out of there to leave my little monkey to her peaceful night's sleep. A restful, serene slumber, without her crazy mother lurking just beyond the crib slats.

Seven Months (Like a month ago...)

Ohh its been SO long since I’ve posted anything. I feel terrible about this always. You see, I finally broke down and realized that yes it is finally time for a new computer. Of course, even though I’m finally read, the universe, I guess, is not ready for me to have one. There has been much waiting and many hiccups and unfortunately it looks like it’ll still likely be a good month before my state of affairs changes.

Honestly, I would be blogging so much more if everything didn’t take so LONG. It takes a solid 15 minutes before computer even recognizes my camera, another 5 at least to upload a handful of pics, and a million more hours if I want to try to edit them in the slightest. Its also stopped reading my iPhone altogether so I have to email myself pictures I want to blog. Which would be fine except that I can’t open gmail if any other window is open or any other program is running . Its not an impossible task (obviously, as you are currently viewing pictures I emailed to myself) but it certainly is a long process.

And in that life has been incredibly busy lately. Perhaps that’s where I should get started.

Lola turned 7 months old on April 24th and wow does it feel like we’ve entered into a new phase. I can hardly remember what she was like as a newborn and I can almost catch glimpses of what she might be like as a child. Its wild.

Normally its all about Lola’s changes and her development, but this past month, it seems like both of us have been changing. For example, about one week before her 7 month birthday I stopped breastfeeding entirely. Months ago when thinking about this milestone I had worried that I’d lose something, that maybe we wouldn’t share as close a connection. But I have to say, I don’t feel that in the slightest. Not even a second goes by where I doubt that it was time to stop completely. Now when I give Lola her bottle at night I feel more like I’m choosingto spend that cuddly time with her rather than having to out of necessity. And I love that Sean can put her to bed on some nights all on his own now too. I love that for the both of them.

And I love that for me. Its been quite important for two big reasons. One – I went away for an entire weekend which meant three whole nights where it was just Sean and Lola tackling the bedtime routine together. Two – I started working out again. Sam got me into Barre classes and we joined a studio so now I’m trying to get myself there at least two evenings a week. I used to be weary of spending even more time away from Lola but in reality I only miss out on 15 minutes those nights and I think we can both handle that just fine ;)

It also helps that Lola is continuing to do so well. She makes me feel so at ease and confident that we are doing a good job with her. I mean, its not hard to feel that way when the kid is smiling and giggling all day long. She wakes up smiling and goes to bed smiling. Seriously, she opens her eyes with a smile, coos, and kicks her legs (see video below) and at night it’s the same when we put her down. I truly believe I have become a happier person because of how happy she is. Its infectious.

Ugh there is so much more to write but as I let this post sit for 5 days straight and still didn't manage to add in all the pics I wanted to, I think I'm calling it here.

Update: I ended up getting a new computer today but turns out iPhoto and Aperture are no longer things. Ugh! So while I may be able to blog with a little more frequently given my ability to download from gmail more efficiently, I'm still going to be a little while longer before we're truly back into the swing of things...