Sweet Summertime! (Almost)

It was 90 degrees here yesterday. We were lovin' the warm weather and thought it was time to introduce E to one of our favorite summertime treats. Watermelon! It was slippery, but I have a feeling she will be asking for more in no time.

A Handful of Months

Today is March 29. My daughter's five-month birthday was on the 11th. Yup, things are a little busy around here!

Getting back to work has been a little hectic, but we are getting it down. It's hard to balance a busy work day, and then all of the events that happen in our house between 5 and 8 p.m. I want E to feel like we are spending quality time with her, not just getting stuff done. I have been using some of the time after she goes to bed to do household chores so that I have more free time to spend with the family during the weekends. Since going back to work, we have tried to have one 'work' day during the weekend to run errands and tackle projects around the house and one family fun day. Most of my great family fun day ideas are outside, so the recent rainy weather has stunted some of these outings, but there will be plenty of sunshine in the months to come!

Baby E, at five months you:

Are eating a lot of fun things. You love Sweet Potatoes, Banana and Avocado. You are not a big fan of Peas.

You still fit into most 3 month-size clothes.

You are still wearing size one diapers.

You are doing wonderful at daycare, you love interacting with the other kids.

You have developed a special relationship with Sadie, your youngest furry sister. She always knows where you are and checks on you if your're crying. You have started to give her lots of smiles when she licks your toes!

You are chatting away, and are starting to add some happy squeals to your conversational chatter. I could listen to you all day!

You have found your feet and think they are more delicious than any milk or food you're come in contact with.

You are all smiles. You spend more time smiling than not. I love that you are so happy and that I find you with a smile when I come to get you in the morning.
You are sitting like a froggy, with your hands on the floor.

Camping Adventures

About a month ago, J and I decided to take advantage of my last few weeks of maternity leave and plan a camping trip to the beach. The beach campgrounds are usually booked months in advance for the weekends, but we knew that we could show up on a Tuesday without fighting other campers for a spot.

We headed up to Rincon Parkway, an RV campground that less than an hour from our house. It was our first trip with E and our new trailer, so I didn't want to be too far from home or help in case we ran into any issues.

I love our new trailer! It is such a contrast to the one we used to have. It is much more comfortable and homey. It is perfect for camping with the baby and the dogs. Hopefully E will grow up with many fond memories of our camping adventures.

We were blessed with nice, sunny weather while we were camping. It was a little chilly, but nothing that a sweatshirt couldn't fix. E got to put her toes in the sand for the first time and enjoyed some great walks on the beach. Luckily, E stuck to her normal routine while we were camping.

The best thing about this trip was getting to spend time with J away from the house. Anyone with a young child knows that when you are not meeting his or her every need, you are taking care of some other need around the house. When the baby sleeps when you are camping, you get to read, nap or sit out under the stars. It was a great way for us to relax and spend some quality time together as a family before I headed back to work.

This was a great dry-run, but Easter camping is on the horizon. I hope E is ready for the desert! Sorry kiddo, no dirt biking for you this year.

Back to the Grind

Here it is, the eve of my return to work. People keep asking me how I feel about going back to work, but to be honest, I feel a lot of different ways.

I am blessed to work for a company that offers amazing maternity benefits. For those of you who are keeping track, E is going to be four and a half months old tomorrow. She was born the first day of my maternity leave, exactly two weeks before her due date. But I would love it even more if the company offered flexible return to work options. I would love to work part-time for my company, but I don't think that idea would be well-received at this point in time. Maybe someday.

It has been amazing being home with her for all this time. I know there are plenty of moms out there that have to go back to work after a month or two, and I don't know how they do it. When E was that old, we were just figuring out our routine, explaining it to a caretaker would have been nearly impossible. But she is at such a fun stage in her life. She is developing so many new skills and rounding out her personality in a new way each day. I hate to think that something monumental will happen with someone besides me.

J and I are blessed to have found an amazing in-home daycare for her. I am completely comfortable leaving E there; she actually started going last Wednesday so we could all get into the routine. This was J's idea, and it worked out perfectly. We were able to drop her off without feeling rushed to get to the next stop and we got to spend some time alone before this transition begins. I know that the daycare provider will 'raise' E just the way we are, and that she will get wonderful care and attention there. It is still hard to think that she will be looking in someone else's eyes as she falls asleep during the day.  I still want her to think that her Daddy and I are the most fun people she knows.

But heading back to work means that I get to refine the skills that I haven't used in so many months. I want to make E proud that her Mama can do all this; be a successful professional woman, a supportive wife and a great Mama. I know that there will be some bumps as we go through this transition, but I think we have a pretty good game plan. J and I are also committing to fill one of the weekend days with a fun activity; going to the beach, zoo, hiking, or going to the park. E deserves our undivided attention, and I never want her to feel like she is getting anything less.

Little Ricer

After E's four-month pediatrician appointment, we started feeding her rice cereal once a day. She is a pretty good eater once she gets comfortable.

I am excited for this new phase, but I will be soooo glad when we get to the next phase because rice cereal smells horrible and resembles the material used to make paper mache. It might just be me, but I think E is ready for the next milestone too based on some of the faces I have seen during dinnertime the last couple of nights.

Here is her first experience with the delicious concoction.

One Third of a Year

I can't believe it's been four months since Baby E joined our family! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun, or exhausted. I've been having so much fun that I didn't do a post for her three-month birthday. Boo.

I finally got around to hanging a wall calendar in Baby E's room so that I can jot things down as they happen, instead of writing it on a scrap of paper that gets stuck in a pile until I have time to put it in a baby book. It's fun to look at the calendar when we are in her room to see how busy she's been.

Baby E, at four months:

• You weigh 12 pounds (16th percentile).
• You are 24 and a half inches tall (62nd percentile).
• You sleep through the night on a semi-regular basis. You were achieving this feat every night from about three months old until a recent growth spurt and the onslaught of teething.
• You are chewing on your hands constantly, and drooling a lot.
• We recently stopped swaddling you when you sleep, so you have taken to sucking your thumb, usually the right one. I guess it works for you, even it the rest of your hand is spread across the side of your face instead of tucked into a fist.
• You love to talk, and are very conversational. When you aren't jabbering away 
• You have been on your first camping trip to the beach. I had a great time and I think you did too.
• You giggled audibly for the first time when Daddy was making faces at you. This is quite the improvement from the laughing face without any sound that you have been making for months.
• You are fitting into most 0-3 month clothes.
• You found your hands and have started grabbing for everything in sight.
• You have rolled over from your tummy to your back, from the right to the left and vice-versa.
• Your right tear duct, which has been clogged since birth magically cleared up a couple of weeks ago. It actually took me a day or two to realize that I hadn't wiped your eye once! I was leery to add this milestone to the calendar in fear that the tear duct would flare up again.
• You love to spend time in front of the fish tank watching all of the activity.
• You are becoming quite the Skype pro, spending time with Nana and Grandpa as often as possible.

J and I are savoring every precious minute with our girl, or should I say Daddy's girl. J and E have created a very special bond. She listens to him when he's in the room, even if he is on a business call, she knows his voice from a distance and stops all activity to find him. Maybe it's because he whispered sweet nothings to her in the womb. 

We are gearing up for a trip to Northern California to visit family and friends. I am looking forward to having E's pictures taken while we are in town. One little girl's crazy Mama may have bought her a tutu for the occasion!

We are also counting down my last days of maternity leave. I will be heading back to work at the end of the month and E will be going to an in-home daycare full time. It will be a major transition for all of us, but especially me. 

Perfect

I found a list of forty-two things that change when you have a baby on a Web site the other day.

This is one my favorites:
When you look in the mirror, you now look at your baby instead of yourself.

To view the full list: http://www.babycenter.com/0_forty-two-things-that-change-when-you-have-a-baby_1452535.bc