First Christmas

 

 

Christmas this year felt like two weeks away, until suddenly it was two days away and my kitchen wasn't clean, laundry wasn't washed, I still didn't have a stocking for K and we didn't even have a tree. Turns out working full time, commuting 2+ hours a day and having a small one is a lot to take on.

It all came together the way things do and was such a beautiful holiday. We got our tree on the night of the 23rd - cut from my parent's side yard. They were going to clear it out this summer but then my mom thought to save it for us. I insisted we wouldn't take it, but I am so glad we did. I love this wild little tree with its unpruned sprawling branches and space between perfectly sized for my large felt ornaments. I have loved every Christmas tree we've ever had, but this one has a special magic to it, just perfect for our first Christmas with this untamed new soul.

The felt ornaments were made from the ornament kits by Alicia Paulson of Posie gets Cozy / Rosy Little Things. I have this one, this one and this one. Each ornament has been altered from the pattern in some way to incorporate the year in which it was made. Since most of them bridge two or more years, they are dated with the year they are most representative of to me, which is either the year the majority of the work was done in, or the year in which it was finished. I also used different ribbon from the kits - mostly thin velvet ribbon from the local crafts store. The ribbon pinecones were a gift from a dear friend.

My mom and I made a stocking for K on Christmas eve night using the fabric I intended for the lining of the one I want to make for her someday. I'll just turn this one inside out and stich it in when that project is realized. I did order another stocking for her from West Elm's holiday sale too since I decided to be realistic and think maybe I will not finish it this year either. I am so glad I did since the one I ordered was on clearance for only $6 and it is beautiful - a soft pink velvet embroidered with sequins and tiny bells in a honeycomb pattern. I wish now that I had ordered the silver one for me - if they bring these back again next year I think I will! I also got a white felt tree skirt that matches my garland - only $12, love it.

We spent Christmas Eve night at my parents. I expected K and I would get up around 5 or 6 per usual and Geoff would sleep in while we had coffee with my dad, but she gave me the gift of sleeping in until 8:30. My family typically does stockings only and we all play Santa for each other, but this year we went somewhat bigger. I still only did small gifts for K, since we mostly have what we need for her already. From us, she got these Matryoshka teethers, this ornament, Bear Stays Up for Christmas, and some soothies. From my parents, she got this lamb teether, a beautiful block set in Northwest native art style like her favorite book (they found it at the Hurricane Ridge gift shop), Dream Animals, The Lion and the Mouse, and this local flora and fauna book. From my dad, she got a Sounders jersey. From my brother, she got this little fox.

On Christmas morning, my mom spoiled us with eggs benedict (even with gluten free English muffins!), gluten free cinnamon raisin bagel French toast, bacon, pork sausage and turkey sausage. Breakfast was amazing. I probably ate my calories for the day in one sitting. I have no regrets. It took us all day to open presents, slowly the way we do. Even the dogs got presents, which they open themselves. We went for a walk before dinner, then heated up frozen Chinese food. 

This first Christmas with our little one was exactly as we wished it would be. I am already looking forward to next Christmas (and have already bought her two presents for next year!). Wishing peace and happiness to all.

Christmas Eve's Eve

Wednesday, 12.23.15 - 11:52pm - We finally got our tree up on this eve of Christmas Eve, and are admiring it because we are not sleeping.

Reading Lately

 The Twelve Days of Christmas   -   The Polar Express   -   The Mitten

Winter Story   -   The Night Before Christmas   -   The Christmas Day Kitten
Bear Stays Up For Christmas   -   The Animals Santa   -   Trouble With Trolls

Wintercast

On Sunday we went to the mountains. It was beautiful, and quiet, and very, very cold. We only stayed out a little while, maybe 40 minutes, but we watched, and listened and wondered why we don't go more often.

Four Month Update

Clothes: BabyGap 3-6m, Bowden 3-6m, H&M 4-6m, Carters 3m (short sleeve only) and 6m

Diapers: Target Up&Up size 2 (as of this week, in part because we just ran out of size 1s..)

Likes: All the same from before, also chewing on hands and toys

Dislikes: Being set down, being held in a sitting or lying position unless she is falling asleep or has something very interesting to watch, being worn facing me in stretchy wraps (Solly is no longer a favorite).

What’s new: Busy, busy schedules since starting back to work at 12 weeks. We are still learning to balance our time to fit everything in. The long commute is especially hard.  

Little Gifts - Part II

Most of the girl and boy ideas are interchangeable, but I still couldn't resist doing a boyish stocking too.

Rubber Teether - CaaOcho Baby   /   Fox Bib - Milk Barn   /   Natural Rubber Pacifier - Natursutten

Giraffe Soothie - Wubanub   /   Pom-Pom Hat - H&M   /  Sleepy - Wakey Deer - Maileg

Rainbow Clutching Toy - Oompa   /   First Christmas 2015 Ornament - Land of Nod

Sock Set - H&M   /   Oball - Amazon   /   Softie Book - Ikea

Three Month (and a week) Update

 

Clothes: BabyGap 3-6m, Bowden 3-6m, H&M 4-6m, Carters 3m (a little short in the arms though)

Diapers: Target Up&Up size 1

 

 

Likes: Standing, talking to us, being read to, her stuffed animals (especially her foxes, schnauzer and otter), sucking on her hand, going out to loud crowded places (restaurants, people’s houses with a large group, stores – but not grocery stores).

Dislikes: Being set down, being held in a sitting or lying position unless she is falling asleep or has something very interesting to watch, teething.

On the fence: Hiccups, tummy time and the car are all getting better, but still are not her favorite things.  Tummy time has gotten much easier now that she can prop herself up on her elbows and look around.  I think her tolerance of the car and hiccups has improved as her reflux has gotten better. There is still crying involved, but not as much.

 

 

What’s new: I’ve read that the normal range for starting teething is between 3-7 months, with most babies starting around 6 months. This little over-achiever started at three months and one day and she is not happy about it. It seems to vary moment to moment – she will go from happy to suddenly crying and needing to chew at the same time. She has a new cry that goes along with the teething too. I call it the “why is this happening to me” cry; a mix of sad, angry, pain and frustration, but not to the meltdown level. She doesn’t care for most of her tethers right now and prefers my finger  - she can bite hard!

Little Gifts

We won't be breaking out the Christmas decorations or music until after Thanksgiving, but with less than 6 weeks left until Christmas I am getting excited for our first with our baby girl!  These are some of my favorite things for baby's first stocking.



 

Knot Headband - June and January   /   Bashful Schnauzer - Jellycat   /   Radish Rattle - Maileg

Socks - H&M   /   Kitty Rattles - Ikea   /   Raccoon Finger Puppet - Magic Cabin 

First Christmas 2015 Ornament - Land of Nod   /   Soothies - Amazon   /   Grasping Toy - Oompa

Lela Deer - Lassig   /   Tights - H&M

This Moment

Saturday - 11/7 - 2:54pm - A nap in her wrap, exhausted from teething

 

Month Three

My favorites for this month are mostly more practical than fun. We had such a terrible time with reflux and hours of crying from 6-10 weeks that any little thing we introduced that seemed to help has been the very greatest.



1. Infant Probiotics - These were prescribed by her pediatrician for reflux/gas/fussiness and I really do think they made a difference after about a week. We give her 1/4 teaspoon a day per the pediatrician.

2. DGL - Also recommended by the pediatrician - this is like giving baby gripe water, but through mama's milk. I take 4-6 a day. They are chews made from ground licorice root, and while not candy, if you like licorice they are delicious.

3. Weleda Baby Wash - This smells so good: lavender and calendula.

4. Ocean Play Mat - I love having a play mat with a nature theme, and this is one of my favorite backdrops for pictures too.

5. Nosefreida - Reflux caused near constant stuffiness for a whole month and this really helped clear her airways.

6. Lansinoh Lanolin - This stuff is so useful - perfect for its marketed use, also great for chapped lips and diaper rash. We have multiple tubes for different uses.

7. H&M Baby Tights - Tights are so cute and practical for babies. Socks fall off incessantly, and now that it's colder these layer perfectly under pants for an extra layer. They are also adorable under any onesie for a look only a baby can pull off.

Halloween

K was a little black (manx) cat for Halloween - I made her a tail too, but ended up leaving it off. We decided to surprise my parents by sneaking up on them pretending to be trick-or-treaters. Turns out my dad's coworker who has a baby one week younger than K and his wife did exactly the same thing - so we had a surprise baby Halloween party with a three month old Yoda and this little kitten.  





Golden

Happy Halloween! I am crazy about these kitten feet. I think I may need to add them to all of her tights now.

We sleep until the sun goes down

12 weeks has been a week with little sleep (for mama) - we had three nights in a row where we were up every 1-2 hours, and a whole day with only one 30 minute nap. She is also showing signs of teething, so I think we may only be 1-2 months out from the first tooth.

Halloween knitting - a little black cat. Also, loving this headband I made with gold leaf ribbon.

Rose

First headband - good thing I waited until she learned to take things off her own head before introducing headbands... she is tolerating it for now though.

 

I also made two pacifier clips for her since I got tired of chasing rejected soothies bouncing across the floor and then having to go wash them.

11 Weeks

This week we went to the fabric store, the doctor to get her tongue tie clipped, a movie (The Martian - very good, go see it!), the craniosacral therapist, Trader Joes, the pediatrician, the chiropractor, Baby Gap, Mama & baby class, Nana & Grandpa's (several times), my office (great to see everyone, but baby girl cried much of the visit), the tire store to get my snow tires put on and my regular tires scrapped (time to buy new ones in the spring) - is that everything? What a busy week, roughly in that order.

At 11 weeks, she is standing up stronger, looking at other babies, grasping and reaching more - especially at mama's face when we cuddle in the morning (begin: waking up to tiny fingers pawing at my eyes, little fists clenching around my nose with impressive force).

Also, she just started wearing 3-6 month clothes - what. I just know I'm going to be marveling at how big she's gotten and how many things she can do for approximately the next 20 years when I maybe get used to this. Or the rest of my life, maybe? Maybe.

Oh yeah, she also rolled over for the first time and learned how to take her hat off, just your average Monday. The rolling over may have been a fluke (she was swaddled, rolled on to her tummy) - but surely is a sign of things to come.

Friday

Loving: this bright coral onesie, this song (Crystals - of Monsters and Men), the growing collection of craft supplies on my coffee table.

This Moment

Wednesday - 10/21 - 6:29 PM - Babywearing, crafting, wine - loving this moment.

10 Weeks

 

Baby girl is 10 weeks and a day today and is growing so much. She just started grasping at things this week. First was this dress, four days ago. Then shortly after at her toys as well. She will reach for and grasp Jacques the Peacock (as of yesterday) and her crinkly rabbit (new, today!) instead of just babbling at them. She is already trying to put things she grabs into her mouth, but isn't quite coordinated enough to pull it off yet, so she will pull them into her face, close her eyes and rub her hands on her face. Adorable.

She is starting to make more noises more often. She still babbles at her toys, especially in the play gym, but also make more noises at me. She is practicing the cadence of conversation and seems to understand that talking involves taking turns. I'll talk, then she'll coo and babble, and so on.

She loves her books and will stare intently at them when I read to her - especially Good Morning World. When she is done with a page, she flails her hands at the book until I turn the page - then silent and intent again on the next one.

The crying has gotten a lot better - I think changing my diet helped. She still cries, but not for hours at a time anymore.

 

 

 

This is so typical of our days together - a moment of peace surrounded by the wreckage of the day (books, toys, blanket, swaddle... tired mama, no makeup). I'll take it all!