What's new this month:
- Grabbing her toes. The first day she did it, I was at my parents' place and it was so freaking adorable; I don't know how many dozens of photos we took.
- Related: pulling her socks off. I didn't see her the first time she did it, because I'd left her a few minutes on her playmat by herself while I fixed something to eat in the kitchen. I put two and two together when I found a sock near her mouth and suspiciously wet. I don't put socks on her now unless supervised! Luckily the weather is warming up so she doesn't need them much.
- Starting to sit with support. The first time she did it I had her propped up on the baby buddy pillow, and she started lifting her head and shoulders into a sitting position. I bought her a mamas and papas chair, and she can sit in it for a few minutes at least. She also likes to sit in our laps with us supporting her bottom.
- Chewing on fabrics. I don't really like dresses on babies, so I almost never put AJ in one. (I find them awkward, always bunching up, and they cover too much of her sweet body). I tried one the other day because people have made them as gifts and I felt guilty about never dressing her in them. AJ promptly pulled up the skirt and stuffed it in her mouth. Which just gave me another reason not to put my baby in a dress!
- Any bows or embellishments on her clothes, she will also stuff in her mouth. Any cute knitted or crocheted garment, she must sample the yarn.
- Grasping with both hands, and using feet to move objects. Loves her rainforest play mat.
- Laughing often. Still breathy, but more and more like a laugh. Smiles at anyone who wants a smile.
- Mr. Turtle reports that she laughed at Monty Python the other evening, which is partly how he entertained her when I was having a girls' night out. He thinks it was the silly faces and voices.
- Follows people with her eyes as they move about a room or leave the room
- Still doesn't like tummy time, but is less passive. She does lift her head and push up on her arms for brief periods of time, but gets quickly frustrated. She will snarl and grunt with anger, which is pretty funny. My intuition is that her somewhat bigger than average head and torso make this maneuver more challenging for her than other babies of a similar age.
- Rolling onto her side with great energy, still hasn't quite made it all the way over.
Other parenting minutiae:
- AJ still sleeps though the night, usually. And even naps during the day (in her crib) have been fairly consistent lately. She can put herself to sleep maybe 50% of the time. Bouncing, cuddling or feeding usually works the rest of the time, though she is quite capable of fighting naps all day if she puts her mind to it. Still sleeping nights in the Halo Bassinest, though its days are certainly limited. I want to keep her there till 6 months; we'll see if she will still fit through the next month.
- We finally added to our collection of BumGenius all-in-ones so are cloth diapering consistently; it's going well and the diapers are adorable.
- Going for regular walks. I always use the mei tai when I'm on my own now: it's much easier than the stroller. I use the stroller when with grandparents, because they love to push her, and with Mr Turtle, though I want him to try the carrier one of these days.
- Exclusively breastfeeding. AJ has been consistent about taking a bottle of expressed breast milk the past two months (yay!) which has allowed for some variety of adult life.
- I am thinking about solids. I'm mostly sure that I want to give baby-led feeding a try. It makes sense to me because AJ likes to put things in her own mouth, but doesn't care for us putting things in her mouth. It took weeks and weeks to even convince her to take a bottle. Anyone out there who has tried baby led feeding, I would love to hear of your experience! Of course if we could just find some edible clothing for her, she would be feeding herself in no time.
Me, post-partum:
- My body feels pretty much back to normal. I am still between 5 and 10 pounds over pre-pregnancy weight (I'm not even sure what I was before getting pregnant). As far as looks and how I feel overall, I have no body issues at all, but I still don't fit a substantial part of my wardrobe. I'm not sure if it is the extra weight/increased cup size or if I've altered permanently post-birth. I figure I'll wait until a month after starting work again, or until back to pre-pregnancy weight, and if things don't fit, I'll be researching consignment stores.
- I've added quite a few activities back into my life. I go to a step dance class weekly, and lately started going to band again while the grandparents take care of AJ. Percussionists are always welcome! Although it's going to be more work than I anticipated (I really should be practicing right now) so not sure how good an idea that was. Whatever, it's a reason to be out of the house and the grandparents have been loving the arrangement.
- Still no period, though I get cramps occasionally. I did have a lot of EWCM last week, which made me wonder if I could be fertile again.
- Mr. Turtle and I are trying to make time to be a couple and engage in some adult activities.
- Maternity/parental leave is half over! Yikes. We decided that I will return to work in September, and Mr. Turtle will take the final 5 weeks or so of parental leave. We'll use that time to transition AJ to daycare (hopefully she has a spot in September, but we won't know for sure till August.) Part of me is confident that this is the best possible plan, and happy that Mr. Turtle will have the opportunity to be a stay at home dad, and the other part is saying, noooooo, I don't want this time to end! But at the same time I don't feel ready to give up work, or my current job, which has the big advantage of being very close to home and across the street from the daycare we hope to use. I haven't seriously considered not going back to work, for a variety of reasons. I feel like I at least need to try it, keeping in mind I'm not married to my job if any of the three of use hate the arrangement or can't deal with it. But still, what a ache it gives me! I'm sure it will just get worse as the time approaches, but I'm trying to enjoy every minute of the present.
- I have a physical next month, at which time I will bring up the F-word: fertility. Although I don't expect my doctor, or any doctor, to have anything particularly useful to say about it. I'll post more about that as time goes on. For now, we are not trying but not preventing. I took a pregnancy test the other day, and was 9 parts relieved, 1 part disappointed that it was negative. The disappointment came not so much from wanting to be or believing that I was pregnant, but from wondering if I would ever see another positive test. But for now at least I am easily consoled by AJ's presence in our lives. While I don't want to actively prevent a pregnancy, I would prefer her to be the centre of our lives for a least a year, and not start worrying about vaginal secretions, symptoms, ultrasound results and all the other drama.
Wishing everyone happiness and a good week, as always.