A Real Babe

K finally is acting more like a baby rather than an infant. She recognizes me, talks to me, sits up almost on her own, moves herself around on her play mat (although I think it's on accident), holds toys (but has no clue what's going on), cries when I stop doing something she was enjoying, and is growing some nice chunk on her legs and cheeks.

It's a little bitter sweet. I realize she only gets more "real" and complicated from here but I'm excited for it. At the same time, there's a part of me that wishes she could stay just a little infant for a lot longer. She used to be so peaceful during the day - so content sitting in my arms all day...

Yesterday she threw a full on temper tantrum. She was lying on the floor, kicking her legs, flailing her arms, red in the face, screaming. I had never seen her do that before and I'll admit, I found it slightly comical. It reminded me of a grown adult who I've seen in the same temper tantrum mode and it's hard not to laugh. I always think of a cartoon little red devil.

But K is really great. She's so beautiful. That reminds me of a couple weeks ago at a doctor's office. One lady stopped me as I was walking out and asked me how old K was. I told her and she said, "oh my. Well you're gonna hafta start beatin' her with an ugly stick."

I didn't quite know what to say to that so I just smiled and wished her a good day. I mean, what do you say to that? Ha.

Happy

K is smiling a lot more frequently these days which is nice. First, it must mean that she likes me at least a little bit. I mean, she doesn't just smile at anyone. I've seen her give some pretty nasty looks to her toys. Second, it means I don't have to wake Mike up early just so he can see her smiling and talking. It used to be the only time she was really, really happy.

In the past week, I've known 3 people who had their babies. That is quite a few. And I am so excited for them! It's only been 10 weeks but I almost miss holding a brand new baby. I remember in the hospital when Mike and I would discuss how old K was in hours. Hours! That's pretty amazing. I, however, don't miss the lack of sleep. But oh, I'm just so excited for them! Although hard at times, babies are just the best. I love my K so much.

K's First ...

... middle of the night feeding in 5 weeks occurred last night. It was a tough decision. She woke up at 4:30 am and I tried to calm her down to go back to sleep but she was so stuffy and sad. So I decided to feed her. I would've felt so bad leaving her to cry plus I think the extra fluid was good for her even though it was a big disruption of my sleep.

She's feeling much better now though. And I'm so glad. No more constant stuffy nose. Just a smiley girl!

Sick

K's sick. She woke up this morning with a stuffy nose, all sorts of boogies coming out of her nose, and a cough. I'm guessing it was from lots of people holding her and not enough people washing their hands yesterday, especially at church. Church just seems to be a very dirty place.

So today will be filled with lots of fluids for K, lots of sleep, and some time spent in the steamy bathroom while I shower. Hopefully we can get her on the mend soon.

In better news, K and I just got home from a quick store run. We bought new onesies and pants for her. So fun.

Responsibility

This is one of the toughest parts about having a baby. While everyone else is in the living room, I'm chilling in K's room feeding her. Yeah, I could sit out there with everyone but I choose to not. Plus it's easier in her room.

I miss out on other activities in an attempt to take care of the babe which is rough sometimes. I like playing and having fun so it makes me a little sad when I have another responsibility.

But at the same time, I love my little girl. Feeding time is one of my favorite times of the day. It's time when we just get to spend time together. Well, she doesn't do much but I just enjoy it. With future kids, feeding time will probably become even a better time.

Dairy Queen

That's right. I am the queen of dairy. I love it all from yogurt to cheese to ice cream ... it's all so yummy. But the worst part is that K pays for it. I'm really lucky in that she doesn't cry at all when I eat it, poor girl just has really bad gas and diapers if I eat it excessively.

That's what happened yesterday and last night and today have been full of awful diapers. But it's really hard for me to not eat diary products. It's all just so good, including the yummy cheesecake Mike and I made.

K is getting quite a bit of chunk on her. It's quite funny to see all the rolls she's getting and her little fat dimples. So cute.

She also is just smiling a lot which is so fun. I enjoy putting K on the bed next to Mike every morning so he can wake up to a talkative, smiling cutie. He brought her in yesterday morning to wake me up with her like I do to him but it's just not the same. She was hungry and grumpy. But after eating, she was all smiles and wanted to tell us all about it.

Reactions

Last night we drove to a neighborhood picnic. We came straight from the store and so we decided to just drive.

K and I ended up walking home (it was about a 2-minute walk) and when we got home, there was a nasty surprise at our door. It was a gigantic wolf spider. I freaked out and called Mike. He was driving the car home but was taking forever. He also didn't believe that it was "huge." When he got home and saw it he ended up showing Joe, our upstairs neighbor and landlord, who killed it for us.

But the most interesting part of all of this was K. She had the most interesting reactions to me as I screamed and ran around.She would look surprised, then she would cry as I was screaming, then she would smile ... oh, I just love how well she can express emotions!

Splish Splash

This past week I've learned that I shouldn't give K a bath in the morning. She loves baths but after her breakfast, she loves to cuddle and shortly after, she goes back to sleep.

A couple mornings ago, I gave her a bath that was definitely during her nap time. She did not enjoy that one. So this morning I thought I'd give her one real fast during cuddle time but right after, do some good cuddling and let her fall asleep. Well, that definitely didn't work. Poor girl just wanted to cuddle up for her nap which is hard to do during a bath. Lucky for me there was no crying, but she sure looked like she wanted to.

So evening baths it is. Sometimes our evenings just get so hectic ... or I'm so tired, the last thing I want to do is give her a bath, but I think that's what she likes best.

Going bald

That's right, Cutie is going bald. She's losing her long luscious hair and I'm devastated. I hope she grows some as fast as she's losing it.

2 months

Little baby K is 2 months today. Crazy. She changes everyday and is growing way too fast.

I just spent the last hour with K on my bed. I laid her down next to Mike and we just played. Usually she will only smile for a few minutes before she gets frustrated and wants to quit. Tonight, however, she just kept going. She was all smiles and what sounds like the beginnings of laughing.

And now I'm lying on the edge of the bed with a sleeping K next to me and a sleeping Mikey next to her. Life really doesn't get much better than this.

Schedule

Saturday morning Mike and I decided to take a trip to the hospital because this "stomach ache" that Mike had was getting worse. We went to Orem Community at 12:30 am and ended up leaving around 1:45 am to go to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and arrived around 2 am.

I, of course, was really worried about Mike. And for the first time in quite a few months, I couldn't blame all of my crying on pregnancy hormones. That was a bummer.

But I was also worried about K because this was the first night that she was going to be away from home for sleeping. When we arrived at UVRMC and got to his new room that he'd be in for the rest of the day, I took K out of her car seat and decided I'd hold her the rest of the morning because sleeping in a seat couldn't be that comfortable.

Although K would move and squirm every now and then, and she woke up quite a few times as I would reposition her or myself, she ended up staying asleep until 7:15 am, right after the surgeon found me to let me know everything had gone well. It was amazing. Apparently she is actually on a schedule of sleeping and all the lights and noise were not going to stop her from sleeping through the night! I wish I could have slept through the night like she did.

Postpartum

I've been thinking about pregnancy a lot lately because I know so many people who are having babies in these upcoming months! I'm really excited for them but boy am I glad I don't have to go through all of that again for a while!

Pregnancy was much easier than actually having the baby and having her here with us but I don't miss the restroom stops every 30 minutes, the heartburn, my legs constantly falling asleep, the lack of sleep from just not being able to sleep, the worry of doing a lot of things for fear of hurting the baby, the uncomfortableness, the vision changes, the tiredness, the crazy dreams, the swollen feet and hands, the fact that I was always warm and hungry, the strong cravings for certain foods, looking at and comparing baby items, oh and the list goes on and on.

The first few weeks after having the baby was rough too though. It's only been a few weeks since feeling like I actually am okay so it's still a pretty sensitive subject and I'm sure I'll talk about it more someday. But I am so glad I don't have to go through that again for a while either. I definitely don't miss the pain from delivery, getting up every 2-3 hours during the night, the extreme tiredness, her crying and I having no idea what's wrong, the worry about people making her sick, all the unwanted advice, the demands, and all the people wanting to come visit yet few people who actually helped us. It was always nice when people just showed up with food. We enjoyed the visits but we don't think we'll ever allow that many people to come over in the beginning ever again.

But all the misery is so worth it. I feel so bad for all those people out there who have been tricked into believing that children are too expensive, too time consuming, that people should work instead of have kids, that sterilization is best ... all of it. I feel so bad for those who have been made to believe they don't want kids. K has been smiling and trying to talk so much that I just feel bad for those who don't get to experience this wonderful miracle, especially women. A woman has such a motherly, kind, sensitive personality to begin with, I always hate to see it changed by the world.

Being a mother is such a blessing and something I wouldn't trade for anything. Oh how I love my little family!