Wear 'em Wednesday: Sharing our love of nature

Babywearing while hiking has always been a way of life for us. Not only can we get the exercise because of it, but we expose our children to nature at such a young age that it becomes the backdrop of their lives.  We started hiking with Cole when he was a month old and with Bevin when she was 2.5 months old.

Once Cole learned to walk we continued to wear him,  but also put him down so he could start hiking on his own. We had no idea what a good hiker he'd become, but I feel like a lot of it has to do with how comfortable he feels in the woods. 

So for his third birthday we hiked up a huge ascent to the VerNooykill Falls in Kerhonkson. Bevin was awake for two key parts of the hike: the beginning and end. She fussed both times. The first time I nursed her while wearing her and  walking, but the second time she was not into nursing at all and just wanted out of the carrier. So Keith held her. Because Cole was so tired that he kept stopping to sit down on various rocks along the trail, I wore him for a few minutes (we were right at the end when everyone started to unravel). 

Awake and interested in her surroundings:

Bevin was asleep by the time we reached our destination. Of course this meant I couldn't sit down. 

Cole couldn't believe he was being worn by Mama. It made him so excited. "This is the carrier Bevin was just in? You had Bevin in these straps before?"

 

 

 

Four Months - Bevin Jean

Bevin is 18 weeks old. As of today's visit, she weighs 12 and a half pounds, is 24 imches and her head circumference is 15 inches. She's currently outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes and fitting into her 3-6 month clothes. Her legs are long and her big cloth diapers make her butt chunky so she fits well into the 3-6 month pants. The onesies are still a bit on the big side. The best part about the warmer weather is we can finally wear some short sleeve onesies and ditch the socks. Love me some little baby toesies!

Her blue eyes are still blue. I checked my blog archives (via my blog book) from Cole's first year and his eyes had changed to brown (he was born with a darker blue than hers) when he was 3 months old, so time will tell the fate of her baby blues.

So many clothes...
Thanks to our daycare teacher, Anna, and our friends, Shane and Jana, we have little girl clothes up to about 12 months. We are so fortunate to know such generous people. I was able to give more of Cole's clothes away to another friend who had a baby boy this month. As Bevin outgrows her clothes, we've been giving them to a neighbor who had a premie daughter in late March. It's really kind of awesome to pass what was given to us to someone else who could use them.

Diaper duty...
Cloth diapering has been going really well. We invested in some doublers, made our own fleece liners and we're pretty set. It can get pretty yuck sometimes, like when she has the inevitable blowout diaper. But as she grows, her digestive system does too, so those blowouts don't happen as often as they used to. We launder the pre-folds and some covers every other day and we keep the dirty pre-folds in a dry pail with some borax to contain the odor.

Sleep...
It's funny how with the second child people stop asking so much about how she's sleeping. Maybe because we know not to complain like we used to with Cole. And we're not so upset about our lack of sleep, because we know that eventually she'll sleep through the night. We also know we're lucky that she has long stretches of sleep at night, but there's no way in hell we want to jinx that so we don't readily share that information. The long stretches could be anywhere from 3-5 hours, but the average is usually 4. I knew that when Cole was her age, I would've given my left arm for four straight hours of sleep, so I try not to complain. She naps around 3-4 times a day and her naps run from 1-3 hours long. All of her naps take place in a carrier (i.e. the Ergo, Boba, or a wrap). Since I developed a nightly routine and finally came to an understanding of the rhythm of her sleep, we have a good handle on when she needs to go down (generally an hour and a half after she wakes up), and that has made a huge difference in our sanity.

Bevin's personality...
She's just as curious as she was before. When given the chance, she can grab things and put them in her mouth. She's frequently grabbing my plate when she sits in my lap during dinner time and she even got a hold of a piece of rice recently. Fortunately, she pushed it back out of her mouth, as if to say "not yet Mommy, geez!" However, more and more she's pulling my plate towards her, and trying to take my food. Probably time to get some better toys for the dinner table!

She's going through the mental leap (as per Wonder Weeks) where she becomes much more aware of things going on around her. This means she's more fussy lately. But she's also super talkative and making a lot of new sounds. (The most recent one sounds like "Loooooo Aaaah." She's all smiles when she's not tired and doesn't mind looking around in between feedings.

Bevin's likes/dislikes...
Bevin still dislikes being put down. She lets it be known when she is unhappy in whatever baby seat we just placed her in (rock n play, bouncer, swing, etc). This is why we babywear. We also find ourselves walking around the house just holding her. I'd have to say that she is the most content being held, and that could be because she's facing out and seeing everything we do, but still cradled safely in our arms.

She dislikes being in the car when she's tired. If we go on a ride just after she's napped or if she wakes up in the car after a nap, she does not scream.  She plays with the rattle or stuffed toy hanging from the bucket handle. But if it's right around nap time, she's hysterical. It's rattling to all of us. Sometimes she falls asleep after the screaming, but sometimes not. It's pretty hard not to get upset about it. Thankfully, I discovered early on that singing (no matter how bad my voice is) really soothes her. I currently have the words to "Hush little baby" and "You are my sunshine" memorized. I just sing them over and over and over until she falls asleep. Sometimes Cole joins in and sometimes Keith does too. In the house, when Keith is wearing her down, he just makes words up as he goes along, which can be even more entertaining than my off-key singing, if you ask me.

Bevin likes to nurse. She starts to giggle when she sees my breast and gets an excited look in her eyes. In the wee hours of the morning, she nurses on and off for several hours.

Bevin loves watching her big brother. Just as I'm worrying he's going to make her cry because he's squeezing or getting in her face too much, a huge smile spreads across her face. He can make her smile and laugh just by looking at her.  She is so enamored with him and he with her. It is just amazing to watch their relationship blossom. Just this week, I put her down on his old play mat and he jumped at the chance to be close to her. He's getting really excited that she's getting close to crawling age. The best part about their relationship is that no matter how jealous he gets (which is never too much) he never takes it out on her. And of course since her world is Cole Cole Cole, she's never known life without him. That makes him the cats meow.

She also enjoys petting Kiwi, touching her Daddy's beard, sucking on her thumb, and, of course, being held by Mama. 

She's also currently finding her voice. She has high pitched noises and some gibberish with various vowels and consonants, but she also recently discovered that she can growl. Contrast her high pitched voice with her growl, and it is pretty damn funny.

Our first evening just hanging outside. I love summer.

This little girl even has Gramma babywearing. 

Sibling love.

They both get such a kick out of each other.

Hi Daddy!

This is what happens when...

Cole's banana breaks...

I put Bevin into the Rock N Play...

Cole plays kitchen...

Cole takes my phone from me while I'm nursing and I try to get it back from him. Unsuccessfully. 

Cole starts to fall asleep in the car...

I put Bevin in the High chair...

Cole joins us in bed in the morning...

I ask Cole to put his socks on himself...

Mama realizes her oldest baby is not too old that he can't still be worn...

Trees fall over along the trail (they start to look like monsters!)

We hike in the quiet of the woods...

The umbrella for the sand and water table is not securely installed...

Cole has to play with things that are meant for Bevin...

Cole takes a picture of Mama and Daddy...

Three Winters Old

Winters are important around here. To Keith it means another birthday, but more importantly, it means snowboarding and skiing with Cole. To me it means snowshoeing with the family. To Cole it means building snowmen and making snow angels, skiiing or snowboarding with Daddy.  This year - it took on a whole new meaning - a new addition to the family and Cole's third winter.

So, according to Keith, today Cole is officially three winters old.

Being that Bevin is already 4 months old, it is not hard to believe that Cole is 3 years old today. But at the same time it is hard to believe. To me, my son turning 3 is bitter sweet. He's starting to forget things he once remembered, and even though he will always remember nursing in his cells (as my sweet friend Allison reassured me) the fact that he is starting to forget that special relationship we had is sometimes hard to swallow. 

He and Keith have been connecting more and more, and it is a wondrous thing to watch their relationship blossom.  Cole will learn so much from his Daddy and he's fortunate to have what Keith didn't have - a loving and involved father, who's willing to make difficult changes so that he can bring himself closer to his son. 

Our relationship will continue to grow and evolve over time, and that is something to look forward to. All in all, it has been amazing to watch him grow and change so much this year, even if some of those changes have made me a wee bit sad.

He is such a loving, funny, smart, intuitive, and protective person that I am often struck by how connected we are to him and he to us. And, by us, I mean, Keith, Bevin and I. It's like he understands or knows what each of us wants or needs or feels because he is so in-tune with us.  His vocabulary is astounding, and long ago, I stopped counting the number of words he knew or the number of words in a sentence he used. Now I pay attention to his ability to carry on long conversations with us or other people. I listen to his unending quest for knowledge and understanding of this world he lives in. I see him playing imaginatively more and more every day at the same time that he is exerting his independence or his desire to do things himself. Did I ever think he'd be running down  a trail or climbing up a trail by himself because he wanted to do it alone? Not in a million years. But I know he is so capable and that makes me so proud.

It's funny, there are so many things I worried would or would not happen because of something I did or didn't do or something I said or didn't say. And, in hindsight, it was needless to worry. I can see clearly that he's growing up to be a healthy, exuberant, and intelligent little boy.

Pictures in the collage below are from

Cole's birthday hike (3.5 miles) to the Ver Nooykill Falls in the Catskills. 

Oh and he likes to sleep hard (but only at night -- naps are non-existent at home these days!)

Since the Blogger app insists on making every iPhone image I attach to it pixelated and hard to see, I've updated this post with photos from our real camera. They were taken the weekend of Cole's birthday party.

Speaking of babywearing

Wednesday, I joined a new babywearing link up and talked about how much babywearing is essential in our house.

On Thursday, Keith and I decided to divide and conquer, and babywearing enabled Bevin and I to have a really special morning & afternoon together. Before heading out to an appointment, I wore her and blogged while standing at our half wall (because there is no sitting for too long when babywearing this baby) then went to an appointment in which everyone fawned over her beauty. Bevin was even caught talking/growling at a hydrangea plant. It was too funny! Afterwards, we screamed our way to Panera in Kingston (because no day would be complete without some screaming). It was there she sat blissfully in my Wrapsody wrap chewing her fingers while I ate standing up. Then she sucked on her thumb while I browned Barnes & Noble for a graduation gift for my cousin, Kim. Then we got back to the car where she nursed until she passed out.

And while this was happening Cole was having an equally exciting day with his Daddy. But here's the funny part. It was such an awesome day that he forbade Keith from telling me the details. Of course, Keith told me later, but it seems that Cole wanted to keep that special day all to himself.  But because I'm dedicated to recording good memories, here's the cliffs notes version of what they did together:
-Dunkin Donuts on the ride there, which caused Cole to ask "Are we there yet?" for the next 30 minutes.
-Fixed Gramma's ride on lawn mower together
-Mowed part of Gramma's lawn together
-Fun on the swings and other playground equipment at an apparently awesome park in Hopewell Junction
-Lunch with Gramma
-Nap on the ride home

Conversations with Cole: His birthplace

Cole: "Was I born in the Poughkeepsie?"

Mama:"No, you were born in Rhinebeck."

Cole: "Why?"

Mama: "Because you were born at a birth center there."

Cole: "Cool ! Does it have toys?"

Mama:"No, it's a birth center where babies are born. Babies don't play with toys."

Cole: (dejected look) "Ooooooh."

Ssh don't tell anyone

Even when my toddler is not home I listen to children's music. Contemporary children's music is so awesome, why would I not? If only singers like Elizabeth Mitchell existed when I was a kid.

I am obsessed with Grey's Anatomy. Even when it's not on, I am thinking about it. Can I tell you how sad I am that the season finale is over? I'm not sure when I'll find the time to watch it when September rolls around. Expect a brief analysis of the season finale.

I hate Lipton tea. It's gross. Once you drink Tazo tea, you realize Lipton is to tea like Budweiser is to beers. Loved because it's so cheap and everyone seems to drink it.

I like it when Cole gets new books or toys from someone else. I know I'll get to play or read with him, so it's fun for me too when he gets something new.

I was pretty sad on Mother's Day for obvious reasons, but didn't really tell anyone. Instead I stopped wallowing in my self pity and called my father to wish him a Happy Mother's Day. The irony is that my crazy mother actually sent me a card for Mother's Day. It's just too little, too late.

I actually like all of the cheesy wifey magazines Keith's grandmother bought for me for Christmas - Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle. Believe it or not there are some good articles in each of these. But the one thing I get most from the magazines are some decent recipes for nightly meals.

What are some of the things you love or hate?

Wear 'em Wednesday: Wrapping her up

I'm linking up with the fashionable Mommy Panda for a babywearing link up party. Super excited to do this weekly, since babywearing has been a way of life lately....

Babywearing is such a part of our lives, it has become like a houseguest who never intends on leaving. It's exciting at first, but then it starts to become a pain. In the end, you know you're helping someone out and you're benefitting too, but it's hard to see in the thick of things.

With a second child it's essential and with our little girl it has become necessary. The only way she likes to sleep is close to one of us. And since we can't sleep with her all day in our bed (wouldn't that be nice?), we have to wear her. I have many different styles of carriers and I usually wear what I think will put her to 

 sleep the fastest. (We're still working on getting her comfortable with being worn while she is awake). Tonight for instance I tried a soft structured carrier and a ring sling and she screamed and carried on in both before I put her in this wrap. Within a minute she was asleep. I can't tell you how proud I am of myself for tackling the challenging task of wearing a wrap with a crying baby and an energetic toddler. It's taken much practice over the past few months but I found two holds I am comfortable doing and knowing them well enough to wrap her up while she's hysterical has been crucial to our sanity. 

Cole's perspective:

 

Things that are said around here

Cole is always talking and we are always talking to Cole. He asks approximately 22,000 questions a day and we try hard to answer each one. Here's a random sampling of things that are said at our house....

Mama to Cole: "Don't lick Bevin's fingers." 

Mama to Cole: "The floor doesn't need to be combed." 

Mama to Cole:"Next time we go there you can knock on the door." 

Daddy to Cole: "Stop waving your chicken at me."

Cole to Mama: "Bevin's fine, Mama." (After I check on Bevin for the umpteenth time during our story hour at home)

Cole to Mama: "Who painted your body?" (After seeing my tattoo)

(While I'm going to the bathroom) Cole to Mama:

"I can't see you mama." 

Mama to Cole: "That's the purpose of a door."

Cole to Daddy: "I don't want mommy to go to the Poughkeepsie. "

Daddy to Mama: "We're reaching critical mass with our laundry here." 

Cole (as he holds up a toy camel figurine): "Mama do you know what this is?"

Mama: "No."

Cole: " I'll give you a hint. It's a camel."

Daddy to Cole: "Mosquitos are having babies in the pool."

 

Currently it's just me surviving on toilet paper rolls and baby smiles

Mama is currently 

Learning how to let go when it comes to Cole's relationship with Bevin. Cole loves to touch her and talk to her and soothe her. Usually he goes overboard and I have to step in. And then he feels bad. But sometimes he doesn't go overboard and I'm worried he's getting there so I preemptively step in and he gets upset. Tonight I said nothing and this happened: 

I have to do more of saying nothing. 

Working on creating a routine. I am big on routines. I feel like structure helps Cole feel safe and happy and he listens more when he knows what to expect.

Gathering extra things that might otherwise go in the garbage. Toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, scraps of construction paper, ribbons from presents etc. I recently figured out how to use Pinterest on my iPhone so I've been using it to create some cool projects with Cole. So far we've made: a castle from a cardboard box (formerly the home of 12 bottles of beer), a rocket ship using a paper towel roll, an envelope from wrapping paper used to wrap a gift for Cole.

Giving Bevin her nightly bath and loving her excitement just before it happens. 

Playing whatever the heck we want to outside, playing blocks inside, playing music I like when I get the chance to be alone in the car. 

The Parenting of Two--Volume 1: Time

This is going to be the first in a bi-weekly series about the struggles we as a couple face parenting two children. The issues and topics can also be applied to parents of one child, but the struggles just become amplified when you have two. (We compare parenting one child to the calm before the storm. Because parenting two children often feels chaotic and scary. ) As parents we have so many struggles both internally and externally, and we thought it valuable to share them. Each post in the series will revolve around a single issue or topic, which I will talk about in the various contexts of our family life. This week I will discuss Time. The next topic will be about Space.


Keith and I were both raised by single parents. We both grew up with one parent who was more or less not a part of our everyday lives. Mine was totally absent. Our history, where we came from parents who raised us on their own, makes parenting our children both a challenge and a blessing. My mother and his father were the ones to leave us behind, so we didn't have that much in the way of role models for the parents we would soon become. So we are paving our own way each and every moment of our parenting lives.

We love our kids. We want them safe, happy, and healthy. Sometimes we have different ideas of how to make sure they stay that way. Sometimes we're in sync. I know other couples whose parenting philosophies are pretty much one and the same. I wish that were us, but it's not. So, we've stopped trying to fight it and have recently embraced it. We've been working really hard to parent as a team, support each other and talk it out when we disagree on how to go about keeping them safe, happy or healthy.

Every day is a test.

Every minute there's a new opportunity to improve on ourselves and help each other out if we messed up before.

Parenting two children, when we both were "onlys," is another challenge, but it's one we were not afraid to take on, because we both have always wanted a sort of big family. Some days things can feel so chaotic and overwhelming, like the earth is ready to open up and suck us up for all that is going wrong. But then there are days where everything just seems to work out, and we see the love our children have for each other or we see the love our family and friends have for us and our little family. Or we just see how amazing our children are and how awesome we can be when we're with them.

Right now our primary struggle is Time. Time is something all adults struggle with. But when you become a parent, you realize how much you took it for granted when you were childless. As parents we are constantly surrounded by our children or some other responsibility or need. It might be laundry that needs to be folded, dishes that need to be scrubbed, meals that must be made and eaten (because even eating is a challenge oftentimes), messy rooms that need to be picked up or floors that have to be vacuumed, bills that must be paid, or a front and back lawn that is begging to be mowed. You get the idea. Then the baby is screaming because she's tired and doesn't want to go to sleep and at the same time the toddler is crying because he asked you to cut his pretzel roll in half, but he didn't really mean it. Or you just put the baby down for a second so you can eat your lunch and the toddler is swarming in seconds, sticking his dirty fingers directly into her mouth.

A little unnerving, right?

We also need time for ourselves. We both like our daily showers and we both need exercise and time alone. Keith also needs time to work in the office or go out on a shoot. For a while, time was a battle, even just talking about it brought on extra stress. This was especially true in the first month or two of Bevin's life, when I was still recovering from the delivery and was unsure of how to handle two kids at once with no help. When Keith went back to work after four weeks, I got over that hurdle.

And now we both are able to see clearly how the other needs just a little bit of time each week to decompress.

To each his own.

So for the past two weeks I've been going to yoga class on Friday mornings. It is such a gift, having that hour and a half to focus on me and not worry about anyone or anything. It's a Vinyasa Flow class so it is pretty strenuous and fast. It's perfect for me. And I leave there sitting up taller and feeling a little lighter.

For Keith, his decompression had been snowboarding and skiing, but with that season begrudgingly over, it took him a few weeks to realize that he really needed to start his favorite summer activity. So this week he went on his first mountain bike ride of the season, a beautiful nearly 10-mile ride up Mohonk Mountain. Also? He's gotten two pretty amazing magazine gigs shooting hikers in the Catskills. I, mean, he was so high he could see the area where we lived. And he was so deep in the woods he actually found bear poop. (You bet your ass he took a picture and then hightailed it off that summit!)

What kind of parents would we be if we had no interests or passions or hobbies of our very own? Acting on our individual passions and interests shows our children that we take care of ourselves, we honor ourselves, and that we are also individuals. They may not love it when we leave the house without them, but in the end, our rejuvenation will only benefit them.

Another aspect of this struggle with this time is using the time we have to earn a living. Since I am staying out of work until September, we are pretty broke. That means I have to give Keith as much time as he needs to market his photography business and try to get more assignments and clients, all so we can pay our bills. He can usually be heard uttering the words "If I can just get a little bit of time..."  The result of that is that I can't really take extra time during our day or evening to blog by myself. I began writing this post in a room with a snoring toddler while simultaneously pinned underneath a sleeping three-month-old. I consistently rocked the recliner so that she'd stay asleep just a little bit longer while I typed (on my phone) my thoughts on how we deal with so little free time.  It took me an entire week to complete my last "currently" link up post, and, ironically enough, I didn't have the time to actually link up. On the bright side, at least I was able to publish it. I ended this post in a dark room wearing a sleeping baby - always on the verge of waking up.

What we've decided to do with our time is not a perfect system, but it usually works. Each week when we menu plan we also divide our days into chunks and talk about what we will do with our time. Keith usually has production to do, or meetings to attend, or assignments to go to, and we both have doctor's appointments, so we work around those events and try to plan some "fun" into each week, knowing full well, we won't be together as a family all of the time once September rolls around.

We are fully aware that if time is limited now, September it will be practically non-existent. As an English teacher, I must bring my work home with me, so when will I have extra time to do the things I love? Maybe I'll find myself writing blog posts while pumping, like I did Cole's first year of life. I know it may seem silly to fret about blogging, but honestly, it means a lot to me. Writing is my outlet, my therapy, my passion. I've found my niche in blogging. I'm not looking to create a huge reader base or get a hundred fans. I'm only looking to share my experiences and make some meaningful connections along the way. Not to mention the fact that I publish an annual blog book as a documentation of our little family. I get a real sense of accomplishment from writing down our experiences, the lessons we learn, and the fun we have. Seeing it in book form is a huge payoff for me. It's like a family album. So the idea that I may not have enough time to do that is a little stressful to me.

I know that, in the end, it will all work out (as Keith is fond of saying), and that I will have to MAKE the time if I want to keep my blog current and continue to record our experiences. Because I know there's nothing worse than visiting a blog you love and seeing that the person really hasn't written a post in months and that you didn't actually miss a post on Bloglovin'. When I return to work I will also have to make the time to continue my yoga practice, even if it is at home in my garage.

But the most important takeaway from this is that it could be worse, we could have a lot of free time and no interests, no passions. What would our lives be like if we didn't have that?

Sharing one of our passions with our kids - hiking Bonticou Crag

Following in our footsteps

How do you do attempt to solve the problem of "time" in your family?

Currently the kiddos are taking over!

Mama is currently...
Takin' it outside. Lovin' me some hiking!

Cole (almost 3 years old!) is currently...
Admiring all of the toys we've taken out of storage for Bevin.  It's like "Ooh, what's this? Yemme play with that." Keith had to explain to him the difference between the toys we have for Bevin and his toys. But they're new to him, so he can't help his fascination with them. He brought one toy to story time on Thursday and another one into his room later that night. In particular he has discovered a musical wind up mechanism (what else do you call those things?) that Keith's aunt sent to us when Cole was born. It plays "Twinkle Twinkle" (Cole's favorite lullaby). I kept it in Cole's room until he started to walk, and then I packed it away for fear he would break it. Unfortunately I did a shoddy job of packing it and broke the feet of the statue. Cole didn't even notice he was so fascinated by the fact that you wind it up and it plays a beautiful melody. Then later that day? He broke the head of the statue, so we're even. I have another musical wind up mechanism that was given to me when I was a child. Of course, he's admiring that most of all, specifically because he can't have it.

Caring about who he is. The other night he was getting into bed and stopped to ponder on his identity. "I'm a big boy, but I'm still a little boy. But I'm growing up. I'm a little boy, but not really...." It was the cutest display of existential contemplation I've ever seen in a toddler.

Loving his yogurt covered pretzels. Thanks to the reward system I created for pooping in the toilet, he gets one about 2-3 times a day. And we don't have to clean up gag-inducing diapers. So everyone is much happier.

Cleaning up the sand from his shoes. His daycare recently acquired a new sandbox and naturally he came home with sand all over his shoes. He pointed to it as it scattered all over the floor the other afternoon. "What's that?!" I told him it was sand and was about to suggest he clean it up when he said "Yemme get the vacuum."

Creating his own path. We went hiking the other day and the blue blazes that marked the trail became confusing and we weren't sure where the trail went. So we tried going in one direction but quickly realized that it was a dead end. However, Cole was not thrilled about changing course, so he kept insisting the trail went the way we were going.

Bevin (3 months) is currently...
Admiring her big brother. When he comes over to her to say hi, pat her head, or squeeze her hands, her deep blue eyes light up and she smiles her big happy smile and bats her long gorgeous lashes.

Caring for Mama when she's not sitting in Mamas's arms. At dinner time, I will plop her in the Space Saver High Chair we have (it reclines a little for newborns so it is all kinds of awesome) and she'll just stare at me, her eyes widened, as if she's saying, "Why are YOU over there and I'm here?"

Loving her nightly routine. I started the same routine I had with Cole when he was her age. Bath, nurse, sleep. The minute she's done with her bath, she's all in a tizzy kicking her feet, whining and keeping me from getting her dressed (don't they know that if they just sat still things would go so much quicker?! as if she's saying - "Okay where the hell is my milk?" She also loves sleeping with me. I don't know why I even thought that she might sleep in a bassinet or in our co-sleeper. This kid loves being close to us, so every night she falls asleep nursing or the latest: while I'm reading a book with her curled up in my arms.

Creating an amazing amount of wet diapers. Gone is the time where she has oodles and oodles of poop. Now she pees a ton and does a big blowout maybe once or twice a day. We're still sticking with cloth diapers during the day, though we do disposables at night and when we go out. It's not the ideal system in terms of saving the environment, but we are not looking to be ideal. We do enough laundry as it is!

Discovering her hands. She has so far: touched and grabbed my watch, pet Kiwi, touched Keith's beard and her regular thing is bringing her hands to her face and sucking on her fingers.