The Six Month Mark Approacheth

On December 12, she'll have graced us with her existance for six whole months. Every time I pick her up, kiss her, or even hear her cry, I think about her sweet little baby self and feel so thankful. I think this is one way having kids helps you get closer to God. Experiencing love, amazement, and breath-catching, heart-stopping wonder is truly divine. It lifts me up. It keeps me in the present moment. It keeps me grateful. It keeps me humble. I love it! I am so amazed and present and grateful and humbled by this whole wonderful, heart-stopping, breath-catching, parenting thing!

I'm also thankful for the many people who are so helpful to us as we try our hand at parenting, they're like the bumpers in our parenting bowling lane. That seemed a good way to describe them, but now I'm not sure where to go with the bowling comparison. Our parents and friends and new parent friends are all so great to bounce ideas and problems off of. They keep us from rolling into the gutter, and bounce us into the lane and help us get a strike!? Well, you get the idea. They're great. There's a group of San Lorenzo Valley moms who get together weekly or more. We have a hangout and eat afternoon, where the babies loll around on the floor or crawl all over each other, and then we try to go hiking together,too. It is turning into a great support, and the best part is, all the other moms are okay with talking about babies and baby stuff for hours on end.

Adessa has tried a few new foods, and is getting stronger at sitting up. She's increasingly adept with her hands, passing toys back and forth, grabbing at our food, glasses, jewlery, pens, you name it. She strokes my hand while she nurses, even in the middle of the night. She talks, drones and "Ehhhh"s, shrieks and screams, trying out the gamut of vocalizations. She's so very fun.

Major Holiday Number Two

Thanksgiving went well, her second big holiday if you don't count the 4th of July or Labor Day. We celebrated twice, early with Calvin's family, then on the day with mine. Both were pretty low key, just some delicious food, aunts and uncles (Elijah played a large part)and cousins, and friends from church.

Adessa didn't feast on Thanksgiving day, but she did try out some rice cereal a few days later. And she loves food. We started feeding her solids because she's terribly interested in food, especially what we're eating, and because... drum roll... she's sitting up! For minutes at time, our girl sits up, reaches for toys in front of her, totters a bit, rights herself, keeps sitting. Each sitting session has ended with a face plant into the floor, but she is not discouraged! Oh no, not Adessa, she try, tries again. So fun. I'm getting kind of freaked out by the milestones, as the baby part is just starting to make sense, soon I'll have to pack food for her, she'll crawl, she'll talk back, YIKES!

A side benefit to babies, though- today she got me out of jury duty. Jury duty is something I believe in absolutely, as part of our democratic process. I feel deeply my responsibility to my fellow Americans. However, I pleaded hardship as fast as I could and got out of the court room towing my breast pump! It never hurts to bring props, right? Yipee!!

Happy Halloween, now it's almost Thanksgiving?

The first few weeks with Adessa seemed to go by pretty slowly, actually. We were present, right there in each and every moment, marveling, and it seemed to take... a few weeks. And we continue to marvel at her, but darn! does the time fly by! She turned five months old yesterday. Wait! Am I getting this? I try to quiz myself and see if I remember the smaller version of Adessa, but it's hard when the 16+ pound version is so all-consuming. She's almost sitting, can balance on her own for a few seconds at a time if her legs are out in front of her at just the right angles. She has not tired of staring at her hands, holding them out as if they were fabulous treasures she needs to inspect. She found her toes a few times, and they seem to be neato, as well. There is a whole new level of interaction because she has more control of her hands. She babbles to us while holding our chins with one mini-hand, reaches for toys, bats at toys, eats napkins, crinkles paper, etc. She lets us know her more sophisticated needs, now, so there's a bit more crying in our house. Also some whispering. I held her hands on her chest and whispered sweet nothings to her at bedtime the other day, and I promise you, she whispered back. It was the baby babble equivalent of whispering, out from behind her pacifier: shhheeehshuuushhaaaa. Really cute.

Halloween was spent with much spirit and revelry! We went to little Sadie's Halloween Party with Adessa as the Cupcake Fairy. (She probably wondered if this was the first of many humiliating homemade costumes she's going to be subjected to. Probably is.) (The Cupcake Fairy, for those who don't know, is the little sprite who leaves money under your pillow whenever you loose your cupcake. Yep.) And on Halloween itself she promenaded downtown Santa Cruz as a darling sweet pea in a pod. (Or Edamamie, for those who appreciate Japanese cuisine.) She's a trooper. It's fun to take her places, she likes riding in the car (for reasonable time periods) and is taking in all the new stimulus and activity like a pro. She rocks!

Pumpkin Time

Now she's growing gang-busters. I guess I should stop writing stuff like that since she's only going to grow more and do more exciting things. But really, everyday there's something new. I can practically see the little cogs in her mind gearing up: hmmm, these chubby pink things on the end of my arms must be mine. They wiggle and wave around in front of me, I can suck on them, scratch at my crib, hold on to toys, pat my mom, and even yank her hair. She's begun lolling around on the ground, stretching for toys and learning how to maneuver herself. And lots more to look forward to!

Adessa and I went with a local mothers group to a pumpkin patch up the coast. The other babies were older, and they climbed all over the pumpkins and crawled all over the patch. Adessa simply reclined and posed for photos, a queen sprawled against her squashy throne. Adorable. The holidays are going to be so much more fun with a kid around.

I had another difficult day of Adessa coming with me to school. She's getting to the age where she is noticing everything and easily overstimulated, which made it really hard for her to fall asleep. Which made her very fussy. Which made me sad. Especially because three days of childcare with three different people (the grandmas can only do one day each) doesn't seem like a stable, consistant care situation that I would like. So we'll see.

New Tricks

Did you blink? Now she's four months old!
Adessa is wriggling and squiggling all over the place. She's rolled over both from front to back and from back to front, (on accident, but it still counts) and has become hard to change at diaper time. She used to fall right asleep when she was tired, but now she wants to see and touch everything around her. Sheets, crib-sides, her pacifier are all interesting enough to distract her. She has found her fists and is interested in toys. She's trying hard to make trumpeting noises, and knows I like encouraging her in this endeavor, so when she catches my eye she'll start pursing her lips and trying. Many happy spit bubbles later, we laugh and cheer. Very endearing. She's delightful!!

I am adjusting to the working mom thing! It's going to be fine! Adessa has people who love her taking care of her every minute of every day. And I am okay with it. I do relish my days off with her, though, 60% of a real job was a good idea.

Sweet Baby Goes To School...

...and mama gets nothing done. Well, that was the first Monday I took her, September 17th. I think I made a few copies, returned a phone call and made references to the work I wasn't getting done. Discouraged, I went home and called Grandma Beck who rescued me the rest of my working days that week. This week I tried again to bring her with me on Monday (the 24th) and it went much better. I attribute the improvement to the fact that I brought a swing for her. That, and the fact that I did most of the work I needed to do over the weekend so everything was ready to go when I got there. It looks like the three days of my work week will be broken up into: one day with me, one day with the Lewis grandparents, and one day with the Beck grandparents. I am so lucky to have them close by and willing to help.

Working certainly makes me appreciate Adessa-- I hate to leave her in the mornings, and I love to squeeze her when I get home. I also realize why stay-at-home-momming is such a good idea: no breast-pump, no interrupted nap times, no added other thing I should be doing. Maybe someday I'll be able to stay home--but until then, this set-up should work out fine.

Adessa is doing great. She's had her first cold, which is hard to watch. She has begun talking up a storm and bringing everything she can grasp into her mouth. It seems she makes changes daily. Sweet is the adjective that still comes bubbling up to describe her. She'll interrupt herself while nursing to smile up at me. She'll talk and coo to herself for a bit, and then get louder until I look at her. Then she'll smile. Sweet!

Three Months of Adessa

This week Adessa turned three months old. What a lovely time we're having, too, as the pictures will show. She is adorable and sweet like always, with bonuses of interaction and development that are so incredibly amazing to watch and be a part of. She can be coaxed into a smile almost anytime now, sometimes in the middle of a crying jag at her tiredest. She holds her head up strong, doesn't mind "tummy time" too much, and has started slobbering on anything that finds its way into her mouth, sometimes her hand, sometimes her shirt. The biggest adjustment for me has been that most of my functioning brain is now devoted to baby details, leaving the meager remainder of my cerebral power to deal with whatever it was that used to occupy me full-time.

Tomorrow is her first day of school, or at least of coming to school with me. The first three weeks I was back at work, Calvin took vacation days to watch her so I could get everything going. Thank goodness he did, too. I set up my homeschoolers and English Language Development class, and am ready to have a baby accompany me through my days. Am I ready? This has actually caused a bit of anxiety. I am fearful I won't do either thing well, teaching or mothering, with Adessa at school with me. We'll see. Both grandmas have made themselves available to help out and will watch her when I'm actually teaching, which is great. And I have to keep reminding myself that I'm only working three days a week. I'll keep you posted.