The last couple of weeks I have noticed that I have been becoming less and less of a control freak. If you would have observed me with my daughter a couple months ago you most likely would have noticed that I was very uptight about everything my daughter did. When I say everything, I mean absolutely everything! From what time she went to bed, what she ate, touched, played with, etc- I always needed to have control of everything in fear that something terrible would happen. I think that now Jayde is 7 months old, I have realized that being a mother is so much more enjoyable when your not constantly worrying about every little thing. I have also realized that almost every book you read about parenting is about what you should and should not do to your child. I almost feel like every book is just a big book of rules, which is probably the reason why every mother freaks out once something that "the book didn't say was OK" happens. "Do not let your baby eat anything with sugar or with added sugar." I get that you shouldn't be giving your child candy bars all the time, but I have given Jayde a lick of ice cream and she seems to be doing fine. I am no longer afraid of my daughter being exposed to germs. Don't get me wrong, I still sanitize the swing at the park before I put her in. But, I no longer have the need to wash every single thing every time it falls on the ground. (As long as I'm not at a place that is obviously dirty.) I have even let Jayde try a lemon, which I thought I wouldn't do until she was older. Even though I am veering from the book, I still keep it around. I think it's good as questions come up, but I don't think I should have my daughter live by it. I have found that parenting by instinct is so much easier.
Jayde tasting a lemon for the first time.
Saturday was my 21st birthday. I must say, my birthday weekend will be one that I will always remember. I woke up Saturday morning later than usual because Keith got up with Jayde, that itself was a wonderful birthday gift. After waking up, I got ready to have lunch with some family. We went to eat and BJs, and at that point, I ordered my very first legal drink- Mango Tango. When you read and hear the name "Mango Tango" you picture this pretty, colorful mixed drink. When they brought over a clear, water looking drink with some sort of leaf sticking out of it, I was a little confused. Don't get me wrong, it was still decent tasting. Just... not what I was expecting. I didn't really get to enjoy my drink anyways because Jayde was in such a fussy mood! The whole time I drank it I was nervous about me having to feed her when I wasn't able to. After lunch, we went over to my mom's house to open presents and eat cake. From my mom I got the ONE thing I wanted the most for my birthday, a BOB Revolution SE jogging stroller!! I was so excited!! I still can't get over the fact that getting a jogging stroller is now more exciting than getting the newest iPhone or iPod. I'm sure that at some point I'll have no choice but to get used to it. After receiving presents and indulging in cake, I went home and took a nap. (Yay, more sleep!!) After waking up, I put Jayde to bed, and then started to get ready for my night out in the city. Obviously, I drank. It was my 21st birthday so I was obligated to! I had a great time! But, I was a little upset that I didn't get carded, not even ONCE.
You would think that since I was turning 21 I would be most excited about going out and ordering drinks from bars legally. That part was fun, but I think I was most excited for taking Jayde to the beach. Keith and I left for Santa Cruz on Sunday after I came home from San Francisco. (And after my much needed long nap.) He decided that we were going to stay the night in a hotel as part of my birthday present. When we got there it was a little late, so we decided that we would just take Jayde on walk in her new stroller to the Boardwalk. It was pretty cold and overcast, so before we left I went to BabiesRUs to get Jayde a warmer outfit and a blanket since I had only brought her outfits for warmer weather. We ended up getting back to out hotel at about 9:30pm, which is obviously way past Jayde's 7:00pm bedtime. We had a one bedroom room with one queen sized bed. We brought the Pack-n-Play thinking that Jayde would sleep in there, but we were wrong. I have to say that it was a pretty rough night. Jayde slept with us in our bed and finally fell asleep at about 10:30pm, woke up at 11:45pm, slept again until 2:00am, and then woke up at 4:30am and didn't go back to sleep. I was so exhausted from my previous night that I was not in the mood to deal with all this. It would have been different if she was awake and in a good mood, but she was extremely grumpy. I understand that we were sleeping in an unfamiliar place and that I had put her to bed way later than normal, but her acting the way she did was so different. Where was my happy girl?
Jayde and I entering the Boardwalk in her new stroller!
The whole day on Monday she was pretty grumpy, but I didn't let it ruin the day. I was FINALLY going to take my baby to the beach, and I wasn't going to let her bad mood get in the way.Keith took her on a long walk in the morning, for almost 2 hours, so I was able to get some more sleep. If it wasn't for those two hours, I probably wouldn't have been able to get through the day. Before heading to the beach, Keith and I went shopping and went out to lunch. While shopping I found Jayde a tie-dyed onesie, I was pretty excited. I had told Keith that I had wanted to get her something tie-dyed while we were in Santa Cruz. After lunch, we drove back to the hotel and walked down to the beach. As soon as we got to the there, Jayde was happy. She was so amazed by the ocean waves. I immediately took her to the water and let it wash up to her feet. I then took her back to our towel and put her in the sand to let her play. The sand was by far her favorite part. She sat there grabbing handfuls of it and letting it fall through her fingers. She then started to grab the sand and throw it to the side, almost as if she was digging a hole. She had SO much fun! I smiled the whole time as I watched her explore this new place with amazement. She then fell asleep and took a mini nap on the beach, it was the cutest thing ever. I need to take her back again soon, she absolutely loved it there!
Jayde's feet in the ocean
Long day- Taking a nap on the beach.
Jayde is almost starting to crawl. She can turn in circles and scoot backwards a little bit. So far the most productive way of her moving is rolling across the room. It is so funny watching her. She will be intesely consintrating on getting somewhere, and once she has made some progress she will look at me and smile. She is so proud of herself, and I am proud of her as well. Everyday she gets closer and closer to crawling. I know that it is only a matter of weeks until she will be completely mobile and I will have to watch her all times. I know she is going to try and get into absolutley everything.
Jayde's first time rolling across the room. She started from the middle of the blanket, and made her way over to play with her gym.
In a few more days I will be 21 years old, the age I have always dreamed about is finally here. Now that it is only four days away, it doesn’t seem as exciting as I had anticipated. Sure, it will be cool because I will be able to buy alcohol legally. When I go out to eat at restaurants and the waiter asks if I would like a glass of wine, I can accept his offer. Also, I can feel all grown up when I ask my friends, “Hey, do you want to go out for drinks?” Maybe now that I’m a mom, I have more exciting things to look forward to other than drinking- my daughter crawling, talking, taking her first steps- now that is something to look forward to. Maybe it's not exciting because of the fact that I'm breastfeeding and have to monitor what I drink. Maybe it’s not exciting because being a mom has made me feel more grown up than drinking a glass of wine ever will. Regardless, turning 21 is a lifetime milestone.
I think the main reason I'm not excited for my birthday is because I feel so stressed out about it. I have to make sure I have all this extra milk pumped, and right now I have NOTHING. On Saturday, I'm going out to lunch with my mom and I plan on having one drink. Only one, because I need to make sure I can feed Jayde before I head to San Francisco. (I can feed Jayde 2.5 hours after having a drink.) I'm going to put her to bed before I leave for the night to make myself feel better, so I really only need to make sure she has milk for if she wakes up at night and also for in the morning. The even more stressful part is next Saturday, the 27th, because Keith and I will be heading out to Sacramento to have dinner at The Melting Pot. Obviously, I'm not going to bring Jayde because it will be late and I will be drinking. She will be spending the night at my mothers house. THAT is the thing that stresses me out the most. I have so many concerns; what if I don't leave enough milk, what if she doesn't go to sleep, what if she cries the whole time. The thing that actually concerns me the most is that my sister will be there. I can already see her fussing about not being able to feed Jayde a bottle or waking her up while she's sleeping. Even though I'm so stressed, concerned, and nervous about leaving her with my mom, I have decided that it is the best choice. I much rather leave Jayde with her grandma since she knows her well. If she does happen to wake up in the middle of the night, I'm sure she would be terrified seeing someone unfamiliar. I've already talked to my mom about my concerns with my sister, and she has promised to keep everything under control. For the not sleeping part, I assume that at some point she has to fall asleep, right?
Jayde has tried almost all fruits and vegetables for the most part, so now the fun begins! I finally get to make real recipes with more than one ingredient for her to eat. Starting next week, I plan on giving her new multi-tasting food. Along with feeding her fun recipes, I will start feeding her two meals a day instead of one. It’s going to be crazy because I know by adding another meal I will be taking out a breast milk feeding. Right now I have tons of food containers for Jayde in my freezer. Even though it seems like it is a lot, I know it really isn't with how much she eats! Most of the recipes I have for her are a mixture of things she has already tried, maybe with one new ingredient. The thing I'm most interested in her trying is chicken. I made a puree called "fruity sweet chicken," which has chicken, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and apples. Unlike fruit and vegetables, chicken has a distinct taste and texture. So, we will have to see how she takes to her new food!
My stash of baby food in the freezer.
In about a month, Jayde will be ready to eat more solid formed foods (chunks of banana, cheerios, cubes of fruit/veggies, etc.) I am seriously SO nervous. What if she chokes? I know the Heimlich and infant CPR just in case, but I really do hope I never have to do those things! How is she suppose to know how to bite a piece off and then chew it before swallowing? I’m sure it’s instinct, but STILL! Yesterday, my mom and I let Jayde try an arrowroot cookie. She absolutely loved it. she was able to gum them easily because the cookie melted in her mouth. The only thing bad about this is that I was freaking out! Jayde would bite off a big chunk and sometimes even shove the whole cookie in her mouth somehow. My mom would have to take it out of her mouth because I was so nervous about her choking. Even though she enjoyed it, I think that I will wait to introduce the cookies until a little later. I guess I'm the one who isn't ready...
Jayde eating an arrowroot cookie.
Jayde hasn't outgrown her baby bathtub, but every time she takes a bath she manages to get my entire kitchen wet. She splashes, throws her toys onto the floor, and tries to grab everything on the counters. Because of this, I have decided to move her into the big bath in the bathroom. The experience is... interesting. She refuses to be in the bath by herself, even with all the bath toys that she has. The only way I am able to get her to take a bath is by getting in the tub with her. Today I bought a faucet cover and a colorful mat for the bottom of the tub, so I am hoping that maybe it will disguise the scariness of the tub to look like a fun place. I can't continue to take baths with her for too long. It's such a small place for both of us, and by the time I'm done washing her my legs are completely cramped. Hopefully, I will be able to get her to start taking baths by herself.
I have been trying to do fun things with Jayde since she rarely takes nap. Even if it's something as simple as taking her on a walk to the store instead of driving there. I just learned that there is a park somewhat close to the apartment, so I sometimes take her down there to take her swinging. Not only does she love the outdoors, but it stimulates her. I feel the the more I teach her and show her, the more she will learn. She loves taking walks, swimming, swinging, and even doing something as simple as laying on the blanket in the grass. Seeing how happy she is doing all of these things makes me happy too.
Feeding the ducks!
Swinging in the park.
Oh, and did I mention I finally got some piggy paint?!?!?!?!?!?
The last couple weeks, things have been a bit off...
After Jayde got sick with the stomach flu, she refused to eat anything. I tried feeding her everything, even her favorites: squash and peaches. The only thing that I was able to get her to eat was yogurt. Finally, two days ago, she finally started eating again. Not only has she been eating more regularly now, but she has been eating A LOT! Yesterday she ate two containers of apricots, one container of peach, and a banana YoBaby yogurt all in one sitting. I always feel like I should be concerned by how much she eats because she always eats so much, more than any other baby. Every time I bring it up to her pediatrician she tells me that I should let her eat to her hearts content. So, I guess me letting her eat as much as she wants won't hurt her. You would think that with all she eats that I would have a fat baby, but she is still my little petite girl.
Jayde's sleep got out of whack. She started getting into this weird habit of crying when I would put her down to go to sleep. I think that this was actually my fault, because I was the one who started picking her up. Literally every night I would put her down, she would cry, I would pick her up, put her back down, and then the cycle would go on for at least an hour. Finally, I decided that I had to sleep train her again. The first two nights she cried for about an hour. Every single night since then, I have been able to put her into her bed without hearing a peep come from her. I think this time, it has worked even better. I don't know whether it's because she is older or because she has already been sleep trained before. Every night at about 6:30pm I feed her, and at about 7:00pm she looks at me like, "Mom, put me to bed!" I will put her in her crib, she will roll around for about 5 minutes, and then she will fall asleep. Most nights she sleeps through the night! She occasionally wakes up at about 3:00am for a night time feeding.
Jayde hasn't been napping, at all. She wakes at about 6:30 or 7:00 every morning, and she goes to bed at about 7:00 every night. That is about a 12 hour stretch without her sleeping. You would think she would be exhausted, but she's not. She does get a little tired around 4:00 in the afternoon, but she still makes it to 7:00pm without sleeping. I really do wish she would nap, it would be nice to have a break sometime during the day. Sometimes I'll be feeding her and she will be sleeping while eating, I sit there hoping she doesn't wake up so I can set her down to sleep. Then, all of the sudden, she will open her eyes and sit herself up as if she was never sleeping. It's so frustrating, but I'm starting to get used to it. I mean, she's generally a very good, happy baby. I can sit her on her blanket and she will play with her toys for a little bit while I clean. I just need to find more activities for us to to during the day to occupy our time.
I think the only reason why I get so frustrated with her not napping is because I want to take a nap too. You would think that is she sleep for 12 hours at night that I would be sleeping wonderfully. However, even though she goes to bed at 7:00pm I still continue to stay awake until about 11pm or later. I get so occupied with cleaning, watching movies, and relaxing that when I look at the time it's already late. I've been trying to get to bed earlier, usually around 9pm or 10pm, but It's been hard because Keith and I are in the middle of watching the third season of Weeds. I really only plan on watching an episode or two, but Keith always convinces me to watch "just one more." I always regret staying up late when I wake up in the morning, EVERYDAY. All I know is that I need to start going to bed earlier consistently, period.
Jayde had another go-see last Wednesday. It was for the Pottery Barn Kids, and they are so organized! Them being organized made it so much easier to deal with. Everyone had a specific time to be seen, Jayde's time was 10:13am. I literally went in, got her number, they took pictures of her, and then we were done. The only thing that sucked was the I forgot to take her earrings out! Her agent told me that she needed her earrings out for all go-sees and shoots. I was so pissed! I was reminding myself all morning to take them out, but I never did. Ahhhh!
