I want to apologize right now for the lack of love I have given to my poor 'ol blog. I don't know where the Summer has gone but It absolutely was one of the busier summers I can remember. I have realized that between working, being a mom, trying to keep up with our house, and trying to have a social life that my blogging time was really limited. I think my lack of love to my blog has really been caused by the fact that I have a 7 month old. I really think that there is something to be said and a little *cheers* should be had for all moms before me that were prepared for the 4-8 month time frame. I love that little girl but I would be lying if I said I was prepared for this part of her first year.
Before Kate was born I did my best to read all of the best books, online sites, and talk to all the other mommies I knew to try and be prepared to have a child. It was so fun to learn about what the first couple months would be like. I was absolutely prepared for the fact that I wasn't going to be sleeping, how much she was going to be eating, what her first milestones should have been, how to burp a baby, how to have tummy time, etc, etc. What I was NOT prepared for what how the months between her being a baby and a small toddler were going to be.
Let me make a list of things that I honestly was not prepared for: teething, helpless ness, laughter, food issues, play time, dirty house, learning how to tag team.
First and foremost I was not prepared for the fact that she gets so frustrated with herself. That sweet little chubby faced girl gets so frustrated when she mentally knows exactly what she wants but she just can not physically do it herself. Her gift of being very smart is also her demise because her body can not keep up. I absolutely hate the feeling when I am watching her try to pick up a puff and she just can't quite get it. She is determined so she tries and tries until she just can't any more. Although it is frustrating for her, one of my favorite things about this stage of her life is celebrating those small things. We cheer like OU just won the national championship when she can hold her bottle by herself or get a puff into her mouth by herself. I root her on when she is trying to crawl, We all laugh and cheer when she does something by herself that she had not be able to do before. She is such a smiley little babe so it is obvious when she is proud of herself. I love that about her.
The second things I was not prepared for was teething. Honestly it has not been that bad so far *knock on wood* she has really done so great. She now has a whopping four teeth that she is so in love with. She scoots her tongue around them and clicks them with her fingers and thinks they are awesome. Even though her teething was not nearly as bad as some other kids I've heard of, this was really the first time where she didn't feel good and I hated that feeling. I hated that there really wasn't much I could do to make her feel better and that I just had to wait it out. There is no good reason for it but I absolutely felt guilty that she hurt. We ran into this feeling also on a flight home from a vacation we recently took. She was such a great flier and did amazing on the flights there but on the first flight home she got behind on clearing her ears on the decent and started screaming and crying so hard because her poor little ears hurt. It was awful. I was crying, she was crying, people felt bad for us, and there was nothing I could get her to do to make her feel better. Not prepared for that at all.
The third thing that I was not prepared for was the little things about this point in her life. I guess I had some dream baby in my head that would be able to entertain herself for longer than 10 minutes at a time by this age, but that isn't the case quite yet. She absolutely is getting better at playing by her herself but I was not prepared that Jacob and I would have to tag team to get dinner done or to get the house picked up. I don't mind this time at all, actually she is so much fun right now that I really love it, but not being able to keep our house picked up and picking sleep over dusted shelves is something that we are having to get used to.
Although there are some things that I was not prepared for, there are a ton of things I was unprepared for that are happy surprises. It surprises me everyday how much Jacob and I love her more and more. She surprises us how much she grows and how fast she learns. Her smile is the most contagious thing on this planet and I am so thankful that I get to see it every morning and every night.
Overall the past few months have been great. She is a rolling fool that loves to wiggle and move. She "talks" to herself all day long, and she LOVES to eat. That last one is obvious because she is a healthy 21 pounds and 28 inches long and 96th percentile overall. Her favorite foods at the moment are sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, mangos, pears, apples, and oatmeal. She loves those fun little puffies and is actively trying to learn how to feed herself which is super funny and exciting. She is starting to look more like a toddler than a baby and i'm not really sure how I feel about that. I am looking forward to fall and the holiday season with her this year and I think she is going to be so cute. I really need to keep up with my blog and have it updated so you all can keep up with how fun she is!
Sorry this post is mostly me rambling but I have big plans for the blog's future. I've been dabbling in some photography so that will be something fun I will start posting, I have a lot of pinterest projects that I plan on sharing, and I also can not wait to share more stories about being Kate's mom. I also have design plans for the blog so be looking for a new look soon!!
-K
