Our Other "Children"

Today, I was reading this post on one of my favorite blogs and it made me realize that I don't talk much about the dogs these days- I wonder why. Ha!

Before Elysen was born, I had a couple of (mostly hormonal) breakdowns about our sweet puppies. I was so worried that they would feel slighted and lonely when she was born. Since she was born in the winter, I was worried that they would be so cold at night.

When we got home from the hospital with Elysen, I wanted to introduce her to the dogs right away, but I decided to hold off. There was a lot going on. David spent time outside each day with them, even if it was just to play for a bit while he was feeding them. My mom also went out a couple of times while she was here to give them some attention. Poor guys, they had no idea what was going on.

When she was a couple of weeks old, we decided it was time. So we let the dogs in the house. They were so excited to be back inside that they didn't even notice the baby. It wasn't until several days later when we let them in again that they heard a strange noise from the bundle on my lap. They were curious, but still relatively disinterested. I was happy - we could all coexist peacefully. Ha!

Now that Elysen is more independent, they notice her more. What's funny to me is that they deal with her in completely different ways. Darsee has always been one to show love by licking. This is not ok with me when it comes to the baby. So I have to keep a closer eye on Darsee and make sure she's not trying to sneak in a lick. Literally, she will sneak around and try to lick Elysen's foot while still keeping one eye on me making sure I don't see her. Remus is, as always, our calm guy. He rarely licks Elysen or anyone else, so he's the one that Elysen gets to pet. More often than not, when he sees her and notices her trying to reach for him, he will walk away. I think he's afraid he'll get in trouble. But sometimes, she will reach out for his face or ear or back and he will let her pet him. He just sits and enjoys it.

I can tell they both love her so much. And if they could talk, they would probably complain about how they don't get to spend as much time inside these days. However, they would probably also say that because of Elysen, we spend a lot more time outside. And because of Elysen, Darsee has learned to tolerate thunderstorms outside (much to her outrage). We still get to play ball with Remus, and Darsee still gets to sleep in her bed sometimes.

Pretty soon, Elysen will be able to walk or crawl up to them and then they won't know what to do. She gets so excited when she sees them. It's amazing how she knows them already.

The dog lover in me feels overjoyed when I see that Elysen loves Darsee and Remus. My worries of the dogs feeling lonely is gone. I know they have taken a back seat to the new number one in our lives, but they are certainly still an important part. A few days ago, it was a rainy day, so I let the dogs inside. Elysen was fussy and tired, so I rocked her and she fell asleep. I came into the living room, turned out the lights, and snuggled up on the couch with Elysen. Darsee curled up at my feet with her head on my knees, and Remus made his place on the floor next to the couch. And my dog-loving and baby-loving heart was so very full.

6 months

Elysen Ashleigh, you are 6 MONTHS OLD! Half a year ago, today, your daddy and I got such an amazing gift: you!

Weight: No idea (will update at your 6 month appointment in a few weeks)

*UPDATE: On 8/30 - your 6 month dr's appointment, you weighed 15.68 lbs. (35th percentile). This is WAY lighter than we thought you were. What are we going to do when you are a toddler and weigh 25 lbs????*

Height: 8/30: 24.21 inches (5th percentile....that's right....5th. I think it's safe to say that you're going to be short. But that's great - we love petite girls in this family.)

Sizes: You are wearing 3-6 month pjs and either 3-6 month or 6 month clothes. Some of your 6 month dresses are still a little big, but I can tell you're getting close. I don't know why pajamas are so big. You have some 9 month pjs that look like they could fit a 3 year old. You're wearing a size 2 diaper.

What you're up to:

- You are really into blowing raspberries these days. You will do it for half an hour at a time. Your daddy thinks it's really funny to put you in the Baby Bjorn, then wait until you are in prime spitting mode, then come and lean over me so that I end up with spit all over my head. Yeah, it's sooooo hilarious....not. Haha.

- We are working on sitting up, and you love to "stand" on your legs. You roll over all the time, and you scoot, especially in your crib. We go to get you up in the morning and you are all the way across the crib from where you started. You can sit up if someone is holding your legs to help anchor you down, but otherwise, you fall right over. I'm sure it will be just like rolling over - as soon as you decide to do it, there will be no holding back.

- You love to read books! We can sit in the rocking chair together, and you will pat the pages and giggle or talk to the pictures. Sometimes, you even "read" to yourself when you're on your play mat. You will get a book and talk just like you're reading.

- I spoke too soon about your great sleep in the last post. A day after I posted that, you decided to stop sleeping. I think it was because I had just started back to school. You were learning new things and you were in an unfamiliar place, so I think it upset your sleep pattern. For a week and a half, your daddy and I were sooo tired. One night, you woke up 4 times from midnight to 5 a.m.! Then, I finally just gave up and let you sleep on my chest.

But now you're back to your old self. At least until the next teething episode or life change or growth spurt, we're good to go.

- You are getting to be more inquisitive. Today, I tried to take your picture, and you WOULD NOT look at me! You were too busy looking at the piece of paper and at your crib. I was dancing and acting crazy, and you didn't care one bit.

- You still love to chew on anything and everything. Sometimes, I put my finger in your mouth and shake your chin and it makes the funniest noise. You don't care, you just chew and drool everywhere.

- You are going to Ms. Amanda's every day while Mommy goes to work. I take you over there at 11 and come get you at 4. You were pretty mad at first that you had to sit in the car line in Ms. Amanda's car when she goes to pick up her kids, but now you're getting better.

Speaking of Ms. Amanda's, it has been so hard for me to go back to work this week. Mainly, it's been hard because when I'm at home, I can't just focus on you. I have work to think about, and it's stressful for me. I would love to spend every minute of every day just focusing on you and watching you learn. But I know how blessed I am to get to stay home at all, even if it's just part time.

- You still love bath time - now you're really into splashing all the water out of the tub!

- You are eating lots of foods. So far, you've had bananas, green beans, squash and sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, these foods all give you lots of gas. In fact, I've really cut back on giving them to you because you were waking up in the middle of the night from the gas. I'm not sure what to do - I guess you have a sensitive tummy like your mommy.

- This month, we went to Texas for my 10 year reunion. We had such a good time! The car ride wasn't great, but once we were there it was wonderful to see friends and family. You even got to meet Champ the Cougar!

- I think about your future all the time. You are going to grow up in a world that is so rich with technology. You are already fascinated by our phones (oh dear) and you love to play Baby Aqua on the iPad. I think you really just like to look at the fish and try to touch them.

Sweet girl, I can't stand how big you are getting. You look more grown up every day. This picture of you that I took today looks like a BIG GIRL! Thank goodness it's just that one picture.

I love to watch you learn. And I love to see you look to me when you aren't sure about something. You love to touch my face and grab my hair (ouch!). My favorite part of the day is coming to get you at Ms. Amanda's and seeing you smile when I walk in the house. I already know how much you love me, and it's probably because you can see how much I LOVE YOU!

Miss Independent

2 days before Elysen turned 5 months old, she suddenly decided that she liked being more independent. She started playing for longer periods of time on her play mat or in her Exersaucer. In the morning, she would wake up happy and play for awhile by herself until we came to get her. And, miracle of miracles - she started sleeping through the night ALL THE TIME! Oh my. I wish I could put into words how wonderful it is to sleep again. For the first 5 months of her life, sleeping through the night was the exception, not the rule.

She's doing a great job eating too! She has now had green beans (not a favorite, but she eats them), squash, bananas (her favorite so far), and peaches. She also eats her rice cereal so much better. We got her a booster seat/high chair. Since she still can't sit up by herself, it wears her out, but she tries every day.

We also traveled to Tyler a little over a week ago for my 10 year reunion. At the last minute, David couldn't come, so Elysen was stuck in the back seat by herself. I'd really like to say that it went great and we had a smooth trip, but, sadly, she cried almost the whole way. On the way to Tyler, I was so stressed. She hasn't cried that much in a long time. It broke my heart. On the way back, I was better prepared, and God gave me the patience to press on.

But, despite the sad driving, Elysen did such a great job while we were there! I had already prepared myself for bad sleeping habits while we were in a strange place. Last time we were there, she wouldn't even nap in her pack-n-play. This time - she was a different child. She slept like a champ! Marmee had to put her to bed Friday and Saturday night, and, once they got their rhythm down, she was good to go. I couldn't believe it!

Elysen has already started going to Ms. Amanda's house for daycare. She went one day last week, and will go 4 days this week during in-service. Then we'll start with the part time days. She did alright on her first day after a rough patch in the morning (she hates taking naps sometimes!). It helps me so much to know that my baby is staying at a house with someone who really loves having her. I know she is going to love playing there this year.

She's also started laughing more frequently. I tell everyone that she has her daddy's sense of humor: very hard to impress when it comes to funny things. She will grin and grin, but not make a sound unless something is really funny to her. Aunt Ashley, and Aunt Allison and Marmee got her to laugh one afternoon in Tyler while I was at coffee. Since then, she's been more willing to laugh. Today, while she sat in my lap, I was reading her a book about animal tails and I was making all the animal sounds. I quacked like a duck and she thought that was HILARIOUS. David and I spent the rest of the evening quacking. We make such fools of ourselves. Ha!

I think she knows now when she's the center of attention. She's starting to show off. (What this means, I'm not sure, but maybe I should be worried.) Last night, I wanted to see if some of her 6 month dresses would fit, so we had a fashion show of sorts. I put the dresses and outfits on her, then we went to the bathroom to look in the mirror, then to the living room to show Daddy. She LOVED looking at herself in her new clothes. She would smile so big and squeal and scrunch up on my shoulder. We might just have a little fashionista on our hands.

This is a random post. I just wanted to record how much more independent she's become in such a short time.

All of this goes to show me, yet again, that being a mommy is the most unpredictable job on this earth. If someone had told me 6 months ago that my baby wouldn't start sleeping through the night regularly until 5 months....well, I would have cried. And I did cry...many many times...But it's all been worth it to see her growing into her own independent person.