Emotionally In Sync

This evening I went to the grocery store by myself while Tom stayed home with Andrina. A mom and her little girl, about 4 years old, walked into the store ahead of me and the little girl was telling her mom that they needed bread. It was very cute. She had brown hair like Andrina and I immediately thought that someday my daughter would be a little girl like that. It hit me so hard that Andrina will not be a baby forever that I almost started crying while getting my shopping cart! I mean, of course I KNOW that she won't be a baby forever. Every day she gets closer and closer to being a toddler, now that she's an older baby and not a newborn. And I wonder when did this happen? I've been with Andrina every day of her life and it seems impossible that she's not a tiny newborn any more. She's an older baby; rolling all over, getting on her hands and knees rocking back and forth, trying to crawl, sitting up on her own, preffering solid foods over her bottle. And then I remembered how only a few months ago she couldn't even hold up her own head and I can't understand when she did all this developing.

So there I was, almost crying in the grocery store over the fact that my baby will someday grow up. And I had no desire to cry in public so I pulled out my shopping list and coupons to find coupons for items on my list to distract myself.

Well, Andrina must have known how I was feeling because when I got home, she would not let me out of her sight without screaming! I was only gone about 2 hours (did other errands too) and for an hour of that time Andrina was taking a nap. But Tom insists that Andrina misses me when I'm not home (which is not very often-no more than an hour or two at a time a few days a week while I go to the gym or do errands, or get my hair or nails done-otherwise I'm home with Andrina or we are out together). So Andrina was screaming when she could not see me so I immediately went to her and took her out of her stationary entertainer. I firmly believe at her age that she is still so young that it is best to meet her needs as soon as possible. She is too young to understand that Mommy comes to her as soon as she cries and therefore will cry to get me. Her cognitive processes are just too immature for her to understand that she can influence other people's behavior and therefore take advantage of that. So as soon as Andrina saw that I was there, she was ok but I wanted to help put away groceries so I put Andrina in her sling and carried her around in that for about 30 minutes (I really don't use the sling very much, maybe once a week because I'm just always with her and I don't try to do housework and such while she's awake).

I am very happy that my baby and I are so attached to each other. I'm so blessed that I am able to enjoy her, be with her, take care of her, play with her, love and nurture her. I know I made the right decision to wait till my 30s to have her. I don't think I could appreciate my daughter and enjoy being a mom if I was still in my 20s. I am at the point in my life where I LOVE BEING A MOM! All the dirty diapers, spit up, lost sleep, hearing the same baby music, singing the same nursery rhymes, playing all the baby games and reading baby books to Andrina, I love it all. I'm able to look at her experiences through her perspective and can enjoy every new discovery and experience that Andrina has. And I believe that this is only going to get stronger with her development. I am a fan of Brazeleton but I don't agree with him when he says that the height of the parents' love affair with their child is at four months old. I think my love affair with Andrina peaked when she was roughly four months old but it has not declined. I am going to contine to enjoy my daughter and as she gets older and as she can do more things, we're going to enjoy them together. And I know that as she gets older she is going to become more of her own person and I will need to have even more patience with her. That is ok-that's just how life is and I am determined to have a very close relationship with her thoughout her life.

I decided to post some pictures from bathtime tonight too, even though they don't have anything to do with this blog's subject matter.

OMG-Andrina's the cutest, sweetest, happiest, most beautiful baby ever! Yes, I know that I gush... but as her mommy I'm allowed to!

You just keep getting stonger every day...

Awwww, my little Sweetie! I love you so much!

My Guilty Pleasure

I just read my sister's blog about her guilty pleasure-dvr recording of Lifetime movies. I like those too. There's almost always a good Lifetime movie on. If "cheesy" TV is a "guilty pleasure", then my guilty pleasure is the no-longer-made sitcom "Malcom in the Middle". It ran from 2000 to 2006. It's the one with the family with four then five boys where Malcom is a literal genius. Oh their poor mom (I always feel bad for Lois and have total empathy for her, even if she was a little crazy-but hey with 4 then 5 boys like that, who wouldn't be???). Reruns are on for an hour in the afternoons weekdays on the FX network and at 4pm and 5:30pm on the regular Fox channel. And I try to plan my trips to the gym so I'm on the eliptical glider or the treadmill while an episode is on. My gym is great, each piece of cardio equipment has it's own TV that you plug your own headphones into to watch and listen to. Oh, it'll be 5:30 soon, gotta get Tom to be with Andrina so I can go work out while I watch it!

Story Time

Andrina and I went to her first story time at our library today. It was for babies under a year old and there were 6 other babies there. Andrina was a little tired with it being at 9:30 in the morning and not being able to go back to sleep after her 8:00 am bottle. But she seemed to enjoy herself anyways. Hopefully, she'll be more awake for it next week.

"Toddler Toys"

Here's Andrina with a "Toddler Toy" (for kids under 3 years old) from a Burger King kids meal from 2001! Yes, that's right, I've had this toy for 7 years! I held on to it that long to give to my baby when I had one. And guess what, I have 19 more of them! They are different ones from McDonalds that I've had since 1996-11 years before my baby was born! I have not opened those ones yet, I'm going to open them and give them to Andrina one at a time. I liked this one best so I gave her this one first. I've held on to all of these toys for so long to give to her. It was a way I coped with having to wait to have a baby during that time. Every now and then I'd buy something for my "future" baby and put it aside for him/her. Now my baby gets to start playing with the toys!

Leaky Celing Irritation

At about 4:00 this morning, Tom noticed water leaking from this light fixture in our family room celing:

The leak and water damage are right underneath our bedroom, right under our bed actually. There is no plumbing in this area of the celing. It was leaking during the rain and stopped around 10:00 a.m. We looked out our bedroom window and it may have come from a loose gutter that we noticed (the gutter must have been damaged from the ice frozen in it) or the water is coming in from the chimney itself (the bricks are for the fireplace).

Here's more water damage on our celing:

And here's the entire area with water damage:

We had to move all our pictures off of the fireplace mantle and our wedding portrait too that hung above the mantle. Now they are all sitting on our dining room table (somehow, my dining room always ends up as a storage area...).

However, we don't appear to be the only ones this is happening to. I noticed our next door neighboor outside and staring up at his roof at 7:00 a.m. They must be having a leak problem too.

I don't even want to know how much it's going to cost to have our gutters, chimney, and roof inspected and repaired in February. Then there the cost, time and hassle of the whole project, including the celing repair. Oh, and our family room now has a funky odor emenating from it. Uggh!

She's Grown So Much...

This morning while I was playing with Andrina in her bumbo chair, our dog Teenie came into Andrina's room. Teenie loves Andrina and Andrina is facinated by Teenie. Teenie, being a dog, loves to sniff Andrina all over and lick her (I have to stop her from licking her face) and Andrina, being an alert and curious baby, loves to watch and touch Teenie. Lately, Andrina is especially enthralled with Teenie's name and rabies tags as then make noises. Today Andrina touched Teenie's face and head and started playing with her tags. It was very cute, of course. And it also made me realize, yet again, how much Andrina has grown. Here's a comparison:

Today-2/16/08- 7 months old

7/19/07 - 6 days old

Andrina weighs almost 10 pounds more and is almost 8 inches taller now. Wow.

A side note:

Dear Teenie,

Thank you for always being so gentle and patient with my precious baby. Thank you for letting her grab your fur and face, letting her pull on you, and overall, not being gentle with you. Thank you for your sweet nature and knowing that my baby is a baby and does not mean to hurt you. Thank you for letting her indulge her curiosity with you. Thank you for the sweetness and love you show Andrina. It's time for extra doggy treats for you.

Love, Shellie

Andrina's First Valentine's Day

Today is Andrina's first Valentine's Day. But it was a regular day as usual for us. Mommy and Baby played together, took naps, had milk and solid foods. But Andrina did get a special treat--Banana Pudding! She loved it! Here's some pictures of Andrina today, enjoy!

7 Months Old!

I can't believe that Andrina is 7 months old today! It seems like just yesterday she was a tiny newborn baby... But she's growing and developing so well. She is so sweet and beautiful. I am so in love with her. Okay, ok, I say that all the time but it's true! Here's a great picture:

Andrina is now 15 pounds, 11 ounces and 25 and 3/4 inches tall!

Happy 7 Month Birthday Sweet Love!

Babies Discovering Babies

Here's some really cute pictures of Andrina and Ryan "playing" together:

With Auntie Becca

And Andrina's trying to crawl

Still trying to crawl

Can you believe that Ryan is 6 weeks younger than Andrina?

Fun With Auntie Reenie

Here's Andrina and Auntie Reenie having fun together!

Such A Happy Baby!

I just have to post this picture. Andrina is so cute and happy! I LOVE HER SO MUCH! And she's even wearing a little headband with her little overalls!

Nap Time with Mommy

Andrina and I just got up from a nap together. She slept in my bed and I laid there with her. It was so wonderful. She slept like a little angel and I got to lay next to her and watch her. And listen to her suck on her fingers. And cuddle her. At one point she took her fingers out of her mouth and I caught the scent of apples on her breath from lunch today. For the past few days I've been aching for Andrina to sleep in our bed but it's so much better for her to sleep in her crib. She sleeps GREAT in her crib and babies need consistency. But I figured that one nap in our bed was fine and would not deter her from sleeping in her crib on a regular basis. And I'm too much of an active sleeper for co-sleeping. Unless I'm really tired I roll from one side to the other a few times before falling asleep. So I could not fall asleep with Andrina this afternoon but that was fine with me. I enjoyed the hour of just being with her while she napped. I'm so glad that I got to do that.