Mommy's & Daddy's Bedtime

So last night I really wanted to have Andrina spend the night in the family bed. Tom and I got ready for bed a few hours after Andrina's bedtime and I went into her room to check in on her. As soon as I opened the door, very quietly of course, she stood up, almost as if she never fell asleep. She told me "Momma cuddle" and I picked her up and cuddled her and brought her to bed between Tom and I. But sadly, it didn't work out. Tom and I both started to fall asleep several times but Andrina kept moving a lot and waking us up. It really didn't work out when she kicked Tom in the back with both feet! So after that we knew she needed to spend the rest of the night in her own crib.... crib, she's still in it. We don't know when we'll be ready to transition her to a toddler bed. That's another entry on its own.

Bedtime

After Andrina's usual bedtime routine of a bath, bottle of milk, books, and cuddling, I put her in her crib for the night. I told her I loved her, said good night, and rubbed her back while saying I would see her in the morning. She told me "no" and grabbed my arm and tried to cuddle with it! Andrina let me have my arm back and soon fell asleep but now I have that going through my mind and I really want to try to bring her to bed with Tom and I. I think when I check in on her at my bedtime, I'm going to try to bring her into bed with us. Hopefully it will work out.

"So Much"!

From today's conversation:
Me: "I love you"
Andrina" "so much!"

I fell in love with Andrina all over again with that exchange!

Brave Baby

Yesterday I took Andrina to the splash park again. The weather was not too warm but it was sunny and warm enough for a try since summer is pretty much over with and our weather has been so cold this season. Andrina had a blast! She wanted to play in both the sand and the sprinklers for the first time. Here's some pictures and some of her braving the cooler weather to splash but she didn't seem to mind at all! If we have anymore days that are even slightly warm and sunny while it's still open we'll have to go again this year since she loves it so much there.

Sci Tech

Andrina did not have school today and the weather was cool (like it has been all summer...bummer) so I took her to a science museum for kids this morning. We stayed about an hour. Most of it was too advanced for her but she was able to enjoy some exhibits. We probably won't go there again for several more years but here's one picture from today. Like most kids, Andrina likes dinosaurs!

Cherry Tomatoes

Our beefsteak tomato plant has been very disappointing. None of the fruits have taken on it. Whenever one starts to turn red, it quickly starts to rot on the vine. Only the cherry tomato plant has any success and unfortunately it's not too much. Today was our biggest harvest from it, 8 little cherry tomatoes in all. We've maybe had a dozen total so far. But we are getting something from it and Andrina really loves watering them so all in all it's been ok. Maybe next year the plants will do better.

1 to 10

I'm in the kitchen loading up the dishwasher while Andrina is watching one of her reading DVDs. On screen, they are showing the word "toes" then a picture of a baby's foot and explaining that we have 5 toes on each foot. They then count off the baby's toes. After they get to 5, I hear Andrina's little sing-song voice say, "6, 7, 8, 9, 10, yea!" So cute and now she can count to 10 too! And she just turned 25 months old today too! I'm so proud!

Her Own Jumper

Every day since Andrina's birthday party she has asked for a jumper. I would tell her no that it is gone so other kids could use it and then, being a smart kid, she'd ask for a "jumper please". So I broke down and after much searching this late in the season, found one of those small, personal ones for up to 2 kids at a time and bought it for her. Here's some pictures of her and her cousing Anne enjoying it!

Easing Some of my Mommy Guilt

When I was pregnant with Andrina, I always envisioned myself nursing her and co-sleeping with her. Partly because it would make middle of the night nursing easier and partly because there is such a tender notion of mommy & child sleeping together in the same bed. Well, reality hit and neither of those really worked out. I couldn't make enough milk for Andrina and had to pump and supplement with formula so much that I only nursed for 3 weeks. And I'm too restless of a sleeper to trust myself in bed with a newborn. But about the nursing. I cried and grieved that I could not give my baby my milk, that I was somehow depriving her and she would not be as strong and healthy and maybe not as intelligent because she had to drink formula instead of my breast milk. And it is something that has really bothered me for the past 2 years.

Well, Andrina had her 2-year-old well child visit yesterday. And I have the update on her growth. At birth, she was only 6 lbs, 6 ozs (14th percentile) and 18 inches (8th percentile). Now at 2 years old, she is 27 lbs (57th percentile) and 34 inches tall (66th percentile). Wow. Looking at the actual growth chart for her, it hits me that I have done a wonderful job nurturing my child. To go from the mere 8th percentile for height to the 66th! Amazing. And from the 14th percentile for weight to the 57th. Amazing again. No, I could not breast feed her but the formula certainly did not do any harm. In fact, I don't think her growth could have been any better with the breast milk. So for the first time in my life as a mom, I no longer feel guilty about that. My child is more than healthy. She is incredibly healthy and has made such improvements from how tiny she was as a newborn to how she is now. And I know all of the care and attention I've put into nurturing her is evident in so many other ways too. She can read 150+ words, knows 21+ body parts, can count to 9 and she's ONLY 2 years old! Wow. And most importantly, I've been able to form a strong bond with her and her with me. I think I get an A+ for the first 2 years of being a mom...