Needy Again

I spend almost all of each day, everyday, with Andrina. And that is the way I want it to be, until she is able to start an early-childhood school part time. As I have blogged numerous times before, she is very easy-going and therefore, usually quite easy to take care of. Although I have noticed a pattern in her behavior over the past few days. When I am in the kitchen in the evenings cooking dinner and therefore not focused on her, that is when she gets really needy and wants to be held. I'm not surprised by this. Well today she simply would not take "no" for an answer while I was trying to cook. So I pulled out a baby carrier and strapped her to my hip while I cooked. She was quite content to snuggle up against me and watch me cook.

Look at her face-Andrina is still a baby! I don't care if she is technically a toddler, I know her and she has way too much baby in her to really be considered a toddler yet.

The sling. I really didn't use a sling too much when Andrina was a younger baby. I also am very fortunate to have a cleaning service out here every week, so they do about 80% of the cleaning (not counting the everyday dishes and laundry which I've always done). And I only recently started cooking a lot so I never really needed to have Andrina in a sling while trying to get housework or cooking done. But now I see that this one attached to my hip may be getting a lot more use!

Of course Andrina wanted spice bottles that I was working with, so I gave her one to shake around while I cooked. Oh, and it is plastic, not glass.

I've also noticed a pattern in myself. Lately I've been cooking a lot. I've been making dinner about 3 to 4 days a week, which is a lot for me. As autumn came, my desire for homemade soups has increased with the colder weather. And since I am trying to save money in this awful recession (yes, it is a recession I don't care if the Bush Administration keeps denying it), I have been very conscientious shopping the sales at the grocery store. A few weeks ago there was a sale on Hamburger Helper-11 boxes for $10. And when I included the coupons that I clip every Sunday, it was even cheaper. So I have many boxes of Hamburger Helper and that's what dinner was tonight. Although I add vegetables to mine so it's healthier for everyone and Andrina will grow up with vegetables as the norm with every meal so she'll be less likely to shun them.

So Needy

Andrina was extremely needy today. And of course, it is on the day that Tom left for an out of town trip and I am all alone dealing with a needy baby/toddler. Andrina would not let me leave a room with out her today. Every time I started to go through a baby gate by myself, she started crying, then screaming. And these were the same, little things I do everyday that she is completely accustomed to. She was playing in the family room and I left to go into the utility room to get laundry out of the dryer. And if you know my house, you know that my utility room is about 3 feet from our family room. She cried and screamed like I was leaving her for good! And the entire time I'm talking to her, telling her I'll be right back. But she kept at it until I was back with her. I don't know how many times I had to pick up a tearful baby/toddler today because I had the nerve to leave her presence for a tiny amount of time.

And then there were the toddler temper-tantrums. Once today it was "no remote" and that brought one on. I walk away from Andrina when she throws a baby fit and that almost always makes the tantrum a short one. True to her babyness (is that a real word?), I walk away from her tantrum and she comes to me, arms up, wanting to be held. More needy baby/toddler.

But there is such sweetness in this neediness. My baby wants me badly and how much longer will this last? Not only is she growing up too fast, but soon she'll be ready to be anywhere but with a 'rent. So I try not to get upset and savor the tenderness behind it. When she abandons her temper tantrum to come to me, arms extended, I pick her up and cuddle her close. And she snuggles into me, sucking on her fingers. And she becomes all baby once again. A sweet baby needing her mommy. How can I not love that?

Toddler or Baby?

I know Andrina is technically a toddler but she sure seems like a baby still to me. Maybe I'll see more "toddler" in her in 3 or 4 months...

She's Definately A Toddler

Andrina is so not a baby anymore. When she was a baby, she would eat for me without any problems. She would feed herself only a few bites during any meal but she would eat everything I offered her. And I always offered her healthy and balanced meals. I made sure that she had fruits and vegetables with every meal, including breakfast, along with protein and with lunch, baby yogurt so she had protein and calcium. And Andrina would eat everything, even her vegetables which she seemed to love. Now most meals she eats about half the amount she used to or even less than that. Today at lunch, she would only eat about 4 bites of cereal with fruit and none of her green beans. And that was it. I knew she was still hungry but she would not feed herself and she would not let me feed her anymore either. So I gave up and an hour later, I put her back in her high chair (and she cried as soon as I did that) to offer her a toddler banana cookie and a sippy cup of milk. She would not eat any of the cookie and would not even take one sip of her milk. Then it was time for her nap and she was MAD! It took her over an hour to fall asleep. She would be quiet for 5 to 10 minutes then she make some angry crying noises, over and over for more than an hour. When she finally fell asleep, she slept for only 40 minutes but she did eat about half of what she usually would for dinner when she got up. And this time she ate about 2 ounces of the cereal with fruit and about 2 ounces of green beans. After she finished that, I offered her the same banana cookie that she rejected at lunch. She was in better spirits, waving the cookie around and smiling and babbling and then she finally took a bite of it. A real bite in wich part of it broke off in her mouth and she chewed it and swallowed it. After that she accepted one sip of milk, but that was it for her meal.

Aside from the huge change in her eating habits, Andrina is much more negative now (yes, totally normal and age-appropriate, I know). She is more forceful in displaying what she wants and does not want and will throw mini temper tantrums too where she will lay on her back and whine. And she is much more moody. One second she is withdrawing away from others, the next she is engaging me, smiling, and even clapping. Actually, she cries more now than she did as a newborn but the crying is much shorter lived, it just occurs with greater frequency. The two pictures below were taken no more than 30 seconds apart. In the first, she is withdrawing. I called her name, smiled, and talked excitedly to her and she then wanted to play and was back to her usual self, exploring and being happy, which is what I captured in the second picture.

Withdrawn and soothing herself. Something made Andrina upset.

Engaged, exploring and happy again!

Paperwork

Here's Andrina helping me with some paperwork this afternoon while I am on the computer!

Just Some Pictures

That I wanted to share!

Mommy and Andrina

Andrina and Ryan

Quasi-Lazy Summer Days

Today, yesterday, and Monday Tom and I have been hanging out in the pool with Andrina. She loves the water, which is not a surprise since I love the water and we are both water signs (Cancer). Yep, just hanging out, playing with the baby and grilling hot dogs. Ah, the good life.

Vying For Mommy's Attention

Andrina has not been letting me do any work on the computer. She starts to whine when my attention is not on her this afternoon. As soon as I give her my attention, she's as happy as can be. When I am focused on the computer, she starts to cry. I had to go physically put her in her crib so I could send eBay and paypal an email and do this. She really whined about it and just now settled down and is quiet. I'll go play with her now until her naptime to ease my Mommy Guilt.

She's Such A Good Baby...Or Do I Mean A Little Kid?

Tom and I had to go to the Home Depot today to buy stain for our deck, a new storm door for our back door and some lumber. Andrina come with and she was wonderful! Tom carried her around in the baby bjorn and we were all in there for about an hour and a half. Andrina was obviously getting tired and there were delays we were running into in there that Tom and I were getting a little impatient with but she was great. She is so happy that even when she was so tired she did not cry or get cranky in any way. She just sucked on her fingers and continued to smile at everyone who passed by that engaged her. She reminded me yet again of how incredibly lucky we are. Our daughter is so happy, healthy, beautiful, smart, and easy-going. Yep, this is just another of the many instances I say "thank you" for her.

Sock Wars

I think this picture speaks for itself!

Bathing Beauty

Wow, I have not blogged in about a week! Not that nothing has been going on, anything but! For 3 days last week there was a handyman over working on my very long list of jobs around the house to be done. Then I was out with Andrina visiting April, John, and Anne on Memorial Day too. But the real reason I have not been really blogging is I've been dealing with an "unpaid item dispute" on ebay. I sold some expensive diaper coupons and the buyer refused to pay for them. They were a newbie, giving me the run-a-round and I was checking my computer every day until about Wednesday or so to see if they paid. They didn't so I finally opened up the dispute and said to hell with it. I was not going to be wasting more time checking to see if they paid so I have not been on the computer since them. Besides, I was having fun swimming with my baby! My inbox was overflowing when I finally did log on today! And my blog has also suffered with all the busy work and ebay hassle.

But here's finally a post. Andrina and Anne from the pool on Memorial day and Andrina from 2 days ago in the pool.

Not the greatest shot but it's hard getting a tired toddler and a tired infant to sit still together for a picture!

Who Needs A Ball Pit At Chucky Cheese?

When you can get the same effect on an unmade bed-better yet if Daddy is still in it!

One Of My Favorite Things

Is when Andrina wants to be picked up and she lifts her arms up to me. I just love it! I love it how she tells me in this way she wants to be held or taken away from where she is. I'm sure I'll get to the point where it will happen all the time and my back will be killing me but for now, it's only a few times a day and I love it!

Say Cheese!

Smart Baby!

Every mom thinks her baby is either very smart or a genius. And I certainly fall in that catagory. Tonight after Andrina drank her before-bed bottle, she took the burp cloth off of my shoulder and wiped my mouth with it while laughing! Really laughing, like how an adult would laugh in response to a good stand-up comic. I was so impressed! I want to say that she knows that's what it is for and was playing a game with me (hence wiping my mouth instead of hers and the laughing while she was doing it). It is also noteworthy how happy and full of joy she was while playing this little game with me that she repeated several times, laughing each time!

Andrina and Teenie

Here's another pic and post about Andrina and our dog Teenie (who we always call Puggie but her official name is Teenie-when we adopted her and she already had that name).

I'm so happy to see my baby enjoying the doggie. And I love how great Teenie is with the baby. Teenie loves to lick Andrina's face and follows her around. And now that Andrina can crawl, she will crawl after Teenie. It is so cute! How perfect of a picture, a baby with her first friend-her doggie!

Fun In The Sun

Here's a picture from this afternoon when Andrina and I just hung around outside on a gorgeous day. I think she was studying some grass she pulled out of the ground. It's hard keeping her on the blanket!

We Love The Swings

Everyday when the weather is nice, I take Andrina to the park. She loves getting pushed in the baby swing and I love seeing her enjoying herself. What I really love about taking Andrina to the park though is how after she swings on the baby swing, I swing with her in my lap on the bigger swing. I absolutely love it. It is probably the best park of our daily routine together because I get to cuddle with Andrina. Andrina is more of an active, on-the-go baby than an inactive cuddly baby. So we both get what we need. Andrina sits on my lap facing me and I have my left arm around her while holding on to the swing with my right hand. We don't swing very high or fast of course. But she gets in more time on the swing and I get time to cuddle her close. It's so perfect on a beautiful day having my beautiful baby with me and us enjoying doing something together. It will be hard for me when she no longer fits on my lap like this anymore.

Worst Mealtime Ever!

Can you tell that Andrina was not happy?

My poor little Baby...

Today was not a good day for either of us. Andrina had such a horrible time at lunch. She usually does not care for cereal but today she really hated it! She fussed and hit the spoon throughout lunch today, in spite of me singing to her constantly to help keep her spirits up. Andrina would get food all over her hands and then she smeared it into her eyebrows and into the back of her head. She was just plain mad. So I decided after she had finished half of her bowl of cereal that she did not have to eat any more of it. All that was left was her vegetable and fruit (sweet potatoes and apples with blueberries, both of which she loves). Well, after she took a spoonful of sweet potatoes she started crying and then gagging and then she vomited up her entire lunch. Ugg!

Well that was it for lunch. She was not sick. The vomiting was from her being so upset (and I naively thought that she would be happy with sweet potatoes). So Andrina needed an early bath and then we went to the park where being pushed on the baby swing and cuddled up on Mommy's lap on the big swing made everything all better for her and me. I love swinging with Andrina on my lap. I'll have to post about that specifically soon.

Open and Shut

Tonight was an exciting night for me as a mom. Andrina was near her little playhouse and I opened up the door on it because I was going to put her in it to play. Well, she saw it first with the door shut and then I opened it. I got distracted and when I looked back, she had scooted herself closer to the door and closed it! I then watched her open it and close it several more times. She was quite amused by this and happy with her accomplishment. I, of course, was excited for her because I saw Andrina displaying problem solving behavior as she was opening the door. She was wedging her hand under and around different parts of the door, searching for the best way to open it. She discovered the easiest way to open the door was to get her hand under the door at the bottom right corner. She enjoyed opening and closing the door several times and I was glad the video camera was on the bookshelf so I got to get about 2 minutes of her enjoying playing with the door on her playhouse. So I got video of this and these still shots. Enjoy!

Look at you getting that door open!

Yea for Andrina!

And now you've shut it and you're going to open it again!

This lasted for about 5 minutes and then she played with her blocks, baby elephant, and turtle toys.