Everyone needs a knitted friend

Once a upon a time a crafty mommy made her unborn baby girl a knitted friend…

At 15 weeks the baby girl decided that she loved the knitted friend and the two were not found far from eachother for many weeks to come…

At sixteen weeks…

At nineteen weeks…

At twenty-six weeks…

But then the knitted friend became decidedly uninteresting compared to toys with sounds, lights, rattles and moving parts. The knitted friend was often found at the bottom of the toy box and not played with for days and weeks on end.

The mommy became hopeful when she read in a child development book that around 12-18 months children take a renewed interest in dolls.

So then one day, just after her daughter’s first birthday, the mommy was overjoyed when the knitted friend was rescued from the bottom of the toy box and again became a constant companion. Her daughter carried the knitted friend with her to every activity, insisted on having her in her arms for diaper changes and even at nap and bedtime.

Today, at 56 weeks:

The end.

52 weeks in pictures.

Happy birthday to my sweet girl!

Week Fifty One

This should make up for the next 10 days or so…

I have so much to write about, I guess I’ll try and start from a beginning of sorts… my jam packed Labor Day weekend.

Friday afternoon Stephen got off work early and we packed up the van to head to Bakersfield. We barely made it in time for our hair cut appointments with our favorite hair guy.

Then we headed over to the Bakersfield Museum of Art for my best friend’s wedding rehearsal followed by dinner at the Bakersfield favorite, La Costa. We definitely got to sit at the cool table that night and met some really interesting people that were also in the wedding party. After that we went to Target for some random stuff like another sippy cup for Bean because I forgot to bring any with us. Then we finally got to Stephen’s parent’s house to crash for the night.

The next morning we hung out for a little while then went to the mall to get my friend a wedding gift. I am the queen of last minute things lately. Then back to the house so my sister could do my hair before I headed over to the museum. During this time Stephen’s mom was playing with Bean and threw out her back trying to be silly with her. Stephen dropped me off at the museum where I got ready with the bride and did the picture thing.

Oh and pretty crazy was the fact that my best friend had chosen the same dress I did for her wedding day that I had worn almost to the day six years ago (our anniversary was the next day). It was very surreal for me seeing her in the dress, especially on my anniversary.

Stephen came back dressed up with Jillian and the wedding started. The ceremony was beautiful and fun. We did more pictures then had some yummy food. Pretty much everyone in the room has some connection to the news industry and a couple of our newsie friends made an awesome “news story” video about the couple. Then they shared their first dance.

And just minutes after this photo was taken…

Bean went into total meltdown mode because it was about 2.5 hours past her bedtime. So we had to cut out of the wedding a little early.

The next day we got up bright and early to head to Sequoia National Forest to do a little “hiking” (the path was paved and very flat) on our anniversary.

The last time I visited Sequoia was about 15 years ago, but Stephen had never been. The place has completely changed since I was last there so it was very unfamiliar and a little disorienting to me because I can still visualize the old parking lot and visitor center which have all been ripped out to make things better for the environment. There were mobs of people in the park that day. We couldn’t even get a parking space over by the General Sherman Tree hike so we just headed out of the park.

We drove to Fresno to hang out with our good friends Paul and Brooke (both were in our wedding and it was Brooke’s birthday). They made us dinner and as usual our time with them flew by with great conversations about church, politics, life, careers, parenting and all kinds of other stuff. I so wish they lived closer again because that used to be a weekly to monthly occurance with them and I miss it so much! We drove back to Bakersfield late that night.

Monday we went out meet up with our renter and see our house before heading back home. We got everything unpacked, started laundry and then headed over to my sister-in-law’s house to work out details of what will be occupying the next 10 days…

Since my MIL threw her back out, she won’t be able to watch Bean’s cousins while their parents are in Norway. So we volunteered to take up that task. I’m actually kind of excited about it. Ruth is quite the extraordinary planner and as such watching her girls will be busy, but organized and full of fun. 🙂

Anyway, I doubt I’ll be posting much (or maybe I will, who knows) and wanted to explain my absence before dropping off the the radar.

Oh and a couple more things…

I am still slowly working on the boy blanket for my sister’s friend. I’ve got all the knitting done, just sewing the panels together now and then on to the backing and border…

I totally love it and might be tempted to keep it for our baby boy. 🙂

Also, Bean will be 50 weeks old tomorrow…

Her appetite is still ridiculous and as such she has decided that the snack trap is her new BFF. She is very posessive of the snack trap, so even when I take it away to refill it, this is what happens:

Dropping the morning feeding has made things so much better around here. I’m still dealing with biting, but not nearly as much. So I’m debating whether to drop another feeding this week or just keep working on the biting issue with the ones that remain.

She’s also getting a little braver with walking. Last night she took a few steps without even being coaxed to do so! She also seems to prefer it, at least while holding on to stuff for now, over crawling the last couple days. So I know she’s right on the cusp of being a full time walker.

Anyway, that about sums things up.

Week Forty Nine (a day early)

So two big things in the world of Bean this week.

First, and most exciting is that she’s walking! Well… sorta. She still has to be coaxed to do it and the most she’s gone is maybe five steps, but she’s getting there. She’s been walking around the house using us or furniture for stabilization for a few months now, but she had no interest in trying to take any steps without holding on. Well Friday night, my brother-in-law brought over Bean’s cousins and I think seeing them running around just inspired her because she randomly took two steps that night without any coaxing. Since then I’ve been trying to practice a little each day. Having a toy she wants really helps.

And this is definitely one moment that I wish I still had video capabilities because pictures don’t quite do it justice, but here they are in a pretty lame slideshow anyway:

The other thing that is going on is a bit controversial I guess, but that’s to be expected with me, right? For the past, I don’t know, two months or so Bean has been biting me like crazy during nursing. Well, actually we’ve always had a problem with this, but she’s got teeth now and so it REALLY is an issue. I have seriously tried everything from giving her teething medicine prior to nursing, giving her a teething ring to chew on when she bites, the pulling her in trick so she can’t breathe and has to open her mouth, flicking, breaking suction, breaking suction and saying, “no bite” and placing her on the floor to cry a bit, etc. Basically, if there is a tip on the Internet for what what to do about this, I’ve read about it and tried it. I guess the most effective thing has been the last one I mentioned, but even then it’s like I can’t get through a single nursing session anymore without some serious teeth marks! I know she’s definitely still interested in nursing, but I just really can’t deal with the biting anymore. It’s far too painful and frustrating.

So, I’ve decided to start the weaning process (well technically I know that the weaning process starts the day you give them any kind of nourishment other than breastmilk). I’m going to go slow. I’ve already had her down to 4-5 sessions a day for some time now (morning, before both naps, sometimes an extra snack in the afternoon, and bedtime). The worst one at this point is always first thing in the morning. I think she’s so hungry that she just doesn’t quite know how to control herself. And it definitely isn’t a particularly great way for us to start our day. Today that was the first feed to go and then I’m just going to eliminate one session a week over the next month. The next one will probably be bedtime because that is the second worse for the biting incidents. I really feel very emotional about the whole thing. This certainly isn’t how I pictured things ending or even when I pictured things ending, but it is what it is. Bean really didn’t seem to mind though that she had Joe’s Os and yogurt for breakfast instead of breastmilk, so I guess that’s a good thing. She hasn’t been extra clingy or anything like that, but it is only the first day. So we’ll see how it goes…

Week Forty Eight

Nothing really new to report except that Bean eats like crazy lately. For example this morning for breakfast she nursed for 20 minutes. Then she had a bowl of cereal and fruit as big as mine. Then she had an 8oz sippy of diluted juice. This has been going on the last month or so.

Last night during dinner Bean started laughing hysterically. We couldn’t figure out what she thought was so funny. She just kept laughing and laughing and we were trying not to look at her, or eachother and laugh more because that would make her laugh even more. We didn’t want to keep encouraging all this crazy laughter because we don’t want her to laugh a bunch and then choke on her food. We still don’t know what it was all about, but it was quite fun.

Week Forty Seven (a day late)

Week Forty Six

* Quick unrelated note: If you missed the Facebook announcement last night, I took down yesterday’s post because I didn’t really want people to start stuff on here. A couple people sent me some good research/information, but most of what I got was personal stories and opinions which wasn’t what I was really looking for and which I knew could potentially turn into a train wreck among my friends. So in an attempt to avoid that I deleted all references to the issue put out by me. If you still want to send me something privately, feel free to do so, but I don’t want my blog or my Facebook page to turn into a war zone. Thanks. 🙂

Bean is 46 weeks old today. I don’t know why, but it always seems like Wednesdays are her hardest days around here and that’s when I usually write and then it ends up sounding like I’m always complaining about how hard she is being or cranky or whatever. Before sitting down to write about each week’s milestones and things I want to remember, I think of stuff throughout the week that would be good to write about. Then Wednesday comes and she starts being cranky and I forget all about it. So I need to remedy this. I am thinking that maybe I’ll try to either physically write down the stuff I think of in a journal or keep an open draft post on here to jot down little things into so that every week doesn’t sound so negative! Because really, my life with Bean isn’t that hard and she can be quite cute, joyous and chipper most of the time. Everyone who’s ever watched her says she’s one of the easiest babies to deal with and probably thinks I am up-the-wall-crazy with all the complaining I do on here. Besides I don’t want to just remember negative stuff. So that needs to end.

Today has so far been another one of those days, but I do remember one thing I wanted to mention… words! Bean says the following:
• Papa: There are different inflections and tones that she uses when she says it, but mostly it is Pa!Pa! in a kind of high pitched cheery voice. When she hears the key in the front door she says it. When I’m changing her diaper she’ll arch her back to look out her bedroom door and say it as if she’s expecting him to walk through any minute and entertain her (which he usually does when he’s home). She’ll say it as I’m taking her up for bed at night. And sometimes she’ll say it during the day and proceed to look around the house or at the front door for him. She LOVES her Papa.
• Mama: This one is mainly only said when she is in tears and needs to be comforted or when she’s hungry.
• Nuh Nuh Nuh: I don’t really think this is a word or that it has meaning, but she starts doing it over and over and over again when she’s getting tired in a very husky voice. She’ll wander around the room aimlessly saying it or she’ll come up to the couch or chair where one of us is sitting, rest her head on the cushion and say it.
• Yeah: More like, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” Ask her any question and if she isn’t feeling shy the answer is almost always, “Yeah!” Sometimes she says it just once really loud, other times she’ll say it in a whisper several times. If she doesn’t wake up fussing from a nap, usually my clue that she’s up is a pretty loud, “Yeah!” from her room upstairs.
• Oh: This one is new this week. She mostly uses it when she’s playing with toys, but occasionally she’ll combine it with, “yeah,” for an “oh yeah.”
• Oooo: This is also new this week. When something is really interesting she says it, like when Papa holds her up to watch Mama cooking.
• Mmmm: During solid mealtimes she’ll say this. I think mostly because we try to say it to her to encourage her when she’s eating or trying new foods. But sometimes she doesn’t even have to have food in her mouth to go, “Mmmm.”

I realize the fact that she’s chewing on/playing with wetbags may be kind of gross. I realized this after I took the picture of course, but I loved her facial expression here and couldn’t get rid of it. These did just get washed and haven’t been in contact with any soiled diapers. So it really isn’t gross. Just the same, I took them away from her, folded them and put them up in the changing table where they belong shortly after this photo.

Here she was telling me a big story all about something. Not sure what she was saying. She was also having fun removing dirty clothes from the hamper. Taking things out of boxes, baskets, etc is one of her favorite things to do right now.

The story continues… but this time I am thinking it has something to do with her rocking horse.

This and the shot above were taken literally within seconds. And that is when I realized, after several similar breakdowns throughout the morning over very silly stuff, that even though it was only 9am it was definitely time for a nap.

Week Forty Five

The old camera will have to do… I couldn’t pass up documenting this moment:

Week Forty Four