Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Season

The Christmas Season this year has been a total blur. I wonder if it will always feel like this or if some year I will get my feet under me a bit and get a grasp on all of the things I would LIKE to do for Christmas. Only time will tell.

Benjamin is old enough this year to start to really understand Christmas. Last year, he understood it enough to anticipate the presents, but thats about it. So now the question turns to how to teach him what Christmas is really about (which brings up the question for me of what Christmas really is to me and to us as a family, not an easy question to answer).

There was a few times verbally throughout the system where I talked about what Christmas is with Benjamin. I said something to the effect of "its about family, and giving to others. You get gifts, and you try to be kind to people and spread joy". Words do not get very far though with a 2 yr old (even a very verbal 2 yr old). I have not had time (or taken the time) to put those words into actions that show him what the season is about, until last night.

Last night we got home from running errands around 6:45 PM. After getting the baby fed, and dog walked, we wrapped presents with Ben. We asked him what he wanted to give Felicity. He said he thought Felicity would like baby things, so I asked him if he thought he had any toys or baby things he no longer uses that he could give her. I recommended his singing sea horse. It put him to bed for many months, and then one day the battery ran out, and we took it out of his crib for a week or two, and when I tried to put it back he didn't need it. He agreed right away. He said it was a baby thing and would be good for Felicity. I had him go get it, and we put it in a box and wrapped it up (with Felicity looking on of course! LOL). Then we had him wrap up some salt ornaments we made earlier this week - 2 for me and 1 for dad. It was pretty funny for us to be wrapping our own gifts, but I am really glad we did. I hope he enjoys giving us these packages tomorrow morning.

I have a whole list of things going for things I want to do differently for next Christmas season. Who knows what will happen. I think though that this is one thing I got right.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Felicity @ 2 Months (ok.. more like 2.5 months)

When I was little, my mom sang song to me "Don't you remember Amanda Christine, she was a lover Amanda Christine". Now, I am a mom, and I sing to my daughter - "Felicity Jane, that is your name, and I love you, because your my baby". Pass it down through the generations, unintentionally I guess.

During my pregnancy lots of people asked what her nickname would be. We said we were going to call her Felicity, and for the most part we have. I toyed with the nickname Lissy, bit it didn't stick. Frankly I cannot imagine her as Lissy now. The nicknames that we do use sometime are Miss Fliss (to match Mr. Benjamin), Fliss, Little Girl, and Baby Girl.

She is growing so fast. She drools a lot, we should use bibs but I am not in the habit because Ben never drooled much. She likes to kick her feet. She likes to grab things, fabric especially, and pull it up to her face. She is starting to grab/hold her pacifier though she can't really get it in her mouth right. We have started to put a taggie blanket (one with a rabbit head attached) on her lap for her to grab at. She likes TV. Typical second child, with Ben I religiously kept him away from the TV. It was relatively easy though, as long as he wasn't pointed right at it, he didn't watch it. Her, she will strain her neck any which way to watch some TV. We joke that she is especially fond of soccer.

She continues to grow. She does not fit into 0-3 month sleepers anymore, and a lot of the pants and onsies are starting to get short too. Its time to pull out the next size up, but I have not had time.

Her sleep is patchy. We have had a couple nights where she sleeps through the night (10pm-5:30am or so), but generally getting up once is the norm, and sometimes she still gets up 2 times. It just depends on the night.

Generally, she is content to be held by anyone, or sit in her chair on her own for a bit, but if she gets tired, she really wants mom. I can't say I object. When she snuggles into me and falls asleep its pretty
adorable.

My prior concerns about pumping/supply have not been an issue. I seem to be gaining on her (building a stash) rather than falling behind.

She likes singing and music. She is liable to smile if you sing a new song to her, particularly one with a funny sound or rhythm in it. She also likes it when you change her clothes, she laughs when you take off her shirt. I think she is probably pretty ticklish. She likes baths. She likes being held facing
out towards the world so she can see things.

Yep. Thats my Felicity update. At her 2m appointment she was 43rd percentile weight, 91st percentile height. That was back in mid November. We have not gotten a new weight or height since. Her next appointment is in January.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

No Time

Nearly a month ago I posted "A Kid Post", with the full intentions of posting, within 24-48 hrs, a companion post called "A Me Post". Ironically, the post (which I wrote only an intro paragraph for), was about how FULL my life is now - both busy and full of love.

But I did not ever finish it.

Now, Felicity is 2 months old (actually 2.5 months) and I have not posted a 2 month update for her, and I have not posted about my life being full. I have not posted about the wonderful Thanksgiving trip we took to St Louis. I have not posted about our parenting challenges with Benjamin's pirate obsession. I have not posted the cute and heart breaking stories of Benjamin's existential crises.

And ... I don't really have time to do any of those things tonight. But I am trying, I am trying really hard to get my feet under me. I know some people would say just don't feel bad about not blogging, just let that thing slide. The thing is, blogging is something I do mostly for ME, so I need to start it up again.

But right now I am going to go do the dishes, hold my daughter, and get to bed early enough to not be a zombie tomorrow.