Baby J is ONE!

One week ago today my little lady baby turned one. She is one year old. How the fork did that happen?!? My sister also turned 29 (again) so October 18^th is a doubly special day. Is doubly even a word? It is today.

Sidenote: there is a dilemma to your kid and sister having the same birthday… Facebook. I updated my status with the prerequisite cheesy mama love post and made a mental note to write a second post later that day with all the cheesy love for my sister but then I got busy with work, rushed to get home to decorate the cake, made dinner, smothered baby J with love, did bedtime, cleaned up, passed out early… so basically life happened and I forgot. Not an excuse and I feel bad. I promise to make it up to her next year. On her third 29^th birthday.

For the big ONE birthday we obviously had to celebrate so we planned a party on the weekend with family and friends, and I also insisted on doing a smash cake. My friend and amazing photographer Kelly did me a favour and suggested we do it in the morning and not during the party. So smart. She also did me another huge favour and made the trip to our house TWICE (30+ minutes each way) to take the photos and then to attend the party.

It was an amazing party. I didn’t do all the decorating I wanted or make all the nibblies I had planned but it didn’t matter. Our house was filled with family and friends and I think everyone had a pretty great time, especially baby J who was loved on by everyone. I can’t wait to tell her about it one day.

The smash cake was the most stressful part for me. I ordered the onesie and the tutu, bought a little crown headband in Palm Springs back in February that of course I lost, had grand plans to make and decorate the cake thanks to Pinterest and sent my brother-in-law to wait for the party store to open because I forgot about balloons the night before. I baked the cake and chickened out on the decorating but thankfully my sister stepped up and it turned out beautifully. And then Kelly arrived to take pictures and when I saw them I literally caught my breath. I am in love with them.

As you can tell baby J hated having the cake all over her and wouldn’t even taste it. Not an icing fan.

That last one, that is my favourite picture of her ever and I want it on all of the things. And a massively huge more-than-words-can-actually-say THANK YOU to Kelly for one of the best gifts we could have ever dreamed of during baby J's first year of life. 

Happy Birthday little Lady, we love you to the moon and back.

Proof I'm Still Alive

So this is what it feels like to try and blog after months... I have no clue how to even start this post. But I guess I just did. I don.'the know why I stopped blogging although looking back it's obvious that I had nothing interesting to talk about except baby J's monthly stats. I guess I became one of those moms whose life became all about her kid. And it's hard for it not to when you're with your child 24/7 for a year... 

But last week that all changed. How you ask? Well...

1.       I went back to work. My maternity leave is officially over and I am back at work four days a week. I never thought I would come back less than full time but by the time she was 4 months old I was already dreaming of part-time hours. My ideal would be three days a but I need 32 hours a week to keep our benefits... because my hubby owns his own business it would be very expensive to get them. So four days it is and I'm grateful for even that. 

2.       Baby J started going to daycare four days a week. I alternate between this being easy and being super hard. It feels great when I drop her off and her teachers look genuinely happy to cuddle with her when we arrive, they hug and kiss on her like crazy. And the best part is that baby J smiles back. This is also one of the hardest parts - aren't those smiles supposed to be saved for me? 

3.       Daddy started doing daycare pickup and is on baby J duty until I get home (anywhere from 1 to 2 hours). Daddy got off really easy while mommy was at home on maternity leave so it's a big adjustment for him and it's going to take some practice but he needs to take on more responsibility. We're working on it. 

4.       We caught our first cold from daycare. And it kicked mommy's ass. Baby J got a cough and runny nose, and I got a fever, lost my voice, green phlegm, horrible cough... We're now on the mend although I'm told baby will have a runny nose until she starts kindergarten. Awesome. 

5.       And the biggest event of them all? My baby isn't a baby anymore. Baby J had her first birthday last week. We did all of the things: a smash cake, a party with family and friends on the weekend, and a little family party on her actual birthday. But that special occasion deserves its own post!

So that's life right now. Riveting isn't it?

I have missed this space and as of right now plan to spend a bit more time here (where else am I going to capture all our memories, a baby book? Haven't even written her name in it!) but no promises.

Baby J: 4 Months

Here I am again on the eve of my daughter's 5th month birthday and I haven't yet published her 4th month update. I do manage to feed and clothe her, I promise! I really don't know how life can fly by like this but I am already counting down the days when I have to leave her and go back to work... 7 more months and then my baby girl will be spending more of her days with someone else. 
I could really do with a lottery win right about now. Or I need to invent the next iPod. 

SLEEP: Not much new happening here but it's a routine (I use that term loosely) I can live with because Turtle sleeps through the night. Thank you baby, momma is soooo grateful!

SKILLS AND DEVELOPMENT: We continue to see Turtle learning new things all the time and her little face concentrates so hard, it's adorable. She is working on grasping objects and if she drops something, oh boy look out - baby gets so mad! But I think the best sound I have heard so far is her laugh - a deep belly laugh ending in a squeal - and so far we have only heard it when she is in mid-air. So my baby is a daredevil... pretty sure she gets that from her adrenaline junkie uncle and I hope it's a sign of things to come because I want my daughter to be fearless. I'm a wimp and I don't want that for her.

FAVOURITES: Can I just say that the jolly jumper is God's gift to moms?? I can get a solid 20-25 minutes of happy baby which is enough time to empty the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, change laundry loads AND make my hubby's lunches for the next two days. I LOVE IT!!! 

NOT SO FAVOURITES: 

• carseat = screaming
• tummy time = screaming
• putting lotion on after bathtime = screaming

At least I know when to know earplugs?

MY THOUGHTS: I literally love her more every single day. I am constantly in a mental battle where I want her to stop growing and stay small enough for me cuddle whenever I want, but then she reaches out to try and hold her bottle herself and I can't wait to see what she will learn next. 

Baby J: 3 Months

Turtle is going to be 4 months old tomorrow. This means, 1) I am the worst mom in the world because I can't even manage to post a couple paragraphs for a month, and 2) someone figured out how to speed up time. The logical part of me says to skip 3 months and just start fresh with 4 but the mom inside me feels way too guilty and I don't want my daughter to need therapy because I couldn't be bothered to talk about her spit bubbles (which she blows constantly btw). So here goes, let's give this memory a workout.

SLEEP: I really can't complain here because our little Turtle is sometimes sleeping through the night. The nights that she wakes up she has a bottle and goes right back down. We are working on her bedtime routine and start anywhere between 7 and 8pm, then it's bottle and bedtime. Just after she turned 3 (months) she really started to fight the swaddle so I got brave and tried a sleepsack. Some babies have a tough time transitioning but I'm not sure Turtle even realized the difference. So we're full on in a sleep sack now. I am also really digging our morning routine: daddy is a morning person so he is usually awake and gets baby, changes her diaper, feeds her and then plays with her until he has to get up and go. This means a bit more sleep for mommy and that means we all win.

Naps are a completely different story. Turtle still won't really nap and I think I need to give up the dream that she ever will. 

SKILLS AND DEVELOPMENT: My little baby is becoming a person! We have really started to see Turtle come into her personality and watching her discover everything is so amazing. I never thought I would be so excited to see someone grasp a toy in their hand. And she has found her voice! My mom got a motorized mobile for her crib and Turtle absolutely loves it, she lays underneath and 'talks' to the bugs as they 'fly' by. 

FAVORITES: Turtle completely flipped and now enjoys the mamaroo, plus I found the swing our friends have and she likes it too. She doesn't last a long time but she will actually chill for a good 15-20 minutes and we switch her between the two throughout the day. I do have to say though that her favourite is to be held facing out while you're standing. It's exhausting. She also loves the songs from our Mother Goose music class, specifically one called 'Roly Poly'. I sing it over and over with her in my lap and do the hand gestures and she is in heaven.

Daddy might be the biggest favorite. As soon as Turtle sees his face she breaks into a huge grin and gets so excited. They play and have conversations with each other and it's the most wonderful thing to see. She already has him wrapped tightly around finger.

NOT SO FAVORITES: Her car seat (an infant seat), entertaining herself (this just doesn't happen) and naps. 

MY THOUGHTS: I love being Turtle's mom. Yes I get tired and frustrated when she cries for the eighteenth time that day (we still have digestive issues but they are getting better) and look forward to her bedtime but every night I miss her. I sneak into her room and watch her sleep, tell her again how much I love her and marvel at how quickly she has grown in such a short time. She has changed so much recently and I am excited to see what 4 months brings us.