You're gonna miss this...

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast...

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this...

Why does time have to go so quickly...  I have two weeks left on maternity leave and I am dreading it with every fiber in my being.  I'm finally getting to know my little lady and I like our little daily routine.  

Right after I had Finn, I was ready to go back to work.  I really didn't have a great deal of knowledge about babies and I didn't know what to do when she cried.  Those first 3-4 weeks I was counting down the days until I could get a little bit of "my old life" back.  Now I'm hoping for the opposite.  I'm hoping that time will stand still, just a little bit longer so I can enjoy my girl.

Somewhere in the last 10 weeks, this crazy little lady has become my everything.  I can't imagine life without her.  In fact, I guess it's been almost 11 months since she has entered my life.  I found out I was pregnant on June 11th and it was then that my life became about preparing for her arrival.

Those 9 months of wondering... Would it be a boy or a girl?  Once we found out it was a girl, what would she look like?  Who would she resemble more?  How should I decorate her nursery?  What kind of personality was she going to have?  How will I survive having my life be all about her?

Now I can't imagine what my life was like before her.  I can't imagine not having her smiles and laughter in the morning.  I can't imagine not having her napping on my chest in the afternoon.  I can't imagine her not sitting with me as I read my book in the evening.

My life is forever changed in the most wonderful way.

E always jokes with me because I think that she is the cutest baby in the world.  I have told him that I think she looks like a Gerber baby, perfect in every way.  And it's stuck.  He always teases when she does something really cute, saying that she is definitely a Gerber baby.  He also teases when she is a fuss bucket, saying "Oh, I think that she is a definitely Gerber baby when she screams like this."

 

In the developmental front, Finn is almost 10 weeks old!  She'll be 10 weeks on Thursday.  She has now starting grabbing everything that is placed in her tiny little hands, mostly Mama's hair!  But I put her in her Pack 'N Play to change her this weekend and Lucy was laying in there.  I plopped Finn down and changed her.  She could feel Lucy's fur on her head and she started to stretch really big.

  

Her little arms started stretching high above her head, running her hand along Lucy's side.  And then she started grabbing the fur at Lucy's stomach!  Lucy just laid there, not even noticing the little hands pulling at her soft tummy fur.

Now all this softness in her hands made Finn really excited and she started dancing her little heart out!  With the Pack 'N Play floor still being at hip level, every high kick that Finn was doing was shaking the whole entire Pack 'N Play. 

All her intricate dance moves make playing in there a lot more fun for her because the shaking causes the toys dangling from above dance as well.  And hell, NO ONE likes to dance by themselves, am I right? 

Well, apparently Lucy wasn't in the dancing mood, because she got up and left after about 5 minutes of Finn's dance party of 1!

In other big news, Finn has her 2 month well-baby check this Friday!  So we will get to see how much she has grown in the last 6 weeks.  I'm not going to tell her that she is getting shots -- I'll let the doctor tell her that.

Today is also the day that I move all of her newborn clothes out and put her in 0-3 month clothes.  The girl is just getting WAY too long for any of her newborn clothes.  Even the pants that were fitting her are looking like high-waters!  Every time I would put on those pants, I always starting singing about how the Lord told Noah there's gonna be a flood.  Of course, there will be tears on my part, but knowing that my crazy lady is growing makes me very happy.  My boob juice is doing its job!

And the biggest news of all?!?!?!?  My mother, two of my aunts, and two of my cousins are coming this weekend for a visit!!!!!!  It'll be an all-girls weekend, save E.  Finn and I are really excited and will have a lot of photos to post on Monday!!!!

Our first laugh!

Houston, we have our first laugh!!! She first did it on Sunday and I wasn't sure if she was coughing or not.  But then she continued to do it that evening into Monday morning when I was trying to make her smile.

Listen carefully at the 17 second mark...

It is seriously the cutest thing EVAH'!  The lady is trying so hard to make her vocal chords work with her in laughing.  On Sunday, we even got our first squeal.  We was laying there, trying to laugh and out came this high-pitched noise.  The smile instantly faded off of her face, not knowing where that shrill sound came from, only to be replaced with a wide-mouthed grin once she realized that it came from her.  Oh, boy -- this one's going to be a wild one!

Today was also a big first...  Finn fell asleep for her nap by herself NOT laying on me and NOT swinging in her Mamaroo.

Sleeping angel

She isn't going to daycare for another 3.5 -- 4 months.  But this just proves my instinctual thinking.  

Baby girl just wasn't ready to nap on her own and she will when she is ready.  So I let her nap on me, enjoying every little breath, every puddle of drool that pools on my chest, every soft dreamy sigh...  I breath in the smell of her hair, that soft baby smell that will be changed by toddler smell (which I hear isn't as pleasant).  I watch her ever-growing eyelashes, lightly fluttering on her cheeks when she is dreaming, knowing my smell is enveloping her and calming her.  I touch her increasingly pudgy fingers, grasping at my shirt, knowing that my breathing is completely comforting her. 

And although photographs and videos will be wonderful reminders of how daily life is right now.  I'm trying to take mental snapshots of the sights, smells, and actions, knowing this isn't going to last forever.  I'm enjoying every single fleeting moment...

Hallelujah!

If I could attach a soundtrack to this post, it would Handel's Messiah...  So go ahead and click on the link in another tab because the clouds have parted and the angels started singing in the Murphy household...

Yesterday, Finn was able to spend a total of almost 3-4 hours not being held and being happy!!!!!  Stop for a moment and listen to the angels sing...  It sounds so melodious.

This new revelation was made possible courtesy of our Mamaroo...  THANK YOU, Mamaroo!!!!

 

The amazing Mamaroo

The Mamaroo is a motorized swing that supposedly moves more the way that you do when you bounce your baby, as opposed to conventional swings.  There are five different motions (directions it will move in, such as car-ride, kanagroo, tree swing, rock-a-bye, and ocean wave) which you can vary the speed on.  It also has five built-in nature soundtracks (running water, crickets, ocean waves, etc...).  You can also hook your iPod directly into it to play your favorite tunes for baby!

 

Finn isn't the keenest on her traditional swing.  I try it almost daily.  I can get about 5-10 minutes of her before she starts fussing, 15-20 if I run the vacuum in the same room as her.  So yesterday, I brought down the Mamaroo, figuring I might as well try everything (which I do on a daily basis -- we also tried her Bumbo seat -- not the biggest fan yet).  

Amazingly, it worked!  I put her on the car-ride setting, which is a up-and-down figure eight.  And I put on the ocean waves.  The girl was set!  She was quietly alert and looking around.  I could leave her line of vision without her having a panic attack, which is what usually happens.  

  In the matter of about 15 minutes, we went from this...

To this...

My friend, SaraBeth, stopped over so I could get some sewing done.  I am trying to sew up new outside cushions for our patio furniture.  Progress was made as I was able to get all the pillows sewn.  Now to tackle the seat cushions...  But SaraBeth started to read to her and the results were pretty amazing...

Seriously, does the cow really say that?

Aren't those pigs funny lookin' things...

 The girl was totally digging the book about farms.  Of course, she was!  She's got some Iowa blood running through her!  But it was amazing to see her follow the pictures and acknowledge SaraBeth's words as she read through the book.  The girl is getting way to big for her Mama to grasp...

I also took some time yetserday to bring the pets into the action.  I used to take hundreds of photos of my furry kids.  I think they started becoming depressed with the black box NOT being aimed their way...

Bishop was never one to actually like the camera.  She got one too many flashes in her face and turns her head every time the little black box is aimed at her.

Lucy is a new addition.  She is only six months old, but is a big lover of Finn all ready.  She will come up and lay next to her on my lap and purr and purr...

Munk has sadly acknowledged that this little human isn't going away.  And even though she is taking a lot of my time and attention away from him, he still begrudgingly gives Finn kisses if we ask him nicely.

Norm is the other new addition.  He is Lucy's brother, making him six months as well.  But he is a MONSTER.  He is bigger than Stella, my other cat (who is 9 and refused to have her photo taken yesterday).  But he is as gentle with Finn as Lucy.  In fact, he is a favorite pillow of Finn's.  Okay, okay, he is a favorite pillow of mine to put Finn's head on.

Happy 8 weeks old to my crazy lady!

 

8 weeks old

 

one week old

 

My crazy lady is 8 weeks old today.  And I'm sitting here wondering where the time has went already.  Our time with her has been everything that I have hope for and more.  There have also been a lot of surprises that I didn't anticipate.

At eight weeks old:

---Doing a very unscientific weighing (both E and I got on our crappy digital scale without her and then with her), Finn is weighing in at 11 pounds today!  She has gained almost 3.5 pounds in two months!

---Last night, she slept for 7 hours!  We went to bed a little late for us (10:30pm) and she woke up to eat at about 5:45am.  Currently we are having her sleep with us, which I think is what is leading to our great fortune in her long lengths of sleep.  I know that it will be changing in the near future, but right now, it is really easy to feed her in the middle of the night if she is laying right next to me.

---She definitely knows who her momma is and follows her as she walks around the room.  She recognizes both E's and my voice.

---She is mesmerized with bright colors and patterns.

---She won't nap longer than 5-10 minutes during the day unless she is either in my arms or sleeping on my chest.

 

Typical afternoon naps

---Surprisingly, she still fits into about 5 newborn sleepers, only outgrowing the others due to her length.  We are still completely in newborn sized onesies and pants.

---She is in newborn diapers.  We have tried to put her in size 1 diapers for about 2-3 days, but almost every time that she pooped, she would leak out of the diaper.  The newborn diapers are pretty tight around her legs due to her long torso, but fit fine around her tummy.

---Mommy is really excited that her eyelashes have grown out A LOT during the last 8 weeks.  She is going to have gorgeous long lashes (as every pretty little girl should have).

 Our morning ritual -- Finn eats while Mommy drinks coffee and catches up on the computer

---En & I have only gotten out once to dinner without her since her birth.  But we are going out on Saturday with 11 other local couples that have kids/babies.  Hoping to meet a lot of great new friends.

---But we have went out to dinner at least once, if not twice a week with her.

---Mornings are one of E's favorite times with her.  While I'm in the shower, he gets to be the soul recipient of all her waking-up smiles and laughs.

The only things that I'm hoping are going to change in the upcoming weeks are her distaste in car rides and my post-pregnancy weight (I only have 10 pounds to lose to pre-Finn weight & I also hope to have a little more energy to be able to get up in the morning and work-out.  I tried once this week to wake up at 5am -- it worked for a day, but I couldn't get up that early any other day this week.  Hopefully with her lengthening sleeping habits, I'll have more vim & vigor to get up and go!)

Everything else I just want to bottle up and keep her little like this forever...

You talkin' to me?

She has also started trying to have conversations with me!  It's the cutest thing.  I will sit with her and start talking to her.  Her mouth will start opening and closing and it really looks like she is straining to make her vocal chords work with her.  Sometimes little sounds (or big sounds) will come out and I'll respond to those and the dance repeats.  For someone who doesn't speak my language, her and I can have the most amazing talks.

"You talkin' to me?  Are YOU talkin' to me?"

"I see what you are trying to do there."

"Maybe if I open my mouth wide enough, sound will come out..."

"Ahhhh!"

 "That was pretty fun!  Let's do it again!"

Finn has also gotten her first cold.  And let me tell you, baby boogers are not cuter than adult boogers.  She doesn't mind the Blue Sucker From Hell (the booger bulb).  It does scare her sometimes if I don't prepare her for the suction.  Most of the time, I have a hell of a time sticking that thing in her nose.  For one, her nose is pretty damn teeny and the booger bulb isn't that small.  And for two, she is a mover and a shaker right now.  The girl won't stop kicking and swinging her arms, causing her head to move as well, which results in a possible stab or two in the eye with the booger bulb (I kid -- but it does cause near fatalities with the way that she swings her head).  The cold doesn't appear to stop her, so I just have a snotty kid right now.  Doesn't bother me.

She also is starting to developing a "witching hour" or three.  The girl doesn't like to nap during the day -- so afraid that she will miss something.  I can get her to go down for little cat naps, 5-15 minutes.  If I hold her, I can get 30-60 minutes out of her.  AND if she doesn't nap very well during the day -- it leads to Finn the Frightful in the early evening.  

We had such an evening last night.  She started fussing at about 6pm.  I fed her and she continued to fuss, which turned into crying, which turned into screaming.  I decided at 8:15pm that it was bath time, which she usually loves.  It all started out wonderful, but ended up with the fits.  It only ended at 9pm when I snuggled in bed with her and fed her.

Being that she will only nap past 15 minutes if I hold her, it leads to a very messy house.  When you have five hairy monsters running around the house and the warmer weather coming up, it leads to quite a bit of shed.  Now, I knew that my house was going to be messier as being a mom was going to take up most of my time.  I just didn't realize how much it was going to bother me that I lived in a mess(ier) house.  Now most people might not think that my house is a disaster because it doesn't look dirty -- just more cluttered as I'm pretty good at keeping up with the floors.  But it appears that I'm a really neat person and I just didn't know it because clutter bothers the shit out of me.  You learn something new about yourself every day!

In better news, we are back to breastfeeding au natural again!  Yeah!!!  So much easier now that we aren't using the shield.  But I have a question -- within the last week or so, she has begun to nurse and then about 10 minutes in, she will unlatch and then latch back on furiously.  This will continue for 5-10 minutes if I stay on that breast.  Is that her way of telling me that she is finished with that side?  I don't want to take her off of that side if she isn't finished because then she would miss out on the hind milk.  Any suggestions?

Shake, shake, shake...

Shake, shake, shake....

Shake your rattle!   Shake your rattle!

 

Video from previous post...

Make a face!

A late-night interaction with Daddy

In the latest development with little Miss Finn, she has decided that she does NOT like the car.  It's not even the car seat or being strapped into her car seat.  She fusses a little bit while in the house once placed in her car seat and strapped in.  And she will even sit in her carseat once we get home for a bit until I can get to take her out.  But the minute that back door closes on the car, it's ON!  She immediately starts wailing.  We have tried to take her out at least twice a week since we brought her home, so that she would get used to the car rides.  Apparently not.

Utterly adorable proof that it is NOT the car seat.

I've tried placing her in the base of the car seat slowly so there isn't a loud click.  I've tried closing the door lightly, so it doesn't scare her.  She has a mirror on the car rest so I can see her while driving -- I've tried taking that down, thinking the baby crying in the mirror might be scaring her.   I've tried singing, talking in my normal voice, talking in my lithely voice -- we've tried silence.  And once, I was able to soothe her with static white noise from the radio. I'm at my wits end.  Any suggestions that I haven't thought of?

Finn has learned to grab things that are placed in her hands (i.e. my hair in my last post).  Her new favorite is a rattle.  That little girl will dance and dance with a rattle in her hands.  She doesn't realize that it's her movements that are making the soft tingling of the rattle.  But boy, does she move!

 

Her eyes completely light up as evidenced in the photo above.  And that rattle ain't going NOWHERE once it's placed in her hands.

And I just realized that the rattle is color coordinated with her outfit, which I totally planned.  Okay, no, I didn't.  I only wish I had that kind of foresight.  It appears that when my brain left me during my pregnancy for its long deserved vacation, it has decided that it likes its place on the beach with an umbrella drink and isn't coming back to me anytime soon.  I mean, I know that I had some really dumb moments during pregnancy -- (i.e. when giving a percentage chance that something was going to happen, saying "It's something like 75-30") but I just can't comprehend complex things anymore.  I'm hoping to be smarter than Finn by the time that she is two -- when she is going to be trying to outsmart me to get her way.

I have the cutest video of her shaking her rattle, but I can't figure out how to upload two videos in the same post.  So I may have to make another post,  just to upload the video.

Finn was 7 weeks old yesterday and I decided to look back and see how much bigger she has gotten since we brought her home.  It seems like years ago that we brought her home, but then it seems just like yesterday.

Three days old

7 weeks old

Her outfits in the two photos are the same sizes.  She is definitely filling out her newborn clothes.  She isn't quite big enough for most of her 0-3 months clothes, but she is too long for most of her newborn sleepers.  So we have moved to onesies and pants.  We are also in-between sizes in her diapers.  The newborn diapers are too tight around her legs, leaving red marks where the elastic wraps around her legs.  But the size 1's are still a little too big.  The side sticky tabs actually touch in the middle in the size 1 diapers.  We have already had some messes while we were out and about, but what babies aren't messy!

My original intent was to switch to cloth diapers once she gets big enough to fit into the one-size diapers, but our daycare will not allow CDs.  So we'll probably CD at home and take disposables to daycare.  Another post on cloth diapering once she gets big enough and why I am choosing to cloth diaper.

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail!

Who doesn't love a semi-naked baby and bunny ears?  I couldn't resist!

The weather has gotten a little colder here in Cleveland.  This leads to colder hands and chiller naked babies.  I really wanted to get these photos, so I placed the portable heater about 5 feet away from the couch (it is currently plugged into the wall and I was too lazy to move the cord to a closer outlet) and waited.  And waited...  And waited...  Our living was too large to sufficiently heat up the area.  So Mama became speed photographer.  I think that I snapped about 70 photos in the span of about 2-3 minutes (it ain't hard, let me tell you!).

Our first Easter photo -- she wasn't too sure what I was trying to do.

The jig was up!  She knew what I wanted and she was going to throw a temper tantrum.

When she realized that crying was not going to stop the Mamarazzi, she did the only thing that she knew.

"I know the clicking WILL stop if she can't see my face!"

On to plan B...  Place cute baby on her back and start talking to her.  It was then realized that I should have started with plan B the whole time...  I caught what this lil' ole' Mama has decided is the cutest Easter photo on the face of the planet!

 "Oh, she wants me to be cute, huh?  How 'bout a little double chin?"

"With all the funny faces this crazy lady with a black box is making, I can't help but smile..."

"Aw, hell -- I ended up giving her a big belly laugh."

Our last week had been pretty excited.  

Finn and I went to our "Baby & Me" group for a new mother orientation.  We ended up meeting five ladies and their babies/toddlers.  All five mommies were really wonderful people!  Finn wasn't too impressed with these people -- she ended up sleeping for most of the hour & half.  I even met a mom who works on Main Campus at the Clinic and she was also on maternity leave after having her second child.  We are going to do lunch when I get back go work in May!  This "Baby & Me" group even has couples' night out!  E and I are planning on going as it's at a local brewery that we both really enjoy.  There were 9 couples RSVP'ed (not including ourselves) the last time I checked!  How wonderful!  It sounds like a great way to get out and meet some new friends!

Finn is also growing so much!  She is start to grasp at things -- mostly Mommy's hair.  I was getting ready to give her a bath on Sunday night.  Everything lined up, Finn was naked and I was placing her in her little tub.  She got frightened being lowered into the warm water and grabbed my pony tail in a death grip!  I didn't want to put her down quickly into the water, so I started yelling for E.  "E!  E, help me!!!"  He comes running, thinking something serious was wrong.  And started laughing when he was trying to release her super human hold on my hair.

Her favorite pose.

She is also developing a big preference in stretches.  We like to call it her Power-To-The-People stretch.  Her left arm goes straight over her head with her fist clenched.  And if she lowers her arm and you lift it right back up over her head, she starts the stretch all over again!  It's pretty darn hilarious.

Here's to hoping for warmer weather so we can get outside without bundling up!