The one that isn't invited to the table...

Please forgive the fuzzies from her socks.  I like it because it makes her look dirty.  Everyone loves a dirty baby.

So, E and I were sitting at the table, while Finn was in her Mamaroo.  I started staring at her toes, her cute little piggies that went to market.  I realized that her fourth toe isn't in line with her other toes.  I started telling E that I hoped that she would be able to wear the cute high-heels (if they are still in style when she gets of the proper age) without suffering too much for fashion.  E thought that I might be over-exaggerating about the exclusion of the fourth toe.  And I told him "No, seriously.  That fourth toe isn't invited to the table."  E started laughing really hard and had to come over and look.  True enough.  That is also the little piggy that had none.  Coincidence?  I think not.  

So we had her four month doctor's appointment  on Wednesday evening (even though she will be five months next week).  She is as healthy as a horse.  Finn weighed in at 15.5 pounds, which is in the 75th percentile.  She is also 26 inches long, which is in the 90th percentile.  As you can see above, she was really digging the sanitary paper on the table.  Dancing machine!

And Sophie makes her blog-torial debut...

We also got the green light to start on rice cereal.  With E being out of town until Sunday, we are going to start the cereal on Sunday.  We want Daddy to be there to either do the feeding or be the documentarian.  Which one will be his call?  Do you think that he'll want to get in there and get dirty?  Or just let Mama handle the food a'flyin'?

The doctor said that she didn't feel any teeth.  She said that babies can have the symptoms of teething months before their teeth actual arrive.  If I have to put up with all this drooling for months, I'm going to have to invest in some serious bibs.  We are going through about 3-4 a day.  I feel bad when they are so wet that her shirt & chest get wet -- no I'm not talking damp, I'm talking full-blown sopping WET.  I would also like to make some cute one with different patterns.  All the bibs that you find in the stores are too baby for me.  And the cute ones that you find on the internet are too fricking expensive.  Who wants to spend $8 on a cute piece of cloth that my baby is going to snot and throw up on?  Not I, said the sea captain to the sailor.

The doctor also mentioned that it wasn't uncommon for bigger babies to not roll over as soon.  I proudly told her that she rolled over once, but never again.  She said that smaller babies usually master this a lot quicker because there is less mass to move.  I'm not in as much of a hurry as I was to have her roll over.  I've seen videos of babies that simply roll all over the room.  That means motility.  We're good for now.

Of course, this is the wrong WB -- Mama is gonna cheat & is buying a different program for editing so she can fix her WBs.

And the doctor also told me that breastfed babies tend to sleep through the night a lot later than babies fed on formula.  So in other words, her still waking up at 2:00am-4:00am is perfectly normal for a breastfed baby, much to her daddy's chagrin.  The doctor said that everything looked beautiful and that we should come back at 6 months.  Then the nurse came in to give her an oral vaccine and two shots.  Sister did fabulously for her oral vaccine.  She was sucking it down before the end of the tube.  Then we got to the two shots, one in each leg.  The first shot caused her to cry, but I was surprised that she wasn't screaming.  I remember myself crying during her first vaccination because she was screaming so loud.  I thought we were out of the woods.  Oh, no, never think you are out of the woods until you can see the sunshine & the sky.  Because that second shot, well -- with the way that she screamed, you would have thought that the needle was the size of a pencil.  I got her to calm down fairly easy when it was over -- but girlfriend was NOT going to smile at the nurse anymore.

I also realized this past weekend that Finn has poor E's baby's ears.  They stick out like airplane wings.  I think that they are adorable -- but now can't pay attention to anything else.  Go ahead, go back to older posts where she is just sitting facing the camera.  You'll notice what I'm talking about and then that's all you'll notice.  I still think she is just perfect, though...  As the country song goes (with a name change, of course), "Finn is as pretty as the angels when they sing.  I can't believe I'm out here on the front porch in the swing -- just a'swingin'..."

Quiet riot

 

Our weekend was a quiet one, a very quiet one.  Friday evening, we went to a local church festival.  And on Saturday, Finn and I didn't leave the house until 8:00pm to grab something to eat with E at a local bar.  Sunday was spent buying diapers, groceries, & finding a mom-and-pop ice cream shop.

Our weekends now have taken on a slower pace and aren't driven by the places that we went as they used to be.  Now they are driven by babywearin' barefoot walks around the neighborhood (there's just something about walking around barefoot I absolutely crave), country singing' swinging on our little tree swing that E hung for her, and just "bein' lazy".  I know this stage isn't going to last forever and soon, she will be moving faster than I can to currently imagine.  So I try to live in the moment as much as possible.  I spoke with my brother who's baby boy is 5 months older than Finn.  His advice -- "You can wish that she is crawlin' all you want, but the minute she starts crawlin' you are goin' wish that she wasn't."  I'm trying to take his advice to heart and not wish her bigger.

 

I swear she had on a clean diaper when she fell asleep!  Sister is a wetting machine...

  

  

Munk standing guard during nap time

Girlfriend has a doctor's appointment tomorrow evening.  She'll be getting lots of shots, I think -- so that will be fun.  But I'm excited to see her official weight and measurement at 19 weeks (which she'll be on Thursday).  I had a terrible dream earlier this week that the doctor told me that she only weighed 9 pounds and that she had actually lost weight!  I'm also going to speak to the doctor about starting Finn on food.  I don't think that I'm ready for it, but she is.  She has taken a big interest in our food lately -- completely amazed as we put this stuff in our mouths and it doesn't come back out!

 

We tried some music education this past weekend

 

She couldn't give a shit.

Her little arms weren't quite long enough to reach the keys.  Soon our little Mozart will be playing...

I also have a suspicion that lady is starting to get teeth.  The girl is seriously drooling (as she has been for the past 6 weeks, but it has intensified in the last two weeks or so).  For the last week or so, she is no longer the easy sleeper that she was.  She is harder to put down for naps and to sleep at night.  She is not crying, simply put, she is irritable.  But her irritability calms when I put my finger in her mouth and rub against the bottom gum.  And the girl is seriously biting!  There is no more sucking on items placed in her mouth, she is biting.  When I stick my finger in her mouth to feel her lower gums for teeth stubs, she starts chomping away on my finger.  Her new BFF is Sophie, the French Giraffe.  Sophie is made of mat rubber, which is really easy for her to grab and hold onto even when it is covered in baby drool.  I also think the material that it is made out of feels good on her gums with the way that she aggressively shoves it in her mouth and gnaws on it.  It also has a low squeaker in it (which drives the dogs crazy) that she gets super excited to squeak.

Coming soon!

I have the next post (about last weekend) all ready to go -- I just gotta get the photos inserted.  I'm hoping to do that tonight.  We have had a very rough week.  Everyone in our household is fine, but please, please, please hug those close to you today.  Tell them that you love them.  You never know when one of them will be gone...

Sweet dreams, little one... Sweet dreams...

You are one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, especially when you are sleeping.  I'm not lying when I tell you that I could sit and watch you sleep for hours; studying your features, hoping to sear the image of the eyelashes sweeping the tops of those chubby cheeks and pouty lips into my memory.  When you are sleeping, I catch myself unknowingly kissing your temple, inhaling your soft baby scent.  You have a vein the runs along your right temple and every time I look at it, I think "I made that -- my body made that."

As you dream sweet dreams of sugar, spice, & everything nice, I have dreams for you as your Mama.  I hope that you grow into someone who appreciates the little things in life -- the way that it smells after it rains, the taste of the first cherries of summer, the sounds of melodies that bring back sweet memories, the feel of the soft fur on the ears of your best friend whose tail wags violently whenever he sees you.  Most of my dreams for you are those that I'm sure every Mother wishes for their child.  When I started thinking about those individual dreams, one theme kept recurring...  I'm the one that is going to make those dreams come true.  I'm the one that is going to teach you right from wrong.  I'm going to be the one that gives you the self-confidence to love yourself.  I'm the one that's going to be there to help make you a stronger, more independent woman through those break-ups that are bound to happen (and I'm going to be utterly confused by those boys that break your heart because I can't understand someone who can't love the beautifulness that is you).  So instead of having dreams for you as your Mama, I have dreams for myself as your Mama.

I hope that I have the patience to understand your feelings when you are upset about something.  I may not agree with your reasoning for pitching a fit, but I hope that I am able to place myself in your shoes to understand.  It most likely won't change my actions, but it will hopefully change my approach.

I hope that I remember to make the most of the little moments and don't get too caught up in the shuffle of life.  Some of the best memories are made on the ordinary days where you are simply present.  And I hope that I am living in the moment as often as possible.  I hope that I can leave my work day at the door when I get home.  In the grand scheme of life, work isn't important, but you are.

I hope that I make the ordinary special.  It is so easy to get into a routine and not realize that months have passed in the blink of an eye.  I hope to have picnics at the lake for dinner instead of sitting around the dinner table.  I hope to sit outside on a blanket with little tea candles lit while you run around the yard chasing fireflies.  I hope we wear the good dresses to go out grocery shopping just because we want to feel fancy.  I hope to take moonlight walks during the hot summer months with Sinatra belting out the lyrics to Moon River.  I hope we wake up early on the weekends (sometimes) to feel the dew in between our toes.

I hope that I don't give you everything.  I know my natural tendency is to give you the world.  Of course, I will make sure that you have absolutely everything that is essential, but you don't need every superfluous thing that your heart desires.  It will make you more grateful for what you do have.  When the time comes that you turn 16, I hope I remember the feeling I had when I got my first job and started earning my own money.  I want you to have the same feeling.  Nothing great comes without hard work.

Speaking of gratitude, I hope that I remember every day to be grateful for all that I have in my life, especially you.  Things may not be going exactly the way that I had envisioned them, but I hope I can step back and look at all the beautiful things that are present and truly be grateful for them.

I hope that I am able to attend every parent-teacher conference, every class party, every Halloween parade, every dance/cheedleading event or sport event.  My parents NEVER missed a function for me.  Even when I was a cheerleader, they attended EVERY game, even the away games.  And at the time, I used to get upset because I couldn't ride the bus home as I would leave the games with my parents.  But looking back, I'm glad that they were at every single game.  I know they cared and supported me.  They truly were my biggest fans.  I want that for you.

I hope that we dance all the fricking time!  I hope that we open the windows and turn up the stereo and dance barefoot in the grass with our skirts twirling in the fading sunlight.  I hope we dance in the kitchen while we are cooking dinner with our pretend microphones, singing at the top of our lungs.  I hope we dance in the middle of a store if the overhead speakers start playing a tune that makes you want to scream "I just gotta dance!" (That, my dear, has already happened and Mommy got quite some looks, mostly from your daddy.)

Most importantly, I hope that I do right by you.  I hope that you look back on your childhood and want to be the type of mother that I was to you -- that will be my biggest testament that I did the absolute best that I could.

Lord, I was born a ramblin' (wo)man

Look at that beauty there.  Perfect in every way, even with the spit bubbles on her chin.  I expected the "She is so cute!" responses when people see her as that's the natural response (even if the baby isn't all that cute).  But the one response that I didn't anticipate was how many people told me upon telling me how beautiful she is follow it up with "you need to have more babies".  I definitely want another -- E is more hesitant than I.  That's usually how our relationship works -- I'm pretty impulsive and E thinks more logically.  Hell, I actually started talking about having another three days after she was born.  

But before we could even consider thinking about another, we would need to find more affordable childcare as we couldn't afford $2,000 a month for daycare.  I didn't anticipate how expensive childcare is here in Cleveland.  The daycare that we currently have her enrolled in for September is going to cost us $1,000 a month.  It's right across the street from campus.  We've been told recently by multiple sources that they overcharge because they know they have a monopoly on the doctors' children being so close.  I currently have someone here at the Clinic looking into child care closer to home, something a little more cost effective.  

I was going to photoshop out the drool on her chest -- but as disgusting as it sounds, I think it's kind of cute.

On sleeping:  Just when I started to think that we were making huge progress in the transition, we were hit with a roadblock!  Lady was doing wonderful until about 3 days ago.  We have fallen into a beautiful routine, one that I actual look forward to each evening.  Between 8:30pm-9:00pm, we move upside to our bedroom where I feed her in our bed.  She is usually really sleepy by the time that she is finished.  Her & I move into her room and I turn on her Sound Soother (Surf's Up is our current favorite) and we rock while I sing (probably not very well) "Moon River" or "Blackbird".  After about 5-10 minutes, I move her to the crib and down she goes.  If she isn't fully asleep, I immediately depart and sister falls asleep within a minute or so.  She started waking up at midnight, then pushed it to 2am, then 3:30am and finally 4:20am!  

But the last 3 nights, she has been up before midnight.  On Monday night, she didn't want to be put down.  I got her into her crib and she woke up 15 minutes later.  I tried to put her back to sleep -- I was swaying my way to her crib and she would be asleep in my arms and fuss for 2 seconds waking herself up, rinse & repeat.  I eventually just put her down with me in our bed.  But she was NOT a good sleeper last night.  She was up at least 4 times with full blown crying.  It's very  unusual for her to cry at all during the night -- lady is usually a fusser, not a cryer.  Last night was a little better.  Definitely not crying in the middle of the night -- a little fussy and definitely wanted her mama.

Dancing machine:  We have a dancing queen on our hands!  When the music comes on, Finn will kick her legs like crazy.  If she is in her Kickin' Coaster, she "jumps" and kicks.  Of course, Mama makes a fool of herself dancing and singing for her.  E walked in on one of our dance recitals and wanted to know what exactly was I teaching her from "Mo' Money Mo' Problems".  I was teaching how to throw her 'Rolly in the sky and wave it side to side!

In a fit of giggles:  We almost have the giggles.  When I have a ponytail in, I'll take the tips of my hair and brush them across her face & chin.  We get a "he he" or a "he he he" -- but no fit of giggles yet.  It's a coming!  This also means that sister is just starting to get ticklish, which is going to be super fun.

Chat stew:  The squeals and squawks are getting less.  Oh, they still happen and they still happen a lot, but now they are slowly being replaced with goo's and gaa's.  I still love those squeals when they come along and I try to make them come as much as possible.  But pretty soon we are going to have a babbling baby on our hands.

Sophie, Je t'aime:  Yesterday, I introduced Sophie, the French teething giraffe to Finn.  Let's just say they became real quick friends -- besties, in fact!  Finn likes that she can grab Sophie's legs and hold on while she sticks Sophie's neck in her mouth.  And Sophie's texture is matted rubber, which allows her better grip.  Now if we can just keep Sophie out of the mouth of the beasts.

Growin' like a weed:  Last weekend, we bought our first set of size 2 diapers.  We need to run through all our size 1's before we swap -- but we are definitely ready for a bigger size.  And I'm already having to pack up some of her 0-3 month clothes, we will be moving into 3-6 before you know it.  We have her 4 month doctor's appointment (although she is going to be one week shy of her fifth month by then) -- so I'm excited to see what her exact weight and length is.

Baby Rolls:  So, she hasn't rolled again since her initial roll over a week and half ago.  I think the stars aligned just right, so I could be home to see it first.  But she doesn't realize that is what we want her to do.  But on a brighter note, she enjoys tummy time now.  Last night was the first night that she supported herself with her arms!


I have the most beautiful photos of her that I'm going to post later this week -- trying to write the perfect words to go along with them.  So make sure to check back by Friday for them!

Pappa's got a brand new bag

Where did the weekend go?  Holy crap it seemed like it was just Friday!  In lieu of it being Father's Day yesterday, I'm featuring photos of E & Finn.  We had a fairly low-key weekend.  I was on a mission, though.  And it all goes back to the previous weekend.  We were thrifting (shopping at thrift stores) last weekend and I came across a sofa that was sturdy and had great lines.  It was $50, but this thrift store has half-price Mondays, which would make it $25.  Why do we need a sofa when we already have two in the living room you ask?  

Well, the two are a matching set.  One has a chaise on the end of it and the other is a sleeper sofa.  Another important key is that both are off-white micro-fiber.  Did I tell you that we have two dogs and three cats?  Whichever of the matching set is located under the windows in our living room is usually haired-up to the max (okay, totally made that up).  I do put slip covers on both sofas, but I have a dog who thinks that he is a mountain goat and truly loves to lay across the top of the sofa and the top of the sofa pillows, which causes problems with the slip covers.

Cue light bulb atop Jamie's head!  Why wouldn't I buy a $25 sofa recover it and place it under the windows?  Not only could I chose a fabric that doesn't include the words "static cling to pet hair", but it would save our matching sofas!  Ding ding ding!!!!!!  

So this weekend became "Operation Save a Dog Ride a Sofa".  Let me tell you -- it's pretty difficult to recover a sofa with a four-month-old overseeing your progress and having a husband who is knee-deep in grant writing season.  But accomplish it, I did!!  Pretty damn nice, am I right?

Now it's not completely finished.  I still have to sew the covers for the cushions, but it is in place and obviously being used already.  The sofa has turned out fabulously!!!  I am uber in love with it -- and the duck canvas that I covered it in will make for easy hair removal (which is usually done at least 2-3 times a week).  And I have to say that I absolutely love the new placement of the furniture in the living room.  

I think that I may do a posting regarding our house, so y'all can see what I'm talking about.  Also I think that it would be nice for Finn to see what the house that she was born into looks like.  Although you may think that I started this blog with family & friends in mind, I actually started this blog to document for Finn.  I am  going to be making the blog into a bound book each year of her life -- so she has record of all the things that went on before she could remember.

We also took some time out of fabric flying to munch on a Bumbo or two.  Sister starts out in the Bumbo upright, but soon decides that the blue foam looks quite tasty.  It's almost like the captain of a sub screams out a command -- Dive!  Dive!  And before you know it, she is munching away on the Bumbo like I would if it were a piece of cake.

We also did some thrifting this Saturday and picked up some really great stuff.  It was half-off day at our thrift store this weekend in honor of Father's Day.  I was able to pick up a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker with the cardboard still in it (the exact one I was looking on eBay for, which sells for about $40) for $6!!  Now I'm on a mission to find the recipe for peach lavender sorbet -- I've had it once and it was the BEST.

Our Father's Day was pretty low-key.  Finn and I took Daddy out for breakfast and then Finn and Daddy went for a ride...  Just kidding!  They just sat in the driveway for photos.  But I have to say that E looks pretty good in a Baby Bjorn.  :)

I'm really excited for this girl!  She is going to be one bad-ass chick!  I told E that he has to make sure that she can fix her own car because we all know that mechanics are notorious for taking advantage of women.  In fact, I once had a mechanic tell me that I absolutely had to install ceramic break pads in my '96 Honda Accord -- the ceramic pads were almost $60 more expensive the cheapies.  What a bad person -- trying to take advantage of a woman.  Thankfully, E taught me a thing or two and I knew that I didn't know the ceramic ones.

And this crazy lady is going to be riding a dirt bike before she is five -- I'm serious, mark it!  E has a little Honda CR50 that he used to ride when he was little (and I've been known to take it for a spin around our yard after a beer or two) that he is saving for her.  In fact, we already bought her her first pair of shades this weekend.  Photos coming soon!

In other news, I got a couple of text messages from SaraBeth and E regarding the outfit that I put Finn in this morning.  I thought it was a lovely outfit -- a bright orange and white striped tank top with a brown flower and brown shorts as the temp looks like it's going to be over 86 degrees today.  (Okay and I threw in some leopard print flats socks...)  "Im worried about your daughter and her future.  Lol.  E & I were laughing about her outfit, but I feel better because I just saw the brown flower."  and "SaraBeth just accused me of dressing Finn like trailer trash.  Nice going mom."  Then I got the photo...  I can no responsibility for what said child does with her clothes -- I only put them on!  It's obvious that sister thinks that her tummy is her best feature!

And yes, the tank top is long enough to go past her waist band -- she just likes to show off some skin!

She works hard for her money...

But she doesn't want to work all day.  She wants to spend more time with her baby girl.

Sorry for the 16 week photos -- haven't had a chance to upload any photos yet this week.
And I just realized that E's skin tone looks SO completely different than Finn's.  No photoshopping there.

Right before I had Little Miss Marvelous, my boss had told me of a job opportunity within my department that would get me out of the secretarial pool (which means a change in my schedule).  It was music to my ears!  Let me explain my current state of affairs...

I need to leave my house by 7:15 (at the latest) and I don't return home until 5:45pm (at the earliest, there have been more than one occasion when traffic has caused me to get home at 6:15-6:30pm).  Once I get to the parking ramp, I have a 10 minute walk to my building, which means also a 10 minute walk back to my car at the end of the day.  E had asked if I wanted to switch to parking in the ramp right next to my building.  But during my pregnancy, those 20 minutes of walking a day were very beneficial to me, which is why I refused.  And by the end of my pregnancy, that 10 minute walk was actually closer to 15, but a very beneficial 30 minutes!  I sit in a hallway all day with the only source of outside light coming from the doctor's office directly across from me, which his secretary likes to leave shut.  So on almost any given day, I won't see the light outside unless I get up from my desk and walk to a window.  Let me tell you -- hallways with florescent lights can be really depressing...  And I get home at 6:00pm-ish each day and we usually start the bedtime routine at about 8:30.  So the majority of my days, I only get 2.5 hours a day with her.

Coming back from maternity leave, my supervisor sat me down and told me that the aforementioned opportunity was no longer an option and that they are going to add to my work load (without compensation, of course).  So I thought that it was time for me to look elsewhere.

I've landed a new job!  As of July 2nd, I will be working in the College of Medicine as a coordinator of the curriculum of the first year medical students!  Best news yet?!?!?!?  I can make my own schedule -- which means 7:00am -- 3:30pm!!  AND the job is located in the building next door to my current parking ramp!  So I should be arriving home by 4pm each day!!!!  AND although I'll be sitting in a small room with four other cubicles, my cubicle abuts the wall of windows.  So one whole side of my cubicle is windows!!  Wahooooooooooo!!!!

I'm not really excited to be starting a new job as I like knowing what I'm doing and knowing that I do it well. But everyone seems very kind in the new office and one of my current doctors is actual the associate dean in the college of medicine.  So I already know someone over there! 

On a more personal note, I also think that starting a new job will stop the constant nostalgia that I live through each day here.  My pregnancy with Finn was probably one of the best periods of my life, fairly stress free, filled with excitement and anticipation, and going to work meant spending the day with one of my closest friends that I've made here in Cleveland.  My friend has moved jobs and big surprise -- I'm no longer pregnant!  I truly miss that period and am deeply saddened that it is over.  Stress free has been replaced by responsibility, budgeting, and my new 24 hours a day job.  Now please don't think that I'm not happy being Finn's mother.  Being her mom is something that I feel like I was meant to do.  I love her with all of my heart and have become her Mama Bear.  

But it is a very difficult job, one that with E's long hours means that I do a lot by myself most days.  It's made even more difficult without family or friends close by.  And although with the great stress of the position comes some of the greatest joy, I long for the days where I got to spend every minute of the day with her without having to tote a stroller and diaper bag; where when I got home if I was tired, I could lounge around all evening, rubbing my little girl through my tummy and not having to entertain her; where I didn't feel so scattered and stretched thin all the time.  I think that I have a little postpartum and am trying to adjust to my new role as a working mom.  So I think that beginning something completely new will help snap me out of the doldrums I find myself in while sitting here at work, remembering the good ole' times as my melancholy is usually only present at work.  When I'm at work and feeling sad, I'm trying to remind myself that I'm actually living one of the best times of my life, as Little Miss Marvelous Lady is truly an excellent source of unicorns eating sprinkle-covered cakey donuts while flying over rainbows.  

(I deleted the last two paragraphs, pasted them back in, deleted them again, and finally pasted them.  I realize now that I was hesitant because I didn't want people to think that I wasn't grateful and over-the-moon for my little lady.  I am.  It's just that the mind has a funny way of playing games with you when you have nothing to do but sit there and think about things used to be...)

Happy 16 week birthday, pretty lady!!!

• According to our unscientific weigh-in this morning, Finn is topping the scales at 15.25 pounds!  We both weighed her twice and E was getting 15.5 pounds and I was getting 15.  So we averaged to 15.25 pounds.  And our unscientific length measurement has her stretching out at 25 inches!!
• Finn is still in size 1 diapers, but I think that those days are numbered.  We kind of have to pour her pudgy little tummy into the waistband of size 1's.
• She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes.  But I think the days of 0-3 month sleepers & onesies are going to be numbered here soon as well.  Lady is getting too long for the sleepers!  Right now, when she is in morning warrior II, the fabric is pulled to its maximum point.  Her tummy doesn't fill them at all.  And just to prove the point, this morning, I was putting on one of her Hawkeye onesies and I went through all the trouble of putting it over her head and her arms through the sleeves -- the darn thing was too short!!!  So I'm going to have to start going through her 0-3 month stuff and start putting some of the shorter things away.  But her pants (once over her big diapered tuckus) and her separates still fit -- for right now.

• One of the best developments in the last four weeks?  Sister loves to sing.  And when I say "loves", I mean -- "LOVES".  Turn on the radio and a smile lights up her face.  Start to sing along with the radio and instantly, you got a backup singer!  Sister's singing voice is prettier than mine!
• Finn is really trying to start to stand.  She doesn't like to be held like a baby -- must be held upright so she can see everything.  When you sit down with her upright, her legs start pushing against your lap.  Her chubby little legs are getting pretty strong!
• So we haven't hit the rolling over benchmark yet.  We are almost there -- but she isn't ready yet.

 

• Her new obsession is clumsily grasping something than shoving it in her mouth.  Now I know that this is something that will continue for months -- but this is something new  for her.  So mark it -- lady started shoving shit in her mouth at 4 months.  Besides Lambchop and her bibs, her new favorite thing are these cloth blocks that crinkle.  If she is laying down on her back, I'll place the block on her tummy and she will reach both hands up, grasp it, and try to shove the huge thing in her mouth.  She really likes the noise as she "makes" it crinkle.
• Speaking of shoving shit in her mouth, she now will take her pacifier out of her mouth, hold it and put it back in.  It's kind of like hitting the lottery for her.  Maybe one time out of five that she gets it right.  But both E and SaraBeth have witnessed it.  She is also holding her own bottle (only witnessed by SaraBeth as I have a different method of feeding her).  We aren't talking about marathon feedings, either.  Just for a couple of seconds once the bottle is already in her mouth.  My parents gave her a vibrating ear of John Deere corn that she likes.  I just introduced that one this week and she actually enjoys it.  I thought that the vibrating might scare her, but sister started gumming the crap out of it.  Currently, she doesn't bite on it to make it vibrate, I have to pinch it to make it vibrate.  And when I take it away, she isn't too happy.  Her gums start smacking, asking where that delightful yellow thing went?

• Another big development?  She has starting to balance/sit on her own... Kind of... For 2-3 seconds before she falls over.  I showed this one to E last night and he seemed unimpressed.  He was like, "She's just balancing, she isn't sitting up..."  And I started thinking -- well, isn't that all sitting up is, for the most part -- is balancing?  Okay, throw me a bone here...  That's why I wrote balance/sit.  I'm excited that she's doing it.
• Last night was the first time that she reached out to grab something.  We have a mobile on her Mamaroo and she reached out and grabbed one of the links in front of her.  I would have missed it as my back was turned.  But E was there and was like, "Did you see that?  She grabbed that all by herself!"

 

• We are slowing transitioning her over to her crib.  I will feed her in our bed and when she falls asleep (as is her typical fashion), I'll pick her up and mama-sway her into her room and lay her down.  She isn't sleeping very long before waking up (an hour-ish) and then I'll bring her into our room.  I'm going to continue this for a couple of weeks until she is getting used to her crib as it is pretty foreign to her right now.
• She is really starting to enjoy tummy time.  She can hold her head so high that she is looking around.  And she has enough neck muscles to not get tired so easily.  We will put her blocks in front of her and she will try to slide her hands along the ground to reach out for them.  She doesn't get them yet.  But it's only a matter of time!
• And bath time has become interesting.  Instead of bathing her in her infant tub on the kitchen counter like I started doing, I've moved the infant tub to the bathtub upstairs and I sit in the big tub while washing her in her little tub.  Good call on my part as her last couple of baths have given me a bath as well with more water ended up outside her infant tub than inside by the time we are done.  Lady is trying to swim like a dolphin and water goes a'flying.  Her & I also took our first bath together, which was a lot of fun!  I wish that we had a big clawfoot bathtub so we could take more baths (hint, hint, E -- he says that he couldn't get a clawfoot through the bathroom door.  I think that he is just being lazy.)  Our bathtub isn't very big, so it was a little cramped for Mommy, but perfect for Finn!  She liked dipping in the deep water and standing up in the bathtub!  Today I just invested in a bath flower that inserts into our sink. Because if she is going to be sitting up soon -- she'll be getting sink baths. They were good enough for momma, they'll be good enough for Finny.

• Finn's favorites right now?
• Finn really likes outside.  Daddy takes her out when she is fussing for him and she quiets right away, looking around at all the greenness outside.  But even when she isn't cranky, she really enjoys being outside, whether it be sitting in her red Baby Bjorn Babysitter while I'm grilling or just being held while we are sitting at our neighbors' deck drinking beer.
• She also really loves strange faces.  I'm sure this will change, but right now, if we are in a store and someone leans over and starts talking to her in her chair seat, she will either smile directly at them or look at me and smile at me.
• Lady is needing Lambchop.  Whenever she is cranky because she is tired, I snuggle Lambchop up next to her ear and her hands go up and position little lambie in the right spot perfectly.  That (or a blanket up by her ear or covering her head) and a pacifier and she is out in under 5 minutes all by herself.

(PS This should have been posted on Thursday -- I'm two days late...  You would think that I wouldn't have anything else to do.)

Just between us girls...

 It was a "Members Only" weekend in our household -- just between us girls...  (Munk and Norm are both de-balled, so I don't consider them men -- they are just hairy eunuchs.) E left for his college reunion on Thursday afternoon.  And all sorts of shit hit the fan immediately upon my arrival at home on Thursday evening.  I had images of donning a crazy Wonder Woman costume, becoming SuperMom this weekend and doing great fun things.  (I was named after the Bionic Woman after all.)  Fate & Finn had other ideas...

I came home that Thursday evening to a puppy that puked on the couch, a girl that peed in her Pack 'N Play, a leaky roof, and a broken Cat Genie.  The couch covers and the Pack 'N Play covers got a washin' that night as I was a fixin' the broken cat box all while Finn was sitting in her Bumbo watching Mommy play with dirty cat litter.  The roof was beyond my control -- and I just prayed for a stop in the rain (which worked).

I had an interview the next day at the Clinic (that will be a post for another day), so I knew that I wanted to get everything set up that night for the following morning.  Iron interview clothes -- uncheck.  Thaw out milk for her bottles for Friday -- uncheck.  Put together my letters of recommendation -- uncheck.

Get ready for the next day or simply stare at this beautiful face...  Tough decision.

Of course, I didn't and the next morning of getting her & myself ready  was just as crazy as I had hoped to avoid.  We got the dogs and kitties taken care of and I picked up the Mamaroo from the kitchen table and carried it upstairs so I didn't have to speed shower.  Again with the SuperMom thing, initially I placed her in front of the shower on the floor, but had to move her while strapped in the Mamaroo to the vanity to proceed with my morning routine.  Well, Super(wimpy)Mom tried to pick her up in the Mamaroo from the floor -- bad idea!  Let's just say the only thing that saved Finn from face-planting on the floor was her trusty seat belt.  My adrenaline was pumping so hard, I saved the Mamaroo from crashing to the floor, but couldn't stop it from tipping over.  As I checked the poor dear over for any emotional scarring, she started to smile and laugh at the ride she was just on.  Happy babe, happy Momma.  Finn also decided that she wanted to poop her pants not once, but twice Friday morning (she doesn't usually poop until later in the morning, so poopy changing isn't usually on my morning radar)!  Let's just say Mommy had to find an outfit suited for an interview that didn't require ironing.

So Friday's work day drug by -- as every workday Friday does.  When I got home, I was excited to get this weekend started!  We all know that the only way to celebrate the start of the weekend the right way is with pizza and beer! So I ordered pizza and while we were waiting, the little lady and I sidled up to the bar downstairs.  I figured that a lady should show another lady how to drink her first Guinness (at least her first time watching Mommy drink a Guinness).  Let's just say that Finn doesn't know how to hold her alcohol yet...

The pizza was another story -- apparently my carry-out place (a franchise that will not be named, Pizza Hut, err, you saw nothing...) that has a drive-up window (so sister can remain firmly planted in her car seat) told me after sitting at said drive-up window for 15 minutes with a screaming child -- "Don't kill the messenger, but we ran out of dough..."  Why wouldn't you call me?!?!?  Why would you let me drive all the way to the restaurant and sit in the drive-through window for 15 minutes before acknowledging me to tell me that you don't have anything to make my pizza with?  They gave me some pizza that they claimed to have just made recently (as in 4 hours recently) for free for my troubles.  I couldn't even eat a single piece as it was so old.

Saturday morning, we slept in until 8:30am.  It was absolutely wonderful!  We snuggled and played.  We had a leisurely Saturday morning.

Is THAT really what I look like in the morning?!?!?!?

Later in the morning, we had some tummy time -- Mommy was rooting for a rollover.  No such luck.

And we played in our Kickin' Coaster to burn some calories.

We also learned how to give our little pig kisses.

We went outside and looked at the trees as they swayed in the breeze.

We ended Saturday evening the only way that you can end it when it's a girls' weekend...  With "You've Got Mail."  Her first chick flick!  She is an uber fan of Meg Ryan -- the old Meg Ryan before all her face deconstruction.

She thought it was a real nail biter...

Sunday morning, we met SaraBeth and her parents for breakfast at a 50's diner.  Talk about over-stimulation!  We took her out of her carseat and she was looking all over the place.  Every 2-3 seconds, her head would flip here, then there...  Looking at all the people moving by quickly and the bright neon lights that lit up our breakfast.  In fact, sister got so stimulated that she fell asleep with 'Lil Lambchop all snuggled in.

Sister was seriously making out the 'Lil Lambchop...

Daddy came home later that afternoon and we were both so excited to see him!  Finn was all smiles for him when he got home!  And Daddy was all smiles for her as well.