Leaves!

This morning we went with friends to the Bolz Conservatory at Olbrich Botanical Gardens here in town--it's got birds and tropical butterflies, but I figured that primarily AJ would be into it for the leaves.  She loves leaves.

I guess butterflies are kind of like brightly colored leaves that move even if it's not windy, so she probably liked them, too.  She definitely liked the waterfall.

(The mark on her leg is not baby leprosy.  It is a butterfly stamp indicating that she has admission to the conservatory, although since admission is free for children under 2 it seems kind of superfluous.)

They don't really allow strollers in the conservatory so it's a good thing I brought the front carrier, but I got pretty tired.  Looking forward to when she learns to walk.

The nursing necklace

I didn't really blog about it much here, but AJ spent two months on a nursing strike (I hate this term, because it's not like they're NEGOTIATING, but that's what they call it), from three months to five months.  She would take the breast when she woke up from a deep sleep, so in the middle of the night (if she woke up at all during the night--she sometimes doesn't), and first thing in the morning, but other than that, she'd basically scream and try to hurl herself bodily away from me.  It was awful, and pretty much none of the general literature accounts for the fact that a baby that young would even GO on a nursing strike (although apparently I did at TWO months), so a lot of the advice on how to deal with it was impossible (for example: she wasn't even capable of taking a spoon or a sippy cup; bottles were pretty much our only alternative feeding option), and the rest of it was useless anyway because none of it made any damn difference.  I got pretty sick of the Lactation Clinic consultants telling me to "cuddle her more."

Then we went to a specialist recommended by our awesome GP, who talked to me for like five minutes, diagnosed the problem as boredom, and told me to make sure AJ faced in for bottles (thus not getting a good view with them) and to wear a necklace of toys when breastfeeding to keep her attention.

This pretty much ended the "strike" immediately.

She's still very easily distracted, but that's very different from the shrieking and trying to launch herself off my chest.  She needs the necklace to focus on a full feeding about half the time, but sometimes can even get a full feeding in a pretty distracting environment without it--I had forgotten to put it in the diaper bag when I took her downtown to run an errand on Friday, but still managed to get her to nurse at a coffee shop.

Saturday at the park we had it, though, and we got some pictures, which I mainly wanted to share because let's face it, it's pretty hilarious looking:

It's made from some cheap links we got at Target, along with a set of three cheap toys meant to be attached to the bar over a stroller or car seat (also from Target).  One of them has a chime in it (the specialist specifically recommended something that made noise), and that was AJ's favorite for some time, but lately she seems really into the ladybug.  That leaf she's grabbing here crinkles, and she does love crinkly things.  (She got a crinkly toy purse from her great aunt recently and she goes WILD over it.)

Here you can see the chime (black and white stripes); the bug under it is a butterfly, I think.  The third toy is a bee with a rattle.  I include this photo mainly so you can see how big she's getting!  Look at her!  Giant baby!

Half a year old!

Only slightly assisted sitting:

And here she is looking less evil:

These were actually taken yesterday morning when we went to the park, and TECHNICALLY AJ turned six months old today, but we really only got one photo today, with Instagram shortly after we got up this morning:

AJ enjoys sitting on Daddy.  I particularly like how his knees form a sort of throne here.

She also briefly enjoyed the baby swing at the park yesterday, but then it became a little too scary.  She's not quite big enough.

Her very favorite game is one we learned from Mama Lu, wherein I bounce her on my knees with accompanying narration:

"This is the way the ladies ride: trot, trot, trot, trot!" (measured up and down bouncing)
"This is the way the hoydens ride: gallop-y, gallop-y, gallop-y, gallop-y!" (frantic up and down bouncing)
"This is the way the farm girls ride: higgle-dee, piggle-dee, higgle-dee, piggle-dee!" (slight up and down bouncing with side-to-side swaying)


(The narration has been slightly modified.  I also call the baby bunny in The Runaway Bunny "she," and while I was pleased that ONE of the six pirates in This Is Not My Pirate was identified with a feminine pronoun, I edited our copy with a sharpie to bring the ratio to 1:1.)

It really was beautiful at the park, and the lake didn't even stink, which is honestly noteworthy.

Mother, Baby, & Cow

On Saturday (July 21st), we went to the Epicnic at Don's work (or as I liked to call it, the "epicniciknikpicarchaeopteryx").  There was a lot of cool stuff that I am sure AJ will love when she is a couple of years older, like GIANT BOUNCY CASTLES.

There is a ton of cool art on the Epic campus, and the Epicnic was in an area that I hadn't really seen before, so I was pleased to discover that Epic has, of all 101 the CowParade art cows, the one possibly best suited to be my Patronus:

My only regret is that I did not go with the green tank top.  Ah, well.

Rolling champ

In case you were wondering, though, she is totally a rolling champ now.  She can't really do forward motion (she can scoot backwards on her stomach, as well as pivot efficiently), but she rolls from back to front AND front to back now without any problems:

Achievement unlocked (kind of): sitting

She'd actually already been sitting a little bit on the floor (for very short periods), but I put her on the quilt because she kept toppling over and I was hoping to provide a marginally softer landing.  Dee Dee the Dragon held her attention for a few seconds.

Looking to the side may have been her undoing.

...And then she toppled over.

But she seemed unfazed!

We'll just have to keep practicing!

You may also notice the giant bib she's wearing despite the lack of any other clothing (it being hot as balls in Wisconsin once again).  She's started teething--while the teeth do not seem like their appearance will be SUPER imminent, she is basically a drool fountain and they're definitely causing her some pain.

We got two packs of these Carter's teething bibs from Great Aunt Sue and were overjoyed, because they're not just bigger than the bibs we had--they also snap instead of velcro, which AJ had recently learned that she can yank right off if she's feeling sufficiently Hulkish.  We ended up having to pick up two more packs at Target just so I'm not washing them twice a day, though.  She soaks those suckers impressively quickly.

Art for babies

Years ago, a friend of mine did this pop art print based on a photo self-portrait of mine:

It hangs on our living room wall, next to another print she did in the same style from one of her own photo self-portraits.  Every time I carry AJ into the living room, she stares at it.

At first I thought it was just the contrast in the image, but when I turn her toward the other print (which is black and yellow and white), she actually turns her head to continue looking at the one of me.

It's pretty gratifying, I admit.

Photo dump

Lately I've been very into Instagram, the app for filtering camera phone photos.  Of course, it was recently acquired by Facebook and rumor has it that they plan to shut it down, but that seems excessively stupid even for Facebook.  We'll see.

Many whiny elitists complain about Instagram filters "ruining" photos, but in my opinion, they generally improve on camera phone pictures, at least those taken without a flash, by letting you mess with color and contrast in predictable ways.  Since I only have an iPhone 3GS, I don't have a flash, and I also like the borders that accompany some of the filters.

My most common Instagram subject is actually probably other people's yards; since I spend so much time walking AJ in her stroller outside to get her to sleep, I need something to alleviate the monotony.  But I also take a lot of pictures of AJ, so this week I made a 5x7 collage of some of my favorites to put in one of the frames I picked up at Hobby Lobby last month:

Larger versions of some of them:

AJ making her dead mouse face after gorging herself (May 31, 2012)

AJ in her cradle swing with the star light mobile & Ginger, her WisCon monster (June 8, 2012)

Sleepy baby (May 11, 2012)

What my friend Travis refers to as her "President Baby" pose.

I also framed two photos of AJ with us:

 

AJ & Daddy (June 10, 2012)--I love how he's reaching out of the frame beseechingly.  AJ gets the lip-grabbing tendencies from my side, specifically Auntie Niz.

AJ & me (June 2, 2012)--AJ is in one of the outfits that Gramma B gave her, which is in heavy rotation because a) it is very stylish and b) in the last couple of weeks, AJ has gotten very short-tempered about having things pulled down over her head, and it snaps up the front.

Back! With interesting photos of the Forevertron.

Deb reminds me that it's been over three weeks since our last post.  AJ has not been sleeping for more than about 40 minutes at a time during the day, which has really cut into my ability to do pretty much anything.  We're hopeful that this will turn around soon--at least, we have amassed a small library of used books about baby sleep, including the ambitiously titled The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems.  Probably the author meant "baby-related problems," but still.

The nursing strike seems to be mostly over (knock on wood).  It lasted, all told, almost exactly a month.  I made no progress whatsoever on ending it until last week, when I decided to ignore the people at the Lactation Clinic, and then it was basically finished overnight.  Lesson learned.

We haven't been out much because of the nursing strike*, but right before Memorial Day/WisCon**, we did have a nice visit to the Forevertron a couple of weeks ago with some friends from near and far.  AJ enjoyed being out and about in the front carrier, although I'm not sure she really appreciates art yet. (Forevertron is a big steampunk sculpture garden near Baraboo, WI.)



The central group of sculptures.

Don & AJ command the troops.

Don, AJ, and Chris

Don & AJ pilot the death ray.



Giant metal spider!

Froggy band.

Sun hat from Gramma B.


*Let me just say that I hate this practice of referring to babies refusing to do things (eat, nap, etc.) as "strikes."  A strike is a negotiating tool, and babies do not negotiate.  They can barely express their demands.

**The world's first and largest feminist science fiction convention, which convenes in Madison every year over Memorial Day weekend.

Rollin' fool baby

As you may recall, just under a month ago, AJ rolled over for the first time (tummy to back)--and promptly forgot all about it in favor of grabbing stuff.

Well, it's only been four days since her first back-to-tummy roll, but she pretty much does it non-stop now.  Changing her diaper has hit a whole new difficulty level.

She also rolls tummy-to-back, but not as easily, or at least not as frequently.  You can pretty much expect that if you lie her down on her back, though, she will end up on her tummy.  Unless I have the camera ready; then, she dallies.  But I finally got a decent video of her rolling this afternoon:



She also rolled right off the space gym mat:



She might be getting a big head.  Look at her, all high and mighty in her new booster seat command center:



She really likes the command center (it looks like she's commanding a spaceship, doesn't it?).  We got it because she loves sitting but can't really do it unassisted yet, and the seat has an insert for babies that can't sit up by themselves.  She's into it.

Rolling!  She's a genius baby.  I am kind of afraid of when she'll be crawling by.

Achievement unlocked: back-to-front roll!

Sadly, we don't have any photos, but tonight in the space gym AJ rolled from her back onto her stomach, without even pulling on the arches!  According to our baby book, babies typically don't do this until 5-6 months, so it's pretty impressive at 15 weeks and 5 days.

Obviously, she is a genius baby.

(This brings her up to a grand total of two rolls ever, one front-to-back, one back-to-front.  She's mostly into jamming as much of her hand as possible into her mouth right now.)

There should be some fun new photos soon; we just got a booster seat with an insert for younger babies who can't really sit upright on their own, and a saucer of toys that go around it.  It makes her look like she's commanding a baby starship.

More laughter: bigger, better, louder

Don took AJ out for a walk this evening and apparently she found having her diaper changed beforehand absolutely hilarious, which made Don laugh, which only increased the hilarity of the situation.  This laugh is much louder and prolonged compared to her first laugh last week; we think she was mimicking Don.

Mothers Day (a day late)

A belated happy Mothers Day to all the other mothers out there!

The semester ended last week, but AJ also went on a nursing strike (that's seriously what they call it when they start refusing the boob--in my opinion, it's a terrible analogy, since it's not like she's NEGOTIATING for anything), so I've been very busy trying to get her back ON the boob.  Also I still have 30 final papers to grade.

Fortunately, Don's mother came to help out while he was out of town on business last week (it was an eventful week), and Don was back in time for Mothers Day, so we've been having some nice family time even though I have to pump, like, every two hours.

 

Me & AJ on Mothers Day morning.  AJ was quite fetching in a dress that Mama Lu bought for her on her last visit.  I am still wearing all my maternity loungewear.

 

Me & AJ next to the hospital-grade breast pump that we rented to try to boost my supply while she's "striking."

Daddy & AJ--still no photos of AJ's emerging dimples, but you can see where she gets them, at least.  Notice the first diaper change here.

AJ & Gramma B, and evidence of the second diaper change.  AJ grins and smirks a lot now, but the hand clasping is new.  Sometimes she just sits in the stroller WRINGING them now, or lifts them up while still interlocked like she's beseeching me for something.

Patty cake with Daddy & Gramma B. 

It took three or four tries before Gramma B could make it through the rhyme and remember to say "A" for "Andromeda"--all four of her kids have "D" names, so she kept being tripped up by maternal autopilot.

I'll have to do an Instagram post soon, as I got some very cute pictures of Daddy & AJ with my phone today.  I don't care what people say, I LIKE putting faddish filters on my mobile phone pics.

AJ's second laugh!

(And her third, fourth, and possibly fifth...)

AJ has been making sort of happy gibbering sounds mixed with heavy breathing for a couple of weeks now, but this afternoon playing with Daddy, she produced what I think was her first actual laugh.  I grabbed the camera and captured some subsequent laughter, although I think the first, undocumented laugh was probably the loudest (as you can see here, Daddy basically gets diminishing laughter returns as he goes--apparently she is sophisticated in her sense of humor):

You can't see it here, of course, but I think she has also developed a dimple on her right cheek!  I noticed it when we went for a walk after this and she was grinning up at us from the stroller.  I'm stoked--I was a little bummed that she looked so much like Don yet didn't have dimples, but I guess they take awhile to develop (makes sense; the cheeks fill out a lot).

She's also drooling a TON lately, as you can see in this photo from tummy time:

Apparently this might be related to teething, though it's still unlikely that we'll see teeth before around six months (thank god).  But anyway, it's pretty common for 3-month-olds to start drooling a lot.  Time to dig out all those bibs...

14 weeks old

AJ is 14 weeks old today!  On April 29th, a friend of mine in the department had her baby--exactly three months to the day after AJ was born.  We'll have to celebrate their quarter/half birthdays in July.

AJ is a champ with Daddy

Tummy time on the rainbow quilt


She got tired of tummy time, so then we had motion gym back time.


After a wardrobe change.


It was very difficult to get her to look at the camera.


More back time--she's winding up to swat the monkey astronaut here


More tummy time! She's getting very good at lifting her head.

The dino sleeper is from the lot of dinosaur clothes that Mama Lu gave us at my hometown baby shower.  It's super cute--I especially appreciate that along with stegosaurus and T-Rex, it features the less well-known diplodocus and spinosaurus.  Rather ambitiously for a 3-6 month size piece of clothing, it has treads on the feet.

AJ has not rolled over that we know of since her debut, but definitely scooches around (possibly faster on her back, actually).  She seems to be mostly interested in grasping right now; yesterday, she started grabbing her foot while I was changing her, and has done it pretty much every time I've changed her since.  It's like she's upped the difficulty level.

I read that you can't really tell if a baby will be right or left-handed until into toddlerhood, but it seems like right now, she can do a lot more with her right hand.  We're trying to put interesting stuff to her left to encourage her to use that side more.

Saturday visit with Keely

What is that?!

I MUST HAVE IT.

I'm intrigued.  Tell me more.

Huh.

Good times.