Making a mess of things

Originally, Cadence was put in the high chair to more efficiently finish off the otter pop James gave her when she fell and bonked her head on the couch. Actually, really, I just didn't want any more blue stains on my carpet. Once she was finished, however, I eyed the stuffing and mashed potatoes Carla had left over, and decided to scoop Cadence out a serving. She loved mashed potatoes, and we gave her the stuffing to see her reaction. We also gave her a spoon, but that was quickly discarded in favor of using her hands to shovel food into her mouth. She did a very good job of eating, we even had to serve her up a small second portion. Granted, a large majority of it did end up getting mushed in her lap and the chair around her (will be cleaning that up once she's asleep tonight). Needless to say, she required her nightly bath shortly after finishing. Her foot, by the way, is still stained blue from the melted otter pop.

Oh, and earlier this morning, I was laying on the floor impersonating a jungle gym for Cadence, when I felt my stomach curiously and was surprised to find a solid bump. It disappears as the day progresses, it seems, but early in the am, while laying down at least, this is my stomach (stretch marks and all, enjoy):

Sleeping Habits

I got heckled enough by some people about SIDS when I posted a picture of Cadence, at 2 months old, on her belly with the cats in her crib. I wonder how they'd react to this sleeping position...
I went in to check on her when her nap had reached what's usually it's end time and caught her using the teddy bear as a pillow. I snuck out to grab the camera and returned to this sight. I did check her breathing first before snapping the picture, naturally, then snuck back out when the flash started to wake her up, lol.

I am so lucky she goes to bed so easily! Sometimes she fusses, but for the most part, she's only put in the crib when she's fussing to tell me she's tired anyway, so she'll roll to her back, grin at me as I pull the blanket up over her, then she grabs the blanket and pulls it up to her face, rolls to her side and decides to go to sleep. A few times she's not totally nap-ready yet, so she'll stay on her back and talk to her bear or her aquarium for a few minutes before she begins to nod off. I never trained her. She did used to cry more and we did a bit of Cry-It-Out when she was obviously tired, but never consistently enough to say we trained her. She just randomly decided to be a good napper (knock on wood).

Unfortunately, that's the only thing she does easily. I had just put all these papers back on the shelf in a quick pick-up during her afternoon nap, and she decided she didn't like how I'd rearranged:

I was trying to snap a picture of Taz (in the corner there) being affectionate and rubbing up against Cady, but Taz never stayed still long enough. I'm still amazed at how patient my old lady is with her! Twice now I've caught Cadence on top of her, but Taz just laid there patiently, putting up with it. Even this evening, Taz was laying on the ottoman and Cadence was pounding her hands against the ottoman inches from Taz's face. Taz blinked with every sound and for a moment I was worried Taz was ready to lift a paw to swipe at her, but all she did was give me a "are you going to stop this?" look, and simply watched Cadence. Cady even grabbed a fistful of Taz's fur and all the cat did was voice her disapproval, then ignored the situation. Taz, by the way, is getting lots of loving whenever I have time now. Especially if I catch her being sweet and patient.

A general update about the family

I've noticed blog entries with pictures of Cadence tend to get more attention than the ones that are just text. So here is a lovely picture of her practicing her sitting up skillz (yes, with a z) (Hmm, and this picture is so much cuter full sized). If I can get James to wield a camera for the few hours he's home and awake I'll try to get a picture of her using me as a jungle gym. She's become a pro at pulling herself to her feet using me as a hand hold, though I usually have to hold my shirt in place when others are around...

By the way, I think some of you would get some enjoyment out of the "Heart on the Line" blog listed to the right. It caught my attention on my message boards when someone posted "look what finally happened". Well, what "finally happened" was this family getting the news, after 19 months of waiting, that a little Korean girl was theirs for adoption. I haven't delved too deeply, but it's very wittily written at times and I did read their first blog entry, the whole "why we chose this" entry and I just loved it. (Also the arokofflicks are really my way of keeping up with a little boy who's Cady's age who recently had a tumor removed from his lung and they're still trying to find other things wrong with him. Surprisingly, developing RSV might've saved his life, they never would've found the tumor without it, at least not so soon.)

Also, for those of you that do have access to my other blog, be aware: If you use the blogspot's list of blogs and their auto-update moving them to the top of the list, when a blog becomes private, it stops moving. I've posted several times over the past few days, but those lists say I haven't posted in, like, a week?

Hmm, family updates beyond Cadence's milestones (which she seems to hit a new one everytime I blink. I was told they develop in spurts, I just didn't realize there were so many new things for them to learn at this age!). Work for James is going smoothly. His supervisor's supervisor told his supervisor to stop not giving James jobs to run because they might be too tricky. So James, who was looking at only one or two jobs left to run on his machine before he was essentially out of work, might not be out of work so quickly.

However it is a bit nerve wracking, because they're harder parts and James has only been on this machine for 8 months or so. He's still very much a newbie, all though one that knows quite beyond his own machine. And the parts he's making are expensive. One mistake can cost his company several thousands of dollars, and too many mistakes will add up very quickly to "you're not worth what we're paying you". I have every confidence in him, though. He knows what he knows and what he doesn't, and he's not going to get cocky and be stupid. If he thinks something seems wrong, he will stop and assess the situation and only go forward if he knows he can do it right.

Umm... Parasite's doing well as far as I can tell (not saying much). So far, seems quiter than his/her sister was. By 16 weeks I was frequently feeling bubbles. This time, I don't feel bubbles. I feel sudden, short, random thuds. So, quieter, but meaner too, lol. Our next appointment is in just over a week. I really need to call our doctor and ask whether I can expect an ultrasound or not. I really don't want to get my hopes up. Actually, really, I don't want to have to get James up at 8am if I can help it. Haha. In a month or so, I'll have more to say about Parasite. Right now, at just the size of an apple or so, there's not much I can say...

Growth Spurt and Milestone

I can't believe she used to be that tiny... I just spent all evening rocking a very fussy Cadence and watching "Secret Life of the American Teenager" to pass the time. I absolutely, positively hate the show. I don't care how reality is, any teenager that acts like the spoiled, angry, immature brat that the main character does should not be catered to by her parents and allowed to keep a baby she's not ready to take care of. One big thing in tonight's premiere was her constantly asking her sister and parents and baby's daddy to do everything for her because she was tired. I know it'll come into play later, but gosh dang it! And then her lecturing her mom about getting pregnant at "her age". Why didn't the mom just smack her? Talk about the pot calling the kettle...

Either way, the brief moments of seeing the baby and knowing it wasn't a newborn but intended to be one made me all nostalgic. It probably didn't help that my baby was screaming through a growth spurt as the night wore on. She basically cried for the entire half hour before her bath time. She also ate about 35oz of formula today. Considering 30 is her previous maximum intake, 35 is quite a bit. Eating every 2 hours instead of every 3 and taking 3 naps in 5 hours. Fussy baby.

She's starting to pull herself up, though. At Church yesterday, she discovered she can stand by herself if she holds on to the back of the chair, which gives her free reign to smile and talk to the people sitting behind us. If she fell she would pull herself back up, sometimes with my assistance, sometimes alone. She used this new found knowledge to practice climbing over me on the floor, pulling herself up and over, and then spent all afternoon trying to get a good grip on the ottoman and pull herself to a standing position again. She actually did very well at balancing with only her one forearm resting against the ottoman. It's amazing how quickly they can pick things up when they put their minds to it!

My camera batteries are all charged, so I'll have to work on getting a picture before she skips this stage and moves into the next. *sigh* I'm so bad about pictures.

15 weeks!!!

Wow, I'm 15 weeks along today with Parasite. How crazy is that? It feels like my life has been turned upside down for longer than that, but at the same time, it's weird to think I'm more than 1/3 of the way through this. Super nervous for November/December to come, but excited to meet and get to know this new little one at the same time. It's so crazy to think that those tiny flutters and jabs are a little person that, 5 years from now, will be able to carry off a crazy preschooler's conversation with me (preschool-age conversations are some of the best conversations I've ever had with another human being).

I'm watching Cadence and am eagerly watching her personality develop. She's stubborn and vocal, which will be two great attributes when she's older (though I know they'll drive me up the wall when she's a teenager). Especially in the world she'll have to survive in. I just have to help her learn what's important enough to be stubborn about.

Just surreal sometimes...

Anyway, I've decided to document monthly photos, since I've always kinda regretted I didn't with Cadence (I have odd regrets). Below are from May 15th (approximately 10 weeks along) and June 15th (just shy of 15 weeks, this past Monday). Personally, I'm thinking June 15h makes me look hott. Haha. Alas, May 15th is really a more accurate view of what my poor stomach looks like, color and all. Except a bit more of a bump when July 15th comes around. If not then, definitely by August 15th.

Cats and babies

Taz is so good with Cadence being mobile. She's not thrilled with occasionally having her tail turned into a chew toy or to have slobbery hands muss up the fur she spends so much time keeping straight, but she puts up with it for awhile. She gets lots of loves for her patience as well. Whenever she's playing nicely, we try to make a point of scratching her ears as Cadence samples tail fur.

I admit, Taz has scratched her once. I hadn't clipped Taz's claws in awhile and she pushed against Cady's forehead, with claws she couldn't completely retract. It was barely a scratch, really only a red line, no broken skin or anything. So, we simply took Cadence away and let Taz rest quietly.

Actually, right now, Taz is talking every time Cadence touches her, protesting, really, but making no real effort to move away. She moves, but only a few feet, so Cadence can get to her very easily, where they repeat the process. Still, it's cute, because after awhile, Taz'll rub her head against Cady's head in a very affectionate manner. At least until she realizes Cady's chin is drool covered...

None of the other animals are even half as patient. Hanna watches Cadence's approach and then calmly stands up, stretches, and walks away when she gets too close for comfort. Conan jumps up and runs as soon as he realizes she's headed for him. Even Nana and Poppa's dogs aren't fond of her. Germs will not let Cadence even look at him, which is funny because he's her favorite to chase, and Oreo jumps so fast every time she manages to sneak up on her it's a crack up. I was terrible and blocked both exits from the kitchen with Cadence in my lap. Poor Oreo. She'd walk to one doorway, see Cadence, and walk to the other. So, I'd move Cadence so she was in plain view of that doorway. Oreo would see her and return to the first doorway. Finally, she waited until I got distracted and quickly snuck past both of us. Haha.

The cats can be cute with her. I have pictures of both Taz and Conan cuddling with Cadence during her naps (before she got grabby, at least) and they were both so careful about not stepping on her. I don't think any of my cats are going to forgive me for bringing another alien lifeform into the house, though...

6 (okay 7) month checkup

Cadence charmed everyone in the waiting room this morning, including the nurse that called us back for our appointment. Everything went well. As I suspected, she lost a "weight class" and gained a "height class". She's been pretty steadily 50th percentile for her height and weight, but that changed this time around:

Height: 27" (75th percentile for her age)
Weight: 15lb 2oz (25th percentile for her age)
Head Circumference: 17.375" (also in the 75th)

So, while she's well under the weight limit for her car seat at the moment, she's nearing the length limits. We should probably look more seriously into the convertible car seat options.

The doctor confirmed a few things. At her first appointment she had a short list of things to "keep an eye on" and every last one was confirmed "not worth worrying about". The spot on her lip hasn't grown, which means it's just going to be a beauty mark, if it doesn't fade by elementary school. The heart murmur that she had during her first check-up was confirmed to be grown out of, finally. The doctor is now a little curious about her head circumference growth, but says he'll just confirm it's nothing at her next appointment. Quite frankly, with both her parents genes, Cadence could not escape the slightly oversized head, I fear. Nothing grossly disfiguring, but...

Doctor said she had another tooth poking through to the side of her new ones, which I was surprised about, and he said that the tops ones were getting ready to push through as well. The girl had no teeth a month ago, and now it's very likely she'll have 5, if not 6, in another month or so. I guess that's how these things happen, eh? I was really more surprised because she hasn't been all that fussy. Maybe she's just been teething so constantly for the past few weeks she's gotten used to it and it doesn't bother her so much anymore.

I also got thumbs up for continuing to give her finger foods and was told not to hesitate in sharing what food we eat. I'm making chicken curry and rice tonight. While the curry might be a tad too strong, bits of finely shredded chicken and rice could be a nice alternative to Cadence's saltine crackers. The doctor didn't even blink an eye when I admitted she wasn't spoon fed. I like the doctor. He said while medically he should encourage the iron fortified cereal, but so long as she was getting plenty of formula and able to practice eating other solids, everything would be fine. I love that he gives the medical advice and says what's recommended without being a butthead about it. He did the same thing when I admitted she was a belly sleeper at her 4 month appointment.

But, by far, the reason I love this doctor so much is he plays with Cadence. This time, he walked in with a new book, crouched in front of us and flipped through the book, talking to her and pointing out the designs, before beginning the appointment itself. I don't know if all pediatricians are like this, but I don't care. I like the one I have, especially compared to the one I took her to for her 3 day check-up at KMC.

Dinner time!

Cadence is loving her high chair time. She refuses to cooperate and let me handle the spoon when she's eating. I've attempted distracting her with her own spoon, but, no, she wants the spoon mommy has, not the one mommy gave her. So, I've gotten lazy with spoon feeding and am more likely to give her cut up pieces of fruit. Her favorite (and most convenient snack) or wheat saltine crackers. Nowadays, actually, the majority of the cracker ends up her in belly, rather than sticking to her onesie or decorating the highchair itself. Anyway, a few cute pictures. First of her enjoying crackers before she got too messy. Then, when she had spilled applesauce and taken control of both spoons I'd had out when attempting to feed her. And then a too cute pose her daddy set up when I asked him to watch her as I filled up her bathtub the other day:

Getting Bigger!

Cadence's second tooth popped up Saturday morning. She ran a mild fever through the entire weekend, which hit its peak yesterday morning and left one very tired mommy dealing with a very fussy 6-month-old for awhile. Even with small doses of Tylenol regularly, she still radiated body heat throughout her onesie. Thankfully, during her afternoon nap, the fever broke and she's been fine ever since. She has her doctor's appointment a week from today, so we'll be able to see just how much bigger she's gotten since she was 4.5 months old.

Parasite's doing well, as far as the doctor can tell. Cadence made the appointment very difficult. She was not happy that mommy wasn't holding her and screamed the entire time. So, the doctor cut the appointment as short as possible without rushing me out of there. Good steady heartbeat. I forgot to ask the heartrate so I could apply the old wive's tale of 140+ is girl, and 140- is boy. No real worries. I'll be 17 1/2 weeks at my next appointment. If he does an ultrasound then, as he said he was wont to do on occasion, we'll be finding out gender. But, we're 13 1/2 weeks, will be 14 weeks on Thursday. According to my research, that puts Parasite around 3-3 1/2" and 1-1 1/2 ozs. Not too shabby for someone that was a pinprick 11 weeks ago!

And, one person who's not getting bigger: Me! :-) I'm still sitting at a pretty steady weight. Haven't lost weight like I did last time, but I haven't been throwing up as much. I'm learning to mistrust my doctor's scale, which says not only have I lost 4lbs in the past month, but am 10lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy average. Meanwhile, every other scale puts me right at the same pre-pregnancy weight, though 1-2lbs lighter, which is still nice. Even still wearing my size 14s and having to pull them up half the time. That'll change in the next few months, but for now I am quite pleased with how many body handles pregnancy. Here's hoping I have to convince hospital nurses I'm really not in dangerously pre-term labor again, but safely past that 38 week mark after all. Frustrating at the time, but coming home from the hospital a size smaller was well worth it, in my opinion!

Okay, yes, that was a little bragging, lol. Call me on it if you wish, but I'm still going to be pretty pleased. Or, I could have totally just jinxed myself and will swell up like a balloon long before my 3rd trimester. Time shall tell!