New Car Seat, Oakland Zoo & 11 Weeks

Lately Natalie expects us to share our food- crackers, chips, drinks, you name it. Once she tastes something we have, she’ll get right up next to us and say “hi! hi! hi!” as if she’s asking for more. It’s the cutest thing, you just can’t tell the kid no. And now she’s started refusing her baby food if she sees we’re eating “big people” food. I’ve been encouraging her to eat her baby food firstand then we’ll offer her what we’re eating. But, that doesn’t always work.

She’s becoming more daring with standing alone, but she hasn’t taken any real steps yet. However, she has started to climb things. And she’s starting to get into everything! The cat food and water bowls, bathroom trash can, cords and wires tucked away behind furniture, etc. I find myself telling her “no!” quite frequently.

We’re also trying to teach her statements like, “hi dada.” It sounds like she’s saying it sometimes. She’s also been biting a lot lately! Twice this week, she’s bitten my leg after I’ve told her “no” for something. It’s not like she’s play biting either- these were done with intent. So, in response, I grab her, bring her right up to my face and say, “No, we don’t bite.” That usually scares her enough and then she’ll cry for a minute or two.

Natalie started drinking cow’s milk this last week mixed into her bottles, as our freezer stash of breastmilk has diminished. She doesn’t seem to mind it so far, according to Daddy. I’ve been pumping at work for the next day and then Eric mixes what little I bring home with the whole milk for her.

I think her favorite new toy from her birthday is her push cart toy from Auntie. She knew how to use it immediately! And now she loves to cruise through the house in what little open space we have… I woke up one morning to her cart crashing into our bed, daddy supervising behind her, and baby behind the handle with the biggest smile on her face. She looks so proud of herself as she makes her way from one side of the room to the other. But she gets a little frustrated sometimes when she gets stuck and can’t figure out how to turn around or back up, but it’s just so dang cute. It’s definitely our favorite birthday toy, too.

It’s sad to say, but Natalie’s birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy was a new car seat... Eric and I decided to buy her a new convertible car seat as her birthday present, since we knew she’d get a mound of new toys and clothes for her birthday, so why not get her something practical that she needs? She still kind of fits in her infant seat, but her head started to touch the canopy at the top and she just looked like she was ready to move up! So after much research, I ordered a Britax Marathon seat and we installed it in the Murano on her birthday, before leaving for the zoo. Mr. Blake enjoyed examining the huge box it arrived in.

The seat itself takes up far less room than her infant seat, which is nice. But it doesn’t recline as far and sadly doesn’t have a little bar to hang Bailey from… I have to find a way to link her toys and paci to the straps or something. There’s also no canopy to shade her from the sun, so we’ll have to find one of those window shades for her or something. Other than these minor complaints, she seems to like the seat so far. She fell asleep in it twice.

On Natalie's actual birthday, Elaine, Andrew and Stacie went with us to the Oakland Zoo for the day. It was really nice out luckily and it was fun to stroll the kids around and point out all the cute animals! It was a nice way to spend a weekday and we think Natalie enjoyed her very first birthday :)

I had an ultrasound on Monday the 14th. Unfortunately Eric wasn’t able to come. I met with the midwife who delivered Natalie, so that was neat. She really took her time to talk and catch up with me, which I appreciated. It was just about Natalie’s nap time, but she cooperated long enough for the appointment and ultrasound. It was really neat to see junebug on the screen- almost fully formed at this point- just moving around in there. The first thing I noticed was that s/he has a cute head, just like Natalie. Then we listened to the heartbeat and my midwife took a few measurements to confirm the due date- June 3.  Then we scheduled our “big” ultrasound in January, where we’ll find out what we’re having if we choose to know. Exciting!

I’ve been trying to be careful what I wear to work… I haven’t gained any weight according to my weigh-in on Monday, but I sure feel bloated, just like last time. So that makes me feel kind of self-conscious. I’m hoping I can put off sharing the news until after Thanksgiving at the least. We’ll see how it goes.

The good news is that I feel a little better. I still throw up most mornings, usually when trying to brush my teeth, but my energy level isn’t quite as low as it has been. So that’s a welcome change. But my feet are so sore! I soak them regularly and always ask Eric to rub them for me. I don’t remember my feet hurting so bad this early on.

It's Fun to be ONE

We celebrated Natalie’s first birthday party on Saturday, November 12th. I reserved the clubroom at our condo development for the party and it turned out pretty well! It took so much planning to get everything in order- the invitations, the food, the cake, the decor, the favors- I was pretty flustered up until the party started. Thank goodness for Elaine!! She really helped me out, as usual.

Unfortunately Stacie was Natalie’s only baby friend in attendance, as the others we invited were sick :(. But the cousins had fun playing together while everyone ate and chatted. Then we played a little game (How well do you know Natalie?), had cake and opened gifts. She picked at her giant cupcake cake with a spoon and eventually made a huge mess of it. And it was so much fun to watch Natalie tear into some of her new toys and clothes! Luckily she wasn’t cranky at all, despite her lack of a good nap that day! There’s nothing worse than a fussy birthday girl at her own party!

I also put together a photo/video montage of Natalie’s firsts set to some sentimental music that Eric and I chose. I had a lot of fun putting it together and I think everyone enjoyed watching. It made a few people cry, including myself.

It’s hard to believe that our little baby is now a whole year old. It’s makes me so sad, even though I’ve done nothing but enjoy her first year, trying to soak up every little thing about her. She’s a special little girl and I feel so blessed to be her Mommy- so lucky that she chose me! Happy Birthday Natalie!

As of her first birthday, our little Natalie…

- Has six teeth (and two more poking their way through)
- Weighs about 18 pounds and is 29 inches tall
- Yells “hi!” to everyone and everything (her first word)
- Is a very tidy eater and loves everything we offer her- this kid isn’t picky!
- Has finally started sleeping through the night (on occastion)
- Made a big mess of her giant cupcake at her 1st birthday party
- Waves hello and goodbye
- Loves being read to and helps turn the pages
- Gives high-fives
- Just recently grew out of her infant car seat and into her new “big girl” convertible seat
- Gets so excited around her little cousin, Stacie and gives her kisses
- Still looks just like her Daddy
- Dressed up as a flamingo for her first Halloween
- Took her first official steps just a couple days after her birthday!
- Met her Grandad and the rest of the Stessel family during her first trip to Texas in September
- Loves to go swimming
- Cried when we dipped her into Lake Shasta during another great Adams/Kelley summer vacation
- Finally has hair long enough for pigtails or one tiny ponytail
- Gives big hugs to her baby doll and pretends to spoon-feed her

Exhausted & 10 Weeks

I feel much the same as the last go around- yucky most of the time, and yuckier if I don’t eat. So I’ve been trying to eat consistently throughout the day, even though most foods sound terrible. I’m also nauseous most in the morning, just like last time. I throw up less, I must say, but this time I have a concurrent problem that makes it even worse! I’m constantly peeing, and yesterday I couldn’t help but throw up and pee at the exact same time… lovely.

We’re trying to figure out how to tell people, now that 12 weeks is quickly approaching and I’m worried that people will start to catch on… my best idea so far was to wait until we send out our holiday cards and put an ultrasound image on the card. But Eric thinks it’s kind of impersonal, so we’ll see if we can come up with something better. We might try to do something special to tell our immediate families and then do the card thing for everyone else.

I feel really guilty most of the time, since I don’t have as much energy as I’d like and Natalie still needs a lot of attention. I’ve been taking her on walks a lot less, which makes me sad. And sometimes, I even lay on the floor in her room or in the living room and just let her play. Daddy’s been a real help though. He helps out a lot around the house and often takes Natalie out for a little bit when he gets home from work.

Sadly, I can’t say that I’m super excited just yet. I would like to be, but I’m more worried than anything else. I’m worried about how a new baby will take away from our first baby- I don’t want Natalie to feel like she’s being replaced. And I’m anxious about the age gap, which will only be 19-20 months by the time junebug gets here. I hope I start to feel differently. We are blessed to be able to have a second baby, I know that. I know once it starts to feel more real, all will fall into place. This baby chose us and wants to be a part of our family- I can’t deny them. I just don’t think any of this has really sunk in yet.

And now, I feel like my milk supply is drying up more every day- granted I only planned to get Natalie to the one year mark, but I feel bad that I think I’ll need to be the one to initiate the weaning process. Although, since she loves to nurse to much, I can’t say that she’d ever “self-wean,” but I was never opposed to letting her nurse a little longer than a year… so we’re going to start introducing a mixture of whole cows milk starting next week. I hope she does well with it.

Natalie’s big party is coming up this weekend- already! I’ve been planning a lot these last couple weeks, as much as I can as my energy allows. All the supplies are just about ready to go, food lists have been made and Elaine will be on hand Friday to help me decorate! I really want Natalie to have a good party! I’m really just looking forward to seeing her dive into her giant cupcake cake! I also put together a little slideshow of pictures and videos that I’ve been working on for months now, and now it’s almost done! I can’t believe that a whole year has gone by… my big girl really is getting big.

Natalie's First Halloween

It was close, but I managed to finish Natalie’s costume in time for Halloween! Granted, it was an easy project, but since my energy level has been hovering just above zero lately, I had to really push myself to get it done. I ended up scrapping the idea for a big flamingo rear end attached to the back of her sweater, so it really was just the flamingo head, neck, wings and feet that made up her costume. Nonetheless, I think it turned out decent enough. People could at least tell what she was!

To celebrate Halloween with the kids, Elaine, Eric and I went to the downtown Walnut Creek trick-or-treat on Friday evening. We dressed up the kids, packed them into Elaine’s double stroller and strolled through the streets of downtown picking up candy from shops and restaurants. Stacie was a cupcake and surprisingly wasn't bothered at all by her hat. Natalie was content to just sit and chill out in her flamingo outfit and we definitely didn’t see another kid dressed up as a flamingo! It was a nice, safe way to trick-or-treat with the kids. And people had fun stopping us to admire the kiddos in their cute little outfits.

On Halloween day, we packed up again and went to Elaine’s house for dinner. Then we dressed up the kids one more time and made our rounds in the neighborhood. From just looping around the court and down the street a few houses, we got quite a bit of candy! We let the kids inspect their loot when we got back home. And check out the cute, custom goody bags that Auntie made for the girls! I’m glad the cousins got to spend their first Halloween together! Then we stopped by Mom and Patrick’s house and Lisa and Peter’s- they really wanted to see her in her costume- before calling it a night.

Our First Halloween as a Family :)

We love that little flamingo!!