iCare/Daycare

{21 weeks}

daycare sucks. not for you; for me. i hate that they take you away from me, and that i have to work and can't keep you at home and watch you myself. but i know deep down that you're probably having more fun there than you would with me anyway, and you're actually learning things i might not be able to teach you (currently, you are "working on sitting"). they even had a cute little cubby and labels in the fridge and around the room for you before you got there. however, it does not help when i come to pick you up and they're like "oh she smiles all day; she has the best smile!" and then i come over for a love break and i get no smiles!!! dangit wth. ok so this doesn't happen everytime and you do sometimes beam at the sight of us, but seriously - you could at least pretend that you're happy i'm there and anxious to come home...  ;)   mommy is just insecure, though. i know this. when i had to drop you off on monday for the first time, it took Mimi Sally a good 10 minutes to talk me down in the parking lot  (and caused her a good scare when she answered the phone) because i was too upset to drive away. it was your "mommy? where are you going? face" as i left that stuck the bubble in my chest. ouch my heart hurt to leave you. this is why daddy shall do it from now on (except under extremely extenuating circumstances). 

unfortunately, since starting daycare, you have developed "the crud." this snot-infused, Darth Vader-sounding congestion presents itself at night and causes you difficulty breathing. at least it seems like it's difficult. i call you my little love dragon because you also tend to hiss. you HATE when we use the snot-sucker (a-hem nasal aspirator excuse me) to restore your air passages, but it gets the job done. of course, even after propping you up in your crib and getting a humidifier with Vicks insert for your room, one of us ends up transferring you to our bed in the middle of the night or early morning. we should just start you there - I think you sleep better with us (funny - mommy sleeps worse. not that i mind).   :)


*disclaimer: daddy did want me to mention that he offered to take on the responsibility of dropping you off from the start because he knew how hard it would be on mommy, and this was an isolated incident. i'll be better next time, i promise. 


bonus: your mimi has a short day on Thursdays and is going to be picking you up early when she can to spend the rest of the day with her. she did this for the first time last week, but forgot that your stay would probably require a diaper change and didn't have any on-hand. consequently, you were returned to us wearing this:

why yes, actually, that is, in fact, a puppy pad. 

needless to say, i changed you at once (as soon as i picked myself up off the floor and stopped laughing). 

Your Happy Place(s)

{21 weeks}

things that make you happy: 

• letting Hanna lick your hands and trying to feel her teeth (thank you Lord that she turned out to be such a good dog and just lets you - even when you grabbed onto her lip and pulled during one particular play-session and mommy had a heart palpitation that she was going to respond negatively. give that dog a treat!).

(no, you don't have pink jaundice; we just need a different camera. sorry baby)

• lying on your back and chewing on your feet (preferably whilst naked - you also babble like a crazywoman when you do this).

• taking baths. though you've become even more active in recent weeks and splash water like an overgrown orca calf, bathtime is also one of my favorite times with you. your current inclination is to grab the washcloth and feverishly suck the liquid from its grasp. since this seemingly cannot be prevented, i try to let you do so before things get too soapy.  ;)

• putting everything in your mouth. 

• getting to sleep. you are most fussy when tired and unable to fall asleep. when this happens, you must be aided by one of your soft blankie-bears or blankie-bunny, which you grasp tightly and flail around in a stirring motion. when the stirring radius tightens and covers your face, i know you're almost down. you also like being wrapped up and rocked (but really, who doesn't? i bet i'd sleep well too if someone put me down that way!)

• not toys [yet]. you are amused by pretty much everything but the toys that were lovingly purchased for you for christmas. i'm sure you'll get there, but i was just so thrilled to realize that 6 months seems to be the start of the "real toys" and you're getting close!! [sidenote: it was upon this realization that mommy in fact went a little crazy at Target and bought up a few 6mo+ toys, thinking that with your advanced development, you'll be playing with them any time now! isn't it interesting how when you go into Target as a parent, you no longer come out with shirt or pair of shoes, but rush straight to the kids section and end up with nothing for yourself?]  ;)

Love, Love, Love

When you hold your baby in your arms and look into her eyes, and thinking about how much you love her and how incredibly amazing she is is so overwhelming it brings you to tears, you know what having a child is really all about and exactly what a miracle it is. 

And how awesome is it that you when you think of how much you love your baby, you finally completely realize how your parents love you? Strange that you couldn't really know until then. I guess that must be what this "club" is all about, and why other parents are so happy for you and excited when you have a kid. Other relationships change and life in general may be a bit different (dogs really become dogs; work is a bit less important; you may not throw down or rock it out like you used to), but what an incredible new lovemonkey you get! And isn't it cool that no matter what kind of day you're having or how awful your mood, just seeing your precious little one's face can make it all go away. There's no way you can be mad at your baby! (yet ;) Haha.

I just have to thank you God for this perfect, precious blessing. I promise to do my best to raise her in your image, and to always try to let her know how much she means to me. If ever there were a living example of Your love, it must be this.  

Everyday Rarities

{almost 20 weeks}
caught daddy washing you in the tub the other day PATTING your pikachu to clean it. this was most hilarious to mommy, who immediately felt obligated to explain that patting may not be the best cleansing option, and that wiping with a washcloth is totally appropriate father behavior. 

i read on babycenter that you're supposed to like getting a lotion massage after your bath, so i keep giving you one in hopes that you'll grow to appreciate it..  i'm pretty sure you hate it. 

your fondness for acrobatics is becoming a challenge during changing.. i'm convinced you purposely grab your feet to discourage proper diaper application. and if you're not grabbing them, you're practicing ninja kicks. this also makes clothing administration semi-impossible. 

gave you your first taste of applesauce this week. you seem to want to feed yourself since you pretty much grab the spoon from our hands (i think you like applesauce), but as i'm sure will often be the case, there was more on you than in you at the conclusion of feeding. 

i'm still perplexed as to what kind of play you actually enjoy, but you sat in the exersaucer and swatted at things for a good 20 minutes the other day. sadly, the jumper is basically just a suspender at this point until you figure out how to bounce. however, you did roll over (from back to front!) yesterday. it only happened once, and i fear it may have been a hallucination since you've been on back lockdown ever since, and refuse to repeat the phenomenon. i know you're saving it for that second i take my hand off you when you're on the couch or bed or changing table and you launch yourself off. you're testing me, aren't you?

Ansley's Anslers

{nearing 19 weeks}

1 toy rocking horse, a pint-sized barstool, 1 jumper (well.. more like a "twister" at this point), several trips to target and countless cute outfits later: christmas = done. whew. 

since everyone kept telling us this was the year to save money, we more or less let you sleep through the festivities. sorry about that, but i promise to make it up to you in christmases to come which i'm sure will find you spoiled out of your mind and high on candy canes and cocoa (that or eating wrapping paper and playing with boxes).

most of your items probably won't be used until you're a tad older anyway (see above list), so as aunt heidi says "you'll be alright."

now, for the all about ansley section:

1. you have fans. i get requests on a regular basis for more pics of you (and not just from the grandparents). i don't know what i was thinking trying to keep up "the daily ansley." it has now turned into "the occasional ansley" and i fear the masses may riot if i don't give them more you with a quickness.

2. you are one flexible little noodle. it's not really a surprise when you grab your feet these days, but last week daddy caught you putting one in your mouth. that can't be sanitary but we'll allow it. and if we sit you up, you slump over almost in half like a little gorilla. it's quite cute. 

3. you still like to stand. unless you're sleeping or eating, it's your preferred position. i think you enjoy being up at our level, but it makes for a very tired mommy. if i even attempt to put you on your stomach, you "fake cry" (then real cry) or push up and roll right over onto your back (it's your newest trick ;)  which i'm sure you think is pretty clever. at this rate, you may just bypass the crawling thing altogether and go right to standing. yikes. if standing is not an option, you demand that we walk you around in an outward-facing fashion. it's kind of like you're riding around in the crook of our arms. you even cross your feet (and thus wiggle off any of those pesky sock-things we keep trying to apply). 

4. you put everything in your mouth. apparently this is absolutely normal for a child your age, but it's still funny. if we lay you down on your back and hover over you, your current instinct is to grab for the face and try to fit it in your little mouth (which you open as wide as possible in a birdlike manner). there is lots of drool involved, but i consider it a baby kiss and therefore love every minute of it.

(daddy demonstrating the "baby kiss")

5. you've thrown your first tantrum. whether it was teething or sleepiness or just not feeling like yourself, i don't know, but right before your 4-month checkup you started refusing to eat (or stopping in the middle of eating) and screaming loudly and angrily like a wounded dinosaur. it sounded painful (to both of us), so we as new parents obviously freaked out and rushed you to the doctor - who basically told us that you seemed fine and if you got hungry enough, you'd eat. 

...he was right... 

6. you're starting to show preferential treatment to mommy and daddy. though i secretly feel honored, i also don't want you to ignore others and am poised to discourage this behavior should it get out of hand. there are too many people who love you for us to keep you all to ourselves all the time.

7. my darling, i fear we may eventually need a paci (nuk, bink, pipe, dummy) intervention. when you are upset, it is about the only thing that calms you. so of course we have a plethora of them in a wide selection of brands and colors. we are trying to teach you to manually reinsert them yourself. i'll let you know how it goes. it is helpful to attach them to a leash, since you take pleasure in spitting one out and then whining about its disappearance. 

8. your current favorite toys are soft things with texture - one in particular that i have dubbed porcupuppy, since it looks kind of like a gummy cross between the two species. daddy asked its name the other day and since porcupuppy was all i could come up with, has taken to calling it "pp" for short. he finds this most amusing and enjoys referring to you "playing with your pp." unfortunately, after mommy sterilized porcupuppy aka pp, his spikes seems irreversibly sad and damaged. but no worries - mimi and your hero daddy won you a replacement in the movie theater claw game!  except that this one doesn't have a face, so it just looks like a hairy blue ball. 

oh crap...

9. you coo and babble like its your job. sometimes you emit strange gurgling noises. and sometimes i swear you've formulated a word (like "hi!" or "hannah"). i'm pretty sure your first phrase will be "HANNAH NO!" or "no, ma'am." the most recent casualty at her paws was one of your favorite pacis. 

10. you love hannah. she fascinates you, and you live for the rare moments when we actually let her come up and lick your hands (after which we promptly sanitize them). i think the feeling is mutual. bo, on the other hand, treats you like you have baby-cooties and will not linger within 3 feet of you for more than 30 seconds at a time. if we set you down next to him when he's lounging, he promptly (or as promptly as an old arthritic man can muster) gathers himself up, does a 180 and saunters off. jerk. (don't worry i'm sure he'll realize he loves you soon enough).

11. you are becoming my mini-me... in an i'm-so-picky-i-only-drink-my-milk-at-a-certain-temperature way. dangit. 

you prefer your milk warm, and goodness help us minions if it's not prepared to your liking. heads will roll (or eardrums burst). and of course you sleep best when swaddled (i'm sure because it's most like being cradled in our loving arms. how annoyingly sweet). but seriously, you conk right out as soon as we wrap you up and put in the plug. daddy likes to tell you "you will go to sleep, or i will put you to sleep (a la ben stiller in happy gilmore)" and then do so.

Pig & Berries

{almost 16 weeks}

it's been raining and nasty quite a bit in recent days, but this past saturday we ventured out to get the vaccine for the dreaded H1N1 virus (aka swine flu). mommy's boss forwarded us the top secret announcement that the guilford county department of public health was holding a free clinic on saturday morning, so we packed you up as proof that we were in one of the "risk groups" and headed to the high point location. things went surprisingly smoothly and the people there were very pleasant - even when daddy (much to mommy's disbelief) responded to their questioning at the entrance with "oh we're here for the safe surrender." he was joking, of course, but for a split second you should have seen the horrified looks on everyone's faces. i know. let's hope you get mommy's sense of humor... but after the initial shock, we all had a good laugh and daddy and i proceeded merrily through to get checked in (so merrily in fact that daddy banged your carrier against at least 2 walls. but it's ok he just calls out "new parent!" and people pretend not to notice).

you're still pretty good when we go places, though recently you've started refusing to eat out and we have to return home to give you a bottle. you had your first taste of formula last week since mommy just isn't making enough food for you right now. hopefully the fenugreek will reduce the need for that. i spilled about 3 ounces of precious milk trying to make you a bottle while you squirmed in my arms yesterday and was beside myself. there were tears. (yes, i was literally crying over spilled milk).

then on sunday we stopped at costco and daddy had the brilliant idea to buy them out of strawberries in order to save money and make jam as christmas gifts. unfortunately, you do not save money when you purchase an entire pallet (24 2-quart cartons), get it home, cut and crush 50 pounds of strawberries, work deep into the night canning them and then realize that your calculations are incorrect and the recipe calls for about 1/4 what you thought. basically, instead of prepping only enough strawberries for the 48 jars of jam we thought we'd make, we prepared enough for about 200. whoever said measure twice, cut once was a smart man. and was clearly not related to either of us. at least our delirious laughter at the realization was kinda fun. you slept through the whole thing. apologies if i am only able to hold you in 15-minute increments for the next few days until my triceps stop burning.

yeah, i'm not sure why daddy's smiling either. (just kidding).

Giving Thanks

{15 weeks}
new developments in your world include an overwhelming urge to grab your own feet. you prefer they be bare (and are quickly becoming accustomed to preferring everything bare... a-hem let's try to get that out of your system before you're running pantsless around the house at 5 please). oh who am i kidding kids heart nekkid time.

you are on the verge of completely rolling over, but can only get 3/4 of the way by yourself. you like to pull your legs up and use them as leverage to fall onto your side; then grunt and struggle to get over onto your belly. though i'm not sure why, as you still hate being on your stomach and really only like to stand or be held in a seated position. wiggleworm.

mommy has formulated about 50 nicknames for you. they include butterbean, peanut, naughty monkey, bug, droolopotamus, little dickens (that came from mimi), cooey monster, my precious, little pumpkin, dollbaby, my boo, a-bomb and minime. i also read on babycenter that the more words a baby hears in her first year of life, the more intelligent she can become, so if mommy slips a few SAT words into our regular conversation, don't be alarmed. feel free to memorize and use them in a sentence.

we must tell you we love you 20 times an hour, and i'm convinced your first phrase will be "you're so pretty," because we say it so much. but it's true. i have never seen a more beautiful baby. i don't care that i'm biased and every mom thinks that about her child. you enjoy looking at yourself as well, but mommy can't tell if you know it's you smiling back. strange how once you have a baby, you really don't look at yourself in the mirror anymore. :)

thinking you may start "cutting teeth" soon (that's a weird phrase, btw..), since you're drooling something fierce. i can't tell for certain yet, but you enjoy chewing on things, and i have recently caught you sticking your fingers down your throat and choking yourself. this is not good, baby.

we had thanksgiving feast at your aunt jenna and uncle ryan's new house, and they did a fantastic job hosting. there were tons of people there and you were the best baby ever. slept the whole way to sanford and back, hung out and let everyone hold you and even allowed us to eat while you napped. it was awesome. we were trying to get you to "talk" to everyone, but apparently you like to save that for mommy & daddy solely on the weekends. i think that's currently my favorite time. i get you up on saturday or sunday and you eat breakfast, then we sit in bed and you coo and babble at us for a good hour. it's when you're the most talkative. i think you're filling us in on your week.

(you in all your Thanksgiving cuteness)