Happy Half Birthday Baby!

Today is exactly half a year since Luna has entered the world. Half. A. Year. How have 6 months gone by already? There’s just no way. The last month has been crazy! Luna has changed so much and is basically an adult now. We went from having an adorable little immobile blob that cooed and smiled, to a mobile little girl that spills things and actually knows who we are. We are having so much playing with her and watching her play…and keeping her from killing herself every 5 minutes.

The pets couldn’t keep away from the photo session. (That’s Lola BTW, we are pet-sitting her this week.)

Luna sits now. We can even walk away from her without worrying about her immediately collapsing onto her face. Of course, she now prefers to sit. She must sit to hear a story, play with a toy, eat and chew on things. The tricky part is reaching for something to the side…gets her every time.

Luna has two new sounds now, “ma” and “ba”. When she’s excited she repeatedly says “ma, ma, ma, ma” which sounds A LOT like “mama” if you ask me, not if you ask Husband though. I try to reinforce “mama” by running to her and pointing to myself when she gets on a “ma” roll. That’s right baby! “Mama”! That’s me!

That’s one good book

The funniest thing is that Luna can scoot. She can scoot on her belly in a circle and scoot backwards (never forwards), but her most efficient means of moving is by scooting on her back. She lies on her back bends her knees and pushes into a bridge pose, then straightens her legs and moves back. It’s impressive how fast she can move across the room like this.

This month has also been the month of becoming a “mama’s girl”. She wants me ALL the time. She reaches for me, cries for me, notices when I’m not in the room and only lets me put her to bed. It’s sometimes frustrating that Husband can’t calm her lately (give the Mama a break!). I feel bad that she wants me. However, I feel pretty darn good too. Who’s your favorite, baby? That’s right, Mama! Besides, I know his time will come. I have to soak up these moments now, before she’s 13 and hates me.

She’s not 13 yet though, she’s only 6 months and she loves me, playing peekaboo, listening to us read, sticking her tongue out, pulling everything off the table and sticking everything in her mouth. I mean, really, your Dad’s dirty socks? That can’t taste good.

So advanced

Happy Half Birthday baby girl!

Cheers!

Baby’s First Road Trip, Solid Food and Skinny Dip

We just returned from Luna’s first summer vacation, also her first annual family trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It could not have been a better trip and I honestly do not even know where to begin when it comes to sharing some of our adventures. Since much of the trip seemed to center around our little nugget, I guess I’ll begin with her. Little Miss Luna had a ridiculous amount of “firsts” over the last week.

It all began with her first very long road trip. Our trip to Hilton Head typically takes 8 hours. We knew driving with an infant would definitely add some time to our trip so we decided to leave at 4am, hoping that she would sleep the majority of the trip. Most of the trip was through torrential rain, but even with the storms and the baby it only took us 10 hours. Luna was a trooper. The first pit-stop was at Chick-Fil-A where they were insanely busy. Husband was asleep in the car so I took Luna in to feed by myself. It was super clean and efficient (surprising for being so busy) and all the workers were so-so friendly. As I left (in the pouring rain) a young cashier ran out after me and walked me all the way to the car (parked in an overflow lot) with an umbrella over me and Luna. It was really nice and unexpected. Good job Chick-Fil-A staff.

Then, we stopped at McDonald’s….also clean and nice. Right as Luna finished eating, a little girl and her Mom came over to us and her Mom informed us that her 6-year-old has been learning to clean out her room and give some of her things away. She told us that she really wants to give her happy meal toy to our baby because she doesn’t need it, but our baby might. Of course, we happily accepted it and let her know that Luna would be thrilled to have it. What a sweet family! The whole ride down was pleasant (minus the rain).

Playing with her new toy.

Our first day in Hilton Head, Luna tried solid food (cereal) for the first time! I don’t know if she liked it or even grasped how to eat it, but she really enjoyed chewing on her new bamboo spoon and playing with her hand-painted one-of-a-kind bowl.

 

One of the cutest “firsts” was Luna’s first time to play in sand! She loved the sand! She dug, examined and tried her best to eat it, which we mostly kept her from doing.

Riding our bikes to Rita’s Italian Ice in Coligny Plaza at least a few times a week is a Hilton Head tradition that has been around for what must be ever. Luna slept through her first Rita’s experience, but that didn’t keep me from taking a photo!

The biggest most exciting moment was Luna’s very first dip in the ocean. The whole family came down and we all walked to the water together with cameras in hand. Unfortunately, Luna did not love the ocean water. The waves were a little scary for her. However, she did get to enjoy it later in the week when the water was much calmer.

Luna got to spend A LOT of quality time with twenty something family members, but it was her very first time to meet two of her Great Grandparents who came from Pittsburgh to spend the week with her. They couldn’t get enough of our sweet baby!

Because the ocean wasn’t a hit with Luna, we spent lots of time in the pool. Luna played in her floatie for the first time and got to spend some time on the boogie board. She loves the water and figured out how to sit in her floatie, kick her legs and move through the water.

The scariest “first”, for me anyways, was Luna’s first bike ride. We rented a carriage to attach to the back of a bike. She’s actually too small to sit in it alone, but we could attach her car seat. I only trusted myself to pull her. It was an added workout, but worth the peace of mind. We rode ALL over. She lasted through an 11 mile bike ride one day and never even whined.

She also got her very own private pool. Fancy.

And what trip to the beach is complete with a naked dip in the ocean? Does it get any better?

 

That’s a lot of adventure for a little baby, and there’s so much more!

Happy Monday everyone, we are glad to be back!

Cheers!

Wonder Why I Can’t Get Stuff Done?

I thought I’d have so much more free time being a stay-at-home Mom, but I never ever seem to finish my to-do list and honestly sometimes feel like I’d be more productive if I was working. At least I’d be on a schedule with deadlines and expectations I must meet. I’m not complaining though, I LOVE that I have the opportunity to stay home, watch my baby grow and be there for every little adorable thing she does. If it weren’t for that than I might miss adorable kodak moments like the first time in her Baby Einstein activity jumper!

Come on. This kid can’t get any cuter! First time in a bouncer and she’s wearing a little red gingham Russian dress that a friend gave us. It’s too much.

baby feet!

SO excited!

Man, I wonder why I can’t manage to get things done? Even when she naps I have trouble pulling myself away. I either want her to stay napping on me or I just watch her sleep. Oh well, they don’t stay small forever!

PLUS a hat

I can’t leave out my eldest either…

Happy Weekend!

Cheers!

 

 

 

A Lot Can Happen in 2 Weeks

As of yesterday our little Luna is 2 weeks old! Boy has a lot happened in those two weeks.

After spending the majority of her life in a dark hospital room, our poor baby is probably confused about where she lives. I was feeling very depressed during that time, but I tried to bring myself out of it by focusing on her. A few of my Facebook friends had babies the same week I had Luna, and they were of course home and happy long before we left the hospital. I felt jealous of all of their happy “welcome home” and “baby’s firsts” photos. Normally, I am a “make the best of any situation” kind of person, but the depression and the TON of medications in my system made me a different person. After a few days I knew I had to fight for my happiness and sanity. I couldn’t do much, but began taking photos of Luna, sharing them with friends and making plans for what we would do once we were back home.

And, once we were home I was looking forward to the littlest things… Luna’s first bath, introducing her to our pets, putting her in her new cute clothes and just doing normal day-to-day things. Even now, I’m still too weak to do much… can’t even wash the dishes. You’d think I’d be grateful, but never in my life have I wanted to just do normal chores and what-not so badly. We did, however, get to give Luna her first bath. It became a whole family affair. Belle is so concerned when Luna cries or whimpers that we had to put her on the cabinet so she could watch and see that Luna was safe.

First bath!

Daddy drying her off.

I’m so relieved that Belle seems to like Luna. Duckie, on the other hand mostly acts like the baby doesn’t exist. She just wants all of the attention for herself.  In the first 30 minutes of getting home I passed out on the bed and was quickly joined…everyone was happy to be back together.

One good thing about having such a difficult first ten days is that everything else seems easier, funnier even. Spit-up. explosive diapers, all-night feeding sessions and even the poop catastrophe that ended up all over our white comforter are hilarious and even appreciated. It’s real life in our real home. I’m so happy to be able to stand and change her diaper that I can’t even feel frustrated when something like this happens.

Besides “first baths” and “first embarrassing moments”, Luna had a few other “first”. We took her out to a family dinner at a new French restaurant. She’s had her first two newborn doctor appointments (and is already WAY passed her birth weight). We went shopping at Target together (Mommy had to embarrassingly shop in one of those electric wheelchair thingys…it sucks being so weak and dizzy.) Oh, and the photo on the bottom left is when Belle tried to drop her toy donut next to Luna and it ended up looping her arm, so cute!

Luna has had a lot of visitors too! In the hospital I felt so depressed that I didn’t even want to see people. In fact, I didn’t even want to answer my phone. This is very out of character for me. You know, we always have visitors, so for me to not want to see anyone was a clear sign something was very wrong. I’m so happy to be home now, happier and able to enjoy company. And, I really love showing off Luna…she’s seriously the cutest.

My sweet mom actually blow-dried my hair for me just so we could all take a photo together.

I’m having to take life slower than ever, but that just means I get to enjoy lots of cuddle and downtime with Luna…and that’s what really matters.

Cheers!