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| Ana looking so regal on my parents' porch couch : ) |
For starters ... I went back to work!
I always knew I would, if the right opportunity were to come along, and it finally did. There were a lot of twists, turns and offers on the table leading up to this point ... and I kept feeling like, "eeek, am I doing the right thing?"
But I really think we nailed it.
The bummer is, James and I are now both back in local news, working nightside :( (Although, at one point, with that marketing job, I was going to work mornings so that James could do nights, and therefore we'd require no child care. However, the arrangement would have meant sacrificing time with each other, so I suppose there's always a trade-off).
Anyway, we're both nights and news. Butttttt I do get to work from home! Which is great, considering how long a drive to Detroit would have taken me every day. So there's no commute, no showering or drying my hair, no work clothes, YES yes and yes. The position isn't quite like my last one -- as some of you know, I was already part-time contracting for WDIV -- because well, this job can't be done on my own schedule. When I'm on, I'm ON. I have to be glued to my computer, doing things on the quick. (I mean, it's not really NEWS at some point if you can do it leisurely, or finish up tomorrow, ya feel?)
Therefore, we now have a nanny to help me with Analisa while I'll be in the other room working! Her name is Emily, and right now she's taking a few community college classes in the mornings. Then she comes to our place and keeps AG entertained from 3:30-9, puts her to bed, and bounces. We'll do this four days a week, then Grandma Leese gets to do Tuesdays. Perf, right? I do imagine it'll be tough if Ana's like, sick, or whimpering from the next room and I can hear her ... but I think being one room over will make me feel better about the deal, too. Then once Ana is asleep, she stays asleep. So I'll be winging it, hoping she remains down from the time Emily leaves until I wrap up at 12:30a, or the time James gets home (also around 12:30 if we're lucky). Holidays and weekends are back on the table, so that's a bummer, but I don't have to deal with either scenario at the moment. Subject to change. Again, news sucks and isn't really glamorous at all when you consider shit like that.
The question I get most often is, "when will you sleep?" But I suppose you could say I've already been living this schedule for quite some time. Typically, James gets home around 12:30-1a, we watch a show, then are up with Ana around 9a. We alternate who gets up with her, if the other person is exhausted. Or we all just grin and bear it; I mean, sleeping from 2a-9a is still seven hours. And we take a whole-house nap with the little bear almost every day, from 11a-1p-ish. I mean, she sleeps in her crib, but we all PTFO.
ANYWAY.
I'm so deep into Ana's 9-month update and I haven't even talked about the bear yet!
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| Squish face! |
Or the job. I just provided alllllllll those logistical details and failed to mention my new role. It's whatever. Maybe I'll type out a post about it soon, just like my baby-led weaning blog that's in the works. The long and the short of it is, I'm a glorified web writer/editor, and I'm working for all the Graham Media sites, not just WDIV. It's OK! I'll just say, the opportunity was finally there, and it will definitely be worth my time. If James becomes a news director some day (I'll have to scrub my blog of all references calling local news a hell hole), I'd love to stay at home with our babies forever! (Assuming we'll have more someday, haha, not trying to drop any hints). But I think it's really important for moms to be around the house, especially in the first few years if possible, although I realize that's not as easy for some as it is for others. My past nine months have had their challenging moments, but at the same time, they've been an absolute dream. I'd never change them, and lovvvvved all the precious time with Ana. I'll cherish those mems forevz.
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| Ana, slightly overwhelmed at the MSU season opener tailgate 2 weeks ago : ) |
SO SO SO. Back to the baby.
In the past week or so, Ana has finally started "cruising," as our pediatrician called it. For a long time, she has known how to pull herself up on the furniture, but it wasn't till just recently that she kind of started experimenting with "walking" alongside of it. (God, all these quotes make me feel like some kind of Chinese restaurant or cheap diner. Our special today is "eggs benedict" with "hash browns." I wish people knew how concerning those quotes seem to potential customers. I want chicken fried rice, not "chicken fried rice").
So she's cruising! And still crawling up a storm. Aggressive-crawling, I like to call it. I swear, she doesn't put both knees down; she uses one foot to push off, like a real live bear. James and I think it's the funniest. She is determined to fling herself off the bed, or the couch, or any furniture, really. She gets so pissed when I'll grab a leg or random limb to keep her alive ... it's like, "no, you would be MORE PISSED if you plummeted to your death right now or got concussed, ya filthy animal."
She's the same happy little boops as always. Such a joy, every day!
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| The #goat <-- not a typo, mom |
We started this playgroup thing at our local elementary school! So far, we've only gone to two classes (it started Monday -- but we missed, due to our 9-month checkup), but she's like, just taking it allllllllll in. There's gross-motor day, and art, and music, and story time -- a lot of it is for toddlers who are a little older. It seems like there are a bunch of 3-year-olds, a few tiny babies, and Ana. So, bummer that there aren't more kids her age, but today we met a 6-month-old, so maybe he'll become a regular. The toddlers love Anzie, and she's just like, very intrigued. She obviously can't do everything (haha, music day was lol), but we adapt! I think it's cool just for her to be around other babies and kids. Maybe it'll prepare her for preschool. People who do day care are always like, SOCIALIZE SOCIALIZE SOCIALIZE ... I have my own opinions on that concept that I won't get into here. But like, it's another chance for James and I to meet other parents, and Ana's doing really well so far! She's definitely one of the best-behaved, listening so intently and holding my hand during story time. Melts my heart. I'm sure she'll be one of the difficult 2- or 3-year-olds someday but ... until then! I'm enjoying my little wide-eyed babbler.
Speaking of babbling, there's definitely even MORE ma-ma-ma-ma-ma and da-da-da-da-da than ever before. I'm still not entirely convinced she's associating ME with mama and James with dada, but it's all a process, right? She makes a lot of noise and wants to have conversations with the people around her. Lately, she's been saying something that sounds like BOB. So funny. I'll repeat it back to her and she loves it.
Dr. Jenn says too often, we ask babies to do something ("Ana, can you wave?" or "Ana, can you say mama?"), and like, when they don't do it immediately, we move onto the next thing. But it's like when you're talking with a baby, even really early on. You need to give them time to respond. You go back and forth, just like the cadence of a real convo, to teach them what a conversation is like. But yeah, Dr. Jenn says sometimes parents will miss a baby's first intentional "dada" or first word, because we're so busy peppering him or her with questions or requests. And we're not giving babies time to do what we're asking them to do. So, when you say, "Ana, can you do patty cake?" You have to give her up to like, 30 seconds for her brain to process it. I love Dr. Jenn (not our real doctor). I pick up SuperBaby at least once or twice a week and read a random chapter or section. I'm doing a lot right now to encourage speech, as well. We continue to learn a little bit of ASL together. And Dr. Jenn says it's important to ask Ana questions and give her choices, even if she doesn't really know or care. For example! "What shirt would you like to wear today? The pink or the green?" (then I hold up one in each hand and let her choose). "You chose pink! I was hoping you would -- you look so pretty in pink." Or, "what would you prefer for your snack? Avocado or sweet potato?" (point to each, set a dollop of each on her tray). "Avocado sounds delicious to me, too! Let's share." I'm big on respecting the baby, and letting her know what's happening at pretty much every point in the day. "I'm going to change your diaper now. I know you don't love it, but I'll go fast so we can get back to playing!"
In no way do I think EVERYONE should do things like this. I'm just a big Dr. Jenn fan, and everything she does and recommends makes so much sense. And I've been taking her advice since the beginning (well, I'm not making Ana bilingual, but I've been following a lot of Dr. Jenn's recommendations!), so you could say it's been working for our family.
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| I swore I'd never post a pic of my baby with food on her face. I was wrong. Also, Ana is watching James on Facebook Live and I found this too sweet for words. |
Analisa is such a good eater. Again, the post on BLW is underway! In a nutshell, it's just like, let her eat what we're eating. And it helps that Ana loves ... most things I put in front of her. Meat and potatoes, fruit, most veggies, even a bite of Robby's ice cream cone last week. You should have seen her face. It was Ray's Ice Cream, for reference, so at least she got the good stuff! I was going to hold off until her first birthday before she had any dessert, but you know what, YOLO. Her face! Was hilar. It was on Snapchat, and I probably should have saved the clip.
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| Uncle Rob |
Robby's between jobs right now, which means he's home! Ana lovvvvvvves Uncle Robby, and adores riding on his shoulders. She's definitely never been up that high -- she has the biggest smile on her face whenever he tosses her up there. They are so cute together.
Our tooth count is up to TWO, and they're both on the lower bottom. Derpy af and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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| Sparty babes |
She still goes with the flow better than probably any baby in existence (biased, I realize). We took her out for the Lions game last Sunday and she sat in a bar with us for ... 4 1/2 hours? I mean, I had her up and about, and reading and playing and crawling (cough, on the pool table), but she loved it! I mean, in our defense, it was more of a bar/restaurant than just a bar. <Insert baby-in-a-bar movie line> But still -- whenever people count us out or assume James and I just want to sit at home based on Ana ... we're like NAH. Will travel anywhere or do anything. I wonder what Dr. Jenn would say about a baby in a bar ... ;) Also, everyone thought she was a boy, all because of that Honolulu blue T. Lame!
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| Our son, nervous about the game |
Gives kisses -- which just means, she smiles really big, knows what you're asking for, and leans into your lips with her mouth open. James MELTS into a pile of love; it's honestly my favorite thing to witness. He just goes, "ohhhhhmygod" and laughs, then adds, "I love that so much!" And I LOVE THAT SO MUCH.
Stands up, even in places where she shouldn't -- haha, which means we'll be at Target (this was the other day), and she'll be happy as a clam, riding in the cart, then I'll stop to pick up face wash, look over at her, and she's like, steadying herself with the cart handle, STANDING. Just balancing in the sitting area. She's so proud of herself, and I'm like, mortified/shocked. It happened as I was paying, too! The cashier was like, "you've got a jumper!" Haha luckily I haven't lost her yet, or faced too much fellow-mom scrutiny. Time to start buckling that bear in TIGHT. Oh, and same deal in the bathtub. She's all, "Why the heck do you want me to sit here for my scrub-down? Didn't you hear I could stand?" Anddddd then she tries to grab the sides of the tub and pull herself up. She'll get like, obsessed with the idea. Talk about a one-track mind. We have one of those mats on the bottom, which make it harder for her to slip, but still. I have to distract her hard with either her bath book, or her plastic fish.
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| #myovaries |
Laughs -- (well, she's been laughing for quite some time), but she wants to get in on the joke if everyone else is laughing. It takes her a second, but she'll realize something funny is happening and then chime in with a giggle of her own. #CUTESTEVER Or, on a rare occasion, James will make fun of me, "is Mommy the most irresponsible person ever for losing her car registration slip in the first place?" And Ana will cackle. Yep, that happened. James was deeeeelighted!
Was so cute at Can's wedding! And I love that she got to meet all my friends who were in from out of town, who hadn't seen her yet.
Loves books -- which just makes my heart ooze with love. I swear you guys, she sits by herself and thumbs through her board books. (We're trying to hide her non-board books ... she's destroyed Corduroy and Olive My Love in the past week. Verdict is out on Jamberry, and Lucy and Tom). She also points to things in said board books, tries to follow the words with her pointer finger, and brings me the books she wants to read! My life is complete. Oh wait, the "Dada" book by Jimmy Fallon -- you guys, she turns the page and goes "DADA!" and points! Overload of adorable-ness. OK, I'll do it because I do it every month: "Is there EVEN a cuter age than 9 months? No? I didn't think so!"
And because people are far too obsessed with such things (WHAT PERCENTILE IS SHE OMG OMG OMG), our doctor finally showed us on the chart at our last appointment ... and the answer is, pretty average! Average height, average weight (well, closer to chunky on the weight front, but not by much). She's 20 pounds! The next thing you know, she'll be walking and fully talking and going to college and getting married. WAH
See you back here the week of Oct. 8! Also, brainstorm on this for me, will ya? What kind of bear should Ana be for Halloween? I'm leaning toward polar. I told James that and he was like, "or panda or koala!" THESE, my friends, are the tough life choices.
(Still haven't given up on my doula dream. I swear I'll talk about it soon, in case anyone actually cares).
All the shit I say every single month: Ana's ...
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- All the shit I thought when I was pregz (lol)
- A random post on mascara (WHO IS STILL READING GO TO BED)
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