Just us Girls

Kyra turned 5 months old today, with that has come all sorts of new and exciting developments.  She is still not rolling over, but still trying and getting high-centered in the process.  She loves working out in her Excer-Saucer and can really hold herself up well. She's always trying to sit up like a big girl when she's in my lap and can hold herself forward and upright for decent lengths of time, like 30 seconds or so.  She loves to hang out in just a onesie with no socks and is trying really hard to get those toes in her mouth. 
The biggest changes have been with her eating, we had started a little rice cereal a couple of weeks ago, but let's face it, that stuff is lame.  It didn't go over all that well.  Now we have moved on to veggies!  We did a week of trying carrots and are on to sweet potatoes.  It was a mess at first and still isn't a clean process, but more is ending up in her mouth than on her bib at this point.  We got the high chair set up a couple of days ago and she loves being pulled up to the table when we're eating and being a part of dinner time.

The other big development that happened this month is that I spent my first weekend away from Kyra and Scott.  My college roommates, Jessie and Denise and I got together in Cedar Rapids with no husbands and no kids.  We realized halfway through the weekend that it was the first time we had done this since before we all had husbands and kids, approximately 7 years.  We had a great time and it was fantastic to catch up with a little girl time.



Jessie is pregnant so Denise and I had to drink enough margaritas for the three of us.

I came home refreshed and happy to see my husband and baby, I would like to think that they were happy to see me as well.  Scott says he had a good weekend with the baby and other than being a little sleep deprived I think he was being honest.  The only down side to being gone for a couple of days is that I came back to a baby that had figured out how much easier it is to drink a bottle than it is to nurse.  She's officially over it.  I had planned on shutting down the factory at 6 months anyway, but it still came as a shock to me.  Imagine my surprise at 4:00 a.m. when instead of happily latching on and drifting back to sleep my little sweetheart pushed me away with both hands and started screaming and turning her head away from me.  She wouldn't calm down until I got her a bottle.  I thought it was a fluke, but it's not.  We tried several more times always with the same result.  Now, the logical and rational part of me says I'm still pumping so she's eating the same thing anyway and we are starting solids and trying to come to the end of the whole breastfeeding process.  However, the new mom part of me was absolutely heartbroken and completely rejected.  It wasn't even like she was just apathetic about it, she full on pushed me away.  My little baby who has wanted to be snuggled up to me since the minute she was born had no interest in my being near her.  After a few days of processing, the logical and rational side has won out and we are moving forward with our new plan to wean the mom instead of weaning the baby.  Let's face it, it would be harder to take it away from her if she still really wanted to nurse so this is sort of a blessing. 

With this new experience I would like to officially and publically apologize to my mother.  For every time I made you feel like you weren't cool and I didn't want you around, and when I pushed you away and didn't want your help or advice and made you feel unappreciated, I am so sorry!  I know that it's a normal growing up (especially junior high and high school) thing, but having your child not want you is a kind of hurt and heartbreak that you can't fathom until you experience it.  I know that I've only dipped my toe in the pond as far as this goes and I'm not looking forward to the inevitable belly flop that will happen when she hits about 13.  For now, I'm going to remember that everything is a phase.  I'm fully enjoying watching her laugh when gets a mouth of sweet potatoes and her proud look of accomplishment when she holds herself up without any help and I'm going to try to remember that her becoming more independant means that I've been doing my job.