I hate blogging from my phone but it appears that I won't be blogging at all if I don't so here goes.

We had a pretty good trip last weekend. Got in all the promised visits including meeting 2 new baby girls born to 2 IRL BLMs I know. They were both on the same growth curve as C.S. so I didn't feel like the girl with the giant baby. I also got to spend time with my niece who calls me "na" and introduce C.S. to my brother, aunt and cousin.

We spent most of the weekend with my friend R and her family. Her little boy J turned 2 the day before we arrived. He is a sweet little man and he loves to hang out with daddies and do boy things like drive trucks and tractors. It was very bittersweet to see D.G. Interact with him and get a glimpse of what might have been for our family.

The biggest news in our house is that C.S. has learned how to nap in her crib. Well really we figured out that she still needs to be swaddled for sleep. She doesn't take long naps, 45 minutes to 1 hour max, but D was the same way. I should have a huge list of accomplishments from the nap times but there doesn't seem to be any increase in productivity around here. My personal hygiene may have improved though so I'll take that as a victory. The swaddling has also created the need for some summer weight swaddle blankets that don't cost a small fortune (like the popular ones from Aus) so I have a totally valid reason to spend some quality time at the fabric store this week.

And now the phone is dying so that's it for tonight. I still hope to write posts for Merry's rainbow series and Right Where I Am in the near future but we will see how long it takes to simultaneously have the time and inclination to post.

Taking this show on the road

We are taking Cleo on her first road trip this weekend. It was supposed to happen two months ago but other people's plans got in the way. I've been in a weird mood lately (I'm probably a borderline case of PPD) but hopefully spending time around other people for a few days won't send me over the edge. I promise to blog properly when I get back.

4 Months Old

 Look at all this cuteness...

It seems like C.S. has changed so much in the last month. 

-She is teething. We will know tomorrow if she matches D's record of getting the first tooth at 4 months and 1 day old.

-She figured out how to use her hands which allows her chew her hands and anything else she can get into her mouth, which helps with the teething. It also allows her to grab handfuls of my boob and try to rearrange the location of my nipples while she is nursing, ouch.

-She can entertain herself for short periods of time. I do love holding her but it's much safer for her to hang out in the baby gym while I attempt to cook supper. Today I was actually successful in preparing supper by myself and it wasn't frozen pizza.

-She is starting to "talk" a lot more. She makes a whole range of noises at us and has figured out how to do it while nursing.

-She will occasionally chuckle but we can't get her to properly laugh or giggle for any length of time.

She still refuses to nap in her crib (but sleeps there just fine at night) and will not go down for the night before 10 pm. I spend a lot of time trying to get her to sleep more but at this point I think it's still in the range of normal. I'd rather be worrying about how much sleep she gets than have to worry about how much she eats. Clearly that's not an issue (her rolls have rolls) but I won't know how much she weighs until tomorrow.  

(As of May 11, C.S. weighs 14 lb 10 oz, 75th percentile for weight and height. Somehow she is both lighter and longer than D was at 4 months. And no teeth, yay for me!)

Here's just a little more cuteness for you.

Catching up

The MIL left right on schedule on Friday morning and because Cleo had a rough night and ended up in bed with me, I was able to sleep through her entire departure. D.G. and I had some less than pleasant discussions about the visit (I admit I hid out in our room or C.S.'s whenever she needed to nurse/nap and for once was completely happy about how frequently she wants to nurse.) but we are both tired of being stressed about a someone who is only in our lives due to obligation so we will ignore the subject for a good long while.

It was a lovely weekend here. Spring finally made an appearance and we spent as much time as possible outside. We brought out D's playhouse and the 3-seater swing from under their winter tarps. I was able to sit on the swing and nurse C.S. and think about how assembling that swing was the last thing we did before I went into labour with Reid and not completely fall apart. C.S. has now eaten outside numerous times and had a couple of outdoor naps too. She really dislikes wearing a sun hat which we will have to work on so I don't have to spend the whole summer carrying an umbrella.

On Saturday morning, C.S. and I helped set a world record. She was one of 6,550 babies changed into a cloth diaper at the same time all around the world. There were 97 babies changed at The Mall here in Edmonton and it was a lovely crunchy-granola mommy fest with cloth diapers and babywearing and breastfeeding all over the place. I wish we had events like this to go to every week.

Half over and a Giveaway

Only a day and a half left and there are 2 nights in that day and a half. I may get through this with some sanity intact.

Yesterday I cleaned C.S.'s room and today D.G. and I ran errands. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you are hiding out or running away. It's also amazing how much I love my new phone and the ability to blog and/or play Scra.bble while hiding out.

Speaking of accomplishing things I have been meaning to have a small give away. I have a small pile of OPKs and HPTs that I won't be needing. Does anyone out there want them? They don't expire until 2014 so even if you aren't planning to ttc for a while they will still work. Leave me a comment if you want me to send them your way.

Grit my teeth and get through it

My MIL is coming for a visit. Not my idea, not D.G.'s idea but he feels obligated to let her come and I am trying to tolerate it for his sake. She arrives in a little over 6 hours but more importantly she leaves in about 78 hours. I can do this, it's less than a hundred hours, just avoid being left alone with her and it all be over soon.