Oh how time flies......

Somehow blogging ended up on the bottom of my priority list. Every time i would think about doing it, it would seem like too much work and that there was something else to be done. Lame things even like playing candy crush. Stupid, addictive game! Or else I would start writing, and wouldn't finish so I would put it off till later. Anyway, I'm finally here, and doing this!  
Teagan is now 15 months and quite an amazing little creature!  It amazes me how smart she is and how she understands way more than I think she does!  She is very head strong and had started with the NO's. Yup it happened one day, and that was it.She even sometimes say it with a grimace, that I have no idea where she got it from. Maybe me? who knows! She's a little sponge.  She is so energetic, it amazes me how she can keep going without stopping! just watching her makes me tired! Anyway here are some photos from the last few months!

My baby, the character

Here are a few funny photo's we captured of T this month. I'm not sure what she was doing in the first one, maybe pre sneeze? Hahaha  Anyway, She is definitely a little character and is developing quite the personality!  

Bitter sweet

I am 7 months in to my maternity leave, and am only starting to sometimes enjoy being off work.  Before I had Teagan i was so excited to not have to work for a year.  I didn't think that having a baby would be a cake walk. I wasn't THAT dilusional.  I just pictured the things I would get to do with my baby, not have to get dressed for work every day, the play dates we would have, just hang out at home and not have to go outside on really cold days.....
 Well. One week after T was born I think I was already wishing I was back at work.  I would look longingly at Marc getting ready for work and wish it was me.  I would count down the hours to when he would be home from work and I could have a break.  Even though I wasn't "going to work", I was at work. And not getting paid. If I was at work, my clients were not crying all day (If they were that would mean that either I was a very bad hairstylist, or something was very wrong with them), I was brushing hair off my clothes, not changing for the third time because I was spit up on again.  I actually had time to sit for a few minutes for a coffee.  I think it wasn't until T was 4 months that I actually fired up the coffee maker at home and made coffee for the first time in 4 months.  Because I actually thought I might have a few minutes to drink it. To say I had a rough go at it is an understatement. Still, I tried really hard not to let her colic keep us from doing things.  I think I got out on a daily basis, mostly because I had to to keep from going crazy, and many of these days were spent at my moms. I didn't get much of a break, It was like being at home, only I had company. Walks were mostly out of the question while she was awake, so I would plan to do them while she was sleeping. I would nurse her and after she fell asleep, put her in the carrier and away I went.  Play dates were tough, I would have to make sure she was either well rested or sleeping when I went.  I had a breast feeding support group I would sometimes go to that really just gave me another opportunity to go out. I never really felt that the mom's were dealing with the same thing, and it sometimes made me frustrated that they could just sit there with their content baby and not have to be walking them around, bouncing, or nursing them.  When people would tell me "It gets better" I wanted to yell at them "When!!??? cause it's not happening!"  The idea of 3-4 months of colic seemed like an eternity, and in retrospect, it sometimes feels like it has been.
Now fast forward to T being 6 1/2 months and things are finally starting to get better.  I wouldn't say I feel normal, because how can you when your life as you know it has completely changed. I will never feel like my old normal.  I'll have to create a new normal.  I guess things have settled down more.  I don't have as much anxiety, Marc and I get out for dates once in awhile, I am finally getting to cook a bit more again, something I couldn't even imagine investing time in in those first few months (thank god for those freezer meals I made).  Things aren't perfect, but my days are a bit more predictable (which can actually be good and bad).  I am really hoping that I get to really enjoy some of what I have left of maternity leave.  I am already trying to figure out how it's going to work when I go back to work.  I just want to start off with a few days a week, but It can be tough to find part time care.  One of my clients is retiring from her job as a day care worker this fall to take care of her grandson, so there is a possibility she could take T for a day or two a week.  My mom could do a day, and Marc could take her Saturdays which is really the most important day I work since it's the busiest.  It's so funny because even though some days I wish I had time away from Teagan, the thought of someone else caring for her all day is hard to imagine.  To possibly miss some of her milestones, like walking or saying new words makes me sad.  I used to think it was funny that so many moms had such a hard time dropping their baby's off at day care for the first time. Now I get it.  I think I need to write a post soon about all the things I "get" now. Because you really don't get it until you've been there.  Wow this has really turned into a long post, but there was a lot I felt I  needed to say.  Maternity leave has been bitter sweet,  but they are starting to get more semi- sweet :)   And all because of a special little someone

Teagan at 6 months!

We're actually a few weeks behind with this post but I'm going to give myself a break with this.  My little peanut is 6 months!  Here is what has been up with T lately....

-I haven't had her weighed since last month but I'm guessing she weighs somewhere between 13 and 14 pounds. I'm hoping to get her weighed sometime soon, she definitely is starting to feel heavier to me, her legs are filling out, and she can eat like an animal!
-Did I mention she can eat?  she is currently eating 3 meals of solid food a day. I can usually tell when she's had enough because she just gets distracted and disinterested in the food. She will, however usually still open her mouth if the spoon is there anyway hahah
-She LOVES her mum mums and when i put frozen fruit in her mesh feeder. That thing is great for teething and it keeps her entertained for quite awhile
-T loves being in the Baby Bjorn.  When she was small and we had to have her faced in, she hated it. Now that she gets to face out and can see everything that is going on, she really likes it.  We'll walk around the mall and she just blows bubbles and smiles at people and kicks her legs.
- She is still a pretty serious and intense baby but you can definitely get some good smiles out of her, and she is laughing more and more
-She is still not a fan of the car seat. She still cries sometimes when i put her in but when she does she usually stops once we get outside and in the car.
-T has two teeth, the bottom front ones, and more on the way!
-Her favorite toy right now seems to be a rubber crab that goes in the bath.  I think it's something about it's little legs and how they make good things to chew on. She also still likes her crinkly books, her owl stroller toy, her Exersaucer and seems to be obsessed with our T.V. remote. We bought her her own, but it doesn't seem to compare for some reason.
-Her favorite things to do are sit on the floor with her toy basket in front of her and pull all the toys out (I think it makes her feel very independent) , play with the sink faucet in the bathroom (although we now have to be careful because she has figured out how to turn it on!), attempt to climb on everything, especially the back of the couch, going out to places with lots of people and staring at them (she can win any staring contest, she's so funny!) and chewing on her feet.
-She is reaching for EVERYTHING and seems to think she can crawl and climb. She's not quite there yet and gets frustrated when she can't get at something she wants
-T takes between 2 and 3 naps a day. Her naps vary in length but she usually has her first one around 10, sleeps on average 1-11/2 hours and goes for the second sometime around 2. Depending on how long she naps for the second, I sometimes try to put her down for a quick 3rd nap around 4:30 or 5.  If we're out at this time she'll often have this last nap in the car. For bedtime, we start her routing at about 6:30. Marc will giver her a bath, put her in her sleep sac, giver her a bottle, read a story and then i will nurse her. She is usually asleep by 7:30 sleeps all through the night (I know, I'm lucky!) and gets up between 7:30 and 8.
- Like I mentioned, T is very intense and has a huge personality already.  She is not the most cuddly baby but is getting more so.  She is so much more content now that she can sit on her own and has some independance.  She is off all medication for reflux (although still spits up a lot, but doesn't seem to bother her) I am eating dairy again (Yay!) and her digestive system seems to be working better. She is way less gassy, and all around just a happier baby.  I don't know what did it, could have been the Bio Gaia probiotics we were giving her, the introduction of solids or just maturity that has helped, but whatever it is, we are all so much happier!

Her cute jester hat made for her by Tante Lise

Christmas dress!

She looks so grown up!

I love how she is so fascinated by her cousin Aubrey!

Teagan and her 2 cousins Aubrey and Manon

Random cuteness

Christmas is coming!

So I decided that given I have a baby and Christmas is fast approaching I was going to get a head start on shopping for presents. I started already in the beginning of November and I'm glad I did! I have a little more than half done, and most of the rest I already know what I am getting so It shouldn't be too stressful to get it all done in time. Every year I have started shopping for the holidays a little earlier and it has made a big difference on feeling ready and not frazzled by last minute gift getting.  One thing I do to make gift giving easier is to really pay attention throughout the year to when someone makes a comment about something they like or something they need, I make a mental note of it. So when a birthday or Christmas comes up I go back to that little area of my brain (my long term memory that has not been affected by mommy brain!) that stores these comments and pull out an idea.

Now lets talk about Xmas decorations.  We haven't decided yet if we are going to do a tree this year. I know, this makes me sad, but my husband's reasoning is that we aren't having any of the family at our place this year, and with the baby, getting a real tree this year will be pretty messy. I guess it is one more thing to have to do, then clean up, and lets face it, we don't have a lot of free time in these parts lately.  There are just so many things i want to do related to the holidays and I don't think it will be realistic to do many of them.  While Teagan is getting a lot better, she is still pretty demanding and we are still working on figuring out the naps. Many times she only naps 40 minutes, and this makes it hard to start any project, never mind finish it. I may have to leave all of these big ideas I have until next year, sigh.  Hopefully though, then she will only have to nap once or twice a day and her naps will be much longer. Also she may be able to help me with things like decorating cookies!

Teagan is almost 5 1/2 months!  I am starting to really notice that she is catching on to things very quickly.  Last week i started balancing her on her feet. At first she didn't understand what she was supposed to do and kept bending her knees. Then, within a few days, she was putting pressure on them and balancing with me holding her.  She really likes her exersaucer and will now stand up in it herself.  I noticed too that her sitting is getting closer to her being able to do it on her own! she can sit and balance herself with her hands in the front, and can let go for a few seconds without falling over.  I am thinking that by xmas she may just be sitting all by herself!  We have been feeding her solids now for a little over a month and she loves her rice cereal. She smiles and kicks her feet and gets excited when she sees the bowl.  Any other foods we are still working on.  So far we have tries sweet potatoes, avocado, corn, green beans mixed with apple sauce and chicken. Chicken was the worst! she actually gagged and looked at us like we were crazy!  the corn probably went over the best.  I have also been trying to mix some of these with breastmilk and cereal to help her get used to the taste. A little more success this way!

I have quite a few new pictures that I have not gotten around to transferring to the computer, but they are on the way!

Teagan's first Halloween!

Here's my little caterpillar!