THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

So, Rosie decided to celebrate her 6 1/2 month birthday by waking up every hour on the hour starting at midnight last night - fun! She has not been sleeping well lately - not sure why - maybe teething - maybe it’s a cognitive or physical growth spurt - even her naps only last 30 min or so now….Despite the sleep deprivation - we have had a fun weekend so far - Thursday we drove up north (Traverse City area - about 3 hours away) to play in the snow while Joe had a show to cover…They have a big indoor waterpark at the ski resort we stayed at so we went and played in the water on Thursday night for a little while - it was super chlorinated and started to sting our eyes after a bit - but I think Rosie enjoyed it and liked watching mommy and daddy make fools out of themselves on the waterslides and the surfing ride… Joe had a good time skiing on Friday while Rosie and I chilled in the pool at the hotel - I keep making fun of Joe for calling the tiny hills in MI “mountains” - I can’t wait to take him to Tahoe to see some real mountains… You can’t call Boyne Mountain a true mountain when you can make out your friends at the top of the ski lift from my hotel room at the bottom of the hill - the longest runs take all of about 9 seconds to get from the top to the bottom…

It seems every time I turn around - Rosie is a different baby - she looks bigger and older every time I look at her - as of this morning - my girl is 19 lbs according to my scale! She barely fits into some 6 month stuff - but mostly is in 9-12 month stuff now. She is on the verge of true mobility - not quite crawling yet - but up on her hands and knees and bouncing and pushing herself backwards and in circles… She made her first forward movements last night - kind of scooting forward on her knees - I will have to start babyproofing the house soon!

Rosie is still not eating any solid foods yet - we have tried little bits of mashed banana and avocado and she didn’t like either of them - (she did seem to like sucking on a dill pickle a couple times when we were out to eat)… She still has a strong tongue thrust reflex - so we will just keep trying until she decides she is ready for it… We did get one of those mesh baby feeder things and we have been putting ice in it for her to chew on - she loves it! Still no teeth yet - but the drooling and chewing on everything continues…

Oh - she also has a new fun game that she has been playing with her pacifiers - she decided now that she likes to chew on them - never wanted to suck on them - but now that she can hold them and control them with her hands - she likes to take them and clamp her little gums down on the nipple part and then she pulls them out of her mouth with a satisfying “pop” sound - I thought this was really cute until I realized that this is what she has been trying to do with MY nipples too! OUCH! She also has taken to bringing her legs up and kicking me or reaching up to scratch my face while nursing - I feel like a battered woman - she is in constant motion - never still….I can’t even imagine how it will be when she starts crawling and walking - yikes!

Rosie and I have been attending weekly mommy and baby yoga classes that we both enjoy. We get exercise, get to socialize with other mamas and babies, and lately my smart girl has taken to practicing the plank pose all on her own.

“Never wake a sleeping baby” - I have heard several people say - but what if that baby went down for a nap at 5pm and was still sleeping at 7:30pm? Should you wake the child to ensure that the child eventually goes to bed at night? If you do not wake the child - are you guaranteeing that this child will wake up at some ungodly hour in the middle of the night? I came across this dilemma yesterday - after Rosie decided to wake up at all hours the night before - and then refused to nap all day until finally submitting to sleep at 5pm. Luckily (or not), she woke up right around 7:30 so I did not have to struggle with the “wake the baby” question any longer - but I am wondering - for next time (if there is a next time) - should I let her sleep - or wake her from her late nap in order to put her to bed a couple hours later? What if the nap came at 6pm?

For the record - I did turn on the lights in the bedroom at 7:30 and wasn’t really trying to wake her up - but I wasn’t really trying to let her sleep either - and after her late nap - she didn’t really go to sleep until around 11pm - but slept pretty good (barely waking to nurse a couple times) - until around 8:30 this morning - so I am not sure if she would have slept longer or better had I let sleeping babies lie…Oh well - I guess we will never know - so goes motherhood.

Well, Rosie hit the milestone of 1/2 a year old this past weekend - and she is steadily growing by leaps and bounds. I think she is around 18 lbs (according to my scale) and I am sure she has grown a couple inches since we last took her to the Dr. for a check-up. She is confidently sitting up now and only loses her balance if she leans too far to the side to grab a toy or something.

She has been experimenting with rolling over more and loves to push herself up onto her hands and knees.

She is not quite crawling yet but she can scoot herself in a circle and can push herself backwards. Still no teeth yet - she is drooling and chewing on things like crazy still - we hope they come in soon as she has been having some miserable days and nights…
We had a cool un-coincidence over the weekend - when we went to lunch at our favorite Indian food restaurant -Priya - and happened to sit down a couple tables away from another couple with a young baby who looked about Rosie’s age. We started up a conversation with them - as all young parents with babies are apt to do - and we found out that their son was born on the same day as Rosie! They seemed like a pretty nice family - the mom was a fellow breastfeeder (Joe thinks we are all in a cult) and they had a cute name for when their son was eating - they said he was at the “breasteraunt”. I thought that was pretty cute and clever and I am admitting now that I am totally stealing that and using it from now on.
The 6 month mark has changed our girl into a new baby - she just seems more mature - she is more confident - can entertain herself easier and doesn’t need as much stimulation from us - though she wants our attention constantly - she is always looking to see where we are and if we are watching her. She is much more vocal now and is always babbling or cooing or hooting like an owl. She smiles and laughs all the time and I can totally see her personality and what a cute little girl she will grow into.
I can’t beleive it has been 6 months since she was born - the time totally has flown by - I sometimes feel like I am still pregnant and absent mindedly reach down to rub my big belly (still carrying about 15 extra pounds - though I think at least 5 of that is in the boobs). It has definitely been a roller coaster ride for the last 6 months - I was re-reading some posts from when she was 3 months old and I had already forgotten how hard it was back then - and I can’t beleive how much she has changed and grown. I am really looking forward to the next 6 months.

So, we have been trying to get Rosie down for sleep at night with some kind of a loose “schedule” - putting her to bed (in our bed) between 8-9pm - whenever she starts showing signs of tiredness - rubbing her eyes and etc. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Some nights she goes right to sleep - other nights she fusses and won’t sleep until 11-12 - there is no rhyme or reason to her pattern - so we just have to “go with the flow” - my new mantra… Last night she went to sleep around 9:15pm after fussing for about 30 min - If she lets go of her death clamp on my nipple and if I can slowly ease myself out of bed without waking her - I can go downstairs and pretend I have a life for a few minutes/hours - all the while anxiously checking the monitor for any sign of her stirring so I can run back upstairs to the bedroom and stick my boob in her mouth before she wakes up completely - sounds like fun - huh?

So I know it is a few weeks late - but here is the photo from our trip to see Santa on x-mas eve (nothing like waiting until the last minute). Rosie was great and wasn’t shy or scared of the “stranger” santa guy at all…