Target+Carissa=Dangerous

Sofia and I had a full day yesterday. We started off by going to Target. Dangerous, very dangerous! But I promise, everything I bought were things I needed, like underwear and socks. And not even fancy underwear! Plus, I had to buy some things for Sofia. I bought some new bottles because we are attempting to wean. I'll tell you, it's really hard to stop breastfeeding. I'm happy to stop because it frees me up, but at the same time I feel really guilty (both because formula is expensive and I feel as though I'm robbing Sofia of valuable nutrients.) Please, someone tell me it's okay! Anway, back to my day. We went to Target and then out to lunch. Our next stop of the day was the library. We went to one of the musical performances they were having. I swear, Sofia was the star of the show! The musician loved her and Sofia really like watching her play her guitar. One of the librarians who was running the program talked about Sofia in front of the crowd. I felt embarrassed, and proud, at the mention. Finally, we ended the night at my friend Beth's house. Beth and her boyfriend made us dinner and we stayed there until the late hour of 9:30 pm! My how things have changed.

I Like to Read

Okay, sometimes I think I go a little overboard with the amount of items I check out at the library. As of today, I have about 40 books checked out. Yes, 40. And that's after I already returned some reserves I decided I could wait to read. What is wrong with me? I'm never going to read all of them, although I'm sure I'll try. I will admit that of the 40, at least 15 are books I took out for Sofia. What can I say, I like to have a mini library at home. At least I don't have to worry about fines since I work for the library. Who knows how much I would be in debt!

Anyway, I wish I had exciting things to say about Sofia. We walked to Big Lots today (I love that store.) and I bought her a cheap, plastic phone. I think the reason I've been buying her toys lately is not because she's bored with the ones she has, but because I am! So yeah, we got outside and boy was it windy! I made sure to bundle her up in her snow outfit and a blanket, plus I draped an afghan over the stroller to block the wind even more. I don't think she minded being outside because I'm sure she gets as sick of being inside as I do.

Oh, one more funny thing. Our friends Russ and Vanessa have their daughter who is one month old. They took her to the doctor and she was about 9lb. 10 oz, right in the 50th percentile. What was Sofia at 1 month? 7lb. 14 oz. What percentile? About the 4th. What can I say, we have a little baby (and I'm told that everytime we go out.) Sometimes I wish I was in the 4th percentile!

Give Me a Kiss!

I had to post this really quick. I think Sofia knows how to give kisses. When she woke up this morning, I picked her up in my arms. She put her hands around my neck and then proceeded to slobber, suck on my cheek. She has never done that before. Then, just to see if it was a fluke, I had her on my lap and said, "I want kisses!" Sofia turned her face towards mine and again kissed/slobbered on my cheek. She did that about five times in a row. I'll have to keep testing her after she wakes up from her nap, but for now I'm going to keep believing that she is giving me kisses!

My New Toy!

Sofia has a new toy today. Ryan's chef gave it to us. It's an exersaucer, which, from what I hear, is an amazing invention in the world of babies. Sofia seems to like it. At one point, however, she stood up in it and couldn't figure out how to sit back down. The look on her face was priceless. Don't worry, I didn't let her panic too long.

Sofia and I went to the mall today. Just two girls on a shopping trip. It was nice to get out of the house. It was such a pretty day too. Finally the weather is starting to go above freezing which made it not a big pain to go out with Sofia. I couldn't get over how many people commented on her while we were at the mall. People talked about how pretty she is (which is true), what big eyes she has (which she does), how little she is for her age (which I don't get) and what a cute boy she was (which she isn't). We only ran across one crazy guy at the bookstore. He grabbed her little doll and started shaking it in her face. I'm sorry, but I would never take some random baby's toy and shake it in their face. But whatever. (He was also the one who thought Sofia was a boy, even though she had on purple socks, butterflies on her pants, and the doll he was shaking was pink.)

I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow night. Ryan and I are having a date for the first time since October. Okay, we did go the movies for two hours on New Year's Day, but this time we're going to the movies and Panera. One of Ryan's coworkers is going to babysit for us. I hope Sofia is good for Dawn, especially since she has to put her to bed, which I hope Sofia will cooperate. We've never had anyone besides us put her to bed. My biggest fear would be coming home around midnight, and Sofia still being awake. I'm sure that won't happen, but either way I'm sure I post it!

Back to Work

Aahhh...I'm finally back to work after not being there since last Friday. I've been stuck in the house because of the cold and the snow, and poor Sofia and I are going stir-crazy. She was being whiny, I was being whiny, it just wasn't good. But now I'm at work and I'll be here all day tomorrow too. People probably think I'm crazy because I actually want to go to work, instead of vice versa. If I worked full-time I would probably feel differently, but I don't, so I'm happy to be here.

I know I shouldn't wish for Sofia to get older, but I really can't wait until she can do more and play with me. She's fun now, but I'm running out of ideas of things to play with her. Yesterday I sat her in the laundry basket, surrounded by pillows, and threaded a scarf through the holes and pulled her around the apartment. She enjoyed it until I took a corner too fast and tipped her over. Don't worry, she was fine. I just startled her a bit. I might have to break out that game on Saturday. I just need to find some more ideas. There is just so much staring in the mirror and looking at myself that I can take!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy V-Day! I've had two days off from work in a row because of all this crazy snow. We have at least 8 inches, if not more, outside the apartment. Ryan, Sofia and I braved the snow and went out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Last year on this day, Ryan and I were seeing Sofia for the first time, only she was the size of a lima bean!

But back to this snow! I figured I would be off yesterday because it was pretty nasty, but today came as a surprise. Unlike most people, I hope I work tomorrow because I

actually like going to work. I know, what's wrong with me?! It gives Sofia and I a much needed break from each other. (Sometimes I think she needs if more than me!) I wish I could go outside and play with Sofia in the snow, but that's just not possible. Maybe next year. We did take a walk to the mailbox. I bundled Sofia up in her little snow outfit. I don't think she knew what to make of everything, especially the cold wind blowing in her face. I would have walked around a little longer, but I had fears of falling or slipping on the ice, so we didn't trek any farther. It'll be much easier when she can walk, that way, when she falls, she'll be closer to the ground and it won't be my fault! (Is that being a bad mother?)

5 Months Old !

Sofia is 5 months old today and I can't believe how fast time goes. It seems like just yesterday she was a motionless blob on the couch, even though I really can't remember that stage because of the sleep deprevation. She has changed so much, rolling over, eating cereal, getting sick. So many "firsts" and many more to come.



Sofia is still fighting through her first cold. I called the doctor this morning to see if I should bring her in because her cough sounds kind of bad. It's rough and phlemy(is that even a word?) and I just wasn't sure if there was anything I could give her. There isn't and she seems to be doing better. It was nice to have a normal day. Sofia and I were able to follow our usual schedule since we weren't traveling and had nothing planned. I was even able to clean the shower( I'm ashamed to admit it's been a while), dust, do laundrey, and even make dinner (beef stroghenoff) in my crock pot. Wow, I am so domesticated. It beats sitting around watching crappy t.v. I've been trying not to watch too much when I could be doing so much more. Once the weather turns warm, I'll be out of this apartment going to the park, the library, shopping (but not buying), and anywhere else that's not inside this apartment! Hopefully this cold weather will pass, even though we have another storm coming through with lots of snow and freezing rain! It's hard to get excited about snow when you don't have snow days to look forward to.


Five month's old!

Books, Books, and More Books

There are books out there for everything, parenting included. Since I work at a library, I have access to these thousands of books and usually I take advantage of it. Right after Sofia was born I started to read all of the parenting books and baby books. (Actually, before she was even born I started to read the pregnancy books, so I was doomed from the start!) Anyway, I've read what seems like dozens, and probably is, of these books. Now that Sofia is almost five months old, I'm getting a little bored and overwhelmed by all of the "advice" these books have to offer, most of which contradicts each other. I've moved on to humorous parenting books. I know, it's still the same genre, but at least it's a step (if not a small step) in another direction. Although I'm sure by the time Sofia is hitting her toddler years I'll be reading What to Expect the Toddler Years! Anyway, the whole point of this post was to say I have found a very funny parenting book called Sippy Cups are NOT for Chardonnay. I wanted to recommend it for those who read this that are going to have kids or have just had kids. (That would be you Jessica and Vanessa!) It's very real and very tongue-in-cheek. And no, this won't turn into a book report!

Farewell

Well, we sent Grandma Colleen on her way to Phoenix on Tuesday. It was quite an adventure taking her to the airport with all of the snow coming in! What would normally take 20 minutes turned into an hour drive to the airport, and a three hour drive from the airport. Chelsea was driving and I was in the back seat with Sofia. Since we were only going five miles an hour, at one point I had to feed Sofia. (Illegal, I know, but it beat a crying baby.) I wish I could say that going to Cincinnati had been more fun, but Sofia was sick with a cold while we were there, so her being fussy didn't add to anything. Plus, with all of the snow, I couldn't make it back to COlumbus until today, which made me miss a day of work. I cherish my work days because I get a break, so I'm trying to enjoy my time at work today. I was happy to leave her with Ryan this afternoon. I feel bad, but after being with her non-stop since Sunday and the fact that she was sick kind of took its toll on me. Is it bad to feel that way?

Mom, if you're reading this, I hope Phoenix is fun and we miss you already. Again, it still feels as though you're on vacation!

Nothing exciting planned for the rest of the week. Just work tomorrow. Then maybe a trip to the grocery store because we are running out of everything at home!

Sick Baby

Yesterday was quite a scare. Ryan called me about 4:30 p.m at work to tell me that Sofia had been puking all day at the babysitter. I knew if Ryan called me at work, then it must be serious. I have never raced out of work so fast! When I got home, poor Sofia was fast asleep in Ryan's arms, looking a bit yellow. I called my mom, no answer. I called my dad. I called my friend Jenn who is a nurse, no answer. Finally we got a hold of Ryan's mom. She told me to breathe, which I did. She said that as long as Sofia didn't have a fever, which she didn't, or diarrhea, none too, than she was probably okay. I called the doctor just in case, and he just said to give her Pedialyte so that she won't get dehydrated. Once we gave her that she started to feel better and even went to bed at her normal time. This morning I woke up to a cheerful baby (although mommy wasn't quite as cheerful because it was 7:30 a.m.) All seems to be well today. Sofia's a little more sluggish than usual, but other than that, she's doing good. I'm still keeping her on the Pedialyte diet. I do feel bad because that stuff tastes nasty, I know because I tried a sip last night. MMmmm, warm salt water!

TGI Friday

Today is the start of any normal person's weekend. Not me, I work tomorrow and Sunday. I tried to make today special, though. Sofia and I went to the library and listened to a music performer that they're having every Friday this February. Sofia had a really good time looking at all of the people. She would stand in my lap and tap her little foot. The added bonus was the other babies around her. She was fascinated by them! Then, to cap off the evening, we picked up Ryan and all went to T.G.I. Fridays. I have not been there in ages. (Last time Ryan and I went there, which was when I was still a manager at BW3, two of my cooks were there, but us a bunch of shots, and then preceded to get kicked out (them, not us). It's a long story.) Anway, we went there and had a pretty nice, albeit quick, time. Sofia spent most of the time eating, so I got to use my one-handed eating trick. (Now that I think about it, people usually eat with one hand, but you get the point.) Their food was tasty, especially those new fried green beans. And I'm not even being to endorse them! Once we got home, I fed Sofia more cereal tonight, and she actually ate the whole bowl. I was pretty surprised, but she kept opening her mouth for more. I like the cereal, but for now we're just going to keep it to tastings.

Sale, Sale, Sale!

It has been so cold lately! Usually I like winter weather, but now that I have Sofia, the cold makes it really hard to get out and about. If it was just me, I wouldn'd mind the short walk through the parking lot to the mall or wherever. Now I have a stroller to unpack, a baby to unpack, ect. It's just not quite as fun. Sofia and I did venture outside yesterday. We took an exciting excursion to Target. Exciting, but dangerous. Not because of the cold, but because of the temptation. It never fails, I feel the need to buy something everytime I go there. Granted, I had a mission to buy diapers and wipes, but then I veered off course into the baby section (always a big mistake) and saw sale! sale! sale! I was good, I only bought a few (three) onesies. And I was smart, I bought bigger sizes that Sofia will fit in next year. I did the same thing when I went to the mall on Monday. The Children's Place, which is usually too pricey for my budget, was having an awesome 50% off sale on already markdowned clothes. I was able to get a 12mo purple zip up fleece hoodie, green sweatshirt, long sleeved onesie, and a blue velvety shirt (12 mo.) for only about 13 dollars. Original price for all four? Somewhere close to $40. I know, I'm incredible. No more shopping excursions for a while, at least not until the tax checks come in and then I'm going to pay down a credit card. After that, Ryan and I plan on purchasing a new coffee table (the thought of glass and toddler just don't seem to mix in my mind) and a new entertainment center. Plus a few other things like new shoes, glasses, ect. I know, we are the epitome of excitement.