Miss Meals, 7 months

7 months & are we still here? Are we still who we thought we were?

Hello? Is anybody there? I'd be surprised if you were. Even I, the writer and keeper of this now-crappy, defunct blog can't be bothered to show up more than once every couple of months. And why would I?

I haven't been berry picking this year. I think I've missed blueberries. I know I missed strawberries. I haven't been to farmer's market. I haven't baked a quiche or made any fancy ice cream. I haven't even replace the tarragon in my garden yet (is it too late?).

But while the babe is napping, I just decided to stop by my blog and see what I happened to write about last time and cringed to discover that all the pictures and features were broken (for who knows how long) and that the last post about Amelia turning 5 months is not much different than the one I was about to write: she's just turned 7 months. How thrilling for you the reader. How original.

Here's the thing: there's nothing more I want to write about than my squirmy, burpy, slurpy baby. I want to write about how, at 7 months, she just started solid foods and absolutely loves her morning pears and banana breast-milk smoothie. She loves her Mama and Papa and when she's sad for some silly reason, all I have to do is pick her up in my arms and give her a little kiss and she smiles. I melt.  I want to shout from the rooftop that OMG that girl is sitting up on her own and gabbing and shrieking and it only was just a year ago she was a blob in my belly. How is that possible?? How can you be a parent and not believe in magic? It's pure magic.

5-month milestones

Amelia is turning 5 months in a couple of days. It's a super-fun age. She is full of beans all the time and is becoming much more dependent. She's also BIG! We had to switch to size 3 diapers and in the cloth diapers she is wearing the large setting. I cannot believe it. Here's what she's up to these days:

She's very vocal and has been happily shrieking whenever it suits her—even at 4 a.m. sometimes! She zerberts and makes low-pitched lion roars under her breath.

She's gotten really good at grasping things and likes to put everything in her mouth: her thumb, her nuk, her bottle, Mama's hair, her bib, her burp cloth, her sleeve. You name it.

We've been going to yoga together every Sunday. She loves to lay on her belly and watch the other babies and Mamas. She loves to chatter while Susan is trying to teach the class.

She's been rolling over more and more. Once she rolled from back to front, but I wasn't looking and so I missed it. She hasn't done it since.

A couple of days ago, she sat in the high chair all by herself. And she's pretty good at sitting in the bumbo seat at school too.

Tonight I nursed her down before bed, but she didn't fall asleep, so I tried putting her in her crib just to see what would happen. I left the room and waited. Nothing. No sounds, no fussing, no chatting. A few minutes later, I went in to check on her and she was asleep! She fell asleep all by herself. That is a first and I'm not getting my hopes up that she will do it again any time soon, but it did make Mama proud.

The most magical thing though is her smile. All you have to do is give her a little glance and her face just lights up. You can't help but melt. Even when you can see her face light up in the dark bedroom at 3:30 in the morning. You want to sleep. She wants to play. You see that smile and it's a-okay.

back in the saddle, but it's a different animal

I've been back at work now for a month. We're all doing okay. It's just a different animal, what with the breast pumping, bottle washing, and child care pickups bookmarking and bookending my days. But just like everything else with a new baby, every day is easier—and harder—than the day before.

Easier, because you're constantly learning and improving and becoming more efficient. Harder, well, because you're raising a child and working full time and somewhere in between you have a relationship to nurture and a life to enjoy. So far, it feels that I'm doing everything, but nothing very well. Meanwhile, Meals has dealt with things like a true champ.

For both of us, it's a milestone week. She's turning 4 months on Thursday. And I turn 32 tomorrow. All of a sudden she's doing things like sucking her thumb, making growling noises at the nip, and rolling over from back to belly. She's growing! And for the first time, Mama feels older than her years. Where did all those wrinkles come from? It's bittersweet.

We had our usual Sunday night family dinner last night and it ended up being a surprise birthday party for me. Emi made her famous cupcakes and before I blew out the candles, Col snapped this photo of me and my girl. I absolutely love the expression on her face. What could be going on in that little mind of hers? I think our girl is going to be a thinker, for sure. And what was I thinking? Happy happy birthday.

she rolls

This morning, I put Amelia down for some tummy time. I left for a second to grab my phone and when I got back, I saw this:

She rolled over all by herself! Pretty sure it was a fluke, I put her back on her tummy to see if she'd do it again. She did. Two more times. Then she got tired and was over it. But later in the day I got her to do it again and this time, I was ready with the video camera. Just shy of 11 weeks and already rolling over. That's our girl!