Snowbound Herpetologist

The baby is upstairs and napping with my phone playing white noise, so I will update this post with photos after she wakes up. My sweet little Annika is five months old - it's hard to believe!  Where did the time go?  In some ways, days (and nights, sigh) drag on, but in other ways, it goes so fast.  I know everyone says that same thing, but that doesn't make it any less weird to actually experience! At five months, Annika is bursting into true babyhood.  Although still enormous (will her growth rate ever slow down???) at ~19.5lbs and 27.5 inches, she can now roll both directions and sit up unassisted, but both only when she actually wants to.  She fights sleep, and she never really *wants* to sleep alone.  She's spunky when awake, and absolutely knows what she wants (and protests vociferously when she doesn't get it!).  She claws my chest all night to get to my boobs if I'm not waking up quickly enough for her - and she absolutely cannot be deterr...

If there was one thing I could tell all new moms about pumping when they're first starting out, it would be to be kind and patient with yourself if you can't pump a "milk waterfall" right out of the gate. It took me a LONG time and LOTS of practice to get good at pumping - just like any new skill!  Some women will respond well to the pump right away, but many others (like me!) have to train themselves to pump well, including lots of trial and error.  But lo and behold, I got much, much better at it over time! Here's today's 10 minute pumping session while I did online shopping: I didn't have to try very hard for this, and I could have pumped more if I'd wanted to (but Annika won't drink even this much at daycare, so I don't bother) I've posted this photo before, but here's my very first pumping session when Maya was about 6 days old, which took like 25 minutes and I cried the entire (painful!) time: Christmas Day, 2013: I ...

I am posting this a little late because my mom and brother were in town for the last week while husband was away at a conference.  Man, I am SO GRATEFUL that they came, their help was absolutely amazing!!!!  It was a whirlwind of baby wrangling, adventurous cooking, and attempting to adult (i.e., do the one million annoying little home maintenance projects that have been languishing but were desperately needed).  We only got about half of them done...but I suppose that half is way better than where we were before!  One of our chores was to get Maya's room/bed situation worked out to officially move Annika in with her.  I will post more about this, with cute photos, once the finishing touches are complete (although there's a teaser photo in today's post below). Annika had her four month well baby check on Monday, and she continues to grow (nearly) exponentially - 17lbs 12oz and 26.25 inches!  I keep asking the pediatrician if I should change how much I'm ...

Hello, internet world - I am marginally functional.  I thought having daycare three mornings a week would free up *gobs* of time for me to feel awesome, get in shape, and be uber productive at work. I am giggling at myself right now :) *If* I win the race out of the door in the morning and get everyone to school by like 8:30, I can get settled in a place to do work (either home or office) by about 9am.  I can work until 10am, at which point I have to pump, at that takes about 30 min and requires 100% concentration on my boobs or nothing comes out.  Then, I can do more work for about an hour, at which point I need to scarf down a lunch so I don't have to try to eat while I have the baby, because mostly I drop salad on her head when I try to do that.  Then comes the run to go pick her up by absolutely no later than 12:30pm. All that work for 2 (interrupted) hours of science?  Which often turns into at least one hour of dealing with email?  And if I want...

Annika is currently at daycare while I write this post (so I'm totally stressed out...although it is getting ever so slightly better each time I leave her), but it's somehow already time for her three month update, so I better write something!  I am running to the pediatrician's office this afternoon to drop off a physical form for Maya, so while I'm there, I will try to convince them to let me into a room to quickly weigh her - I'm guessing she's somewhere between 15-16lbs.  I will update her growth charts if they let me in! At three months, Annika is becoming more and more fun.  Yesterday, I even got a couple cough-like proto laughs while trying to tickle her!  She's still a very serious baby, but she's starting to become a bit more social.  Near the end of this month, I intend to try her out in a high chair to see if I can get her sitting at the table with us for dinner.  In light of that, I'm working hard on her sitting skills - we'll see i...

Use Younger Baby to re-create fun photos that I took with Older Baby. Work on bottle proficiency. Take Younger Baby to work. Coffee is a must. Attend really important work meeting with Younger Baby in tow. Stress the whole time that baby must be SILENT.  Work hard on reaching. Document crazy cowlick, just like Older Baby's (and Dada's). More bottle feeding. Ever-present large water bottle for maximum hydration to increase milk output. More yoga ball bouncing with cranky Younger Baby. Pick up Older Baby from daycare. Try to convince Younger Baby to smile. Try to document Younger Baby smiling with Dada. Celebrate Mother's Day with selfie in bed. Nurse. And nurse. And nurse. Nurse in public. Add Younger Baby to Older Baby's bed for funny photos. Take ALL THE BABIES to daycare. Again, coffee is vital. Go to Older Baby's sprinkler party Document sisterly bedtime kisses Take Younger...