Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day as a mother.  It was lovely to have this honor of being a mother and honestly, I think I am mother to the most beautiful baby ever!  AND I am lucky enough to have a wonderful, kind and loving mother, as well.

Mother's Day, for me, comes with mixed emotions.  It was 3 years ago that I called my mom to wish her Happy Mother's Day and found out that my mom and dad were at the hospital.  I can hardly believe that my dad has been gone almost 3 years!  So much has happened, yet at times it feels like just yesterday that I could call my dad to talk to him.   I am so grateful for the loving family he and my mom raised me in and for all that they showed me by example.   I still can't imagine how they raised 7 children, the challenges and chaos of 1 child is overwhelming at times!

7 months old

I am amazed at how much Brie has accomplished in the last couple of weeks, not only did she cut a tooth, she sits and she can scoot herself across the floor. We've placed covers on the electrical outlets so she won't stick her fingers in the holes, but she really just loves cords (i.e. computer cords, cords to the refrigerator, lamp cords, etc.) and I'm afraid she's going to pull something down on her head.  I've been trying the distraction method, because I don't think she understands no, but she just goes back to the cord. I guess with all this growth and change, she's having to catch up on her rest because the last couple of days she's really been sleeping. Which is helping me to catch my breath - really mental calmness - because Monday through Wednesday were pretty fussy days for Brie. She didn't want to nap and just pretty much wanted to be held. Yesterday, I was finally able to pick up some of the clutter that had accumulated around the house and it felt great!

Teething, anyone?

[flickr video=5693354090]

It seems like she's going through a huge growth spurt right now.  Not only did she pop a tooth through her gums, but she also is sitting for longer and longer periods and she's continuing to scoot and pull herself around and she's trying to pull herself up the coffee table.  I tried to get a video of it but she wasn't having any of it.  She just looked at me and smiled.  I like the above video of her just gumming and giggling in her crib.

Checking out the area

This past weekend we went on several exploratory trips to find some nice hiking areas. We did a hike Friday evening up at Inman Gulf which was only about 20 minutes from our place. It was a nice walk in the woods very similar feeling to hiking around the top of Mt. Mitchell. We didn't take any pictures. I think partly to do with the fact that 5 minutes into our hike I tried to traverse a muddy, murky section by following Mat's lead of log walking. I was not successful. Brie wasn't fazed at all and she didn't get wet. My shoes and whole left pant leg were drenched in mud which made for a damp 2 hour or so walk.

On Saturday, we went to the Labrador Hollow Unique Area. It was very beautiful and interesting AND we had stellar weather. Blue skies and warm temperatures.  We went on a couple short hikes on a boardwalk to the lake and to Tinker Falls.  Then we went on longer hike up to where people jump off for non-motorized hang gliding.   On our way back home we stopped in Syracuse for dinner at Empire Brewing Company where we ate some tasty burgers.   They use local farms for their food. :-)  Mat had an elk burger and I  had a regular burger and they were cooked exactly as we ordered.  They might have been so tasty because we just had energy bars for lunch and so we were STARVING.

On Sunday, we explored Treman State Park in Ithaca, NY where Cornell University is.  (Side note:  supposedly, Belleville was in the running to have Cornell University here.)  It was a very nice walk in the woods.  The CCC built the trail and stairs for one of their projects and they were beautiful.  Lucifer Falls were huge and amazing!  I wonder if it's always so big or if it has something to do with all the rain we've had lately.  It was so luscious and green walking around with lots of plants beginning to flower and peek through.

We saw quite a bit of Dutchman's Britches in bloom which was awesome.  It is down in western NC as well, it just seems that we never timed it right to see it blooming out in the wild.  I guess we got lucky this past weekend because we saw it on both days!

Brie cut her first tooth!

For months now I've been saying that Brie is teething pretty much anytime she's cranky, drooling excessively, wanting to eat all the time, not wanting to sleep, etc.

For the past week or so Brie has been all of the above.

I figured it was because I took some allergy medicine, so she was just hungry because I wasn't producing enough milk, then I got a blocked milk duct, and then I figured she was going through a growth spurt or something.

This afternoon I was thinking about it and going to tell Mat that maybe she's just teething and possibly that is why she's been Miss Cranky Pants and then I thought, no, he'll just tell me that is what I always say.

So I didn't say anything.

But lo and behold, this evening I was playing with her and the two white dots I saw earlier today looked like they had popped through so I touched her gums and yep, her first tooth has been cut! We'll see if it stays up. It was still up when I put her to bed.

A few weeks ago, her bottom gum was all swollen and streaky purple and I thought for certain that she was going to cut a tooth, but it just went away. That is why I'm not 100% certain that it will stay up!

'Roo

This kangaroo is a toy of Mat's childhood.  His Grandma Goldberg crocheted it and there used to be a baby kangaroo for the pocket.  Mat's mom saved it and gave it to use before we left Asheville.  Brie loves 'Roo's floppy head and chewing on the ears!   I'm amazed Mat's mom hung on to it for so long.  I don't think we have any toys from my childhood, we all played with them too much and they probably were threadbare by the end of their lives!  Hopefully, I can save some of Brie's toys for her if they last her childhood or did she inherit the Scoville gene of playing rough with our toys.  I'll have to remember to ask if these toys were only brought out for Mat to play with on special occasions.

Our second week...

We've enjoyed much lovelier/warmer weather this week and now that school is back in session we do see more people walking around town.

I spend a couple hours a day walking Maddy and Brie. Maddy's life has changed completely. No longer is she able to just be outside, she now has to get walked for every bit of exercise and opportunity to go the bathroom. It's been a while for all of us and probably one of our biggest adjustments. But hey, I'm getting plenty of exercise and Brie and I are both enjoying the fresh air.

Our neighbors in this half-a-house are a very nice, young couple with 3 kids. Thankfully, two of them are under the age of 3, so hopefully they understand when Brie cries. Because you can definitely hear crying through the walls. I am on the search for another place to live, but this area is so small that there really aren't that many homes up for rent. Lots of homes for sale, but we aren't really ready to make that kind of commitment yet. :-)

Brie is now 6 1/2 months and she is a scooter and roller.  She can now move about 4 feet.  Thankfully that is all, I'm not ready for her to be too mobile.  She also is sitting for longer and longer.  Where she used to topple over after 30-60 seconds, she is now sitting for 3 or more minutes.  (Very exciting stuff!) We've been feeding her some, not all of the time.  The couple of times I thought she needed a little bit of water to stay hydrated after eating in the evening she threw up both times.

As a matter fact, I think I could win an award for worst parent.  On Sunday and Monday, Maddy had been throwing up and eating a lot of grass.  Not certain if she ate something she shouldn't have at the beach, but on Monday night as we were going to bed, Maddy threw up in the hallway.  Mat was awesome and cleaned it up.  Later on, I thought I heard Maddy throwing up again but I looked around and she was still on her bed, so I figured I just must have been dreaming about the previous time.  A couple hours later Brie woke up to be fed and when I went to pick her up, her bedding and pajamas were soaking and smelled like throw up.  I felt terrible and I don't know how she was able to fall back asleep in that mess.  Last night when she threw up, I was in there instantly and had her bedding and pajamas changed quickly and not even 5 minutes later she had diarrhea all over the place, so yet another change of clothes.  Anyway, the only thing I can figure out is both times, she'd had a little bit of water, less than an ounce but maybe the flouride was too much for her.