Week 15

Wow! I can't believe how big she is getting!!!! I really can't believe it! She has grown so fast and is doing so much more so suddenly that it is a little difficult to take in. She is grabbing for toys and playing and pulling toys to her mouth to chew (because she is officially TEETHING!). So much in just a short couple of weeks. Amazing. Every time I look at her I am more amazed. I know I'm not usually so intensely sentimental, but... I feel like she is just growing up so unbelievably fast. I still have a hard time believing that she is really mine. It still seems a little surreal at times that I have a child: she was inside of me and now she is out and I'm watching her grow. I even watched at she was born and it's still crazy to me! Will it ever seem really real? Maybe when she starts calling me "mommy" and Dan "daddy". It's probably just another bout of big life changes feeling no different than every day life, just the paces have changed a bit... I don't know. All I can say is every minute is totally worth it and I'm loving it!I don't know what it is, but John always has my babies on his head...


As for Aidie this past week. She got another vaccination on Monday. Good news is, yet again, she had no adverse reactions other than being sleepier than usual. Bad news: it's carrying on longer than I expected. I really don't like it affecting her this long. She has been sleeping about 16hrs. a day over the past week, which is EXTREMELY unusual for her. She usually sleeps about 12- 13hrs a day. It might not seem like a big difference, but it really is. Especially when it completely changes around her napping patterns. I think it's the vaccination combined with a growth spurt. I swear this child is growing like a weed! She is bigger and bigger every day!
Other than the sleepiness, she has been perfectly fine and very happy. Ever since we started her on that laxative, she has been a sweet, happy little girl! I know it's only a temporary fix, but hopefully her digestive tract will right itself once she starts on solid foods.
She is also in full swing of teething. She is chewing on everything she can get her hands on. Every morning we find her rolling around in her crib, smiling and chewing on her blanket. It's absolutely hillarious!
And thanks to a wonderful article sent to me by one of my parenting sites, I am now much more adept at deciphering her different cries. The site details each different type of cry and what they mean. I'm sure it differs for some children, but it is dead on for her. It has helped SO much. Much less guess work!
On another note: We have decided to forgo daycare for the moment and keep her home a bit longer. Daniel is just going to take shorter days at work. Fortunately I'm getting TONS of grant money in this semester. So we have the opportunity to do that. I feel very fortunate. I am looking forward to getting her into daycare, maybe after she has finished up with her first round of vaccinations, which won't be for another couple of months. We are doing a very different schedule from the suggested one. So it's taking much longer for her to get her vaccinations.
This past week we took our first trip to the zoo and had a marvelous time. Aidie just loved it (until it started to get really hot that is). She was particularly fascinated by fish. It was so cute to watch the amazement and interest on her little face. I wasn't sure that she would really be into it, but she WAS! It was so much fun. I'm so glad we bought a pass. I can't wait to go back!!!
We kept trying to get a picture with the lion in the shot, but it never seemed to work properly


Our first stop at the sea lion exhibit



Feeding the baby giraffe. So cute, but Aidie wasn't really interested.



She LOVED the dolphin exhibit though... maybe it's a water fascination. Maybe she feels a kinship sort of empathy having previously spent 9months floating.



Upkeep for a tank of this size- thousands of dollars. The wonder of a child- priceless.