it's been 3 months...

... and I want to blog, I just don't know what to say... I guess I'll just start rambling, and see where that takes us... so yeah. the last time I blogged was November... and it wasn't really a "real" post... it was me saying "hey, I'm going to blog!" and then... well... three months later, here I am.

Okay. the last real post was May... and it ended pretty abruptly... I feel the need to recap what's happened since then, but seriously? recapping the past 9 months in one post? not gonna happen. nor would anyone WANT to read all that in one post... I promise I'm going to start blogging the journal entries, but for now - I guess it's just picking up from here...

it's February... Goose is now 13.5 months old and I can't BELIEVE how the time has flown... it seems like it was just yesterday that she was all teeny tiny and snuggled up in my arms all the time... now she's walking all over, talking gibberish like crazy (as well as saying "mom" and "hi" consistently) she loves to dance, she loves music and singing (and even MY singing... which can be compared to someone killing a cat... I guess she isn't picky as long as there's a beat?) and bounces and bops her head with the music... she's so much fun, I just can't get over it! She's still cuddly, but mostly just at night when she's tired, or when we're in large crowds or around strangers... otherwise she wants to be walking around checking everything out :)

We're weaning right now, which has actually been going pretty well... last night we managed to go the whole night with only one nursing time (3am of course!) and she'd had a 7oz bottle of cow's milk around 9:30pm and had a couple Puffs & Goldfish at 7am while I was getting ready this morning... I had mixed feelings about weaning, as I LOVED nursing (much as I loved being pregnant - both were such awesome experiences for me that I just knew I was going to miss them... being a mom is SO much better than being pregnant though!!) and while I was thinking that I'd miss the bonding that went with nursing, I've since realized that we're sooo closely bonded already (anyone that knows Goose can tell you she's a TOTAL "Momma's Girl") :) and we bond every day over other things, singing, playing, sharing food (she LOVES "real" food!! much like her momma!!) and when hubs is working - giving her a bottle... (he loves to cuddle her while giving her a bottle, so when he is home, he gets to do this) Also, the actual nursing was starting to get "old" - and by that I mean, it wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be... she was losing interest, so we'd get settled and even with my Mommy Necklaces (which we both LOVE!!) she'd still pull off to look at every little sound (like 13 times!) or only nurse for a few minutes before wanting to get down to play... then come back 5 minutes later wanting to do it again... also, while she never bites me, those sharp little teeth did start to rub and be uncomfortable (luckily that's usually only when she's teething!) so I figured it was just "time" to start weaning... and I know now that it was the right choice. We're almost weaned, and we're doing very well with it!

Sleeping, on the other hand... not going as smoothly. We've been "those" parents since the very beginning... you know, the ones who co-sleep... :) and when Goose was 8 months old my mom came over to babysit so hubs & I could go to the movies - and she put Goose in her crib and there she slept! GREAT! for an entire MONTH. and then, we had the week from hell, where Goose didn't sleep for longer than an hour and a half. at a time. for a complete seven nights. which of course had her in our bed again, mostly sleeping sitting up leaning against me... as it ended up, she had a sinus infection (poor baby! those SUCK!) and once she was feeling better... she was teething again... and in our bed. again. (not that I minded terribly, I LOVE having her snuggled up against me... it's the most she lets me snuggle anymore!) and that was followed by a cold... followed by more teething... followed by a new daycare (which she started on Jan. 4th - more about that later!)... and then ANOTHER sinus infection/teething issue... and NOW it's the whole Toddler Regression thing - you know, learning how to walk, talk, etc. sets them back in other areas... most often SLEEPING... also, dealing with a little bit of hitting, pinching and biting... oh the joys of Toddlerhood :) Once we get back into the groove though, and things are settled down - we're going to start working on getting her back into her crib... I've actually had success moving her from our bed to the Pack & Play that's next to our bed several times in the last couple of weeks, but I don't know what it is, as soon as I start leaning over the crib to lay her down, she's immediately awake and crying/screaming... confusion ensues. work in progress.

ahhh yes, and then there is daycare... when Goose was born, we decided that we were going to go with an in-home daycare for her... it was cheaper, she'd have more "comfortable" care, and there was one well recommended by a friend of a friend just around the corner... started out there, things were going well, we liked A very much. Goose seemed to be getting all the attention and care that she needed, and I was pleased. For a bit. Then A started treating me like a new mom... you know, she'd kinda listen to my concerns or thoughts, then dismiss them and do what she thought was best, she'd tell me how to mother my own child... she started feeding Goose cereal before we wanted her eating it (based on G's doctor's recommendation)... she gave her Tylenol whenever she wanted and took her shopping without permission... the final straw was the day that even though I'd told her that Goose was going through a phase of being clingy and having separation anxiety, A said to me "she needs to learn that she isn't going to be picked up all the time. So, she's being ignored here, and I hope you're doing the same at home because it would really help me out" combined with getting home that night with bottles that had been at A's house to find that they had nasty black mold caked around the nipple between the nipple and the neck. That was it for me. No more. Luckily it was a fairly easy break on our end... that day was a Tuesday, A was scheduled to take a 2-week vacation starting the following Monday, and my sister-in-law C had been laid off since the beginning of June and was all set to watch Goose for those two weeks... well, I called A and told her about the bottles. She honestly seemed horrified, swore it wouldn't happen again, etc... and I let Goose finish out the week there (some may think I'm crazy for this, but with the latest development, I knew A would be on her best behavior, and I didn't know what I was going to do about the situation yet, so... she went back...) after I picked her up on Friday I sent A an e-mail (yes, I'm a chicken-shit who hates confrontation) and told her that it had been Goose's last day there. We'd gotten a call from a church daycare that we'd been on a waiting list for that had an opening, and we were jumping on the chance to get G in with other kids her age (6months old at the time) - and this was partially true... one of the daycare centers I was very interested in DID have an immediate opening if we wanted it... but we hadn't been on their waiting list, and we didn't end up going there, it was WAY out of our budget... but it was the easy-way-out-excuse, and I took it.

Goose ended up staying with C through the end of the year, and on January 4th - she started at a new daycare center... this one is only 10 minutes from our house, is much more affordable than others in the area, the owner had a group-home daycare for 12 years before opening the center - and several of her employees have been with her since then - and it just seemed to be a good fit... I had a good feeling about it. The first two weeks were rough, as G went from being in a house with her aunt with LOTS of one-on-one time while C's boys were at school, to being in a room with 7ish other babies, and 6 new caregivers (3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon)... it was a BIG change for her, and she didn't eat well, nap well or play well those first two weeks... she had to be held almost constantly, and cried if put down...she cried when I left in the mornings, she cried when I arrived in the evenings... it was a rough two weeks for both of us! week 3 was better, started eating & napping well, and didn't need to be held quite as much... she could be put down as long as "her person" was near her on the floor and she started playing with other babies & toys...although she was still clingy at drop-off, and started fussing as soon as she saw me at pick-up... week 4 was like a whole new Goose. She had made the transition! We're on week 7 now, and she willingly goes to another person when I drop her off in the mornings, she eats well (and is eating the same food as the rest of the kids who aren't on baby food anymore!) she naps well (on a COT! without a bottle or anything! just her blanket & some rocking!) she's playing with other kids well (except for a few biting incidents) and when I arrive to pick her up - she smiles and brings toys over to show me... I've got the owner as well as a couple of her teachers as Facebook friends and they keep me updated on her day... they send me pics via cell-phone and e-mail of her doing new things, or just because... and they're SUPER BIG on communication... Goose loves it there, I love being able to relax knowing she's getting wonderful care, and they love her there. It's all good. :)

soooooo.... that's my update for right now... hopefully I'll get myself back in here more regularly so I don't have HUGE gaps and such LONG posts... and also, I am going to post those journal entries... one of these days :) if I had it with me at work today, I'd start now... but I don't...