margaretyagan

As weeks go, this wasn’t my best one ever.  It started well enough on Monday.  I was in a great mood, I ate well, and even had a nice poop.  I had a walk with Nana and had some quality time with Grandpa Yagan.  Monday night was terrible, though — one of my worst in recent memory.  Mom was up for a couple hours trying to get me to sleep.  Seems like I’ve got another cold trying to attack me!

When Tuesday morning rolled around, I was showing all the symptoms: congestion, watery eyes, and a runny nose.  The good news is that I definitely napped better than usual and I continued to eat and poop quite well.  Nana decided to limit my toys to plastic ones that could be easily washed.  This means that in addition to my usual roster of toys, I also got some Tupperware and measuring sups to play with.  We also didn’t get to go on any walks.

On Wednesday (which I found out was the fifteenth anniversary of my parents’ first date!) I was feeling a bit better and Nana let us go out and play in the yard a bit.  It was pretty hard for me to fall asleep for my naps (I could barely breathe!), but when I did I slept really well (three hours in the afternoon!).  The exciting news was that I had my fifth new solid food ever (the first being rice cereal, prunes, barley, and zucchini): peas. I devoured the peas just like all the other foods I’ve eaten.

By Thursday the rough week had felt really long.  Nana spent most of the day using the nasal aspirator to suck the gook out of my nose and then applying vaseline to keep my nose from turning red from all the wiping.  I fussed most of the day and had a really hard time sleeping (finally a walk in my big stroller did the trick) and when Mom got home, I could tell Nana was pooped from the long day.

Friday was especially fun because Dad was working from home, so every time he came upstairs for a snack or a drink of water I got to see him a little bit (he may have even made a few extra trips just to see me!).  Dad had ordered a bunch of things for me online that arrived today.  One of the things, though, he had to pick up from the store was foam play mat.  (Mom & Dad discovered this from my soon-to-be-friend Jackson who has one!)  Ever since I started sitting up, I’ve realized that on each floor there’s a pile of blankets that I usually hang out on.  Now, finally, I feel like I have a permanent play area on this foam mat (2/3 of which is in the family room; 1/3 of which is in Mom’s and Dad’s bedroom).  I’m slowly taking over the house!

Wow, I had my best night’s sleep in weeks — I didn’t get up a single time between 8:00 pm and 5:30 am.  When I got up I was in a great mood, ready for a fun day.  As usual on the weekends, Dad got up with me, gave me a bottle, and took me downstairs to start playing together.   Well, working is probably a better description.  Dad took apart my crib and lowered to the middle setting.  He and Mom were starting to get worried that I might be able to use the mobile to pull myself up and then fall over the rail!

Then we went downstairs and played for almost two hours (with little diversions like laundry & cooking barley).  We had a lot of fun!  Around 7:30 we took off for a walk (shockingly, to Starbucks!).  We got there and Dad started working on his laptop while I looked at all the passers by and especially the other babies also at Starbucks.  All of a sudden we realized we had a visitor – Chris…and his new dog, Watson.

Now Dad usually keeps animals far away from me, but he let Watson get pretty close.  It was pretty cool.  As soon as Chris sat down, though, Dad started showing me off.  First we put me on the table and showed Chris what a good sitter I am.  And then of course, he got me to pull myself up into a standing position.  I think I stood up for longer than I ever have — to the point where Chris called it an “Olympian feat!”

We took the long way back home and after he changed me, I could tell he was excited about what was to come.  I got in my high chair and out came the chunkiest, lumpiest barley ever!  He seemed pretty hesitant about feeding it to me — and I’m sure Mom never would have let it anywhere near me.  But he fed it to me and I ate it (only gagging a couple times).

Mom came downstairs and I hung out with her while Dad went running and then went off to Chris’s house to watch the Bears game.  We played a lot and then decided to go for a walk and we swung by Chris’s, too, where we hung out with Dad, Chris, and Monica.  By dinner, Dad had made a new batch of barley that went down much more smoothly, saving the chunky barley for when I’m older.

Unusual for a Saturday, when I woke up I was greeted by Mom rather than Dad.  She was up to IM with Aunt Claire and so Dad slept in for a bit and just joined in at the end.  After chatting with A/C, Mom got in the shower and Dad fed me breakfast (rice cereal & prunes). 

Dad went for a run and Mom and I took off for a walk (well, Mom was on a mission to buy a wedding shower gift).  Dad met us while we were out and we amused each other while Mom shopped.  The three of us went to Janik’s Cafe — a cute little restaurant that we’ve never been to before, despite its being one of the closest food establishments to our house.  I made faces at the cute little 2-year-old girl at the table next to us while Mom & Dad ate lunch. 

Mom’s party was over an hour drive away and there was some talk that Dad and I would go out to Barrington with her and amuse ourselves while she partied.  They decided against that and Dad and I hung out together all afternoon.  We went down to the office where I played with my toys and then headed back upstairs where I ate and then took a nap.

Eventually Mom got back and home and after she fed me my zucchini dinner the three of us went to Dominick’s.  I can’t remember the last time all three of us went grocery shopping!  It was so fun.  Dad was being really really silly, which made me laugh and even made Mom chuckle a little bit.

Bathtime is even getting more fun, as Mom is letting me sit up and play after I am all clean.  Soon I’ll be able to take my entire bath sitting up (or so I’ve overheard).

Friday was a very uneventful day.  I  hung out with Nana and Grandpa all day and then when they left for the weekend, I got to hang out with Dad until Mom got home.  I was so, so, so excited to see Mom (I didn’t get to see her last night before I went to bed)!  The three of us hung out all evening — really great family time.

Oh, and I know it’s been a while in the making, but here’s my photo album for my sixth month of life:

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

 I woke up on Thursday morning and Mom got me out of my crib, as usual.  I was happy to see that Dad was home!  When Mom left for work, Dad tried to get me to take a nap with him in his bed, but I was having none of that.  The two of us went downstairs and played until about 7:00 when Nana came up and took over.

At 9:00 I ate my fourth solid food ever: zucchini!  I devoured it and it was especially easy to eat because it was so runny.  Nana and I went for a walk in the park and then I took a big bottle and a long nap.  I ate more zucchini for dinner and then headed off to sleep.

Nana has been trying to get me to learn how to stand up on my own, and today we started using my shelf of clothes to support me.  It’s only a matter of time until I pull it on top of myself, but until then it’s fun to play on!

We finally got back to normal on Tuesday and by Wednesday, though I still wasn’t gettin any solid foods, I was definitely ready for them!  The thing is, I’ve been having some rough nights of sleep, where I wake up screaming in the middle of night, seemling for no reason.  I’m not wet and I’m not hungry; we’re thinking it might be gas.  Or that my sleep “schedule” isn’t a schedule at all and that some nights I’m just not tired.  So on Tuesday Nana started waking me up from my naps if they started to get too long.  I definitely don’t like that!

Anyway, after an hour-long nap at 7:00 am on Tuesday, Nana and I headed out to Wicker Park.  I celebrated our return to normalcy with a huge poop that necessitated an outfit change.  I was in a good mood the rest of the morning and even fell asleep at noon without any fuss whatsoever.  We went on a walk around 2 and then after a nap from 4 to 5, another walk around 6.

Oh, here are some pictures from my fifth month (July 11 through August 10):

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Wednesday was pretty uneventful, except that I didn’t take a nap in the afternoon and fussed for about an hour, which is really unlike me.  I had one, normal-sized poop, which seems like a good thing!

Well, today the only focus was on my recovery from the weekend.  I didn’t get to eat any solid foods (thankfully, not even prunes) and I got to rest a lot.  I started the day off with a three hour nap (!) from 7:00 to 10:00.  I chugged down a huge bottle of formula and after a bit of play, took another nap at noon.  I ended up wtih one big poop and three little poops today, so I think my body’s getting back to normal.

All in all, it was a much more low-key day than usual.  We didn’t go for a walk, I didn’t eat any solid foods, I slept a lot, and even my play time was subdued.  But Dad’s old basketball coach used to say “there’s only one way out of a valley,” and given the weekend I had, I knew today would be a lot better, and it was.

Today was a sad day, capping my worst weekend ever!  Dad wasted no time getting prunes into me as soon as I got up, and Mom couldn’t sleep in knowing that I was in so much discomfort.

Mom’s and Dad’s friends Chris and Cate came by the house in the afternoon.  They were both so nice and Chris was a total natural holding me in his huge hands.  Made me feel like a little baby again. 

After Mom & Dad ate dinner we went for a walk.  By the end of the day I had pooped so many times that my booty was so red and raw!  After every change I was swimming in Boudreaux’s Butt Paste (thankfully!). 

I woke up to a really gloomy and rainy morning.  Dad got up with me and hung out until Mom came downstairs.  My breakfast was the breakfast of champions: prunes!  Today’s an official Poop Watch (my first since June!).  I haven’t pooped since last weekend, when I first started eating rice cereal.

I was very uncomfortable all day, spending most of it pushing as hard as I can.  The highlight of the day was meeting a bunch of new friends, including Emma who is only three weeks older than me!  I was in a really bad mood, but Emma cheered me up by sharing her toys with me.

We got home, I had a bottle, and then Dad and I made our weekly trip to Dominick’s.  Mom was shocked that Dad was willing to risk an explosive poop at Dominick’s, but he doesn’t seem to worry about things like that.  Anyway, the trip was pretty uneventful and by the time I got back, I still hadn’t pooped.

Then the real fun started.  Dad gave me a suppository to help me poop.  Apparently he’s not very good at it, because that fell right out the next time he inspected my diaper.  So, in went another one.  As if that wasn’t fun enough, Dad stuffed me with prunes and even gave me a few ounces of prune juice in my bottle.

Finally I started pooping.  Not one seven-day avalanche (thankfully for Mom & Dad), but a series of mudslides, if you will.  I definitely needed a bath (which came with a bonus suppository) and then headed off to sleep.  

The big news today was my 6-month check-up.  I weighed in at 17 lb. 4 oz., which puts me at the 75th percentile.  I stretched out
 to 26.25 inches long (just over the 50th percentile).  My brain continues to overachieve, with a head circumference of 17.6 inches — just over the 90th percentile!

Always wanting to put on a little show, I totally wowed the doc by rolling around on the exam table, sitting up, and showing off my manual dexterity.  She was so impressed that she called me “Little Miss Motor Skills.”  Awesome! 

I got two more vaccinations today: my third prevnar shot and my first flu shot.  Mom asked a bunch of questions, as usual, and for once Dr. Freeman was patient and responsive.  That was nice.