Nine Months

WHOAAAA! How are you 9 months old already? As you can see, it's been a while since I've updated this little journal of yours. The last two months have been a bit intense. One day after you turned 8 months old, I had major surgery. I spent pretty much the entire second-half of December on the couch unable to do anything but get up occasionally to go to the bathroom! I am recovering now - back at work and doing really well. But the worst - absolute WORST part about this situation - is that I am unable to pick you up or carry you. I can hold you in my lap if someone else puts you there, but that's about it. It was so emotionally difficult the first few days - I really had no idea how hard it was going to be not to be able to carry you and hug you and overall be your main source of comfort.

But on a really positive side, you and your daddy are now inseparable. Oh my, how you love him so. During my initial recovery, you - of course - came down with a WICKED ear infection. Your 4th ear infection. In 8 months. You were up all night for about a week, and poor daddy had to help all by himself. I couldn't do anything. So you were both up all night for days, rocking in the chair, singing songs and cuddling. Aside from being devastated that you were in so much pain and that I couldn't do anything to help you, it was so heart-warming to see you two bond. I have my 6 week check-up in a week and a half, and I am hoping he'll say I'm all healed and in the clear. But my guess is it's going to be until the middle of February...... in the meantime, your relationship with daddy is growing stronger everyday.

So on the topic of health, yours is still all over the place! Like I mentioned above, you've now had 4 ear infections in your short little life. They've already started mentioning tubes. We'll see. COME ON APRIL!!!!! And right now you're suffering from your first round of constipation, which brought with it a ripe case of diaper rash from your hard little poops. If it's not one end, it's the other I guess.

You are now fully sitting on your own, and even learning how to stand when hanging onto things like your toy piano! It's so exciting to watch. You can go from sitting to your army crawl really quickly, and pretty soon I bet you'll be able to get your belly off the floor and really crawl! Though I don't think it matters much - your army crawl is so fast! It's really funny to watch. Your sister was the same way - so it's either that we have tile floor which makes the army crawl really easy, or it is some genetic thing that made neither of you decide to get up off the floor.

Because of my surgery, you were really fortunate over the past month to see all of your grandmothers! Nana came first, then Grandma and Grammy, Gramps and Uncle C just left today. You loved all of them so much! Gramps thinks you might be one of the funniest babies he's ever met. He's convinced you look at us all like we're fools - especially when you throw that knowing smile. You don't give up the smiles easily. Most of the time, you smirk at all of us trying to get you to smile - as if you're sitting there going, "Seriously, people. You're not funny. Bring your A game."

Man I can't wait to see what you're going to be like in a few years.

iloveyoumadly.
mama

Seven Months

Oh my sweet baby girl. This has been a really rough month for you! You have essentially been sick for the entire month. It all started when Nana and Papa were here. You got a cough and a super stuffy nose. That turned into a really bad cough and a really runny nose. Which turned into a fever. Which turned into pneumonia. We are now 3 1/2 weeks into you being sick. I think you're on the mend now. Nothing like a giant dose of gross-tasting antibiotics to kick it to the curb! (by the way - you really HATE the antibiotics. You gag and choke every time we try to give it to you!)

But on the positive side of things, you also managed to reach a few key milestones. You started solid foods (cereal, mainly) - but due to the aforementioned illness, you haven't really progressed much in that area. And you can also sit up by yourself now! Every once in a while you topple over, so we keep pillows around you when we're not sitting next to you, but overall, you are one strong little girl. You love playing on the toy piano - especially because you can sit upright and play it all by yourself now!

Even through all the stuffy noses and late nights not sleeping, you still manage to be one of the cutest, sweetest and most loving little girls in the whole world. Your little toothless grin would drag me out of bed every hour on the hour if you needed me.

iloveyoumadly.
mama

Six Months...and a few weeks

I can't believe I forgot to post on your 6 month birthday! You are really starting to become a little person. You can sit up by yourself for a good minute or so before teetering sideways, and you've started pushing your butt up in the air to scoot backwards when you're on your tummy. You can move all over the floor now! You've also started solids - rice cereal, mainly - but we've added a few pureed goodies. Your favorite so far is sweet potatoes. You actually lick you lips and waggle your hands when you see the spoon coming toward you! It's adorable.

We've been suffering through a pretty nasty cold the past week. Hads had it first and then apparently passed it onto you. Baby colds are the worst - you can't tell me you're miserable so all you can do is fuss and cry. Which is terribly unlike you. Your poor nose is so stuffed I can't even use the bulb syringe to get anything out! And the cough - oh man. That just keeps us up all night. I'm so afraid you're going to choke like you did in the hospital the day you were born. It's probably irrational to feel that way, but I can't help. Needless to say, I'm not sleeping so well.

Nana and Papa came out to visit this past weekend. They couldn't believe how much you've grown since this summer! Even with your little cold you were so sweet and loving, and so full of smiles for both of them. You are such an affectionate little bug. You love to hold people's faces in your hands and then gum them to death with your wet little mouth.

Grammy is flying out tomorrow to spend Halloween weekend with us. She's really excited to see her little girls again. You are so lucky to have grandparents that love you so much!!

iloveyoumadly.
mama

PS - the pic is courtesy of your big sis.

Wake Up Call

It's Saturday morning. You woke up at 5:30 a.m. You never wake up that early. I decided to bring you into our bed to feed you in the hopes that you would fall back to sleep. You didn't. You decided you wanted to chat and play with my face. So we hung out a bit in the bed. We finally went downstairs and made coffee around 7. At 7:30 you decided you were hungry again, so I fed you as we sat on the couch and watched t.v. You peacefully fell asleep in my arms so I brought you back up to your crib and just as I was about to crawl back into bed with daddy to get a few more lovely moments of sleep, your sister woke up.

Sigh.

iloveyoumadly.
mama

Five Months

I can't believe my little baby is 5 months old today!! Wow. It is so cliche, but it really has flown by.

The biggest change in you right now is that you are a ROLY POLY HEDGEHOG!! Holy cow, kiddo. As I mentioned last month, you started rolling over from your back to your tummy in one direction. And then this weekend you discovered you could continue on and go from your tummy to your back. So now we put you on the floor and you roll one direction endlessly until something or someone stops you! And everytime you pop onto your back, you look at us like "WHOA! When did you get there?" It's so funny. It's not so funny in the middle of the night, however, when your little arms and legs get stuck between the slats in the crib and you wake up crying. This has happened every night for the last 3 nights. I am very tired.

Your giggle lights up a room. As Marina says, "Berit has the laugh of a little angel." It is so sweet and innocent. You are especially giggly on the changing table, when I smother your tummy and your neck with kisses, or blow on your face and hair. And your HAIR! I thought your sister had a crazy mane as a kiddo. Nothing compared to you, my dear. Yours is thick and stands straight up no matter what we do! Your hair actually stops people in public. At the grocery store the other day a young woman stopped us to look at you. She had a little girl about your age. She was AMAZED at your hair and called you a cockatoo. Her little girl was bald, so I forgave her. :-)

Thinking about you makes my heart swell!! Right now as I sit at my desk at work (clearly not working) I am tearing up. I walk that line all mothers walk - I can't wait for to reach that next milestone and yet I want to put you in a jar and keep you right where you are.

iloveyoumadly.
mama

I Just Found This...

Births submitted for the week of April 22
Daily Camera staff
Posted: 04/26/2009 12:06:00 AM MDT

Births
Boulder Community Hospital
LARSON - Ginna Larson and Nels Larson, of Boulder, a daughter, Berit Louise Larson, born April 14.

Apparently I forgot I submitted your birth announcement to the paper.....

iloveyoumadly.
mama

Movin' Right Along....or One More Way You're Just Like Your Sister?

You had your four month check-up with Dr. Cohen today. You're perfect. We knew that. Here are your stats:

Height = 25.5 inches
Weight = 14 lb 10 oz
Head = 16 inches

Just because it's funny, here were your sister's stats at the same check-up:

Height = 25.5 inches
Weight = 14 lb 2 oz
Head = 16 inches


I am sure this won't be the first time we compare you to Hadley. Sorry kiddo - such is the life of #2.

iloveyoumadly.
mama