TGIF

Even though, it is almost Saturday I thought I would still say TGIF. Yesterday, my friend Deanna stated (as most folks in America do), thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. Meaning for most Americans, thank goodness I get two days off of work. Eight months ago, I too, would exclaim TGIF. Now, I can't exclaim TGIF like I used to since I am not working anymore.

I am definitely excited that today is the start of the weekend. Pearson will be home all weekend and we will get to spend some quality time as a family. Also this weekend, Johanna [Grandma] is coming back to Seattle for two weeks, I am helping host the Milad's Baby Shower, Pearson is going golfing, and we will did our usual family run.

Despite never having a weekend "off" since I have had Mae, I have the best job in the world and wouldn't trade it for anything, even the french fry taster job at McDonalds.

Just some photos to wish you a TGIF from this week.

This is normal.

Yesterday, right before bedtime. Pearson is with Mae. Mae starts crying.

Pearson to me: "Was she like this all day?!?"

Me: "She is a baby and cries everyday. At least once a day but more like a dozen times."

Pearson: "Well I think something is wrong."

Me: "This is normal. Trust me."

This post isn't to embarrass Pearson because he is a very active and involved father but to point out that Mae, like all babies, cry. Sometimes because she is hungry, tired, has bumped her head, I have bumped her head, she has fallen over, Ditka has licked her too much, she doesn't feel well, and for a host of many, many more reasons that she has yet to tell me. I realize that I post a lot of photos of Mae smiling. And since she doesn't have a perpetual smile, I thought I would show you how she looks when she is crying and upset. She is still really cute and a keeper!

Baby Boy or Baby Girl

When I got pregnant Pearson and I both agreed to not find out the sex of our baby. I knew if he really wanted to know he could have convinced me but we were both pretty steadfast in our decision. People always asked me "how can you NOT find out?!?" My response was always, "I have a lifetime to know my baby's sex, once they are born." The anticipation of what Baby Cummings was going to be was contagious. It was really fun to come up with boy and girl names, talk about what having a boy would be like or what having a little girl would be like. Despite all the hypothesizing and countless predictions by strangers, friends, and families, I was 99 percent certain that I was having a girl. Prior to getting pregnant, Pearson was playing with Ditka on the floor. I had a flash that my husband would be surrounded by all women. And when I got pregnant, I knew we were having a baby girl (of course, I had 1 percent doubt). As an aside, I did NOT care what we were having. I would have been happy with a baby boy or baby girl.

Fast forward, to the delivery room. Dr. Block exclaims, "Meet your daughter" (or something along those lines, sadly I was a little out of it to remember word for word what was said). Pearson will have to correct. From that moment, I couldn't have imagined having anything else then a baby girl named Mae.

Most babies look pretty androgynous when born. Mae, like most babies, was bald and continues to not have that much hair, generally a distinguishing factor, among other factors, for men and women. One way to determine baby boys from baby girls is by putting them in gender specific clothes - blue for boys and pink for girls. Since we didn't know what we were having we received quite a bit of gender neutral clothes - green, yellow, and white (all colors I love on babies). Along with putting Mae in the gender neutral clothes, I have never felt that I have wanted to dress Mae in head to toe pink. Or to make sure her clothes have flowers, butterflies, or cats appliqued to them so that folks know she is a girl. I also don't put bows in her nonexistent hair or have yet to pierce her ears. With that said I don't shy away from putting her in pink and on most days she is wearing a "girl" color. She also owns a pink polar fleece jacket which she wears most days when we are out.

Which is why about every third time we are out and some one stops and asks me, "how old is he?" I am left a little speechless. I totally understand someone would confuse Mae for a boy when I have her in jeans and a teal top. I sheepishly say, "oh, it is actually a girl but I understand why you would think she is a boy because of her outfit." But when I put her in a pink sweater and a pink coat (and you can see both because the coat is open), like today, and someone stopped me at the grocery store and asked me "how old is he?" I was taken back for a second. I guess I should be happy that our society has become so accepting that boys can wear pink and girls can wear blue but I get embarrassed correcting people (yes, I get embarrassed). Even though, I correct folks, on occasion, about Mae's gender, I secretly love that Mae is so happy and adorable she stops people in their tracks.

Baby Boy? No, it is Maegobees.

Head to toe pink. Thanks Sue and Tom Sanne for the dress.

Easy as Sunday Morning

Today was a pretty relaxed day in the Cummings household - nothing planned and no where to be. Mae's illness has returned with a cough. We took it relatively easy and the only thing we did was go for a walk in Seward Park with our girlfriends.

These photos are from the end of March.

Swimming

We took Mae swimming for the first time today at Pearson's gym. This has been something that Pearson has really wanted to do with Mae since she was born. We put on a swim diaper and her cute swim suit (thanks Grandma Cummings) and took the dive (ok, not literally). Pearson slowly walked her in, she was hesitant and didn't know what to make of it at first but was kicking her feet and splashing the water like a swimmer by the end.

Checking it all out.

Me and Mae (Me forcing Pearson to take a picture of us).

Entering the water for the first time.

Not quite sure what to make of it yet.

Mae really enjoying the water.

Getting warm with Mommy after our first swim.

More Movement

Since Mae started belly crawling about three weeks ago we have seen a lot more movement. She has yet to master crawling on all fours, especially since doing it on hardwoods is more difficult (our downstairs is all hardwoods), but she is definitely working on it. She can also go from sitting to crawling and she can go from sitting to sorta of standing (if you are sitting right next to her, she will pull herself up on you). And the other day she tried to pull herself up on the chair in her nursery but I stopped her because I am not really ready for that yet. It is enthralling to watch her try to work her body in a position and to successfully complete it. It is also difficult to watch her fail (ie, falling on her face) but I know failing is part of the process of learning. I love watching Mae's curiosity for movement and her various attempts at it, it is better than watching the best of any TV show, sporting event, play, concert or movie (combined!)

Healthy Baby

As quickly as Mae's illness came on, it seemed to have disappeared the very next day [yesterday]. She does have a rather runny nose but I feel that is par for the course at this age. Today, we got the fortune of hosting play group. Mae's four friends came over for some romping on the floor and of course, some great mommy conversation. The weather turned to sunny so we were lucky enough for a walk to the play ground. Tonight is the last night that I am a "single parent." Pearson returns tomorrow and I am excited for his return. More to report tomorrow when I have the energy to write.

Sick Baby

We all have been beyond fortunate that Mae has yet to get sick. I think not having her in day care is part of that, I also attribute it to mine and Pearson's pretty robust immune systems. This morning Mae was pretty fussy but I assumed she was just tired. I wasn't paying that much attention to anything else really (yes, I am a bad parent). We went to the pharmacist and Costco and she seemed a little feisty at Costco but I assumed she just wanted to be held. We got home and I put her down on the floor and she just cried and cried. Since, she can crawl now I felt that if she really wanted to get to me she would come on over to where I was at. She continued to cry for about three minutes while I put the groceries away (again, I am a bad parent). I finally went to pick her up and she felt warm. I have taken her temperature a couple of times thinking that her lack of being mellow was a result of her being sick but it never amounted to anything above 98.6. This time her temperature came up to 100.5. Of course, I felt like a terrible parent that I didn't realize until then that she was sick and that I let her cry for three minutes by herself on the floor.

Tonight she is sleeping soundly but her temperature last time I took it was up to 101.7. I talked to the nurse at the doctor's office and she warned me that it would probably go up even more before going down. I will give it to Mae. Again, she lives up to her name, Mighty Mae. Despite the fever, she is a trooper and was all smiles tonight.

We Miss Him

For the past month, Pearson has been out of town a fair amount. Three weeks ago was two days, two weeks ago was three days, and this week is five days (but who is counting, right?) It goes without saying that I miss him dearly. And I don't simply miss him to help lighten my load. Mae also misses her Dad. (Although, I don't think she totally understand that he is gone quite yet). Thankfully, yesterday they got a lot of quality time together, including their new ritual of bathing together (Pearson again wore a swimming suit). I didn't take pictures of that but here are a few from cuddling together on the couch.

Happy 1st Birthday Will

I want to give a big HAPPY Birthday to my nephew and Mae's cousin William Joseph Sanne. He turned one today. We are all pretty bummed that we weren't there to celebrate with him but we were thinking about him and talking about him quite a bit today. We know he is going to turn into a remarkable boy and man and look forward to seeing what the future holds for him. Can't wait to celebrate this huge milestone with him and the whole Sanne Clan at the beach in approximately six weeks.

Here are pictures from Will's first birthday party courtesy of Heather.

The Birthday Boy

Now, he is happy. Eating his first piece of cake.

The Birthday Boy and the Proud Parents

First Family Hike

I will totally admit to hating hiking prior to living in Seattle. I will even admit to hating hiking for about the first year that I lived here. I will finally admit, I really enjoy and like it now. I don't know if I will go as far to say that I love it quite yet. Today, we went for our first family hike. We decided to be less than ambitious and went to Tiger Mountain, about 20 minutes outside the city. We figure that we would start small because if it didn't go well we could bail if we needed to.

It went surprising really well. I was concerned because Mae does not absolutely love being in a carrier for a long extended time. Of course, with a 7 month year old baby something is bound to not be ideal. First, we did not bring diapers and of course Mae pooped at the beginning of the hike. I am happy to say that my child does not mind sitting in her own stank so I did not worry about it. Second, when we returned to the car (after Mae being in the Ergo for about three hours and Pearson and I both carrying her on our fronts and backs), she was soaked in sweat from us. Ewwww! We changed her from head to toe immediately when getting to the car.

Other than that, she was not at all like her mom and LOVED it. I watched her as Pearson carried her for the second half of the hike. She enjoyed taking in all the wildlife, plants, and trees. She enjoyed the sun shining through the trees and the shadows from the light. She enjoyed the chirps of the birds and the water from the creek. And I hope she enjoyed it for the same reason reason I enjoy it. You get to slow down and connect with each other without the rush of obligation, the noise of industry, the distraction of technology, or the commotion of life.

What is cuter...

than a baby asleep (on the floor). I would love to say that Mae got so tired that she fell asleep like this but she didn't. She fell asleep in my arms and instead of walking all the way upstairs and putting her in the crib (and risk waking her up), I laid her on the floor. She stayed this way for about 20 minutes.

On to the sleep topic, that was the parent education topic today at "baby college." I have been pretty fortunate to have a really great night time sleeper -- except that month and half that we were up three to six times in the night for Mae to nurse (that is a topic for another day) -- however, naps have been pretty elusive to me. First, I feel that many "experts" speak about how a child Mae's age should have consolidated their naps into a morning and afternoon nap. Well that hasn't really happened for us. Second, I feel that all these "experts" say that babies should be getting two naps anywhere from an hour to an hour and half. That has never happened. For the last couple of weeks, I have tired to be more committed to developing some day time sleep routines. I will admit that previously I have been less than focused on this. Actually pretty uncommitted to it. If I try to put Mae down and it takes longer than 20 minutes, I give up. I figure why waste each other's time. In the last couple of weeks, Mae has kind of evolved from "mellow Mae" to a moodier version of herself. I feel that some of her daytime fussiness is attributed to her lack of day time sleep. I am very well aware that this is just my theory. Mae's fussiness could be attributed to anything but that.

Pearson and I came to an understanding about expectations around sleep when Mae was three weeks old. At that time she was getting up and staying up for an hour and half in the middle of the night. What we decided if we were able to shift our expectations around sleep we were much more capable of handling the night ahead. So instead of going to bed and saying, "I really, really, really hope Mae sleeps 5 hours straight tonight and when she wakes up she goes right back to sleep." We would say, "Mae is going to be up in three hours and we are going to sit on the exercise ball bouncing her for 45 minutes to an hour and half to get her back to sleep. Awesome, can't wait to do that at 2:30 in the morning." When we were able to shift our expectations we were much better equipped to handle it. I realized today at school that maybe I need to do that about napping. The woman who led the discussion said that about 30 percent of babies don't nap as the "experts" say. Maybe Mae is not "the baby" that takes two huge naps a day but rather spaces her sleep out over the course of a day in 20 minute intervals. I think that my frustration about her not napping has been more my frustrations. When she only naps in short spurts then I can't get anything done. Again, maebe, she is a power napper, instead a long siesta kinda of gal. Looks like, again, I need to change my expectations and realize I can't control it all.

I wear my sunglasses...

This past weekend brought some nice Spring time weather that warranted Mae wearing her shades. Shockingly, she keeps them on her face. I haven't really gotten into fashion trends for babies (shockingly) but the sunglasses are so cute on her, I can't resist putting them on at a hint of sunshine.

Daddy You're the One, You Make Bath Time Lots of Fun

Bath time is one of Mae's most favorite times of the day. During First Weeks, Ann Keppler [the leader] recommended that fathers should consider showering or bathing with their babies as a way to connect and bond with them. I have mentioned it to Pearson a couple of times and suggested it might be something he might like doing with Mae. His reaction has pretty much been the same every time. He thinks it is pretty inappropriate as a man to be naked so close to his baby daughter. (Even though, we all know she doesn't even realize nake-ness yet). I think Pearson's exact wording has been, "I know what is going to happen. I am going to decide to do it. You are going to get out the camera and take photos of the moment. Then Mae is going to see them when she is older and be all grossed out and rightfully so."

This is not to say that Pearson hasn't been interested in doing it. He has always said that if he did do it, it would only be in a bathing suit. On Sunday night I don't know what was in the air but Pearson got out his bathing suit and he and Mae had bath time. Of course, she absolutely LOVED it! AND of course, I got the camera out to document the moment.

Daddy & Mae Inaugural Bath time

Getting the beets off of Mae's face.

You can see the suit (and not birthday suit :) very well in this picture.

Pearson joking around. Mae thinks her Dad is super silly.

Three generations of Cummings in one bathroom.