Floor Bed

I've been trying this out the past few days. Yep, my room as become one giant bed. Naps have been getting a little better.... &night time... well... not so much. I ended up on the floor bed last night with a baby that was up for most of the night. The two nights prior it went pretty well. It's easy to get her down to sleep... it is just that once she wakes up I have to decide to make the difficult effort to keep her on the floor bed or bring her in my bed. And after a very long day by myself, with zero breaks, it seems near impossible to fight the solo bed battle. I always lose and end up with a baby on top of my arm tucked under my chin. I'm doing what I can to stick with no more night feedings and only allow feedings after 5:30 AM (or preferably once the sun is up), but again, sometimes I just don't have the energy.
I'm finding that besides my lack of energy, the main problem with keeping her asleep in her own bed is her constant amount of moving and sitting up in her sleep. Every few minutes to every hour she sits up in a daze and falls back over. This is fine... until she falls over against the wall.... or off the mattress. This floor bed is practically a queen size mattress and she still manages to roll on the floor. I am the most still sleeper I've ever met, so to see this much movement is quite ridiculous to me... but she is a baby... and she is ridiculous.
My main goal here is to get her accustomed to her mattress... and not mine. To have her feel secure enough to sleep in her own bed, knowing: I'm right here if she needs me. &Eventually... (hopefully sooner rather than later) move her into her own space (again). 

Kids

I've heard so many mother's say: "every age so far has been my new favorite!" Errrr.... not for me. I don't feel bad stating there were stages (plural) I really did not enjoy. Four months? Not a huge fan. She wasn't yet mobile, she was teething like crazy, &I felt like a bad mom if I wasn't holding or entertaining her 100% of the time. It was tough. Newborn stage? Eh. I never really cared much for babies (I had no desire to have kids--- sorry, it's true)... I loved her with all my heart, but her newborn stage just wasn't something I was into. But right now? I love. This is so far my favorite. The past two months... where she has been very mobile, and very curious, but not yet old enough to fully tantrum (there are only tiny tantrums here and there), has been lovely! She loves me and needs me but feels independent enough to explore our home on her own. She's so much fun, full of life, and her personality is really starting to shine through. It's been great... and I will be sad when she outgrows this little stage of hers. That's not to say, I'm not looking forward to future stages... cause I am (many of them), but I am sad to know I'll never get this one back.

Marlowe &Ebba. Ebba was around Marlowe's age when I get pregnant. I remember loving this age for her too! Yes, Christine and I have some gorgeous little girls. 

What are your favorite baby and children ages and stages? Are there any you didn't care for? Should I be dreading or looking forward to certain ones? 

Ps. It's safe to call my kid a toddler now, isn't it? She doesn't ever crawl and has learned how to climb into kitchen cabinets, open the trash can, and the toilet. That's totally toddler status, isn't it?

also:

oh dear.

Dog Butt

My dog hates me. HATES me. I'm really not sure what to do at this point. He's no longer the center of attention and well, he hates it. There's always a baby trying to feed him paper or snacks and then he's being yelled at to not eat the baby's food.... half an hour later he's being told to go pick up the crumbs with no apology for the confusion we are creating in his brain. No more food and water sitting on the floor to walk up to whenever he pleases. And of course: no more tennis ball to play with. Baby hands think bright yellow tennis balls belong to her and dog mouth doesn't know the difference between baby hands and neon fuzz. Ten hour naps? Nope. A bed? Not uh. The new royalty of the house has claimed it as her own.

He scratches and bites at his butt for hours on end until it's bright, hairless, and pink. Nerves, I'm sure. I've tried separating the two, with hopes for a break for the old man, but of course... he wants to be part of the action... just not part of the baby action and attention.

He was at Michelle's house for five days. Five days of a doggy vacation and he was brought back with a butt full of newly grown in hair.... Three days back in my home and he's bald again. Marlowe is driving him mad. And his hair everywhere... it's driving me mad. This week? He refuses to eat. Not dog food and not even human food (especially prepared for him) or scraps from my cooking... nothing except some scraps from Marlowe's highchair. He hates us all, and well, can you blame him? Poor dog.

part of the problem: 

He's a pain in my butt. And Marlowe is a pain in his butt... but what can I do.... lady baby lovessss him.

edit: I just noticed the song that happened to be playing in the background of the video and how perfectly it fit. Very nice accident. 

Pictures Of Recently Enjoyed Things

Okay, so.. maybe all of these aren't that recent... but whatever, they were enjoyed :)

a quick spanish meal made by my momma.

oops. HA.

mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, marinated tempeh, maple roasted carrots.

baby bangs.

&it's contents! a very lovely surprise package from my friend Katie in Massachusetts! mama &baby tea, salve, mushroom shoes, planner, awesome notebook, bedknobs and broomsticks record (awesome movie) and a record bowl! sooooo sweet.  I miss you lady! See you in June :)

coffee cake made by Heidi-- I never thought I liked coffee cake, but this was deliciousss.

Pizzeria

mobile :)

ocean mobile.

Marlowe takes a seat... a squishy seat. 

Not so enjoyable?

The amount of dog hair flying around this ocd mamas house.

Puppy & Baby Love

Oh Man. I'm In Love

Marlowe has recently started noticing the puppies. It's pretty much the cutest thing in the whole world. Jerry has been indifferent to her after his initial meeting with Marlowe. He keeps to himself and ignores her. Veronica knows Marlowe is *off limits* and keeps her distance even though you can see she is craving some attention. Veronica is now at the point where we try to bring her closer to Marlowe and she fears she will be in trouble and runs away.

Last night when Eric was over and we carried Veronica to Marlowe showing her it was okay to get close. Marlowe grabbed and grabbed. And I found myself telling Marlowe to be careful with the dogs instead of having to tell the dogs to be careful with Marlowe. Marlowe's new walker thing came in the mail today (I hate even admitting I caved and got one, but I did) and she yelled and played until Jerry walked by. She becomes silent and just sits and stares. Being as awesome as I am, I threw a chip crumb over by Marlowe to get him to walk by her. She got so incredibly excited. He ate his crumb and then just kind of sat there. She grabbed at him as much as she could and kept patting his head. He was content. He walked away a few minutes later, but as soon as she held out her arm and Jerry went right back over to sit next to her. I think he's happy. He has now found a new person to get attention from. I am seriously in love with their new friendship. I really couldn't have been more excited watching it all take place. Too bad for the dogs--- they have no idea what their in for when she becomes a mobile little child.

Animals

Well, we have been two very busy ladies! Lots of sewing and house chores, but there has still been a lot of room for playtime including: book reading, toy eating and smashing, and adult time! In case you missed the last picture of Marlowe's cuteness, it's true, Marlowe is sitting! She loves it. Smiles so big and grabs all her toys and throws them and eats them. And now with her nightly cereal eating she has been put to bed at a steady time every night this week and sleeping straight through the night until 6 in the morning. We then have a little sleepy play time and boob time then back to sleep she goes for a few more hours. This has left Eric and I with some much needed adult time where we can just sit on the couch enjoying each others company and unwinding, sometimes with an adult beverage-- or two :)

Playtime:

The animals have taken over Marlowe's house. Elephants in the toilet. Giraffes in the stairwell. Bears in the kitchen. &Lions in the bedroom.

Grass growing animal:

Danielle brought him as a gift for me. I'm not sure why. I kinda love him (maybe thats why).

And of course there is this animal:

She LOVES her chicken.... well, tenderizing her poor chicken.

And these two lovable animals lacking color:

Babycakes trying to grab a confused animal.

After Babycakes went to dreamland last night we had a little playtime with the camera and the dumbest of the animals (Jerry was stolen to go have tacos and visit his cousins) :

(click)

"Veronica, focus."

*tongue attack*

*Eric attack*

And this morning:

out of control hair.

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