Summer in the Mountains

I am determined to have some good adventures with Susannah this summer. In a lot of ways, it will be easier now than in a few years because she is so portable. I can put her in the jogging stroller and take her for a run around the scenic dirt roads by our house, and I can put her on my back and take her hiking.

After a rough spring of heavy rains with lightning, hail, and - no-joke - landslides, we have to take full advantage of every sunny day. So last weekend, I decided to attempt my first real hike with Susannah. We braved black flies and muddy trails to climb up Stowe Pinnacle.

She loved it! She gazed around at the trees on the way up, climbed around on top, and slept the whole way down. So far, all indications are that she likes the great outdoors.





Win!

PS. I am selectively emphasizing the positive because it's more fun than writing about how her sleep has deteriorated again. She has been waking up a few times over night and needing to nurse. Everything related to sleep is two steps forward, one step back - if you are lucky.

Spring in Vermont (or, Why Progress on the House is So Slow)

Spring in Vermont comes late. It was a long hard winter. We were pounded with snow over and over again. Then, when the snow melted, our long dirt driveway became impassible. In case you were wondering, it's somewhat inconvenient to have to hike in a quarter mile laden with baby, carseat, and groceries. And then you run the risk of getting stuck in a ditch, like my friend Sarah. That's Charles pulling her car out with the skid steer.


And just when things were starting to look up, we got pounded by thunderstorms and heavy spring rains that caused our road to partially wash out.

But in between, we've managed to go on lots of little adventures and walks:








Christine, Bob, and Cara came to visit, and Cara had so much fun hugging Susannah!




And Susannah is enjoying running around on the lawn and sniffing the flowers.

With her grandma Jacklyn and cousin Julia:

Uh-oh!

Susannah is doing fun new things almost every day. She now says Mama and Dada pretty consistently, and for a couple of weeks she's been saying her first real word: uh-oh! How fitting.



She's getting really mischievous. She can climb up the stairs now, and as soon as you turn your back, she bolts across the room as fast as she can towards the bathroom (which she is not allowed to enter) and the stove (which she is not allowed to climb). Lately, she's been pulling up our shirts and pinching our skin underneath.



A major new skill, which I hesitate to even write about for fear of jinxing it, is sleeping through the night. After the nightmare of April, we really started working on sleep in May. I gradually started teaching her to fall asleep on her own at night, and also stopped nursing her if she wakes up before 4 am. She has been sleeping from 8:30 or 9 pm until 4 or 5 am pretty consistently for about two weeks. Fingers crossed that the progress continues, but I'm trying not to get too attached. I have learned that everything in parenting is two steps forward and one step back - if you are lucky!

She also has four teeth now, and is eating just about everything, including wheat, dairy (yogurt), and even chicken. She loves to eat rice cakes. They make a lot of crumbs, and sometimes she needs to be vacuumed.



She is getting so grown-up!

Winter Highlights

Here are some cute highlights from the late winter.

Susannah and Grandma Sally:


Susannah meets draft horses:


Susannah eats snow:


Susannah eats beets for the first time:


Susannah tries out her new backpack:


Susannah is not pleased about playing in the snow:

Where Did the Time Go?

It's been almost four months since I last updated! Embarrassing. Let me explain. No, let me sum up:
March: Snow, snow, snow. Mud, mud, mud. Driveway impassible.
April: No sleep. Teething. Sick.
May: Recovering. Thank goodness for spring and sleep.

Yeah. March and April were really hard. If Judith and Rachel hadn't come to help out for 3 weeks, we wouldn't have survived. Susannah started teething a lot and got a cold, and her sleep completely fell apart. I traveled out of town to Washington, DC for two days for work. That was fun and I got to see some spring flowers and catch up with good friends. BUT, while I was enjoying myself, Charles was having a rough go of it. One night he had to sleep on the floor rocking Susannah against his chest because she was so upset. I felt very guilty that I was away while she was having so much trouble. That was rough. J & R helped us hold things together by cooking for us and helping care for Susannah day and night. Thank you, Judith and Rachel!!!

I was also busy arranging child care for Susannah. Our wonderful nanny, Lindsay, had her own baby in early April, so we needed to find a new arrangement starting in May. We've been lucky to find a local mom of a 1.5 year old who wanted to take in another baby, so Susannah's been going to her house three days a week. It's going really well. Susannah loves it and is learning to share her toys. She plays a new game where she hands you a toy over and over again.

Susannah's toy shelf:

Mommy Sanity Project

After an extremely busy December and January, I am really working to find balance in our life. We have so much on our plate right now that it's easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious. For a time, I was even experiencing insomnia at night after waking up in the wee hours to feed Susannah.

Things are going much better now. I got an herbal pillow with calming chamomile and lavender to put under my pillow to help with insomnia. I am working on saying no at work and containing my work to 30 hours a week (I am on an 80% schedule but recently have been working 40 hours some weeks because of crazy deadlines). I started meditating and doing a little bit of yoga every day, even if it means waking up earlier in the morning and losing out on sleep.

I'm also trying to get more exercise. It's hard to find time for it because I don't want to be away from Susannah much on the days I'm not working, but it's important. We started going to a parent/kid fitness class on Fridays, and it is so hard! I literally couldn't walk after the first class. I've also been sneaking out occasionally to go cross-country skiing. And this weekend, Hilary and I took the babies and dog to the Green Mountain Club snowshoe festival. Lots of gear required, but what a great day!



Most of all, even when life feels so full and overwhelming, I am so grateful for this amazing gift:

Championship Eater

Susannah is still doing great with solids. She is now eating sweet potato, squash, bananas, avocados, apples, pears, carrots, and green peas. We're starting her on vegetables and fruits first and will probably wait until she is closer to 9 months before expanding into other types of foods. Kid's got a lot of green vegetables in her immediate future, though.

Oh, and have I mentioned that she has two teeth now? Two sharp little bottom teeth that emerged when she was about 5.5 months old.

Yummy, squash!




I am so pleased with her little attachable high chair. It is such a smart use of space and I can rotate the seat around so that she can watch me cook and do dishes.

Watch Out, World!

It would figure that the people living in the 480 square foot house would have an extremely active baby. At 6.5 months old, Susannah can now sit up, crawl, and pull herself up to stand. Over the past few weeks, she has crawled over to Charles' favorite plant, plunged in her hand, and pulled out a handful of dirt. She has pulled a pile of magazines off the bookshelf. She has knocked over her car seat. She is into everything and she moves so fast!

She is also in a big sticking-out-her-tongue phase. She's actually quite like a puppy right now. She pants, sticks out her tongue, and plays fetch with balls. It's so fun to watch her. She gets so excited and fixated on an object, and she's so curious.



Here's some video evidence of her antics.
Jumping energetically


Laughing hysterically

Catching Up & A Big Thank You

I'm so far behind at updating this blog that I missed a number of big events.

Christmas:


Family wedding in New Jersey:


And that's just the beginning... December and January were so hectic. I was extremely busy at work, plus the holidays, plus we all got bad colds. Plus it seemed like everything around the house kept breaking. Since December, Charles has installed an extra heater upstairs, reorganized the house, fixed our refrigerator, fixed our hot water heater (repeatedly), fixed his truck so that it could pass inspection, and pulled his heavy equipment out of a ditch.

Luckily my wonderful cousins Rachel and Judith came to the rescue. They flew up from New Jersey for three different weeks to watch Susannah and help out around the house. It was so fun to have them here, and I was spoiled coming home from work to a happy kiddo and a home-cooked meal. They are wonderful with Susannah and she just loves them. Thank you Rachel and Judith!!


With Susannah at Sara's wedding celebration in New Jersey.