10 months

Samantha has broken a record! She's the first 10-month-old to refuse sitting up!

Let me tell you, constantly having to find her a place to LAY DOWN is getting o.l.d.

Hold my fingers while she stands?- nope!
Hold onto something while standing? - what's the point in that?
"Step" while standing?- say what?

Just to ease my mother, we are gong to a pediatrician in 2 weeks, just to make sure she is developing all the muscles she needs to be.

Is it bad that I will be embarrassed if she still won't sit up on her birthday?

My only thought is that she's so occupied developing mentally that she just can't be bothered with the physical stuff. She does 11 signs now (she's added light and hungry) and is obsessed with textures and holes.

I was watching how the other kids play with her blocks at play group. They all do their best to open their mouths as wiiiiiiiiiide as possible, trying to eat the block. Sam is not one to eat things. She wants one in each hand so she can bang them together and then scratches and picks at them with her index finger while she's grasping it. Seriously, she plays with her blocks all day long.

So, I dunno.

But what she DOES do:

gives kisses
rolls
pulls out my hair while nursing
says "ma mom" and "deh deh dehdehdedhdeh!"
unfolds clothes
gives the funniest scrunchy nosed grin

Here's the 10 month video. Which she herself took. And is great evidence as to why I have not been able to get her doing signs on camera yet.

If you get motion sick easily, you might want to skip the video this month.

Birthistis

Last Friday was my birthday- yippee, I'm now closer to 30 than 20.


.....

Anyway, as a way to break in the new year of birth I came down with mastitis. Lots of fun, let me tell you! I had a 102 temp with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. AND it was on the side that Sam doesn't like to nurse from. AND I have the darndest time pumping from that side too. It was lovely.

My family had planned a birthday celebration for me and my mom asked if we should cancel. In proper childhood form, I broke down into tears, begging that it not be.

Time at my parent's place = break time for me. Sam and Jer are entertained and fed. So I hobbled to the car and curled up onto the "nest" the fam had made for me on the couch and they celebrated for me while I writhed in pain, waiting for the fever to break.

Lucy opened my gifts for me. I still am in awe that I get gifts! I got this from Jeremy and my brother (which I use all the time and love it!), a visit to the chiropractor from the Hilgers and a sweater from the Leppers.

Oh, and we had the awesomest pork roast with potato dumplings....mmmmm!

Whistle While You Work

Lucy and I went to Home Depot's kid's workshop.
It's free; therefore we went.
They get wood, nails, hammer and an apron for safety.

They were suppose to have made a rain gauge, but they ran out, so Lucy got to pick some from previous months. She chose the easel. (She and my dad paint together a lot)

For anyone who knows Lucy, she is very much no-nonsense when it comes to projects. She gets things done asap. So the trip only lasted around 15 minutes (included parking). But she had a blast! She was giddy when we walked out and can't wait for "Next Year!"

Next Month- a butterfly house!

Typical Tuesday

Without going into an intense medical history, I'm going to just go right out and say it-- I'm on antidepressants and have been since I was 16. I hate it. Not only does it make my insurance rates higher, but it's a pride thing. I hate being dependent on a medication to be able to function. Plus maintenance is justannoying. I have to physically see a doctor to continue my medication every 6 months (even if there is no change in dosage). I know the reasons, I'm just saying it's a pain.

Anyway,

I decided to see if I could go off the meds a few weeks ago (with a doc's help, of course). He put me on a looooong and slow tapper. After the first tapper I was feeling good. I was so excited- I might possibly be med free for the first time in 10 years!! Then, last week, right before the mastitis hit, I took the next step down. This past weekend I had no gumption to do anything. I just wanted to lay in bed all day. I figured I was still getting over being sick. I was still able to function, but felt like I was in a fog.

Then came today. It took me 'til 2pm to get myself bathed and fed. I didn't want to do anything. I found myself wanting to cry for no reason, then burst out laughing when I saw this, then immediately wanted to cry. Again. UG.

The fog, the tiredness, the inability to make myself do the smallest things (the thought of praying made me exhausted) only meant one thing- there was no more tapering for me.

So I'm sucking up my pride and continuing on the meds.

My QUESTION for you:
...Back when I started on the meds there seemed to be a stigma on those who took medication for mental issues. "Pull yourself out of it!" Was the response from many (no one from my family- thank goodness!).

Today it seems everyone is on something. It's no big deal.

Now, are people over medicated these days?
In my opinion, yes.

But that's not what I want to talk about.

Is it just my perception that has changed or are people much more open and accepting about being diagnosed with depression nowadays?

I Saw the Sign

I know I've been neglecting the blog the past few days- mastitis kind of took my...oomph.

Anyway, I have lots to blog about, but for now I record a baby book story.

As of this morning Samantha could do 7 signs.

Drink
More
All Done
Yea
So Big
Bye-Bye

Nurse

These signs alone have made the whining, squealing, fits and screaming drop to almost nothing. There have been several moments recently where I feel "off" because of the quiet that has coated the apartment. It. Is. Lovely.

And that's not all! Tonight she added two more:

Cheerio- right now it's just an open hand stretched out in the air- but considering she signed it several times when she wanted another, I'm going to count it!

The final one came out of the blue and I got so excited that the bedtime story we were reading was no longer a soothing activity.

We have many books, but only read four of them. Samantha will have nothing to do with cartoons (she only likes books with real pictures in them) and if there are more than 2 words on the page, she's like Max and does everything she can to turn to the next, whether we are done reading or not.

I think the reason she is so intent on reading these four books over and over is because they are her dictionary-- her key to communication. This child has been dying to communicate with us. When I pick them up to read them to her she makes this funny giggly sound and squirms with excitement. And that's before I even open the first page!

A few weeks ago something clicked and suddenly she's picking up signs like a magnet on paperclips. She ate a banana for dinner and was very interested in the banana page tonight, watching very patiently as I showed her how to move her hands to make the sign. Considering I'm a language freak, it is absolutely exhilarating watching her language development.

Ok, I digress- the final sign!
After reading one of the four for the 100th time, I turned to the page with "hat".

AND SHE TOUCHED HER HEAD!!

(Hm...typing that makes it feel less anticlimactic...)

Just to make sure, I went back to the page three more times and she did it instantly each time! I was so proud I'm sure the elderly lady living next door heard me squeal.

I'll do my best to get them all on video for the doubting Thomas' out there. However, this child just senses that I'm going to touch the camera and refuses to do anything but smile and reach for the camera.

Twinkies

That's not a mirror, that's my twinkie!

Notice the socks?

"Spots with spots, right?"

-Jer

Sweet Sickness

We learned the hard way that Sam is still severely intolerant of dairy last week.

Up-'til-3am-puking-watched-Baby-Einstein-fifteen-times-severely

I didn't drink the milk on purpose.
It was served to me mixed.
I thought with OJ.
(No, I'm not stupid,
the stuff was banana flavored and I wasn't paying attention).

On the bright side, she's discovered she likes cuddling.