Our dear Annabelle is almost three months old.  I’ve started to notice that our little lady is really starting to talk.  Okay, maybe not talk but she’s really showing us that she can hear us.  When Dusty and I are talking to her, she’s smiling, looking at us and replying with little gurgles and coos.  I know she’s soaking in all of the things we say so we’re always describing what’s going on, reading, and singing to her.  Research says babies who are extensively spoken to have significantly higher IQs and bigger vocabularies when they get older so we’re starting as early as we can!!!

Nothing momentous happened this week in her development (unless it happened while I was away).  We’re still working on rolling over and she’s so very close.  You can tell she’s just soaking it all in. Her head swings left and right frantically, trying to look at everything she can.  She’s still swatting at things but is grasping onto things a little more everyday.  Hair pulling is coming soon.

Annabelle is our happy little bean (unless she’s distressed about taking a bottle or napping).  She’s just so much fun to have around the house and I’m so excited for the holidays.  Thanksgiving is next week and that means I can put up the Christmas tree and all of our decorations.  I’ve always loved decorating for the holidays but this being Annabelle’s first Christmas makes it so much more fun.  I know she’s not going to be able to open presents or write a letter to Santa but I know those things will come soon enough.

This week was a big first for me as a new mom.  I had a conference in Washington, DC and had to be away from Annabelle for three nights and four days.  After Annabelle was born I was pretty much an emotional wreak those first couple of weeks (as are most new moms) when I was getting no sleep and my hormones were ragging but since then I’ve been great.  Even when I went back to work I felt good and was happy that I went back when I did.  But the days leading up to this trip were hard; I was getting emotional at the drop of a hat.  I would watch a video or read an article or look at pictures someone posted on Facebook and start getting teary-eyed.  I would start thinking about leaving for my trip and my heart would ache.    I knew I would miss her but wow, I hadn’t even left.

I’ve never gotten this sad to be away from home.  The new emotions of having a child are most definitely happening. The question is, does it get easier?  I’m sure the answer is “yes” and “no”.  I don’t have any guilt leaving Annabelle with our parents or even my sister for the evening but it sure was hard to leave knowing I wouldn’t be home that same night.

This week milk was a big topic in the Davidson household.  First because Annabelle continues to be a tad bit finicky about taking a bottle.  It is a testament to how things change week to week.  She was so good for those first three weeks I went back to work but when we really needed her to like the bottle she all of a sudden questioned taking it.

Leading up to me leaving we tried to exclusively bottle feed her (excluding her nighttime feeding) knowing she had some issues last week.  About 75 percent of the time we had no issues but then there was at least a couple times she’d refuse it.  After trying everything we discovered the best thing to do was to just set the bottle down and come back 10, 20, or 30 minutes later and try again.  While we were waiting for time to pass we played with her, walked her around the apartment, or bounced her in her baby bouncer.  Sometimes she even fell asleep.  I asked Dusty how everything went for those days that I was gone and he said that she took the bottle just fine and was always hungry.  So, for now, no problems!

The second reason milk was a big topic is that while I was in DC I continued to pump.  Thank goodness for friends who have gone through this already and could give me the low down.  In the end I was lucky to have my own hotel room (something that only happened because my two roommates had emergencies and couldn’t come), requested a mini-fridge, brought a nifty cooler with ice pack, and came across very nice airport security.  And wow, did I bring a lot of milk home (over 100 ounces).  It’s amazing to see how much milk Annabelle drinks every day (and how much I produce to keep up).  Everything worked out just fine but I’m glad to be home so Annabelle and I can get back into our routine!