Oh my goodness, there have been so many changes in our little lady this week.  She could probably start walking and I wouldn’t be surprised.  So, Annabelle can officially sit by herself.  And not only that but by the end of the week she not only was able to sit for a substantial amount of time (and I wasn’t afraid to leave her side) but she was also able to go from sitting to laying down and then back up again.  And now it seems she wants to crawl.  The doctor told Dusty at Annabelle’s 6-month check up to not be alarmed but that she might not start crawling right away because she’s so good at rolling that she’ll just use this form of transportation for longer then she needs to.  It looks like this might not be the case.

My favorite moment this week was picking Annabelle up from daycare and finding her sitting on the floor by herself playing.  My heart melted instantaneously.  It hit me that my little girl is growing up so fast!  And she’s doing things that real human beings do! She was so happy just sitting there by herself, playing with a toy, not paying attention to a darn thing going on around her.

Each day she’s getting stronger and stronger.  It’s amazing to see how much more confident she’s become over just one week.  She does this funny little thing since she’s started sitting.  She’ll be sitting and then at some point gracefully (or not so gracefully) fall to a laying position.  Then she’ll start rolling.  And at some point she’ll put her head on the ground, butt in the air and move her feet so that she’s created a little tent with her body.  She’ll do this for what seems like forever.  I can’t figure out what she’s trying to do.  The teachers at daycare call it her gymnastics.

Annabelle loves her food.  It’s reassuring that she’s a happy little eater.  When she’s home with us during the day, she’s nursing every 2.5 to 3 hours.  When she’s at school she takes 5 oz every 3 hours.  I’m also sending pureed vegetables for lunch and 3-4 times a week we feed her pureed vegetables for dinner.  Up until this week I was just sending 1 oz of pureed food but she loves it so much that she “told” her teachers that she’d like a little more (at least this is what it said on the note that was sent home with her).  It sounds like she was getting a little jealous because her friends that she sits with at lunch were getting more food at lunch and were getting snacks too (what a bad mom not knowing that she was ready for afternoon snacks).  Starting this week I’m sending 2 oz of pureed food (usually 1 oz vegetable and 1 oz fruit) along with some baby puffs for a snack.

Our new food for the week was pureed apples (AKA applesauce).  Of course she loved it and why not, they’re delicious apples.  I was a little hesitant about making applesauce because I thought it would be too difficult but all it includes is steaming peeled and cut up apples and then pureeing them with a bit of milk or water.  So easy!

About a week ago I turned in Annabelle’s daycare re-enrollment forms for next year.  Our daycare doesn’t require Annabelle to go year-round and with me having the summer off (and us going to Paris for an extended stay again this summer) we had to decide how long we’d keep Annabelle out of daycare.  She’s staying at home for two months and then we’re sending her back in July when I start teaching a couple of summer classes.

I mention all of this because I didn’t realize all of the mixed feelings I would have about not sending her for two months.  Most of my apprehension comes from seeing how much she loves going and how much she gains from going.  I really love where she goes.  I worry that she’ll forget all of her teachers and friends.  I worry that while she’s gone she’ll stop amazing us with all off her wonderful new talents, meeting such momentous milestones so fast.  I’m anxious about being at home with her so much and making sure I make the most out of it (I want to be one of those mom’s that plans learning activities everyday but know that it’s not likely to happen).  They do things so purposefully at daycare.  And let’s be truthful, they’re much more educated about what an infant needs than I am.  Sometimes I wonder if I’d be doing some of the things I am doing right now if it weren’t for seeing them being done at daycare.  I know, I know, I’m a good parent, it’s not rocket science, there are great resources online and I can do all of those things that they do at daycare at home but it’s still scary to think about.

I’m leaving you with the picture above and below to show you what a mover and shaker our little lady is.  One moment she’s laying down, eating the shoe she’s pulled off just a moment ago and the next thing I know she’s sitting up, tossing her shoe aside and working on taking her other shoe off.