A Quiet Evening

Everyone is asleep, and the only sounds in the house are the washing machine thumping away with a barrel full of diapers and lullabye music wafting down from the loft, where Pinecone and Dad are sacked out.

Pinecone turned 9 months a couple of days ago, and boy oh boy, is she a wonderful age. She is so much fun. Yesterday, S and I got into a "pillow fight" with her soft blocks, and she was just cracking up. We got her in on the fun, and I've never heard her laugh so hard. It was hilarious. S built a shelf for her toys and books in the living room, and we just put a bright new rug in front of it from IKEA. It's a playful, inviting space that makes us all (dogs and cat included!) want to tuck in for some fun. (photo was before the rug arrived and all her goodies were put on the shelves)



Pinecone is able to play on her own for a while now, and while I don't get as much done during that time as I should, it is really really neat to watch her come up with her own ideas of what to explore, where to go, and how to make things "work" around her. She still is just scooching backwards, or will roll or scooch around in circles to get what she is after. We help her up, and then she will stand and hold on to her shelf and look at her toys and books with wide eyes and a big goofy grin. She also likes to stand on Dad's knees, hang onto the strings of his sweatshirt and "water ski". Very funny.



Food has become even more fun. I let her feed herself on bath days, as she gets her oatmeal-yogurt-avocado-self whisked straight from the highchair to the bathtub. Tomorrow I will slow-cook a chicken, and give her some for the 1st time. We are lucky to get the chicken from a friend, so it was grown with love and only good stuff. We get fresh cow's milk from him too, so Pinecone feasts on yogurt made from Sally's milk, which she thinks is delicious. She recently tried feta cheese, which she liked, and enjoys all the regular fruits, veggies and grains. She is nursing well these days, about 5 times a day. She'll take in 4 oz from the lact-aid, plus about another ounce from me (I estimate based on what I am able to pump). She is still petite, weighing about 16-1/2 pounds right now, but she won't eat any more, so she seems happy where she is at.





I have started back to work, with only 1 or 2 clients due per month, which is a pretty light load. Most are repeat clients, and I personally like all my clients, which was an important criteria for me this year. If I am going to be away from Pinecone, I want to enjoy who I am with! Well, I have been enjoying my time with my clients, but it's taking a bit to get used to being back on-call. I work Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays, when S is home with PC. I also have a friend watch her 1/2 day a week for me to do paperwork. She has a 2 year old and 4 year old, and PC LOVES spending time with them. I have a few people lined up for childcare for when I go to births, and I feel really good about all of them. That is an incredible relief -- my biggest dread about going back to work was who would watch PC when I was at births.

These past couple of weeks, sleep has been really good. She has been sleeping until 4 or 5, waking up to eat quickly, then goes back to sleep (sometimes back to sleep on her own in the co-sleeper, sometimes she needs to come in with me and latch on -- either way we both fall right back to sleep) until 7 or 8. This is basically sleeping through the night, and WOW!!!! It feels wonderful! Nap times continue to come and go in terms of ease. She always naps well when being babysat -- I think all the stimulation with the other kids knocks her out.

She just got her 2nd tooth a couple of weeks ago, and that was rough for a while, wanting ONLY mom. Now she has settled down on the teething, but is still showing a preference for me. This is new, as she had always been put to bed by S. But when she wants to play, there is no one better than Dad. You should see how crazy happy she gets when he comes home from work!

She and our dog Ollie (the younger one) are becoming good buddies, and the cat Vegas is perhaps her favorite being in the whole world. Vegas constantly comes up and rubs against Pinecone, and PC pets her, coming away with fistfulls of cat hair. Note to self: must brush cat. My dog Bella pretty much ignores PC, giving me woeful looks now and then. I figure once PC really starts feeding herself and figures out how much fun it is to toss food to the dogs, Bella will come around.