Monday's Child

29 Weeks

I haven't been ignoring you guys, I promise. We've just been very preoccupied around here. Violet is 29 weeks old today! She celebrated by visiting the pediatrician because the girl has been having some, ahem, going problems. Daddy the Hero took her in, got her checked out, bought her medicine, administered it (not a task for the faint of heart) and then dropped her off at daycare today. Whew! He's quite the Daddy! 

Violet is feeling much better, thank goodness. I've never been so obsessed with anything in my life. I spent the whole weekend feeling sick to my stomach, knowing poor Violet was not feeling good (although bless her heart, she was as cheerful and happy as could be for the most part). It was wrenching having to listen to her struggle in pain. Poop. Such a little, natural, taken for granted thing. Until it gets stuck. We tried everything. Apple juice. Pears, peaches, prunes. Bicycling the legs. Tummy massages. Anyway, this is way more detail than anyone needs. Suffice to say, I think we got things moving again.

Other than that, things are good. Violet's little tooth is getting more pronounced each day. It also gets sharper every day, to the point that it's no longer cute to let her gnaw on my knuckles. Yeeowch! Next week she'll be seven months old and that means she gets to try meats for the first time; I already stocked up on some new flavors during the Publix BOGO sale. Speaking of food, we used the last bag of frozen breast milk today. The stash is officially depleted. I now have a freezer again! I'm going to be honest though, I was a little sad. Extremely proud of myself for being able to give Violet so much breastmilk for so long, but it is the end of an era. I'm still nursing twice a day, but that stash is being depleted as well, and I think it's a sign that all good things must come to an end eventually. As of tomorrow, she will be getting more formula than breastmilk.

Back in the days of nursing every two to three hours, I wrote many a blog post in my head about how I just didn't love breastfeeding. I never got around to actually typing any of them up, and all the better, since I got over that exhausted, baby tied to my boob, trapped feeling. There were days when I was just trying to convince myself to keep up the nursing for three months, and here we are, going on seven. And now that I've come to the other side, I realize I'm really going to miss it. Not that I want to be one of those people who is nursing a five-year-old (and good Lord I hope I don't offend any of my readers with that comment, because... ew.) But there is something incredibly bonding about nursing. Anyway, sorry. This post has been all poop and boob and probably not what most of you tuned in for, so here's another picture as your reward for sticking through it to the end.

I Feel Pretty

Well, you've done it again. After my little pity party last week, you all decided to make me eat my words. So I thank you humbly. And naturally, you're captions were spot on. Natalie took the words right out of my mouth with her "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." And Lee Anne's comment about the eyelashes was picture perfect. But I must say, you can never go wrong with a Broadway show tune! (Hint hint, I was in chorus all four years of high school, and participated in many a musical. There's a special place in my heart for bright lights and jazz hands!) And so, I give you...

 I feel pretty, oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay
And I pity any girl who isn't me today
I feel charming, oh so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real
See the pretty girl in that mirror there?
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face, such a pretty dress
Such a pretty smile, such a pretty me! 

- Emily B.

It's Great To Be A Georgia Bulldog!

Violet isn't quite sure what being a Bulldog fan entails...

 ...but she's ready for the big game!

 Hanging on the patio at Travis and Wendi's, listening to the game on the radio... what a great way to spend a day.

 I think we have a new football fan on our hands!

Title Me Tuesday

Okay, one more Title Me... if no one plays along, I'll take it as a sign that we can retire this feature. I decided to go with a cute picture instead of a straight up silly one. Next week (if we get to next week) will be another purposefully posed, mom and dad are so mean to poor Violet shot. But for now, give us your best!

Monday's Child

28 Weeks

Violet has a tooth!!!!! Big day for us over here! Matt noticed her chewing big time on some toys and after running my finger along her gums, I found it, a tiny white little ridge working its way through her gums. She was a bit cranky yesterday, which I chalked up to over-tiredness, but perhaps the real culprit has revealed itself. But it wasn't too bad, so here's hoping the rest of the teeth are as smooth. Ah, teeth. That's a whole new ballgame altogether. Good thing I was already thinking I'm about done with nursing.

Other than that, we had a lovely Labor Day weekend and no one is ready to go back to work/school tomorrow. We don't get another day off until November. But we enjoyed ourselves with football watching, steak grilling, firework gazing and tooth cutting. Hope your holiday was just as productive.

PS Guess who actually cleaned the shower?! (Okay, I sprayed it down with about half a gallon of bleach, but it certainly looks better than it did!)

What Violet looks like every time she spots Spooky the cat. Insert high pitched squeal here.

Yawn

I'm hoping to catch up on some sleep this weekend. Our Labor Day holiday can't come fast enough.

My workload at the elementary school shot up significantly this week as I started doing my own planning and teaching twice a day. I have an enrichment group in the morning and some students who need a bit of extra help in the afternoon (if you catch my politically correct drift). Now, teaching two segments a day isn't that bad. But keep in mind I don't get a planning period and I'm not paid to stay late or show up early. I have about fifteen minutes in the morning before the first group shows up, and another 30 minutes in the afternoon before I'm off the clock and out the door to get my baby love. I don't really have the time or money to spend on planning or preparing at home. So I just have to squeeze it in where I can. This teaching stuff is not for sissies. At least I'm slooooowly starting to learn the names of the 200 or so first graders I see every day.

Some other tidbits from school this week: I was given my first silly band. I think it's a giraffe? For the life of me I do not understand this new grade school obsession, and I assume it will one day go the way of the beenie baby, but for now, at least I'm part of the cool crowd with my awesome light blue giraffe-ish shaped silly band. Also, the other day Matt innocently asked me if I remembered Go-gurt, the yogurt that comes in the squeezable tube. Does it still exist, he wondered. Dude, if you only knew how many Gogurts I have to rip open for the kindergarten students I have lunch duty with.

As far as the home front is concerned, yesterday we got the dreaded call that we had to pick Violet up from daycare early - she was sick. Apparently there was a epidemic of diarrhea going around the infant room and if a baby so much as farted the wrong way, they were packed up and shipped home for at least 24 hours. (In their defense, my girl had to get a bath in the sink because her diaper was that out of control, so they were justified in calling.) Unfortunately, this mom of the year left my phone in the car on the one day daycare calls. (Of course, I don't get cell service in the school, nor am I anywhere near my classroom most of the time to check my messages even if the call came through, so I'm not sure it mattered much.) They finally reached Matt, who took the day off today to hang out with Violet. Who, for the record, feels fine. But what to do, a rule is a rule.

 The Little Plop, splish-splashing in the tub. She's active enough to get me pretty soaked these days during bath time!

So after this week's drama central, we are all ready to chill out and relax for a few days. We'll eat pizza, grill out with the neighbors, catch the season's first Georgia game (woot woot!), hopefully snatch a few extra zzzz's. Mimi is planning a playdate with Violet, I really want to clean the shower (yeah right) or at least get to Walmart... Eh, who knows. All I can say for sure is, I will be resting from my month of hard labor and enjoying the only day off we'll see until November.

Ahoy Matey!

So I post what I personally think is the most hilarious picture to date of Miss Thing, and I only got two responses. Sniffle sniffle. What's wrong with ya'll? Getting tired of writing your own captions? Sigh. Oh well. Pity party concluded.

In brighter news, they were two of the funniest comments to date, so perhaps it's about quality, not quantity. As usual, it was hard to pick a winner, but apparently I have a thing for captions with accents.

Th' infamous landlubber be takin' a likin' t' me drool. 

- Marilyn (Mmunford2000) 

So this is the eye patch Violet had to wear during the vision test portion of six month well-check and it was just too awesome not to preserve in digital memory. I'm still kicking myself for not having my camera on me for the actual event, because eye patch plus electrodes attached to her head was truly a sight to be seen. But at least I can recreate part of it for you. And she doesn't even seem to mind wearing it! Here's a close up of the patch...

Argh, mateys!