A Few New Things (Random Updates)

I haven't really had a chance lately to sit down and write, but a lot has happened these last few weeks. None of these things are big, life-changing events, but I just wanted to give a quick update on a few things happening here at the Fedchak house.

First, the baby updates:

3 months old!

1) Samantha will be three months old on Sunday! She now weighs in at 13 pounds 8 ounces. She is very smiley, and is suddenly extremely interested in her mobile or anything that moves. Her favorite game lately is watching my hair flip around - yes, that's right - I put my hair in a ponytail and headbang, and my daughter is overjoyed and entertained for minutes at a time. Now that the overwhelming heat has died down, we spend time out in the yard each day playing with leaves, maple seeds, and anything else that crawls onto the blanket. The first day we did this, she plucked a handful of grass and shoved it into her mouth, which brings us to the next development:

2) Everything goes in her mouth. Her hands, my hands (when she grabs them), blankets, rags, toys, and anything else she can wrap her hand around gets pulled straight into her waiting open mouth. She will sit contentedly in her swing and just gnaw on her own fists, slobbering loudly. Oh, and with all of this gumming comes a lot of drool. We have started breaking out bibs, otherwise she goes through several outfits a day that just get completely drenched down the front.

Chewing on her "cupcake crinkler."

3) In exciting news, she is now sleeping through the night! She has been doing so consistently for just over a week now. She goes to sleep between 9 and 10, and sleeps until sometime between 4:30 and 6:30 in the morning. Then, she doesn't even wake up - she just wiggles around and makes noise in her sleep until I bring her into bed and nurse her (while she still sleeps). Then she continues to sleep until between 7:30 and 8:30, when she nurses again. The last few days, she has even continued to sleep through these and not wake up until 10 am! I feel very fortunate to have a baby that sleeps through the night, even though I know this may change at any time.

4) I am in love with diapering. I realize that must sound strange, but I simply love using cloth diapers. We recently switched over to using cloth wipes, as well. I bought some flannel ones on Etsy that are rainbow colored, and many of them match the bright Thirsties diaper covers that we use. Somehow, using bright, colorful diaper covers and wipes makes what is normally a less-than-pleasant job a lot more fun. Also, it is so much cheaper than going with disposable, and we create a lot less trash each week. I think it's a win-win-win when it's good for the earth, good for my wallet, and good for my eyes (with all the pretty colors).

Flannel, re-useable wipes

 As for non-baby things in my life, there have been a few changes:

5) I officially have a job. Okay, it's only four hours a week, but it works out really well. I help coach the youth swim club at the Y for an hour and a half on Tuesday and Thursday nights. While I'm doing this, D has Samantha in his office right next door, so I can feed her right before I coach and then again right afterwards. I also teach a water fitness class for one hour each Friday morning. These are both new developments, but I enjoy having some time to think about something besides the baby, and I love that they are only short spurts of time. I am so thankful that I get to stay home with Samantha most of the time, but it is also nice to be able to have some time outside the house (and for D and Samantha to have "daddy-daughter" time without me there to "fix" things if she needs comforting - she needs to learn to be soothed by him, too!)

6) I am trying to get licensed to sell baked goods made in my kitchen, but the city of W'port is being ridiculous and not getting back to my inquiries about zoning. This means I can't fill out my application with the Dept. of Agriculture yet, and I'm rather perturbed. That said, I have re-opened my Etsy shop (and still follow all of the requirements for home food processing) while I wait for things to become official. (Shh... don't tell.) I am hoping to get some answers soon, because I would love to market locally here in town for bridal showers and the like.

7) I have officially reached my pre-pregnancy weight! I gained about 30 pounds during the pregnancy. I lost about 10 of this when she was born, and another 10 within in the first two weeks (yay breastfeeding!) But the last ten has been a bit slower in coming off, until this week. My weight is distributed differently (still a bit flabbier around the belly area than I would like), but it's nice to be back to my regular size again. Now I am just working on toning up, especially my abs and back.

A few days before Samantha arrived

Three months later

I guess that's it for now. Hopefully soon I'll have some more interesting posts, but it's still tricky to find time to sit and think through anything of significance at this point. Thanks for being patient!