I wish I was clever

I frequently run out of titles for blog posts.

Things are just chugging along. We are starting to get excited about the holidays. Though, frankly, I'm getting a little nervous as well since I've had a course release this semester and have had a very flexible schedule. Next semester I am teaching a graduate personality assessment course. Fortunately I have taught it once before but I'm still a little worried about when I will find the time to get everything accomplished! I'm also itching to get back to cooking and baking but haven't yet figured that one out. I am still blown away by moms who feel back to normal a few weeks/months (/years?) after the baby is born. 

 

Our house continues to pick up every little bug that daycare has to offer. This weekend I had a really sore throat, headache, congestion, and cough. I am really hopeful that Alaina and Chad are spared. So far so good...

 

The most exciting part of our last few weeks was that Chad picked up the Wii U he preordered. This is his combination birthday/Christmas present. Fortunately he also had credit at the game store so he got it for about one-third of the price! Score. He also bought the new Mario game. Alaina doesn't really watch any television but Mario caught her attention. This was very exciting for Chad.

While Alaina hasn't had any teeth pop through yet, we do think she is teething. She is a drool monster and loves to gnaw on anything. She did spike a fever one day last week (it never got above 100.8, and I was checking her every 30-45 seconds...) and she wasn't eating very well. Last night she was pretty irritable. Tylenol has been our friend. We do need to pick up some Ibuprofen, especially if it is teething. I'm also thinking about making some teething biscuits (or picking some up at the store). The zyrtec really hasn't seemed to help her cough that much. :(

Alaina is still learning to drink from her cups. She is obsessed with my water cups. Though she is more interested in gnawing on the lid.

She has now tried carrots and applesauce. She will eat both but neither are very exciting. Green beans are probably next. I hear that most babies HATE green beans so that should be interesting.

I also introduced her to the mesh feeder. Basically it allows her to eat big chunks of food that she might otherwise choke on. She just sucks it through the mesh. I gave her some frozen pears in the feeder yesterday. It took her a moment to figure it out but then she loved them!

 So much for self-feeding...

One of my favorite things these days, surprisingly, is when she wakes up in the middle of the night to eat (I prefer when she wakes up at 10:30, right before I'm going to bed actually). I know I could wake Chad up some nights but I hate doing that and the bonus is, now she does this adorable thing where she falls asleep the second she is finished eating. Given that she never just falls asleep these days, it is bliss. She just goes limp and makes cute faces and I just stare at her before putting her back to bed.