Before the Weekend

I wanted to post before the weekend because I figure there will be a lot to blog about with all of our Easter Weekend festivities.

Clover is completely weened now and is eating baby food many times a day now. She is also drinking a few ounces of apple juice mixed with a few ounces of water. I was told that she should be weened from the bottle by 12 months and to introduce a sippy cup starting now with juice. I got a gerber training cup and tried to get her to drink from it. She looked at me like I was crazy. She tasted the juice and made a "yucky" face and then threw the cup down. I picked it back up and tried to get her to take it again and she just pushed it away each time.

We are going to have a busy weekend, looking for the Easter Bunny to get a picture, going to a few family events. It will be lots of fun. Clover can't wait see see all of her family.

14 pounds, 25 inches long

Last week Clover had her 6 month doctor's appointment. She weighed 14 pounds and measured 25 inches long. Clover was really good for the visit and wasn't too upset after her vacccines. Her doctor was able to check her vision with kind of a miniture version of what adults have to get their prescription checked. He dialated her eyes and then the nurse took a hand-held device that she held up like she was taking her picture. Her vision was "perfect". The doctor explained that he is the only pediatrician in town that does it and the reason he does is because he was legally blind as a child and never knew until he was in high school. Checking her eyesight this early can help prevent blindness and even correct some poor vision. I love her doctor and feel really good about our choice as Clover's pediatrician. She has had a little bit of a cough this week which I probally gave her. The nurse suggested the yellow Triaminic for Cough and Congestion. It has helped and Clover is sleeping much better. The nurse explained that most stores do not carry it after it was taken off the market to be reformulated (you don't have to sign for it anymore). She said Publix and Krogers have it. We got it at Publix.

We were able to get out more during the nice weather this week. I took her to see our neighbor, Sara. Sara was really good to me when I was pregnant. She is always checking on us to see if we need anything and helped me keep up my yard during my pregnacy. She even gets my garbage can in position for me before I can get out and do it. Did I mention that Sara is in her eighties?

Clover got to spend more time with Grandma while I got my taxes done and went to the doctor. Grandma got her outside some and enjoyed the nice weather.

Over the weekend we took her shopping to look for an activity center and high chair. We checked out the Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory in Huntsville. I was really impressed with the selection of unique accessories that you would normally not find in local stores like Target or Babies 'R Us. Her dad got her a Jenny Jump Up and a pair of dress shoes for easter. Then we went to Babies 'R Us. Clover had never been to a toy store and she was so excited. When we showed her a toy she really liked, she would shake her arms and legs and smile. We ended up getting her a cell phone and remote control. The remote was for kids 18 months and up, but I read reviews on it and many parents had gotten it for their child before 6 months and had very good experiences. It looks very much like my remote. She went crazy for it in the store. We will give it to her on Easter. We looked at activity centers and high chairs, but want to do more research. They activity centers are really expensive for the amount of time she is going to use them, but she does need to be sitting upright more than she is now. I assembled her Jenny Jump Up when we got home and she tried it out. She didn't seem very interested in it yet, but she was exhausted from our day.

Vote for Clover, Baby Face Contest

Please give Clover your vote.  A monthly prize is given out.  If she wins, she would get a $50 savings bond!  You can also ask your friends and our extended family to vote.  If you would like to send out an email to your friends and family, give them the following link:
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HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY, CLOVER

Tomorrow at 5:01pm, Clover will have been in this world for 6 months.  It is hard to believe that she has been in my life for 15 months, if you include the pregnacy.  For some reason, early in my pregnancy, I was convinced that I was going to have a boy.  I would have been good with having a boy, but I really hoped the baby would be a girl.  I even painted her nursery blue before I knew for sure. At 18 weeks, we went to UAB for genetic testing, ultrasounds and an amniocentesis.  We had good news from premlinary tests, so we decided against having an amnio.  When we were having the ultrasound, I kept waiting for the technician to tell me I was having a boy.  She said, "See, here are the kidneys."  I heard, "See, here you see its a boy."  I looked at Johnny and told him she said it was a boy.  Then she said, "No, I said here are the kidneys."  Then she asked me if I wanted to know the sex and she showed us we were having a girl.  That was the happiest moment in my pregnancy. I cried for most of the rest of the visit and we left and I started calling all my family as soon as we got to the car.

Now that our little girl is here and 6 months old, she has brought more joy to me than I could have imagined.  She has been fairly easy to care for and has been very healthy.  She is very easy going and gentle.  She loves her books and loves to play.  She is a lot of fun and has a good sense of humor.  She smiles constantly and is just a happy baby.  She has her moments where she can be a little reserved and shy.  Sometimes she seems to be just taking it all in, observing and thinking about everything.  I'm wondering if we have just gotten really lucky that she hasn't had colic or gone through a rough period that would make my days and nights miserable.  Then I wonder if maybe that is still to come.  She has slept in her crib since she was 3 weeks old and usually sleeps at least 10 hours straight for the last 3 months.  I still don't sleep as much as I would like, because I get up and check on  her about 3 times in the middle of the night to make sure she is still breathing.   I will probably do that until the day she leaves for college.

Erin Go Bragh! Pictures from St Paddy's Day

Clover's First Laptop

This week we saw lots of changes in Clover.  She has been very quiet this week and more shy than normal around people she doesn't see very often. She seems to be spending a lot of time in thought.  I wonder what she is thinking.  She has also had some trouble sleeping a few nights and has gotten to sleep in my bed.  I think it may have had something to do with a bad thunderstorm we had.

Now, when she wakes up, instead of crying to tell me she is awake, she will look at her musical seahorse...for a long time.  We haven't gotten her any crib toys yet, but have been looking into them.  Johnny had ordered her a really nice thing called Symphony of Lights.  It is a sun with a smiley face that has different colors of rays.  You squeeze the a ray and it plays music.  When the toy came, it had a sideways smiley face instead of a straight on smiley face.  They changed the look of it completely.  He sent it back and is trying to find an old one.  She has been fascinated by her relefection in the mirror or other glass in the house. She is getting better with eating baby food and better at waiting for a refill on a bottle.  I think her eyes may be turning from blue to green.  It is hard to tell because some days they will look very blue and some days greenish blue.

Last week I saw a little laptop from Vtech that just seemed what she needed.  It has big buttons and plays music and lights up. It seems to be the most simple out of all the toy laptops.  We got it for her this weekend and she immediately got very excited.  She doesn't usually get excited over anything right away.  She knows Mommy and Daddy have laptops and she has tried to play with ours, but  now she has one too.  She quickly learned how to push the buttons and play with the mouse.  The more she played with it, the more excited she got.  It made me so happy to see her excited about it and even more happy to see her learning from it.

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

I'm really happy that  the sun is out and we have been able to get out of the house more with Clover.  She hasn't gotten out very much because of the flu going around or the weather and now we are ready for some fun.  This weekend we got out to a park in town and had a quick lunch and a stroll.  It was down by the river and a little windy, so we had to get going.  Today it is in the 70's and we got out for a bit.   We went and checked out a nursery for childcare for when I go back to work.  The daycare was nice and had such a peaceful enviroment for infants.  The other babies there were so cute and well developed.  I think Clover will benefit from me going back to work so she can have the kind of interaction that she needs full time.

This last week, Clover has really stepped up her babbling.  She is making lots of new sounds with her mouth and has been very curious about different noises. When she hears a door open  in another room, she looks to see who is coming.  She is really loving her books and will look at them on her own for a good while.  She holds the back of the book up with her feet sometimes. Clover has been sleeping for 10-11 hours a night, eating rice cereal and a little fruit and vegetables every day. She loves bananas the most, but eats everything she has tried.  Johnny brought me some books on making baby food from scratch and I am going to start that this week. She is sitting up really good now in her bumbo chair.

She is also outgrowing a lot of her baby gear.  She is getting too big for her swing and her bouncy seat.  I guess that means it is time for more new stuff.  I decided I am getting her a v-tech laptop for Easter.  I'm still looking for a good toy cell phone for her age.  I haven't found anything that I really like, but she needs one soon because she is so interested in mine.

Clover had a few visits this last week. Uncle Sean, Auntie Lisa and Grandma King all came.  We went to visit Uncle Michael and cousin Olivia...we left with a jogging stroller.  We also ran into a few friends when we were out and about for lunch. Clover loves to visit with everybody. 

When I was 4 years old I got my first music album.  It was Poems, Prayers and Promises from John Denver.  Sunshine on my Shoulders has been on 20 other albums since then.  This was one of the songs I loved over 36 years ago.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you
I’d give to you a day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
I’d sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a tale that I could tell you
I’d tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
I’d make a wish for sunshine all the while
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high

If You're Lucky Enough to be Irish...You're Lucky Enough

This week I am thinking a lot about Clover's first St. Patrick's day.  It is my favorite holiday and I don't have any special traditions to celebrate being Irish.  In fact, we really don't need a holiday to celebrate being Irish, we should do it everyday...LOL. 

My hope is that Clover knows about all of her ancestry from both parents.  I have mostly all Irish from both of my parents, so she will learn a lot about Ireland and hopefully I will take her there when she is old enough to appreciate the beauty of the country side, the castles and old churches.  Until then, I will expose her to the music, the dances, the food and the stories from the Irish.

Today I was thinking about what kinds of traditions I would like to start with Clover on St. Patrick's Day.  St. Patricks Day is always on March 17.  This year that falls on a Wednesday.  We will probably go to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Huntsville, have lunch at an Irish Pub with Grandma and Clover can have green milk!

Then I thought about all the Irish sayings and poems that will bring a tear to your eye after having a few Irish beers.  So I decided to write one for her.  Here it is:

Autumn Clover

I loved my little baby, since the day I knew about her
I could feel her when she moved, I thought she was a dancer
She has no idea how special she is to all of those around her
She's more than an Irish Rose, she's our little Autumn Clover.
Your Irish eyes are mine, though others may claim them
Your smile melts my heart, your frame is thin and tall
You are my hope, faith, and love that came on the first day of Fall
You are never any trouble, never any bother
You're my little girl I call Autumn Clover.