Kinda Blue

There are a lot of changing going on here in the Byrd household, most have to do with the Pea. Thanks to Ms. Hazel's fervent prayers the Pea, yes the Pea of Sheba has been sleeping. By sleeping I mean ALL night and as an added bonus (blessing) she has been napping! I know, I know it all seems too good to be true and the Pea is a crafty one but I believe this is for real. Tonight she could prove me wrong but I choose to believe that Ms. Hazel prayed for a miracle and it happened and I could not be any more thankful if I tried!

Another change has me feeling quite sad at the moment. Tonight was the first night the Pea has ever gone to sleep without nursing. She didn't even put up much of a fight, a little whimper and then she went to sleep. I knew this day would come and we have been working on it for a while but still. We are now separate......... there may have been some tears shed by both parties involved.

I ran into a friend of mine the other day who is a very new mommy, like 6 weeks in new. When I talk to people about motherhood and the whole all consuming am I gonna live through this first few months I always try to be honest and frank about my feelings and experiences. It is hard, one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life and I am only 9 months in! I hate to think that there are sweet mothers out there thinking they are horrible because they have discovered, much to their dismay, that after all the showers and the glowing pregnancy and the decorating of the nursery there is REAL work to do. By REAL work I mean the serious business of caring for another human being. A life filled with poop, pee, screaming, crying, fit throwing, do we need to go to the emergency room at 2 am because they never get sick during office hours, food spitting, giggling, laughing out loud, first tooth picture takin, I can't believe she is walkin, did she really just sleep through the night, what an awesome funny kid, I still can't believe I have a baby life. The Pea's Papaw Byrd put it best when he said being a parent is the hardest job in the world if you give a crap. It always feels better to know you aren't the only one out there laying in the floor beside the crib peeking in every few minutes or rolling over on the middle of the night to make sure your baby, who up until last week never slept, was still breathing because she had been asleep for more than an hour. Ok I might have even poked her a little too. Or the momma who cries uncontrollably because her baby is playing on the floor and looks at you and claps because she turned a page on her little book. I guess I just wanted to say to all of my little sweet momma friends out there that you are doing a great job and it is very hard contrary to how easy Heidi Klum makes it look. ;)

I also wanted to add the cutest pic of my nephew (I just love typing that) he continues to be the most perfect baby ever and I love his big ol drooly smile so much! Wookie + Auntie Ber = Love

Where does the time go?!

Here we are in the middle of July and I haven't done any of the things I had planned to do this summer. I hope I am not the only one facing this dilemma. Should I keep the list and stress out or throw the list away- there is always next summer..... Clementine on the other hand has done ALL of the things on her to do list. The list reads something like this:

1. Get cuter every day.

2. Get feistier every day.

3. Get more mischievous EVERY day.

4. Grow a set of razor sharp teeth.

5. Skip crawling and proceed to standing and almost walking.

6. Continue to stay awake 22 1/2 hours out of 24 EVERY day.

The Pea has made her list, checked it twice and is moving on! LOL!! She can now say dog, da da, momma, ruff ruff and Don. Quite to vocabulary for someone who doesn't get out much. Her favorite word continues to be da da- which she says all day long. She is a dog lover, much to her da da's dismay- she can't get enough of dogs! Just don't try to fool her with a stuffed dog, this makes her very concerned when the dog doesn't move like her dogs outside.

We went for her 9 month check up this past Tuesday. She is off the charts for weight and head circumference and in the 85% for height- always the over achiever. No shots this time so we were pretty pleased about that! She has also graduated to eating some chopped bananas as well as sweet potato puffs all by herself. She has also skipped the starter sippy cup and prefers to drink her water out of a sippy cup with a straw. I guess when you are the Pea of Sheba you can do as you please in that and most other departments.

There has also been some pretty major developments in "ahem" another department- the Pea is being weaned. She is not happy about it but after many, MANY shall we say "incidences" with her 4 razor sharp teeth I have no choice. This has been a sore subject with the two of us for some time. We spend a lot of time together, it is convenient and free but in an act of self preservation I think weaning is our best bet. We both are feeling a little emotional about this- it is almost like some major part of our relationship is over. Which I guess that it is, it was a hard decision. She just isn't one of those babies who you can flick on the chin and she will stop chomping down. The flicks just seemed to make her bite harder. The only thing that seems to make her let go is my blood curdling scream or if I just faint dead away. Whew. I was afraid that weaning would lead to her not even sleeping the small amount of time she manages but she has been surprising me the last couple of nights by going to sleep on her own- of course still in the bed with me and da da. Usually if I even tried to act like I wasn't going to nurse her to sleep she would howl and scream until she was purple. So, again the Pea has surprised me. I can always count on her to always do the exact opposite of what I expect. So here is to the new chapter for the two of us. I can start to drink sweet tea again and maybe the independence will do us both some good. Or maybe she will change her mind and nurse until she is five......

I am going to attach a few pictures from the last little bit. The photo of the older gentleman is the Pea's great great uncle T who is an awesome and interesting guy that we both love to pieces.