Thanks for bearing with me while the blog was down last week. It was up and running yesterday so I’m catching up a little bit. Lots has been going on the past week. But, certain “other” details will follow in another post, for particular reasons…

Anyway so this week has been pretty fun with Jia. Things we’ve noticed:

• When LittleBabyBum‘s youtube “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” there are directed exercises like “this is the way we wiggle our fingers/move our feet/stretch our arms/move our body” and when I was putting Jia in her pajamas one night, I noticed she was actually following those exercises! That was really cute.
• My little Michelangelo: Our second round of painting went really really well. We had a painting afternoon for Jeff’s Father’s Day gift. She wasn’t as freaked out about the paint getting on her hands, like the first time. What made a difference was using paint brushes instead of her hands. So she crafted this beautiful little masterpiece pictured above, for Jeff’s office. 
• TOTALLY WEANED! June 21st was the official last day Jia nursed. She’d become less and less interested in each feeding as she became more active. In the mornings she started to become eager to play with the doggies and read her books and in the evening she was too eager for me to start bedtime stories. After about 2-3 days of me trying to (unsuccessfully) convince her to keep nursing, I started skipping one to see how she dealt with it. She didn’t seem to notice or mind in the least. I am sort of mourning the end of our nursing relationship together, but am really excited that I have complete free range to diet as I please. No worry about how it affects the content of the BM! Also, I think I’m probably one of the very few women out there who feel this way, but I am so excited to have my normal boobs back. I felt I looked top-heavy even in my later days nursing, so I’m glad to see them go back to normal, just a week later. So let that be known – (for me at least) it takes 1 week of not nursing for those suckers to go down in size. It might’ve been a quicker change for me because she’d been sorta sometimes nursing in the morning but other days not, so my body was already adjusting to a lower demand; thus leading to a lower supply. Remember, it’s a supply & demand process! 
• Ruff Ruff Tweet & Dave is our go-to if she has already exhausted her reserves in playing independently while I cook meals. We are adding on Sofia the First and some show called Callie the Sheriff or something like that, to the DVR list. Both on Disney Jr… who knows if she’ll like Callie, but Mandy Moore voices her, so that’s why I will get a kick out of it! 
• Sliding Down Independently! My in-laws bought Jia a Little Tykes slide, so we have it in our living room – and Jeff taught her how to slide down by herself. It was so funny, that right after he taught her, she spent an ENTIRE 90 minutes going up and down the slide, with small breaks to drink water! A week later and she still gets a kick out of the slide, but now goes down a few times in a row rather than the 75 times before. 
• Doing “adult” tasks: brushing her hair, trying to use her temporal thermometer, she tries to use our electric toothbrushes, she wants to help stir the food on the stove (so I have to watch her like a hawk), empty the dishwasher (this is fantastic), whisk her eggs in the morning (a messy helper). Every morning and night we also roll some essential oils onto her feet, to strengthen her immune system. We use DoTerra oils’ OnGuard. We’ve done it for a good 8 months now (she has yet to catch a cold), so she knows the routine. Now she demands the oil roller, to roll on the bottoms of her feet and then rubs them together. If you don’t relinquish the roller, fear the wrath of Jia! The only thing she’s not interested in? The potty. I’ll have to get her a little potty chair to have next to the toilet to inspire her. 
• Got new Stride Rites – had a 20% off coupon so we sized up. She’s measuring a size 5 right now. Her old Stride Rites are a size 4.5, which she still fits (we’ll use thinner socks now), so we got two pairs of shoes on clearance (additional 40% off!) – one pair of size 5.5 sneakers for her next size up, and then size 6 memory foam sandals, for whenever she fits those!
• Easy Rider? Not Quite. Getting a little better in the carseat, she doesn’t protest quite as much as she did before. She seems to entertain herself a little better these days, preferring small board books and snacks while she rides along. 

From me:

• Mama’s Trip to Chi-Town! I went solo to Chicago for one of my close friend’s wedding this past weekend. I left on a Thursday mid-morning and returned on Sunday night. Did I miss Jia? Yes, but more importantly, did I have a great time being baby-free? ABSOLUTELY! It was so fun and so weird at the same time. It felt strange not having a huge lengthy task list every day, I just had to feed myself, and I got to catch up with my family and friends in a really chill relaxed way. “Baby” and “relaxation” don’t really go well in the same sentence, and I was soaking it in last weekend! 
• Weight Loss: As I mentioned, now that I’m not nursing, I have the freedom to diet to my heart’s content! I’m not used to having to diet, so I have to really take this seriously if I want it to really come off. I’m a third of the way there, I lost 4.5 pounds in the last 13 days, and I have 8 pounds to go. 
• Bye Bye Baby (stuff): Bottles, bottle warmer, baby carrier muff, the infant stuff is going into boxes soon, and sealed to be stored for later. End of an era, as Rachel and Monica would say… 

Pictures!

The little artist with her daddy on Father’s Day

Up and Down and then… Up the wrong way

On target and into the mouth about 60% of the time