Winter Sport

Don, Caitlyn, and I all had our first experience snowshoeing this weekend.  It was a fun trip up to the mountain.  Since we don't ski, this is something we've been wanting to try as a way to go play in the snow now and again.  Luckily, we have great friends who were able to lend us all the gear we needed (Thanks Katie, Zach, Chris & Jessica!).  And of course we wouldn't think of leaving Caitlyn at home.

We arrived at the mountain and got all tucked in our gear.  Into the ergo she went and as soon as she started moving she fell right asleep in her own little toasty winter wonderland.  The lunch break was interesting trying to nurse in the snowy weather underneath all those layers but Caitlyn loved that too.  We did end up cutting our intended path a little short due to weather and some gear issues but we learned a lot.  The way back down the mountain she cried and was mostly soothed by singing this Little Light of Mine which we got stuck in everyone's head.  I think she got a little cold and was done with being stuffed in a sack.  But it was all worth it when we got back down to the ski lodge and got to watch all the people shuffling around in the big echoey building.  I'm proud of my little girl and proud of us as parents for getting out and adventuring!

Check it Off

This morning I instituted a project I've been working on for a couple of weeks:  The Daily Task Checklist.  I am completely geeking out over it.  Theoretically, if Don and I can follow this simple checklist on the daily basis we will be able to stay on top of the chores and errands, accomplish all our basic daily needs, and have plenty of time leftover to live life to the fullest! The first morning went well and I am looking forward to seeing the results of the whole first week.  It is the simplest of things, but I can't tell you how much more gratifying it is to be able to check a task off a list then it is to just accomplish the task in and of itself. 

In other news, Caitlyn is starting to pull herself up on things.  She can't get to a full standing yet but she sure is into practicing this new skill.  I can only imagine that is not far behind.

The Latest Happenings

I'm throwing down a new goal for myself to put out two new blog posts a week even if they are only a short paragraph.  Already six months have flown by and I wish I had captured more of life with a growing infant.  I'm also a little discontent with Facebook which has been the much quicker easier way to do short updates and keep up with friends and family across the globe.  But there is so many junk posts to weed through to find the information I really care about that makes it less and less gratifying and more of a time suck.

Caitlyn is ON THE GO.  She has graduated from military crawl to full on hands and knees and yesterday started to attempt pulling herself up on things.  She can't get to a full stand yet but she sure is trying.  In fact, she is so much on the go that she is a little behind sitting up unassisted because, well, that's boring!

In matters of speech she has picked up two new consonants which she strings together - Mah Mah Mum Mah Mummmmm and Bah Bah Buh Buh.  Every once in a while she also gives us a clear Mmbop.  The Mama just melts me even though we don't think she has tied the actual meaning to the sound yet.  But it still is the most beautiful sound I've heard.  She also loves to blow air through her lips like she's playing the trumpet.  Bphhhhhhhh!

Last weekend we bought her an exersaucer.  We took her down to the consignment store and tried out all there different models.  She liked the cheapest one.  Good Girl!  She loved it instantly and bounces like a pogo stick in it with the hugest grin on her face.  That is the one word besides milk that I know she recognizes for sure now.  Anytime I look at her and say "Bounce" she starts bouncing whether she is in her exersaucer, on my lap, or crawling around on the floor.

She is still a night owl and thinks that when she goes to bed at 7:00 and wakes up an hour later that this was a nap and it's time to get up and play again.  She nurses a lot at night too and it gets to be a bit much sometimes in the moment but the next day once I'm up and about I am glad for the time and closeness with her at night and get the sense that we're doing the right thing for our family.   Every once in a while I have a low energy day where I definitely need some catch up sleep, but on a daily basis I do not feel like I'm operating on a huge deficite. I just think of it as my nightly oxytocin recharge.