Changing and Adjusting

Lots of changes at the Buechler household...Laine is getting very close to sitting up unassisted. She loves it when we pull her up to a sitting position and doesn't like it when we lower her back down again. She'll do a sort of "crunch" with her abs to try to get back up, but of course can't make it. Her new favorite spot is sitting on our bed propped by pillows around her while mom gets ready for the day.

Pensive Laine.

On the chair in her room, having mastered sitting propped up.

The other change is in Laine's sleeping pattern and position. For the past two weeks, Laine has been flipping onto her belly in her sleep. The problem is, she doesn't like being on her belly and can't flip back over! To add to the trouble, she pulls her knees under her body and pushes herself around her crib, pinning her arms underneath her and resulting in not being able to find her thumb to suck on. She goes to bed just before 7pm, but wakes around 9:30 and fusses...then wakes again and fusses at 11:30, 12:30 and then from 1:00 to 4:00am she will wake and fuss approximately every 15 to 20 minutes! This was quite a change from our champion sleeper!
Just when mom and dad felt they couldn't take it anymore...Laine seems to have adjusted. The past two nights things have smoothed over. She still woke at 9:30 and fussed a bit, but very quickly quieted down and went right back to sleep. We didn't hear a peep from her until 5am! We are crossing our fingers that this continues...at least until she starts teething!

Jumping the Gun

As the doctor recommended, Laine will be starting solids with a little rice cereal next weekend. It'll be two weeks before her 6 month appointment and in preparation Jayson set up Laine's high chair. We tried her out in it...and discovered that she seemed to be a little small for it! I think we'll be putting Laine in her Bumbo chair for the first few weeks of feeding, but at least we're prepared!

Dwarfed by the high chair tray.

Laine's New Hobby

Someone's found her big toe--and it must be tasty!

Laine at Five Months

Laine, you are changing every day. Here are some things we want to remember--so that we can tell you someday.

In your "I am a Bunny" book, you recently started grabbing specifically at Nicholas, the bunny in red overalls. You can pick him out on each page, and grab at him. Before then, you grabbed at the book in general.

You will now pick up a toy that you drop, instead of forgetting about it once it's out of your hand. Sometimes you will now notice one laying near you and reach for it.

You haven't used a pacifier since you were 2 months old, and only recently started to suck your thumb--only in your crib.

You make a funny smiley face that mommy and daddy love--and we recently decided that the face is now related to gas.

When your daddy gets home and you see him come in, the smile on your face could light up the world.

You can drink a 6 ounce bottle in 3 minutes flat.

You spent 30 minutes yesterday afternoon shrieking and laughing in delight--at nothing in particular, other than being outside.

You just discovered your toes...and that they will fit in your mouth.

You get chattier as the day goes on. You like to talk the most when you're in your bouncy seat.

I think you've made consonant sounds before, but I know for sure I heard a distinct "ba!" yesterday afternoon.

Da Plane! Da Plane!

Laine has been airplaning. I fear she will soon take off.

But seriously, she has also begun to scoot quite a bit (mostly in her crib when we're not there). She starts on her tummy and pulls her knees underneath her, then shoves the upper part of her body forwards. Unfortunately, she hasn't figured out what to do with her arms yet, so they end up pinned underneath her.

Spring Flowers

Maija brought these beautiful flowers from her yard--tulips, camellias, a hyacinth and lilac greens.
Laine wanted to pose by them, and as you can see, by placing them so close to her, she was able to grab on to them.

No flowers were harmed in the taking of this photo.

Auntie Mai

In high school Maija and I were pretty much attached at the hip. It was only appropriate that Laine immediately fell in love with her Auntie Mai. Our original idea yesterday was to find a park and have a picnic, but rain foiled those plans. Maija came to us, and brought a lovely lunch, including a chocolate vegan cupcake that even a non-dairy eater like me could devour.

Maija took all the photos below--which are amazing. Of course, her subject was very willing to pose, as long as the attention continued to center around her!

When it was time for Maija to go, she tried to sneak Laine home in her bag. Laine wasn't so sure at first...

but then she remembered how much she loved her Auntie Mai!

First Day of Spring

In honor of the first day of spring, Laine's five month milestone, and to wish the Huskies good luck, we headed over to the UW today to spend some time. We had lunch in U Village and did a bit of shopping, then parked on campus and had a little walk.

The cherry blossoms were out in full force--which is sometimes hard to catch around here! We got some great photos and Laine enjoyed people watching and looking up at the trees.

All wearing our Husky gear!

Daddy and Laine in front of Odegaard Library in Red Square.

This is Laine's new smiley face. She did it for the first time when Grandpa Good was over helping out while I went to the doctor. She smiles as big as she can, squints her eyes, and sort of shrugs her shoulders. You can just tell she knows it's cute! Now we've caught it on camera!

GO HUSKIES!

Our little Baby Dawg is ready to cheer on the Huskies tomorrow afternoon! In the fall we discovered Laine is a football fan, and we've since learned she also loves basketball! She is thoroughly wrapped up in March Madness and has enjoyed watching with her daddy.

We spent the afternoon today out on the deck enjoying the 60+ degree weather. Laine enjoyed playing with her toys outside, and relaxing in the spring air.

Thanks to Auntie Maija for the Baby Dawg sweatshirt! Daddy wants to make sure Laine wears it tomorrow too!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My Aching Back

On Monday afternoon as I was playing with Laine on the family room floor, I tried to get up and found I couldn't move without excruciating pain. I had felt a bit sore in my back about two weeks earlier, but it had gotten better by the next morning. This time, however, was BAD. I couldn't find any position that didn't hurt, let alone allow me to get up off the floor. My cell phone was about 4 feet from me, and I had to shimmy over to it in order to call Jayson. It took me 10 minutes to get there!
Jayson came home early to rescue Laine and me. She was content to play on the floor with the few toys I had surrounding her, but by the time her daddy got home, Laine was bored to tears (as was I, except the tears were for a different reason). After a long struggle, I got off the floor and up to bed. We called the doctor and made an appointment for the next day.

Laine's daddy took over from there: feeding her, putting her to bed, and getting our dinner. (We ate in bed while I reclined on an ice pack.) The doctor's appointment the next morning confirmed my suspicions...my injury was probably just from hauling a carseat around, picking Laine up off the floor and toting her around everywhere with me. My core is not as strong as it was before pregnancy and I need to work on getting it strengthened.

Grandpa Good came to babysit Laine while Jayson took me to the doctor, and he stayed for the afternoon to help. It was so hard not to lift this little peanut (who by the way isn't exactly a butterball, so I blame the heavy, awkward carseat and not my baby,) but Grandpa did all the heavy lifting and left me instructions to take it easy!

But seriously, how long would you be able to stay away from this sweet face? We're back in business today and taking it easy, just as Grandpa instructed.