Happy Birthday Pearlee!!!!

So... I know I have been slacking on keeping up with this blog lately, but I have been so busy with work and keeping up with my baby girl, but now....
She's a whole year old!!! Happy Birthday Pearlee Girlee!!!



Me: Happy Birthday hunny bunny!  How do you feel about being a whole year older?

Baby: 

  
Clearly she doesn't understand the concept of celebrating her birthday, but that's okay, I took PLENTY of pictures to tell her when she gets older.


I ended up having a small gathering of immediate family for a party at my parents' house.  And I LOVED her cake.  It was a giant cupcake!

 The top, or "frosting" is actually a mini 3 layered cake. The bottom is 3 layers as well with all buttercream frosting.  Big Shoutout to Brownsugar Bakery in Chicago for such an awesome cake!

As far as other milestones, Pearlee is doing a lot of cruising furniture and is starting to dance--a lot.  It's soooo cute to see her start waving her arms or bouncing her legs the moment she hears music.  Her personality is starting to come out.  She's extremely playful, loving (she's always giving kisses) and just generally happy baby.  She is starting to show signs of tantrums by falling out when she doesn't get her way.  I usually combat this behavior by ignoring her.  For the most part, it works; then she gets with her grandparents and I have to work it out again, lol.

Pearlee with her uncle

 I sometimes still can't believe it's been a year already!  I am so blessed and thankful for this little girl!  Being a mom is becoming one of the most rewarding journeys I have ever traveled and we are far from stopping!

And this is the memory I will treasure of my little girl!  Happy Birthday!

9 months and the holidays!

Hello everyone!


My little Pearlee officially made 9 months on Thanksgiving Day (November 22nd, for those overseas folk).  Personally, I love the holidays! Especially Christmas!  It's the time of year when everyone is in positive spirits, even if they don't celebrate that particular holiday.  And the holiday television and theater shows and Santa Claus decorations make me so nostalgic of my childhood memories.  I am so excited that this year I have a child that I can share my joy with!  Although she's still a little young, it's important to foster the behaviors now that I want her to show later on in life.

Pearlee with her Auntie Kim on Thanksgiving

I am now debating if I am going to take any holiday pictures.  I am not a Christmas card fan, but I do enjoy getting cards from friends and family with pictures.  So maybe I'll join in?

  Also, 9 months is the time when she is basically ready for her first meal outside of the pureed stuff!  For Christmas dinner, I plan on bring a food processor so that she can have a little bit of everything that I'm eating and I've already started trying to mash down food for her.  I am a fan of making sure she eats REAL people food instead the normal hot dogs, cheese sandwiches and all things bland just for the sake of calling it "baby" food. So far we like:

• roasted squash with onions and herbs
• kale with garlic
• sweet potatoes ( I always add a little bit of cinnamon)
• greek yogurt mixed with spinach (it actually isn't that bad pureed, I know it sounds gross)
• pears
• apples
• carrots

and this is a picture of her enjoying an artichoke heart!!  I was even a little surprised with how much she likes these, but she was crying for more!!

And she is speed-demon crawler!  When I come home from work, I can't wait to play or game of hide and go seek!  I put her down in one part of the room, and hide behind a door, or chair something--not too far because then she'll start crying and thinking that I left her.  Now that she's getting used to the game, I think she looks forward to it as well :)

Now, the problem with having too many games is that she'll think we are supposed to play all the time.  Diaper changing has become a new sport me--making sure she doesn't become the runaway naked baby. 
 And I'm sure she'll be walking by my next post. 

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

8 month update!!

Hello Everyone!

My Pearlee is 8 months!!! OMG!!!

I was just reminiscing and looking at some of my earlier posts, and I am still so flabbergasted (that's a good word, right?) at how much my little girl has grown!

Just around this time last year, I had just found out that I was having a little girl.  I know I've said this before, but man, time flies!

I recently had to take my little one to the doctor recently from a rash on her tummy.  Don't worry, it wasn't anything too serious, but many new mothers would agree with me that anything out of the ordinary can become worrisome.  I did find out that she is now about 15.5 lbs and is 28 inches long--My little lean baby :)

By now, Pearlee has perfected crawling and can move like lightening!  And she is grabbing edges of couches and chairs a lot more to stand, so I know that milestone will be here in the blink of an eye.

And you all see all that hair, right?  It's bittersweet because I am proud that I was able to keep it growing, but man it is difficult to maintain! Right now, I am LOVING Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter when I braid her hair.  After a good wash, I wet it with a spray water bottle, then the butter and comb it out before braiding each section.  And her braids last about a week or more. I tried to keep it braided most of the time to keep it from getting dry and tangling, but she is always on the move!  She does not like anyone in her head!

I did these braids while she was sleep, but when she woke up and realized I was in her hair, she took the comb and threw it!  Lord, please don't tell me this is a sign of future hair combing sessions!  I've been told that as she gets older, she may get used to it as long as people compliment her and tell her how pretty she looks with hair done, so if you see us, can you help me out by telling her how pretty she is?

That won't be too hard with these eyes, will it?  I love this little girl to pieces!

Blessings everyone :)

7 months and crawling!!

It's seven months, and time for new milestones!!

My baby is mobile! Yes, I said it last time folks, I knew sooner or later Pearlee would be crawling---and she is a mover!  She is also getting good at standing herself up on tables and bodies--yes, if you are laying next to her then you will be used as a ledge.

And yes, she is a champ at sitting up by herself now--they weren't lying when they said they grow up so fast!  Since I'm due for 1st quarter grades soon, I need to get back to work and unfortunately can't talk as long as I would like to, so I have to cut this blog a little short.  Just sneaking in a few moments while Pearlee is sleeping...but I'm still enjoying this journey!

Be blessed everyone!

A "working it" Mom :)

Hello bloggers!

I am trying to be better about posting and not waiting almost a whole month to update!  Any who, as Pearlee nears her seventh month of life, it makes me reminisce about my life before her. 

  As a single woman living in a big city, I was always on the go--finding events to go to, running along the Lakefront of Lake Michigan, and occasionally hanging out with friends and family.

Surprisingly, my life hasn't changed that drastically.  My childless friends are extremely supportive of me bringing my daughter along with us to many outings (since she's still exclusively breastfed, she's with me most of the time) and for the few hours I go to the gym, our out with friend at a concert (How Sweet the Sound was AWESOME!) she stays with her dad.

One thing that has changed is my preparation for work in the morning!  I have learned that prepping the night before is a vital key to a successful morning!  After an afternoon workout, my routine has been giving her a bath, night feeding, then put to bed (hopefully) by 8 pm.  When she's sleep, I get to focus on me!  That means, taking a shower, eating dinner, grading papers (yes, the joys of being an English teacher) then re-packing her bag for the babysitter. 

And I have now had to add two more things to this routine: making baby food and doing her hair.  Now both of these tasks are not nightly (thankfully).  I steam and blend enough food for a week or so.  Making baby food is very quick and easy--it's just making sure you find time to do it.



 And I braid her hair, which lasts about 3-4 days.  And for those that are wondering, she is NOT cooperative enough for me to do her hair so I normally do it when she's sleep.  Or her grandmother does her hair for me.














So you may be wondering, when do I sleep??? lol, honestly, it's not the 8-10 hours I was used to, but I still try to be in bed by 10:30 each night.  This means cutting a few corners in my personal life.  One major thing is my hair.  I used to spend as many as 2 hours styling my hair.  Now, when it is not in the occasional afro, I take the time to go to a stylist and get my hair done in an up-do that is low maintenance, lasts for several weeks at a time, and best of all, I'm still cute! 


 Here's a recent style I just got done on Saturday:

front view

side view

I have to admit, when I first found out I was pregnant, I was afraid that the social facet of my life would disappear.  I understood just from observing friends and family that children, especially young children, need a lot of time and care and I did not want to come off as one of those mothers who sacrificed their children's childhood experience for their own happiness.  As a high school teacher, I deal with the ramifications of those decisions by seeing the emptiness and the search for belonging with some of my students because their mothers didn't give them the attention they needed (and deserved!).



But I'm not going to worry or over think potential problems when my daughter becomes a teenager.  Right now, I am enjoying my time with her and journey thus far.  And I couldn't imagine my life without my little cutie-bootie--one of her many nicknames!

Look out for the next post--I'm sure it will be about her first crawl!!

Be blessed everyone :)

We're halfway there!!

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the tardiness of this post!  School's back in session, and I had to get back in the routine of working and grading papers, which is especially difficult with an infant.  But anyways, as of August 22, 2012, Pearlee made 6 months!!! 

Isn't she a doll???

My baby is growing so much!  She can sit up on her own (probably about 20 sec at the most) and she's starting to form short consonant vowel sounds together (like ba-ba).  Before this, she used to just make gurgling gibberish, so words are coming soon.  She's a scooter, but not really full-out crawling yet.  But I know it's just a matter of time :)


I love that she is such a happy and smiley baby!  She is genuinely excited when she gets picked up from her babysitter (who right now is her grandmother) and it melts my heart every time!  I have mixed feelings of "man, I can't wait until she can talk" to "Oh! My little baby is getting so big!" 

Loving (and probably spoiling) my little blessing :)

Gabby Douglas and Pearlee

Hello everyone!

So earlier, I left my Pearlee on my bed to strengthen her muscles with tummy time.  Normally, I come to rescue her after 15 minutes or so, but today, I was able to cook myself and eat a whole dinner undisturbed!--ummm, this never happens! 

I come into the bedroom and find that her eyes are glued to the Olympic games.  She was so attentive and focused on the TV.  It was as if she was watching the divers so that could later learn to do these moves on her on.  It was so precious!

Now, don't worry--I am not one of those eccentric and delusional mothers who honestly believes "my baby is advanced!  You see how she can watch the TV and understand what's going on?"  Chances are, she was attracted to sounds of the TV announcers and the bright colors from the screen.  But it did have me thinking about her future and what sports (if any) will she be involved in.  I do believe she likes her bathes a little too much for a 5 month old, and that this a sign that she needs to be in aquatics.

So, could my baby be an Olympian in swimming or diving?  Better yet, could she be the first African-American to win gold in her event?  It's something I never thought about doing, but that doesn't mean she  won't.  And now, she has new role model in Gabby Douglas a good representation of a little girl living out an awesome dream:

I'm loving the fact that our little brown girls are growing and seeing they can compete in other sports besides the obvious track and field, volleyball or basketball.  We can be gymnasts, and yes, swimmers and divers too!  My baby can honestly say, "I was born the same year that Gabby Douglas won her first gold medal." 

 I think this is probably the most I have viewed of the Olympics as far back as I can remember.  And every time I watch the Olympics, I always feel like I need to run out and do a cartwheel, go swimming, I mean something! (smile).  But now I'm watching, and wondering if I will be as proud as Gabby Douglas' mom as I one day watch my daughter compete in 2024.

Look at her?  Doesn't she look like a future Olympian????

Be blessed everyone!  Go Team USA!!!