Miss Future Bookworm

Reading Rainbow! Scholastic! Kids Books rule!

I am so delighted to rediscover so many wonderful books of my childhood, and after reading Madeline every night for the past week, I am ravenous to read new-to-me books with Miss Cassidy Sue.

Since Madeline won a Caldecott Medal in 1940, that is where I am beginning my search. Bemelmans's words connect in such an effortless lyrical quality, something that is not easy to achieve.

While I am all for letting Cassidy discover her own passions, it's apparent to me that children emulate their parents, not only out of love, but also due to an increased exposure to certain activities. For example, I apparently am in love with commas. My English teachers were always fussing with me to simplify and reduce sentence length!

I've struggled with reading to Baby Girl up until now, but it is becoming a huge part of our bedtime routine. She really is a fantastic sleeper. Life is so intense in the first few months, it's impossible to not worry about EVERYTHING... I've just got one of those babies that don't sleep longer than 3 hours... but the nighttime snuggles are pretty worth it!

We've already begun swim lessons...

Today we are headed to lesson #2. I'm going to have Travis handle her, I felt so nervous! I'm sure she felt that energy. This week I can smile and sing to her... probably no videos if we are in the water, but there will be many, many more.

Here are the Insta-Glamour Shots for baby Cassidy this month!

We are so in love...

3 MONTHS! Dear Baby

Oh my little wonder baby.

You are 25 inches long. (That's over 2 feet!)
You are 16 pounds.
Your head is 15 inches around.
Measuring in the 95th percentile of babies, you are ahead of the game! Daddy says it's because he cooks us mega-breakfast every morning. Mmmm bacon...
Wearing 6 month clothes!

Your daddy can make you grin like the whole world has shut down and nothing exists but his silly face, singing and dancing with you.

Sleep is touch and go, but you love to get a lot of it! Just sometimes in 1 hour increments, and that makes a very tired mommy. But somehow, thanks to the rhythms of the day and the special chemical high you give me, its all ok. We recently moved the mega space-pod swing into the bedroom, and last night you went down at 7:30pm... up at 11pm... 1am... 4am.. 7am. Believe me, that is fantastic for us! Naps are a definite need, sometimes in one big 3 hour spurt, and other times in smaller chunks. We just go with the flow!

Bathtime is the BEST. We can't wait to get you in some infant swim classes. You love the water, kicking your legs and floating around. You used to cry when bathtime was over, but now you know it's oil massage time afterwards, and we listed to lullabies and sing together before bed.

A couple days ago you let me read to you for nearly 5 minutes straight! What a great attention span my love!

Tummy time is not your favorite. But we hangout on the floor everyday, practicing kicks, side rolls, hand eating and grunting noises.

We are getting over a little cold this week, Mama got sick last weekend, and now you are fighting the sniffles but it's so very minor.

Speaking of songs... you LOVE to sing! Whenever mama sings a song I'm rewarded with a HUGE grin and if I'm lucky some sweet coos.

We are so ready for some mega adventures with you! Mama is trying to convince Dada that a snow-shoe hike would be awesome! We'll bundle you up and hit the trails. With Daddy carrying you we can go for miles & miles.

Girl, we can tell you are going to be a handful. Fortunately we have four big hands to help you on your way to becoming a truly bright star in our lives. You have no fear of strangers (yet?) and are so interested in the world around you. Getting to know you has been the adventure of my life, and we have so much time ahead of us!

Week 4: Dear Baby

Oh girl. This week is a roller coaster of emotion.

Monday, your one-month birthday you were amazingly wonderful on your first road trip! We drove to the coast, with you sleeping blissfully all the way. When we arrived we fed immediately. At dinner, you slept on me in the Moby, fed, slept, fed, slept, then when we went back home to the rental house, you slept in your carseat for a couple more hours! Mommy and Daddy got to party (kinda... more like watch other people get wasted)

Tuesday, not quite so easy, but fortunately you did sleep in the car on the way home!

Your sleep times have shrunk, I am delighted if you sleep for a whole hour & a half. You are feeding ALOT. Everything I read indicates you are in the midst of a typical growth spurt. Making more eye contact, working on holding your head up independently. Fussing more than usual. We went for a walk tonight, and you insisted on holding your head outside of the Moby and checking out every house. Not very restful, but at least you weren't crying! Hooray!

I love how you are watching me now. If I walk past you, your head turns and your eyes focus on me. You are smiling, and responding in a way that is so encouraging!

Your cries now carry much more emotion. Going from 0 to 60 in the first shriek, you let us know how you feel! I am starting to be able to distinguish your different cries, for example, when you signal your last battle cry in the fight against sleep... and then zonk out.

Friday you seemed to take a break from all the fueling up, and slept almost all day.

Saturday, we were back on hourly feeds. So we have been co-sleeping in bed together. Boy, you love that! Mama loves snuggling with you too. Occasionally you start to wiggle, and fuss, and before you can cry, I whip out the boobie and almost before it touches your lips I see your eyes close and mouth drop open, and you are back asleep again. Sometimes, all you need is the loving reassurance of touch. We are going to take an infant massage class. Maybe the trick is in the timing. I seem to always try to do a massage when you are pretty worked up around bedtime, and you just scream!!!!! I just have to remind myself that everything is so new to you, and we are learning what works, together.

Daddy got your stroller all ready to go, and we went for a great hike at Mt. Tabor. He's pretty cute. He is so in love with you little baby girl!

Oops! You are awake. That's all for now!

Week 3: Dear Baby

My darling girl. We have come such a long way! Amidst daily laundry, constantly running out of diaper wipes, and some chaotic nights, now our rhythms are starting to flow together.

Week 3 is feeling so good. Your bright eyes catch ahold of mine, and your eyebrows knit together into a question my heart leaps to answer. Yes, baby. Yes. Always yes.

You've begun sleeping in 3 hour stretches. I can recall one of our first nights at home, I had this silly excitement to sit in my big plush rocking chair, next to my mama station with water, snacks, candles, and reading material. I listened to Bob Marley remixes and sang to you through your night feeds. Now that I have read a couple parenting books, I have learned to make night feeds quiet, and save the funstuff for the daytime. This has helped both of us get back to sleep. Your daddy doesn't even hear us get up in the night, unless you complain about the diaper change. This makes me a proud mama! Your papa is working so hard to make our lives smooth... putting in hours at the brewery, making us a delicious breakfast every morning, starting the laundry, taking us grocery shopping.

Here is one of my favorite lullabies for you, my sweet Cassidy Sue:

You Are My I Love You

It's been almost a year since I wrote here. I could blame the wedding...

And I could blame my job... last fall I was hired to serve as the Executive Director at Street Yoga, the lovely non-profit where I found meaning, opportunity and best friends for the past 3 years. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to maintain healthy levels of work/life balance... and experienced a massive burnout.

Fortunately the nature of a yoga service organization draws to itself a circle of self-aware yogis, and the Board of Directors were able to help me admit I was in a dark place. We mapped a plan to hire my replacement, then gradually ease me out of the position. I still volunteer with graphic design projects, and plan to teach yoga to kids again, but recently my attention has been elsewhere:

Cassidy Susan Puckett joined our family September 2, 2013. Yup, on Labor Day. She popped out bright eyed and alert, so strong and ready for life! We were blessed to labor at Alma Midwifery, a community is so amazingly full of support, resources, and experience. During my 16 hour labor I was fed tiny watermelon chunks, smoothies, and coconut water as I moved around the birthing suite (as Travis put it, more like a luxury B&B) and afterwards, my midwives delivered takeout from a local Thai restaurant, making Tom Kha, coconut chicken soup my first postpartum meal. Plus a salad roll.

Our first night as a family was so peaceful. The doulas checked on us every four hours, taking mine and Cassidy's vitals. Everything went so smoothly. The fact that neither my nor Cassidy's vitals were ever less than perfect during labor was the best part. I never had to worry about her, I knew she was working hard, right along with me, trying to enter this world in the best way possible.

Now, my life feels... so different. Intense, dreamy, quiet, challenging. Peaceful and chaotic all at once. We chant Sanksrit mantras to sleep, and just today read a sweet book, You Are My I Love You.

Over the past few weeks, my motivation has driven me to resume this blog, and write to my dear baby. She is certainly the epitome of Funstuff & Pretty Things.

So if you are still following along, the content here will still be 100% my life, but it feel like a brand new life to me! I can't wait to write to my daughter about her development, her rhythms, our memories, and most of all how much I love her.