motherhood right now, part 2.

motherhood right now looks like...

..baby girl "crawling" everywhere! i'm not sure it should really be called crawling, but whatever it is she does, she most definitely gets around anywhere she pleases.

..it's official. i am done breastfeeding. (enter sad face & big sigh). it started off pretty rocky but has been amazing and i really have loved it. (although i am NOT sad about not pumping at work anymore). but the last couple of months my milk was just getting less and less and she's almost 11 months now anyway (i kind of had an unspoken make it to one year goal for myself), so i decided to make it easier on both of us and just be done with it. now that i think about it, that's probably why she was still wanting to nurse so often...there was hardly anything in there each time. duh. anyway, it's been easier and quicker to wean than i expected and i'm both relieved and a little sad about it all.

..on that note....i am beyond grateful that gracie has always taken a bottle and formula so well and without any complaint. a blessing, i tell you.

..and another note...gracie is almost 11 months! which basically means she's almost one year old! mind blown.

..since gracie is now on the move all the time, i am realizing how dirty and dusty our house really is. i am a poor excuse for a housewife, i'll be the first to admit it, and i am very open to taking any good cleaning pointers you all have. (especially for dark wood floors. i swear they're never clean.)

..gracie is a bit bipolar about bathtime. she seemed pretty meh about it at first, then hated it and screamed bloody murder til she was out of the tub and wrapped in her towel, and then she was loving it and splashing and playing and life was butterflies and rainbows, and now she seems to be hating it again. she gets excited, mostly because bathtime means she gets to play with her beloved favorite pink rubber ducky (it is strictly for bathtime), but once she gets ducky and gets in the tub, if i even think about pouring some water on her to rinse her off, (heaven forbid wash her down with some soap), she is trying to claw her way out of the tub. it's mind-boggling, really.

..honestly, motherhood is so very sweet right now. someone in an elevator the other day told me that the 8-12 month stage is the best. and i am totally agreeing with them. she is becoming miss independent more and more but still wants momma and daddy and loves to give hugs and (very) slobbery kisses and follows us everywhere. or if she doesn't follow, she'll yell "dad??" really loudly til we answer. and then we just kind of yell back and forth "dad?" and "gracie?" a few times til we're back in the same room again. it's adorable and she's adorable and fun and full of life and personality!

..finally we have 1 tooth! and by we, i of course mean gracie. but it kind of feels like a family effort, ya know? almost 11 months old and she finally has one tiny tooth poking through those slobbery gums.

..being the parents of a baby and a young puppy at the same time and raising them together is so much fun. they are just learning to love each other. they can even play tug-a-war with a rope sometimes (well, zo is playing, gracie is usually mad that zo is trying to take the rope away so forcefully). they give each other kisses (sometimes open-mouthed kisses which is just so gross) and they totally rough-house and push each other around. sometimes it's obnoxious, but most of the time it's hilarious and i completely love it.

..being a mom is still pretty daunting and overwhelming a lot of the time. which i think is something that won't necessarily go away any time soon. which i also think is probably a good thing. it's definitely good to feel like a good mom and like you know what you're doing most of the time, at least, but i think there's a sense of caution and second-guessing that is actually beneficial sometimes.

what can i say, at the end of the day, being gracie's mother is the best gift i've ever gotten!