Kathryn Grace
Photo by starburst1680

Meet first-time mom starburst1680. She's sharing the roller coaster ride of her first year of motherhood. Check back every week for all the emotion and exhaustion -- right up to Kathryn Grace's first birthday.

Week 21:

The new food of the week was sweet potatoes -- and Kathryn loved them! They're a close second to bananas. We started those on Tuesday, the day we usually give her a new vegetable. But on Thursday she was acting like she wasn't quite feeling right. So the sweet potatoes may have to go.

There was no fever or diarrhea or anything; she was just acting like she was kind of uncomfortable. It could've been the teething. Or it could be something completely different. But just in case it was the sweet potatoes, we decided not to give her a new fruit on Saturday like we had been. Instead, on Friday and Saturday, she got applesauce. We'll try sweet potatoes again in a few weeks and see if that was it.

Challenges & Concerns:

Sadly, I think I'm completely done nursing. I'm glad I was able to keep giving her at least a little breast milk for another month after I messed up my supply. Yesterday at work, I took my normal two pump breaks and I got about half an ounce total. So we made it to five months, which isn't as long as I had hoped. But I'm glad we made it this far and I've learned a lot for the next baby. I will say though that I won't miss pumping. The pumping itself was fine, but I didn't look forward to cleaning all the parts and carrying the pump to work. It's kind of heavy, especially when I'm carrying Kathryn in her car seat, my purse, and the diaper bag too.

For the past few weeks, I've noticed Kathryn has some stranger anxiety. It's kind of unpredictable though. One day when we were in the grocery store, a lady asked if she could say hi to Kathryn, who was in her stroller. I said yes and Kathryn smiled at her even though neither of us knew her. And when I had to go to work to get something on my day off, I brought her with me. When she first saw someone, she didn't smile but she didn't cry either. Then when the station manager came over, she started crying. It was funny because our station manager is really nice and has kids of her own. We joked around with her about it for a day or two though. This Tuesday we're going to visit family again, so we'll see how she does with them. I'm wondering if maybe it'll be different or better with children than adults.

Does your little one suffer from stranger anxiety? How do you comfort him or her?

(We're celebrating starburst168's first year with baby, so thanks for keeping your judgments about parenting choices to yourself.)