Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Interview with (23-Month-Old) Emily
Nathalieland: Emily, you're just one month away from being TWO YEARS OLD! How does that feel?
Emily: Pretty good! I hear that when you turn two you're allowed to watch TV...
N: Oh Emily, don't be silly. You've been watching TV for a while now.
E: Yeah, my parents tried to keep it away until I turned two, but Elmo (Sesame Street) was calling my name.
N: You do love that Elmo. What other activities have you been enjoying this month?
E: I love going outside (sandbox, pool, park), playing games (memory, puzzles), watching videos, working on my sticker book, and blowing bubbles.
N: What videos are you watching?
E: Well I've rekindled my love of Caspar Babypants. He has all of his music videos on his website and I love watching the new ones (ones I hadn't seen before), including the interviews with him! I also watch a series of music videos with Elmo on YouTube. My favourites are: A Song About Elmo (Adam Sandler), Don't know Y (Norah Jones), Outdoors (Jason Mraz), and Elmo's Ducks.
N: Are you talking more now or are you still a quiet girl?
E: Over the last week or two I've really started learning words and repeating what my parents say. Some new words that I say (clearly) are: happy, peekaboo, home, and kiwi. I say lots of words using my own toddler-language, including all of the colours: reh (red), boo (blue), elb (yellow), gg (green), wha (white), bak (black), purpo (purple), mek (pink), and meh (brown). I also still love to talk gibberish.
N: What are some of your quirks, Emily?
E: I believe that every man I see (in books, magazines, toys, dolls, etc) is Daddy. I say "Dada!" multiple times a day because he's everywhere. My other obsession is The Cuckoo song. It's a Caspar Babypants song that goes "Oh the cuckoo, she's a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies". But what I do is I give my mom a word or an action, then she sings "Oh the [word], it's a [description], it [more description]" to the same tune. I love love love it and ask my mom to sing the cuckoo song at every meal (but she always makes me wait until she's done eating).
N: You're a silly girl. So what are your birthday plans?
E: I have NO idea.
N: Well if you could have your dream birthday party, what would it include?
E: Daddy, Mommy, Elmo, cookies, strawberries, puddles, paci's, and birds.
N: Fun! Sadly, Emily, next month will mark the end of our interviews together. It was a pleasure getting to know you and I will always treasure our time together.
E: Would you like a sticker?
N: I certainly would. Thank you.
Emily: Pretty good! I hear that when you turn two you're allowed to watch TV...
N: Oh Emily, don't be silly. You've been watching TV for a while now.
E: Yeah, my parents tried to keep it away until I turned two, but Elmo (Sesame Street) was calling my name.
N: You do love that Elmo. What other activities have you been enjoying this month?
E: I love going outside (sandbox, pool, park), playing games (memory, puzzles), watching videos, working on my sticker book, and blowing bubbles.
N: What videos are you watching?
E: Well I've rekindled my love of Caspar Babypants. He has all of his music videos on his website and I love watching the new ones (ones I hadn't seen before), including the interviews with him! I also watch a series of music videos with Elmo on YouTube. My favourites are: A Song About Elmo (Adam Sandler), Don't know Y (Norah Jones), Outdoors (Jason Mraz), and Elmo's Ducks.
N: Are you talking more now or are you still a quiet girl?
E: Over the last week or two I've really started learning words and repeating what my parents say. Some new words that I say (clearly) are: happy, peekaboo, home, and kiwi. I say lots of words using my own toddler-language, including all of the colours: reh (red), boo (blue), elb (yellow), gg (green), wha (white), bak (black), purpo (purple), mek (pink), and meh (brown). I also still love to talk gibberish.
N: What are some of your quirks, Emily?
E: I believe that every man I see (in books, magazines, toys, dolls, etc) is Daddy. I say "Dada!" multiple times a day because he's everywhere. My other obsession is The Cuckoo song. It's a Caspar Babypants song that goes "Oh the cuckoo, she's a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies". But what I do is I give my mom a word or an action, then she sings "Oh the [word], it's a [description], it [more description]" to the same tune. I love love love it and ask my mom to sing the cuckoo song at every meal (but she always makes me wait until she's done eating).
N: You're a silly girl. So what are your birthday plans?
E: I have NO idea.
N: Well if you could have your dream birthday party, what would it include?
E: Daddy, Mommy, Elmo, cookies, strawberries, puddles, paci's, and birds.
N: Fun! Sadly, Emily, next month will mark the end of our interviews together. It was a pleasure getting to know you and I will always treasure our time together.
E: Would you like a sticker?
N: I certainly would. Thank you.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Interview with (2-Month-Old) Jessica
Nathalieland: Hi baby Jessica! You're two months old today!
Jessica: Wow, two already?
N: I was thinking the same thing. So what are your growth stats this month?
J: I weigh around 11 lbs and am about 23 inches long (I'll know my measurements for sure at my doctor's appointment next week). I still wear size 1 diapers and 3 month clothing.
N: Are you still a good sleeper?
J: My sleep is sometimes hit-and-miss, but overall good. The toughest part is keeping me asleep once I'm put down -- it usually takes a couple of tries. On the plus side I had my first 8-hour stretch last night! I still love being swaddled, but I don't always have to be rocked. A couple of times I've fallen asleep all by myself.
N: Wow! That was unheard of with Emily until much later. Speaking of which, has your sister warmed up to you yet?
J: She's getting better! She's been hanging around me a little more lately. Today she even "taught" me the alphabet! But she also gets kind of jealous when my (I mean our) daddy gives me lots of attention.
N: Tell me about your daddy.
J: He's a pretty cool guy. He gives me lots of tummy time, holds me facing out so that I can explore the surroundings, and reads me lots of books. He's not very good at swaddling me tightly or feeding me (where's the milk Dad??), but I do love to fall asleep in his arms. One strange thing about him is that he always talks about wanting to eat my cheeks...
N: Ha, those cheeks are plump and beautiful! Are you a smiley girl Jessica?
J: I am. I love smiling at my Daddy, my Mommy, and the toys on my bouncy seat. I also love faces, so I'll smile at any face that looks at/talk to me!
N: That's fun, I hope you keep up your love of [strange] faces, Jessica. Your sister's not really the social butterfly.
J: I'll do my best.
N: What's the first thing people notice about you?
J: My hair! Everyone comments on how much hair I have. I also received a compliment once on my "beautiful skin tone" and "perfectly shaped head". That lady was kinda funny...
N: Anything else you'd like to add? Any milestones?
J: Not really. I'm just chillin' for now. Mom says I seem to sleep a lot for my age, but I think she's ok with that.
N: Thanks for the chat, Jessica. See you next month.
J: [smile]
Jessica: Wow, two already?
N: I was thinking the same thing. So what are your growth stats this month?
J: I weigh around 11 lbs and am about 23 inches long (I'll know my measurements for sure at my doctor's appointment next week). I still wear size 1 diapers and 3 month clothing.
N: Are you still a good sleeper?
J: My sleep is sometimes hit-and-miss, but overall good. The toughest part is keeping me asleep once I'm put down -- it usually takes a couple of tries. On the plus side I had my first 8-hour stretch last night! I still love being swaddled, but I don't always have to be rocked. A couple of times I've fallen asleep all by myself.
N: Wow! That was unheard of with Emily until much later. Speaking of which, has your sister warmed up to you yet?
J: She's getting better! She's been hanging around me a little more lately. Today she even "taught" me the alphabet! But she also gets kind of jealous when my (I mean our) daddy gives me lots of attention.
N: Tell me about your daddy.
J: He's a pretty cool guy. He gives me lots of tummy time, holds me facing out so that I can explore the surroundings, and reads me lots of books. He's not very good at swaddling me tightly or feeding me (where's the milk Dad??), but I do love to fall asleep in his arms. One strange thing about him is that he always talks about wanting to eat my cheeks...
N: Ha, those cheeks are plump and beautiful! Are you a smiley girl Jessica?
J: I am. I love smiling at my Daddy, my Mommy, and the toys on my bouncy seat. I also love faces, so I'll smile at any face that looks at/talk to me!
N: That's fun, I hope you keep up your love of [strange] faces, Jessica. Your sister's not really the social butterfly.
J: I'll do my best.
N: What's the first thing people notice about you?
J: My hair! Everyone comments on how much hair I have. I also received a compliment once on my "beautiful skin tone" and "perfectly shaped head". That lady was kinda funny...
N: Anything else you'd like to add? Any milestones?
J: Not really. I'm just chillin' for now. Mom says I seem to sleep a lot for my age, but I think she's ok with that.
N: Thanks for the chat, Jessica. See you next month.
J: [smile]
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Cardboard Playhouse
The other day I had a random desire to build Emily a playhouse. She was getting bored of her toys in the basement and needed something new and exciting. I took the biggest box I could find (the box for her car seat), built a roof, cut a door and a couple of windows, and voila! Hours of fun.
Emily loves to hang out in there, open/close the door, and play peekaboo through the windows. She also loves to fill her home with toys, books, and games. It's so cute to watch her play in and personalize her space. I was thinking one day we could even spend some time painting it!
And who knows, maybe one day we'll upgrade to a bigger box or even a real playhouse!
Welcome to Emily's House!
Emily loves to hang out in there, open/close the door, and play peekaboo through the windows. She also loves to fill her home with toys, books, and games. It's so cute to watch her play in and personalize her space. I was thinking one day we could even spend some time painting it!
And who knows, maybe one day we'll upgrade to a bigger box or even a real playhouse!
A Tomato Ruined the Day
Yesterday was going to be the perfect day. Emily was super sweet and happy all day. There were no tantrums, no tears, no frustrations. She ate well, played well, and had some good independent play time. Jessica was a sweetie too. She slept in until almost 9am. She ate, she slept, and did all the adorable things a baby does. We had a nice family outing at the mall. Both girls took long naps at the same time (awesome!). Emily even did great when a friend (a stranger to her) visited. We all had so much fun at the park after dinner.
Really, it was perfect.
So we get back from the park, play a little, then it's time for the bedtime snack. Emily happily agrees (by saying "mna mna", her way of saying "yummy" or "cookie"), but as we approach her chair she changes her mind. She starts to fuss. We play a bit more then offer the snack again. Same thing happens, so we say "ok then, we'll skip snack and go straight to bath time." We get upstairs and Emily is crying even more now. Steve is able to distract her while running the bath by talking about what she is going to do in the bathtub (Emily really loves her bath!). But she gets one foot in the tub and yells "UP!". I ask her if she wants to take a bath today and she says no.
So we put on her pyjamas (but she's still fussing) and Steve takes her to her room to continue the bedtime routine. Again, she loves this part because she gets to have her paci while Steve reads her some books. But she wants nothing of it. She puts the paci in her mouth, rips it out, cries and cries.
Emily's never fought bedtime before (and has never refused her pacifiers -- she loves those things!), but I just assume that she must be starting that and just trying to not go to bed. Steve feels that something else is wrong though so he keeps trying to talk her through it.
She asks to go downstairs, but cries when they get there. She asks to go back upstairs and go to bed (she asks for sleep by tilting her head), but she shrieks and clutches Steve's shirt when he tries to put her down. This goes on for quite a while. She's constantly upset, but can't decide what she wants.
Meanwhile, I'm holding or feeding Jessica, listening to all of this happening. The hardest part is that we want to help, we want to know what's wrong, but she can't tell us.
Steve manages to calm her down by looking out a window, talking about what they see. The second they step away from the window, she cries again.
Steve finally notices what the problem is. She has a large piece of tomato stuck to the roof of her mouth!
She's gotten food stuck in her mouth like this before and it always upsets her. We would have never thought that that was the problem though since she was so happy after dinner and at the park. She did have tomatoes with dinner and implied that some got stuck, but we assumed it fell out when she stopped talking about it (she usually melts down right away if it doesn't come out). No wonder she didn't want her paci -- it must have felt very strange with the tomato in her mouth.
So great, we finally know what the problem is! Getting the tomato out, however, is a whole other struggle. Emily is so upset by this point. She doesn't understand what's going on or that we want to help her. So her reaction to us trying to get the tomato out is like we're trying to hurt her. She won't stop crying in fear, tries hard to stop us, but yet won't let us go.
It's getting to be ridiculous (and late), so Steve finally holds her still and I reach in there to get the tomato. At first this doesn't even seem to work, but it must have because the next time we look in her mouth, the tomato is gone.
Emily is still upset though and refuses to go down in her bed. After a couple of failed attempts, Steve sits with her in a rocking chair and rocks her until she's almost asleep. He puts her down in her bed awake but calm. The struggle is finally over.
And that's how a tomato ruined the day.
Really, it was perfect.
So we get back from the park, play a little, then it's time for the bedtime snack. Emily happily agrees (by saying "mna mna", her way of saying "yummy" or "cookie"), but as we approach her chair she changes her mind. She starts to fuss. We play a bit more then offer the snack again. Same thing happens, so we say "ok then, we'll skip snack and go straight to bath time." We get upstairs and Emily is crying even more now. Steve is able to distract her while running the bath by talking about what she is going to do in the bathtub (Emily really loves her bath!). But she gets one foot in the tub and yells "UP!". I ask her if she wants to take a bath today and she says no.
So we put on her pyjamas (but she's still fussing) and Steve takes her to her room to continue the bedtime routine. Again, she loves this part because she gets to have her paci while Steve reads her some books. But she wants nothing of it. She puts the paci in her mouth, rips it out, cries and cries.
Emily's never fought bedtime before (and has never refused her pacifiers -- she loves those things!), but I just assume that she must be starting that and just trying to not go to bed. Steve feels that something else is wrong though so he keeps trying to talk her through it.
She asks to go downstairs, but cries when they get there. She asks to go back upstairs and go to bed (she asks for sleep by tilting her head), but she shrieks and clutches Steve's shirt when he tries to put her down. This goes on for quite a while. She's constantly upset, but can't decide what she wants.
Meanwhile, I'm holding or feeding Jessica, listening to all of this happening. The hardest part is that we want to help, we want to know what's wrong, but she can't tell us.
Steve manages to calm her down by looking out a window, talking about what they see. The second they step away from the window, she cries again.
Steve finally notices what the problem is. She has a large piece of tomato stuck to the roof of her mouth!
She's gotten food stuck in her mouth like this before and it always upsets her. We would have never thought that that was the problem though since she was so happy after dinner and at the park. She did have tomatoes with dinner and implied that some got stuck, but we assumed it fell out when she stopped talking about it (she usually melts down right away if it doesn't come out). No wonder she didn't want her paci -- it must have felt very strange with the tomato in her mouth.
So great, we finally know what the problem is! Getting the tomato out, however, is a whole other struggle. Emily is so upset by this point. She doesn't understand what's going on or that we want to help her. So her reaction to us trying to get the tomato out is like we're trying to hurt her. She won't stop crying in fear, tries hard to stop us, but yet won't let us go.
It's getting to be ridiculous (and late), so Steve finally holds her still and I reach in there to get the tomato. At first this doesn't even seem to work, but it must have because the next time we look in her mouth, the tomato is gone.
Emily is still upset though and refuses to go down in her bed. After a couple of failed attempts, Steve sits with her in a rocking chair and rocks her until she's almost asleep. He puts her down in her bed awake but calm. The struggle is finally over.
And that's how a tomato ruined the day.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Baby Journal - 8 Weeks
Fun Fact
Jessica weighs about 10 lbs 9 oz (based on our scale at home) and measures around 22.5 inches long. According to pregnancy-calendars.net, she's already storing memories (so she can start making associations -- like seeing the breast = milk is coming!) and can focus on objects as far as 10 feet away!
Journal Entry
A look ahead...
Since this will be my last Baby Journal post, I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the future...
- Emily is finally starting to warm up to Jessica and she's becoming a very sweet big sister. She likes to show Jessica her toys (especially rattles), rock her in the car seat, bounce her in the bouncy seat, and she doesn't seem to mind as much when Jessica's around. This morning Emily even "shared" her paci with Jessica! I think they're going to have a wonderful sisterly bond.
- I feel like my body has completely healed from childbirth, minus (still) a bit of ab separation. I've noticed a difference already in my two weeks of working out and it feels great. I'm looking forward to keeping up with my Pilates routine and seeing/feeling the results!
- I wonder if we'll ever go back to mornings with just me and Emily (and Jessica). Steve seems to really be enjoying this morning-daddy-daughter time and I'm not sure he wants to give it up!
- Lately when I'm out and I see teenage girls I think "oh my gosh, that's going to be my girls some day..." I feel like time is going to fly by so quickly and before I know it, I'll be a 40-something-year-old mom with teenage girls. YIKES!
- These first 8 weeks of breastfeeding have gone very smoothly, but I still worry about my milk supply on a regular basis. Because things were so up-and-down with Emily, I keep expecting to run into problems at some point.
- I'm loving my family of four and am so excited to watch my girls grow!
Overall
It's been a good week. Jessica seems to be responding positively to the bedtime routine (by going to sleep earlier most nights), which has been great for me and Steve (we get a bit of a break before bed). All is well in Nathalieland!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Emily's Cookies
Emily's favourite thing to bake (and eat!) are these oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. It's a family recipe that we've been making for years and it was actually the theme for our wedding reception (each table was labelled as one of the ingredients and we gave away measuring spoons and the recipe as gifts). Here is the recipe in case you want to try them too.
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups oats (not instant)
3/4 cups chocolate chips or raisins (or more if desired!)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F (use convection if you have it). Whisk together the first four ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Cream the wet ingredients in a large bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture until no flour is visible (do not over mix). Add the oats and chocolate chips/raisins. Measure 2 tbsp of dough and drop onto greased baking sheet. Gently press the cookies down with a fork. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden but still moist beneath the cracks on top. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool. Makes 24 cookies.
These are also great plain (without chocolate chips), which is how Steve prefers them.
A must-try for cookie lovers! Enjoy!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
E-M-I-L-Y
Proof that Emily can spell her name at 22 months old...
She also likes spelling "MOM" and "DAd" in the bathtub (we have to use an upside down P since we don't have two D's). Then of course she requests that we spell a bunch of other words for her. This girl loves her alphabet!
Episode 8: The Name Spelling
She also likes spelling "MOM" and "DAd" in the bathtub (we have to use an upside down P since we don't have two D's). Then of course she requests that we spell a bunch of other words for her. This girl loves her alphabet!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Cousins J & C
Cousins Jessica and Colin
(4 months apart)
I can just see it now: years from now when these two are best friends, we'll show them this picture and say "awww look at how cute you two are! You were even friends as babies!"
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Baby Journal - 7 Weeks
Emily loves to rock her sister when she's sleeping in her car seat :)
Firsts
First postnatal workout: July 8, 2011. I did 40 minutes of my Burn & Firm Pilates DVD. It's a rather old DVD (2004), but it has a great cardio series where you do about a gazillion squats. It sure felt nice!
Fun Fact
Jessica has grey-blue eyes, just like Emily did. Am I really going to be blessed with two girls with beautiful blues??
Journal Entry
A day in the life...
Here is what a typical day looks like for us right now.
Steve wakes up whenever Emily wakes up, usually around 6-6:30am. They go downstairs and watch Sesame Street and Life (Birds), then they usually bake something and have breakfast. Jessica wakes up anywhere between 5:00am and 7:30am, so I get up and feed her. Sometimes she goes back to sleep after this feed, but most often she's up for the day and I shower while she sits in her bouncy seat. When Jessica and I come downstairs, Steve and I basically swap back and forth between playing with each girl and/or tidying the house.
Emily has a cheese & crackers snack around 9:00am and once she's done that, we usually have a family outing. The timing works really well because Jessica's due for a nap so she just sleeps the entire time we're out. Our outing is usually one of: going to the grocery store, going for a walk, shopping, or running errands.
When we get home we all have lunch, then Steve puts Emily down for her nap. What we do during her nap depends on what Jessica's up to, so we're either taking care of her (feed, play, sleep), or cleaning/tidying, working out, blogging, watching TV, etc.
Emily wakes up from her nap around 2-3:00pm, and we either play around the house or have another outing. We start prepping dinner around 4:30pm. Steve and I tag-team prepping/cooking and watching the girls, depending on what needs to be done. Emily is also pretty good at having independent playtime at this point which is always nice. We have an early dinner around 5-5:30pm. After dinner we do a quick cleanup, then often (when it's nice outside) we head to the park. Jessica almost always sleeps in her stroller while we're at the park.
Emily has her bedtime snack around 6:30pm followed by bath time at 7pm. Steve reads her a couple of books, brushes her teeth, and puts her down. She's usually asleep by 7:30-8pm.
We've just started a bedtime routine with Jessica. We give her a bath around 8:30pm, read her a book, swaddle, feed, and rock her for a bit. We're trying to put her down while she's still awake, but that usually leads to more rocking/putting down until she finally falls asleep. She often wakes up and eats more until about 10pm when she finally stays asleep for the night. I usually blog until then and go to bed as soon as she's asleep; Steve stays up for a little bit before going to sleep too.
Jess still wakes up once or twice in the night, but it's usually a quick (30-45 min.) change/feed/swaddle/rock and back to sleep we go.
Our days are busy but fun!
Overall
Jessica's head control is getting really good and she's giving us more smiles! I'm feeding her strictly on demand now (I used to wake her up if she hadn't eaten in 3 hours) so now she eats every 3-4 hours during the day, every 1-2 hours in the evening, and she usually has one 5-7-hour stretch at night. She had a few late nights this week (she wouldn't go to sleep until past 10pm) which is why we started a bedtime routine. Hopefully she'll fall into a better schedule now. I'm so happy that I've started working out. My plan is to exercise (Pilates DVDs) three times a week.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Why my Toddler Can't Go to Parties
Emily is a very sensitive little girl. Not only does she suffer from serious stranger anxiety, she also has fear of loud noises. This has been the case for a long time now, but it became even more apparent at the wedding last weekend.
She was doing fine at the start of the reception (eating lots of food, happily playing and exploring), but things turned around very quickly when the wedding party arrived. The introduction was quite loud and any time people clapped, cheered, or talked through the mic, Emily started crying inconsolably until we left the room. I could see the genuine fear in her eyes whenever the noises started up again. I tried to distract her, explain to her that everything was ok, and even gave her her pacifier, but nothing calmed her fears. Steve really wanted to help, but sadly he was too busy at the head table. It got to the point where Emily was constantly melting down, neither of us could sit and eat, and I was covered in puke (thanks Jessica ;)) and spilled milk (thanks Emily ;)). Eventually it was too much for me to handle (even with my parents' help) and I hated to see Emily in such distress, so we ended up leaving before the main course was served.
I feel we did a great job of preparing Emily for the trip. I wrote her another book about how we had to pack all of our things, drive to Waterloo, stay in a new home, and how Daddy would be very busy helping with the wedding. What we didn't prepare her enough for is the wedding itself: the crowds, the ceremony/reception, and especially the noises. I'm thinking maybe I should write her a book about noises!
What kept her happy at the reception: being outside and working on her puzzles.
Friday, July 8, 2011
New Camera!
Oh no! The paparazzi is back!
After finding out how much time and money it would take to fix my broken camera, we decided it would be best to buy a new one. My old camera was a Canon Rebel XSi and this time I decided to change brands and go with a Nikon (This was a pretty big decision for me since every digital camera I've ever owned was a Canon). Based on some research and a good sale price, I went with the Nikon D5100.
This evening I spent a bit of time getting to know my new camera. So far I'm liking it, but I also feel like I have a lot to learn!
Here's to amateur photography!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Pictures Can Be Deceiving...
The following are pictures taken on our strawberry-picking adventure a week ago (before my camera died).
These pictures might make you think that it was a fun-filled family outing, when in fact it was a huge flop! We were there at 9:30am thinking we could avoid the heat, but it was already crazy hot so it wasn't very comfortable to start with.
There was a bit of a wait before the tractor arrived, so Emily got bored and wanted to leave before we even started! Then she was not a fan of the tractor at all. Within a minute of being on it she and Steve had to hop off (hence the picture of them walking in the field, behind the tractor).
I expected Jessica to sleep through the whole thing but she woke up on the tractor ride and was crying soon after we reached the field. She was hot and hungry, so I ended up having to feed her on the ground, in the middle of the strawberry fields. I wish Steve had taken a picture of that -- it must have looked hilarious!
Meanwhile, Emily picked three berries and decided that was enough. She just wanted to wander the fields and soon after that she wanted to leave.
We ended up leaving with just a few berries (picked by Steve's mom). The outing was a good idea in theory (Emily loves strawberries, nature, etc.), but not so much in practice. Oh well, we'll try again next year!
Strawberries, here we come!
Auntie Kirtie (and Grammy) came too!
My sleepy happy baby
Tractor ride to the fields
Find a berry...
Pick it up...
Put in basket.
Now let's go home and eat some berries...
These pictures might make you think that it was a fun-filled family outing, when in fact it was a huge flop! We were there at 9:30am thinking we could avoid the heat, but it was already crazy hot so it wasn't very comfortable to start with.
There was a bit of a wait before the tractor arrived, so Emily got bored and wanted to leave before we even started! Then she was not a fan of the tractor at all. Within a minute of being on it she and Steve had to hop off (hence the picture of them walking in the field, behind the tractor).
I expected Jessica to sleep through the whole thing but she woke up on the tractor ride and was crying soon after we reached the field. She was hot and hungry, so I ended up having to feed her on the ground, in the middle of the strawberry fields. I wish Steve had taken a picture of that -- it must have looked hilarious!
Meanwhile, Emily picked three berries and decided that was enough. She just wanted to wander the fields and soon after that she wanted to leave.
We ended up leaving with just a few berries (picked by Steve's mom). The outing was a good idea in theory (Emily loves strawberries, nature, etc.), but not so much in practice. Oh well, we'll try again next year!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Baby Journal - 6 Weeks
Firsts
First trip: June 30 - July 3, 2011 (Kitchener/Waterloo Ontario).
First non-routine doctor's visit: July 4, 2011. Jessica's belly button still hasn't fully healed since her stump fell off (at two weeks), so I had it checked out. Doctor said it's fine, that we should put a bit of Polysporin on throughout the day, and that it should heal within a week or two.
Fun Fact
Jessica weighed 9 lbs 9.5 oz at her doctor's appointment on Monday! That means she's gained 2 lbs since birth.
Journal Entry
Every little thing she does...
It's amazing how quickly babies grow and change. One day they're doing something, the next day they're not. From cognitive ability to sleeping and eating patterns, there's always something new and exciting going on. Here is what Jessica is like at 6 weeks old.
- Jessica wakes up once or twice a night to eat. She usually goes back to sleep fairly easily by being swaddled and gently rocked.
- Jessica very rarely wakes up crying. She stirs and moans a lot in her sleep, to the point where you're sure she's awake, but when you check she's still asleep.
- During the day she's only awake for about 1-1.5 hours before she's tired again. She'll go to sleep easily, but she often wakes up if we put her down. We usually end up having to put her back to sleep 2-3 times before she's in a deep sleep and can be put down.
- Jessica loves sleeping in the car. It's a sure-fire way to get her to sleep and she'll sleep in her car seat for a solid 2-3 hours.
- Her neck muscles are strong, especially when she's in an upright position or lying on someone's chest. She doesn't lift her head very much when she's doing tummy time on the floor though.
- She loves her bouncy seat but not her swing.
- The way that Jessica tells me she's done nursing is with frustration. She'll latch on and suck, but then get mad and cry when the milk comes (I think she just wants to hang out but not drink. Ha!)
- She doesn't use a pacifier and we'd love to avoid using one if possible. Emily started needing one around 4 months to help her get to sleep and still uses it now at 22 months (for sleep and rests).
- Jessica's longest stretch of awake time is in the evening, right before bed. She's pretty touch-and-go at this point, requesting lots of attention to keep her happy. What's funny is that this is the time that Steve and I are the most tired and would just love a break.
- When she's gassy, cycling her legs really seems to help.
- She's starting to really like being held facing outward.
- Her smiles are rare but they melt my heart!
Overall
Jessica did wonderfully on our weekend trip to Waterloo. Although her nighttime sleep wasn't the best, she was an angel during the day -- sleeping through all the car rides, eating well, and being a cutie pie. I can't believe my baby's already 6 weeks old!
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