Friday, April 8, 2011
The secret to a quiet car ride...rap music!
I can't believe it's been another month already. Right now sweet girl is nursing/sleeping combo (her favorite hobby) so I have a moment to do my monthly entry...First things first, Isabella has grown! Her Daddy used to call her pinky finger her "matchstick" because it was so tiny, but matchstick pinky no more. She is just over 10 pounds and to me, feels like a solid little tug. Her eyes have been beautiful blue lately..we'll see if that's her official color- the doctor said we'll know by 8 months, and she hasn't lost that full head of dark hair! Very fun for bows and headbands. She still loves her baths although once she is taken out of the bath, her mood does a drastic 180, as she does NOT like the transition from warm water to air no matter how many towels mommy wraps around her little body. She continues to discover her voice..although sounds are not much different then the one I described a month ago, just more frequent...and definitely more frequent smiles. The best is when she wakes up in the morning- if I catch her before she starts to realize she's hungry- and she is so smiley and happy and I just want to eat her up. She does have her fussy periods during the day, and I am trying to figure out if this is just normal baby fuss versus maybe something I am eating bothers her stomach since I still am full-time nursing her?! Each day I will get closer to knowing for sure. No matter the fuss though, she is consolable when I rock her or bounce on the gym ball (what a work-out!). She also likes to be on Mommy's hip as I walk around the house doing things- one-handed of course- and she gets to look out at the world. She continues to prefer to surprise me with her unexpected peeing during diaper changes, sometimes making her kissy face during the event and sometimes not. She loves when her Daddy sings to her- especially at night when he is soothing her to sleep in the glider. Her feelings towards her car seat and riding in the car appear to be on the negative side so far..although when Mommy & Daddy play Mommy's girls weekend c.d., the rap music songs out of all things- such as "The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep... Isabella likes to jam. Mommy must look like a crazy mother riding through the neighborhood with a baby in the back listening to loud rap music! But whatever works to make baby happy! I also wanted to document all of her nicknames over the past 11 weeks created by both Mommy and Daddy (if I can even remember them all): Lil' face, bugaboo, sweet sweet, pumpkin head, sugar plum, lumper, and I know there is a dozen more that I can't remember (sleep deprivation x 100). And another newsflash..she is definitely getting stronger. Last night Daddy put her in her crib on her back to sleep, and a few minutes later Isabella let out a big cry. When Daddy returned to see what was wrong, he discovered his tiny daughter had flipped on her side and she was NOT liking it. We figured the slanted mattress (we had elevated the head of the mattress with blankets underneath to help her digestion, per doctor's recommendation) was adding to her ability to breakdance so the blankets are out now. Can't wait to see what she will do next. Mommy is going back to work next Wednesday- April 13th- and will miss little Izzy very much! She will be in good hands though as Daddy, Miss Suzanne and Grandma watch her a day each that week, and then Nonni, Pops and Aunt Sally will be here! The following week Farmor, Auntie Mi and Grandma will be watching her on a regular basis. And soon, Great Aunt Deni, GG (grand-grandma) and Uncle Casey will visit for Mother's Day weekend! She has lots of people who love her and will take good care of her while Mommy and Daddy are working...and we look forward to snuggling and kissing her at the end of the day everyday when we get home. For now, we are enjoying our days together and getting ready for the spring. Mommy loves you with all of her heart sweet girl!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Future gymnast?!
First of all, I have to give a warm welcome to Isabella's new BFF, Stella Jean Timek, who is Meredith's new daughter, born today and was 6lb8oz, 19.5 in long. Meredith sent me a picture and she so reminds me of Isabella- tiny with dark hair! I can't wait to meet her.
Ok, back to blog business...it's been exactly a month since I posted- oops. Needless to say, I haven't had the time or energy to post sooner although I've thought about it & wanted to at least 1,000 times. I learned from the lactation consultant at Isabella's 1 month pediatric appointment that I wasn't holding Isabella the best way when I was nursing, so now the new way I hold her is better as far as she latches on better, but this position leaves me often with 1 hand free at best, despite my use of pillows..or the way the pillows are positioned even if I do have 2 hands free I can't reach the computer comfortably...so that's also been a blogging barrier =) But the nursing is going well, Isabella is gaining weight and that is such a relief.
Speaking of gaining weight, at her 2/22/11 one month appointment, she weighed 7lbs 15oz, which is almost 2 pounds heavier since birth. I know she has to be at least another pound by now (she is 7 weeks tomorrow already!) because she feels more solid to me and her cheeks are a little chubby. I call her my lumper- sooo cute. Here are some exciting events that have taken place since my last post a month ago:
---As the blog title suggests, we may have a future gymnast on our hands. The night of Izzy's one month doctor's appointment, 2/22/10, I put her on her tummy for some "tummy time" in her crib. She was picking up her head and shoulders and moving her legs in a way that looked like she was about to roll to her stomach...the occupational therapist in me jumped in and assisted her hips just a tad in moving the right direction and waalah! She rolled onto her back. Of course, one cannot overlook mommy's assistance in that feat. However, here's the amazing part: I put her on her tummy again and this time, a minute later, without mommy's assistance (except for cheerleading, naturally), she did it again- totally on her own!!! She proceeded to roll independently- no help at all- from her tummy to her stomach 2 times the next day, once the next day, etc. I remember my friend Melissa telling me over the phone with so much excitement about her daughter's motor skill accomplishments, and I remember thinking, "That's cool!" But now that I am a mom myself, I can't explain the excitement and pride that came over me when I saw Isabella do this by herself. I was in awe. Now I truly understand how Melissa felt, and realize how much I underestimated how mom's feel, when their babies accomplish things. If Isabella doesn't beat or even hit every text book milestone I won't think anything of it but it was just exciting to see her do something so unexpected and cool (besides ya know, the eating/pooping/peeing/sleeping...and that's about it =))
---Another exciting event has been Isabella's new "Awe-Ahh!" talk that she does about once per day, usually while I am changing her. I love when she does this sound and wish she would do it more often. It's high pitched and so cute. Seems like she is discovering new things her voice can do, and I can't wait until she has a whole range of coo-ing she'll be shouting out. Will keep you updated!
Well I have to go- I feel like there is so much more to say and so little time...someone is waking up and wants to eat. I was very naive and gun-ho when I first started the blog a month ago thinking, "I'll do a blog a few times a week at least." Um...a bit of a lofty goal there...so now my goal is at least once per month. I learned one of my first mommy lessons already!
Ok, back to blog business...it's been exactly a month since I posted- oops. Needless to say, I haven't had the time or energy to post sooner although I've thought about it & wanted to at least 1,000 times. I learned from the lactation consultant at Isabella's 1 month pediatric appointment that I wasn't holding Isabella the best way when I was nursing, so now the new way I hold her is better as far as she latches on better, but this position leaves me often with 1 hand free at best, despite my use of pillows..or the way the pillows are positioned even if I do have 2 hands free I can't reach the computer comfortably...so that's also been a blogging barrier =) But the nursing is going well, Isabella is gaining weight and that is such a relief.
Speaking of gaining weight, at her 2/22/11 one month appointment, she weighed 7lbs 15oz, which is almost 2 pounds heavier since birth. I know she has to be at least another pound by now (she is 7 weeks tomorrow already!) because she feels more solid to me and her cheeks are a little chubby. I call her my lumper- sooo cute. Here are some exciting events that have taken place since my last post a month ago:
---As the blog title suggests, we may have a future gymnast on our hands. The night of Izzy's one month doctor's appointment, 2/22/10, I put her on her tummy for some "tummy time" in her crib. She was picking up her head and shoulders and moving her legs in a way that looked like she was about to roll to her stomach...the occupational therapist in me jumped in and assisted her hips just a tad in moving the right direction and waalah! She rolled onto her back. Of course, one cannot overlook mommy's assistance in that feat. However, here's the amazing part: I put her on her tummy again and this time, a minute later, without mommy's assistance (except for cheerleading, naturally), she did it again- totally on her own!!! She proceeded to roll independently- no help at all- from her tummy to her stomach 2 times the next day, once the next day, etc. I remember my friend Melissa telling me over the phone with so much excitement about her daughter's motor skill accomplishments, and I remember thinking, "That's cool!" But now that I am a mom myself, I can't explain the excitement and pride that came over me when I saw Isabella do this by herself. I was in awe. Now I truly understand how Melissa felt, and realize how much I underestimated how mom's feel, when their babies accomplish things. If Isabella doesn't beat or even hit every text book milestone I won't think anything of it but it was just exciting to see her do something so unexpected and cool (besides ya know, the eating/pooping/peeing/sleeping...and that's about it =))
---Another exciting event has been Isabella's new "Awe-Ahh!" talk that she does about once per day, usually while I am changing her. I love when she does this sound and wish she would do it more often. It's high pitched and so cute. Seems like she is discovering new things her voice can do, and I can't wait until she has a whole range of coo-ing she'll be shouting out. Will keep you updated!
Well I have to go- I feel like there is so much more to say and so little time...someone is waking up and wants to eat. I was very naive and gun-ho when I first started the blog a month ago thinking, "I'll do a blog a few times a week at least." Um...a bit of a lofty goal there...so now my goal is at least once per month. I learned one of my first mommy lessons already!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Here we go...
So my friend Kory used this blogger site a few years back to regularly journal about her daughters from the time they were born...I thought that was such a great idea and now that I have a daughter (wow- still can't believe I have a daughter!), I thought I'd do the same thing...this blog is a way for family and friends to read about daily Isabella moments (Aunt Deni, I think you especially will enjoy this a lot =)) if they wish to, and a way for me to document details Isabella during my journey of motherhood. I plan to share this journal with this little one someday.
Right now it's 2:21 am, and Isabella is 6 minutes away from being officially 3 weeks old already! She is doing her favorite activity right now...eating...which I have a feeling she will be doing almost every time I am on here blogging since nursing her usually means either computer time or writing thank you notes for me. It's taken me 3 weeks to finally get on this blog and get it started, and in the meantime I jotted a few thoughts down that I wanted to make sure I included on this blog. I wanted to write down some cute "getting to know you" things that I've noticed about little Izzy thus far:
- During Isabella's first few days of life, I noticed she liked to turn her head left when she's swaddled and sleeping in her pack-n-play. I thought this was interesting especially since the nurse practitioner who saw me when I was 36 weeks pregnant described Izzy's position in utero as, "her legs are here, her bottom is here, her elbows here, and her head is right here, looking left!"
- Weeks before Isabella was born, her papa and mom's first time parent anxiety was slowly building, and as a result, were having anxiety dreams. Funny enough, both of us happen to dream the same dream- that we were back in college again, in the middle of realizing we had been missing class all semester! For Roberto, it was always Science class. For me, it was always my graduate school class with my professor Virginia..the dream always went that I realized I had been forgetting to go to Virginia's class all semester and then when I showed up, realized I hadn't done the reading to prepare for class and Virginia called on me to answer questions about it. These were recurring dreams for both Roberto and me- funny we both happened to be dreaming about missing class!
- One of my most favorite things about Isabella so far is watching her take her bath- She LOVES getting her hair rinsed under the faucet, followed by brushing it. Her entire disposition changes from squirming around to sudden stillness, with this look of bliss on her face and sometimes pierced lips, as her papa rinses her hair under the warm water. We first learned this about Izzy just minutes after she was born, when the nurses gave her her first bath. Ever since, all of her baths at home appear just as relaxing for the little babe. So sweet!
- Her father and I also learned pretty quickly how sweet Isabella's cry is...I had assumed it would sound a certain way, like the cry you hear with babies on television. However, Izzy's cry sounds more like a little lamb. It is so precious. Also her favorite noise seems to be the "eh eh eh eh" which I can hardly describe in words on here but she does this quite often...usually throughout the night when her mommy and daddy are trying to sleep =) It almost sounds like she is clearing her throat over and over again like she is about to give us a speech or something.
- Another funny thing, and the last one I will blog about tonight, is her cannon balls while we are trying to change her. She likes to wait until we are in the middle of changing her diaper to pee, which we learned the hard way =) And then if she's not quite done with #2 yet, she decides to do that full force also when we are in the middle of changing her- we have to make sure there is plenty of sheet saver at least a foot out in front of her as she does go quite some distance, which we also learned the hard way. Can't help but laugh every time she does it because for a little 6 pound baby she sure has a lot of butt power!
Isabella is about done eating so time to burp her and pray she'll go back to sleep....love you Izzy girl.
-
Right now it's 2:21 am, and Isabella is 6 minutes away from being officially 3 weeks old already! She is doing her favorite activity right now...eating...which I have a feeling she will be doing almost every time I am on here blogging since nursing her usually means either computer time or writing thank you notes for me. It's taken me 3 weeks to finally get on this blog and get it started, and in the meantime I jotted a few thoughts down that I wanted to make sure I included on this blog. I wanted to write down some cute "getting to know you" things that I've noticed about little Izzy thus far:
- During Isabella's first few days of life, I noticed she liked to turn her head left when she's swaddled and sleeping in her pack-n-play. I thought this was interesting especially since the nurse practitioner who saw me when I was 36 weeks pregnant described Izzy's position in utero as, "her legs are here, her bottom is here, her elbows here, and her head is right here, looking left!"
- Weeks before Isabella was born, her papa and mom's first time parent anxiety was slowly building, and as a result, were having anxiety dreams. Funny enough, both of us happen to dream the same dream- that we were back in college again, in the middle of realizing we had been missing class all semester! For Roberto, it was always Science class. For me, it was always my graduate school class with my professor Virginia..the dream always went that I realized I had been forgetting to go to Virginia's class all semester and then when I showed up, realized I hadn't done the reading to prepare for class and Virginia called on me to answer questions about it. These were recurring dreams for both Roberto and me- funny we both happened to be dreaming about missing class!
- One of my most favorite things about Isabella so far is watching her take her bath- She LOVES getting her hair rinsed under the faucet, followed by brushing it. Her entire disposition changes from squirming around to sudden stillness, with this look of bliss on her face and sometimes pierced lips, as her papa rinses her hair under the warm water. We first learned this about Izzy just minutes after she was born, when the nurses gave her her first bath. Ever since, all of her baths at home appear just as relaxing for the little babe. So sweet!
- Her father and I also learned pretty quickly how sweet Isabella's cry is...I had assumed it would sound a certain way, like the cry you hear with babies on television. However, Izzy's cry sounds more like a little lamb. It is so precious. Also her favorite noise seems to be the "eh eh eh eh" which I can hardly describe in words on here but she does this quite often...usually throughout the night when her mommy and daddy are trying to sleep =) It almost sounds like she is clearing her throat over and over again like she is about to give us a speech or something.
- Another funny thing, and the last one I will blog about tonight, is her cannon balls while we are trying to change her. She likes to wait until we are in the middle of changing her diaper to pee, which we learned the hard way =) And then if she's not quite done with #2 yet, she decides to do that full force also when we are in the middle of changing her- we have to make sure there is plenty of sheet saver at least a foot out in front of her as she does go quite some distance, which we also learned the hard way. Can't help but laugh every time she does it because for a little 6 pound baby she sure has a lot of butt power!
Isabella is about done eating so time to burp her and pray she'll go back to sleep....love you Izzy girl.
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