This is what we did Friday morning during breakfast, when I gave you some Cheerios for the first time. It didn't go so well in terms of eating, but the entertainment value was great!
I love you, baby girl!
Love always,
Mommy
September 26, 2011
What a weekend!
Dear Bex,
We had such an amazing long weekend together. Well, I guess technically they're just weekends now, since I have three-day-weekends all year round! Anyway - we were busy and got in lots of quality time together.
On Friday we drove to Connecticut to meet Sadie Whipple who was in with her mommy, Emily, from London! Neve and her mommy met us there too. We had a great afternoon with good food, catching up and lots of babies playing, napping and eating. You and Neve shared all of your toys and sippy cups, grabbing them right from each other and sticking any and everything into your mouths!
We got stuck in traffic on the way home because there were huge thunderstorms and it was rush hour - but you were great in the car. You napped most of the way (tired out from all that playing with your new favorite babysitter, Lynn Manheim!), and when you woke up mostly played quietly in your car seat as we made the final turns towards home. Thank g-d for your Music Together CD. As awful and annoying as the songs are, they keep you quiet. It's better when The Daddy isn't in the car too, because while I am fine listening to your CD, he is not! He makes fun of the songs and the people singing them all the time! But every now and then I catch him singing one to you - they do have a way of getting stuck in your head.
Saturday we had music class with your friends Yael, Lilly and Julia, which was fun, and then the three of us had a nice lunch at Ganache when we met your friend Ava and her mommmy. Hopefully we'll all have a playdate together soon! Then, we went to visit GG. She was so happy to have you over, and loved every second of playing with you, and telling you to 'beat those tom toms!' every time you hit something. You were crawling all around, pulling up on her couches, stools and chairs, and had a good visit.
On Sunday you woke up with a little bit of a cold! You were sneezing everywhere, and had a terribly runny nose. You did NOT enjoy us wiping your nosey either! I had just given you a bath and we were getting ready to leave the house for a walk, so The Daddy was feeding you when all of a sudden you gagged yourself (he had warned you not to!) and threw up EVERYwhere! For the next half hour we had to clean off your whole entire highchair, give you another bath and change you (and ourselves)! It set us back a bit, but luckily it was a somewhat lazy Sunday so that was okay. Finally, we went through the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival - it was a nice walk downtown, but not much to look at or buy (though I did manage to find you adorable dresses for the High Holidays). When we got home, Uncle Eric and Marcelo were over, so we played with them, watched football. Eric couldn't believe how much you had grown and loved taking pictures of you and just hanging out. Marcelo spoke Spanish to you and you loved that too! You are for sure going to be bilingual, which I love!
Pictures to come...
Then a few more people came over because they wanted to see you - the Lakinds and some of Erica's friends - it was a full-blown party! You finally took a late nap at 5:45, which the Daddy warned was a bad idea... you were in a bad mood when we woke you around 6:30, so The Daddy put you to bed soon after that, while I cooked dinner for us and Eric and Marcelo.
Like I said, a great weekend with lots of friends, family and fun! Your cold was already much better by yesterday afternoon, and today didn't seem as bad - hopefully it was a quick one, or maybe even just allergies. Fingers crossed!
I love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
We had such an amazing long weekend together. Well, I guess technically they're just weekends now, since I have three-day-weekends all year round! Anyway - we were busy and got in lots of quality time together.
On Friday we drove to Connecticut to meet Sadie Whipple who was in with her mommy, Emily, from London! Neve and her mommy met us there too. We had a great afternoon with good food, catching up and lots of babies playing, napping and eating. You and Neve shared all of your toys and sippy cups, grabbing them right from each other and sticking any and everything into your mouths!
We got stuck in traffic on the way home because there were huge thunderstorms and it was rush hour - but you were great in the car. You napped most of the way (tired out from all that playing with your new favorite babysitter, Lynn Manheim!), and when you woke up mostly played quietly in your car seat as we made the final turns towards home. Thank g-d for your Music Together CD. As awful and annoying as the songs are, they keep you quiet. It's better when The Daddy isn't in the car too, because while I am fine listening to your CD, he is not! He makes fun of the songs and the people singing them all the time! But every now and then I catch him singing one to you - they do have a way of getting stuck in your head.
Saturday we had music class with your friends Yael, Lilly and Julia, which was fun, and then the three of us had a nice lunch at Ganache when we met your friend Ava and her mommmy. Hopefully we'll all have a playdate together soon! Then, we went to visit GG. She was so happy to have you over, and loved every second of playing with you, and telling you to 'beat those tom toms!' every time you hit something. You were crawling all around, pulling up on her couches, stools and chairs, and had a good visit.
On Sunday you woke up with a little bit of a cold! You were sneezing everywhere, and had a terribly runny nose. You did NOT enjoy us wiping your nosey either! I had just given you a bath and we were getting ready to leave the house for a walk, so The Daddy was feeding you when all of a sudden you gagged yourself (he had warned you not to!) and threw up EVERYwhere! For the next half hour we had to clean off your whole entire highchair, give you another bath and change you (and ourselves)! It set us back a bit, but luckily it was a somewhat lazy Sunday so that was okay. Finally, we went through the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival - it was a nice walk downtown, but not much to look at or buy (though I did manage to find you adorable dresses for the High Holidays). When we got home, Uncle Eric and Marcelo were over, so we played with them, watched football. Eric couldn't believe how much you had grown and loved taking pictures of you and just hanging out. Marcelo spoke Spanish to you and you loved that too! You are for sure going to be bilingual, which I love!
Pictures to come...
Then a few more people came over because they wanted to see you - the Lakinds and some of Erica's friends - it was a full-blown party! You finally took a late nap at 5:45, which the Daddy warned was a bad idea... you were in a bad mood when we woke you around 6:30, so The Daddy put you to bed soon after that, while I cooked dinner for us and Eric and Marcelo.
Like I said, a great weekend with lots of friends, family and fun! Your cold was already much better by yesterday afternoon, and today didn't seem as bad - hopefully it was a quick one, or maybe even just allergies. Fingers crossed!
I love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
September 21, 2011
Eight months old!
Dear Bex,
You are eight months old today - eight months! I can hardly believe it. The time really has flown, as cheesy and cliched as that sounds! People always told us that time would go by so quickly once you have kids, and I never realized it until recently - Bex, you're no longer a newborn, and seem so grown up now that you're moving places on your own, making decisions about what you want to do when, what to play with when and where you want to be... you are evolving into your own person with opinions that you are just starting to express and I love watching that process happened (though I didn't much mind the girl who happily played in one spot with whatever toy you gave her!).
Yesterday when I got home from work, you were behind the couch playing with Dina. I called to you, and as I walked over and said, "Where's my baby girl?" your tiny head just popped up as you stood to greet me - and you were smiling right at me! It was amazing, almost like we had rehearsed it! Even Dina was laughing.
You get so excited when you are happy that you rock back and forth on all fours, like you can't calm down enough to crawl or climb at that second. You pant like a doggie too, and it is the funniest thing - yesterday I panted back and you thought that was just hilarious! You also love when we kiss your stomach or neck repeatedly, and you squeal with delight.
But the best reaction you have is when The Daddy gets home from work. You can be exhausted and whiny and at the end of your rope, but you see him come through the door and your face lights up, breaks into a huge smile, and you're good to hang for another 15-20 minutes.
I love all of the minutes we get to spend together, and have loved you for all 348,480 minutes of your life so far. I can't wait for the millions and billions of more minutes we have...
I love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
You are eight months old today - eight months! I can hardly believe it. The time really has flown, as cheesy and cliched as that sounds! People always told us that time would go by so quickly once you have kids, and I never realized it until recently - Bex, you're no longer a newborn, and seem so grown up now that you're moving places on your own, making decisions about what you want to do when, what to play with when and where you want to be... you are evolving into your own person with opinions that you are just starting to express and I love watching that process happened (though I didn't much mind the girl who happily played in one spot with whatever toy you gave her!).
Yesterday when I got home from work, you were behind the couch playing with Dina. I called to you, and as I walked over and said, "Where's my baby girl?" your tiny head just popped up as you stood to greet me - and you were smiling right at me! It was amazing, almost like we had rehearsed it! Even Dina was laughing.
You get so excited when you are happy that you rock back and forth on all fours, like you can't calm down enough to crawl or climb at that second. You pant like a doggie too, and it is the funniest thing - yesterday I panted back and you thought that was just hilarious! You also love when we kiss your stomach or neck repeatedly, and you squeal with delight.
But the best reaction you have is when The Daddy gets home from work. You can be exhausted and whiny and at the end of your rope, but you see him come through the door and your face lights up, breaks into a huge smile, and you're good to hang for another 15-20 minutes.
I love all of the minutes we get to spend together, and have loved you for all 348,480 minutes of your life so far. I can't wait for the millions and billions of more minutes we have...
I love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
September 19, 2011
A great family weekend...
Dear Bex,
You are an amazing girl. You are easygoing, curious, calm, and strong. This weekend we went to Mimi and PopPop's house on Saturday because Mommy and Daddy had a wedding to go to. We packed up to go, during which you pulled yourself up to stand in front of the couch, and The Daddy saw you pull yourself along the side while you walked. Walked!
When we got to Mimi and PopPop's, you lit up when you saw them, and immediately started crawling around. We had lunch, you played with the cat, and planted yourself in front of their mirrored wall, where you chatted with yourself, made out with yourself, and crawled back and forth while Mommy and Daddy got ready to go. Later, Mimi and PopPop put you to bed and you slept perfectly!
The next day, we had more playtime at their house and after you climbed the entire flight of stairs, you took a rocking two-hour nap! We left after your nap and bottle, sure that you would cause a scene in the car - but - you napped even more on our way into the city to meet Daddy's friend John from Utah (aka Utah)! You played in Bryant Park, hung out while we ate our lunch, and just generally were the cutest girl in the world.
It was a fabulous weekend of family time, gorgeous first hint of Fall weather and a great night out for The Daddy and me. I love how adaptable you've become, and how happy you are all the time these days. You love crawling at any chance you get, pulling yourself to standing wherever you may be able to, and playing with anything we'll allow you to stick in your mouth. You're too cute, and I'm cherishing these days, because I just bought you your walker. I think it's going to be a short while until you start walking, baby girl, which will be such a big change. Crawling has been a big change too - seeing you suddenly in a location different than where we left you always shocks us - but walking? Big kids walk, not babies... You're growing up too quickly already!
I love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
You are an amazing girl. You are easygoing, curious, calm, and strong. This weekend we went to Mimi and PopPop's house on Saturday because Mommy and Daddy had a wedding to go to. We packed up to go, during which you pulled yourself up to stand in front of the couch, and The Daddy saw you pull yourself along the side while you walked. Walked!
When we got to Mimi and PopPop's, you lit up when you saw them, and immediately started crawling around. We had lunch, you played with the cat, and planted yourself in front of their mirrored wall, where you chatted with yourself, made out with yourself, and crawled back and forth while Mommy and Daddy got ready to go. Later, Mimi and PopPop put you to bed and you slept perfectly!
The next day, we had more playtime at their house and after you climbed the entire flight of stairs, you took a rocking two-hour nap! We left after your nap and bottle, sure that you would cause a scene in the car - but - you napped even more on our way into the city to meet Daddy's friend John from Utah (aka Utah)! You played in Bryant Park, hung out while we ate our lunch, and just generally were the cutest girl in the world.
It was a fabulous weekend of family time, gorgeous first hint of Fall weather and a great night out for The Daddy and me. I love how adaptable you've become, and how happy you are all the time these days. You love crawling at any chance you get, pulling yourself to standing wherever you may be able to, and playing with anything we'll allow you to stick in your mouth. You're too cute, and I'm cherishing these days, because I just bought you your walker. I think it's going to be a short while until you start walking, baby girl, which will be such a big change. Crawling has been a big change too - seeing you suddenly in a location different than where we left you always shocks us - but walking? Big kids walk, not babies... You're growing up too quickly already!
I love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
September 14, 2011
Bedtime...
Dear Bex,
When you were first born, there was no set bedtime. You slept and woke as you saw fit - sometimes every hour, every two, or every three. We attempted to put you on a schedule fairly early, and it seemed to take - you started waking on your own like clockwork every 2 1/2 - 3 hours to eat! But you were never happy afterwards. You would cry and cry, and we didn't know what to do. Neither did Karen (or Debbie or Angela), though she did their best, and had more patience than I could ever dream of having!
Karen would just rock with you in the glider most of the time until you fell asleep. She had the room toasty warm and the TV on 24/7. She would talk to you in her loud voice and I swear you understood her! She would tell you to open your eyes, and she would ask why you were crying, and you would open them, or stop crying! She called you Chunk-a-lunks (in the sweetest way possible - hey, you were a big girl for just a couple of days old!) and she was your first best friend.
Once you were a week or so old we noticed a pattern to your crying. You were inconsolable at night. It was heartbreaking for us to listen to you cry at the top of your lungs for hours at a time. We tried everything to make you comfortable so that you would sleep - carrying you on your belly, carrying you on your side. Swaddling, not swaddling. Music, silence. Pushing you around in your stroller, swinging you in the swing. The bouncy seat. The Bjorn. The most effective though was the vent on our stovetop! For some reason that fan's white noise was one of the only things that could get you to calm down. We thought you were colicky then, but think that it was reflux and you were in pain by the end of the day. Karen put you on a schedule that worked well to try to get you to sleep through most of your usual crying time, and it worked for a little bit.
Debbie - well, we don't really know what she did for you at bedtime. We just took advantage of her being there and tried to get some sleep. She was convinced that you were upset because your feet were cold, and made us have socks on you at all times. She also started us thinking that you had gas - so we started giving you Mylicon, which often helped a bit.
The most patient and kooky, Angela, would walk around with you non-stop. Seriously, that woman must have worn paths into our hardwood floors and in the lobby and in the park near our building! In the apartment she would strap the Sleep Sheep to her wrist and walk you all around. She would take you outside as long as it wasn't snowing or raining, convinced that the fresh air would help you sleep better. And it did somewhat - but you were still so uncomfortable around 7ish until 10 and would cry and cry. By this point you were on medicine for reflux that wasn't helping, and the most gentle formula that they make. We had just one other option which we started right as Angela was leaving.
And that was the trick. At 8 weeks we started you on Prevacid, and soon enough you were like a different baby. No more Mylicon needed, or gripe water, or vent in the kitchen. We would put you to sleep earlier too, around 7, which also helped - who knows, maybe all those nights you were just saying, "Please shut up, stop rocking and singing and making me listen to music, I want to be asleep in my crib!"
And it was around then that putting you to bed became one of my favorite things to do. I was terrified to do it for the first two months, because we didn't know what was wrong. Once we figured it out, though, that all changed. Now we change you into your pajamas, put lavender scented lotion on you, and rock you lightly as we give you your last bottle. Sometimes you're all wound up and babble all the way through, barely eating. Sometimes you're starving and you suck down the whole bottle and pass out on our shoulder. But most of the time you happily eat what you want, curl up into our neck, and we walk you around the room letting you touch certain things. You love to touch the butterfly decals on the wall, and to spin your mobile yourself as you touch each animal. Then we put you in your crib with your Sleep Sheep making rain noises and your seahorse playing music, and you cuddle into your snuggler and go to sleep.
Little do you know that after that happens, The Daddy and I carry around your monitor all night to make sure you're okay, and to just stare at you. We eat dinner with you on the table, and have you near us on the couches and in bed. We laugh at positions you get yourself into and wonder if you'll be sore the next day from some of them!
Then, before we go to bed, we sneak into your room together and wave at you. We do this together almost every night, and always take a second to be in awe of the amazing person that we made while we give each other a quick kiss or squeeze of the hand, and then we go off to bed ourselves.
We love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
When you were first born, there was no set bedtime. You slept and woke as you saw fit - sometimes every hour, every two, or every three. We attempted to put you on a schedule fairly early, and it seemed to take - you started waking on your own like clockwork every 2 1/2 - 3 hours to eat! But you were never happy afterwards. You would cry and cry, and we didn't know what to do. Neither did Karen (or Debbie or Angela), though she did their best, and had more patience than I could ever dream of having!
Karen would just rock with you in the glider most of the time until you fell asleep. She had the room toasty warm and the TV on 24/7. She would talk to you in her loud voice and I swear you understood her! She would tell you to open your eyes, and she would ask why you were crying, and you would open them, or stop crying! She called you Chunk-a-lunks (in the sweetest way possible - hey, you were a big girl for just a couple of days old!) and she was your first best friend.
Once you were a week or so old we noticed a pattern to your crying. You were inconsolable at night. It was heartbreaking for us to listen to you cry at the top of your lungs for hours at a time. We tried everything to make you comfortable so that you would sleep - carrying you on your belly, carrying you on your side. Swaddling, not swaddling. Music, silence. Pushing you around in your stroller, swinging you in the swing. The bouncy seat. The Bjorn. The most effective though was the vent on our stovetop! For some reason that fan's white noise was one of the only things that could get you to calm down. We thought you were colicky then, but think that it was reflux and you were in pain by the end of the day. Karen put you on a schedule that worked well to try to get you to sleep through most of your usual crying time, and it worked for a little bit.
Debbie - well, we don't really know what she did for you at bedtime. We just took advantage of her being there and tried to get some sleep. She was convinced that you were upset because your feet were cold, and made us have socks on you at all times. She also started us thinking that you had gas - so we started giving you Mylicon, which often helped a bit.
The most patient and kooky, Angela, would walk around with you non-stop. Seriously, that woman must have worn paths into our hardwood floors and in the lobby and in the park near our building! In the apartment she would strap the Sleep Sheep to her wrist and walk you all around. She would take you outside as long as it wasn't snowing or raining, convinced that the fresh air would help you sleep better. And it did somewhat - but you were still so uncomfortable around 7ish until 10 and would cry and cry. By this point you were on medicine for reflux that wasn't helping, and the most gentle formula that they make. We had just one other option which we started right as Angela was leaving.
And that was the trick. At 8 weeks we started you on Prevacid, and soon enough you were like a different baby. No more Mylicon needed, or gripe water, or vent in the kitchen. We would put you to sleep earlier too, around 7, which also helped - who knows, maybe all those nights you were just saying, "Please shut up, stop rocking and singing and making me listen to music, I want to be asleep in my crib!"
And it was around then that putting you to bed became one of my favorite things to do. I was terrified to do it for the first two months, because we didn't know what was wrong. Once we figured it out, though, that all changed. Now we change you into your pajamas, put lavender scented lotion on you, and rock you lightly as we give you your last bottle. Sometimes you're all wound up and babble all the way through, barely eating. Sometimes you're starving and you suck down the whole bottle and pass out on our shoulder. But most of the time you happily eat what you want, curl up into our neck, and we walk you around the room letting you touch certain things. You love to touch the butterfly decals on the wall, and to spin your mobile yourself as you touch each animal. Then we put you in your crib with your Sleep Sheep making rain noises and your seahorse playing music, and you cuddle into your snuggler and go to sleep.
Little do you know that after that happens, The Daddy and I carry around your monitor all night to make sure you're okay, and to just stare at you. We eat dinner with you on the table, and have you near us on the couches and in bed. We laugh at positions you get yourself into and wonder if you'll be sore the next day from some of them!
Then, before we go to bed, we sneak into your room together and wave at you. We do this together almost every night, and always take a second to be in awe of the amazing person that we made while we give each other a quick kiss or squeeze of the hand, and then we go off to bed ourselves.
We love you, baby girl!
Love,
Mommy
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