Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Summer Sun
Before we begin...can we just marvel at how much Kayla has grown in the past seven weeks? I don't know if you remember my previous post of a photo of her lying next to her giraffe, but if you do, take a gander at the picture below. Giraffe, Kayla now beats you in a size contest, no question.
Actually, here's the older pic, just so you can really compare.
Incredible, huh? But on to the meat of the post...
The last couple days have been so fun, despite the fact that Kayla's sleep schedule has gotten a little messed up in the process. Moving to NJ last summer was tough and though we're feeling more and more at home, I still don't feel "settled". When we left Virginia, we had been there for a little over seven years. In that time, Virginia had really become home. We were settled into careers, a house, an amazing group of friends...Coming up here has really felt like starting over completely. We know next to no one here, with the exception of my sister and cousin and though I'm still working, my job is SO different from what it once was that it almost feels like beginning my career over again too. In Virginia we were used to living a jam packed life. We both belonged to at least one or two soccer teams, I was playing on two volleyball teams, we had our jobs and our regular get-togethers with friends...it was rare that we had a night where we were both just home alone and relaxing, so any downtime felt really special. Up here, our lives have been so much the opposite - lots of downtime and far fewer social commitments. We haven't really managed to find sports teams to join yet, partially because I wasn't exactly in any shape to be joining a team what with the whole baby-carrying process. Also, with me working from home, it's been harder to find that core group of friends up here. We were so lucky in Virginia. I wound up working with amazing people who became my closest friends, on top of the fact that we each had good friends from high school who just happened to wind up living nearby. Coming up here, we had to really search more for friends, which ain't easy. It's feels a lot like being back on the dating scene. I meet other women through yoga or pilates and feel like I have to do the whole "So...what are your interests? What do you like to do on the weekend? Are you looking for a friend relationship?" And I'm trying. I'm trying to do it, but it's tougher than it seems. Picking up friends at the gym or at Starbucks just isn't super comfortable. I won't lie, from time to time being up here has been really hard and I've wanted to just call it quits and go back to our comfortable, familiar lives in DC, but there are so many reasons that being up here is good for us, especially for Chris, and so, instead, I've been trying to tough it out. Some days are easier than others. The last couple days though have given me renewed hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll eventually feel at home here too.
Last night, Kayla and I walked down to meet Chris at the Path station as he commuted home from work. When he got off the Path, he said "So...what are you doing tonight?" "Um...I don't know. What am I doing?" I asked. "You are playing volleyball," he answered and then proceeded to explain that the Hoboken Ski Club has Monday night sand volleyball games all summer long. We had planned to join the Hoboken Ski Club last winter and Chris actually did go to one event, but with me being pregnant, we weren't able to actually go on any of their trips last year and I also wasn't really able to take advantage of their weekly bar meet-ups, so our plans to participate sort of went by the wayside. When Chris brought up the volleyball game, I was actually really nervous. I wouldn't know anyone! I completely balked and was ready to just say "uh uh, no way," and resign myself to another night at home, but Chris insisted we at least do a walk-by and, in my heart, I knew it was the right thing to do. So, off we went and, in the end, it was great! I have no idea what will come out of it, but it was so nice to be out playing volleyball again and the group was a really nice, chill bunch of people. It was so nice, in fact, that we wound up staying until after 9pm, killing Kayla's schedule, but she slept happily in the Baby Bjorn for the entire 2 hours, clearly content to be out for the evening and a party animal later that night. No, I did not play volleyball with her in the Baby Bjorn. Chris actually kept her while I played and though she kept getting invited to get in on the court action, she chose instead to snooze away. Knowing that these games are a weekly thing gives me hope that it might wind up being a way for us to get to know some new people and maybe make some friends so, after a nice, fun night, I'm actually super excited about getting to go again next week and I am super grateful to my husband for making me put on a brave face and get out there (See? Dating scene lingo again!)
And then today. Today Kayla and I had our first baby-and-me yoga class. Itsy Bitsy Yoga class. The instructor is the same woman who taught one of my prenatal yoga classes, so I had been really excited for this session to start so that I could see her again and introduce her to Kayla. The class was WONDERFUL. It is definitely focused on the babies. It's not a workout class, but it is a wonderful way to spend some fun time playing and bonding with baby. The whole class is so cute. Everyone sits in a circle holding their babies or sitting with their babies laid out on a mat in front of them. You do some baby massage and some fun little limb manipulation games while singing and talking to baby. There is also just a lot of chatting amongst the people there - comparing stories and tips...It was really nice. I was hoping it might be a good way to meet people and we'll see how that goes since the class is actually pretty small. Regardless though, I really loved getting to just play with Kayla that way. At home we play a ton of course, but it was nice to have a little organized activity and to get some new ideas. She did so well too! It's a brilliant class in that it is completely tailored to kids 6 weeks through about a year, so everyone brings in their diaper bags, people feed their babies in the middle of class if they need to, there is no pressure to have the "perfect baby", in fact, the instructor started out by saying, "Listen, many babies won't make it all the way through a 45 minute class, so if you need to get up and walk them around or to put them down to sleep or whatever, feel free!" Kayla was the youngest there by about a month, but she hung in like a champ! She actually started out seeming like she really liked it. She smiled at the songs and seemed to like the little massage/movement activities. She looked all around, wide-eyed and seemingly fascinated by the baby next to us. It wasn't until the last ten minutes or so that she started to look tired and got a tad fussy, but she still stuck it out and was so much better than I could have even hoped for. It was fun to see so many babies at so many different stages. It's so exciting to think how much she is going to change in just the next month or two.
Speaking of which...this morning, I swear Kayla purposefully reached for the toy I was dangling in front of her. She has definitely been noticing her hands more and more lately. She has no problem getting them to her mouth when she wants to and, lately, she'll bring them up in front of her face and focus on them like "hey...I think this is mine!" This morning, you could see the concentration on her face as she looked at the toy and then slowly, slowly moved her hand up to touch it. And it wasn't a fluke. She brought that hand up and batted at the little jangling toy I was holding one, two, SEVEN times! And she would get so excited when she hit it. It was so cute! What an amazing thing to be just starting out in life, to be just figuring out all the amazing things that you and your body are capable of. I love watching her learn. She was also full of smiles this morning, which always makes me giggle. This little girl is slowly developing from a little lovable blob into a real little person and I love it.
Oh and PS...just to prove that we really did take our 7 Week Old to a pro soccer game...
Note the look of total shock in this last one...poor poor traumatized baby...!
Actually, here's the older pic, just so you can really compare.
Incredible, huh? But on to the meat of the post...
The last couple days have been so fun, despite the fact that Kayla's sleep schedule has gotten a little messed up in the process. Moving to NJ last summer was tough and though we're feeling more and more at home, I still don't feel "settled". When we left Virginia, we had been there for a little over seven years. In that time, Virginia had really become home. We were settled into careers, a house, an amazing group of friends...Coming up here has really felt like starting over completely. We know next to no one here, with the exception of my sister and cousin and though I'm still working, my job is SO different from what it once was that it almost feels like beginning my career over again too. In Virginia we were used to living a jam packed life. We both belonged to at least one or two soccer teams, I was playing on two volleyball teams, we had our jobs and our regular get-togethers with friends...it was rare that we had a night where we were both just home alone and relaxing, so any downtime felt really special. Up here, our lives have been so much the opposite - lots of downtime and far fewer social commitments. We haven't really managed to find sports teams to join yet, partially because I wasn't exactly in any shape to be joining a team what with the whole baby-carrying process. Also, with me working from home, it's been harder to find that core group of friends up here. We were so lucky in Virginia. I wound up working with amazing people who became my closest friends, on top of the fact that we each had good friends from high school who just happened to wind up living nearby. Coming up here, we had to really search more for friends, which ain't easy. It's feels a lot like being back on the dating scene. I meet other women through yoga or pilates and feel like I have to do the whole "So...what are your interests? What do you like to do on the weekend? Are you looking for a friend relationship?" And I'm trying. I'm trying to do it, but it's tougher than it seems. Picking up friends at the gym or at Starbucks just isn't super comfortable. I won't lie, from time to time being up here has been really hard and I've wanted to just call it quits and go back to our comfortable, familiar lives in DC, but there are so many reasons that being up here is good for us, especially for Chris, and so, instead, I've been trying to tough it out. Some days are easier than others. The last couple days though have given me renewed hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll eventually feel at home here too.
Last night, Kayla and I walked down to meet Chris at the Path station as he commuted home from work. When he got off the Path, he said "So...what are you doing tonight?" "Um...I don't know. What am I doing?" I asked. "You are playing volleyball," he answered and then proceeded to explain that the Hoboken Ski Club has Monday night sand volleyball games all summer long. We had planned to join the Hoboken Ski Club last winter and Chris actually did go to one event, but with me being pregnant, we weren't able to actually go on any of their trips last year and I also wasn't really able to take advantage of their weekly bar meet-ups, so our plans to participate sort of went by the wayside. When Chris brought up the volleyball game, I was actually really nervous. I wouldn't know anyone! I completely balked and was ready to just say "uh uh, no way," and resign myself to another night at home, but Chris insisted we at least do a walk-by and, in my heart, I knew it was the right thing to do. So, off we went and, in the end, it was great! I have no idea what will come out of it, but it was so nice to be out playing volleyball again and the group was a really nice, chill bunch of people. It was so nice, in fact, that we wound up staying until after 9pm, killing Kayla's schedule, but she slept happily in the Baby Bjorn for the entire 2 hours, clearly content to be out for the evening and a party animal later that night. No, I did not play volleyball with her in the Baby Bjorn. Chris actually kept her while I played and though she kept getting invited to get in on the court action, she chose instead to snooze away. Knowing that these games are a weekly thing gives me hope that it might wind up being a way for us to get to know some new people and maybe make some friends so, after a nice, fun night, I'm actually super excited about getting to go again next week and I am super grateful to my husband for making me put on a brave face and get out there (See? Dating scene lingo again!)
And then today. Today Kayla and I had our first baby-and-me yoga class. Itsy Bitsy Yoga class. The instructor is the same woman who taught one of my prenatal yoga classes, so I had been really excited for this session to start so that I could see her again and introduce her to Kayla. The class was WONDERFUL. It is definitely focused on the babies. It's not a workout class, but it is a wonderful way to spend some fun time playing and bonding with baby. The whole class is so cute. Everyone sits in a circle holding their babies or sitting with their babies laid out on a mat in front of them. You do some baby massage and some fun little limb manipulation games while singing and talking to baby. There is also just a lot of chatting amongst the people there - comparing stories and tips...It was really nice. I was hoping it might be a good way to meet people and we'll see how that goes since the class is actually pretty small. Regardless though, I really loved getting to just play with Kayla that way. At home we play a ton of course, but it was nice to have a little organized activity and to get some new ideas. She did so well too! It's a brilliant class in that it is completely tailored to kids 6 weeks through about a year, so everyone brings in their diaper bags, people feed their babies in the middle of class if they need to, there is no pressure to have the "perfect baby", in fact, the instructor started out by saying, "Listen, many babies won't make it all the way through a 45 minute class, so if you need to get up and walk them around or to put them down to sleep or whatever, feel free!" Kayla was the youngest there by about a month, but she hung in like a champ! She actually started out seeming like she really liked it. She smiled at the songs and seemed to like the little massage/movement activities. She looked all around, wide-eyed and seemingly fascinated by the baby next to us. It wasn't until the last ten minutes or so that she started to look tired and got a tad fussy, but she still stuck it out and was so much better than I could have even hoped for. It was fun to see so many babies at so many different stages. It's so exciting to think how much she is going to change in just the next month or two.
Speaking of which...this morning, I swear Kayla purposefully reached for the toy I was dangling in front of her. She has definitely been noticing her hands more and more lately. She has no problem getting them to her mouth when she wants to and, lately, she'll bring them up in front of her face and focus on them like "hey...I think this is mine!" This morning, you could see the concentration on her face as she looked at the toy and then slowly, slowly moved her hand up to touch it. And it wasn't a fluke. She brought that hand up and batted at the little jangling toy I was holding one, two, SEVEN times! And she would get so excited when she hit it. It was so cute! What an amazing thing to be just starting out in life, to be just figuring out all the amazing things that you and your body are capable of. I love watching her learn. She was also full of smiles this morning, which always makes me giggle. This little girl is slowly developing from a little lovable blob into a real little person and I love it.
Oh and PS...just to prove that we really did take our 7 Week Old to a pro soccer game...
Note the look of total shock in this last one...poor poor traumatized baby...!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Holy Overstimulation, Batmom!
Last night we decided to embark on a brave new adventure. We packed Kayla into the Baby Bjorn, loaded up the diaper bag and headed out to the Red Bulls game at the new football stadium. I just said "football". I mean "soccer". Look at those old Euro-schooling roots coming out! Anyhow...
So yes, we took our 7 week old to a pro-soccer game. This seemed like a potentially terrible idea. They were forecasting evening thunderstorms, the game would definitely last through at least one feeding session, there was not likely to be a good place to feed or even to change her, it was a million degrees out...all ingredients which might have added up to a recipe for disaster. That said, we braved the game anyway because, let's be honest, a family can only take so much time stuck inside the apartment. Thankfully, we have a seriously tolerant child. That is not to say that she loved the experience, as a matter of fact, I think she may be mildly traumatized since she has spent literally almost all day today sleeping, but she did make it through with more than 70 minutes of soccer with flying colors. In fact, at first I thought she was enjoying it. A nice breeze sprung up early on, so it actually felt pretty nice out and every time the wind would tickle her toes, she would open her eyes wide and not smile, but look pleased. She even seemed to enjoy the cheering and the music from the fan clubs off on the other side of the field (we sat up high in a quieter section thinking it might help). It wasn't until the Red Bulls scored their first (and only) goal that she suddenly looked more panicked than pleased. As they drove in to score, the noise in the stadium jumped about three decibels and her little eyes turned into huge blue saucers. I jumped to cover her ears with my hands while her little mouth started to quiver and she looked at me like "My God! Is this the end??? What is happening?? I'm only 7 weeks old, I'm too young to die!!!" Needless to say, even though she calmed back down once the noise subsided, she was decidedly more jumpy after that and 'round about half time, she started to cry and had to be put back in the Bjorn for a walk around the quieter enclaves of the stadium with Daddy. The kid is a trooper though. She stuck it out through halftime, fell asleep and stayed fairly content until minute 75 when we decided to leave early and beat the crowds. She was definitely wired last night - didn't truly fall asleep until about 1am, but she made up for that by sleeping from 1 til 4, then 430 til 7, and then, most impressively, from 730 until about noon. She then proceeded to take today as a recovery day, sleeping away most of the day. She barely even lifted an eyebrow when we took her down for a walk through a local fair and then out to a restaurant for an hour long lunch. Bless her little heart, I think she is still recovering from the barrage of sights, smells, and sounds of last night. And now, at 915pm, she is trying to settle down for a nighttime doze to the lulling sounds of "womb/mom's heartbeat" as played by her little Sleep Giraffe.
Dear Kayla, Mommy and Daddy are so sorry that they temporarily traumatized you yesterday. You will think this is a good story when you are older. Please do not seek revenge by staying up all night tonight.
Love and Thanks in Advance,
The Parentals
So yes, we took our 7 week old to a pro-soccer game. This seemed like a potentially terrible idea. They were forecasting evening thunderstorms, the game would definitely last through at least one feeding session, there was not likely to be a good place to feed or even to change her, it was a million degrees out...all ingredients which might have added up to a recipe for disaster. That said, we braved the game anyway because, let's be honest, a family can only take so much time stuck inside the apartment. Thankfully, we have a seriously tolerant child. That is not to say that she loved the experience, as a matter of fact, I think she may be mildly traumatized since she has spent literally almost all day today sleeping, but she did make it through with more than 70 minutes of soccer with flying colors. In fact, at first I thought she was enjoying it. A nice breeze sprung up early on, so it actually felt pretty nice out and every time the wind would tickle her toes, she would open her eyes wide and not smile, but look pleased. She even seemed to enjoy the cheering and the music from the fan clubs off on the other side of the field (we sat up high in a quieter section thinking it might help). It wasn't until the Red Bulls scored their first (and only) goal that she suddenly looked more panicked than pleased. As they drove in to score, the noise in the stadium jumped about three decibels and her little eyes turned into huge blue saucers. I jumped to cover her ears with my hands while her little mouth started to quiver and she looked at me like "My God! Is this the end??? What is happening?? I'm only 7 weeks old, I'm too young to die!!!" Needless to say, even though she calmed back down once the noise subsided, she was decidedly more jumpy after that and 'round about half time, she started to cry and had to be put back in the Bjorn for a walk around the quieter enclaves of the stadium with Daddy. The kid is a trooper though. She stuck it out through halftime, fell asleep and stayed fairly content until minute 75 when we decided to leave early and beat the crowds. She was definitely wired last night - didn't truly fall asleep until about 1am, but she made up for that by sleeping from 1 til 4, then 430 til 7, and then, most impressively, from 730 until about noon. She then proceeded to take today as a recovery day, sleeping away most of the day. She barely even lifted an eyebrow when we took her down for a walk through a local fair and then out to a restaurant for an hour long lunch. Bless her little heart, I think she is still recovering from the barrage of sights, smells, and sounds of last night. And now, at 915pm, she is trying to settle down for a nighttime doze to the lulling sounds of "womb/mom's heartbeat" as played by her little Sleep Giraffe.
Dear Kayla, Mommy and Daddy are so sorry that they temporarily traumatized you yesterday. You will think this is a good story when you are older. Please do not seek revenge by staying up all night tonight.
Love and Thanks in Advance,
The Parentals
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Magic Continues...
Still trying not to get too excited, but last night was the third night in a row that Kayla slept AMAZINGLY well. Last night she again took her last bottle around 11pm and then slept through til almost 4am, waking briefly to eat and immediately falling back to sleep and staying that way until 830am this morning. I can't even tell you how exciting this is. Truly, there is nothing to renew your belief in God like a baby finally sleeping through the night. Everyone we talk to and everything we read warns us that this is likely temporary and that she'll be back to an erratic sleep schedule in no time, but I'm trying to drown those people out so that I can just enjoy these few pleasurable nights while they're here.
Oops, napping baby is awake. Gotta run!
Oops, napping baby is awake. Gotta run!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Happy Birthday To US
So, for her 7-week birthday, Snuzzler decided to give her mommy and daddy a present. Last night, I kid you not, we fed her at 1015pm, 330am, and...well...we haven't fed her again since because she's been SLEEPING. SLEEPING!! She slept for a 5 hour stretch from 1015 to 330 and has now been on a second marathon sleeping session which has lasted for about 5.5/6 hours so far. She is occasionally waking to snuzzle around, but then she immediately goes back to sleep. I can't believe it!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Slackerdom
So the problem with not writing in the blog for awhile is that when you come back to post you have way more to say than you can possibly have time to write, plus none of it really fits together, so your brain can only produce a mish-mash of items, none of which are that important, but all of which seemingly need to be detailed. Let's begin at the beginning...
As though she heard me, the very morning after my last post, Kayla woke up and gave me the smile to end all smiles. Clearly she did not want to be outdone by some 5-week-old upstart and so, I got to see her beam at me with a beam that could melt the polar ice caps. I am not even kidding when I say that her smile may be my favorite thing EVER. More of a favorite than chocolate ice cream. More of a favorite than traveling the globe. More of a favorite than...dare I say it??...shopping. This smile...my god. It truly makes my insides go all gooey. I guess it is good that she is still only giving it sporadically (although far more often!) since otherwise I would just be a giggling babbling mess of a woman. For those of you who have kids, you likely remember this moment. For those of you who don't, I honestly think having your baby look up, crinkle her little eyes and then burst into a toothless grin that outshines the sun, might be a valid reason for having kids in the first place. If you are on the fence, please come witness this smile. You'll be packing away the birth control and jumping on the baby wagon in no time. Of course, Kayla has totally screwed herself now, because now every time she is awake she has a face full of mom going "Come on, pretty baby. Smile at mommy. Smile at mommy. Who has the prettiest smile around? Who? Hiiiiii, pretty baby...". Annoying much? I'm sure. But it's her own darn fault for being so irresistibly cute.
Speaking of irresistible, last night Kayla had an utterly scrumptious night. She took a bottle at 1215am and then, I kid you not, slept until 530 this morning. I couldn't believe it. I have never in my life been so happy to be woken up at 530. I honestly think I could avoid ever complaining about lack of sleep again if we could just relive last night every night for the next year. Well...maybe not a full year...after all, eventually this kid has to start sleeping for more than 5 hours at a stretch, but still...5 hours last night. Ahh, sweet relief. I had fed her around 930pm and then Chris had agreed to take her for the next feeding whilst I went off to try to grab a few hours of sleep. I couldn't believe it when he didn't come in to retrieve me until 530 this morning. The sad sad truth is that there is no way this will last. I can pretty much guarantee that while this may eventually be a regular occurrence, we ain't there yet. That said, even that one night was a pleasant surprise, especially after the previous night and day were a little rough. Poor Kayla's tummy has not improved much over the weeks and she still suffers from miserable gas attacks that will literally wake her from a sound sleep. The poor kid...can you imagine?? I'm not sure if we had been lazy in giving her Mylicon or if it was just being cooped up in the car multiple times, held constantly, and overwhelmed by people and noise all weekend, but either way, Monday night was NOT fun. Let's just say that the evening culminated in multiple people's tears, a 1.5 hour walk around the neighborhood at 10pm, and a whole lot of lost sleep. But that is all water under the bridge. Let us focus on the positive - 5 hours of sleep!! Her 1230am feeding was 3 full ounces from the bottle, so I think we're going to give that another go tonight and see if maybe letting her eat a little more pre-bed isn't the magic recipe for sleep. It's so hard (okay, impossible) to know how much she gets while breastfeeding, but this was the first time that she took 3oz of breastmilk from the bottle without spitting up, so we're going to start letting her increase from the 2.5 we were allowing her based on previous spit-up episodes. Honestly, you just have no idea before you have kids how much one can care about pooh, pee, and drink amounts. Well, you learn the "drink amounts" rule in college, but that's a whole different kind of caring.
In other news, Kayla had a super busy weekend. Last Friday, we drove out to Lancaster, PA to go to my cousin Jen's wedding. This was Kayla's first opportunity to meet the Spatz side of the family and so she got all dolled up in a lime green dress to show off for Shannon, Jen, John, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Paige, Rachel, Megan, Emma, Great Great Aunt Pat, Great Great Uncle Frank, and the rest of the Spatz clan.
On Saturday, after the wedding, we all drove up to Mountain Top, PA to spend the weekend at Aunt Sue's house. Aunt Paige, Uncle Jeff and the girls joined, so it was a big weekend of Spatzes and Svobodas, 18+ people, all under one roof. This was Kayla's second time meeting Aunt Sue, Uncle Steve, Lisa and Jay, but her first time meeting Mike, Meghann, Zoe, Julie, Aunt Barb, Uncle Tom, Nick and Beth. It was a crazy weekend and I'm pretty sure it took Kayla until today to recover from the constant noise and chaos, but it was also an absolute blast. The weather was perfect, so there was lots of quality time spent by the pool and even though Kayla couldn't join in the bonfire on Sunday night (flying mosquitoes...flying Airsoft bullets...), she got more attention and love in those two days than a lot of kids probably get in an entire lifetime. This kid has no idea how lucky she is...She has more people ready and waiting to love her...It makes her mommy and daddy so proud.
Ready For The Pool
Cousin Emma
Great Aunt Paige
Fun in the Sun with Mommy
Naptime with Lisa
Fun with Aunt Sue and Zoe
and The Prettiest Baby Ever (If I Do Say So Myself)
As though she heard me, the very morning after my last post, Kayla woke up and gave me the smile to end all smiles. Clearly she did not want to be outdone by some 5-week-old upstart and so, I got to see her beam at me with a beam that could melt the polar ice caps. I am not even kidding when I say that her smile may be my favorite thing EVER. More of a favorite than chocolate ice cream. More of a favorite than traveling the globe. More of a favorite than...dare I say it??...shopping. This smile...my god. It truly makes my insides go all gooey. I guess it is good that she is still only giving it sporadically (although far more often!) since otherwise I would just be a giggling babbling mess of a woman. For those of you who have kids, you likely remember this moment. For those of you who don't, I honestly think having your baby look up, crinkle her little eyes and then burst into a toothless grin that outshines the sun, might be a valid reason for having kids in the first place. If you are on the fence, please come witness this smile. You'll be packing away the birth control and jumping on the baby wagon in no time. Of course, Kayla has totally screwed herself now, because now every time she is awake she has a face full of mom going "Come on, pretty baby. Smile at mommy. Smile at mommy. Who has the prettiest smile around? Who? Hiiiiii, pretty baby...". Annoying much? I'm sure. But it's her own darn fault for being so irresistibly cute.
Speaking of irresistible, last night Kayla had an utterly scrumptious night. She took a bottle at 1215am and then, I kid you not, slept until 530 this morning. I couldn't believe it. I have never in my life been so happy to be woken up at 530. I honestly think I could avoid ever complaining about lack of sleep again if we could just relive last night every night for the next year. Well...maybe not a full year...after all, eventually this kid has to start sleeping for more than 5 hours at a stretch, but still...5 hours last night. Ahh, sweet relief. I had fed her around 930pm and then Chris had agreed to take her for the next feeding whilst I went off to try to grab a few hours of sleep. I couldn't believe it when he didn't come in to retrieve me until 530 this morning. The sad sad truth is that there is no way this will last. I can pretty much guarantee that while this may eventually be a regular occurrence, we ain't there yet. That said, even that one night was a pleasant surprise, especially after the previous night and day were a little rough. Poor Kayla's tummy has not improved much over the weeks and she still suffers from miserable gas attacks that will literally wake her from a sound sleep. The poor kid...can you imagine?? I'm not sure if we had been lazy in giving her Mylicon or if it was just being cooped up in the car multiple times, held constantly, and overwhelmed by people and noise all weekend, but either way, Monday night was NOT fun. Let's just say that the evening culminated in multiple people's tears, a 1.5 hour walk around the neighborhood at 10pm, and a whole lot of lost sleep. But that is all water under the bridge. Let us focus on the positive - 5 hours of sleep!! Her 1230am feeding was 3 full ounces from the bottle, so I think we're going to give that another go tonight and see if maybe letting her eat a little more pre-bed isn't the magic recipe for sleep. It's so hard (okay, impossible) to know how much she gets while breastfeeding, but this was the first time that she took 3oz of breastmilk from the bottle without spitting up, so we're going to start letting her increase from the 2.5 we were allowing her based on previous spit-up episodes. Honestly, you just have no idea before you have kids how much one can care about pooh, pee, and drink amounts. Well, you learn the "drink amounts" rule in college, but that's a whole different kind of caring.
In other news, Kayla had a super busy weekend. Last Friday, we drove out to Lancaster, PA to go to my cousin Jen's wedding. This was Kayla's first opportunity to meet the Spatz side of the family and so she got all dolled up in a lime green dress to show off for Shannon, Jen, John, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Paige, Rachel, Megan, Emma, Great Great Aunt Pat, Great Great Uncle Frank, and the rest of the Spatz clan.
On Saturday, after the wedding, we all drove up to Mountain Top, PA to spend the weekend at Aunt Sue's house. Aunt Paige, Uncle Jeff and the girls joined, so it was a big weekend of Spatzes and Svobodas, 18+ people, all under one roof. This was Kayla's second time meeting Aunt Sue, Uncle Steve, Lisa and Jay, but her first time meeting Mike, Meghann, Zoe, Julie, Aunt Barb, Uncle Tom, Nick and Beth. It was a crazy weekend and I'm pretty sure it took Kayla until today to recover from the constant noise and chaos, but it was also an absolute blast. The weather was perfect, so there was lots of quality time spent by the pool and even though Kayla couldn't join in the bonfire on Sunday night (flying mosquitoes...flying Airsoft bullets...), she got more attention and love in those two days than a lot of kids probably get in an entire lifetime. This kid has no idea how lucky she is...She has more people ready and waiting to love her...It makes her mommy and daddy so proud.
Ready For The Pool
Cousin Emma
Great Aunt Paige
Fun in the Sun with Mommy
Naptime with Lisa
Fun with Aunt Sue and Zoe
and The Prettiest Baby Ever (If I Do Say So Myself)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Little Green Monster and Other Firsts
I had my first totally irrational tinge of baby jealousy today. A friend of Chris' who had her baby about a week after us also keeps up a blog in which she posted about her pregnancy and now about her life with baby. I hadn't looked at her blog in awhile, so in the couple brief moments of happy-sleeping-Kayla that I've had today, I decided to take a look and see what she had to report and that's when it happened...GREEN MONSTER. A small Green Monster, but a Green Monster nonetheless. Her baby is smiling! Smiling! She does say that it's not easy to get a smile out of the baby, which could be proud mom code for "The baby occasionally smiles accidentally, but we like to think it's on purpose because how much more fun is that?" I'm not judging. In fact, I TOTALLY feel that way and would completely understand if she was, in fact, exaggerating the frequency/significance of the smiles. But she not only says baby is smiling, but she has photo proof! I am so jealous! I absolutely, positively cannot wait for Kayla to start smiling at us on a regular basis. We occasionally get smiles now, but they are still few and far between and, to be honest, the blank wall, bedroom mirror, and Mr. Panda probably get just as many smiles and coos directed at them. In all fairness, all the books say that babies don't typically start smiling at you (on purpose) until between 6 and 8 weeks. Kayla is not even quite 6 weeks yet (but tomorrow is a-comin' little girl...), so it's really unfair to be wanting her to get a move on smile-wise. Guess maybe having over-achiever parents could be a little annoying after all, huh? I can't help it though...I so want her to smile AT ME...often...on purpose...it's like waiting for her to finally say "I love you".
Yesterday, I not only couldn't get a smile out of her, but she didn't even want to look at me! Usually my face is one of her favorite items of interest, but yesterday it was like I had suddenly become "sooo last week" and only during one especially energetic round of dancing/singing did I get so much as some eye contact. What was she interested in? Her bouncy chair, dancing and bouncing to the Baby's Playlist on my iPod, and, most of all, her favorite source of entertainment, the mirror above her changing table. I don't mean that she is looking in the mirror. No, no. She is completely obsessed with the dark, metal, swirly frame around the mirror. All I can think is that it is the way it stands out against the white wall behind it, but seriously...she spent a solid 10 minutes - an eternity in baby land - staring at that frame. It almost hurt my feelings. I couldn't get any eye contact to save my life, but that frame got a focused 10 minutes of wide-eyed looks and coos. Coos! Seriously...she coos for the frame, but not for the woman who feeds, changes, and cuddles her on a constant rotating schedule all day, EVERY day? I think she is toying with my emotions and it is just rude.
In other baby news, Kayla took her first ferry ride yesterday. She was going into Manhattan to meet Daddy for dinner after work. She stayed awake the entire ride, wide-eyed and looking...well...scared. Every time the boat went up and over a wave her arms shot out in that adorable startle reflex and her eyes got wide, like "WHAT THE????" She was a good sport though; didn't cry once.
Today, Kayla and I went down to the waterfront to watch the ships parade down the Hudson for the start of Fleet Week. We were a little late getting down, but still managed to catch the air craft carrier and a couple other small ships near the end of the parade. Okay, when I say "we"...Kayla stayed completely conked out in her carrier the entire time, not the slightest bit interested in the ships. Of course, the kid can only see objects that are within 18 inches of her face right now, so you can hardly blame her for not being wowed by the spectacle. Her mommy, on the other hand, diligently took pics and then contemplated the sadness of being both married and a mother when thousands of men in uniform are coming into your city...alas...but I digress.
Now, we're at home, wasting the afternoon away. I tried desperately to keep Miss Kayla awake, but let's be honest...there are only so many ways to entertain a 6 week old and once she makes up her mind to go to sleep, there is pretty much no stopping her. And so, she is now resting happily in her bouncer, after resting happily on mommy's lap, then the couch, then mommy's arms...it's a rough life.
Yesterday, I not only couldn't get a smile out of her, but she didn't even want to look at me! Usually my face is one of her favorite items of interest, but yesterday it was like I had suddenly become "sooo last week" and only during one especially energetic round of dancing/singing did I get so much as some eye contact. What was she interested in? Her bouncy chair, dancing and bouncing to the Baby's Playlist on my iPod, and, most of all, her favorite source of entertainment, the mirror above her changing table. I don't mean that she is looking in the mirror. No, no. She is completely obsessed with the dark, metal, swirly frame around the mirror. All I can think is that it is the way it stands out against the white wall behind it, but seriously...she spent a solid 10 minutes - an eternity in baby land - staring at that frame. It almost hurt my feelings. I couldn't get any eye contact to save my life, but that frame got a focused 10 minutes of wide-eyed looks and coos. Coos! Seriously...she coos for the frame, but not for the woman who feeds, changes, and cuddles her on a constant rotating schedule all day, EVERY day? I think she is toying with my emotions and it is just rude.
In other baby news, Kayla took her first ferry ride yesterday. She was going into Manhattan to meet Daddy for dinner after work. She stayed awake the entire ride, wide-eyed and looking...well...scared. Every time the boat went up and over a wave her arms shot out in that adorable startle reflex and her eyes got wide, like "WHAT THE????" She was a good sport though; didn't cry once.
Today, Kayla and I went down to the waterfront to watch the ships parade down the Hudson for the start of Fleet Week. We were a little late getting down, but still managed to catch the air craft carrier and a couple other small ships near the end of the parade. Okay, when I say "we"...Kayla stayed completely conked out in her carrier the entire time, not the slightest bit interested in the ships. Of course, the kid can only see objects that are within 18 inches of her face right now, so you can hardly blame her for not being wowed by the spectacle. Her mommy, on the other hand, diligently took pics and then contemplated the sadness of being both married and a mother when thousands of men in uniform are coming into your city...alas...but I digress.
Now, we're at home, wasting the afternoon away. I tried desperately to keep Miss Kayla awake, but let's be honest...there are only so many ways to entertain a 6 week old and once she makes up her mind to go to sleep, there is pretty much no stopping her. And so, she is now resting happily in her bouncer, after resting happily on mommy's lap, then the couch, then mommy's arms...it's a rough life.
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