First taste of food!

Well the pedi said since Isla if partially formula fed there is no need for cereal. That it just adds unnecessary calories and makes babies fat. But that we can start giving her stage one foods whenever we like. I don't know that I'll do too much of it before 6 months, but I was curious to see how she'd do. So I pureed a sweet potato while my mom broke out the video camera. Isla seemed to know exactly what she should do when that spoon neared her mouth. Although I suspect she just saw it as something else she could gnaw on if it would just get close enough. She was barely phased by the soupy orange goop sliding into her mouth. She looked curious but it only took her a few bites to start demanding more when I neglected to shovel it in fast enough. And she was furious when the bowl was empty.
It was terribly cute.

4 mos stats: 24 and 3/4 inches long, 40 cm head circumference, 12 lbs 13 oz

4 Months

My sweet baby girl is 4 months old today. She can roll both ways and pull up to both sitting and standing positions while holding our hands. She loves her exersaucer, especially the little monkey that spins.
We have shots tomorrow and I suspect the pedi will tell us we can start cereal! It is bittersweet, my baby girl is growing up!

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

Yep. I've got a rolling baby. I put her down in her crib yesterday, walked out, and when I came back she was on her tummy! I was all excited until mom and Justin told me she's been doing it for a couple of days now. Thank for the update.
Apparently getting there on her own is much less traumatizing, because she doesn't fuss like she used to during tummy time. It also seems to put her to sleep. Often nearly instantly.
Toys have finally become interesting. We're finally getting some use out of the mobile, links, play mats, and activity gyms. Isla especially loves the makeshift activity gym I made out of her PNP changing bed and a couple of Lamaze animals. I imagine she enjoys it because I hung them low enough for her to reach and grab on to.
Working nights has been utterly draining. I'm finally done with them, for a while anyhow. That said, I worked all night last night and I am going to take a nap while Isla is occupied by the mobile. I'm expecting she'll be taking a nap soon too.
G'night!

First Fever and other milestones

I consider us lucky to have made it thus far with no illness or trauma. But teething has brought that to an end. Isla had her first fever 2 nights ago. Her temp got up to 102 and so I gave her a little tylenol and it was back to normal in under an hour. She's been a fussy mess every since though. She wants to nurse constantly, but won't take more than 2 oz from a bottle, and most of that she spits out.
Today I bought a little meshie feeder thing, meant for soft solid foods, and put an ice cube in it for her to suck on. She LOVED it. Every time I took it away she opened her mouth like a little birdie, begging to have it back. It was so cute. I certainly hope she gets her appetite back soon. I feel so bad for her. I hate to see her hurting.
She's also getting to be pretty clingy. My mom picked her up today and she screamed until mom gave her to me. But I can understand, when I don't feel good I want my mommy too. It feels nice to be loved so much.

And her newest trick is grasping and reashing for things! Last night she was laying next to my diaper bag and I noticed her reaching for the buckle. I decided to test her skill. So I got out her rattle and held it up and to her left side. Wouldn't you know she reached for it with both hands! Definitely a deliberate reach. She's not yet mastered the art of getting the larger heavier objects into her mouth, but fabric is fair game. Her clothes are always bunched up in her mouth now. And even some fabric I had cut and set in her car seat on the way to the check out counter had been thoughly noshed on in minutes.
I've also noticed her rolling her booty to the side when I change her diaper. She'll be rolling over on me before I know it.

3 Months

I can't believe that I've only had this baby for 3 months. It seems like she's just always been a part of our lives.
She's going to be rolling over soon I think. We're working on training her to sleep without being swaddled. It's going ok so far. But we've only done a couple of naps.
She's starting to eat more now. Nursing is still not getting any better so I've decided that I am done stressing about it. I'm not going to wean on purpose, but I'm no longer going to bust my butt trying to increase my supply with pumping. And if she's not nursing well I'm going to give her a bottle. Our budget will tight, but my sanity is worth the price I believe.
She's such a happy baby. She loves to smile at us and she certainly thinks that we're funny. It's just amazing how her little personality has developed.

Baptism and Giggles all in one day

Isla was baptized "Isla Xenia" into the Orthodox faith today and received her first communion. She was such a good baby and only cried for a minute or two after being dunked into a bath of water and olive oil three times. Father David did a beautiful job and his wife Nora graced us with her beautiful voice. Her godmother Pam hosted a great reception for us afterwards. Isla slept thru most of it. My Aunt Sally attributed that to the communion wine.
I chose Xenia of St. Petersburg (pronounced Ksen-ya) to be her patron saint. I loved her story and thought it was fitting that I choose a Russian saint as that is where I first found the Orthodox Church.

And tonight as I went to get Isla ready for bed I got some big giggles. I was lucky enough to capture them on video! Apparently she likes being bounced.

Meeting Jessica

One of my very good friends from high school and her 4 munchkins came home for a visit this week. Jessica moved to Morocco with her husband several years ago and it was so good to see her and catch up. Pretty surreal though to see her holding my baby and watch her FOUR kids play. How life has changed for us.
And notice Isla's take-me-home outfit FINALLY fits. Hehe.

GIGGLES!

We have giggles! The past couple of days she has been opening her mouth SO WIDE when I laugh at her. I dropped Isla off at my mom's this morning and I put her in her bouncy chair before I left. I accidentally bounced chair when I put her in and she giggled! I tickled her and she did it again. It was so sweet and I am SO thankful I got to hear it. I can't wait for more.

The fireworks on the 4th held Isla's attention, but she wasn't excited by them.

First 4th of July

Isla wasn't too interested in the fireworks. But she looked cute!

First day at the beach!

Yesterday we took Isla to the beach for the first time. We woke up EARLY (o'dark thirty) to get out before it got too hot. She really liked being outside. She was happy the whole time we were out there. I put her toes in the water and sand. She seemed surprised and curious by it all.
I got to ski and wakeboard and totally bust my face when I tried to turn from right to left on the wakeboard. (Seriously, I hit the water with my face...HEAD ACHE!).
We left by 10 am and she was just exhausted. When we got home she slept in her car seat while I took a shower. This is very rare, she usually wakes up and wants out as soon as we get in the door. And then she ate, and napped for an hour with me.
She was NOT a happy camper when it came time for bed though. She was way over-tired and screamed and screamed. Justin took her when he got home and stood by her crib shushing her until she finally passed out. I don't think we'll be interrupting her sleep in the morning again if we can avoid it.
Oh. and excuse the sideways video. My mom is technologically challenged.

A mid month update.

I've been back to work for a week now. And I hate it. I miss my little punky monkey so much. I am jealous of my mom and my friend Erin (our Au Pair) because they get to spend all the fun active time with Isla. I only get 1 period of active Isla before bed. I know it will get better as she begins to go longer between feedings and takes fewer naps. But it gets harder and harder to leave her, not easier and easier like I thought it would.
I can't WAIT for a day off. But on the upside, now I have time to blog again. Hopefully I will remember to do so more regularlly.

Cloth diapers are going great still. I tried out a Bum Genius Organic OS AIOs last night and I loved it. The organic cotton is SO much better than whatever is in the BG pockets. The cotton absorbs quickly like my Kissaluvs and GMD prefolds. It's like the perfect marriage. So today I ordered a 12 pack (with snaps!). Justin is excited about snapping diapers. And frankly so am I. Aplix is a pain in the rear. It never stays stuck to the laundry tabs.
We'll still be able to use our KL0s for a few more weeks at least so I plan to order more BGs when the KL0s get too small. I debated getting all the fun colors, but white is really just more practical since it doesn't show thru light colored clothing. I currently always find myself searching for a white cover because my colored ones don't go with her outfit.

Laughing is on the horizon. I'm expecting giggles any day now. We sometimes get one excited "HA" out of her, but no real giggles yet.
Erin says tummy time is going better. Isla still doesn't like it, but she tolerates it. Yes, I pawned tummy time off on the au pair (I like this word so much more than nanny or babysitter). I get so little time with my girl I don't want any of it to be time I have to make her unhappy.
And sleeping is still going famously. I really hope she continues to have good sleep habits. She goes down pretty late, but so do I. So it works for us. She normally sleeps around 8 hours a night, but lately she's had a few 11 hour stretches. She weighs over 10 lbs now. And we took her to her second movie, My Life In Ruins, the other day. She was just enthralled. She sat on my lap and watched nearly half the movie (the other half she was eating).

Videos!

I'm loving my parents new digital video camera. Here are some of the videos of Isla that I have edited so far.

2 Months

My baby is 2 months old! I can't believe how time has flown. I have to go back to work next week and I am not looking forward to leaving her.
I'm really enjoying the time we spend with our new friends from mommy & me and coffee group. We start with a "hey lets get coffee" and end up spending the whole day together. It's fantastic fun.
Isla is smiling up a storm these days and I think she's gearing up to laugh. She giggles in her sleep and last night she was making giggle like noises in her crib before she was asleep. But I couldn't tell. She is SO alert and active. She wants to sit up SO badly. She likes when we prop her up in the bumbo and play with her and when we're walking she has to be facing out. It will be nice when she has enough head control to put her in a carrier facing out.
I LOVE this little girl so much. She's become my whole world. Every now and then I need a few minutes to myself, but I always want to come back to her. And it feels so strange to leave the house without her. Like I've forgotten something.
That's all I've got time for for now.

5 weeks

My little punkin' pie is such a good baby! She'd not been wanting to sleep in the crib so I was letting her sleep in the car seat. But I hated that. It looked so bad for her back and neck. So I decided to let her CIO. And it only took 15 minutes! Now we have a crib STTNer!
This was a week of a lot of firsts. We took her to her first movie (Angels and Demons), and she was an angel. She pretty much slept the whole time.
Then we took her to her first party. Again, she slept until about 30 minutes before we left. For those last 30 minutes she was entranced by all the fairy lights.
And we took her to my church for the first time. Everyone went nuts over her.

She now weighs 7 lbs 14 oz (as of Tuesday). But she's still so teeny. My computer crashed so I haven't had a chance to post pictures. But I really need to. I haven't had a chance to take many pictures this week. But I'll get back on track.

1 month old

And Isla can smile, roll from back to tummy, and follow objects with her eyes! What a smarty pants we have!

First Smile!!!!

We got our first smile! And Justin and I both witnessed it! What a miracle. My heart is still in a puddle on the floor.
She's so very alert and active tonight. She doesn't want to sleep. She isn't fussing (knock on wood), she's just sitting in her carseat munching on her binky (which she spit out, picked up, and is chewing on the edge of!). I have a little smarty pants on my hands. She's going to be T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

3 weeks old!

Isla is still so teeny. She doesn't even fit into newborn sized clothes yet! I love that she's tiny, but I do wish she could wear something other than onesies and zip n plays.
New this week:
1) She can turn herself around in her crib
2) She weighs 6 lbs 14 oz
3)She has started grabbing her bottle or my fingers and pulling the bottle toward her.

Isla sure loves her daddy. She is so calm with him. With me she wants to nurse unless she's sleeping. But with daddy she stays awake and snuggles. I'm sort of jealous.

Tuesday we went to Mommy and Me. It was fun for me to hang with other mom and I can't wait to go back! Isla slept the whole time. And then Tuesday night we took Isla to her first party. Cinco de Mayo at Meg and Charles's house. She was a total hit...even though she slept the whole time.

Quick update

While I have a minute to blog, here are some things that Isla has been doing lately:
1) This short, staccato cry. It sounds like a dolphin. I think she picked it up from me telling her "uh-uh-uh" when she's nursing and starts trying to pull away.
2) Grasping at things. Mostly when she's eating. She grabs my shirt when she's nursing and my hand when I give her a bottle. It's like she's afraid I'm going to take it away.
3) Staying awake. She's having longer periods of alertness, normally after she eats. It's so cute.
4) Looking at me while she's nursing. She used to either look straight ahead or close her eyes. Now she looks up at me. It's so sweet.
5) She sucked her thumb, just once. But I didn't see it. Mom told me she did it while I was in the shower. =(

We're still having problems with my milk supply. I've rented a hospital pump to try and help increase it and I am trying to nurse her until she is frustrated with it before I give her a bottle. I was able to pump almost 1.5 ounces last night so I am encouraged.

Sleep is going pretty good. She normally sleeps 5-6 hours at night. So I get about 4 hours and then another 3 after her morning feeding. Then we have snuggle time and I snooze a little with her on my chest (don't worry, I wedge myself onto the couch so I am sure not to roll over). It's been nice.

Kristina and Eva came to visit us this week. We had fun hanging out outside of the house. But I am BEAT. I'm realizing that I can't spend all day out with her. She just needs to nurse too often right now. I'm going to keep outings short and to a minimum for a while.

And that's all I have time for now.

Dear Isla

Dear Isla,
These first two weeks with you have been amazing, wonderful, and exhausting! You have already changed SO much. I hate that I am too tired and harried to post pictures regularly. Trying to increase my milk supply is a whole darn lot of work and I am not seeing much progress, which is discouraging. But at the same time, I rather enjoy feeding you bottles. I love the way you gaze at me while I do so. And I love that daddy gets to feed you too. We don't get that with breastfeeding. So as much as I wanted to breastfeed you exclusively, I think I am actually satisfied with supplementing formula. As long as you're healthy, that's really the only thing that matters.
You are such a sweet and good baby. You only cry when you're hungry and you sleep so well. You love the sound of running water and your pacifier. You don't LOVE baths or having your diaper changed, but as long as you can hear the water and suck on your soothie you are so good. You've just today started grasping things, my shirt while you nurse, your soothie when it falls out of your mouth...I'm so proud of you.
You should be waking up soon and we're going to Nana's house tonight. So no more time to blog. But I love you with all my heart and I can't wait to see how you change tomorrow.
Love,
Mommy

Picture Post!!!

First Moments

Meeting the Grandparents

Isla & Nana

Yeah, I've looked better.

Isla & Grampa

Isla loves when Daddy holds her like this

Cuteness

more cuteness

My Little Angel