Friday, May 30, 2008

Our Little Trooper

Emily's been a bit under the weather lately, and we're not quite sure what it's from.  But, when she came down with a rash and had some vomiting and a fever on Wednesday night, I immediately thought it was an allergic reaction and started kicking myself for not waiting the recommended 5-7 days after introducing a new food (she had carrots and applesauce after lunch on Wednesday)!  But, after a somewhat frantic call to our pediatrician's office, I'm now thinking she just has some kind of stomach bug that may not be related to the foods at all.  The office assured me that what we've introduced so far are fairly safe foods and I should try them again in a few weeks before giving up entirely on those yummy treats (their words, not mine -- I reserve the word yummy for things containing chocolate or similarly large amounts of sugar).  At any rate, Emily has been handling her illness with as much poise as she can muster, and though she is a little more sleepy than usual and wants to be held a lot more than usual, she seems to be well on her way to making a full recovery.  Here is a picture I took just today to prove (especially to the grandmas) that she is getting better!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Seeing Green

The following is part of a conversation while Eric and I were watching the Pistons/Celtics game:

Me: Who's that guy they just showed a close up of?

Eric: Sam Cassell

Me: He looks a lot like a frog, and not just because he's wearing green.

Eric: You mean like you say about Tim Duncan?

Me: Yes.  They must be pond brothers!

Solid Foods!

Last weekend Eric, Emily, and I were in Beaver, PA to visit my family (and nurse them back to health).  Before we arrived, my mom underwent two eye surgeries to fix a detached retina, and my sister was recovering from jaw surgery.  So, in order to entertain our "patients" I thought it would be a good time to give Emily her first taste of rice cereal.  I wasn't expecting too much, since she hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in eating anything that doesn't come from a bottle yet.  I tried a few spoonfuls, but she was rather dubious of the whole project and even though I've tried a few more times since this first attempt, I think it will still be a little while before she's getting much nutrition from these experiences.



Saturday, May 10, 2008

River Bank Run 10k

This morning I ran my second race since Emily was born (the first was the Calvin Spring Classic two weekends ago). It was a great race, and I felt good the whole time I was running. I finished in 50:36 (an 8:10 mile pace). The best parts of the run were the weather, which was in the 40s and sunny at the start of the race, and seeing Emily and Eric at a few different points along the course. Having my supportive husband and my adorable baby girl cheering me on was the best early Mother's Day present I could have asked for!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Good Morning Sunshine

Waking Emily up from a nap is one of my favorite parts of taking care of her.  She stretches and yawns, just like me, but somehow when she does so it's a little cuter.  Watch her face when I say good morning to her.  Priceless.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1170386]

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Active Emily

Emily has been quite an active baby lately. She hardly sits still all day, even when drinking her bottle. Instead, she makes lots of noises, plays with toys, rolls over, and squirms constantly. Here she is demonstrating some of those abilities.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/1170471]

Friday, May 2, 2008

Get On My Belly

Emily now spends a lot of time on her tummy, much to her enjoyment. Usually, as soon as we put her down on her back, she rolls right to her tummy. Emily thinks looking at the world from this position is just the bee's knees. She really likes to explore things, and struggles mightily to reach anything that looks interesting. I have a hunch she will be an early crawler.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Progress

Often, it helps me to reflect on how far Emily has come since her first few weeks home. In those early weeks, she didn't have anything resembling a schedule.  She ate and slept whenever she wanted, which was probably what she needed, but drove me a little crazy! By about two months, though, we had her settled into a nice routine, eating every three hours and taking 4 naps during the day (as well as sleeping 9 to 10 hours at night). A few weeks ago, when she was around 3.5 months old, we changed her schedule yet again and she now takes a morning nap from 9 to 11 am, an afternoon nap from 1 to 3 pm, and a short evening catnap from 5:15 - 6:15 pm before bedtime at 8:30 pm. She's eating five times during the day, and seems happy as a clam (most of the time)!

Also, she's made great progress in the last week with her sleeping. Until this point, Eric or I would have to rock her to sleep before putting her down, and she usually slept best in her swing (especially for naps). A few nights ago though, she woke in the night about an hour and a half after falling asleep, and started crying. Eric and I both thought it was time to leave her for a little while, knowing that she was not hungry and had a clean diaper - she was only tired and needed to sleep as she hadn't napped all that well during the day. We went in to check on her a few times, comforting her but not picking her up, and though it took 45 minutes of crying on and off (which felt like an eternity), she eventually put herself to sleep and stayed that way for the whole night. Since then, we've realized she's capable of doing this most times, and we now put her down awake and in her crib for her naps and at night. She's responded by fussing for a few minutes sometimes (or not at all other times) and then drifting off to sleep! What a huge step - she's learned to self soothe! I'm sure that we'll have setbacks and there will be times she cries for quite awhile before falling asleep or times when we break the "rules" and pick her up to comfort her, but it's fun to realize how much she's growing!

Also, there are lots of things that make her giggle now, the most interesting being when someone coughs. The other day we were driving in the car and I coughed, and she thought it was hilarious. So now, if she's fussy, I fake a cough and out comes a big smile!

She turns four months old tomorrow, and has her well baby check up at the doctor's next week where we will learn about all sorts of new challenges for the next few months, including introducing solid foods! Sometimes it seems like she's growing up way too fast, but I look forward to all the fun things to come and can joyfully reflect on all the progress we've made thus far!