Thursday, January 29, 2009

Our five month old

Christina is five months old today and she has her third cold. Unfortunately, she caught it from her Mommy this time. I've been sick for a few days now, but I'm starting to feel better. Christina is still her happy self, but she is congested. I think she'll be just fine.

I can't believe that five months have passed so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant. As easily as I can remember giving birth, I still can't actually grasp the concept that I did it. It's crazy, I had a baby. Christina is so real and so right in my life, but the concept of delivering a baby is still so foreign to me. I'm weird, right? It doesn't make sense I guess.

But, I am so happy to remember those first few days with Christina and remember how she has grown and changed, and yet she is still just a baby. She still can't walk or talk and she can't even eat real food. She will change so much more as time goes by that it seems weird to think about how much she has changed so far. I wonder if I'll remember in detail how she was at two months old when she is two years old. Small steps will turn into much bigger one's I guess.

I still look at her on most mornings and think "Wow, she is getting so big." And yet, she is still so small. I can scoop her up so easily and cuddle her close to my heart. Thank goodness for that. I am excited for her to start crawling and being more independent, but I don't look forward to the time when she will always want to be put down. I don't look forward to her being over the cuddling. Hopefully breastfeeding will help keep some cuddling time on the table every day. She'll have to eat right?

Anyway, Happy five months old Christina! You are so perfect in every way, Mommy and Daddy love you dearly!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Daycare

Pro's:
Getting use to and socializing with other babies
Lots to look at/being entertained 24/7
I can run over and see her anytime I want (it's less than 2 miles from work)
My milk supply is going up since I can nurse her on my lunch break

Con's:
Not knowing exactly what goes on when I'm not there: how well they treat her, what she is doing, if she is happy, etc etc
Not spending time with her myself
Catching lots of germs from the other babies
The cost

Whichever way you look at it doesn't matter really, because Christina has to be in daycare three days a week. We just can't afford another option. So, I try to think of the Pro's more than the Con's. Honestly, I think it is really good for her because she seems to get bored really easily when she is at home. At Daycare there is so much to do and see.

Christina just finished her first week at daycare. I think it went pretty well. We are both adjusting. She isn't taking real naps there, but I guess I expected that. Between the noise and not wanting to miss anything, she just can't sleep. I'm sure over time that will change. Until then, she has been sleeping almost the entire time she isn't at daycare. So at least I know she is getting the rest she needs.

I'm going to give this Daycare thing another week and then I'll report back. It is so new right now that I'm not totally sure how I feel about it.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

It's about time




"Presents!"



"Getting use to my Bumbo chair":





"My first text":


Just hanging out . . .







Family pictures:















Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Next stop, tooth fairy

We just got back from our trip to Georgia with Christina. Overall it went really well. Christina seemed to handle all of the craziness as if it was an everyday routine. We didn't have much time to visit everyone, so we were constantly in and out of the car, but she didn't mind. In fact, she napped every time.

The flights to and from went pretty well also. Going through security is pretty chaotic: taking off shoes, belts, jackets; taking CC out of the carseat and putting both the carseat and stroller on the belt; taking the laptop out; taking all of the bottles and liquids (tylenol, gas drops, etc) out. Even in all of the chaos though, Christina was an angel. She slept the entire plane ride home too. I can't say the same for the way there, but she was still pretty good. She cried just a little during takeoff because she didn’t want to suck on anything and I'm sure her ears hurt. She had an explosive dirty diaper right before we took off, but that didn't stop her from falling asleep and staying that way for thirty minutes --eeeww. When she finally woke up, the seat belt sign was off, so I was able to change her. The worst part of the trip was the fifteen minutes I spent in that tiny bathroom. Christina was not a big fan of laying naked on a hard, cold surface while I wiped her from head to toe. When it was all over and we were back in our seats, she was back to her usual self.

The best part about the trip was visiting all of our friends and family. Christina got some face time with other babies for the first time and although she didn't seem to care much, I thought it was pretty cool. She met her cousin Evie for the first time and my best friend's children Donovan and Gemma. The two girls are just over a year old and Donovan is almost three. It will be exciting when Christina is a little older and she can really play with them.

Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take pictures for most of the trip :-( I took a couple the first night and then after that, nothing. I guess it was all of the running around. But, I still have pictures to post from Christmas and I really need to get off my butt and get them on here. That is on the top of my blog to do list, except for one piece of totally important news . . . Christina is getting her first tooth!!

She was very cranky yesterday and we weren't sure why. I thought she might be teething, but Nik didn't think so. Low and behold, this morning there is a tiny little white tooth coming up on the bottom, right in front. It is so exciting!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

To sum things up - yikes

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year. I've actually been too busy to post because my little girl was very sick. At first we thought it was just a cold, but one thing lead to another and she ended up with RSV and pneumonia. RSV is a respiratory virus that affects infants and it is pretty serious. Luckily she didn't get admitted to the hospital, but it was a close call. We did have a couple of doctor's visits, several x-rays, and a trip to the ER - not exactly a fun way to ring in the New Year.

Luckily, Christina was still the happiest baby on the block. Even when she was having trouble breathing, she had no trouble smiling. The doctor's were all impressed at just how happy she seemed, even when she was very sick.

There were a few tough days and nights. She didn't eat or sleep much and all she wanted to do was have me hold her and walk around with her. After a few days though, she started to feel better. I am relieved that it is behind us and hopefully we will be more prepared for the next time she gets sick. Or, let's just hope she doesn't get sick again - yeah I know, wishful thinking.

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, a couple of nights ago, my other babies - Amstel and Shadow, got attacked by a neighbor's dog.

Both of my dogs are ok, but the whole thing was very scary. I am still pretty shaken up about it in fact. What makes me so angry about the whole thing is that this is the SECOND time this particular dog has attacked my dogs and it's because the clueless owner never puts her dog on a leash. Given, her dog is pretty friendly, but after the first incident, you would think that she would learn her lesson.

I was outside walking my dogs, minding my own business, and this huge dog just came running towards us. Knowing about the first time she attacked, I tried to grab both of my dogs. I got Amstel in one arm and went for Shadow but she wouldn't come to me. Even though Shadow is half the size of Amstel, and Amstel is about 5 times smaller than the neighbor's dog, Shadow was running towards her. Shadow has no fear.

When the fight started, I kept yelling at the neighbor "Why isn't your dog on a leash!, your dog is never on a leash!", "This is the second time, my dogs were traumatized for days after the last time!", "Look how little my dogs are!!" I know this wasn't productive, but I was just so upset and I didn't know what to do.

Still failing to get Shadow into my arms, the neighbor’s dog ended up completely on top of her and I thought she was not going to make it out of there alive. The neighbor was trying to pull her dog off Shadow, but she was too heavy to lift. I started screaming, "No, No, No!!" I was so scared that her dog was killing Shadow. I kept pulling at her leash but I couldn't get her out.

Finally, her husband came running out and grabbed the dog. Shadow was bleeding and had cuts all over her, but thank goodness they were not very deep. I finally had both dogs in my arms and I was shaking. The neighbor followed me to my house to let me in because I couldn't even get the door open. She continued to repeat over and over "I'm sorry".

That night I had trouble sleeping and I've been afraid to walk the dogs by myself ever since. The neighbor left an apology letter at my door telling me she will make sure her dog is on a leash from now on, but I can't help being cautious. The scary part is that if it happens again, I don't really know what I can do differently to protect my dogs. Ultimately, I need to get them in my arms, and that is not easy to do.

I guess the important thing is that both of my dogs are ok. It could have been much worse and I know that. I just can't help replaying what happened over and over again.

Me, Nik and Christina are taking a little mini-vacation at the end of the week though, so let’s hope that goes well. It will be Christina's first time on an airplane so I know it could be a big mess, but I hope not! We are due for a little fun and relaxation!