6 months

Another busy month for The West Wind clan. We had 2 more visitors, Nana Sue and Grampy Bill. The Station Fire raged less than 10 miles from our neighborhood. It was a hot month with some pretty major baby happenings. :)

At the beginning of the month Mina had her 6 month well-baby visit and received her first vaccinations. She's perfectly healthy and on target for her age. Here are her stats:
Height - 26.5 inches, 75th percentile
Weight - 18 lbs 11 oz, 93rd percentile
Head - 44.5 cm, 85th percentile
(Yes, she's a big girl!)

We slowly introduced Mina to solid foods this month, all prepared fresh here at home by us. I never thought using a food mill could be so rewarding! It's a wonderful feeling to prepare the food that will be nourishing your baby, and that will be her 1st experience of solid foods. So far she's had: brown rice, banana, sweet potato and peas. Her favorite being banana. :) We had a little run-in with constipation at the end of the month... she went 5 days without a poopie. During that time Mina was not very interested in solid foods. Smart girl!

When Nana Sue was here we went to La Jolla to visit my cousin & his family (they have newborn twins) as well as Nana Sue's sister and her husband. It was a lovely day. Mina spent a bit of time in a pack and play, and actually pulled up to her knees for the first time in the p&p. She also started crawling backwards. She has not yet mastered the art of crawling forwards, but she does some great yoga poses... downward facing dog & dolphin. :) Mina loves to stand with a bit of assistance, in fact she's more interested in standing than in crawling.

Towards the middle of the month Mina began sitting up by herself from a laying down position. This has changed the crib experience dramatically. We have her crib beside the bed, so now when she wakes up she sits up and then stares at us. It was unnerving at first, but now it's cute because she's usually smiling at us as well. :)

An interesting thing that happened this month involved Captain Henry, Mina's favorite pirate cat. Mina and I were on the floor in the living room on her playmat and Henry walked by and did something silly. Well Mina laughed at him, then looked at me and smiled and we both laughed together. It was so cool to interact with her like that!

The biggest milestone this month occurred at 6 months, 3 weeks. Teeth!! She cut her first tooth on Monday, the second on Wednesday. Her behavior was erratic for a few days, but by Thursday it was smooth sailing. Grampy Bill arrived that week, too. He was great with Mina. We had a major heat wave while Grampy was here, and a huge fire, so we took off for Venture one day and Santa Monica the next to enjoy the fresh and somewhat cooler ocean air.

Mina's 1/2 birthday

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Mina!!

For her 6 month birthday Mina ate her first solid food. Well, semi-solid food! Mommy prepared an organic brown rice porridge from scratch, mixed in some fresh boob juice and then spoon fed the birthday girl with a bamboo baby spoon.

month 5

Butterflies! Merry-Go-Round! Tar pits! Grandpa Jerry and Uncle GJ! Cousins!

Month 5 was awfully fun. Mina is very interactive now and it keeps us on our toes. She's sleeping well through the night, waking up once or twice for a milk-snack. She's getting big, already 18 lbs and wearing 6 - 9 month clothes. It's amazing how quickly they grow out of clothes. :)

One morning after walking with my mommy friend Caro and her boy CH (who is approx. 3 weeks younger than Mina) we got to see the babies really interact with each other. They've been together a few times so far, but not really caring much about the other. This time was special - they were each sitting on their mom's lap, facing each other and they got it. Mina reached over to touch CH's face (luckily she was gentle - it was a hot morning and she was moving slowly) and CH sucked on her hand. It was wonderful for both of us moms to see. :)

We visited with another mommy friend and baby this month. This mom and I were due on the same day, but Mina came early and he was a bit late. We hung out at Griffith Park and rode the Merry-Go-Round together with the babies. We wore them in slings while sitting in the bench seats and went round and round. Mina feel asleep immediately after, so did her baby friend.

As a family we don't watch much TV, in fact, we don't even have cable. Netflix allows us to watch a movie or TV show when we're in the mood. We started reading aloud to each other (and Mina), which has been a wonderful way to bond and relax. Right now we're reading "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline L'Engle, which is the first book in a series of 5. I have fond memories of this book, it was one of my favorites as a young girl, so it's extra-special to be reading it aloud as a family.


Week 21:
Mina begins to explore with very grabby hands. ("the grabbing hands grab all they can..." to quote Depeche Mode) She likes to grab our noses and mouths, and grabs often. This week she began to sit upright unassisted. Her world totally changed. We visited the Natural History Museum - they have a temporary butterfly pavillion. Mina wanted to grab the butterflies. It was sweet. Glad she didn't catch any...

Still More Butterflies from Greg Wiatroski on Vimeo.

Week 22:
The grabbing continues. She's strong!!

Week 23:
Teething for real. Mina is more drooly than ever and we can see whitish marks on her lower gums where her teeth are slowly making their way to the surface.
Grandpa Jerry arrived this week. We went to the Autry Museum and looked at cool cowboy stuff. Crazy Uncle GJ came in at the end of the week. It was great to see Grandpa and Uncle with Mina.

Week 24:
More grabbing. Mina loves watching Captain Henry, he fascinates her. She got to meet my cousin Tina and her husband Johnny. Oh, and she went to the Page Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits.

Week 25:
Still teething! Those darn chompers are gonna bust through any day now!! Our strong sitting up girl now sits like a big kid in a high chair at the table with us. She is very happy now that she's on the same level with us, part of the group and all. No food for her yet...

month 4 recap

Wilhelmina Grace is 21 weeks old. A I sit here on the glider gliding and typing (one-handed) she's sleeping peacefully on my lap. It's hard for me to believe she's already 5 months old. It's true what they all say, that time flies with a babe and before you know it their poopies will stink and they'll be borrowing you jewelry. I think that our choice to have me home with her (S.A.H.M.) has turned this whole parenting thing into an alternate-reality kind of experience. I'm totally immersed in her world. Baby bubble. Poppy lives here with us, but he somehow manages to make it to work every weekday for 9 or so hours.

Mina's personality is showing more every day. I know she's not the Dalai Lama (because the parenting book on the back of our toilet has a checklist in it) but she has this amazing depth and peace to her. When she's not fussing. A few people have commented on her peaceful vibe, her calm joy. This is when she's not crying, mind you. She's a normal, healthy baby who is getting used to a growing body - so she cries sometimes. Luckily the happy smiling laughing peaceful times are more frequent than the crying times.

week 17
At her 4 month Well Baby visit Mina weighed 16.5 lbs (95th %), height 25 inches (75th %) and head size 42 cm (75th %). All is well. Healthy baby!

week 18
Poppy left for 4 days on a business trip. Mommy & Mina socialized with friends and went to the zoo. Mina laughed a lot and started making some cute pterodactyl-like noises of joy. Quite screechy and silly. She wants to stand a lot, supported of course.

week 19
Mina rolls over more often and really seems to enjoy being on her tummy. We all went on our first family road trip vacation to Cambria for a long weekend to celebrate our 1st anniversary. We stayed in a quaint cottage, took nature beach walks, saw sea lions, visited fairy gardens, went to Harmony, tasted wine in Paso Robles and renewed our vows on Summer Solstice while also celebrating Father's day.

week 20
So much in one week! Mina likes to scoot around on her belly, sort of worm crawling - pushing with her legs but not using her arms. It's adorable. She's found her feet and toes and assumes Happy Baby yoga position often. Usually during diaper changes. She's officially teething and has started making raspberry noises while blowing bubbles with all the extra saliva. She wants to either stand or sit upright, with our help. Mina is in a rush to stand up and sit up. She loves book time with Poppy and has started to help hold her board books and even helps turn the pages. One evening she reached over to grab for her books on the nightstand when it was time to read! I hope we are raising a bookworm. :)

month 3

Things are just getting more and more fun with our darling little duckling... At 3 months old Mina is way more interactive and entertaining. She graces us with lots of smiles and laughter. Her personality is really starting to shine through, one minute smiling then the next she is bashful and shy. Playing it coy and working us, that wise little imp! She has gotten to be more regular in her sleeping habits which makes all of us a lot happier. We are co-sleeping with her in our bed, and quite often she sleeps 8 hours with only a diaper change and/or a feeding snuck in there somewhere.

At 12 weeks Mina found herself in the mirror... well, she found a cute baby in the mirror. I think it will take a little while for her to figure out that cute baby is her. She flirts and smiles at this cute baby. We find ourselves spending lots of time in front of the mirror with her, dancing and singing and carrying on. It makes her happy, which makes us happy!

She started really holding her toys and rattles 13 weeks. One of her favorite things is her "Precious" little pink lovey blanket a friend of ours gave her. She holds it and chews it and licks it and loves it. That thing always has a gooey wet corner.... She also loves her Haba wooden toys and Sophie the Giraffe, the natural latex teether toy (not teething yet. whew.)

Drool. Lots and lots and lots of drool. We started using bibs to absorb all that drool. She makes bubbles with the drool. That's kinda cute. Otherwise the drool is really not much fun. But at least she's not spitting up quite as much as she used to.



14 weeks was Mina's first concert, Stan Ridgeway at the South Pasadena Art & Eclectic Music Festival. She rocked out.




Mommy celebrated her first official Mother's Day. Poppy and Mina took Mommy to Real Food Daily for lunch. A darling little boy bravely came over to the table and wished Mommy a happy first Mother's Day. It was so sweet! Then Poppy watched Mina so Mommy could sneak off to get a Thai massage.

At 15 weeks there are lots of grabs and reaches for toys and things. She scratches at her new dandelion garden vinyl wall art beside her changing table, trying to grab the delicate flowers. She started squirming a lot and arching her back, especially in her Boppasan chair.



Her Uncle Bill and Aunt Trish came to visit for Memorial Day. Mina learned about high end high heels and upscale cowboy boots from Aunt Trish. It was fun hanging with the family. Uncle Bill took some great snaps with his fancy camera.



At 16 weeks she rolled from her back to her belly on the bed!! It was easy for her because Mommy was next to her, so the roll was slightly downhill... She does Tummy Time regularly which helps her strengthen her neck and back muscles, preparing her for the strength to sit up and crawl. We are in no rush for the crawling or walking. Not at all.



We've started to try to implement some sign language into our conversations with Baby Miss Mina. Change, Milk, Happy, Light and Cat are a few that we've gotten comfortable with. Both Grandmothers gave us books and dvds on the benefits of communicating with your infant/baby using sign language. Oh, and we've also been reading to her every night. She loves her time with Poppy as he reads to her about 10 rubber ducks, goodnight things, hopping on pop and animal moo baa lalala sounds.

Baby Pics

Baby Mina vs. Baby Mommie & Baby Poppie

12 weeks

It's been a great few weeks. Mina has started to really show her personality and is more aware of us. She smiles and giggles with us (or maybe at us) and it's the most wonderful thing to experience. Tonite she was smiling at herself - G. was holding her up to a mirror and she thought the little baby in the mirror was super cute.

Ok, so big news: Nicole (good friend/sister in Florida) gave birth to her daughter Hazel on March 30th. Hazel was 9 lbs and 21". It's very exciting to have good friends with children of the same age as Mina. I feel lucky with that, even if some of those friends are far away....

1 week later at our pediatrician's office Mina weighed in at 12.4 lbs and 23 3/4". Here are her stats:
50th percentile for height
90th percentile for weight (oink)
75th percentile for head size (big brain, smarty)

Nana Sue came to visit us for a week in the begining of April. It was wonderful to have help around the house again. Mina enjoyed her 1st long car ride (2+ hrs) when Nana Sue & I went to visit cousin Allison in La Jolla. Allison is expecting twins, a boy and a girl, in June. She looks great and I'm thrilled that Mina will have cousins (or is it second cousins?) her own age that live fairly close.

Mina had her first Real Bath in the bathtub with mommy at approx 10 weeks old. She had fun and so did Mommy. Since then she's only had Real Baths, both with Mommy and Poppy. She's been sleeping like an angel since about 2 months old, with the exception of a growth spurt and a few off nights. She usually sleeps for 3 or 4 hours, wakes up with a wet diaper then goes back to sleep. I'm nursing her in the bed which helps us all sleep more soundly. She's so cute - when she's hungry she knocks her head against my breast to wake me. We've begun doubling her cloth diapers at night to make things even easier for all of us. :)

Easter was spent at Griffith Park. It was a lovely day for a picnic, we all had fun. Mommy & Poppy snuck some Sauvignon Blanc in a baby bottle since alcohol isn't allowed in the park.

The day after Easter our littlest cat, Littlelittles, made The Big Escape. He fell thru the window while climbing the screen and we've not seen him since. Very sad. The other 2 cats miss him terribly and so do we.

Since I've been walking so frequently with Mina a new stroller was in order. Poppy got us the Uppababy Vista which looks great and performs beautifully. It's the Audi of strollers. :)

My 40th birthday was April 22nd (also Earth Day) and to celebrate my friend Shawn took me to lunch and then we all went to Descanso Gardens. Mina slept thru the whole garden adventure, so Shawn and I hunted faeries without her. It was a lovely day. Poppy and I went back to Descanso a few days later and this time Mina was awake to enjoy the roses and faeries.

Milestones:

Mina has head and neck control
More smiles and cute behavior
She has started to drool and make spittle bubbles
Mina sleeps more consistently at night (yipee!)