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!)

2 months already?!

WOW! Time flies when you're not sleeping much... Mina is 2 months old. Over 10 lbs and 21 inches. Lots of hair. She gets cuter by the second, more adorable every day.

At about 1 month Mina hit her first puberty... well, sort of. She got BabyAcne. Ugh. It took all my willpower to keep from 'treating' it, since newborns are so sensitive I was reluctant to use anything other than a gentle baby cleanser. The acne lasted almost 2 weeks, then it turned to eczema. I used gentle baby lotion and oils (all-natural, non-mineral oil based) and tried to not pick at the flakes. Finally it all went away... now her skin is relatively bump and flake free.




Mina graduated to real baths - no more sponge baths! At first she wasn't too thrilled about them, but she got used to them quickly! I started bathing her in the kitchen sink but transitioned to the bathroom sink, which is easier. For now - she will soon outgrow our tiny bathroom sink. After her baths we follow up with a massage, like a real spa treatment. Oh! At about 6 weeks Mina's hair began to curl when wet. It's kinda funky and wavy when dry, at least for a day. With all the petting, our oily hands end up straightening and flattening out her 'do.



We've taken her out to eat regularly. Usually she sleeps quietly while we enjoy a meal. Hope this lasts. :)

Mina has had lots of visitors since her 1 month birthday. She puts on a happy face for company most of the time, but sometimes she just doesn't feel social and will fuss. She loves to be outdoors so we try and take a walk every day. Usually in the stroller because the vibrations lull her to sleep. She gets carried in the sling daily - around the house and sometimes on quick errands. She is happy when we wear her...most of the time.



Mina's Gram visited from Florida at 7 weeks. We all had a lovely time. Gram babysat twice - once so Mommy & Poppy could get Thai Massages and the other so we could have a dinner date. We missed Mina but enjoyed having a bit of time to ourselves. :) With Gram we went out to eat, shopped, walked and visited Descanso Gardens. Gram cooked yummy and healthy food and helped with Mina. Quite a few times she sat and held Mina close while she slept in her arms, but that peace was balanced by the times she held and soothed her while she was fussing. The cats were happy to have someone to sleep with and hang out with, since we're too busy with the baby to give them the attention they're used to.




Mina is taking to the bottle well too. Gram and Poppy have each fed the baby girl twice since our last update. These is great as it gives Mommy's food bags a much needed break.


Milestones:

Baby Acne/eczema 4 - 7 weeks
Mina follows movement with her eyes focused - 6 weeks
Mina follows movement with her eyes & head - 7 weeks
Mina watches her b&w mobile and garden - 7 weeks
Lots of smiles
Legs are strong, she stands with support for a short while - 7 weeks
Mina recognized Mommy and smiled at her - 8 weeks

Mina's third and fourth weeks

I realize that I failed to mention something about Mina and the breech position thing. When she was delivered the surgeon said that there was nothing preventing her from turning to the optimal position for vaginal birth, the placenta and cord were not in her way. So she was determined to arrive via the window and not the door. Headstrong little duckling!















Week 3: The week began with a fussy Mina and a huge spit-up. The Big Spitupski. Actually a vomit, and all over me. The first of many. We went to the pediatrician the following day, all is well with our girl. Normal, normal, normal. The umbilical stump came off there at the office, and of course we saved it. After we left the dr. we were starving so we took Mina along to grab a bite to eat. Very exciting, her first restaurant outing. She went out for dinner again a few days later. Mina loves being worn in the Moby Wrap. I wore her for an hour in Target and she was a doll. The week ended with another fussy day and night, but this time with a huge appetite. A growth spurt.

<--- In the Target parking lot wearing Mina in the Moby Wrap.

















<---- Mina had on these cute booties that I made with a vintage pattern my friend Amber gave me.












Week 4:
:( G went back to work this week. So sad. We miss him. Mina still fussy so I decide to ease up on dairy consumption. This will be difficult, even though I was vegan before getting pregnant, because I love cheese. Cow's milk is known to irritate babies, even filtered through mama. I used our breast pump for the first time this week and G got to feed Mina from a bottle. He loved it, and so did she. We started wearing Mina in the ring sling and the mai tei baby slings.

Mina had many visitors this week, we finally felt ready to meet the world. Mina had met a few folks already, but this was the official opening of the doors. She was good with everyone, except on Friday when she was fussy all day long. Kelly came over then. It was nice to have someone else there to distract me while Mina was fussing. Claudia was in town visiting from Atlanta, it was great that she could come see us and meet Mina. Here she is with me, Mina (in ring sling) and Cheryl.






<------ Here is Mina all cozy against Poppy in her BabyHawk Mei Tei sling.

















As I read over this it sounds like all Mina did was fuss for 2 weeks, and that's totally not true. She was only fussy for like 3 days, and only one day for the entire day. Overall she is a mellow baby. It's getting easier now that we have a better grasp of her language. We know which cry is for boob juice and which is for soiled diaper - and if it's not one of those it's just a cry to be held. Mina is officially 1 month old! Here are the milestones of the past 2 weeks:

• Umbilical stump fell off. I saved it in a ziplock bag.
• 2 restaurant outings
• 2 walks in the neighborhood with Mommy on her own. Mina in stroller.
• Mina's eyes now follow us, she watches our faces intently. She is also starting to pay attention to her black and white mobile and book.
• Baby acne has struck. :( My fault - my hormones.
• Mina also has little boobies and is sort of lactating. Again, my fault - my hormones.

• 

Updated Belly Video

I finally got a chance to update the video of Darcy's amazing belly transformation with the shots from the last trimester. You've got to see it to believe it!