Four months this week

Anya has survived four months in our care...... or perhaps I should say we have survived four months of parenting!

We are officially out of the newborn phase now. Anya is awake often during the day and we are attempting to get her onto some semblance of a napping pattern. Today I put her down and listened to her 'cry it out" for longer then I could handle. I went to soothe her on multiple occasions but her crying was like little daggers in my heart. You might think that is a bit over the top but until you have had to endure your own sweet baby cry herself/himself to sleep you can't imagine the emotional pain it causes the mother! So here I sit updating the blog when I should be meeting with my weekly moms group but Anya eventually fell asleep and is still napping. I couldn't possibly wake her up after I made her fall asleep. Ah, the trials and tribulations of parenting. So I figured I would make good use of my time and update the blog.

Anya and I have been going it alone the past two weekends. Myles was in Spokane last weekend for a work conference and on a three day bachelor trip this past weekend. It was rough being a single parent, I'm not gonna lie. We are happy to have him home now for a while.

Anya is sitting up in her Bumbo chair like a champ. She is liking it more and more. Last week I put together her exersaucer (round play station with a seat in the middle). She loves to stand and I thought this would be a great way for her to practice without having to physically hold her ourselves. Well it was a well thought out plan until I placed her in it and her legs were no where near the bottom. So we jury-rigged it and have an exerdisc (dynadisc-round disc filled with air used for balance training exercises) on top of the bouncy platform so her feet can touch. It scoots around a little but she is getting the hang of standing on it. Of course our daughter with be working her core while she practices chewing on her toys!

We had the Piskels come and stay Thursday night at our house with their daughter Lucy. Anya and Lucy loved to look at each other and grab each others hands and faces. In the picture to the right Anya is in her exercauser and Lucy is laying on her playmat. They both have a million toys to look at but they choose to stare at each other! Too funny!

We are starting swimming lessons this week. I am taking Anya to the Bellevue Aquatic Center and using their therapy pool- 91 degrees! We have another mom from my group joining us with her daughter who is 6 months old. It is going to be so much fun. Anya loves her baths so I'm sure the pool will be a hoot!

I purchased a Halloween costume for Anya last week. She is going to be a dalmatian- it really doesn't get any cuter!

This video is Myles making his daughter laugh and giggle while he bounces her around calling her a jumping bean.

Baby in the corner

This has been a bit of a rough week in terms of sleep for us. Anya slept very well in her crib last week but has recently decided to wake every 2-3 hours again causing her mother to slip back in to sleep deprivation mode. Just when I thought we had the sleeping thing nailed, she throws a monkey wrench in my happy world. I guess it is true what they say, "the only thing you can count on with a baby is change." Ain't that the truth.

I am trying a technique a mom from my cycle class shared with me. She said that when babies are used to being in a confined space (bassinet) it is helpful to move them from the middle of the crib to the corner to emulate that same safe space. So we are literally "putting baby in the corner."

Appropriately following this new sleep disturbance is a new found temper and crankiness. Our once good sleeping, sweet natured child is finding herself and letting it be known. She is a doll in the morning and takes several naps through out the day. Right around 5-6 at night she starts getting tired and cranky making our dinner meal a real joy.

It isn't all doom and gloom though. She is delightful when she is happy and well rested. She smiles when you enter a room and laughs when you tickle her belly. She is becoming more aware of her surroundings and her eyes follow Boone around the room especially when he is playing with his toys. She is very interested in her toys and knows the difference between new toys and older ones.

Over Labor Day Weekend Anya met her newest friend Lucy Piskel. Lucy is about one month older then Anya and they were absolutely adorable together.

Oma and Opa (Susie and Karl) got back into town and got to spend some quality time with her. She was a good girl and loved seeing her other grandparents again.

During the week, when I teach my T/Th spin class my dad and mom come over to take care of Anya. They take Anya and Boone for a walk and explore our neighborhood. On Thursdays Grandpa takes care of her all by himself. When he entered the house yesterday she gave him a heart melting smile and I watched my Dad turn to mush. It was adorable!

For the next two weekends Anya and I are on our own. Daddy is going to Spokane for a work conference this weekend and up to the Hood Canal cabin for a boys weekend the next. It will be interesting to be a single parent for two weekends in a row. I'm up for the challenge but poor Daddy is really sad about being gone and missing time with his girls.

Anya has taken to her Bumbo chair this week. I have included a short video showing her playing with her toys in her new seat. Not very exciting to watch but cute none the less. (Those are Myles' hairy legs with the black socks by the way.....not mine!)

We have started a bedtime routine which includes showering with Dad at 8pm, feeding, reading a book and having Daddy rock her to sleep or putting her down drowsy but awake sometimes. She LOVES her showers. All smiles!

Firsts and professional pics

We have taken a large step and Anya is now sleeping in her own room all night in her crib. She has gotten too big for her bassinet and it was time to move her to her crib so last night she spent her first night in her room. All went well with her first wake up at 12am and then no peep until 6:45am.

What are frists you might wonder? Well, that is endearing term I made up for Anya's wrists/forearms. I decided her cubby little wrists needed a special name and thought to combine the two very similar to cankles (calf/ankles). So since she has cubby wrists we lovingly refer to them as her "frists" at this point in her life she does not have cankles.

We got Anya's pictures back that we had professionally taken when she was 6 weeks old. They are precious. She has changed so much since then it is amazing. We will FINALLY send out announcements in keeping with tradition (even though it seems odd to me to announce our child's birth that happened over 3 months ago- whatever!)

She's rolling over!

She is on the move. Last Friday Anya officially rolled over from flat on her back to flat on her tummy. I ran upstairs to grab something and when I came back down she had completely flipped. She has since done it while Myles and I were watching so we know Boone didn't just nose her over!
During the past two weeks she has visited with family and friends quite a bit. She spent some time with her older girl cousins who all wanted to hold her and play with her. We also went up to the cabin (again) this was her third trip. She did really well and even ate an oyster! (well I did so indirectly she did)
On a not so great note, she decided she didn't like the bottle anymore last weekend. We will continue to try different types but it was a major struggle. She is getting older and knows the difference now... good and bad I guess.


Lot's of cute pictures over the last two weeks. She is getting cuter and cuter as the weeks go on.


Her sleeping is all over the map. Some nights she sleeps from 8:30 to 3 am and then wakes again at 7:30. Those are awesome! One night we put her to bed kind of late and she slept from 10pm to 5 am- I considered that sleeping through the night but that was a one time occurrence. Other nights she wakes at 12am, 3am or 4am and then 6am or 7am. Those are long nights with even longer days following.
All and all, Myles and I are adjusting to our life as parents and we can't imagine our life without her. What did we do all day? ha ha. Myles loves playing with her and making her exercise-even if it is just in her socks and diaper. Good look huh!

First Vacation to the San Juan Islands

We are home from a successful albeit cold and rainy trip to the San Juans aboard the Rock N Roll. Normally, Myles and I take up our sailboat every summer to the San Juan and Gulf Islands but this year we decided it would be too difficult to do the trip with our 2 1/2 month old daughter. So fortunately my parents were up in the islands all summer and invited us up for a week to stay and cruise aboard their boat.

We started in Anacortes and lugged all of our "baby crap" on the boat. Dad had made extra room for us and our stuff by off loading their golf clubs and bikes. We toured and stayed at Sucia Island, then headed into Canada (Anya's first trip abroad), staying in Otter Bay, then Tumbo Island and finally Poets cove. We came back into the US and stayed in Friday harbor where Myles caught a ferry back to Anacortes a few days earlier then Anya and I. We remained on the boat and went to La Conner and then headed back through the locks into Lake Washington on Friday afternoon.

The weather was rainy off and on and cold usually but we had a few nicer days slipped in too. Anya did very on the boat and got to wear some of her cute hoodies and warmer clothes she hasn't been wearing at home due to the hot weather. The real treat was for her grandparents and dad to spend quality time with her. We relaxed and played watching her discover her hands and start to use them to bat objects around that we hung over her head. She also started drooling a lot and blowing bubbles with her spit- very ladylike! By the end of the trip we left her alone with her grandpa for 1/2 hour and he did fabulously even though he was panicked every time she whimpered or cried. He just wanted to "fix it" and sometimes babies just cry so dad was always relieved when she was happy and cooing in his arms.

She has been sleeping well, but the night Myles left her sleeping went totally awry. She was up all night fussing and grunting and since we were sharing a cabin I heard everything and didn't sleep a wink. After she had proceeded to do the exact same thing a second night in a row we decided to come home a day early and get her back in her regular environment. At least at home I can stick her in her room and let her fuss instead of having her right next to my head. Thankfully upon our return she has easily slipped back into her sleeping patterns that allows me (and her) to get some good rest.

Just in the last few days her coos and smiles have been accompanied with some giggles. It is absolutely adorable. She grins her huge toothless gummy grin and giggles at you.... nothing is funnier or more sweet.

Two months and counting

Today Anya is 9 weeks old. These first two months have flown by (so has our summer!)

We went to the doctor today and she had her two month checkup complete with vaccinations. Watching her get poked and then her face turned bright red in pain was just about as much as I could stomach. That has got to be one of the toughest things to watch ever. She is on Tylenol tonight and is much fussier then our normal sweet baby. I guess this is a little taste of what life would be like if she was a cholicy or fussy baby normally. Usually when she cries there is a definite reason and Myles or I can easily take care to relieve the source of her frustration. Tonight it's just fussy cries- poor girl.

Here are her latest stats

weight 10 lbs 5 oz 48%
length 22 1/4 inches 50%
head 15 inches 45%

So yes, sadly she has fallen from 75% in length to 50%. Looks like she will be more in line with her Mom and Dad in the height department!

Developmentally she is doing very well. The Dr commented on her affinity for standing. YES she stands with assistance of course and has been doing this since she was a newborn. The Dr suggested we buy a jumper for her soon since she loves to stand erect so much. Her head control is very good now and she has almost rolled all the way over. She gets very close and is drooling and concentrating so hard it is only a matter of days before she gets all the way over. I'm not quite sure what she will do once she does finally flip though because she isn't that fond of tummy time. We shall see.......

Last week was HOT. We survived by trips to the mall and even hanging out at a friends house with AC on Wednesday. Breastfeeding in a 90 degree house is miserable for both mom and baby. We are VERY happy the cooler weather has returned.

I continued to teach my cycle class for two days last week and Diane Sweeney came to our house and watched Anya while I taught. It was so nice to have her around and Anya absolutely adores her. On Thursday we went out to lunch and Anya was being a little fussy in her carseat so we took her out and let her lounge on the booth bench. So funny!

This Friday Myles, Anya and I are leaving to meet my parents on the Rock N Roll ( boat) up at Anacortes. We will be travelling throughout the San Juans and possibly Gulf Islands next week. We are all very excited. I think the grandparents are just as excited to spend some time with their granddaughter- finally!

For our sailboat and our trip aboard my parents boat we purchased an infant life jacket for Anya. They fit babies from 0-30 lbs! So the pictures say it all- it is mammoth on her but it is worth it for the extra protection on board.

I have added a quick video just to see if it works. Nothing special but I will be taking more if this works.

Smiley Girl

I finally caught some good pictures of Anya smiling. She smiles a ton now but when I take the camera out they all disappear.

Last week Anya was left with a few babysitters. First, on Thursday I dropped her off at a friends house so I could teach my first cycle class post baby. Admittedly it was a little hard to drop her off and leave, but she was a good girl and seemed happy to see me when I returned (if not only to eat!)

Her cousins came up from Tacoma to visit later that same day and Natalie wanted to hold her the whole time. She was very sweet.

My parents came home on Thursday evening and were reunited with their granddaughter who had grown by leaps and bounds while they were away. Their stay was short and sweet and they took very good care of her on Friday evening while Myles and I attended a wedding. This was our first time away from Anya for an extended period of time and it went very well for grandparents and parents.
On Saturday Anya had her first photo shoot. Phil Acuncius, the photographer who shot my maternity pictures, returned and shot Anya's "newborn" pictures. She was somewhat cooperative but again the smiles were elusive. I'm sure he took enough pictures to insure us some gems.
Sunday we all went down to Gig Harbor to stay by the water and visit with Oma and Opa among others. Anya met her cousin Chloe for the first time and they are going to be fast friends. I can envision them getting into a lot trouble together.
This week we are trying to beat the heat. A few afternoons on the sailboat are on call for sure. Anya spends most the day naked in a diaper trying to stay cool. We do have a portable air conditioner in our bedroom which helps at night immensely. Now if it weren't for a baby we could get some good sleep!

Her sleeping is going very well for a baby her age actually. She usually has one 4-5 hour stretch and a 3 hour one following. 6 am seems to be the time she likes to wake up no matter when she ate last- this can be a challenge.