playtime

My baby plays hard (the blur is from her hands and legs moving about)...
...and sleeps harder!

Sorry for the unrotated photos and gap in posting, things have been busy -- we've been getting out more, spending free time planning a wedding shower, and the past few days have been 'off' for Sara. I took her to the doc last night and she's fine, possibly a mild little virus to explain the extended daytime sleeping and fussiness when she has been awake. Hopefully today my little one feels better!
She is getting cuter everyday, and can now see much more. She is holding her head a little better, and can grab the rings on her toys as she is very busy finding her hands. She looks like she wants to suck her thumb, which would be ok by me to help her get to sleep at night... so I don't have to rescue her pacifier at 4am! She loves nursery rhymes and songs, her favourite is "The Rainbow Connection". She stares at me with big smiles everytime I sing it to her. My baby is probably the only person on earth who enjoys my singing! She is also very happy to learn that her favourite aunt and uncle will now be living on our street...very exciting! Kat made me laugh saying my sis-in-law and I may start wearing June Cleaver dresses, carrying cups of sugar across the street to one another.

Sara is now officially more chic than her mom, at only 7 weeks old. Yesterday my friend who works for Holt Renfrew brought her outfits from Baby Ralph Lauren and Dolce & Gabbana... ! I can't wait to put her new dress on for the shower on Sunday, fingers crossed she doesn't spit up on it! As for me, I still don't fit into any of my regular pants and many shirts... my hips and stomach are bigger, but my boobs are smaller - so unfair!!

our first mother's day

Ok so this is two days late, but things don't always happen on schedule when you have a baby ruling the house! :)

It was both surreal and exciting to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a mom. I can't imagine a better gift than Sara. I'm still trying to wrap my head around my new identity as a mother - it's kind of like how some part of me still thinks I'm 20 years old, even though I know I'm not!! Ian went to a poker night on Saturday after taking Sara all day so that I could plant flowers in our garden, and then Grandma and Aunt Holly came for a sleepover. We had a lunch here on Sunday on our back porch. Sara was content in her bassinet covered with a great UV netting that M&K loaned to us. After everyone left, the three of us had a cuddle/nap on the couch.

Everyone says that I need to trust my own Mommy instincts with Sara, and I think I'm only beginning to figure out what those are. I've stopped reading the 'how-to' parenting books for now, and am only reading about developmental things or specific questions. All the trendy advice books are overwhelming and conflict with one another, or seem too rigid to apply to every individual baby. One thing I know for sure is that Sara is her own little person and we need to get to know her and her needs. I also need to develop more confidence as her mom and I think I've made some big strides with that in the past couple of weeks, though things change daily at this stage. Having a regular feeding schedule instead of feeding on demand, which happened by accident due to her early weight gain issues, has been an enormous help. We find a lot of her personality coming through too, like her big blue eyes discovering things, her furrowed brow when she's grumpy, her extreme love of stretching, and all of her kicking and moving her arms as though she's dancing. She also kind of pants in anticipation when we put her bib on because she knows food is coming! She likes to look at her mobile, toys and books now that she can see more, and she smiles at us a lot. I admit it does give me a complex when she's content and I pick her up for a cuddle, and she bursts into tears! Coping with fussy/crying periods in the evening is tough, but I'm told they will likely pass over the next few weeks.

Lastly, a very exciting development ... on Friday night we got a fantastic surprise: Sara slept through the night!! I have to say it again -- she slept through the night! We were floored. She had her 7pm bottle, then her 10:30 bottle (with her bum super slathered in Vaseline to ward off any wet diaper wake ups), and she conked out until her 7am feeding. She hasn't done it again, though she has been waking at 4am instead of 2:30 or 3am, so it's a start in the right direction!

some firsts at one month!

Sara was one month old on Sunday, I can hardly believe it! She has had some big 'firsts' in the past few days, it seems like every day she has a new development.

1. No mittens! On Saturday I finally managed to cut her nails well, so the mittens have come off. So far no scratches, though she seems to be starting to find her hands sometimes. She'll get them in her face all the time when she stretches (which is very often, just like Dad) and then start to find them with her mouth like the pacifier for a minute or so.

2. Social butterfly: Saturday also marked her first day out visiting. We visited Grandma and Grandpa first (Grandpa loved feeding her a bottle for the first time), and then we went to a BBQ at M&K's place. Little Kathleen loves her new girlfriend, apparently she asks every morning before daycare if they are going to see 'Baby Sara'. It was a tiring day for me, but a good "normal" day... it was also my first time in their hot tub in almost a year!

3. Hold on tight! She would try to hold our fingers through her mittens, but now that they are off, she has an iron grip on our fingers at times... even when we are feeding her a bottle!

4. Toys: Sara will spend more time in her bouncy chair now, but loves lying on her play mat / change mat looking some of her toys. She will follow them with her eyes when I move them around, and slowly she is starting to grip parts of the Lamaze toys (love these) when I open her hands and clasp them around them.

5. Big girl diapers: She graduated to size 1 diapers, and though we had a couple of leaks at first due to not fastening tight enough (they seem so big compared to newborn diapers!) now she's comfortable.

6. Splish splash in the bath: Now that her bottom half sits right in the baby tub, she actually likes the bath. Ian got some great video of her bath last night, she was all smiles as we poured warm water over her with the plastic fish cup. She likes the water on the warm end of the safe temperature range, just like her mom!

7. Shopping with mom! I braved the mall with her for the first time yesterday, and it went well! She was awake for the first 20 minutes or so and then dozed off for the rest until we got home to eat. It's amazing how much room I take up in an aisle now... and how many people stop me to comment on how cute she is! One older lady touched her cheek briefly after assuring me her hands were clean, which was weird because she didn't ask first, but she was very nice.

8. Pacifiers are a lifesaver: Sara loves her pacifier, and often when all other things have been checked first, often a cry is just for her pacifier and she calms right away. It also helps get her to sleep!

Nighttime is still hit and miss, but after 3 not so good nights, finally we had a good one last night, like we were starting to have last week. Everyone says 6-8 weeks is the magic time, especially as she is bottle feeding, and we're at 4 1/2 weeks now, so we'll see!

Week 4 developments

I hope that my recent posts honestly expressing the challenges of caring for a newborn and sleep deprivation don't come across the wrong way... my baby Sara is gorgeous and amazing, and while there is a lot to adjust to, I can't imagine our life without her! It's hard to believe she'll be a month old on Sunday. You want to get through the difficult early weeks, but you also don't want to miss a moment of how quickly they grow.

I could be wrong, but I think she is going to stay blonde... there is a touch of red in her hair like mine, but not as much as these pictures seem to show. This week she is getting more alert during the day, giving big smiles, and starting to like her bouncy chair now that her neck is getting stronger. Tummy time is still challenging because she usually cries after a few minutes, but some days are more successful. I'm also having to learn fast how to be independent for meals, laundry, showering, even getting dressed while on my own with her! It's pretty good when she's content, but forget it if she's fussy! I imagine I'll do more things while she's napping in a few more weeks, but right now she keeps me pretty busy. Plus, I want to try to sleep when she sleeps, advice many friends have stressed!

Have I mentioned how long her feet are? She doesn't fit newborn socks! They are, in my opinion though, the cutest feet I've ever seen. Every time I change her and get a peek, I have to kiss each one a few times. Now that it's warming up and she'll be in a onesie more often, I'll have even more access. On Saturday we'll take her to see Grandma and Grandpaw on the way to M&K's house for a BBQ, her first time out visiting instead of people coming here.

p.s. last night was good but I'm scared to say that in writing - not sure if it was pure luck, adjusting to day/night, or the things we've been trying, but it's one night at a time... and it gives me some hope!

Sleepy time?

Sara has given me some super cute big smiles this morning, which I just love - and we're going to go for a walk soon since it's so nice outside. It almost makes me forget that she would just not go to sleep last night after her 11pm bottle ... Ian fed her so I could sleep, but of course I couldn't fall asleep hearing everything (argh!). Then I tried, and though she wasn't upset after a diaper change, she was just totally AWAKE. She even took about 20 minutes to fall asleep after the next bottle which is very unusual. Then she slept from 7:30am - 10:30am this morning, but do you think I could sleep with her? Though I was exhausted, I was on the couch and just couldn't do more than doze here and there. Hmmm, here's hoping tonight is better so that mom gets more than a couple of hours sleep!

Just us girls

On Saturday night, my MIL stayed overnight and gave Ian and I a full night's sleep -- wow!! I didn't realize how much we needed it, it was awesome.

Sara is growing well, she weighed in at 9lbs 5oz this week, up from 8lbs 9oz the week before. She is a hungry girl! We more or less have her on a good four hour feeding routine now, which I really want to stick to, taking 4oz each time. We're working hard at distinguishing nighttime and bedtime too, and she has been quicker to fall asleep so far. She is showing some signs of needing 5oz at some feeds now though. She has woken twice each night between her 11pm and 7am feed for the past few nights, which is really hard for my own sleep, and I can only hold her off for so long! I'm wondering if she is needing more food during the day/evening, or if the second wake up could be a wet diaper bothering her... I can hold off her feeding longer at that time once I've changed her (though I held her to sleep last time in an effort to get more than 2 hours sleep myself, which may have been a mistake.) So, I'm going to try some 5oz bottles and a thicker diaper cream than Vaseline to keep moisture away, and see if it helps.

Ian is working 6am - 4pm (usually later) for the next 5 weeks, so I'm on all weekday night feedings/wake ups, which is tough. Can't wait for his help on the weekends! This is also my full week on my own with Sara, which is good for us but also a new challenge. Yesterday we had fun together, although at her doctor's checkup while I was waiting for him to come in and she was naked on the examination table, she pooped in three separate installments, and then proceeded to pee everywhere! Funny, but messy!