Wishing you all a very safe and happy 4th of July…
…from our family to yours!
Happy 4th of July!
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Category Archives: Daily
When Daddy is Away…
“When Daddy is away, the girlies will play” is our motto this week. Sim is teaching in San Jose, so Ana and I are trying to keep ourselves busy. We decided to kick off the week with a trip to the coast. Since the last time I went to Seaside I got in trouble for not visiting Carole, we made that our first stop.
Carole and I met for lunch in Astoria then went back to her house to let the kiddos “play.” This pretty much entailed Ana pulling Michael’s hair or ears while Carole and I ran interference. Michael was really good about it and smiled and cooed the whole time.
He was even happier once we set them on their tummy’s and Ana couldn’t grab him anymore. My daughter is all about the hands. I am in so much trouble when she becomes a teenager. Oy vey.
Can I just take a second to tell you what a beautiful little boy Michael is? Because the pictures on Carole’s site, while totally adorable, do not do this baby justice. See for yourself:
Does that face not just melt your heart? You can see all the pictures of Ana and Michael’s first meeting here. Beware of all the cuteness!
More about the rest of our adventures, including Ana’s first Baby Swim lessons, later. Stay tuned!
Happy 30th Birthday!
Happy 30th birthday Simeon!
You have come along way in the last 29 years! Here is to many, many more. I love you so much!
(Psst. There are more baby pictures of my adorable husband over here. Enjoy!)
Happy Father’s Day!
Simeon,
Thank you so much for giving me the most beautiful daughter in the entire world and in doing so transforming yourself into a wonderful and adoring father. Each and every day I am so happy that Ana is lucky enough to have you as the man she will call Daddy. We love you so much. Happy father’s day, pie!
Oh and I just wanted to share a wonderful
little video that I think really says it all.
Have a safe and happy father’s day everyone!
Ana’s First Food
I wanted Ana’s first meal to be fun so I let her play with the spoon to get familiar with how it felt in her mouth.
It was going great. My plan was working. Ana loved the spoon…
…until her Mama went and covered it with food.
She even tried to help me hold the spoon. Or maybe she was trying to push it away. Hard to tell at this point.
Turns out food is entirely overrated. I am sure my daughter is wondering why we would subject her to such cruelty.
While we are wondering how many times we have to keep torturing her with the food until she actually likes it.
You can see all the pictures of our adventure with cereal here. I will try to get the video uploaded tomorrow. Stay tuned.
6 Month Doctors Appointment
Ana had her six-month doctors appointment today. Here are her stats from the appt:
Height: 27″ (85th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs 12.5 oz (50th percentile)
Head: 43 cm (70th percentile)
Ana seems to be following a very nice growth pattern as all of her measurements are all in relatively the same percentile as her last appointment. She also had her third round of several immunizations today. She was not happy about this in the least and promptly turned very red and huge crocodile tears rolled down her chubby cheeks. Poor kiddo! But aside from the emotional distress, the appointment went very well. She is meeting all her developmental milestones and holding firm in her refusal to spend any long period of time on her tummy, but the doctor says there is nothing to worry about. I gotta say one thing for my daughter, she is definitely consistent!
On a very exciting note, we were given the green light on introducing Ana to solid foods. We will be starting with rice cereal (there is a lower allergic reaction rate with rice versus wheat) then gradually adding in pureed fruits (apples, pears, etc.) and vegetables (carrots, squash, etc.) and finally meats (chicken and turkey). I just have to add that the thought of pureed meat makes my stomach turn. Blech! Typically we will wait 2-3 days between each new food to watch out for any allergic reactions. I plan to make all her food myself, in an attempt to eliminate any unnecessary chemicals/preservatives, as well as help Simeon and I eat better ourselves. She will eat what we eat….just in a slightly different form, of course. Don’t worry, I will keep you all posted more on this adventure as it progresses. (Don’t forget to check back later for a video of her first feeding!) That is all there is to report until next time at her 9 month doctors appointment in September.
A Letter: Six Months
Dear Ana,
My sweet little monkey you are now six months old and we are having so much fun together! This month your firsts include camping, going to the park, sitting in the grass, and riding in your stroller without the car seat–just like the big girls do it. I know all mother’s say this, but the stage you are at now is my favorite. You are learning new things each and every day. So many things, in fact, it has become difficult to keep track. All I know is you continue to constantly amaze me.
Your latest milestone has been teething. I had recently started telling people you were teething when you were acting fussy, however I didn’t really believe it myself. I would prefer people to think you are a sweet baby and not allow a little outburst to tarnish your typically mellow personality. So you can imagine my surprise when I was letting you chew on my finger and I felt your first tooth. Actually, teeth, is more accurate. Without my really knowing it, you went and got your bottom two front teeth. Turns out you really were fussy because of teething!
You have also become very aware of everything around you and reach for things you want. It is so much fun to watch you intently examine everything you can get your hands on. Your favorite things, the things when you see them you instantly light up and reach for, include my water bottle, the TiVo remote (the colored buttons are the best), my cell phone, and each and every one of our pets.
You are mesmerized by the cats and dogs. You love to reach out and try to pet them. When I lay you on the floor to play, the dogs will lay on either side of you. Molly picks a spot close enough that she can excitedly lick you back when you tug on her ears. Ellie, on the other hand, will lay just out of your reach–close enough that she can watch over and protect you, but far enough away that you can’t actually touch her. But the cats have surprised me most of all. They actually let you pet them! Even when you “pet” them so vigorously that your tiny hand comes away filled with tufts of hair. I guess the cats understand sometimes love hurts.
In the last month you also started rolling over. Currently it is only from front to back. I know it was your sheer dislike of tummy time that brought on this new skill. It also makes me wonder if you will ever roll from back to front because I know you would never willingly put yourself into tummy time! I am sure you will be performing tricky acrobatics, or at the very least advanced yoga, before you voluntarily spend time on your stomach.
Hand in hand with rolling over has come sitting by yourself. If we set you down and pretend we aren’t watching you, you will sit unassisted for several minutes. However, if we noticeably look in your direction, or God forbid speak of your sitting up, you topple over. It is as if the words themselves knock you down. On the plus side, when you fall over forwards, you are quickly able to flip yourself over onto your back. You are perfectly content when you fall over backwards and look at us as if to say, “Nice! That’s just what I wanted!” Either way, it is highly entertaining to watch.
Not necessarily a milestone, but wonderful nonetheless is the fact that you have started giving kisses. Now these are not your typical slimy, wet baby kisses. Oh no. You give piranha kisses. You come at us open mouthed, like a hungry baby bird and chomp down on whatever gets in your path, be that my cheek, chin or even shoulder. But I don’t mind, as long as you are giving out kisses, I will always be there to accept them.
All my love,
Mama
Ana’s First Date
First play date, anyway. Sure, she has been to Mommy & Me and several different playgroups, but this was her first solo play date with a boy. I was watching Brandon for our friends Jen and Mitch so Ana had her very first date. And Momma realized that mothers of multiples must be miracle workers!
It was so much fun watching the difference in personalities. Ana is almost six months and Brandon is 11 months old, but their personalities are already so distinct. Ana was perfectly content to just chill and watch Brandon, while he was much more hands on and into everything. Oh and the fact that he is mobile didn’t hurt either.
Man, oh man, is there a difference between boys and girls! Every time I put something away, Brandon was very quick to dump over the toy box. And don’t even think about lining up the toy cars! It almost became a game–Brandon and I would race to see if I could clean something up faster than he could destroy it. I will be the first to admit that I didn’t stand a chance of winning.
But the kiddos had a great time. Ana watched Brandon very intently, absorbing every little thing he did as if she were making mental notes of what she could get away with in a few months. Brandon was very sweet and kept trying to share toys with Ana. And if she didn’t take it on his first attempt he was perfectly happy to keep poking her with the toy until she took it.
You can see all the pictures from their playdate here. Enjoy.
Camping Newbie
Over Memorial Day weekend, Simeon and I took Ana on her very first camping trip. We decided to go to Ft. Stevens because if anything went wrong we could always toss the baby in the car and drive the ten minutes to my mother’s house. We figured this would be a nice “trial run” to see how we would fair camping with an infant.
As we were driving to our campsite it started to sprinkle but only really rained once–just as we started to prepare the mandatory camping dinner of hot dogs and s’mores. My mother, always worried that babies will freeze to death, found some child size gloves in her car and put them on Ana. While she looked ridiculous, they were good for several laughs and kept Ana entertained for the longest time. She just stared, mesmerized by her hands, occasionally wiggling her fingers. It was so funny.
All of the camping Simeon and I have done in recent years has been in Eastern Oregon and lets just say the climate over there is much, MUCH warmer than the Oregon Coast. Always the over-packer in the baby department, we had several layers and blankets on Ana so she was delightfully warm and bundled at every moment. Her parents? Not so much.
When camping, we sleep on an air mattress, so I packed sheets, a heavy quilt and a fluffy comforter. I was thinking Sim could have one and I the other so we wouldn’t be fighting over blankets (how quickly one gets use to their king size bed at home). After literally freezing my butt off for hours I finally woke up Sim to see how we could make things better. We ended up putting the comforter under us and huddling under the quilt. I am not normally a cuddly sleeper, but you better believe I was clinging to my heater of a husband to stay warm. Next time we know to pack a wool blanket to put under our sheet.
But aside from the little bit of rain and cold sleeping conditions, we really had a great time. Ana was a trooper and just soaked up the whole experience like a sponge. And now that we know we can camp at the coast, I am totally ready for desert camping. Bring it on, baby!
You can see all the pictures from our trip here. Enjoy.
Socks That Rock
Can I just say that having a little girl is wonderful if for no other reason than I have someone to pass along my obsession for socks?
That’s right, Ana’s sock collection contains such classics as ballet slippers, Mary Janes, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Minnie Mouse, and a couple funky John Deere stripes. Who knew John Deere made socks? And such cute ones to boot!