Sleepytime to awake!

Catching up

With the past three weeks being a bit of a blur (what with two trips to VA and a week in-between), I've only now downloaded photos from the past few weeks. Ava is napping now, so after I downloaded them, I played around with them for a bit.

Enjoy!

Wa-POW!

Ava LOVES reading! Here she is with her daddy as they visit the circus. She and I have delightful moments when I recite lyrical poetry (her favorite is Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends). She especially loves the one that starts, "Someone ate the baby."

We also enjoy quieter reading before naps and bed. So far our favorite is Kiss Goodnight - "Kiss goodnight, Sam. Kiss goodnight."

"Does this outfit make my head look fat?"
or
"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do (until her hair grows in)!"

Peaceful slumber as Ava has been taking naps each day this week! Woohoo! Today was the best so far - she went down for a nap twice without a fuss! I'm ever hopeful that increased quality of daytime naps will ultimately lead to more "sleep through the night"s and 8 hours of shut-eye for me!

Good night (after some lousy ones)

Had a *really* good night last night - for the past week, we've been in VA visiting my family and Ava's sleep has been thrown off a bit. Each night was different (some nights she was up for 2 hours at a time; others she was waking up every 1.5 hours - frustrating because she was on a good roll at home before we left). So, we got home and decided to jump into the shift to her own bedroom (she's been in the pack-n-play in our room). We figured now was as good a time as any as she was already thrown off her normal sleep, so let's start "normal" sleep in her own room.

It worked! Following Saturday night (waking every 1.5 hours) she went to bed at 8:15 and didn't stir until 3am! Woohoo! Then she nursed very well and went back to sleep right away. Not even a peep!

This week we're working diligently on getting the nap situation under control. Right now she's snoozing in the living room so that's 1 of 3 naps I can check off the list! Whew! Problem is she'll take a good nap in the middle of the day but refuses to nap in the afternoon. May end up having to impose "quiet time" at 4pm.... that gets Ava some good resting time in the late afternoon and gets me some Oprah time. Ava can learn to love Oprah like I do - nothing wrong with that!

More Photoshopped Ava (from Joe!)

Hrm...I don't think Dale knows that I know her password to edit blog entries.

I can has . . .

Paying homage to a funny site, Joe created this in Photoshop last night using a cute picture of Ava while she napped and a fun effect we stumbled upon the other day.

The funny site: I can has cheezburger

From the archives

Was busy doodling in Photoshop and Illustrator and when I closed the programs, I realized that Photo Booth had been turned on. Photo Booth turns on the camera on the computer so you can take a picture of yourself in real time working at your desk. Not sure why folks would want that (I've never been one to gets snapshots of myself at a photo booth, but I guess some folks like that). I went to shut down the program and saw a picture that Joe had taken of us a while back (I can only say it was pre-Ava as Joe has short hair in the picture and he's been growing hair since her birth). It's actually a cute picture, so here's our photo booth picture.

1 glass of wine + 10pm = 8 hours!?

Our first "through the night" sleep last night! 8 hours, baby!! Woohoo :)

Joe and I had date night as Michelle and Jason offered to watch Ava. I had a glass of wine with dinner. We picked up Ava just short of 9 and then I fed her again around 10. Not a peep, a grunt, a squiggle or a squirm until 6:30 this morning.

8 hours, baby! WOOHOO!

Tummy time defeated!

Ava: "If mom insists on putting me on my tummy (which I clearly dislike given the amount of grumbling I do), I will insist on lying there sucking my fingers (which I've suddenly discovered). Oooh... fingers!"

Glimpse of spring

Some tulips that bloomed today - a lovely gift we received when we arrived home on Saturday.

Pictures of Boboy with Granny

Here are a couple of pictures of Granny and Boboy taken over the past few years. I only hope that Joe and I are lucky enough to live well into our 70s and still enjoy each others' company as much as Granny and Boboy did.

England 2002

Our wedding 2005

South Africa 2006

And one with me taken the day that Joe and I flew home from our trip to South Africa

One last donut

On February 4th my family lost a very special person. My grandfather passed away suddenly early Monday evening after suffering from a heart attack. When I was little and learning to talk, I named him Boboy - not sure where the word came from, but it stuck and so now I say goodbye to Boboy with a fun story.

On Friday afternoon, my sister and her husband, Joe and I went to the funeral home to pick up Boboy's ashes. When we got to the funeral home, we discovered a typo on the death certificate (!) and had to wait while the typo was fixed at the courthouse (which luckily was just around the corner). While we waited, I suggested we all go to Dunkin' Donuts and get a donut each - Boboy loved donuts! I thought it would be a fitting way to celebrate his life while waiting for the new paperwork. So, off to get our donuts and back to the funeral home's parking lot. We started unloading the donuts - one plain glazed for me, one for my sister, a peanut donut for Joe and Boston creme for Pern. After we all had our donuts, we realized there was one donut sitting at the bottom of the bag - none of us had ordered a second donut, so it was very obviously Boboy's last donut.

Here are some pictures of Boboy as we will remember him.

Holding his great-granddaughter hours after her birth

Sitting proudly in his new VW van

Being goofy on Christmas morning, playing more with the packaging than the present - none of us are really sure what he's got here!

Having fun at our wedding almost 3 years ago

Another first

A THREE hour nap in her own bed! Ava has been sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room since she arrived home. Ava has not been a very good napper. She's started sleeping really well at night (usually from 7-8pm until 2-3am) but during the day she's a little monkey. Will not nap and if she does, it's for maybe 20 minutes if you're lucky. I decided to start transitioning her from our room to hers by putting her down for naps in her room and then moving her during the night after a few days. Today was the first day for a nap in her room and she's still sleeping! When she was a newborn, we used to wake her for feedings; now I say "let sleeping babies lie" - I've gotten so much done this morning. It feels wonderful!

Another note on having baby sleeping in our bedroom - boy is she noisy when she's going to sleep (sometimes, she'll be mostly asleep when I put her in bed, but often she's fighting sleep or working on some gas or poop). She grunts and snorts and squirms. It's a wonder anyone of us gets any sleep at night! The good thing with having her in her own room and having the monitor nearby: the monitor has volume control!

Last note for the night

Had a quick doctor appointment today and found that Ava weighs 11lbs 6oz! And people keep saying how little she is! Joe said the "boob juice" seems to be agreeing with her!

Sweet girl

We've been getting lots of cooing and babbling and smiling this week. Ava is awake more and when she's awake (provided she's not starving!) she's always in good spirits (and puts up with my posed pictures among labeled envelopes!) and chats away (of course, until the hunger sets in!). I can't wait for the first giggle!

Ooh...

Ava is most fascinated with the ceiling fan. It wins everytime!

Week of firsts

. . . first playdate - meetup with a group of 6 mothers with infants ranging in age from 4mo - 6mo. Ava was the youngest, but it was fun to see her watching all the other babies and fun to chat with other adults!

. . . first 9-hour sleep! Sadly this did not make it onto the "week of seconds" or "week of thirds" list as it was a one-time only event. And alas, the next night of sleep (eat sleep wake, eat sleep wake, eat sleep wake) foiled the second playdate as both Ava and I were so tired in the morning that we slept till 8am! (Playdate #2 with a different group of moms started at 9:30 and I knew there was no way I was going to make it on time for that one!)

. . . first infant massage. Met up with our doula, Robin, who also teaches infant massage. Ava loved it! She wriggled and coo'd through the whole thing (minus the back massage - she got fussy at the end of the rest of the body and missed out on the body massage. I keep telling her to learn to love the massage now and be sure to ask for it later in a life also - nothing beats a good back rub!)

Here are some pictures of other firsts!

first mass mailing - surrounded by "designed by mommy"
birth announcements - check your mail soon!
first time Indi voluntarily chilled with Ava
- after some obligatory kisses, of course!
first foray into the world of non-disposable diapers - I call this "pumpkin butt" but the jury is still out on whether its something I want to continue. It's more work than regular diapers and where do the used wipes go? Usually they go into the soiled diaper, but with these flushable liners, there's no place for non-flushable wipes.
first time learning that feet can kick and hit things that make noise
first enjoyable tummy time - it helps if there's a boppy under the tummy!

Our other baby

You may have thought we'd found a new home for Indi, given the lack of photographic attention she has received lately but really that's her own fault. Until the last week or so, she's been sulking for the most part; sitting in the corner looking away from the camera, sitting upstairs away from us. The only time she acts like herself (and wants to play with me) is when I'm nursing Ava. Right smack dab in the middle of the most inopportune time. If she would learn to bring her toy and put it on my lap, I would throw it for her. Alas, she brings her toy but either drops it on the floor (I can't bend down to get it) or she'll hold it just out of my grasp (I can't stretch to reach it). Sigh.

But the other day she went out to pee and found that a neighbor (still not sure who) had thrown a semi-inflated basketball over the fence for her. New ball! Woohoo! She ran over to it and promptly picked it up and carried it inside. She was so proud of her discovery that I took a few pictures before Joe removed the toy from the living room and went out to play with Indi. She loves her toys!

Random pictures

Just a few of the faces I experienced the other day when little miss refused to nap during the day. She wasn't all grumpy but showed she was sleepy when evening came and she wasn't too thrilled to have that documented!

This is how I usually see her - peaceful and content

Big smiles! It looks like she's about to attack my boob, but really she's just smiling!

Grumpy baby - looks very similar to the poopy face, but that is usually associated with a more red glow on her skin as she grunts and grunts.

6 week check

Had my 6-week-post-delivery checkup today. Saw that same doctor that Joe and I saw when I first was pregnant, who was the same doctor who both turned and delivered Ava. While waiting in the waiting room, I saw the nurse who assisted with the version many weeks ago.

I love when things come full circle like that.

I'm happy to report that I am all "cured" from pregnancy and childbirth and can resume normal activities - now, if only the weather would cooperate and warm up just a bit, my walks with Indi would resume. Just so dang cold outside.

Also happy to report that I am now (or was at the time of the appointment - I've since had lunch and a yummy granola bar) half a pound lighter than I was at the start of my pregnancy. Woohoo! In fact, I was down to my regular weight a week after Ava was born; it just took a little longer for my hips to return to their normal state so that I could fit into my regular clothes.

Woohoo! I think I'll pat myself on the back and say that I did pregnancy well - I was also lucky and didn't suffer from many of the pregnancy ailments that can affect any woman during pregnancy. So, a little luck and a little healthy living while pregnant and now I'm all back to normal . . . as normal one can be with an unpredictable six week old!

Did you get my good side?