Bumbo and Staying at Home

We got a hand-me-down Bumbo for a gift (along with an exersaucer thing and a mountain of clothes - so generous!). We decided to try it out even though Abigail doesn't exactly have great head control yet.  On the first attempt she was very floppy, and only stayed up long enough to take this picture:

Then yesterday we tried again. She did much better, and really enjoyed it!

She's getting to be such a big girl!  She doesn't like being held like a baby anymore, which makes me a little sad.  She likes to be upright, either sitting or vertical on my shoulder. 

I was surprised to learn Bumbo is a South African company. Fun to know such a successful and popular product comes from SA!

I'm not looking forward to going back to work in April. Maybe it's because Mom stayed home with us and I just always pictured me doing the same. Or maybe it's because I so enjoy taking care of Abigail that I don't want to hand over the privilege to someone in a daycare. Oh well, until that time comes I will enjoy hanging out all day with Jelly!

The Best Thing I've Ever Heard

Yesterday Abigail started laughing, like a real from-the-belly laugh. She has been giggling for awhile now but nothing even close to what she came up with last night. It was amazing!  I was doing my usual routine of stupid faces and funny noises that usually gets smiles or giggles, and she burst out in laughter. She kept doing it all evening too.  It's my new favorite thing to hear  :)

The other thing she learned is how to make wet razzy noises, usually accompanied by a stream of drool pouring out of her mouth.  She's been doing that nonstop since she figured it out. I tried to explain to her that blowing raspberries at someone is rude, but I'm not sure she got it.

I was trying to take a video of her laughing. Instead this is what I got:

Speaking of learning new things, this is a lesson from the other day: if she falls asleep in her swing, leave her there, don't try to gently pick her up and tip-toe her over to bed.  That's what the baby monitor is for.  It's a great invention. However, they've gotten so fancy that I can pretty much hear all the little noises Abigail makes while sleeping. It's hard to focus on anything else when she's asleep in the other room. I'm glad I don't have a video monitor. I'd probably spend the entire nap staring at her through a screen instead of being productive.  Sometimes the latest technology is great (as in my new iphone), and sometimes the more basic the better!

3 Months Already!

I can't believe Abigail is 3 months old already!  She's such a happy baby, all babbles and smiles (well, mostly). She is growing and changing every day.

Literally from one day to the next there's something new.  Just in the last week:

* She's discovered her hands. She'll bring them together and stare at them like they just sprouted from her arms.

* She started blowing spit bubbles.  Such talent!
* She started really laughing.  The most fun is the diaper change.  Guess there's something hilarious about being told you have a stinky poo-bottom.
* She sticks her legs straight up in the air.  It's fun, especially when I'm trying to get her dressed.
* She tries to get her whole hand in her mouth and will chew on it vigorously.  Her knuckles even get red from all the chewing.  It'll be extra fun when she starts teething.


What we're working on: tummy time - it's not exactly her favorite.  She'll fuss and squirm and not do what she's supposed to (lift her head to strengthen her neck and arm muscles). Ah well, she seems to be doing fine, and she can hold her head up better every day despite the lame tummy sessions.

5 Short Videos

Here are 5 short videos of Abigail.

The first is after she figured out her bouncy seat (if you kick the fish, it makes a sound). Note how proud she is of herself:

Next is her talking to me:

Not taking tummy time very seriously:

This is her yesterday. She figured out how to hold and shake her rattle and pretty much hasn't put it down since:

And this is from today. She temporarily swapped the rattle for her keys.

I'm not ready!

Despite all the books, websites, and advice, no one can really be prepared for having their first baby. Here are some of the biggest things I was not ready for.

1. Breastfeeding.  It looks so easy, when in fact, in the beginning, it was very hard and extremely painful. My nipples cracked and bled. I wanted to scream every time she latched on. Plus, you're supposed to feed a newborn every 2-3 hours. That's from the start of one feeding to the start of another. That means there's an average of about an hour in between feedings, night and day. Sometimes less. That's not a lot of time for eating, sleeping, bathing... or healing.  I'm really happy I stuck with it - it got a million times better!

2. Lack of sleep.  Everybody knows you don't get enough sleep with a newborn. What I wasn't prepared for was the complete absence of sleep all together. Between the feedings and diaper changes, there wasn't much time for anything else.

3. Recovery.  Recovery from the c-section was long and painful, yes. What I wasn't prepared for was the incessant itching!  It was almost unbearable some days. It was hard not to scratch open those layers of stitches. Of course there was also the 6 weeks of bleeding and the week or so of intense pain, but for some reason those didn't bother me quite as much.

4. Fingernails. Abigail was born with razors on the ends of her tiny fingers, but they were too small and attached to cut. Thankfully I figured out I could file them with an emory board, which worked pretty well. And I thought babies were supposed to be soft all over...

5. Sometimes babies just cry.  I thought if I ran through the list of what could be wrong (hungry? dirty diaper? gassy? tired? gushing with blood?) I would eventually figure it out and make it better.  Not always. Sometimes she just needs to be held, and that's ok.

6. How many diapers she goes through.  Seriously. I haven't actually counted, but it's a lot.  We buy the big boxes of 84, and we'll blow through it in just over a week. I'd also like to include here I wasn't prepared for the blowouts. For a tiny baby, she can produce a lot of poo in one go.  It's loud and squelchy and sometimes it's an epic diaper fail. I still think she's still the cutest thing ever.

7. Not using the nursery.  It was such a high priority before she was born to get the nursery finished.  3 months out we still haven't used it.  I use the glider in there sometimes for feedings, and it's where we keep her mountain of clothes, but that's about it.  She sleeps in our room in a bassinet thing.  I guess eventually she'll "graduate" to the crib, but it's easier this way with breastfeeding. Plus I like having her close.

8. Oh the boogers!  Apparently it's normal for newborns to be congested, which isn't a good thing when they need to breathe through their noses (otherwise it makes eating a real challenge). The nasal suction thingie was probably the best five-finger discount acquired from the hospital. I also never thought I'd be so excited to extract the world's largest booger from the tiny nose of an infant. So satisfying.

9. All the "advice".  Every baby is different, and everyone has their own way of doing things. Yet for some reason people like to volunteer "helpful" tips: Don't eat spicy food, don't eat dairy, don't feed your 2 month old sooner than 4 hours (this one came from a pediatrician who I won't be seeing again), etc.  Of course I value opinions of people who have lots of experience, however I will do what works best for me and my baby, and I don't need to be told what to do. We are finding our own groove and it's working great.

10. How much I love her.  I loved her the second I found out I was pregnant. However, when I look at her, I know it's a different kind of love. Complete and unconditional. It's nothing I've ever felt before. I'm thankful every day for her.

A Recap

Jelly (aka Abigail) is 12 weeks old already. It's hard to believe it's been almost 3 months since she was born. Here's a really brief recap of that time.

Pregnancy:  I really enjoyed being pregnant, generally. I had some nausea and was extremely tired in the beginning. Then it was awesome. I felt great, I had lots of energy, I had that "glow". Until about 8 months. Then I was so ready to have an outside baby. I was huge, swollen, and uncomfortable.

Birth: Jelly was born on 11/4/10, at 40 weeks and 1 day. To sum it up, I went in for an induction, it didn't go quite as planned and 15 hours later I was getting prepped for a c-section. It wasn't exactly the best 15 hour span of my life, and I took the news about needing the surgery very hard. Of course, it was for the best, and it went fine. She was born at 4:31pm, weighed 7lbs 10oz, was 20 1/4" long, and was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen (even if she was all blue and slimy).

Month 1: The first month was very hard, but we adjusted fairly quickly. The rare times she wasn't attached to the boob I could either a.) sleep, b.) eat, or c.) bathe. I usually opted for sleep. But those 20-30 minute catnaps really didn't put a dent in the sleep deprivation.

Here's Abigail at 1 month old:

Month 2: Everything started to get better at around 6 weeks. We both were way better at breastfeeding, she started sleeping in longer stretches, and started smiling. We had a great Christmas with just about the entire family in town. We even had a visit from Santa!

Here's Abigail at 2 months old:

Month 3:  She's so alert, and every day seems to be something new going on. She's grabbing things (usually to put them in her mouth), laughing, and "talking" up a storm. Sure what she says makes no sense. But it's darn cute.

And that about brings us up to date.