Fun with Brianna

As Brianna grows and develops, we've noticed that she has become a bit more aware of her surroundings. Last Saturday at the Renaissance Faire, she gave us her first real social smile! She looked up while Daniel was pushing her stroller and gave us the big toothless smile, so adorable! Since that time, we've gotten probably one social smile a day, mainly in the morning before her morning feedings. On time, Jason got a social smile after he came home from work as I was playing with Brianna's arms, opening them up for a giant daddy hug. Each social smiles brings out an "awww" from us, she's just too cute to not respond to. I'm trying to film her social smiles, but so far she's been reserving them for non-camera times. Another development of hers is that of producing real tears. One day Jason picked Bree up after she had been crying for a feeding. He brought her to me and asked if it looked like she had been crying. Sure enough at the corners of her eyes were little pools of tears. Poor baby! She is also making some attempts to put weight on her legs (for just a few seconds before collapsing to her knees or butt). She's been good at lifting her head for quite awhile now, but recently has been making more efforts to sit up tall with her head fully supported by herself. With these new developments, Jason and I have been taking the time to "play" with Brianna. We've discovered that mommy's play consists more of well-known songs and symmetrical play (i.e. head, shoulders, knees, and toes; grey squirrel; and so big). Daddy's play, on the other hand, is more random and unpredictable. She seems to enjoy both styles of play, but I will say that daddy's style is more fun to watch....so with that said, here's some videos of Brianna and daddy playing...enjoy!!

 

 

Renaissance Baby

In one weekend, our little Brianna became a carnival/fair expert as her dad, his college friend, Daniel, and I took her to a local Renaissance Faire and to the Big E (a large carnival located in MA). Daniel was traveling from Arizona on a work conference and was able to extend his visit to visit with us and to meet Brianna. Knowing that traveling to large touristy cities like Boston or New York might be extra difficult with Brianna, Jason tried finding more local events, hence the Renaissance Faire and the Big E (Daniel's idea). So on Saturday, we packed the diaper bag, stroller, and Bree in the car and traveled to Hebron, CT where the Renaissance Faire was taking place. At first, the fair looked a bit on the small size, but once we got inside we realized that it was actually a decent size fair, with multiple booths, games, performances, and eateries. We started first with a knighted joust in which Bree was able to watch a good knight challenge a wicked knight in honor of the queen. Although, I'm not sure how good Bree's vision is at this point, so who knows how much of the event she saw! The joust ended in a tie and a duel to the death was scheduled for later in the evening. In between the two jousts, we got some lunch, shopped a bit, saw some birds of prey, watched a weapon show in which two archers showed us how to shoot with a bow and arrow and how to use a trebuchet. Being the dorky engineers that Jason and Daniel are, the trebuchet was the highlight of the day...ha! We also played several Renaissance carnival games that involved smacking falling rubber rats with a wooden stick, throwing bean bags at a castle, and flinging rubber frogs at lily pads. No thanks to mommy, Daniel and daddy won enough tokens to buy Bree her first tiara and pirate hook. After the games, we returned to see the finale of the jousting competition. The King beat the wicked knight and saved the day (who would have seen that one coming?!?) Even though it was highly predictable, I will say that the joust was a lot of fun to see. Brianna even got recognized by the Queen as she exited the arena, seeing Bree she exclaimed "baby!" After all the excitement, I had to buy Bree her first real princess crown (bright pink with sparkles). And to end the day, Daniel dared Jason into some brave food/snack eating challenge in which Daniel ate a deep fried Snickers bar and Jason ate chocolate covered bacon....yuck! I'm pretty sure Daniel got the better end of that deal! Needless to say, Jason said the bacon was by far one of the worst things he ever ate. I'm sure both of them consumed enough calories in those snacks to last them a lifetime! Nice...ha.

This was our first all day outing with Brianna, and I have to give it to her, she did GREAT!! She whimpered a little in the stroller during the first jousting competition. Both Jason and I gave each other looks that said we might not make it, but after being pushed slowly back and forth in the stroller, she calmed down quickly and fell asleep. She slept until lunch time, in which I was able to change her and feed her after eating myself. She then stayed awake and alert for about an hour or so, quietly looking around at the sights before falling asleep. She only required one feeding while we were there and did beautifully with the outing. So with this, we decided to attempt the Big E the following day. We were only able to stay there a few hours as Daniel needed to catch his plane in the late afternoon. But while there, we looked around and went to the Avenue of the States in which the carnival has several buildings designated for the various New England states. Each building represents a different state and has local vendors and foods being sold inside the buildings. We each got probably one of the best Maine baked potatoes I've ever eaten! And again, Brianna was a gem. She only needed to be fed once and actually fed with me while Jason and Daniel stood in line for our lunch. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The only downfall of the Big E is that it was definitely more populated than the Renaissance Faire, that and the weather was sunny and a bit warmer than at the Renaissance Faire. We covered Brianna's car seat with one of her light swaddling blanket to protect her from sun burn. She didn't seem to mind and was a giant trooper through the whole thing. We had a blast and have actually decided to take Jason's best friend, Heather, to the Renaissance Faire when she visits next week.


Pictures of the Renaissance Faire:

 

Pictures from the Big E:

Mommy Hell and Mommy Heaven

Until yesterday, I had a hard time remembering why I ever felt like I was going through what I've dearly called "mommy hell." But then yesterday came and suddenly I remembered the feelings of the mommy hell I felt last Thursday. So before I go any further, the title of this blog is mommy hell and mommy heaven. The nice part is that there is a positive that I will get to, but first mommy hell.

So our dear sweet Brianna is overall a wonderful baby. She rarely fusses and can be comforted pretty quickly. She is a pretty decent sleeper and overall is a very happy baby....but there are those times when she decides to throw all caution to the wind and completely change her routine on us (those days aren't good - hence mommy hell). So I've come to realize that sleep is definitely not overrated (as I used to think in my college days - wow, I sound old now...ha) and often means the difference between happy mommy and cranky mommy. So last week, Brianna had been sleeping for about 5-6 hour stretches during the night, only waking up one time at night. I can't begin to tell you how exciting this is to two sleep deprived new parents. We got into a routine, I knew on the hour when she would wake up and exactly how much formula she would have before drifting back to sleep. Then without consulting me, Brianna decided that she wanted to go back to sleeping only 3 hour stretches during the night. This means she would be waking up about two times at night and once in the morning, right after Jason left for work. So I was fine with 3-4 hour sleep stretches until I got the privilege of having 5-6 hour sleep stretches. Once you get the good sleep, you don't go back to shorter amounts of sleep too easily! Last Thursday was bad. With little sleep in me, I became a sobbing, crying mess. Feedings consisted of Bree either screaming or feeding and me crying. I would then put her down to nap and maybe got an hour nap out of her if I was lucky. She wanted to be held and fed, not sleep. Funny, how the only thing I needed was for her to sleep so that I could sleep. Even the Moby wrap didn't work. In the short time that I had alone I researched local spas for a mommy massage. Then Jason called, which was the call that broke the dam. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sobbed "I need a break." Thankfully, Jason talked me through the rough patch, he decided that he would skip working out so that he could come home an hour earlier, and we together decided that I would schedule a hot stone massage for myself for the weekend. The highlight of my day was my 6 week post-natal doctor's appointment in which I got a few minutes to talk to some adults. It's amazing how much I now cherish adult conversation and interaction! Of course at my 6 week appointment, I had to have a small cyst popped by the doctor, so the adult conversation came with a small uncomfortable price. I hold off on the mommy heaven piece until the end of this blog (end it on a good note). Yesterday (ironically another Thursday) was a milder version of mommy hell. On Saturday night into Sunday morning, Brianna started a new routine - sleeping through the night! Now when I say through the night, I literally mean through the night. She slept anywhere between 8-12 hours with only a small cry that was quickly silenced as she fell back to sleep. At 6 weeks old, she gave me and her daddy a giant piece of mommy heaven - a solid night's sleep!! Now of course, we're in the mommy hell piece of the blog, so you can guess what that means. Yup, another change in the routine. Wednesday night was like any other night. Bree had her evening bottle and went to bed. No changes. Then without any warning, she was up screaming after I had only had 1 1/2 hours of sleep. Next, she was up screaming after a 3 hour stretch of sleep, and again up after a 3 hour stretch of sleep. Her naps yesterday were short, lasting only about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Just barely long enough for a nap. To make matters worse, on Wednesday I completed a Jillian Michaels workout, which is insanely difficult and reeks havoc on your body. So sore and tired, Bree and I battled throughout yesterday! I have no clue what causes these routine changes, but I'm really crossing my fingers she decides to try the sleeping through the night routine again....I liked that one! ha!

Yay!! This time I'll try to Swedish massage. Wednesday of this week, my LCSW supervisor and friend came over to visit with her 11 week old son. Again, I cannot speak highly enough about adult conversation, within the first 5 minutes we were sharing horror stories and things that people never told us about raising kids. We shared all the thoughts that a new mom is embarrassed to tell others that she has, the doubts and concerns we have, and the milestones that we've seen our babies have. Beth has a little son named Will. It was so cute to see him with Brianna. Since he is about 4 weeks older than Bree, Will had the capacity to realize that there was another baby in the room, Bree not so much! While Will stared at Bree, Bree stared out the window, fascinated by the light. Beth said something about Bree being Will's first girlfriend, but unfortunately, Bree did not put her best foot forward. First, she ignored Will for the light outside the window, then she screamed at him until she was fed, and then she decided to poop all over her outfit, requiring a complete outfit change. I told her that these behaviors were not considered attractive to little boys, but I don't think she cared! Maybe she'll be more considerate during our next mommy date. Brianna has been showing some changes in her alert and play levels over the last few days. She is now taking shorter naps and is staying more alert longer. This allows for some fun play time for us. One day when I was taking pictures of her, I noticed that Bree turned her head to look in my direction regardless of which side of her body I positioned myself. So if I was to her left, she turned to look at me, when I moved center she turned to look, and same for when I moved to her right. She also seems to be right on the cusp of giving us a "social smile." She's becoming less "lumpy" (as her father would lovingly call her) and more aware of her surroundings which is fun to see!

Rolling over and tummy time

During some of her alert times, I've been trying to give Bree a bit of tummy time. She seems to tolerate it for a few minutes before becoming cranky. Of course, if she's a bit tired she will just fall asleep in the tummy time position. She seems to be doing great with tummy time and can now hold her head up, turn it from side to side, and roll over if placed on her belly. Bree's been pretty active since birth. Right after delivery, Bree rolled onto her side when the nurse placed her on the baby scale. She managed to roll over within a week or two of birth both from her tummy to her back and her back to her tummy. At 6 weeks of age, she finally let me capture her ability to roll over on video!! Yay...here she is! The first attempt is not successful, but the second attempt was.

  

 

Changing up the routine on mommy

Perhaps one of the most challenging things I've had to adapt to is the ever changing sleep and feeding routines of Bree. She seems to have this pattern of making a set sleep/feed routine for several days to even a week or two, and then suddenly one day she changes it on me. The first two times this happened I had a hard time adapting to the change, but now after the third change I feel a bit better handling it. Although I have officially banned Jason from making predictions on her routines as this seems to get my hopes up and then dash them when his prediction doesn't come true (i.e. This is good, she'll probably sleep for several hours and will give you a good night's sleep - ha!). The second change in Bree's sleep/feed schedule was probably the most difficult for me as it was one of the most drastic changes. One night several weeks ago, Bree decided to sleep for 8 straight hours through the night. I, of course, woke up several times confused as to why I hadn't heard her scream. I even checked on her one time just to make sure she was breathing and was okay. Sure enough, she was sleeping soundly in her crib. Well after rejoicing for the full night's sleep, I paid the price for it the next day as she refused to nap for anything longer than 2 hours, wanted to be held the entire day, and just seemed a bit more cranky than normal (she's normally a very pleasant baby). The feedings were weird too. She would eat her normal amount of 4 oz, but didn't seem satisfied. She, however, wouldn't give me clear signs that she was still hungry (no rooting, crying, or smacking of the lips). This dance went on for the whole day, causing me to be exhausted, not get anything done around the house, and unable to take a nap which I felt I desperately needed that day. The next night she slept for 6 straight hours, but the following day showed clear signs of still being hungry after 4 ounces. That's when Jason suggested going up on the amount of formula I feed her. So, hesitant that I would receive a projectile spit-up, I increased her feeding to 5 oz and sure enough, problem solved! She went back to her 3-4 hour naps and appeared much more satisfied. So we kept this routine for a day or two, until she decided that she was going to go back to sleeping for 3-4 hours during the night. Now, before getting 6-8 hours of straight sleep, I would have been delighted to have 3-4 hours of sleep through the night, but this felt like a giant set back. You can't give a parent 6-8 hours of straight sleep and then go back down to 3-4 hours, it's just not right! She slowly increased her evening naps to her regular 5 hour stretches. Now, last night Bree decided to sleep for 7 straight hours, but her feeding this morning have been all over the place. She woke up at 6am after a 7 hour sleep, she took her regular 5 oz and napped for 2 hours, then woke up screaming and took another 4 oz (she normally sleeps for about 3-4 hours in the morning). She then woke up again after 2 hours and took another 5 oz! After this feeding, she seemed heavy eyed, but wouldn't nap. She stayed awake in between an active-alert and quiet-alert stage. I let her lay in her crib for awhile to see if she would fall asleep, but that was a no go. So we did some tummy time before she became cranky again. She's now in a light sleep wrapped in the Moby wrap. We'll see how long that nap goes before she wakes up hungry again. I can't imagine she would be going up to receiving feedings of 6 oz!?! That just seems like such a huge amount for a little baby only 6 weeks old. That's just under same amount of formula her 11 month old cousin is receiving. That's what confuses me. I mean I know that every baby is different, but it just seems like so much formula! I guess it's just a matter of watching her cues and seeing if she keeps the formula down or spits up after the feeding. One thing's for sure, she is a growing girl!!

Visiting more family members

Those of you who know my family know that I have a large extended family. Everyone is excited to meet Bree and she is just as excited to meet her family members whenever she can. This past weekend, Bree got the chance to meet her Aunt Janie (my maternal aunt) and James (my cousin's husband). She also got a chance to spend time re-visiting with her Great-Grammy, Aunt Kris, Uncle Jeff, cousin Desiree, and baby cousin Stella. Stella was a day away from being 11 months old. Dez and I were commenting how different Stella and Bree are since they are world's apart developmentally (Stella just took her first steps today). And although they are so different developmentally now, thanks to the cut-off date for Connecticut schools, they will be in the same grade once they reach school age, with Stella being one of the oldest kids in her class and Bree being one of the youngest kids. It's crazy to think that in just a few months Bree will be learning to sit up on her own, crawl, eat table food, stand, and walk!! Stella is learning "gentle touch" and with the help of Aunt Kris created a game of "tickle tickle" where she would tickle Bree's feet as Bree was feeding. I took a video of this game....so cute! Brianna didn't seem to notice this game except for the one time when Stella grabbed her a feet a bit harder that Bree expected, causing Bree to pull her feet away and cry as it interrupted her flow of feeding. Stella seemed to get a huge kick out of this game and continued it for several minutes. It's so cute to see the two of them interact, knowing that they have many more years to be playmates together!!

 Stella re-visiting with Bree. At this point, Stella wasn't too sure of Bree as Bree took the attention off of Stella for a few minutes!

Bree cuddling with her Aunt Janie after a feeding.

 Stella playing "tickle tickle" with Brianna's feet. How cute!

 Brianna cuddling with her Great-Grammy.