Sunny Saturday

It was a beautiful day outside so we wandered around downtown all afternoon. We started by picking up Vince near Mc Nair high school, walked to Newport mall, had a late lunch at Union Republic, walked around Hamilton Park then headed home. It really wasn't that remarkable of a day but I loved Olivia's outfit, hence the blog post.

The ghost of Christmas yet to come

Olivia's first Christmas was wonderful.  Christmases have been lacking that magical feeling for a while now... I mean I love listening to Christmas music starting the day after Thanksgiving and watching those sappy movies on Lifetime and Hallmark channel as much as the next person, but as far as that pure joy you see on kids' faces when they're opening presents... well it's been over a decade and a half since I've felt it myself. I know Olivia is still a few years away from that but I know it's coming, and the promise of it makes Christmas magical again.

Snow bunny

This weekend went to Vermont and it's Olivia's first snow trip of the season. She was so well behaved during the 4+ hour car ride up, that we're hopeful this won't be our last snow trip of the season! Vince, Ninong Gerry, and Tita Rinne hit the slopes at Pico Mountain while the snow bunny and I hung out at the lodge and she made alot of people smile with how good-natured she was. They got a few good runs in before it started raining on this freakishly warm weekend. After we left the mountain we headed to the Long Trail Brewing Company where Olivia made friends with a holiday moose. And on our way home we stopped by some outlet stores, thanks for the swag Tita Rinne!

*It's fitting that we went to Pico with Tita Rinne and Ninong Gerry for Olivia's first snow trip because this is where we told them we were expecting last February!

Let's make like a pan de sal and roll!

Olivia's rolled over from her stomach onto her back a few times but I thought they were unintentional, like because the bed was soft or the weight of her head caused the rest of her body to follow. But last weekend she rolled onto her left side (usually it's the right) and today she did it three times in a row!  So it looks like our baby is getting mobile (uh oh!)

Cat's eye

 Remember the 80's movie by Stephen King with Drew Barrymore where the cat is suspected of killing her mom's pet parakeet and possibly harming her but then ultimately protects the little girl from the breath-stealing troll? Neither do I but Vince is always talking about it so I did the next best thing and Wikipedia'd it.

I try to think about that when the cats are all up on Olivia....

And maybe they'll let her cuddle them like this

Naps are the enemy

As I write this, Olivia has been swaddled for 35 minutes and is now just starting to drift off. I guarantee she will wake up in less than 35 miutes. As I'm getting ready to go back to work (bleeeeehhhhh) I've been trying to get Olivia into a routine to make it easier for my mom and Vince and the munchkin. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to force a schedule because let's face it, she's going to do what she wants anyway, but I am trying to achieve at least some semblance of predictably throughout the day. However there are so many factors in play that I'm going a little nuts: Eat, play, sleep. Don't let baby get overtired. Put baby down while she's still awake so she doesn't need to be held to go to sleep. Baby shouldn't be awake longer than 2 hours in between naps. Naps should be at least 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. 45 minutes to 1.5 hours are you kidding me??! So for the past 2 weeks we've been working on eat, play, sleep and naps are by far the toughest part. Sometimes she'll fall asleep almost immediately but most of the time, especially with me, she'll wiggle about for ages before finally sleeping. Once she does fall asleep she can either stay sleeping through car alarms and slamming doors or wake up if someone coughs or a mouse farts (I'm kidding...but I wouldn't be surprised). What works to get her to sleep for one nap won't work for the next one, but may work again in a week...it's exhausting! But once she does fall asleep she looks like an angel and I forget my fruatration.

And as promised, 34 minutes in and look who's up!

Naps schmaps! 

Update 3:11pm: as a part of Olivia's ongoing efforts to amaze and confound me, for nap #2 she fell asleep in less than 10 minutes and slept for 1 hour and 35 minutes! Well played little one, well played.

New mommas support group

This Monday I went to a new mommas support group at Three Little Birds, a neighborhood space that has all kinds of cool classes like kids' sewing class, Princess training, and mom and baby yoga.

I've known about this group since my pregnancy and had been meaning to go since Olivia was born, but never got around to it. I always had some excuse or another as to why I couldn't go that week. In all honesty I was scared to be around other moms and babies because what if I was the spaz unprepared mom with the screaming baby? That's a completely stupid thing to think of course, because most new moms are unprepared spazes with screaming babies and the whole point of the group is support, not judgement. I knew this, but I still deferred. The format was basically sit in a circle on a yoga mat, have your baby wherever he or she (and you) were most comfortable, introduce yourself and your baby and bring up any topic on your mind. Olivia did great and only whined a tiny bit before falling asleep. But there was one very sleep deprived mom of a 6 week old who asked what to do about her baby who would cry whenever she was put down. She didn't have anyone who could help watch the baby so she could sleep, her husband got home from work late every day and she just felt desperate. She ended up crying in front of the whole group. I thought, "this is exactly where I was seven weeks ago" and at times I felt desperate and ended up in tears, but I am so fortunate to have such a huge and fantastic support system. Vince, my mom, and my whole family are all so willing to help.

And I am very lucky because I have my own "new mommas" group of friends with whom I've been texting back and forth for the past few months. It was really comforting to know so many ladies who were pregnant AND due at the same time. Olivia, you already have friends, you're welcome. I checked in with them periodically during our pregnancies and we talked about everything from maternity leave to stretch marks. They gave me some great tips that I never would have thought of on my own. After Olivia was born I spent alot of time immobile with a baby sleeping on me (I mean, I probably could have moved more than just my thumbs, but once she was asleep I didn't want to do anything to unleash the kracken) so I texted with these ladies alot. It helped me so much to know that I wasn't the only one going through sleepless nights, frustrating bouts of fussiness and TMI issues which I won't mention. Thanks to them I had company in my (for lack of a better word) misery. So I guess this post is a thank you to everyone who's helped me through these first few months. Thanks for your love, support and encouragement.

Meet the amazing new mommas and their babies:

Clarissa and Allie

Lara and Clarissa

Sherry and Aidan