DaDaDaDaDa

I already knew that Tia loves her Daddy and now even more so. For the past month, all she has been chanting is DaDa DaDa. It is the cutest thing ever.  Chris even got it on audio and I am eagerly trying to convert it so I can post it here. She even says 'Hi Dada' on it, unintentionally of course. 

She's been great and so much fun. She is sitting up and playing away. Her cheeks have gotten bigger and she is sleeping great unswaddled in her crib all by herself.  Daycare says she is the happiest baby and it just seems like she is coming in to her own.  She's a little person and definitely has a personality too. Some times I see her act like me and sometimes like Chris. It is just an amazing thing when you see yourself in your child, isn't it. Crazy how it works and how a child can be blended with traits from two different people. 

We just love her so much and I can't wait to watch her grow up!

Sleeping Unswaddled

So we finally decided it was time to let her sleep unswaddled.  For the past few months, we've tried it here and there and she either never went to sleep or was super cranky the entire next day.  She is getting so big and we know we can't swaddle her forever.  So after she got over her virus, we decided to make her sleep by herself unswaddled the past week. Chris and I are taking turns with putting her to bed and sleeping in the spare room next to her to get her if she cries or loses her pacifier.  The first night, I hardly slept because she tossed and turned losing her pacifier and crying out for it. Every time she would fall asleep she would put her face straight down into the mattress. Of course that scared me to death and I would turn her head and she would get mad. I was a tired wreck at work the next day, but I was praying that this would be a week or less task at hand.  When Chris watched her through the night, he hardly slept because he was fearful since she was again putting her nose to the mattress and trying to sleep that way.  Last night was a huge accomplishment because she went right to bed and slept on her side. In the middle of night she woke up only one time and I put her on her back, gave her her pacifier, and she went straight back to sleep. In the morning, she was still out like a light and I was able to make her bottle, shower, and I still had to wake her up to feed her.  She slept great!  Let's pray this means she is getting used to it and it will be less work than we originally thought. After reading blogs and forums of other parents who were also trying to wean their babies off of swaddling, but weren't very successful.  They say it typically takes about 7 days to change the habit of a baby, but Tia has slept swaddled since birth.  Her crib is super comfortable and because she is so active, I think she tires herself out. I guess we'll see. She is super cute when she sleeps too. My favorite is when she is in the fetal position.

Tia's Monthly Pictures

I finally found a way to post all of Tia's pictures in batch format and have viewers have the option to download the ones they want in the printable format size.

Check out her pictures and note that you can view the slideshow in full screenview by clicking the double arrow in the right top corner, as well as change the settings for how fast the pictures transition among other things. Pretty cool.

http://angie5.magix.net/album

Stay tuned for more as she gets older!

Tia is all better!

Monday - Call from daycare that Tia had 4 loose stools
Tuesday - Mommy stayed home w/Tia while she had many loose stools and a sore bottom
Wednesday - repeat of Tuesday
Thursday - Daddy stayed home w/Tia while she had many loose stools (worse than Tuesday and Wednesday) and a very very sore bottom. Had a more solid stool just before bedtimej
Friday - Daddy stayed home but reported that Tia was feeling better and her stools were starting to be back to normal

It is so amazing how something so small can produce something so stinky and routine-changing. We let her go clothes-free for the past 4 days trying to air out her sore bottom and give it time to heal, we gave her soy formula to try to get her a little more stopped up, and we were continually doing laundry the past four days. BUT in all optimistic views - we both had so much quality time with Tia it was unreal. We got to witness her saying Dadadadada and Chris even caught a clip of her saying Hi dada although she didn't mean to - but it is super cute. In light of her ailment, she was happy the majority of the time and extremely playful. She was more needy in the sense that she wanted our attention more but as they say these moments go by so quickly! I'm glad baby girl is feeling better. She is definitely the light of my life and Chris is my savior! Yes, I'm in a philosophical mood and yes I love you all....okay, I'm having a dirty martini and I'm appreciating life at the moment, but that point is that babies are very precious and I am fortunate that Tia only has a virus and not something life threatening. It pains me to hear of stories of fellow mothers having to go through trying times with their babies. I just can not imagine and it causes me to tear up thinking about it. (sipping my martini) Okay, seriously though Thank you to all of your supporters and loved ones of Tia especially Katma who is our go-to parent to watch Tia.

Day 3 is with Daddy

Tia is still having signs of loose stools and a sore butt, so Daddy is staying home with Tia today.   I went up to Wal-greens this morning and got her some Soy for Diarrhea for her to take...doctor's orders.  But I can say that Tia is still happy as can be and although she was up a lot last night because she wanted to play (smiles when I'd look in on her), she was in a great mood again this morning. So hopefully her poopy diapers will start being more solid and we can get her back to daycare and on to a regular schedule!!!

Baby Girl is Sick Again

Tia's daycare had a whole infant room out late last week and now other babies are out this week with a virus that is going around. I will have to admit, even though she had diarrhea every time she goes and her bottom is in pain, she sure is a happy camper. She smiles as much as she did before and she seems to be taking it pretty well. Although, every time you change her she starts flipping out like she got a paper cut down there - I just hate seeing her in pain. I stayed home today with her to try to have some mommy-Tia time. Right now she's naked in her swing airing out so her bottom will heal. Doc says she'll have to be out tomorrow too and gave us some items to pick up from the store. I know her first year of daycare comes with lots of sickness including us getting sick too. I just hope she heals up and feels better soon.

Tia's First Cardinal's Game

We took Tia to her first Cardinal's game tonight on July 3rd, 2010. Luckily for us, my friend Cherri invited us into the Suite so we had some air conditioning, free food/drinks, and a great view of the game. Baby girl loved all the people and had a blast.

Tia's Elbows

So we were at my grandma's last weekend and a few times my aunts would say 'wow, look how far back her elbows extend...that is crazy. Then I showed them how I have double jointed elbows and how they extend pretty far back. When Tia would do it, I would do the same and they said 'yep, she has your elbows for sure'. It is just amazing when you see something on or in your child that takes after you. It hurts Chris to see my elbows in action because I can turn them in a weird way and almost hyper-extend them. I was showing him Tia's elbows in action and he said to stop because it hurt him to see it, then I did it myself and he doubled over in pain. It just cracks me up.

Tia's at Katma's Today

Kathi was off from work today through the 4th and wanted to watch Tia one of the days so we let her watch her today.  She smiled really big when she saw Katma this morning and seemed to be excited to spend the day with her grandma.  It is amazing how much stuff babies have when you take them places for the day.  With Tia, I usually bring as much stuff as I can because she is very active and requires a lot of attention and things to keep her busy.  Today, I brought her Swing (a requirment these days), boppy (for bottle feeding), bumbo (for solid foods feeding), her ginormous bag of supplies (diapers, wipes, rash creme, aspirator, clothes, bibs, burp cloths, food, bottles, etc etc), and some blankets.  When we went to my grandma's past weekend, she had the entire car full of stuff. I had a small bag and Chris had a small bag.  I know it will change as she gets older and I think we need to start investing in a second set of things that can stay over permanently at Katma's, since she seems to be the go-to sitter for us. All in all, I know Tia is having a blast with her grandma today.