6 1/2 months old or 28 weeks old....Mom's not the best at precision

According to the app on my phone, Vanessa is now 28 weeks and 5 days old. In my mind, she is 6 1/2 months old. According to weeks to months conversion charts, she is 7 months old. So confusing. I'm still taking the monthly photo on the 15th of the month.

At this point, V has tried a huge array of foods and disliked NONE. She has tried plums, mangos, apples, peaches, butternut squash, acorn squash, turkey, avocados, green beans, and plenty more. All have been successful. This kid is undoubtedly our child.

She's been slithering all over and is so ridiculously close to officially crawling. Many times, her movements are motivated by having a bottle somewhere on the activity mat or by being in close proximity (but not close enough) to our cat, Grenley.

The wacky sounds have continued. She makes this panting sound that resembles a dog on a hot, summer day. She's also been practicing her "A" sounds.

Below are some more recent sounds videos, in addition to a video of her quickly "slithering" in order to get my Iphone4S. Like me, she apparently loves old technology :)

Giggling Gremlina

We have many nicknames for Vanessa (which I may or may not have already posted--I forget). One of the names that we used from early on is Gremlina, which also has variations including Grem and Gremmy. Nickname origins are generally pretty simple. Case in point: John's nickname in high school was Hans; Hans is the German form of John. Gremlina's origins are equally simple. Basically, at times, she looked like the cute Gizmo. Other times, when she incessantly cried, she resembled the evil Gremlins from the film.

Recently, Vanessa has shown us her silly side. In addition to her smiles, she is now giggling too. If you tickle her just the right way under her neck, she goes spastic and starts laughing.

Below are two recent videos of Miss Gremlina and her giggles.

For the win........ carrots!

Feeding Vanessa has not been as "fun" as I originally thought. Most of the time, the food goes into her mouth and then she spits it out. Plastic, wipe-off bibs are a must, as as baby wipes. Recently, she has learned how to blow raspberries and thinks it is hilarious. She thinks it is even more hilarious when she has food in her mouth and blows raspberries. I've been impatient.

Yesterday, I decided to give her carrots. I tried the carrot baby food and thought it tasted kind of gross. I'm used to that crunchy texture of carrots and the texture of mushed carrots isn't too appealing. I didn't have high expectations for how the carrot experience would end.

Surprise! Vanessa LOVED the carrots. She ate the entire serving of them and even grabbed the spoon out of my hand. I find it funny that she chose the messiest, most vibrant food to enjoy.

Sounds and more sounds

At this point, Vanessa is making tons of sounds. My brain is still in summer mode, so if I attempted to describe these sounds, I would probably not do them justice. Besides, the sounds are much cuter when you can see her making them. Below are two videos. She's been blowing raspberries too. It's very cute and all, but can be annoying when it is feeding time.

Video 1, August 5, 2106

Video 2, July 15, 2016

4 month checkup

Vanessa is 15 pounds now. Somewhere in the boxes of baby clothing is the Beast Mode onesie that she got at my baby shower. That onesie is definitely appropriate at this current time. Dr. C (I'm generally excellent with pronouncing names, but can't pronounce our pediatrician's name for the life of me) has given us the go to begin cereals (rice, barley, oats) and stage 1 fruits like apples, pears, and peaches.

Thus far, V detests the rice cereal, no matter if it is warm or cold. I tried it and it's pretty bland. Even if we mix it with fruits, she's not the biggest fan.

This is a picture from the very first time we gave her food. Fortunately, it is less than a full month later and it's easier to feed her. We anticipated a mess the first time we fed her, hence the almost nude baby.

So far, the biggest winner of the baby foods has been Gerber's pears mixed with cinnamon oatmeal. I actually tried it myself. It's delicious. Yeah...I tried baby food. Whatever. If the baby can eat it, so can I. I'm actually so happy she loved the cinnamon and oatmeal. Cinnamon is one of my favorite spices. Like mother, like daughter.

Melange of photos

I have to get better with posting! In the world of babies, differences between one week and the next are momentous. Differences between one month to the next? It's almost like your baby could look like two different people. Below are a bunch of photos from April to current. Honestly, I get so confused with the weeks old versus months old. Clearly, I was meant to be an English major and took the right path.

The photos are shown from oldest to newest. When Vanessa was born, we called her "Sloth" and "Spider Monkey" for quite some time. Now, she is five months old and is 1] much faster in her movements and 2] significantly less monkey-esque.

Photos from April - May, 2016

We call this hairdo "the Trump." For the record, we are not Republicans. 

Photos from May- June 15, 2016 

with cousin, Fionna 

 

 

Photos from June 15-July 15, 2016 

   

 

Mom's Martha Stewarting gone wrong. 

Photos from July 15-August 8, 2016 

 

 

How sleep evolves

One of the things that has fascinated me most about babies is the transformation from deep, peaceful sleep to cranky wakefulness and crying. I'm the type of person who appreciates silence. Sounds like dripping faucets and creaky door hinges aggravate me. The noise of lawn mowers and vacuums aggravate me even more.

Now that we have a baby, those sounds pale in comparison to the sound of Vanessa crying. Fortunately, with a two month old, we can quell the crying pretty easily. "Easily" does not necessarily mean quickly, but there's generally three logical needs that she might want fulfilled: food, diaper change, or hugging/affection.

                            The above video could serve as a PSA for birth control.

Formal photos from hospital

Morristown Hospital is smart. Right after your baby is born, they come into your room and ask if you want professional photos done. They can do these photos however you want. If you have special clothing with you, the baby can be wearing that outfit for the camera. If you are like me and did not bring a hospital bag with cute "coming home" baby clothes, the photographer can drape sheets around your baby and still create lovely photos. They come back within one day and show you the flawless photos and then you end up buying a $200 package. It's pure genius.

Shown below are Vanessa's formal photos. The photographer asked if we wanted photos with her. Both of us were sleep deprived and looked completely tired. I  didn't have hair supplies with me and was on my way to having dreadlocks. We politely replied, "No, thank you."

I'm wondering what color those eyes will be in a few months...

My friend said it looks like Vanessa is ready to break out into a rap 

Wrinkles, lol 

"Politician's pose"

Definitely on the verge of crying in this photo

"Greetings and salutations"

Photographer convinced me to put my hand in the photo

Vanessa kept reaching out toward the photographer 

Vanessa, the chaos as a prelude to sleep

John and I are getting very familiar with Vanessa's sleep process. By reading articles, I've been assured that crying and screaming, whether before sleep or just in general, are common features that babies exhibit.

To me, it's amazing how a 7 pound human could emit such loud noise from her lungs.
Vanessa can go from silent to screaming in less than one second. Another thing that amazes me is how she can seem to "detect" when we move her. Most of the time, after she feeds she will fall right asleep on my chest. I'll wait for 5-10 minutes to pass and then I will carefully move her to the bassinet or the co-sleeper on the bed. It's like she senses the loss of skin-to-skin contact because, bam!, she will wake up and immediately begin screaming.

The book Happiest Child on the Block  has been far more useful than any other baby books. I bought a bunch of baby books before Vanessa was born. Despite being an avid reader, I actually only started one of the baby books, What To Expect When You're Expecting. Although I was 30+ weeks when I started the book, I felt the need to begin from page one. By the time V was born, I had only gotten up to week 14---not too beneficial when the baby has already met the outside world.

Happiest Child on the Block has convinced us that arms-in swaddling is the way to go. If Vanessa is fussy and we are trying to get her to sleep, post-feeding, we will generally swaddle her. John is good at swaddling with a regular blanket, but I need the "idiot's guide to swaddling," aka the Halo sack. Once we swaddle her, we usually play thunderstorm sounds on Spotify. In extreme cases of fussiness, I'll run the vacuum for a few minutes. We also loudly say "Shhhhh" to her. These methods do not always work (and when they don't that scream is incredibly shrill), but when they do work, the result is blissful sleep.

Project 365

I'm trying to post a new photo of Vanessa each day for an entire year... so far...it does not seem that hard. My phone is overloaded with Vanessa photos!

Here's the URL:
http://tinyurl.com/zyk5pdb

Miles Davis & Vanessa Alison: The story of our baby's birth

On Tuesday, 3/15, I went to work as usual. At this point, my feet and legs were so bloated that I resorted to wearing huge, flowy maternity skirts. I remember working feverishly during my preps, as I tried to get everything set up for my maternity leave replacement. I threw away tons of file folders, moved digital files to a flash drive for the sub, and moved all around my classroom, striving to get things done before my last day, 3/18. Around 4, a co-worker walked by my room and said, "Go home already."

I was full of energy. I went to Buybuybaby and picked up some small items. I then went to Carter's and bought a few extra things for the baby; I even texted a photo of leopard leggings for a 6 month old to my friend, Lisa. Continuing with the surge of energy, I even did some light plumbing repair in our house and used an auger.

John usually works until 9 on most evenings, but on this particular Tuesday, he came home around 7:30.

Around 8, I decided to elevate my feet. This was after I already soaked them in epsom salts. I extended them to the top of the headboard in our bedroom, trying to de-swell them. It's a little bit "TMI," but I suddenly felt like I urinated myself. I just assumed that it was a slight accident; they say that can happen toward the end of your pregnancy. I jokingly texted my Raelen a favorite line from the Adam Sandler movie, Billy Madison: "If peeing your pants is cool, then call me Miles Davis."

"the feet" 

Previously, I had told my ob/gyn that I was worried I wouldn't know if I was having contractions. She assured me, "Oh, you'll know." About 10 minutes from the Miles Davis incident, I felt incredibly sharp pains in my abdominal region. It felt like cramps that I never had before. Foolish me did not think this could be my water breaking. From all of my doctor's appointments, it seemed like the baby was going to be on time; no signs pointed to an early arrival. Despite feeling such pain, I thought that maybe I was having indigestion. In retrospect, those words sound incredibly stupid.

The next thing I know, I quickly changed into a nightgown and flip flops. My fashion inspiration might have been Natalie Portman's character in the film Where the Heart Is.

John called my doctor's answering service and left a message. Next, he called 911. The police arrived first and then an ambulance came. A lot of people have asked me why John didn't just drive us to the hospital: "Was an ambulance really necessary?" In short, it was necessary.

By the time I got into the ambulance, the pains were so sharp; we timed the contractions to be one minute apart. The poor EMT had to deal with me using the F word over and over. I tried to be polite; the word was interspersed with an occasional "Okay."

Once we got to the hospital, I was rushed upstairs. Honestly, after being transported to the hospital, my memory is a bit spotty. I got no meds--- in retrospect, I love that I didn't get meds because I can claim "warrior" status, but I totally would have taken them if there was enough time. I wanted so badly for her to be with us and kept pushing. The doctor told me only to push on the contraction and I got overwhelmed, uttering, "I'm worried I won't know when that is." At certain points, the doctor pressed on my abdominal region and let me know when I was having contractions. As someone who was in remedial gym in middle school, it's not surprising that I needed help with knowing whether or not I was having contractions. In fact, it's actually pretty hilarious.

Vanessa was born at 10:58PM. I can't even use the transition word "finally" because I was in labor for less than three hours. As I held her, with John right by my side, we both intensely cried. I had previously imagined how it would be like to give birth and hold Vanessa in my hands, but the rush of emotions in that moment could not even be described with words. My heart was racing and tears were streaming down both of our faces.

A funny part of this whole scenario is that labor came on so quickly that I did not have a hospital bag packed. I joke with friends and family that Vanessa and I were nudists for day #1 in the hospital. I just had on the gigantic hospital gown and Vanessa wore the oversized onesies that the hospital had on hand.

I know that people often talk about giving birth with the word "miracle." As cliched or overused as it may seem, I don't think I could come up with a more appropriate word for this experience.

Vanessa Alison, born on 3/15 at 10:58PM, 7 lbs, 3 oz.

Happy mom and baby 

Proud dad