First time in the Johnny-Jump-Up

This contraption is called by a few names, but I know it as the Johnny-Jump-Up. My youngest brother Matthew enjoyed one in our house in Atlanta, a simple seat attached to the doorway by sturdy strings.

Like most baby toys, these are now equipped with a lot more bells and whistles. Lyla is still so small, but her head strength is very good and we can adjust it low enough so her feet touch the floor. She doesn't understand how to bounce yet but she'll figure it out.

Our house is very small, so the best part for us is that it takes up almost no space, unlike some of the other options (ok the doorway, but I can slip by and there is another door on the other side of my kitchen).

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Baby Bunting

Baby growth is amazing! Lyla, 9 days old:

Lyla, 3 months and one day:

My mom made this beautiful bunting for Lyla to wear in these first cold months. At first she was positively swimming in it, so I haven't reached for it. It's freezing cold this week and Lyla's weight has doubled since birth, so I brought it out of the closet. There's nothing like filling out clothes to show you how much your baby has grown. It's better than the numbers on the scale.

Mommy would you PLEASE stop with the pictures?

and pick me up!

12 Weeks

Times marches on, so I knew this day would come eventually. I just didn't know how.

12 Saturdays ago Lyla was born. Somehow we've come from this

to this

Today she is an expressive, smart, and terribly cute little girl.

She bats wildly at the toys on her play mat and has conversations with the octopus over her head.

She sits in her Bumbo seat in the morning and evening, but never in between.

She stares up at me while in the carseat or nursing and makes faces and smiles.

She loves to sleep in her swing, a place that she's starting to grow out of.

She can go from happy to screaming her head off in a few seconds. She has a cry for annoyance, a cry for impatience, one for hunger, one for dirty diaper, and one for fatigue.

She doesn't like too many faces in hers, and she squeals and shrieks when she is starting to feel overanalyzed.

Her beautiful hair is long enough for a tiny hair clip now.

She has outgrown newborn clothes so now we're in 3 months and up, and size 1 diapers.

If you put your nose to her mouth, she will give it a good lick.

When she wakes up she will make noises but sit quietly for the most part until Mommy comes. Then she'll smile and wriggle her eagerness to get up. She'll have her diaper changed, eat, then have an enormous poop and need to be changed again. Every single day.

Technically she'll be 3 months old next Sunday, but the 12-week milestone is huge for me. We made it through the fourth trimester.

I am Lyla. Hear me roar.

Proud Mama

Just a few cutie pictures from the past week~

And these, I'm so proud of my little bunny! Refreshed from a nap, she can lift and hold her head really well on her tummy.

Office Visit and Bedtime

Today we visited Ray at his office. It was a quick 20 minutes but Lyla managed to charm everyone there.

This week she's been doing a lot of 'talking'- squeals, throaty yelps, cackles. She's experimenting with her vocal cords and its so cute. She's been doing this recently while nursing, between breasts: looking up at me with big wide eyes, making these sounds and smiling. Like she's both showing me what she can do and trying to make me smile back at her. These are the BEST moments of my day, probably the best so far with her. Anyway, she did some of this 'talking' in the office which attracted some positive attention from both men and women.

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The past three nights we've had some issues putting Lyla down to sleep. Until now she has gone to sleep between 6pm and 7pm, but we swaddled her for bed and she went ballistic. As in screaming bloody murder for another 2 hours before falling asleep from exhaustion. It has baffled Ray and I since she gave us sleepy cues and it was time to go to bed! We couldn't figure out what she was so upset about- not too hot or too cold, clean diaper, nothing poking or pinching, nothing! Clearly tired, but totally pissed that we had the audacity to try to put her to bed. Inconsolable too- won't nurse, won't quiet, nothing. We just had to wait it out.

Listening to her cry so hard and so long is really hard for me. Ray and I would switch off trying to console her. In particular it was very hard for me to listen to her cry so terribly. At 9:00pm last night I had the smart idea to put my ear plugs in to muffle the sound; I couldn't stop her crying but I could make it easier to handle while I rocked her.

Tonight Ray is out for a guys' night, and Lyla went down to sleep at 7:00pm! Boy am I glad too, since I'm on my own with no back-up. I'm not completely sure what changed tonight, she did take a shorter nap this afternoon but I don't think that's the only factor. I'll just be thankful for now, take advantage of this time and slip into a nice hot bath!

Version 2.1

Lyla has changed so much in the past 10 weeks. Even just the past four!

She smiles a lot now. It's tough to catch on camera- she always looks bewildered when one is put in her face- but they're there and just melt my heart. There are times now when it looks like she's trying to get a smile out of me instead of the other way around.

With the smiles come the cutest gurgles and coos I've ever heard. If she's feeling very talkative I'm treated to a marathon of sweet sounds. Watching her experiment with her vocal cords is one of the highlights of my day.

She has really discovered her hands, spending lots of time holding them and putting them in her mouth. Today right before her nap and after she nursed, she tapped her open hand on the couch cushion behind us for a while, enjoying the texture of it and how her hand moved. It was really fun to watch!

The drool is coming too, her chin is often a little wet. The days of always wearing a bib are nearly upon us.

The last two days she seems to have discovered her hair too. She's been touching and playing with it while nursing more and more. This rivals the cooing for cuteness.

She is more comfortable being held by women than men, as she is here with my friend Alex. I think boys tend to be more loud and a bit more awkward, so she trusts girls more.

And she does like TV. It's quite fun to sit with her and watch a show in the evening. In the coming months we'll stop and replace with a bath-stories-songs-bedtime routine, but for now we all enjoy this. I love seeing her nestled in Ray's lap so happily :)

Speaking of Ray, he is the master swaddler but the past few nights she has been escaping from them! She squirms and wiggles in her sleep until her arms get free and she gets upset. Last night it woke her on the early side around 1am, and Mommy was not happy about it! We have a velcro swaddle that has been too big for her until now, but it may be the only way to keep her happy and contained now.

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This is my favorite outfit on Lyla right now:

a pink corduroy jumper with a long-sleeved onesie and little ballet socks. It's comfy, cute, and girly without being fussy.

And one of my favorite pictures. I love the concentration on her face!

so happy ::::

Getting Back to Working Out

Seven weeks ago I said I would post about the state of my six-week postpartum body.

Oops.

Six weeks came and went. No post, no pictures. I wasn't kidding when I said it wasn't a high priority, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't matter to me. I thought I'd lose more weight naturally in that month, but it turns out I didn't. The scale said the same thing at six that it did at two. Guff! That month was filled with Christmas and lots of treats, but still. When I looked in the mirror and through my wardrobe my heart sank a little. I'm not in any of my old jeans; nothing but my sweats fit properly.

Periodically Ray has gently asked me how I'm feeling. Not physically, but emotionally- he's tentatively trying to ask if I feel depressed or not. Since I'm naturally more of a 'glass is half empty' type, the fear of postpartum depression was real for him. Every time I confidently say I feel great. Yes tired, yes maybe a little cranky, but no depression in sight. Life is great, but I admit that any sadness that I have does relate to my thighs and abs and their present state of jello. Maybe I had high expectations but I hoped to be much closer to my 'normal' by now. Because honestly, my goal is less about what the scale says and more about fitting into my old clothes.

At 6 weeks postpartum I was given the go ahead to work out again. This is great, but finding the time to do seemed like an even bigger hurdle than the workout itself. Unless I wait for naptime I don't have more than 20 minutes together to keep Lyla happy and occupied. If I want to shower, or eat, I have to factor in that time gone too. Housework must be done too but many things can be postponed since I make exercise more of a priority.

It's been 3 weeks now and while I'm not melting away, my body is looking and feeling a little tighter. I've decided not to weight myself for a while, but to keep with my new routine as much as possible. Here's what is working for me so far:

• 20 minutes of exercise first thing in the morning. I feed Lyla when we wake up, then change into my workout clothes and set her up on her play mat in the living room. I recorded a bunch of workouts on FitTV while I was pregnant that are 30 minutes long with commercials, and I'm also borrowing a new set from The Firm that my Mom got for Christmas. It has 12 workouts that are 20 minutes long which is perfect for me. Just as I'm finishing Lyla loses interest in playing and wants to be picked up. I'm not missing out on any time with her since she'd be on her play mat anyway, and I'm starting to entertain her; she spends more and more time watching me jump around. Always doing this 20 minutes first thing means that no matter what the day brings, I've gotten that much exercise in.
• At the end of this morning workout, I pick Lyla up and lay her on my chest while I do some crunches. This gives me some extra ab work and gets in more tummy time for her.
• Depending on the morning, I can sometimes fit in a second 20 minutes while she is awake and happy to sit in her bouncy seat or the play mat again. If not, I can do it during Lyla's midday nap between 12:00 and 3:00pm. On a really good day I can do a third but right now 40 minutes is pretty good.
• Now that it's January and the holidays are over, I'm trying to be more cognisant of what I'm eating and how much. Nursing does make me more hungry sometimes but I'm not always reaching for the healthiest snacks. I know that I eat more in the evenings because I'm tired and it feels good. I'm striving to rein in my cravings without feeling deprived. Some days are better than others.

With three weeks until Lyla hits the magical twelve, my hope is to be back in at least one pair of pre-pregnancy pants.

post nap

 

 

 

 

Leaps and Bounds

I can't believe Lyla will be 8 weeks old next week!!! She'll hit 2 months by calendar date 5 days later but I'm more excited about the weeks.

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She's growing lots, probably 8 pounds and some ounces. I can definitely tell when she lays across my lap to nurse. Some clothes are getting a little snug, like this newborn shirt~

Her face and body are chubby with lots of rolls- cleaning in her neck crevices is quite a challenge! And speaking of baths, she still doesn't like them- but she gets one every other day now because #1, it helps both of us get used to them, and #2, they are needed to combat the spit-up residue that ferments into a nice cheesyness. On day 1 her neck is a little sour-milky, but by the end of day 2 it's more like parmesan. She also has so much hair, it's nice to wash it.

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Lots of smiles! Lots and lots of them, and little cooing sounds. I know she's talking to me, I just don't know what she's saying. Especially on the changing table, she really likes being there. I don't blame her, getting a fresh diaper must feel really nice.

Her neck control is really good. I can tell when she's feeling tired because it starts to bobble more, but she is able to hold her own head and look around when you carry her upright on the shoulder or in front of you.

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And also sit in her Bumbo seat. Lyla has been spending more and more time there.

I think its use typically begins with older babies, but she likes it when I put it on the kitchen counter so she can look around. I like it because it gives a little more time to prepare food. And how cute does she look?

Last weekend we took Lyla to her first restaurant- Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay. The weather was really beautiful, clear and crisp. We ate outside for lunch, and Lyla got her first glimpse of the ocean.

She did ok- I held and nursed her most of the meal, to soothe as much as feed her. Lots of new sights, smells and bright light! I found it challenging to balance her, shield her from the sun, and eat at the same time. But it worked, and we had a nice lunch.

Last night we went out a second time, grabbing an early dinner close to home. She fell asleep in her carseat for much of dinner before waking up and needing some soothing. Not bad though! I want to continue taking her out so she is used to it and becomes comfortable in restaurants.

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She falls asleep on errands more, and is less upset about being in the carseat. Here she is in Target this week, snoozing away.

And oh dear, she does like the TV. The movement and colors catch her eye and she likes to sit in my lap on the couch and stare at it. We won't let her watch so much when she gets older, that's for sure!