Back to work mommy...

So last week was my first week back to work. After being off w/you for 4 months I dreaded leaving you with a stranger. Daddy was able to take a week off and stay with you and you guys had a lot of fun, but now you are adjusting to your nanny. The very first day was really tough for me, but then it started to get better and I am sure w/each passing week it will be easier on all of us. You seem to like being with the nanny so far, although each day has been different, one day you nap for a long time, another day you barely nap at all. The first day back you even woke up in the middle of the night and did not want to go back to sleep w/a pacifier, so I had to nurse you around 2:30 am. I haven't done that in a few months since you spoiled us with sleeping so well before. That only happened one time, but you still do wake yourself up around 1:30am every night but you usually go back to sleep once I put the pacifier back in your mouth. Most of the time I find you busting out of your swaddle. I wonder when I should stop swaddling you? You seem to sleep so much better swaddled, but it is getting hotter now and I feel like you'll be too hot in a swaddle. I often find you w/your hands out of the swaddle and in your mouth sucking on a few fingers, it's really cute.

You are so happy in the mornings, daddy gets to spend over an hour with you before the nanny gets to our house. You chat, play and giggle. When I get home you're usually in a good mood too... that is after you're fed of course. You've been very chatty lately, almost carrying on conversations. Last night while we were having dinner and you were in your bouncer you started making noises, and you'd make one and wait, then daddy responded w/a similar one and then you'd make another, and you both went back and forth for at least a minute or two, it was really funny, also after your bath last night you started to coo, and then you got really loud, and some of the noises were super high pitched. I think you're discovering your voice more and more. It's amazing how just a few weeks make such a big different in how you interact and the new things that we discover you doing. I am still waiting for you to actively roll over from tummy to back and vise versa, and it really doesn't happen too much, although you seem very strong on your feet and you like sitting up with help of course. Also sometimes you do little baby crunches, you try to pull up while holding on w/both hands to our fingers and you almost launch your body forward. You don't have very good control of it, but I would defintely give you an A for effort. We got you a new toy mirror that sits on the floor w/color tabs and music and you now tolerate being on your tummy for longer period of times, you smile and stare at yourself, so hopefully it will help you meet your milestone of rolling over soon.

I took a bunch of pictures of you over the weekend, here is one where I tried to make you sit up in the purple chair but you started falling to the side and giggling. So adorable, we love you so much!

4 Months

Little munchkin, you're 4 months old! It seems like you're getting bigger and bigger, although you are still so much smaller than other 4 month old babies I've seen. You eat about 6 times a day, around 4 or 5 oz a feeding, and you seem pretty content with that. The nights are still going well, you've been sleeping about 9 to 10 hour stretches, although you've been waking up in the middle a few times and fussing, I usually hear it on the monitor right away and I get up to put the pacifier into your mouth and you pretty much dose off right back for another hour or two. I did return to work this week, and that's been pretty hectic. You get to enjoy a whole week with daddy and then we'll have a nanny come watch you. I really wish I didn't have to go back, or at least go back part time, but I am not sure if that's going to be possible. I am lucky though that I have a somewhat flexible schedule and I am able to work from home for a few hours especially during these next few weeks where you're going to be adjusting to a new person looking after you. 

Last Friday was a bit alarming to me. I left you with grandma for the evening, and you started getting pretty upset, I managed to calm you down and you seemed to be ok when I left, but I guess just a little while later you were screaming again, and not your normal cry... it was a bad scream like something really hurt. The only other time that I've heard you scream like that was when you got your first shots at the doctors office, and once again when we put you in the car seat and you had too many layers of clothes on and I think you were really uncomfortable. So I had to return back home quickly, by then you have sort of calmed down and were making weeping sounds while sleeping. Grandma said you'd even start crying while sleeping. You didn't sleep very long... and after you woke up I fed you and you seemed to be doing better, you didn't have a fever... so I really have no idea why you got so upset, unless you really didn't want me to leave. After that it was even harder to think about leaving you at home and going back to work. 

You are cooing and giggling all the time now, and when you are sitting up (not on your own yet) and holding onto to us w/both hands you try to pull yourself forward, your grab is pretty strong too. What you're not so fond of is tummy time lately, you get really impatient and start fussing almost immediately. Also you don't roll over too much anymore. When we're changing you on the table you roll over to your side and just stay there.

Your stats this month are:

length: 24 inches - 37th %

weight: 11 lbs 12 oz - 11%

head: 15.25 - 3%

I guess you have a tiny little head :) only 3rd percentile

15 Weeks

This last week the munchkin started "talking". You're cooing and squealing all sorts of little noises, it pretty much makes up a whole sentence. It's so fun to talk to you, while you try and talk back.

Yesterday we took you to the Wild Animal Park and you did great. It was one of the HOTTEST days this month, and I pretty much stripped you down to a onesee. We saw lots of animals and definitely tired you out because when you got home and nursed, you wanted to go right to sleep. I posted a few pictures from that day.

Not sure why, but I haven't seen you roll over in a while. I've been putting you on your tummy every day, and trying to help you roll over, but you just don't want to do it again for some reason.
You did start to grab onto things a lot more, when you're laying on your back under your play gym, I've seen you grab the toys that you can reach and hold on to them and put them in your mouth. You've been grabbing anything you can get your hands on like the bib or the blanket and pull it up to your mouth.

Today we went for a walk at Torrey Pines and you fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn. The whole time you had your arm sticking out and you held my little finger, it was so adorable. I just rubbed your little hand, it's so little and smooth, I hope to never forget that moment.

I go back to work in 2 weeks and it's been really tough to even think about leaving you with the nanny. I am really trying to make the most out these last few weeks staying home with you.

Jeromey will be taking a week off when I go back, so it will help a little bit in the beginning knowing that you're with daddy and not with someone completely new. I hope to adjust soon, but I know it will be really tough.

14 Weeks

I am going to try and post more often since I am noticing that I forget things so quickly these day. Here are a few things that happened this week.

I took you to Aaron's little talent show yesterday at his elementary school to watch him play the guitar. You were in a stroller sleeping, but once we entered the room, you did wake up from all the noise. Then after a few performances I guess it got really loud with clapping and the microphone announcement and you started to cry, then it turned into a super loud scream... You were so upset and scared. Inna and I quickly wheeled you out of the room and I picked you up to try and calm you down. You didn't calm down right away, it took a little while. The only other time when you got scared like this was when you were in your bouncer and I was making dinner and I made a loud noise when I was getting a cooking sheet out, but it wasn't even as bad as what happened yesterday.

Oh and today I think I heard your first real laugh, it was pretty cute! Now that you've discovered your hands, you sometimes prefer to suck on those instead of the pacifier, and you're actually grabbing things above you when lying down on your little activity gym. I also noticed that you will grab the blanket covering you and bring that into your mouth as well.

We've given you a new toy to play with this week, the jumparoo! You seemed pretty fond of it, but you don't last very long in it, may be a few minutes. Your little feet don't even touch the ground yet... I think you might like it more once you can actually bounce yourself off the ground on it. For now you just stare at the animals above. Here is a picture of you in it and I couldn't resist to put a picture in your "I love Mommy" shirt, it's almost too small for you now.

My great little sleeper, sleeping from 9 to 11 hours at night and I noticed a really funny thing that you do every time I put you in your crib at bedtime. I usually wind up your mobile so that you know it's bed time. I wrap you up and I sort of prop you up so that you are on your lying on your left hand side since you developed a lop sided flat head on your right... we're trying to even it out. :) So then you look straight and there happens to be a baby monitor camera sitting and you'll notice it and give a huge smile, and then I turn it on and the little green light appears and you smile even more... it's so funny. You've been doing it for about a week now, it's great because you're not fighting it or crying, you seem to be perfectly happy to go to bed. Sure you sometimes spit your pacifier out and start to cry for it, but you are usually asleep in less than 10 minutes.

3 Months

Dear Munchkin,

This name has totally stuck now, we are calling you little munchkin all the time. Lets see what you have been up to this month. You are definitely a very happy and alert baby. Everyone always comments on how attentive you are to sounds and people. You focus so well already!

You now prefer to be held up, the only time I hold you in cradle position is when you're trying to fall asleep. It's really funny but 50% of the time now you manage to weasel your way out of my tightly wrapped swaddle and start sucking on your fingers, sometimes you try to put your whole fist in.

The biggest thing this month is that just last week I saw you roll over from your tummy to your back for the first time. You've now done it 4 times, and the last time I managed to get on video which is cool. You smile all the time, sometimes even make a sound that seems like a giggle, but I don't think we have gotten a good long laugh out of you yet, so that's still to come. You love the mirror, you see yourself and whoever is holding you and you start to smile almost immediately.

You have been a great sleeper. You go to bed sometime between 8pm and 10pm and you usually wake up between 5:30am and 7:30am. Only twice this month you have woken me up around 3 am, but I just put the pacifier in your mouth and you go right back to sleep.

Nursing has been interesting lately. Just as I thought I have gotten the hang of things... you change it up on me. A few times you would stop nursing and just start crying, I have no idea why. I finally figured out that you seem to have air bubbles trapped in your tummy so I just burp you and usually you feel better. One night you were fussing for a while and you didn't eat very well before hand either so I started to get concerned. You cried and cried and then we decided to put you in a bath and you calmed down, then I gave you a bottle in the bath tub and that was the only way you seemed to be content. It was a memorable evening...
Generally you're really are an exceptionally calm baby, we are soo lucky! When it's nap time I just swaddle you and put you in the bassinet and within minutes you are calm. Sometimes I find you awake and just hanging out on your own and not crying for attention.

I also started to experiment with infant massage. I got a book from grandma Laurie about it, and I've been reading it, and in the mornings I try it out. You seem to really enjoy it. I think it's fun for the both of us. I get to play with your tiny little feet and hands.

Here is a funny story for the month. Just a few weeks ago we decided to take you to a park, so we brought a sandwiches and drove to the park. We took you out of the car seat and noticed that you pooped through your diaper, and then we noticed that we forgot your diaper bag, so needless to say our time at the park was limited... we scarfed down our food and drove back home to get you cleaned up. ;) Next time we'll try to remember the diaper bag and may be daddy will remember to put on your diaper properly next time.

Here are your stats for 3 months: you're 10.9 lbs and about 22.75 inches long. 

2 Months

Little Sascha is two months old. We took you to have your first set of vaccinations. A total of 3 shots in your thigh, you cried so much and it was so hard to see you so upset, but it was over before you knew it, and you dozed off to sleep shortly after. You weighed 8 lbs 10 oz, but your height was 21.75 inches and your head circumference was 14.25 inches. Your weight and head are still in the 5th percentile or less(you're so little), but your height is in the 25th percentile. I did notice that you were definitely getting longer, and it will be only a matter of a few more months until you outgrow the bassinet. Dr. De Freitas did say she wanted to see you gain some more weight, so she recommended to try and give you a bit more milk after you're done nursing. The first time I tried doing that you spit up quite a bit, probably most of what I gave you - about 1 oz, so you definitely didn't need it, but a few other times you did happily take more. Especially since for about a week now you have gone to 6 feedings instead of 7, we dropped your late night feeding, because you started to sleep for longer than 7 hrs, so now I feed you around 10pm and you sleep until about 5:30 or 6:30am. We are so lucky you let us sleep. You have just been such a good baby at night, of course you still have your fussy times around 7 or 8pm, while definitely staying awake more and more during the day.

You have gotten quite good at holding your head, it's still a bit wobbly, and I have to watch out because you have head butted me a few times while I try to burp you. Also you have discovered your hands, I often find you holding them together, also sometimes you self soothe by putting your fingers in your mouth, although you are still a big fan of the pacifier. You smile so much now, especially when we talk to you or make "Oh" sounds and expressions with our mouths. Also you try to coo or talk back as well, it's so cute. We love seeing you smile and talk, it's so wonderful. We started watching some Baby Einstein DVDs and you love them, you stare at the bright colors on the TV and your eyes get really big. I've noticed that even when I change your diaper and the TV is on, you will completely turn your head and watch whatever is on. So funny! Other things that seem to entertain you for a while are the bouncy seat, your play gym and the tummy time mat. Pretty soon I think it will be ok to put you into the jumparoo. You still love taking walks with me in the Baby Bjorn. You love getting baths now, I knew you'd come around. Till next month, here are some fun facts about your birthday.

Fun Birthday Facts

Your baby's birthstone is Turquoise (Prosperity) Your baby's Astrological Sign is Sagittarius Your baby's Flower is Narcissus or Holly (Indigo, Green, Greenish-Blue) Your baby was born in the Chinese Year of The Pig Your baby will start kindergarten in 2013, be old enough to drive a car in 2023, finish high school in 2026, and will graduate from college with the class of 2030, give or take a year.