Thursday, May 31, 2012

Callie and Ben

This is a delayed post... Sorry:(
Last week Callie got to go meet her new friend Ben. My close friend and coworker Lan had her baby boy just 2 weeks after Callie was born. We went to visit them and see how they were doing. Ben was an angel and slept the whole time. Callie as you can see looks like a moose of a child next to little Ben. Lan was surprised at how big she was already and how round and full her face was. I'm sure little Ben will catch up. Callie just happens to be an excellent eater and wants to eat any chance she gets!

First Day Apart

Callie spent most of the day with grandma Nena and uncle Christian. It was nice to have a break but I was thinking about her a lot.
Grandma said she was an angel all day and she took the pacifier! I tried again at home tonight with no success :(
Callie played and watched her mobile in her crib. She really enjoyed it so we will have to get one for home.
All in all a successful day but all the packing was tough and I forgot a vital thing... Parts of my pump! So halfway through the day when I needed to pump I couldn't! I had to drive to Walmart to get a manual hand pump because I never would have made it the whole 8 hours.
Tuesday I go back to work and Callie will be staying with grandma 3 days a week. I better get used to packing and getting ready. This morning I was 30 minutes later than my scheduled leaving time and I had my mom and dad here to help. While I am NOT excited to go back to work at least I know Callie and I can both survive through a day.

First day with a babysitter!

I left Callie with grandma Nena today for the first time! I haven't left her more than an hour yet so this is a big day. I took my parents out to La Jolla for the day before my 6 week check up at the doctor. We are out eating lunch at Georges on the cove overlooking an awesome day at the beach.
So far I'm doing good leaving Callie because I know she is in good hands. I hope she is behaving herself today!
I'll give you the update how it went later tonight.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

First dinner dining out

We went out and ate on the bay tonight with my parents and Juan's parents. It was Callie's first night out for dinner. She did amazingly well and didnt cry until we were just leaving. That was pretty surprising because mommy didn't pack up the diaper bag well and only brought 2 diapers! We used both of those then were out of luck with lots of poo. I used my homemade burp rag as a diaper x2 which she peed through both and 2 sets of clothes! We drove home half naked and wrapped in the waterproof changing pad to keep the carseat clean and dry. Callie got a bath as soon as we got home and mommy learned you can never pack too many diapers or clothes no matter how short the trip!

Plant shopping

Callie had a big outing today shopping for new plants for the front yard. We drove just over a half an hour to the nursery which is a big deal for Callie to tolerate the car that long. She has been crying in the car recently, screaming sometimes the entire ride.
So we made it to the nursery and walked around to pick out plants for an hour and drove home stopping for lunch. Pretty impressive that she actually cooperated the entire time.
We have a new wrap as well. Baby wearing part 3. The prior wrap was great but really warm for San Diego. The new wrap is made of bamboo and cotton blend that is breathable and much cooler. I have to say it does make a big difference because even inland in the sun I felt much cooler so I am sure Callie was more comfortable too.
Here we are with our new plants. Callie is snug as a bug but she's under that pink hat with the bow :) keeping the sun off her fair skin.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

More GG magic

So the result of GG magic from yesterday day was that Callie slept in her bassinet for 2 full hours straight last night! Granted she was sleeping on her tummy which is a no no but so is sleeping in bed with me. She proved she can turn her head when we put her down turned left to stretch her neck and since she prefers right she just lifted up and turned to the other side. So im not too worried about her on her tummy for now.
But here was the new magic for today. I had given up on the pacifier because it seemed to make her more mad than anything and was a lost cause. Well today while I was out weeding the flowers GG calmed her from crying and got her to take a new pacifier, I think it's gumdrop but we have so many I can't be sure. Then again tonight she got her to take it again and actually suck for 10 minutes! That's a new record. Long way to go to self soothing from a pacifier but I'm still hopeful.
Now we need some GG magic for the car because the newest thing has been screaming in the car. I am really missing the days where as soon as the car moved she passed out cold because it makes it very difficult to go anywhere with a screaming child. Let's hope tomorrow because we have plans to go plant shopping for the front of the house.

Lefty?

Callie has been playing with her toys more and more.  She is getting more accurate at reaching for them instead of her previous just swing my arms and see what I hit. Today she had fun when we put up some new toys hanging over her bassinet.  There was one ducky toy that she really liked and kept reaching for.  She was using her left hand over and over again to hit the toys.  I cant say that she is a lefty because clearly its too early but if not then she is pretty darn smart to keep using her left hand to reach the toy on the left side.  Either way I am one proud mom. Check her out in action.

Monday, May 28, 2012

GG and Grandpa Magic

We have been trying for 5 weeks to get Callie to sleep in her bassinet unsuccessfully. The maximum running time was 17 min!
Today Callie has had 3 naps totaling over 3 hours in that same bassinet!!
The magic? GG and grandpa said put her down sleeping on her tummy like when we were kids. It worked! She is still breathing, I checked lots of times and I let her cry and she can lift her head and turn too. We hope this is the beginning of lots of sleep in the bassinet!!
The bonus is we got her sleeping the way that stretches her neck, turned to the left, yippie!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Memorial Day BBQ

We had a great afternoon at the Chavez house at a feast of a BBQ. Callie was pretty well behaved and I had my first margarita in almost a year!
Callie was dressed up in her new tutu dress Eliana got her for the special occasion.

Grandpa arrives!

My dad flew in late last night and finally got to meet his first grandchild. She has been really fussy today, up all night screaming and crying during the day mostly too. He got to hold her quietly for a little while after we went for a long walk with her in the baby wrap, really that's the only thing she consistently likes. Hopefully she behaves this week to spend some time with her grandparents before they have to leave since she won't see them again until we go back east in July.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Julie & Adrian Visit

Juan's cousins Julie, Adrian, and the girls came down to San Diego and stopped by to visit. We had a rough night last night and Callie was still in dirty pajamas when they got to our house. Callie was fussy as usual and not very cooperative for the girls to hold her but after awhile of Julie and Adrian holding and rocking her she finally fell asleep. Here they are all together.

Trying new sleeping positions

We try all day whenever Callie is sleeping to put her down. It doesn't usually last long but we are going to keep trying. I tried in the rock n play (lasted nearly an hour with constant rocking) and swaddled on her side in the bassinet (20 min max). None of these is a promising nighttime solution. Last night she was up 2 hours crying for no reason and fussy the rest of the night AND up early :(
Best sleeping solution is in the baby wrap while I walk around. Too bad I don't sleep walk.
The new natural rubber pacifier arrived today too and it's better than the rest but still she doesn't like it much. She did suck on it for 15 min and doesn't scream when it's put in her mouth do maybe she will get better with it.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Stroller ride big girl style

We were taking the dogs for a walk and thought Callie would want to go out for another walk. We are trying not to use the carseat so we set up the stroller with the snug n go support which helps hold her head and support her body (usually its in her carseat, but it's made to work in strollers too).
I had a hard time adjusting the straps and the sleepy Callie soon became the screaming Callie. It was cool out so we bundled her in a snow hat (thanks to Jess) and a warm blanket (thanks to Norma). Too bad she was so mad and didn't settle so half way around the block I took her out and carried her home. Nice try. Next time I'll get the straps sized correctly before I put her in.
The photos are out of order. End of walk with me carrying her is first. Sorry cant figure out how to switch it.

Sleeping with mommy's iPhone

A friend of ours used to vacuum all the time to get her baby to fall asleep. I vacuumed the other day and she fell asleep, BUT only while it's turned on. As soon as I turned it off she was awake.
So I tried playing vacuum noises on YouTube and it sorta worked. But again it only lasted 20 minutes because that's how long the recording was. But I knew I could do better. A quick google search found me an iPhone app that plays vacuum and other white noise for as long a you want for only $1.99! I bought it immediately.
So success? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Its no miracle cure but in a crunch on the edge it will push towards sleep.
I use it at night when I can't get her to fall asleep and then this morning when she was up early to get her to sleep in her swing. I just put it right in there with her. This is the first time she slept in her swing (anything that's not my bed or my arms is a success to me, baby steps ok?). She slept for a little over an hour. She even woke up and went back to sleep by herself without someone holding her. I'll keep trying a little everyday until I can get her to sleep in her own bed.

Trying out the bumbo

Callie has a swing, 2 bouncy chairs, a rocking sleeper, a pack n play and a tummy comfort chair however she doesn't like any of them. She much prefers to be held of course. So even though it's early for her, since she can hold her head up pretty well we decided to try the bumbo seat. She did ok holding her head up but overall she was not a fan. In about 3 minutes she was crying. It was a nice try...,

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Finding the perfect pacifier?

Callie refuses to take any pacifier. She constantly wants to nurse making me the human pacifier all day. I literally mean all day, like hours at a time. She doesn't even want to eat. She will drool out the milk or clamp down to stop the flow and just chew on the end. Needless to say I'm sore and tired of being the pacifier. She can't seem to calm herself without nursing and will scream for hours. She is an incredibly fussy baby.
So today we went to target on the pacifier hunt. I bought 4 new kinds of pacifiers and we already had 3 kids. I figured one of them had to work for her. So we opened them all and tried them out. The final result...... Drumroll.... NONE!
Here she is trailing a pacifier with GG and then before I could even click another photo spitting it out. I'll keep trying but she sure doesn't want one.
I have a special all natural rubber one from Germany being shipped in Saturday, maybe that's the one?

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

First Stroller Ride and GG arrives!

GG arrived late last night to a very fussy Callie who wasn't in a friendly mood. This morning she woke up and was still pretty fussy but happy to be held and rocked by GG.
We took her out for her first walk in the stroller since she was already sleeping in her carseat when we arrived home from the grocery store. GG walked the dogs and I pushed the stroller. Callie slept the whole way in her blanket that great grandma Kay made her. It went really well,. We will see how it goes when I have to walk both dogs and the baby by myself! Lots more adventures to come with GG visiting and grandpa arrives Saturday to see her for the first time.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tia Eliana

Eliana came over to help out with Callie today since she finished school. It gave me a chance to do laundry, dishes and take a long shower. Callie wasn't perfect but not too fussy. Here she is sleeping which was at least for a little while :)

Monday, May 21, 2012

One Month Old! (Updated photos)




Today Callie is one month old. I can hardly believe it, although sometimes it seems longer when you think of sleepless nights and screaming. She is growing fast and slowly yet surely doing better.
I tried to take some photos today so we can document her growing over the first year at each month mark. Auntie Taylor bought us these cool stickers for her onsies. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to know the iPhone was upside down and you can't flip the photos!! So for now check these out and then I'll post the others from my camera on the computer tomorrow .
Also I tried to get one with this beautiful hydrangea but by this point she was having a meltdown. Nice try..

Little Girl, Big Bed

We haven't even attempted to transition Callie to her bassinet now that she has a cold. I'm waiting until I have a full nights rest and am ready to stick with it and get her to sleep there no matter what one night. Right now I'm still to exhausted and would just give in just to get some sleep. She sure does like our bed. This morning I got up to get ready to go to the dr (again for me and the stitches, what a nightmare). Anyways, she kept sleeping by herself in this giant bed. Feels pretty tight when me, Juan and Callie share but all alone she's just a peanut!!