lessons learned

We spent Thanksgiving in Buffalo, NY--we left on Thursday morning, and while the whole ordeal of traveling with baby takes time and is a bit of a pain in the bum, Chloë did surprisingly well during the travel portion of our trip--better than I expected anyway. It was all of the rest of the time that was tough. Traveling and meeting all of Josh's family meant Chloë's schedule was completely thrown for a loop and while it was wonderful to see everyone, poor Chloë was sooo tired, and got cranky a few times. I paid the price for all the chaos during the night when she refused to sleep as peacefully as she does back home. I probably got less than 4 hours of sleep every night that we were away. Anyway...here are some things I learned about flying with baby:

• nursing during take-off and landing REALLY is a must! Chloë didn't even notice we were doing anything out of the ordinary..
• even with two sets of hands, only one carry-on--the baby is a carry-on herself, making any additional bags just way too burdensome
• the whole take your shoes off would work better if you weren't prohibited from passing the baby back and forth between two people
• I did not need the 4 blankets, two different baby carriers, and get this...MAGAZINES for me to read!! Why, and how, I ever thought I would get some time to read is beyond me..

I'm sure there are other lessons learned lurking in the back of my mind somewhere..but for now this is it.

Share

first flight with baby

flying with baby is becoming very labor intensive--and we haven't even arrived at the airport. I spent many hours today getting stuff together for our first flight with Chloë. We're going to Buffalo, NY for Thanksgiving for 4 nights. We have a total of 2 bags and 2 carry ons. Out of those 4 bags, only one has stuff for Josh and I--the other three are Chloë's. Who would have thought such a little thing requires so much STUFF? Here's a glimpse of the list I prepared to make sure I didn't forget anyting:

• toys: Mr. Fish, Pink Elephant, and the Octopus
• blankets: 4 (2 are a must, 2 extra just in case)
• 2 swaddlemes
• baby monitor
• travel crib
• sleepsuits
• daytime clothes
• winter gear: bunting, hat, and mittens
• towels and washcloths
• snap and go stroller
• breast pump and accessories
• Dr. Brown bottles
• cooler with breast milk
• Chloë's toiletries: shampoo, mylecon, little noses, tylenol, desitin, A&D
• diaper bag
• sleep positioner
• print-out of TSA breast milk guidelines

And after all of that..I bet I'm going to forget something..

Share

all bundled up

Getting ready for a walk

Share

girls rule!

Chloë and I spent 3 days just us girls while Josh was in Austin, TX on a business trip.  We had a great time, though we missed him like crazy!  I was pleasantly surprised I was able to put Chloë to sleep given that Josh has been in charge of that for months, and when he's home and  I try to put her to sleep, she mocks me.  She just stares at me and smiles, and coos.  With him gone, I feared the worst..but she only gave me a hard time on Monday night--on Tuesday and Wednesday she went down fairly quickly. We'll try to keep this between ourselves so Josh continues to the proud and eager bedtime routine master!

Share

girls' night(s)

Josh left this afternoon for a work trip to Austin, Texas.  He'll be back on Wednesday at around 11pm, so really, he'll be gone for 3 days.  It'll be the first time Chloë and I hang out by ourselves overnight--a real slumber party.  Asides from the fact that I am always terrified of sleeping in the house when Josh is gone, I also have to figure out a way to get Chloë to sleep, since Josh is the one who routinely puts her to sleep...

Share

sleepless nights

last night Chloë woke me up at 11pm, 2am and 4am. After successfully putting her back to sleep at 5am, I thought I'd get a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep. So much for optimism..by 6am she was up again. I gave up and had Josh go in and try to buy me an extra hour of sleep. He was successful in getting her to quiet down and I managed to sleep until 7:15am. It's 3:15pm and my eyelids are like deadweight...

Share

football Sunday

today after breakfast and a family nap, we decided to go to Champps and watch some Sunday football to make Josh happy.  We were worried Chloë would be annoyed at the noise, but after about 20 minutes she fell asleep, and happily woke up about 10 minutes after I had finished eating--perfect timing.  We fed her at Champps before heading out to walk around the mall for a little while.  Santa was there, but Josh said Chloë wasn't dressed nicely enough for a photo with Mr. Claus.  I personally thought she looked perfect in her multi-colored winter hat.

Share

feeding schedule

it seems Chloë is not the only one on a 3 hours feeding schedule.  We've recently discovered Kyra, our siberian husky, has decided that as the original baby of our family, she also wants to be fed every 3 hours.  Every time we get ready for Chloë to nurse, Kyra also wants some food.  She runs around, and jumps, gesturing us towards her bowl.  We've given in a few times, thinking, aw, poor Kyra she's so hungry.  On top of that, Kyra has also discovered that we don't really want her to bark at night, in case she wakes up Chloë with her howling.  So, just as get settled to enjoy some TV before bedtime, Kyra usually runs into the living room and starts doing her I'm-going-to-bark dance...we have been guilty of often giving in to her demands and offering some food in exchange for her silence.  Well, it seems as if our new feeding schedule and blackmailing has not been the best thing for our Kyra.  At her annual vet appointment we were told what we had been suspecting for a short while..Kyra is fat! She is 25 lbs heavier than she was a year ago!  She is now on a diet, and will probably start barking every night.

Share

milestones

Chloë rolled over for the first time today! She went from her tummy to her back and didn't seem too fazed until Mariama and I started clapping and cheering--we scared her with out excitement and she started screaming!

Share

nursing

I think I finally understand my relationship with nursing...after months of trying to perfect it and get in a groove..I've finally realized why nursing Chloe is so important to me. Asides from all the wonderful benefits of breastmilk, as well as the wonderful bonding time it offers us..I've discovered that nursing Chloe has taken a whole special meaning given how early she decided to make her entrance into our lives. To me, nursing her has also become my way of making up for the lost time she missed being 'inside'. So..that's my big revelation for the day.

Share

another round of shots...

fresh from celebrating her 4 month birthday we had to take poor Chloë to get some shots..she cried SO loud, SO violently, I felt like she would hate me forever. Then Dr. S. reminded me that she won't remember a thing! At least she looked stylish and was very happy on her way to the doctor's.

Share

chloë is 4 months today!

she didn't sit still..this is what we got!

Share

giggles

chloë has started to not only smile widely, but she now laughs--giggles more like it--but it's definitely very amusing. Once she gets really happy and excited, she starts chuckling and giggling with her wide smile--melts my heart.  now I'm constantly trying new things that make her laugh.  pretending to eat her hands is definitely a winner..pretending to choke--another winner..go figure. she's got a wacky sense of humour.

Share

sunday morning--daylight savings

last night chloë went to bed at 8:30pm, and I prayed and hoped all night that she would sleep a little bit later so we could try to casually adjust to the daylight savings time..she didn't exactly comply, but although she woke up to eat at 5:20am (old time) she stayed sort of half asleep in her crib just talking to herself for a while until 6am (old time)..at that point I went in and nursed her and she went right back to sleep as usual.  as usual she slept for an additional 2 hours and then woke up again at 9am (old time)..so we'll see tonight when we put her to bed if my strategy worked or not.  in enjoying mission almost accomplished I spent about half an hour trying to remember if she had eaten at 9:20am old time or new time..Josh helped me out by stating simply "She ate at 8:20am actual time." 

a sunday morning smile

Share

chillin with the dog

here's to chloë and kyra becoming fast friends..

Share