Thirty

I turned thirty on Saturday and we had a great time celebrating my milestone birthday.

After John let me sleep in until 10:00 AM (it was wonderful!)...

We stopped by In-n-Out to grab some burgers and head to the park.

We all enjoyed the beautiful weather and lounging on a blanket in the shade.

While I was sleeping in that morning, John took Orelia to the mall where he said she picked me out this kate spade bag.  Girl has taste, what can I say?

We had our babysitter come that evening while we headed up to San Francisco to celebrate at Central Kitchen.

The food was amazing, and the company was...special.

On the way home we stopped for ice cream at our favorite local place (Rick's in Palo Alto).  I, naturally, got a scoop of birthday cake flavor.  We headed back home and I got some snuggles with our sweet baby girl before heading to bed as a happy thirty-year-old.

Home Alone

Picture me slapping my cheeks and screaming Macaulay Culkin-style.  That was essentially my thought process going into my first week at home alone with the baby.

I was nervous about how I'd be able to handle everything on my own now that our guests had left and John was back at work.

I am happy to report, however, that things have been going great for me and O.

I no longer get to sleep in, since John leaves for work at 7:30 in the morning, but I've been able to nap for an hour every morning once O nods off around 8:00 AM or so.

We've been going on a lot of walks with the stroller and the Ergo baby carrier so that I get some exercise and Orelia gets a change of scenery.

Yesterday we ventured to Target together for the first time, and she did great.  She stayed awake as long as she could so she could enjoy the views, but managed to doze off right at the very end of the trip.

We've been having some diapering issues lately - mostly with poop leakage, but some pee leakage too.  (Ah, parenthood.)  The cloth diapers I'd been planning to use had leaked when she was first home from the hospital, so I had stopped using them.  Now that disposables were leaking too, I figured I might as well give cloth another try.  And what do you know, but the cloth has been keeping things in place much, much better.  I don't have enough cloth diapers to do that full-time yet, so we will be doing a hybrid method for awhile.  Once I figure out which cloth ones I like best, I will order more of those.  Right now cloth diapers are huge on her (giving her J-Lo booty), which I don't like, but at least they are doing the job.

Who knows what next week will bring.  Perhaps O has been easy on me this week, and next week I won't be enjoying our time together quite as much.  I don't know if I'm doing this whole mothering thing right (am I engaging enough, giving her enough tummy time, etc.?), but I'm quite proud that I've managed to shower every day this week.  So there's that.

Miss. Airhead

Of all the hopes and dreams I have for my daughter, near the top of the list sits my desire that she never have a license plate cover like the one I saw on our walk this morning.  It read, "I'm not drunk.  I'm just Miss. Airhead."

Grandma Time

O was lucky enough to get to spend time with another grandparent all last week.  John's mom - aka Grandma - stayed with us and kept Orelia smiling the whole time.

I think it's safe to say that Linda was as delighted with Orelia as Orelia was with her.  They were both so happy to spend all day hanging out.

How could Orelia not love such a wonderful, doting grandma?

Choices

When my mom was visiting, she pointed out to me that one of the hardest things about parenting is the constant choices you have to make - almost minute by minute - about how to handle the baby running your life.

Hmm seems she might be hungry, should I feed her?
Should I change her diaper first, or save it for the middle if she dozes off?

Did she feed long enough or should I try to get her a little more awake to see if she'll take some more?
How long should I try to burp her?
Is she fussing because she has to burp or because she's still hungry?

What should I do to entertain her during her awake time?

If she's getting cranky does that mean she's ready for a nap, or if I try to get her to nap that will only end in a meltdown?  

It's really amazing how many choices you have to keep making all day since someone isn't old enough to make decisions for herself quite yet.  I never would have thought making choices would be so much work, but by the end of the day I'm happy to have someone else make a few decisions about when to change diapers and how to keep our daughter happy.  I guess making choices is what parenting is really all about.  The choices I'm making now about diapers and naps aren't that significant, but overall the way we spend our time with Orelia is showing her who we are as parents.  I think so far we are passing muster, but I'll let you know if O tells us otherwise.

Daughter and Doger

Now that we have a new (well, almost 6 week old!) love in our life, I should share how things are going with our new love and our first "child," Harper.

When we first brought Orelia home from the hospital, Harper noticed her right away.  She wanted to sniff her for hours on end (probably to figure out what in the world she was).  Once O started making noise, especially of the crying sort, Harper became even more interested in this new member of the family.

Particularly in the beginning, but even still to this day, she gets upset when O cries.  She used to cry (whine) right along with O and essentially plead with us to get the crying to stop.  "Give her a good lick!" Harper seems to tell us.  "I promise the crying will stop!"

Harper always wants to lick the baby.  One parent does not mind this practice, but the other one tries to dissuade Harper from handing out these licks (especially in the face).  You can guess which parent is which.

Orelia's first week home was very exciting to Harper, and Harper would hate to leave her for even a second.  When she went on walks with John, she was constantly pulling him to get back to the house and "her" baby.

The bottom line is, though, Harper has taken to the new baby very well.  This is in part due to the fact that Harper is a very loving and well-behaved dog, but I also give credit to John who has taken a lot of time to make sure Harper still gets attention and love (like she deserves).  We can't wait for our two girls - our daughter and doger - to become great pals.  Orelia will need to notice Harper first, though.

The Daddy Effect

I was trying to take some photos of O in her cute Ralph Lauren outfit on the blanket her Aunt Barbara gave her, and I thought I was doing pretty well getting her to smile and look happy.  See below.

Then Daddy arrived.

And our girl lit up.

I know, girl, I think he's pretty special too.

The Happenings

Much of the same is going on in our house - we sit around watching the baby and remarking on how cute she is when she's in a good mood.  When she's in a bad mood we take turns soothing her with the pacifier or rocking her to sleep (we stop talking about how cute she is at that point, though).

Mostly she's in a good mood, and we are too.

John's mom arrived into town and we're back to have a three to one ratio of adults to baby, so that makes life even easier.

Orelia started receiving her first bottles (which means I've had the fun experience of pumping).  She didn't hesitate to take the bottle and has gone back to breastfeeding fine too.

We left O with her first babysitter (not counting my mom), and it went well.  It's really a professional nanny that we can hire for short term use, so it's not very scary to leave her with someone so experienced. Next weekend we are leaving O for eight hours or so when we go to a nearby wedding, so it was good to meet the nanny and get used to the idea of leaving our girl with her for so long.

Orelia is allowed to go out in public nowadays, so she has had the pleasure of going to the farmers market and the AT&T store with John the past couple of mornings.  I took her into my office last week to meet all my former coworkers and they fawned over her appropriately.  It was great to see my friends again, but even better to be able to leave the office and not look back.

Noni Love

My mom was here for the past six weeks until she flew back East yesterday.  She was here for Orelia's birth and has been with us every day of Orelia's life...until today.

All of the books I've read emphasize the special relationship grandparents have with their grandchildren, and I have to agree, there really is something unique about it.  Orelia loves her Noni and her Noni loves her, and I know that they will always have a special bond.

Both Orelia and I were missing Noni around the house today.  My mom was there for me just as she's been there for Orelia, and I miss the company and the assistance.  The first month of parenting is daunting yet fun, and I'm glad I had my mom around to help and share the experience with me.  Orelia, of course, enjoyed the countless hours she spent in her Noni's arms and will miss her enthusiasm, patience, and lullabies.