Friday, November 30, 2012

Perspective

Someone's got a whole new perspective on things now that she can face out in her baby carrier.  You certainly don't get the same lulling effect of facing inward, but it is a whole lot more exciting for our little one.  The new chewing surface alone is worth writing home about, apparently.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Palatable

Tummy time sure is a lot more palatable when you've got a daddy and doggy to look at.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Man U

Orelia clearly enjoyed rooting for Manchester United while my dad has been in town.   She might just be their biggest little fan.

Glory, Glory Man United....

Monday, November 26, 2012

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving, and I hope you all did too.  My parents are here, so we had three people to help and watch with the baby while I busied myself in the kitchen.

Orelia enjoyed all the attention, which is good because she wasn't allowed to enjoy any of the food (hence the bib eating).

I used an organic turkey made with Ina's recipe, and it turned out great.  I highly recommend the recipe, and it involves none of the annoying brining.  We also enjoyed cranberry relish, mashed potato casserole, stuffing, brussels sprouts, and pie.

Apple pie and pumpkin pie, naturally.  Now that I'm no longer pie-crust-phobic, I made the pie crust from scratch too.  It's about time.

Thanksgiving was especially fun with our little munchkin to spend it with.  She skipped her nap so she could enjoy dinner time with us, and she very much enjoyed the festivities.  We are so thankful to have such a cheerful baby!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Photo Op

My parents are here for Thanksgiving, which means my dad has taken lots of family photos.  The weather has been incredible lately, so we've been taking advantage of it.  Baby toes are cuter in pictures than baby socks, anyway.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thankful

No one can have any doubt what I'm particularly thankful for this year.  She is my precious treasure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Almost Beyond

She laid on
my chest &
her breathing
filled me
almost to beyond
what I could
hold

- Brian Andreas


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Epic Week

O and I had a crazy week.  We kept ourselves busier than ever before since Daddy was gone and we had to get our kicks during the day.

We met two cooking celebrities - Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa...

And Thomas Keller (of French Laundry).  Both were enamored with O, of course.  And since I had a baby, I got to cut the long line of people waiting to get their cookbooks signed.  Phew.

We went on two hikes.  The first was one I found out about online (strollerhikes.com) and the second was with the buddies I made at the first hike.

We went to two mom and baby groups.  I didn't love the new one, but am still really enjoying our tried and true group.

This week taught me how much more fun our days are if we are busy and hanging out with other moms and babies.  Good thing I've got another hike date scheduled for Monday!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Direwolf

Thanks for her Aunt Niki, Orelia is destined to be a Harry Potter and Game of Thrones-loving little dorky princess.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Orelia at Three Months

Our little girl is three months old, which means she has graduated from "newborn" to "infant."

I think the title change is appropriate, because she certainly has really grown into a new, lively baby lately.

She started spending a lot of time on her side - on her play mat and in bed.

And much to her (and my) chagrin, she started rolling over.  It happened a few times during play, and has now started happening in her crib.  Angst abound.

Who, me?

She likes to be propped up in a seated position (other than when she doesn't want to be - ha) for when we chat and sing songs.  She especially loves the songs that have corresponding hand movements, which means I've taken to making up choreography for every song out there.

Her tongue has been spending about as much time outside of her mouth as in it these days.

Now that she can see everything around her, she loves taking it all in.  I am just now figuring out what the whole "distractible baby" phenomenon during nursing is.  Sigh.

She's always turning her head from side to side to see what she's missing while looking the other direction.  God forbid something good happen to her right while she's looking left.

She smiles at me and John all the time, as well as some lucky friends and strangers who greet her with a smile of their own.

Orelia now loves to "talk," in the sense that she will very loudly starting gurgling and expect appropriate attention be paid.

She loves it when we sing and dance for her, and sometimes she will join along in "singing."

Her laugh is more of a chortle these days, and it always makes me laugh too.  Frankly, she cracks me up quite a bit.

For instance, when she decides to show how ladylike she is by displaying her knickers.  (Who raised this child?)

Her sleeping is going pretty well.  She's still taking hour-ish naps during each 3 hour nursing period.  She wakes up around 3:00 AM most nights for a feeding, and then goes back to sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 AM.  This means I'm feeling like a human again!

We're down to six feedings a day, and nursing is going really well.  The first six weeks were borderline awful, but now things go smoothly and it's working for us.

She's always either drooling or sucking her hands or fingers.  She can grab toys really well now and immediately tries to put them in her mouth.

She gets quite frustrated that her toys won't actually fit in her mouth, however, and doesn't hesitate to tell me how pissed she is about it.  I hear ya, girl.

We use the pacifier to assist her in dozing off for most nap times, and it works like a charm.

Looks like she is as surprised as I am that she's three months old already.  Time flies!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Lonesome

I guess I can't say that Harper, Orelia, and I are lonely, since we have each other, but...

John left this morning for a multi-night business trip, so we are all by ourselves and missing him immensely.

I know it pains him to be away from his girls as much as it pains us to be without him.

So far I have survived the first 12 hours - only 75 hours left!

We can't wait for him to get home!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Election Day Finest

 Every occasion needs appropriate attire, and Election Day was no exception.

 In red, white, and blue, Orelia was her most patriotic self.

She accompanied me to cast my ballot yesterday at the Chinese church that is around the corner from my house.  

Granted, by the time we actually walked over there, she was no longer wearing this outfit.  (I swear she goes through a half dozen outfits some days.)

She did get to wear it to story time at the library, though, and that's more excitement than most of her outfits get.

 I think she just hit the hay by the time the results were final last night.

When I told her in the morning, though, she was pretty excited.