Tuesday, July 29, 2008

3 months old


She was a little too tired for a photo shoot by the time I got the camera out...

Monday, July 28, 2008

Music lessons



We are teaching Juni how to hold the wooden rattle. Bob was showing her how to shake it to a steady beat, and he took these pictures. If you noticed in the top picture that her mouth looks a little pouty, it is only because she was quite irritable today. With good reason! Vaccination shots in her thighs were hurting her, and she was not feeling well all afternoon. We gave her an ice pack on her thigh, some infant Tylenol (cherry flavor--her first taste of sugar), and lots of love, white noise and cuddling. Now she's sleeping soundly (she went to bed at 7 pm tonight, which is on the early side of her norm).

As for that experiment I mentioned on Thursday... I chickened out. I have yet to try to put her down for the night in the Sleep Sack. We are continuing to swaddle her at night for now.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Oakland BBQ



We went to a BBQ party at the art studio work space of our friend Kate. Bob took pictures of Kate, me and Juniper. The party was fun. There were 3 other sets of parents there and several of them gave us unsolicited parenting advice. My favorite of all the advice we heard was from a mother of a 16 month old boy. She warned me that at about 7 or 8 months old, breast feeding babies may start to "twiddle". That means that during a feed the baby will use his/her exploring hand to play with the nipple of the opposite breast. She said that there are necklaces made for the baby to play with to help avoid this habit from forming. It can also help to keep the opposite breast covered with clothing during feeds.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

7/24/08




This morning we found that she had turned herself to lay sideways in her bassinet (top photo). We continue to swaddle her for night time sleeping this week, but for taking naps she has been unswaddled and wearing her Halo Sleep Sack wearable blanket. This weekend I might try to put her in the sleep sack for the night time sleep, too. I wonder how it will change the length of time she sleeps, or if it will change it at all. My mom suggested that the weekend is a good time to experiment with changes like this. As of about a week now we've stopped sleeping with the white noise on all night, and it didn't seem to change the length of time she sleeps. I'd like to let her sleep with her arms free if possible, so that she has free movement. As you can see she's pretty good at moving her legs and turning herself sideways. I wonder what she will do with her arms loose, too.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sunday, July 20, 2008

First big party

Juniper did well at the big party on Saturday night. We were celebrating the union of Michelle and Brian (they were married in May). Here's Brian and Michelle with Juniper.

And here's Juniper with her Aunt Kachina.
Towards the end of the night, Juniper was sleeping in the sling. The three of us had a good time on the dance floor.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Pretty girl


Friday, July 18, 2008

Yoga & Music

We went to our first Mom and Baby yoga class today. It was great. Juniper was a good sport and layed quietly on the floor while I did sun salutations. She looked around the room at all the mommies and crying babies. Towards the end of the class she started making her tired noises and I rocked her to sleep and then we both laid down for Savasana (the final resting pose). It was perfect. And it was great to connect with other new moms. I plan to go to the class again next week.

Another first for Juni today was her first music concert. We went to the Red Vic Inn Cafe this evening and saw a bunch of our musician friends there. We listened to a good band, I think they are called Dirty Boots. Juniper was asleep by then. But when we first got there she was awake enough to meet Danny and Toy. Here's a couple of pictures from that outing.

Here's Bob and Juni with our friend Danny. Someone mentioned after looking at this picture that it could be called "Juniper has two Daddies"

And here's Bob and Juni with our friend JJ.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

you wouldn't like my husband when he's angry

First visit to a museum



We had a family outing today and went to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Chihuly's artwork was mostly big, beautiful and colorful glass. Juniper started crying early on in our walk through of the exhibit, so Bob and I hurried through the crowds and found a bench in a room where these pictures were taken. We sat down to feed Juniper, and then Bob burped her while she stared at the pretty colors.

Friday, July 11, 2008

First visit to Muir Woods


Grandmom, Juni and I went on a hike in Muir Woods today. It was Juniper's first visit north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and Grandmom's first time in Muir Woods. We had a great time! Juniper is such a different baby this week. She is much more agreeable in general. Car trips are getting more enjoyable for her and being carried in the different baby carriers are getting easier. She was in the Baby Bjorn carrier today for 2.5 hours and she did great. She napped for most of it, but at times was awake and seemed to enjoy looking at all the trees.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Date night

Bob and I went out to dinner tonight while Grandmom watched Juni. It was fun! And we were so happy to see Juniper when we got home. She was sleeping peacefully. Good job, Grandmom!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Entering another new stage...




Juniper is changing again. She is more interactive, so that she responds kindly to us when we talk to her. Now sometimes if she's hanging out and starts to get a little fussy, we can just talk to her and rub her belly and she will change her mood and smile at us. Also, she has been able to sleep for longer naps during the day independently (without needing to be held). Today she took one 30 minute nap this morning, and a 45 minute nap this afternoon in her co-sleeper. That is a great improvement from the 10 minute independent naps she'd been taking for the last 3 or 4 weeks. She has also been happier during outings. We went shopping today and she seemed to enjoy it (or at least she didn't hate it!). Now she seems to be interested and entertained by what's going on around her. Fun!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Juniper grabs


Juniper has become much more interactive lately. She's been reaching and grabbing things with her tiny hands.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Grandmom visits again!


Grandmom is in town again from NJ. Here to stay with us for 8 days. Yay!

Drool



Juniper started drooling this week. You can see a wet spot to the left of her face in the top photo. That is from drool, not spit-up. She had a wet circle on both sides of her head when I found her this morning awake in her bassinet. So cute. Just happily turning her head from side to side and dripping drool as she went. I read that this extra saliva is to prepare for teething or something like that.

We are getting more of a routine going. Her nap times are becoming more defined. 10:30 am is a good time for a nap. Today it was 11:00 am and she was still awake and not happy about it! After some TLC and white noise, she fell asleep and is now napping in the Ultimate Baby Wrap. Her bed time varies, it can be anywhere from 7:15 pm to 10 pm. Usually before 9 pm, though. Last night she was asleep at 7:21 pm and slept soundly for 6.5 hours. However, the night before she went down about 7 and then woke up an hour later and didn't go back to sleep until about 10 pm and slept for 5 hours. Usually her first block of sleep at night is 5 or 6 hours, then she wakes to eat and get changed and goes back to sleep for 3 hours, then wakes every 2 hours from then until I get up for the day which lately has been after 9 am.

I'm starting to differentiate day time clothes from pajamas for her. My new plan is to get her changed into pajamas at about 7 pm, so that whenever she falls asleep for the night, she is in clothing that can be quickly opened and closed for a middle-of-the-night diaper change. Those two pictures above were taken this morning. In the top photo she is wearing her pajamas and in the bottom photo she has on her clothes for today (although I've already changed the shirt she's wearing after an explosive BM).

I keep reminding myself that she is only 2 months old and she has so much growing and changing ahead of her. Yesterday at bath time I noticed ear wax on her for the first time. I was quite excited about that! Her ears are doing that thing they do--producing wax to keep her healthy.