April 25: Andrew, Sylvia, and I drove down to Janesville today and got to visit with my mom’s mom (Mum) for the first time since Sylvia was born. Mum thought the little girl was just wonderful, and Andrew did an admirable job amusing himself in Mum’s rooms during our visit. I had picked up some hamburgers from Culvers, so we all ate those and some of Mum’s yogurt, admired the baby, and went through some small items from Mum’s house (which has now sold).
Sylvia (who does NOT like her car seat) screamed for about half of each of the drives, but overall she did really well.
It’s a spring-y day, and our maple tree has just burst out full of the springiest green flowers. The tulilps that we planted last fall are all coming up, and the magnolia tree I got for Sylvia is starting to bloom even though we haven’t planted it in the ground yet!
Beautiful spring is here.
Sylvia laughs
I’m having a hard time embedding the video, so here’s a link to a clip where Sylvia laughs.
She’s such a sweetheart
April 20: When Andrew crawls in bed with us in the morning, he first wants to snuggle with Sylvia. Often, the first spoken words of the morning are, “Can I hold Sylvie? She’s such a thweetheart!”
Sylvia is so smiley and beautifully engaging these days. Her neck is getting very strong, and she can see across the room clearly. Yesterday while we were gardening, I put her out on her play mat in the yard. She seemed to enjoy it…one of the first times it’s been warm enough for her to enjoy some outdoor relaxation.
In the past couple days, we took two stroller rides with both kids. Sylvia really prefers to be held, but she did well during the 1/2 hour walks to and from Olbrich. It’s neat to have my two kids in the bike trailer/stroller now!
Sylvie can be pretty fussy still. Yesterday she wouldn’t sleep from about 1pm until we both fell asleep at 8pm. She spent much of the afternoon being a not-so-very-happy camper. In the evening, I was trying to lie down with her to help her sleep, but it meant that we both slept together:)
Check out Andrew’s nine-week baby pictures in the gallery. They look so much alike! More pictures of our week are in the gallery as well.
Urge to fuss…fading
April 16: It’s been an intense few days with the kiddos since we returned home from Wichita. However, I have noted that Sylvia seems to be past the worst of the evening fussy times. Makes me think of the Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror V quote: “Urge to kill… fading… fading… fading – rising! Fading… fading… gone.” Substitute “kill” for “fuss,” and I think you’ve got a good description of where we’re heading:)
Two-month check-up
April 14: Sylvia just had her two-month appointment this morning. For those who have been waiting for statistics, here’s her info:
Height: 23″ (95th percentile)
Weight: 11 lbs, 14 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 15″ (80th percentile)
Up until now, she’s been around the 50th percentile for height and weight. And Andrew was usually between the 25th and 50th percentile. She’s growing big!
Our pediatrician was really happy with how she looks. Sylvia even gave her some dimply smiles. That is, before she got her vaccinations. She received three shots this morning, and she’s mostly been sleeping since. She woke up just as I finished putting Andrew down for his nap, and she was in a really unhappy mood. I gave her some more Tylanol, nursed her, and laid her back down. Poor baby was acting like she didn’t feel well. I’d imagine that three vaccines would make a baby both sore and feeling a little sick too.
A bit of fussiness
April 7: I started this post a week ago, but I must have been inturrupted by a fussy baby!
Sylvia is a lot like her brother. I don’t know what babies are like in general, but the two that I’ve been lucky enough to raise are pretty similar. And they both have had kind of a rough time around the 5-8 week time period. Looking back at home videos and pictures, I remember that Andrew spent a lot of time crying about this time. I don’t think either one is a particular fussy baby. Just normal. And mixed in with some unhappy times are so many sweet smiles (and Sylvia has dimples to boot!). She’s getting increasingly aware of the world, and I think she wants to explore it constantly. Just know that if you call between 5/5:30 and whenever she falls asleep (sometimes 8:30, sometimes 10), she may well be crying!
Advice about this time:
Most babies have at least one fussy spell per day. Normal newborn fussiness begins at about one to three weeks of age, peaks at about six to eight weeks, and is gone by about three to four months. That daily spell usually lasts around two to four hours. During this time, your baby may want to breastfeed very frequently. We call this a cluster feeding.
Your baby may also want to be held without being put down and may seem generally unhappy no matter what you do. Don’t let it bother you. This normal fussiness isn’t a sign that anything is wrong with your milk, the baby or the way you are mothering. A lot of research has been done to learn why babies fuss at times, and theories abound. Yet no one seems to have a clear reason why this occurs. We just know that most babies do it and thrive anyway. It’s probably just a normal developmental stage of the infant.
http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/nbreastfeed/0,,8znwfldp-1,00.html
Smiles and cries
March 27: Sylvia isn’t very happy, so this is going to be a short post, but I had to share some of the pictures that I took of Sylvia and Andrew the other day. They are so cute!
Also, I just looked back at pictures of Andrew when he was her age (six weeks), and they look sooo much alike! See here for a flash-back to summer 2005.
White noise
March 23: Sylvia loves white noise. She calms down right away when the vacuum cleaner or the oven fan are running, and her little soul rejoices at the sound of the tub filling with water. During her fussier times (evenings are often a hard time for a little one), Bryan or I often stand with her in front of the oven’s exhaust fan, jiggling and bouncing to keep her happy. It’s amazing to feel her little body relax; almost as if the loud, static-y noise is a balm for her over-stimulated systems.
I can see myself as an old woman, taking a crying baby into the kitchen and turning on a fan. “This always worked like a charm for my little ones,” I’ll explain.
Sylvia seems pretty attuned to noises. A dropped toy or a banging door consistenty make her startle. And she’s getting to the point where when she’s crying and sad, she’ll sometimes work her way to a state of calm if I talk to her in a low, soothing voice. How amazing it must be to be a little baby and have so much to work at and discover each day!
I just added some new pictures to the March 9-15 album and the March 16-22 album.
Sylvia is one month old!
March 10: Sylvia is four weeks old today. And tomorrow is her one-month birthday. She’s getting to be so beautiful, and her eyes are seeing more and more of the world every day. Happy birthday, little sweetie!
In other news, a gray hair has been spotted sprouting from the top of my head.
Neither Sylvia nor Andrew napped today, our first full solo day together. And Sylvia cried or needed to be jollied nearly the entire day. Why am I still awake at 10 pm? I wanted some “me” time. And I needed to digest the turtle sunday that Terry brought over for dessert. Mmm turtle sundays…
And right now both children are sleeping, and I sort of want to be awake to relish the wonderfulness of it all.
Andrew said so many adorable things today that I wanted to pop. He pointed out all the parts about Sylvia that he loved. “And I wove her widdle hands and her teeny tiny widdle fingers. And I wove her eyes (he says while poking them) and her ears and her hair (he says while kissing it) and I wove wove her widdle nose.”
Later he turned to Sylvia and said, “I can’t wait until you grow bigger and we can play!”
He’s such a great big brother, I almost wish he were my big brother:)
Pictures are in the gallery.
She’s growing!
Feb. 28: Sylvia had her two-week doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 10 oz and was 21.25 inches long.
That’s up a pound and an increase of 2.25 inches in two weeks! She is in the 50th percentile for height and head circumference and the 25th percentile for weight. Her pediatrician thinks that she’s pretty cute:)
My friend Janelle brought us a delicious dinner on Tuesday. My mom friends have organized and are taking turns bringing us dinner every Tuesday and Thursday through March. What a wonderful and yummy treat!
Andrew has continued to say enduring things about Sylvia that make me melty. Earlier this week, he turned to me and said, “Mommy, Sylvia is my best friend.” I think something inside me popped. Then this morning, he came to our bed and saw Sylvia all curled up next to me.
He said, “Aaawweee, Mommy, Sylvia is soooo cuuuute!” Followed up by, “Can we touch her widdle nooose?
I’ve posted some photos from the last few days in the gallery.