First Attempts at Crawling

It's late, so I'll let the video speak for itself. Enjoy!

Lauren's First Teeth

Last Friday, Lauren's first two teeth came in! They are her front bottom teeth. She had been having a hard time for about a week prior and clearly was uncomfortable and in pain, so I am glad for her that those teeth have finally broken through. They are barely poking through, so they are still hard to see, but I was able to get a photo of her smiling where you can see them. These are photos from our Friday morning play time at home. On Friday afternoon we went to a baby massage class, which was fun. I think Lauren enjoyed it and I learned a few simple massage techniques that supposedly help her relax.

City Girl

This afternoon I went for a walk in our neighborhood with Lauren in tow in her stroller. We walked along Broadway for most of the time, where there was a lot of activity since the weather was beautiful today. The sidewalk cafes were packed with restaurant goers, there were many, diverse people from the neighborhood out for a walk, a few convertibles drove by with their tops down and music blaring, a fire truck sped by with its sirens on... it was a true city experience and Lauren just calmly took it all in.

Dan and I love living in a city where there is lots to do and we especially love being able to walk to restaurants, shops, the park, etc. We use our car at most about once a week. We may not always live in a big city, but for now, we love it and for Lauren "city life" is her home.

Earlier this week, there was a hilarious thread on one of my Chicago parent networks. The title of the thread was "I know my child is a city kid because..." and more than 100 parents chimed in with pretty funny examples of things their kids have said or done that make you step back and realize that they are true city kids. A few of my favorites:

When we were on a rural Southern (as in Texas) road traveling between towns at night, my 2 yo dd asked "where'd all the cars go?" It had never occurred to me that she'd never seen a completely empty road!

We were returning from a weekend visiting friends who live outside Madison, Wisconsin on a couple of acres. I was feeling a little guilty about living in the city, especially since my than 5 year old had spent the entire weekend outside running, swimming, playing etc all in their backyard. My guilt was quickly replaced with a smile as we were on the Kennedy and the Chicago Skyline comes into view and my dd says "Ahhhh, buildings."

I was singing "Frere Jacques", and when I got to the part that goes "ding ding dong" my 2.5 year old DS said "ding dong, doors closing!"

Afternoon at Belmont Harbor Park

This afternoon we walked across the street to our usual outdoor hang out spot - the baby playground at Belmont Harbor. Dan took Lauren on the swings and we both took photos of each other with Lauren as it was such a pretty day out. A really nice man who happened to be running on the jogging path saw us taking photos and came over to ask if he could take a photo of all of us. So nice! We took him up on the offer.

Also today, our building had a rummage sidewalk sale. All residents were invited to have a table outside and sell their stuff. Probably about 8 residents set up outside today selling everything from clothing to home goods and furniture. Our next door neighbor was selling her kids' clothes for $1 a piece, so after consulting with Claire about her needs for baby Colby I bought some really cute Baby Gap stuff for him. We love our hand-me-arounds and bargain shopping!

Lauren's Many Faces

I find Lauren's facial expressions so funny and try to capture as many as possible with my camera. Today during her afternoon play time, she was in a great mood - smiling and making all sorts of faces. Below are photos, including one where you can see she is trying to crawl! This is a pretty new development. Now that she has mastered rolling over, she is moving on to the next thing.

Lauren's Flower Hat

Today we had beautiful weather so Lauren and I enjoyed going outside for two walks in between her naps. She wore her new flower hat today. I think it's so cute!

We also were able to video chat with Lulu and Oma today. It's hard to believe we'll be in Sarasota in just one week. Time is really flying by this month!

The End of the Pump

Earlier this week I returned to the hospital the hospital-grade breast pump I had been renting since Lauren was born. Before she arrived, I expected I would pump as needed while working, but I fully expected to nurse frequently. Well, it's interesting  how things work out! We tried for three weeks, but it was not meant to be. After her stay in the NICU where she was bottle-fed, Lauren was not interested in nursing. She learned that with the bottle she could get food NOW, so why would she want to put in more work to nurse? I don't blame her! I ended up pumping for 5 months and feel good that she received primarily breast milk during the first 3 months and will continue to have some breast milk every day until she is at least 6 months old.

Because I had not intended to pump so much, I had not done a lot of research about pumping prior to her birth. I figured I would have time to figure it out and wouldn't need to worry about it for at least the first 6 weeks or so. I ended up getting a crash course in pumping, storing, etc the week we came home from the hospital! Prior to this, I did not realize that there are moms who do what's called "exclusively pumping" (EP for short) where their babies are exclusively fed breast milk but they pump vs. nurse. I found some great EP web sites and community forums with tips that were invaluable to me. There were some things about pumping that were incredibly challenging. When she was a newborn, it was very hard to take care of Lauren while making time to pump frequently, too. I found that I got painfully clogged up a lot more than my friends who nursed, and it was really hard to clear up the clogs through pumping alone. I ended up finding what worked for me (lecithin pills!), but I still got clogs frequently. It was also a lot of work (time consuming) to pump. Besides the time spent actually pumping (it added up to about 3 hours every day), it involved preparing bottles, cleaning and sterilizing bottles and pump equipment, storing and rotating a fridge and freezer stash, etc.

But there were also some big positives about pumping. Dan was able to feed Lauren a bottle from the day we brought her home, which gave him many bonding opportunities with her (and gave me a break!). It also gave me a little bit more freedom as I wasn't at Lauren's beck and call to feed.

Although I felt a little sad to return the breast pump this week since I liked providing breast milk for Lauren, I'm excited that we are moving on to the next chapter of Lauren's culinary adventures - solids!

More Fun with Bananas

Photos from our second day of trying bananas. Lauren is now reaching out for more, even though her facial expression says "I'm not so sure about this!"

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I am very grateful for the wonderful mothers in our lives. My mom and Lavonne have dedicated their lives to their children and I know Dan and I are better people because of them.

This morning, Dan and Lauren brought me chai and breakfast in bed. Dan gave me a Mother's Day card from Lauren. It was written as if it was from her and it was very funny.

This morning we went to the park with Lauren and then came home and tried feeding her a mashed up banana. Her first solid food! She wasn't sure what to make of it.  She was intrigued but also made a face that I interpreted as "this is yucky." I don't love bananas myself, so perhaps she's just not a banana fan. We'll try again with another food and see! Below is a photo of Lauren wearing one of the bibs I made with Mom right before we offered her the banana. We captured the first feeding attempt on video.

Little Miss Smiley

Lauren has become very smiley with us in the past several weeks. She lights up when she sees Dan, me or Barbara because she knows she has a familiar play mate who will give her undivided attention! With people who are unfamiliar to her, she just stares at them (usually with her stern face). It is so funny.

Today, Lauren and I went on two walks in the neighborhood using the new Boba carrier I bought. She loved it! She was not a huge fan of the Baby Bjorn, so after some research I settled on the Boba carrier and just got it in the mail earlier this week. The Boba is similar to the Ergo in that the seat is larger (and more comfortable) for the baby. The biggest difference between the Boba and Ergo is that the Boba has foot straps where your baby can place their feet for support. Use of that is optional, but as she gets older, it will be nice to have. You can use the Boba for a child all the way up to 45 pounds! I can't imagine wearing a 45 pound child, but I imagine it's a good work out.

Below are some photos I captured today during our afternoon play time in the living room.

Lauren Rolled Over (On Her Own!)

Last Thursday, May 3, 2012 was the first time Lauren rolled over with no assistance from us! She went from her back to her tummy. Now that she has discovered this new skill, she has been rolling over more frequently. Unfortunately for us, it is easier for her to roll over in her crib since the mattress is softer than the ground. Because she hasn't mastered rolling from her tummy to her back yet, she gets stuck. Last night, she got stuck twice and screamed out for help. We went running in there to help her get onto her back. It is so fun to watch little L master new skills and develop into a stronger little person.

Lauren's baptism

Lauren was baptized today at our church, St. Peter's, by Reverend Sarah Fisher. Sarah is so great with kids. She was so sweet with little L and also gave Olivia and Graham "helper" roles so they could be involved. Lauren wore the same baptismal gown that Mike, Dan, Olivia and Graham have all worn. Jim and Lavonne bought the gown in Italy when they were first married.

After the baptism, which was during the 8am mass, our family came back to our house for a celebration brunch. Our menu included quiche, zucchini cranberry muffins, chocolate brioche, a variety of fruit, and make-your-own parfaits.  For dessert, which we had a little later in the day, we enjoyed a raspberry vanilla pudding cake, a gift from Barbara that she dropped off yesterday. So sweet of her, and the cake was really yummy! Below are photos from the day.

Flowers for Lauren's baptism

Today I made the flower arrangements for Lauren's baptism brunch, which we are hosting in our dining room. It will be a small party - 6 adults and 3 children - so it works perfectly to host it at home. I love the way the flowers turned out. I just hope they stay beautiful through Sunday morning! I may need to swap out a few on Saturday, but we'll see. On the table, there are three arrangements plus, on Saturday, I plan to place white hydrangeas in the silver goblets. I think that will be beautiful!