Cecilia's Trip

Well, Cecilia's first flight went fairly well. She slept about 40 minutes of it and didn't even know we were taking off. I'm afraid after her nap though she got restless - who can blame her.

In Florida she got to meet my brother's two dogs - Andy and Alicia, both of whom she was scared of when she got there. But after 3 days she took to chasing Andy, which was good because he had made a habit out of pursuing her with his nose. She showed him though - she would walk right up to him and bop him one good one right on the nose. Maybe this is why when Cecilia tried to chase Alicia she would never let her catch her.

During this trip Cecilia tried Macaroni and Cheese for the first time and liked quite a bit too.

On the flight home she slept 1 hour and 20 minutes! God was indeed merciful! (read why on my blog).

Two Front Teeth for Christmas!

Well, this past week, BOTH of Cecilia's top two front teeth broke through! So if all she wanted for Christmas was her two front teeth, she should be one happy little baby! Of course that won't be all she will want, but she will enjoy those mashed potatoes and that chocolate ice cream more with more teeth!

Blessed Advent Everyone!

10 Months!

Well, Cecilia turned 10 months yesterday. She can now walk 30 or so feet without falling down. We are going to have to get her shoes soon.

She also discovered that she likes pizza - at least the cheesy saucy part. She also likes spaghetti with tomato sauce. Shocker.

Here are her 10 month stats - 28 inches long and 18 pounds and 14 ounces. No wonder my arm gets tired so fast now.

Today we are going to visit the Franciscan Monastary in D.C. for some strolling, praying, viewing and maybe a bit of shopping.

In brief though, Cecilia is doing very very well. She is walking almost as well as mommy or daddy. She enjoys all sorts of foods from fruits, chicken, pasta, hotdogs, peas, carrots, and mashed potatoes! She loves waving to anyone and everyone and playing peek-a-boo. She babbles different sounds to herself as well as others. She loves music - especially country, the Veggietales theme song and any music that has a nice upbeat rhythm to it (she bounces to it). She also likes books - she helps turn the pages when we read at night - although they can find their way into her mouth so we have to be careful.

Unfortunately, her teething has been giving her a very hard time lately. Tuesday night she barely slept at all. She woke up constantly crying. Fortunately for all of us last night, between the Motrin and how tired she must have been, she only woke up once! Here's to hoping we see those new teeth soon!

First Thanksgiving!

Well, Cecilia had a lovely first Thanksgiving. We drove to my aunt and uncle's house where a number of relatives gathered to give thanks together. Cecilia got to spend time with both of her great grandparents as well as one uncle, great uncles and great aunts and several second cousins! She also got to meet three dogs - two Golden Retrievers (both of whom I think she would have liked if they weren't quite so anxious to get to her crackers) and a yappy little Dachsaund. She discovered she loves Townhouse crackers and likes turkey. My cousin also made chocolate chip cookies so Cecilia tried her first chocolate chip cookie too! She loved it!

Cecilia Walking Video

Here is a small (18 second) video of Cecilia practicing her walking. Not bad for only being 9 1/2 months old and walking only a couple of weeks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iBQ4ZXdL90

Sleep Update

Well, After 8 difficult nights and days, some of the techniques we have been implimenting from the No Cry Sleep Solution have been having a very positive effect. It definitely did get darker before it got lighter. She was waking up 8 or more times a night up until last night and her naps would last no more than 30-40 minutes.

However, after moving her bedtime to between 7 and 7:30, stabalizing her bedtime routine, and working on teaching her how to sleep without nursing, last night she woke up only 3 times in the span of 10 hours and the past two days has improved her naps by 15 minutes and 60 minutes! We haven't quite gotten to where she can fall asleep on her own yet and hence sleep in her crib, but it is a definate improvement!

Since she is sleeping longer now but can't sleep in the crib quite yet, every time I heard a peep over the baby monitor I had to run to make sure she was okay and not awake and going to fall off the bed. So, as much as this exercise was fulfilling, we invested in a video monitor which lets us watch her as well as listen to her. We just thought until we can get her sleeping in a secure location like her crib, it is better to shovel out the $150 than have The Cuteness fall off the bed.

Veggietales!!!

Well, over the course of the past few months, Cecilia has become a very big fan of the Veggietales Series, created by Big Idea (www.bigidea.com). Thanks to grandma, she now has every single (CGI) Veggietales DVD there is and loves every one of them. She recognizes the songs that play in each one - the music with the icon of a little girl named Ali walking at a picnic when the words "why we do what we do" at the beginning of each film, the theme song and the "what have we learned" song. She will get very excited when these come on and bounce up and down and smile and just become enraptured with it. She loves Veggietales and I must say I find them quite enjoyable myself. We are all very thankful for Big Idea and all the hard work they have done and continue to do to bring such wonderful videos to life.

One More...

One other first I have to mention began a couple of weeks ago...Cecilia began initiating Peek-a-boo. She will grab a blanket or my skirt and hide under it until we notice and then unveil herself as we say Peek-A-Boo! She loves it!

And the Firsts just keep on comin'!

As if she hadn't had a busy week already, yesterday Cecilia waved for the first time on her own to friend from Church named Norma (I've moved her arm before for her but this time she did it all on her own!).

And today she stood up from a sitting position without holding on to anything - and then took a step!

She has seemed to be on a roll lately.

On another note, with her winter coat, she has become too big to ride in her carrier car seat. So we switched car seats today to her converitble one (still facing backwards) bought for her by her great grandparents. Simply Cecilia has gotten too big for her first car seat.

She has also gotten too big for her swing, so we are in the process of cleaning and storing it.

All this growing has brought a very harsh reality to the forefront - Cecilia doesn't know how to simply fall asleep on her own. She has always used motion or nursing to fall asleep. So we are working on teaching her how to fall asleep on her own. We'll keep you posted on how that is going.

A Week of Firsts!

Yesterday Cecilia did another first. She clapped her hands! And then clapped some more!

First Steps!!!

You may recall Cecilia first crawled 6 months and 1 day after her birthday. Well, she took her first steps exactly 9 months after her birthday.

I was sitting in the middle of the living room talking to James who was near the kitchen. Cecilia was standing holding on to the sofa (pounding both hands on the top of the sofa is a favorite hobby of hers). I turned to look and she was walking towards me. She only took about 2 or 3 steps before falling. But I was so excited we started applauding her. She kept trying after that and this evening got as many as 6 consecuative steps without falling. I'm not sure who is more excited, her or us.

It blows my mind - 9 months ago she was born and today she is walking! Talk about growing up fast!

Cecilia's Froggy Walk!!!

Here it is....the Froggy Walk! (Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy - we had to reduce the quality to get it online.)


Cecilia's Froggy Walk

Update

Well, Cecilia survived her first cold quite well. In fact, hers only lasted two days, which we attribute to the fact she is still nursing.

She got to visit with her Uncle Jon this past weekend, which we have added pictures off on her Flickr site below.

In the past month and a half she gained less than a pound but grown over 1.5 inches! Like a weed!!!

She also enjoys practicing walking but can't do it without holding yet.

I also got over 2 minutes of her doing her froggy walk across the kitchen floor. Once we figure out how to get the computer to handle a file so large we'll try to get it up and visible for everyone.

New Pictures!!!

On our Flickr Link on the right hand column you can find pictures of Cecilia from August through October including pictures from our visit to NY and the Baptism last weekend. Enjoy!

We hope to get a new video of Cecilia up soon!

Update: Exploring but no Vacuums

Well, Cecilia is doing quite well.

Her bottom two front teeth are coming up nicely. She has become a big fan of teething biscuits, Gerber Puffs Wagonwheels, Cheerios, baked potato as well as Tater Tots. She wasn't too thrilled with chicken but she loved the Baked Cheetos! (I'm bad I know, but they disolve easily and are yummy and Mommy was eating them.)

She now climbs to a standing position anywhere and on almost anything, even plain wall. She has had quite a bit of fun the past week or so exploring the apartment. As I've been cleaning and further baby-proofing each room, she gets to explore them as I go and she loves it! She loves making the doorstoppers doing their "boing!" sound when she hits them and hearing the clicking sound of the bathroom scale, hitting her box of diapers and trying, without any success, to get the covers off the electrical outlets (if she does get one out or the outlets are too loose, we put packaging tape over them and she likes trying to get that off too, but no luck, heeheehee). I bought some tough rubber covers (they are designed to go over the edges of fireplaces but oh well) and taped them upside down on the second to bottom shelf of each bookcase so when she crawls to the bottom shelf and uses the one above it to stand up she doesn't bump her head. Fortunately she hasn't figured out yet how to get anything off a bookcase.

In the bathrooms and kitchen, she won't crawl on her knees. Instead she crawls on her hands and feet so she resembles and oddly walking frog. I hope to catch some video of it soon and put it on the web. It is so cute and so funny but she just does not like her knees on the linoleum.

Thus far she has gotten scared and cried when the THX sound came on the tv, when we played with the camera effects on my new computer and instead of mommy and cecilia she saw two of both and her latest terror is the dreaded vacuum cleaner. What used to calm and soothe her has become a vicious monster filling her with terror whenever she is in the same room with it - whether I hold her or not.

She turns 8 months tomorrow so we will get her updated stats to you then.

Up and Out

Well, Cecilia's two bottom front teeth have both broken through and are working their way skyward. They still continue to cause her problems though as she woke up twice early this morning out of a sound sleep screaming and crying - poor thing.

Well, we got our new computer yesterday. I am finally on an Mac. One really good part to this is that now I can help James getting new pictures of Cecilia on here. I hope to do that soon, once I'm done configuring everything and seeing how it all works.

Headbanging and Alleluias

Two days ago Cecilia began doing something I thought was pretty wierd. She began banging her head forwards and backwards. She first did it at Church against my chest - Ouch. But she got more than she bargained for when she tried it in her high chair - again Ouch. I read that many babies do it to help calm themselves or distract themselves from teething pain, so it shouldn't be a big deal, but it sure threw me for a loop.

Yesterday at mass, Cecilia began singing to the Alleluia! That's my girl!

She also seems to like country music. I put on the country music station while driving to the District yesterday and sang the whole time. Looks like we may have a little Texas Angel.

If You Want to Feel Weak, Arm Wrestle My Infant Daughter

She is one strong little cookie. I have little clasps that attach to her car seat or stroller and hold on to various toys, a pacifier, a teething necklace, etc. She pulls the whole clasps off her seat. She has also become strong enough to push herself and her security blanket completely out from under me and migrate around in the bed at night. Last night I woke once to find her head almost hanging off the bed but her feet up against my stomach!

So today I went to BabiesRUs and bough a guard railing to put on my side of the bed so she won't fall off.

I also got a couple of plates that suction on to her tray for her to work on learning how to feed herself, which she seems most anxious to do. It was an improvement as it was easier to keep the plate down and she could grab at anything she wanted, but eventually the plate became unstuck and she and I battled to keep it right side up. But it is improving. She also gets to practice putting the spoon in the food herself and then putting it in her mouth.

P.S. - She really loves those Gerber WagonWheels, at least the apple flavored ones.

Mystery Solved

The last few days Cecilia's eating of solids decreased and decreased until it was nil. I would put her in her high chair like usual with her bib and tray and offer her small pieces of peaches, small Gerber Puffs, and spoonfuls of pureed food. I might get a couple of pieces of fruit and a couple of spoonfuls of food in and then nothing. She would begin whining and crying and fussing until the tears began flowing.

So yesterday I took the day off from solids and gave her a break thinking maybe the problem was teething. She does after all have two teeth working their way skyward.

But this evening I decided to try again and I think I figured out the real problem. I started with some pureed sweet potatoes and she would only eat them if I handed her the spoon and let her put it in her mouth. If I insisted on doing it, she got upset. Eventually she got upset she couldn't have the container of food itself as well though. Once again I got a couple of peaches in her but then she got upset. So I figured, well, let's try something else and gave her a handful of cheerios. She tried with both hands grasping and grabbing at the small pile of Cheerios in the end knocking several onto her seat and the floor and getting a couple in the center of her fist. Then when she tried to get them into her mouth she couldn't figure out how to do it. She just put her fist up to her mouth with her mouth wide and her tongue hanging out and couldn't figure out how to move them from her fist to her tongue. Fist after fist she tried and, of course, eventually wound up crying. I almost started crying watching her. How frustrating and upsetting it must be to have a tray full of food and be just dying to put it in your mouth yourself but every time you try you can't do it and can't figure out how to do it.

At that point I wiped clean her tray so she didn't have so much in front of her and gave her a Gerber WagonWheel, which are larger for her to hold with her fist and still get in her mouth, and her cup of juice and she ate and drank away.

So now my mission is twofold: 1) find more foods like the Gerber WagonWheels that she can hold in a fist and eat until that grasping ability with her forefinger kicks in and 2) find a way to secure the pureed food where she can use a spoon to get it herself without knocking the whole thing over.

!!!!SEPARATION ANXIETY!!!!

At our last Doctor's appointment, the doctor mentioned it was not uncommon for babies about Cecilia's age to experience "separation anxiety." I think Cecilia is holding out on us and understood him. Ever since she has been absolutely GLUED to me. I cannot leave her alone for a second - not in her crib, not in her play area, not in her high chair, not even with Daddy - to go to the bathroom or anything without hearing her whimper and cry. It is almost like overnight she began to experience super separation anxiety, although I bet the teething doesn't help.

Updates

Well, almost two weeks ago Cecilia and I began taking daily walks. We walk Monday through Saturday about 1.5-2 miles each day. Cecilia LOVES it! She just rides quietly chewing on toys the whole time. Yesterday she even got to see a big bright yellow and black butterfly flight right in front of her. When the weather is too wet we drive up to the Columbia mall and do our walking there. I get to browse and she gets to see something different but it does get tiresome getting stared at, as some people tend to do, and it does sometimes become too much stimulation and she gets upset.

SURPRISE! We are not getting one tooth but TWO! Both of her bottom front teeth are coming through. One has already broken through and it sprouting upward and the has just broken through and is along the surface. Boy those teeth are sharp little buggers!

Cecilia has gotten big enough where we have to belt her in when she is in her swing and she has even gotten too big to be in it swinging from side to side (she can still turn 90 degrees while belted in and then it throws her head around). So we are just waiting for her to be too big to ride in it swinging front and back before we retired the much loved swing. :(

Cecilia has experimented this week with finger foods. She is quite fond of the Gerber Puffs WagonWheels as she can put them in her mouth herself. Although I have to do it for her, she has also enjoyed pieces of pears this week. In fact she has enjoyed finger foods so much she seems to be refusing to eat the pureed foods (at least with pears, we will see if the pattern continues with other things).

Also, per the doctor's recommendation, I've lowered her crib mattress to the lowest setting and she STILL can stand up along the railing! We'll keep you posted and once those teeth are all the way in we'll see if we can't get a picture up of her new smile.

Trolls and Bananas!

First let me apologize to any of our readers who saw the comment posted at 9:42 this morning. It was removed at 11am so not many people saw it, but please disregard it. It was a poster upset at me for a comment I made on another person's blog and was completely inappropriate and rude. However, due to this troll, we have now enabled comment moderator on this website so any comments will have to be accepted by James or myself to appear on the site.

Well, Cecilia, though now 7 months, had her "6 month" doctor appointment today. She was kindof tired and cranky but it went well. She looked very healthy and got her shots like a champ! Her doctor also gave her the okay to start eating real food: chopped small and well cooked carrots, peas, bananas, pasta, etc. So Hopefully within the next couple of weeks we can open up Cecilia's world wide when it comes to food.

Seven Months

Here are Cecilia's 7 Month stats. She is doing very well and eating about 2 packs of solids a day now plus nursing.

Week 30: Weight: 16 lbs. 10 1/2 oz., Length:26 1/4 in. Head: 17 1/4 in. Chest:17 3/4 in.

in comparison to...

Week 1: Weight: 7 lbs., Length: 19 3/4 in., Head: 12 3/4 in., Chest: 13 3/4 in.
Week 13: Weight: 12 lbs., Length: 24 in., Head: 16 in., Chest: 16 1/2 in.
Week 26: Weight: 15 lbs. 10 1/2 oz., Length:26 1/4 in. Head: 17 in. Chest: 17 1/4 in.

TEETH!!!!

Last night, after her bath, I noticed Cecilia's lower front gums a little red. I put my finger in to feel and sure enough they were swollen. I didn't know if it was teething or if she had irritated the area gnawing on Dori, a hard bath toy from Finding Nemo. Overall her night wasn't bad. This morning after Church she took a nap but only slept an hour and a half and woke up crying. I put her in her stroller to take her for her walk and noticed she still had some sweet potatoes from breakfast on her face (I do try to clean her thoroughly but honestly she can get it everywhere!). I took a wet napkin to clean her face and when it lowered her lower lip, behold, on her lower gum in the front were two small white bumps! They are just barely at the surface, but the teeth have arrived!!!

On a completely different note, we have found something that absolutely terrifies Cecilia. Prior to a few animated films, there is the well-recognized THX music and introduction when the sound begins low and deep and slowly but significantly grows to a loud humming sound. The first time this came on our TV set little Cecilia was playing on the floor and she heard the sound and began crying and trying to crawl as fast as she could away from the TV. Poor thing. I grabbed her as fast as I could and calmed her and now have to watch the beginning of every video and the volume to make sure if there is one (which they won't let you skip sometimes) it is quiet.

Mission: Silent Night

Well, we are trying a couple of things to improve Cecilia's sleep.

1. We intentionally did NOT let her go to sleep on the way back from Church today.
2. Upon arriving home we immediately fed her some rice cereal (for the iron mainly), some sweet potatoes and some apple juice in her sippy cup.
3. Then I nursed her and she fell asleep on my lap.
4. She napped (after I transitioned her into her swing) for 3 hours!

Already that is a big improvement over the previous two days' naps. She had been only sleeping about an hour and then waking.

So our twofold plan to improve her nighttime sleep is to 1) fill her little tummy during the day with rice cereal, solids and juice 2-3 times a day plus nursing and 2) get her naps on a more solid schedule. Hopefully doing these two things will mean she will not wake as much at night.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

CONGRATULATIONS go out to Cecilia (Lia) and Sixto and the birth of their baby girl. Therese Marie was born Wednesday, August 16th, around 11pm weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces. Our little Cecilia is looking forward to meeting her new playmate! Happy Birthday Therese!

(I do hope I've gotten all the info right - if not I hope someone will let me know.)

Cecilia Update

Well, Cecilia is learning very quickly. She has mastered crawling and has also mastered pulling herself into a standing position on just about anything. She now pulls herself into a standing position and practices letting go with first one hand, then switching. She has even tried to cheat by letting go with both hands but leaning her chest and tummy against the object. She is definately thrilled to be able to move about on her own, but she continues to be anxious to keep learning and be able to walk on her own.

Her hair is continuing to fill in but unfortunately her sleep is getting holier (not the saintly type). She wakes constantly throughout the night. I've become so tired when I wake up in the morning I'm not sure what day it is or what I should do next. We have tried feeding her every 1-2 hours during the day to make sure she wasn't hungry at night. She is not napping too much during the day. I don't think a growth spurt lasts over a solid month. Motrin and Tylenol don't seem to help. I've tried sleeping closer to her in a snuggled fashion as well as a bit further away so she can move more - one only worse than the other. Her diaper has not been dirty even one of those nights. Our last idea is to try to transition her to her crib with the theory she just wants to sleep like a wild woman and needs her space. Otherwise, we are running out of ideas ... and sleep.

Overall she is a very happy little girl - as evidenced by her laughing video. She enjoys crawling and playing and laughing and being thrown in the air and just generally has fun.

P.S. - based on her 6 month stats, another 2 3/4 inches and she will have met her maximum requirement for her current car seat and we will have to switch her to her toddler seat. I think she will definately meet the height maximum (29 in.) before the weight maximum (22 lbs.)

Peekaboo and Laughter

A few weeks ago, Katherine recorded this video of me making Cecilia laugh. She is in her crib and enjoying the Peekaboo excitement quite a bit. It's only about 30 seconds long, but well worth the viewing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmVDkE0fsXk

As Good As It Gets ... Hair-wise

I just had to share this...

Cecilia's hair has really come in. I may have to start brushing it soon. The funny thing is that, except for the top front, her hair poofs off her head so that if we put sunglasses on her she could pass for Jack Nicholson's baby sister! We'll try to get a couple of pictures of her new do soon.

Look Out World!

Well, last Wednesday evening Cecilia began crawling! She crawled across our bed (of course we were watching carefully) and now she is on the move. She moves everywhere. She is also continuing to practice pulling herself into a standing position. So far she prefers to practice on a tough red pillow we set out for her, her crib railing, and Daddy's tummy!

James and I keep wondering at this rate how long it will be before she is walking! We may have to go buy shoes for the fall!

She has also learned to like applesauce, so besides breastmilk, she also gets peas, sweet potatoes, bananas and apples and likes all of them.

HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY CECILIA!!!

Yes, Cecilia is now 6 months old! It seems like ages ago since she was born and at the same time like she has grown so fast.

Week 1: Weight: 7 lbs., Length: 19 3/4 in., Head: 12 3/4 in., Chest: 13 3/4 in.
Week 13: Weight: 12 lbs., Length: 24 in., Head: 16 in., Chest: 16 1/2 in.
Week 26: Weight: 15 lbs. 10 1/2 oz., Length:26 1/4 in. Head: 17 in. Chest: 17 1/4 in.

She has certainly grown! Only a few more pounds and we will have to change her car seat!

She also has begun sayind "Da" but she can't quite get out "Dada" yet. She is getting close on that too.

We celebrated her Half-Birthday with dinner with her Godparents at Tony Romas. She was quite fussy until we had all finished eating and let her sit on the table. Then she began trying to distract us long enough until she could try to reach, with stealth and speed (HA!), the remaining drinking glasses or the bottle of Hot BBQ sauce! Then she had quite a bit of fun!

Whoa! Baby!

Yesterday Cecilia gave us all a startle. A good startle in the end, but still a startle.

We were doing our shower/bath routine in the evening. I had just gotten out of the shower while James was watching Cecilia playing in her crib. Cecilia was enjoying her usual method of play - sit, lay on tummy, push up on hands and knees, back onto tummy, push into a sitting position - when she decided not to go back to sitting and instead grabbed hold of the lowest railing of the crib with both hands and put her mouth on it (another first). We both thought this was very cute. Then suddenly and surprisingly she pulled herself up to stand! This was both very exciting, as she has never pulled herself up into a standing position before, and very nerve-wracking as this left the lowest railing no higher than her waist. Fortunately we were both there and paying attention so we did NOT experience another first - a first dive out of the crib.
Needless to say this morning I lowered the mattress in her crib so the railings are now higher should she decide to do that again.

Just after my previous post Cecilia made a liar out of me and almost stopped eating solids completely yesterday. Her teething was bothing her quite a bit. If she could get near her it went in her mouth and she was superfussy all day. Today has been much better fortunately. Hopefully bananas will be on her agenda again.

Up ... Down ... Up ... Down ...

Well, Cecilia has now mastered going from a sitting position to laying on her tummy AND BACK AGAIN! She figured out how to crawl backwards a couple of weeks ago. And now when she gets frustrated on her tummy, she simply pushes herself back until she is sitting again! I'm impressed. I know she is aching to crawl forward. I hope she figures out how to do it soon - she will be so happy once she does.
She also seems to like peas although bananas continue to be her favorite. She is also eating more solids. She has increased her daily intake from 2/3 a container to a whole one. She is a child who does not like to sleep easily but absolutely loves learning new things. She wants to see, touch, and taste absolutely everything and her patience to do so is quite short. Hopefully she'll have her crawling down soon and a-baby-gate-shopping we shall go!

We are looking forward to taking her 6 month stats on Saturday and updating you on them!

Cecilia's Feedings and Pictures

A week or so ago, we decided to switch from feeding rice cereal to Cecilia to feeding some starter baby food. We got the Gerber Organic starter baby food in bananas, apples, peas, and sweet potatoes. Our first choice to feed Cecilia was bananas. And a good choice it was! Cecilia eats about 1/3 of a container of bananas, twice a day. We tried feeding her apples but she did not care for it. We tried feeding her peas yesterday, and she didn't care for that either. So bananas it is!

By the way, Cecilia weighs more than 15 lbs now. She is around 15 lbs 5 oz. We will provide some full measurements (length, weight, etc) when she turns 6 months old - just a few days away.

I have finally gotten around to finishing all of the pictures. Most of the delay was my fault because I have not spent the time editing pictures and preparing them for purchase. Katherine spent alot of time this past weekend ordering pictures.

So, now I have the opportunity to provide you with some pictures covering the last few months. I have added a new feature on the right side-bar from Flickr.com. It is a photo hosting site and all new pictures will be added there. Please check it out by clicking on it!

Sitting Pretty!

On Monday Cecilia began sitting up all on her own!

She does fall over occassionally - usually when someone she is watching moves behind her and she tries to follow them with her head but not her body - Boom she goes!

We've taken to putting a small pillow directly behind her just in case she goes straight back, which she did once. It was the only time she has tipped over and cried. :(

Once this week she also impressively crawled backwards until she worked hersel into a sitting up position. I don't think she knows how she did it, but she did it.

She should be crawling any day now! She gets herself up on her hands and knees and bounces up and down hoping that will make her move forward.

We'll keep working on getting more pictures up. We also hope to get some professional pictures done soonl.

First Feeding!

Well, yesterday Cecilia tried rice cereal for the first time. Eager wasn't even the word for it. The very first spoonful she tried to grab and put in her mouth herself. I generally have to fight her for the spoon. She loves it. She smiles and lights up. By the end we generally have one adorable Cecilia face covered with rice cereal (today she got it in her hair), a high chair nicely smeared with white mush, stick hands and legs, one smeared bib and about one spoonful in her tummy. She does very adorably like to wipe her own face with her bib! James took some pictures yesterday. Hopefully we can get them up soon as well. We have so many pictures to go through and print and post it is taking a bit of time to get through them all, but hopefully soon.

Update

Well, WOW. So much has happened since our last post.

Cecilia is slowly learning to sit up and crawl (she can get up on her knees and hands but hasn't figured out how to coordinate them forward yet). She is absolutely fascinated with food. We often hold her while we are at the table eating and she has already tipped over a salad bowl at Olive Garden and spilled beverages on me trying to grab the glass out of my hand or managing to hit the straw. She tries to grab anything on the plate and of course anything she can get her hands on she tries to put in her mouth. Her doctor said we can start trying to give her a bit of rice cereal mixed with some breast milk and see how she likes it. We'll update you on our food endeavors as we go.

We made a family trip to Texas, South Florida and then Disney World.

In Texas Cecilia made clear her view that, like me, she is no fan of the heat! But she did like seeing the roosters and chickens and goats and horses. She also liked the dog but we couldn't let her pet any of them as it is hard to get to wipe her fingers before they go into her mouth again. She got to spend some time with her grandparents and visit with her aunt, uncle and two cousins.

In Florida she saw many faces. She visited my parents place of business, which went well except for the hiccups, and then saw some new faces at the house for a little get-together. My brother has two dogs as well and they are absolute sweethearts but ugh do they ever love to bark. Keeping her asleep there was a challenge but otherwise I think she enjoyed her visit. She got to spend some time with her grandparents and two uncles as well.

Disney World presented its own challenge of heat. But she did like the Muppet Vision 3-D attraction, the Winnie the Pooh ride and the Journey into Imagination ride. She got her picture taken with Mickey, Pooh, Eeyore, Figment, Pluto, Goofy, Chip, Dale and Minnie. I think Mickey and Minnie had to be her favorites. She grabbed Mickey's nose and lit up when Minnie gave her a kiss. Pooh pointed to her cheeks and then his own so we have now nicknamed her chubby cheeks as "Pooh Cheeks."

We are back home and I think she is happy to be home. It isn't easy for one as little as she is to be so many new places in so short a span of time. I think she was as happy as I was to sleep in our own bed again.

She had her "4 month" doctor visit today even though she is almost 5 months. She weighed in at 14 1/2 pounds and sized up to 25 inches! She was having a lot of fun looking at their pictures of fish on the wall and trying to grab the doctor's stethoscope. She didn't like the tongue depressor but she made both her dad and me soooooo proud. Our little trooper had to get 4 shots today. That's four needles! I know adults who couldn't handle doing that. She didn't even start crying until the nurse was on the third one. After the fourth, I nursed her to calm her down and she didn't cry at all after that! I was so proud! I know these things are always tougher for me than her, but it does make it easier on me to see her be such a good sport. That's my angel!

We will update you further with plenty of pictures as soon as we can!

Ha Ha Ha!

Cecilia had few more firsts yesterday!

James was teasing me that our next daughter could be named Blaise and our first son Bridge. Of course I protested and in the midst of this silly scene Cecilia let out her first laugh! We kept her going for a few minutes and then kept trying to get her to do it again the rest of the day.

She also pushed herself up on her arms while on her tummy for the first time and practiced walking from mommy to daddy and back again on our bed (w/support of course).

Teething!

Cecilia is 14 weeks and 3 days old. Around her 9th week, we noticed she had begun drooling more and seemed to love sucking on her lower lip. Over the course of the last 5 weeks her drooling has continued to increase. We now keep a bib on her all day until we go to bed to catch the drool. It is so much easier to change bibs than whole outfits. She does a good job soaking those bibs as well. By last Sunday we knew the teething had stepped it up a notch. Her usual multi-hour naps became half hour cat naps with her waking up crying. She was fussy all day. Monday seemed to improve a bit and yesterday she tried to catch up with her napping only to have her nights get worse. Last night she got me up almost every hour. When she did this before, she would fuss a while before getting really upset which would give me time to calm her and keep her from really waking up. But last night if I wasn't right on top of everything she would just start crying. Also within the last week we can feel swelling and ridges protruding on the front of her upper gums. When she lets us lift her lip and look we can easily see white just under the surface. Being our first child, I have no idea how long it will be before we finally have the eruption of those two front teeth but I hope it isn't too long as they seem to be getting closer and closer as she gets fussier and fussier.

We will certainly keep you posted when we see some teeth.

"THBPBPTHPT!"

Just had to update everyone....Cecilia did her first raspberries yesterday and three more this morning! Yay!!! That's our girl!

I also had to mention, she decided to prove to everyone while I was changing her diaper that there is absolutely nothing that a boy can do a girl can't do. I needed paper towels to clean up that one. Who knew!

13 Weeks!

Cecilia turned 13 weeks today! We weighted and measured her today to see how she compares with her first week. She just keeps on growing!!!!!


Week 1

Weight: 7 lbs.
Length: 19 3/4 in.
Head: 12 3/4 in.
Chest: 13 3/4 in.

Week 13

Weight: 12 lbs.
Length: 24 in.
Head: 16 in.
Chest: 16 1/2 in.

I hope everybody enjoyed the pictures we posted yesterday.

3 Month Pictures

Here are some digital pictures we took today of Cecilia. She is wearing a cute Winnie-the-Pooh outfit, complete with pooh-booties. Also, check out that third picture. That is one of her favorite positions, to stand with our support.

More After Dinner Family Photos

Here is Cecilia with her parents and her great-aunt Joanne.

Here is Cecilia with her parents and her great-grandparents, Robert and Virginia.

Here is Cecilia with her dad, two of her grandparents Bill and Beatriz, and her cousin Tristan.

After Dinner Family Photos

Here is Cecilia with her Parents, two of her Grandparents Richard and Carol, and her Great-Grandparents Robert and Virginia.

Here is Cecilia with her Great-Grandmother, Virginia.

Here is Cecilia being held by yours truly with one of her uncles, Billy (my brother).


Here is Cecilia again being held by yours truly with another one of her uncles, Michael (Katherine's brother).


Here is Cecilia with her dad and her two cousins, Terrance and Tristan (my nephews).

Baptism Reception and Dinner

The reception took place at the Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland. It is where Katherine and I had our Wedding Reception and Dinner last year.

3 Months!!!

Cecilia is 3 months today!!!
Wow has she grown in 3 months. She loves to stand and will even do so only holding onto my hands for balance. She holds her head up completely by herself almost all the time (except when she is very tired, but then I have trouble holding mine up when I'm tired enough). Gas seems to have ceased being discomforting for her. She has almost completely outgrown all of her 3 month or younger clothes - now I only keep out clothes that are 3-6 months or 6 months. She is also becoming much more talkative. She squeals and coos and yells and throws out vowel sounds and occassionally even connects some consonants to the vowels (we have heard "ami" as well as "hi"). This has made her a bit more challenging to manage during Church but we simply cannot tell her to be quiet (even if she did understand that much) when she would not discern it to be only during Church and we want to encourage her to talk. She is very anxious to stand by herself, sit by herself, and I get the feeling she would be walking by now if she could just will her legs to do it. She isn't as fond of trying to crawl. We do give her "tummy time" but she is determined always to see as much as she can and her view is much more limited to the floor when she is on her tummy. She is always very curious about everything and wants very much to see and touch (and lick) everything. I am hoping all this determined and relentless curiousity means she will not only be intelligent (of which I have no doubt) but will also be very anxious to learn. She has also adapted well to her rising at 5:30am schedule and her bedtime routine. The only challenge involving bedtime is getting her to bed early enough. I originaly aimed to have her bathed and going to sleep by 8. But she decided that was too late. The last few days if I do not bathe her and have her in bed between 7 and 7:30 she becomes so cranky she is crying at me the minute she gets out of the tub - and this from a girl who always loves her baths! But the waking and bedtime routine has really helped her overall sleeping. Now she naps up to 7 hours a day and last night she slept 6 straight hours! And this makes for a much happier Cecilia! Mommy's fingers have become some of her favorite sucking and gumming toys and the drool just keeps on coming.

Cecilia has now had her Polio, Hib, PCV and DTaP vaccines so she should be well protected when we all go to Disney World this summer. She certainly already has plenty of Winne the Pooh clothing to fit in well at WDW. We are very much looking forward to getting her picture with Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh and maybe even Eeyore (my favorite Pooh character).

Cecilia also made her second trip to the mall this past week. She spent the entire time in her stroller and loved it as long as it kept moving. She always wants to be kept moving whether it is in the car, in her stroller or in your arms...gotta keep movin'! But after visiting Carters and American Greetings, Cecilia fell asleep sitting up, which was kindof nice because it meant I actually got to eat my Taco Bell without scarfing down my food or trying to hold her with one arm while doing it. I think she likes the movement for two reasons: first it is comforting and relaxing for her and second she gets to constantly see something different. She used to be quite satisfied if I simply walked in circles around the dining room table. Now if I go around the table too many times she gets grumpy until I change the scenery.

Hopefully James will add some pictures from the Baptism Dinner and of Cecilia sometime soon.

Pictures after the Baptism

Newly Baptized Cecilia

Well, Easter Sunday went quite well. The morning started out rather busy as we tried to eat, get ready for Mass as well as get Cecilia as comfortable as possible. Cecilia even got a nice bath before her big day. We went to the 11 AM Mass at St. Bernadette's Catholic Church, and the pews were filled everywhere. Katherine's family as well as my family attended Mass with us. I think the only thing missing, for me, was incense, well because I enjoy incense at these festive masses. We also had Cecilia in a cute dress for the first time. Below you get a picture of Cecilia as we sat her up on the sofa in her outfit.


After Mass, Katherine, Cecilia, and I headed back to our apartment to rest and get a snack to eat before the Baptism. We then changed Cecilia into a onesie we bought for her to wear under her baptismal dress and then got her into the carrier, packed up the dress, cameras, and other stuff, and we left for the Church early so that we could have extra time. Before we got to the Church, Cecilia had fallen asleep in the carseat. This is something she rarely does but she needed a nap and I guess she got tired enough to fall asleep. We actually let her sleep all the way until we had to get her dressed in the baptismal dress before the baptism. Even after getting her dressed, she persisted to be sleepy.




The Baptism started around 3 PM with Fr. Caulfield celebrating the Baptism. Below is a picture of him preparing the Baptismal Font.

Here is a picture of the three of us with Cecilia's Godparents - Kirsten and Andrew.

Here's the pouring of the water on Cecilia's head. From what Michael, Cecilia's Uncle, who was taking the photographs here said, this picture was snapped when Fr. Caulfield was saying "in the name of the Father....
It was during this time when Cecilia finally woke up. You can see her eyes looking around, no doubt wondering why water was being poured upon her head. The Baptism went really well and it is no doubt a very memorable occasion for Katherine and me. It had been quite a while since we attended a baptism so it was very new to us. Cecilia handled the Baptism really well too. I think she enjoyed it.

Below, I am including several more photographs from the rest of the Baptism. It includes a shot of the baptismal candle that Andrew is holding as well as a blessing for Katherine and then for me.

10 Weeks!

Well, Cecilia is now over 10 weeks old! And she is doing very well. She had her "two month" doctor's visit yesterday. She is 23 inches long, putting her in the 90th percentile for girls her age, and weighs 11 pounds, putting her in the 75th percentile for girls her age! She has a wee bit of dry skin but is completely healthy and the nurse was very impressed with how strong she was, both when Cecilia insisted on standing on the examining table (assisted of course) and when she went to examine Cecilia's hips and Cecilia basically refused to bend her legs.

I had been dreading this visit for months, even before Cecilia was born. James and I both have spent quite a lot of time researching about vaccines, their risks and benefits. We certainly see the benefits to vaccinating a child against serious childhood diseases. However, although a dangerous disease, we decided not to give Cecilia the Hepatitus B vaccine at this time. Our reasons were that, since the disease is spread primarily through drug needle sharing and sexual activity, Cecilia's risk of getting the disease is right next to nil. This just happens to be one of the vaccines that is mandated by most state governments because of CDC recommendations.

Since the vaccine companies like to combine the Hep B vaccine with other vaccines, Cecilia got her Polio and Hib (bacterial menengitis) vaccine, one on each thigh. We have to get the DTaP (diptheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine at a pharmacy and then have that administered at the doctor's office next week. We must say Cecilia took the two shots like a champ. She cried but a moment and mommy has taken to calling her "a trooper." We both couldn't have been more proud of how well she handled the whole visit.

Having said that, since she showed no ear infection at the visit, we must conclude that the previous week that was wracked with fussiness, crying and little napping was due to either a growth spurt or the beginning of teething (despite how early) or perhaps both. She seems to be sleeping better this week, but drooling steadily more.

Last week, we also purchased Cecilia's baptismal gown. We checked with the Church as well and all the paperwork is in order and the baptism for this weekend is set. Hopefully James can get some new pictures up on the website over the next few days.

Cecilia's Baptism

It is hard to believe that Cecilia is going to be baptized in just a week and a half. For those who do not know, Cecilia will be baptized on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 16th. Besides being the beginning of the Paschal season, April 16th is also the Feast of St. Bernadette, one of Cecilia's patron saints. Coincidentally, we were also reminded recently that this date also happens to be Pope Benedict XVI's birthday. To top off the special occasion, Cecilia will be baptized at our local parish, St. Bernadette's.

Katherine and I are looking forward to that beautiful and special day. With those new waters of Baptism and the new Paschal candle of 2006, I can not think of a more fitting way to enter the faith of the Catholic Church. The last thing that really needs to be accomplished before next weekend is finding a baptismal gown for Cecilia. That should be fun.

Keep us and Cecilia's godparents in your prayers as we move forward to her baptism on that festive Easter Sunday.

More Pictures from Cecilia's Second Week at Home

These were taken during at the end of Cecilia's second week at home. Grandmother Beatriz is holding a very sleepy Cecilia. Cecilia looks so bundled and cozy in all of these pictures. Being cozy and bundled is something she rarely does anymore because she loves having her arms and legs moving...oh well...

More Pictures from Cecilia's First Week at Home

These pictures are a little dated now since Cecilia has gained over three pounds and grown a few inches but these pictures still are very enjoyable.

Above is Cecilia with Grandmother Carol's hand.

Here is Grandmother Carol with a sleepy looking Cecilia!

Grandmother Carol with Cecilia again.

Here are Cecilia's cute little feet.

8 Weeks Old!

Well, Cecilia has been hard at work practicing her smiles! Mommy and daddy get many of them every day and this past week Uncle Michael and Grandma and Grandpa got a couple as well. She is cooing much more as well practicing those vowel sounds.

Perhaps even more joyous, between 8 and 12 weeks, Cecilia's digestive track should mature enough for gas not to be a bother to her anymore, which should make for a happier Cecilia and a much happier mommy and daddy. Boy are we watching the days for painful gas to be a thing of the past. Plus, then mommy can eat dairy again! Improved head control is the other milestone mommy and daddy are eagerly awaiting.

Since she is awake and alert more now, starting this week we are upping her baths to 2 per week. She LOVES her baths, so she should like this as well.

During Tummy Time she is not only able to lift her head quite well, but also can push her chest up with her arms. It doesn't last long, but progress is progress. She is also getting better at hitting and grasping objects, although we aren't quite there yet. Last Monday she gave mommy a big surprise with another first. Mommy placed her tummy down on her play mat and just went to grab her glass of water and when she came back, Cecilia was on her back! We know it was by accident, but she rolled over Tummy-to-Back for the first time!

Cecilia now much prefers to be held upright rather than cradled. She seems to like TV (God help us) as well as the stained glass windows of the Last Supper at Church and appears to already be a Duke fan (maybe next year she can watch more of the Blue Devils!).

Well, at 8 weeks, Cecilia is now about 22 3/4 inches long and weighs 10 pounds 2 ounces!

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today. Enjoy the cute smile that we have been able to get from her. It's hard to catch it on camera!

Dad and Cecilia

You see Cecilia taking a nap on Dad's shoulder. Believe me, she was tired!

Cecilia, Mom, and Grandmom Carol

Cecilia with her Uncle Michael

Here are some pictures of Cecilia with her Uncle Michael. He was visiting for a few days.

Sleepy Cecilia!

Here are a few pics of sleepy Cecilia in her car seat.

Pics from March 5, 2006

We hope you enjoy these cute pictures of Cecilia.