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.